Chapter 1313: Breaking Up with Gong Yi
“At that time, I flew into a rage and chased her away. I never expected her to be such a shameless and morally corrupt woman. I demoted her the very next day. Yet, being the wanton woman that she was, she did not let up.”
“One night, while I was working overtime, she had the audacity to spike my coffee, embracing me as she did so. It was unbearable. I fired her there and then! I even made it so that she wouldn’t find work in any other company again. In hindsight, my actions were probably what forced her into becoming a servant to the Bai family – she had no other choice if she wanted to survive.”
Old Man Gong was a cultured man who had received the very best education could offer. His life was one spent in blissful happiness surrounded by love and the wonders of family. He hated those wild bees and butterflies who behaved superficially – Sun Xiaoxiao being one such person. Therefore, when Sun Xiaoxiao refused to desist from her lascivious advances, he taught her a lesson she would never forget.
Listening to his father’s account of the events that had transpired 18 years ago, Gong Yi was partially convinced. He trusted his father from the bottom of his heart. They had been father and son for more than 20 years. He saw no reason for his father to provide a false accounting of his past with Sun Xiaoxiao.
But Beibei was not her mother. They were two distinct individuals, two separate existences.
He could not imagine Beibei behaving in the same way as her mother. In some small way, he recognized how much Beibei’s mother had suffered. After all, she had been raped by Bai Shida and driven to the brink of sanity.
The truth is not something so easy to accept.
“Father, then what happened between the two of you earlier?”
“Haven’t I already told you what happened? I sought her out, exposing her true colours, and when she could not accept my words any longer, she flew into a rage. She stripped herself and framed me for an assault against her person. You saw how she fled from me! The despicable woman that she is!” Old Man Gong was truly fed up with Sun Xiaoxiao.
Gong Yi pursed his lips, his features creasing into a frown. He was in a bad mood. It seemed his premonition had come true. Matters of his father’s generation had, indeed, spilt over into his own and now it was affecting his relationship with Bai Beibei.
“Gong Yi, I’ll say this, and I’ll only say this once. You and Bai Beibei are done. No good can come out of a child whose mother is as wicked as Sun Xiaoxiao!”
“What nonsense are you spouting, father?” Gong Yi furrowed his sword-like brows. “Sun Xiaoxiao is one woman, and Beibei is another. They are two different people. You can’t just lump one in with the other! You can’t project your bias of the mother onto the daughter. It isn’t right!”
“Gong Yi.” Old Man Gong slammed the table and stood up. “Can’t you see? Sun Xiaoxiao destroyed the Bai family, and now she’s coming after me for revenge. She’s using her daughter to get back at me, and you’re walking straight into her trap!”
“Father, I’m not a fool. Only someone with some modicum of skill is going to one-up me. I would appreciate it if you had more faith in me and my feelings than this.”
“No! Absolutely not! I won’t have it. Gong Yi, if you marry Bai Beibei, I’ll disown you. I won’t have her soiling the floor of our Gong family.”
Old Man Gong flicked his sleeves and left in a flurry of robes.
“Father…” Gong Yi stared helplessly at his father’s retreating figure. He knew that this time, his father was being serious.
“Mother…” Gong Yi turned to his mother for support.
Madam Gong sighed. In a serious tone, she said, “Gong Yi, I believe your father. I’m sorry, but I must rescind my approval of Bai Beibei – at least, for the moment. I shall reserve judgement for another time. I, too, hope you will think this through carefully. Do not let Sun Xiaoxiao bring disharmony to our family. She is not as simple as she seems.”
Elsewhere, in a certain villa…
Bai Beibei poured a cup of hot tea for her mother. “Mother, you should drink some tea to calm yourself down.”
Sun Xiaoxiao accepted the teacup and took a sip. “No one in this world treats me as well as you do, Beibei. You still treat your dear old mother best.”
“Mother,” Bai Beibei sat beside her. “What happened? You and Gong Yi’s father…”
“Gong Ping is a hypocrite!” Sun Xiaoxiao cursed hatefully.
“Mother, I’ve interacted with Gong Yi’s father a few times. I don’t believe he is that kind of person. Besides, with my current relationship with Young Master Gong, Gong Yi’s father wouldn’t touch you. There must be some sort of misunderstanding. We…”
“Pa!” Sun Xiaoxiao slammed her teacup onto the coffee table. “Beibei, are you insinuating that I’ve lied?”
It had been a long time since Bai Beibei had seen Sun Xiaoxiao so angry. The way she stared at her was cold and terrifying. She shuddered in fear.
It reminded her of the way her mother had looked at her when she was young, lashing out at her with a rattan cane. She would never forget that look.
“Mother…”
Sun Xiaoxiao quickly realized how she had lost her composure. Immediately, her expression did a 180, turning sweet and loving. Holding Bai Beibei’s hand, she apologized softly, “Beibei, did mother scare you? I’m sorry… I was just so angry.”
“No, no. I’m fine.” Bai Beibei shook her head.
“Beibei, you were deceived. I’ve known Gong Ping for over 18 years, and I know all his tricks. He is a cunning fox. You must be wary of him.”
“What?” Bai Beibei responded in shock.
“18 years ago, I left home and came here. I managed to get a job as a clerk for the Gong Corporation. I worked hard – as hard as I could to make up for my lacking education. Eventually, Gong Ping took notice of me. Thinking I was pretty, he promoted me to the position of his personal assistant. Naturally, our interactions increased and he started taking certain liberties with me. There was even once whereby he tried to rape me when drunk on too much alcohol.”
Bai Beibei’s pupils constricted.
“I swore that I would never allow him to succeed. The very next day, he demoted me for insubordination. However, that did not curtail his advances at all. He drugged me and tried to have his way. I slapped him in self-defence. So humiliated was he that he fired me and slandered my good name. No company dared hire me, thereafter. He backed me into a corner, giving me no recourse whatsoever. That was how I was forced to become a servant to the Bai family.”
Sun Xiaoxiao clutched Bai Beibei’s small hands as she spoke. “Bai Shida may be a hateful man, but the one ultimately responsible for ruining my life altogether will never change. Gong Ping, that vile man, he is the one who destroyed my life!”
Bai Beibei listened in rapturous silence. It sounded so utterly preposterous to her own ears that she had trouble accepting her mother’s words. Although Old Man Gong did not like her, she did not think he was one to stoop so low as to bully a woman.
However, this was her mother. She believed her mother wouldn’t lie to her.
“Mother, don’t worry. I’ll speak to Young Master Gong tomorrow. I believe that there must be some misunderstanding. You…”
“What kind of misunderstanding could there have been? Despite all that I have said you still don’t believe me, do you?”
“Mother, that’s not what I meant. I believe you…”
“If you really do believe me, as you say, promise me that you’ll break up with Gong Yi tomorrow and never interact with him again!”
Bai Beibei’s breathing quickened. “Mother, what are you talking about? Why should I break up with him?”
“He’s Gong Ping’s son! Is there a need for any other reason?”
“No… Don’t be ridiculous, mother! Gong Yi isn’t that sort of person. You can’t compare him with his father like that. You don’t know how good he’s been to me, mother. When grandmother was taken ill and left bedridden in hospital, were it not for him, neither grandmother nor I would be here today. You can’t demand this of me!”
“Hmph!” Sun Xiaoxiao suddenly stood up, glaring at her daughter coldly. “I see how it is! Fine. Go to your precious Gong Yi and leave your own mother to rot. Your no different from them all – all those vultures and hyenas. My life has always been one of bitter hardship, anyway. What’s one more to that mix? Hah! Even my own daughter would rather throw me to the wolves than stand by me…”