Chapter 26: Dignity Crushed into the Dust

Qin Xingwan stood by the hospital bed, her gaze icy.

"Chu Li, meeting you is the biggest regret of my life." After saying this, she turned and strode away.

A "bang" sounded from behind her.

Qin Xingwan looked back and found that Chu Li had collapsed headlong onto the floor.

He had been angered into a faint.

In the end, Qin Xingwan did not manage to leave.

Chu Li's fainting alarmed the entire Yiyuan, and he was almost immediately sent into the emergency room for a comprehensive examination.

However, after repeated checks, the doctors were certain that the slap Chu Li had received on the back of his head was not serious and was not enough to cause a person to lose consciousness.

They asked Qin Xingwan.

Qin Xingwan could not bring herself to say that she had argued with Chu Li and angered him into a faint, so she only said she did not know.

She sat on a bench, regretting why she hadn't just held back, considering he was a patient.

After all, with Chu Li having an accident, she had to face the pressure from the entire Qin Family.

Madam Chu arrived in a flurry, fussing at the doctors to find out the reason for Chu Li's fainting.

If they couldn't find it, it meant they were incompetent.

She wanted to fire all the doctors.

This was a private Yiyuan invested in by the Chu Group; as the largest investor, Madam Chu had the authority to make this decision.

Everyone was in a state of panic.

The Yiyuan leadership bowed and scraped, speaking kindly to Madam Chu in hopes that she would be more lenient, while also waiting for Chu Li to wake up quickly.

"It has nothing to do with us; it was Mrs. Chu who argued with President Chu and angered him into a faint," a young nurse couldn't take it anymore and blurted out the truth.

She had happened to be passing by and heard the sound of Qin Xingwan and Chu Li arguing, so out of curiosity, she had leaned against the door to listen for quite a while.

Madam Chu's gaze instantly fell upon Qin Xingwan, her sharp, cold eyes carrying the edge of a blade.

"It was you?"

Qin Xingwan did not deny it, "It was me."

She hadn't said anything at first because she knew that once Chu Li woke up, he would certainly stop Madam Chu.

These doctors and nurses would not have to leave.

She hadn't expected someone to snitch.

Madam Chu walked up to Qin Xingwan in a few steps, "Qin Xingwan, you really are something. First you raise your hand to hit my son, and without a shred of remorse, you then anger him into a faint. Is this how you take care of A Li?"

Madam Chu raised her hand and slapped Qin Xingwan across the face, "A Li was willing to marry you; you should be kneeling in gratitude, yet you actually dared to strike him?"

"Go to the Qin Family and bring that old woman here. I want to ask her how she taught her granddaughter."

The Chu Family all knew that the wife Chu Li married had been raised in the countryside by Qin Nainai.

Having a daughter-in-law with such a lowly background, Madam Chu had been mocked behind her back several times, and therefore had never been willing to acknowledge Qin Xingwan.

Later, after Qin Xingwan achieved results in the Perfume Division, Old Master Chu personally stepped forward to acknowledge Qin Xingwan as his granddaughter-in-law, and only then did Madam Chu begrudgingly accept her.

Now, she finally had a reason to vent her anger.

"Don't go." Qin Xingwan relented.

Half of her face was swollen.

That slap, she had taken it after all.

Qin Xingwan looked at Madam Chu, almost pleading, "It is my fault, I admit my mistake, please don't disturb Nainai."

Nainai could not handle the shock.

Madam Chu narrowed her eyes and said viciously, "Qin Xingwan, you are not worthy of being A Li's wife."

"Kneel by A Li's bed until he wakes up."

Qin Xingwan looked up abruptly, unable to believe it.

Madam Chu sneered arrogantly, "Qin Xingwan, you come from a small, insignificant family. In ancient times, you wouldn't even be fit to carry my son's shoes."

"Not to mention that you have committed such a grave mistake; today, I will teach you some manners."

"Kneel."

The room full of doctors and nurses, whether sympathetic or gloating, all stared at Qin Xingwan.

This was a tremendous humiliation.

Qin Xingwan could not bring herself to kneel.

"Mom..."

"You have no right to call me Mom."

Qin Xingwan's throat felt dry, and her fingernails dug into her palms until they almost bled.

Madam Chu raised her voice to the people outside, "Go now and bring Qin Jianguo and that old woman to me. I must have an explanation for today's events."

"No."

Qin Xingwan's eyes were filled with dead silence, her voice hoarse, "Madam Chu, I beg you not to disturb Nainai. She is old and cannot withstand such turmoil."

As for Qin Jianguo, he could use Nainai to threaten her into taking responsibility, so he was even less reliable; he might even hope for Madam Chu to punish her more severely to vent his own anger.

Madam Chu held her chin high, waiting for Qin Xingwan's choice.

"I will kneel."

Qin Xingwan agreed.

Her knees felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead; it was so difficult to bend them, yet she forced herself to kneel down, inch by inch.

The moment her knees touched the floor, her dignity was crushed into the dust.

The hospital room was silent.

Madam Chu was very satisfied; the pent-up anger of three years had finally been vented.

She clicked around Qin Xingwan in her high heels, admiring her own "work."

"Just stay kneeling like this until A Li wakes up and forgives you."

She walked out with her head held high.

The doctor and nurses followed her out in a rush.

Outside the door, Madam Chu instructed the doctor: "Inject A Li with some sedative and sleep-inducing medication; make sure he sleeps until tomorrow morning so he can get a good rest."

The doctor bowed and scraped: "Very well, Madam."

Inside the hospital room, the sound of suppressed, humiliated sobbing was crushed out from her throat.

When Chu Li was sent back to the hospital room, he was still in a coma.

The doctor who brought him did not leave after settling him in; instead, he sat on the sofa over there and secretly took a few photos of Qin Xingwan with his phone.

Qin Xingwan cast a cold glance over, and he immediately put his phone away.

"Get out."

The doctor crossed his legs, looking as if he were watching a good show: "Mrs. Chu, you can't drive me away. It was Madam who ordered me to be here; she told me to watch you and make sure you kneel until the President wakes up."

Qin Xingwan gritted her teeth; Madam Chu had thought of everything.

Qin Xingwan closed her eyes, forcing back the tears in them.

Seeing that Qin Xingwan didn't speak, the doctor simply leaned in and said: "Mrs. Chu, could you tell me how you managed to hook the President?"

He looked Qin Xingwan up and down with a disdainful gaze: "You women are just lucky; relying on a pretty face to fly up to the branches and become a phoenix, while we men can only work like cattle and horses for the capitalists."

Qin Xingwan didn't speak; she had an impression of this doctor, as he had always been respectful whenever she came, but today, having seen Madam Chu's attitude toward her and assuming she had been cast aside, he revealed his true colors and began to speak rudely to her.

"Mrs. Chu, if you divorce the President, you could take half of his family fortune, right? You won't have to worry about food or drink for the rest of your life; this kneeling is worth it."

"The photos in my phone are quite valuable; Mrs. Chu will help me get rich, right?" He brandished his phone.

He couldn't wait to use the photos he had just secretly taken as a bargaining chip.

The pent-up anger in Qin Xingwan's chest had reached her throat.

She said coldly: "Rest assured, you will get rich."

"When will the President wake up?" she asked again.

The doctor lay on the sofa, feeling self-satisfied: "Madam ordered that the President be given a sedative, so it should be at least tomorrow morning."

Qin Xingwan gave up all hope.