Chapter 9: Give It Back to Me

Jiang Liwu was deeply astonished. She looked toward Wei Xifeng, confused. "A body double? What is that all about?"

Wei Xifeng shook his head in a panic, hurriedly explaining, "It’s not like that! There is no body double. You are not anyone’s substitute. You are just yourself—unique and irreplaceable in this entire world." How could he ever seek a substitute? To him, his teacher was inimitable and singular; a body double would be an absolute insult to her.

Wei Xifeng was seething with rage, his head feeling as though it were about to explode.

Jiang Liwu reached out, placed her hand on his arm, and patted it gently to show she understood. Meeting Jiang Liwu’s trusting and soothing gaze, Wei Xifeng knew his teacher had not listened to Song Jinwei’s nonsense. He calmed down, and the turbulent, chaotic energy surrounding him slowly subsided.

Seeing that Jiang Liwu remained unaffected and continued to act intimately with Wei Xifeng, Song Jinwei glared at her with a warning. "Hey, surely you aren't unaware that Qiao Yiran is the true mistress of the Wei family? Don't think that just because you have a pretty face, you can climb over the head of the legitimate woman." Jiang Liwu’s beauty was a divine perfection that even Song Jinwei had to admit; she was far more beautiful than Qiao Yiran. If the two stood together, all eyes would certainly be drawn to Jiang Liwu, while Qiao Yiran’s presence would undoubtedly be eclipsed.

It felt as if Qiao Yiran only possessed a mere thirty percent of Jiang Liwu’s likeness, rather than the other way around.

Regardless, Qiao Yiran was her best friend, so she would stand by her side from beginning to end.

"I advise you to quit while you're ahead. Take what you can and leave. Don't be so arrogant when your worth is no more than paper." Song Jinwei’s gaze swept over the numerous shopping bags bearing luxury brand logos held by the bodyguards, a flash of disdain in her eyes. She had already pegged Jiang Liwu as a blatant gold-digger who didn't even bother to pretend, so consumed was she by greed.

The violent impulses Wei Xifeng had just suppressed were instantly ignited again. The phrase "worth no more than paper" echoed in his mind like a curse. At the same time, he seemed to see the scenes from twenty years ago, when his teacher died before his eyes, leaving no trace behind.

Even though he knew his teacher had returned to him alive, he was still deeply triggered. The twenty years he had spent losing her were painfully real, a long and desperate ordeal.

When he lifted his eyelids again, Wei Xifeng’s eyes were bloodshot and terrifying.

"Song Jinwei, if you dare say one more word, I will rip out your tongue and smash every one of your teeth."

Song Jinwei instinctively covered her mouth; just hearing those words made her teeth and tongue ache. She hid further behind Fu Qinian. Though she tasted danger and fear, she remained convinced that Wei Xifeng would not dare to actually lay a hand on her.

"I am Yiran’s best friend. Aren't you afraid that if you treat me like this, Yiran will blame you when she finds out?"

"Give the candied hawthorns back to me," Wei Xifeng said, his blood-red eyes dark and paranoid.

Song Jinwei looked at the candy in her hand, with no intention of returning it. Was Qiao Yiran’s control over him not more important than two sticks of candy? She didn't believe it.

Her goal had been to cause trouble for them and vent for Qiao Yiran. Instead, not only had she failed to vent, but she had also been splashed with something sticky and humiliating.

The more she thought about it, the more unwilling she felt. Song Jinwei threw the candied hawthorns heavily onto the ground and stepped on them.

Before Wei Xifeng’s eyes, the candy was stained with dust and crushed to pieces. At the same time, Wei Xifeng’s sanity shattered. A voice seemed to mock him, telling him not to indulge in delusions—that he would never live like a normal person. He was a monster in the eyes of others, a bastard in the eyes of his own mother, and he would never receive the warmth and love he craved.

Song Jinwei met Wei Xifeng’s blood-red, bestial eyes. They were hideous and filled with hatred, staring at her with such brutality and desire for destruction that it was as if he were looking at a dead object, wanting to tear her limb from limb and grind her bones to dust.

As she moved her foot away from the crushed candy, a deep chill crawled from the soles of her feet throughout her body, giving her goosebumps. She realized then that she had thoroughly enraged Wei Xifeng.

Swallowing nervously, Song Jinwei feigned ease. "Why are you looking at me like that? As the head of the Wei family, you have everything—there’s no need to be so petty as to hold a grudge against a woman over two sticks of candy, is there?"

"Tsk, I’ll just pay you back, then."

In the next second, Wei Xifeng, like a demonic beast breaking free from its chains, roared and lunged at her with a violent, bloody aura. She felt like prey encountering an apex predator, her neck clamped tightly in his grip.

Fu Qinian was sent flying to the side. Song Jinwei fell heavily to the ground, her eyes rolling back, her mouth agape. Her neck and face turned a deep, congested red, the veins standing out visibly. "Hrrk—"

The scene immediately descended into chaos.

"Oh no, the Master is having a breakdown! Quickly, restrain him, or she will surely die!"

The bodyguards dropped their bags and rushed forward in unison. Hearing this, Fu Qinian’s expression changed. Ignoring everything else, he lunged to the front to stop Wei Xifeng. If something happened to Song Jinwei, Fu Siyue would never let him off the hook.

They finally managed to rescue Song Jinwei. Fu Qinian’s face was bruised and swollen, his teeth loosened by Wei Xifeng’s blows, and one of his molars had been knocked out.

Song Jinwei crawled away on her knees, her face purple and red, terrified to the core. She clutched her throat, coughing violently as if suffering from consumption.

Once she caught her breath, she broke down in tears of terror. "Stay back! Wei Xifeng, you lunatic! I am a member of the Fu family! I am Fu Siyue’s person! If you hurt me, Fu Siyue will never forgive you!"

Fu Siyue?!

Hearing that name, Jiang Liwu looked at Song Jinwei.

Fu Siyue was one of the six children she had raised, and the great villain who would bring about the apocalypse. In terms of age, he was the eldest. When Jiang Liwu traveled back twenty years, he had been eight years old.

If Song Jinwei was from the Fu family, why was her surname Song?

Jiang Liwu was puzzled. She wanted to learn more about Fu Siyue from Song Jinwei, but the current situation was clearly inappropriate.

She had to calm Wei Xifeng down first.

...

Not far away, a black stretched Pullman was parked in a private lane.

Secretary Chen’s sharp eyes recognized the Wei family’s bodyguards. He reported to the noble and indifferent man in the back seat, "President Si, it seems to be the people under Master Wei."

Si Mocheng did not even lift his eyelids. His handsome, aristocratic face, adorned with gold-rimmed glasses perched on a sharp, high bridge of his nose, remained focused on the documents in his hands. His indifferent, narrow eyes stayed fixed on the paper. "Go take a look."

Secretary Chen: "Yes."

Before long, Secretary Chen returned after learning the situation and reported everything he had seen and heard. "It is the young lady of the Fu family who got into a dispute with Master Wei. It seems to be because Miss Fu said Master Wei’s companion was a body double."

Si Mocheng: "A body double?"

Secretary Chen: "A substitute for that Miss Qiao Yiran whom Master Wei has been keeping in his gilded cage."