“Lu Yunqi, what are you doing?” Lin Xi appeared suddenly at the hospital room door, catching Lu Yunqi in the act by her grandmother’s bed.

Lu Yunqi’s body stiffened at the sound of Lin Xi’s voice. She immediately pulled the blanket back over Grandma Lin and turned around with a faint, fake smile. “Nothing, just giving your grandmother a massage.”

“Why are you back here?” Lu Yunqi stepped to the doorway, blocking Lin Xi from entering. “Where’s Song Xu?”

Lin Xi wasn’t a fool. She pushed Lu Yunqi aside, marched straight to the bedside, and threw back the covers to check on her grandmother. Her vision nearly went black—there wasn’t a single inch of unblemished skin on the old woman; she was covered in blue and purple bruises. Lin Xi couldn’t even imagine the agony her grandmother must have been in.

“Lu Yunqi!” Lin Xi turned, glaring at her with such raw, murderous intent that she wanted nothing more than to end her right there. “Why did you do this?”

Since she had been caught, Lu Yunqi dropped the act. She crossed her arms and looked at Lin Xi with utter contempt. “I just didn’t like the look of her, so what?”

“An old hag who spends her days picking through trash—what right does she have to be staying in a place like this?” Lu Yunqi scoffed. “And you’re even more shameless, selling yourself to Song Xu just for money.”

“You think Song Xu will actually marry you? What a joke. Look at your own station in life. Don’t think that just because Xu Wantang has been nice to you, you’re actually a daughter-in-law of the Song family.”

“Let me tell you something: it’s Grandpa Song who calls the shots in the Song family, and what Xu Wantang says doesn’t mean a damn thing. Think of today as a small lesson. If you’re smart, you’ll get away from Song Xu right now, otherwise…”

“Otherwise what?” Lin Xi wasn’t listening anymore. Her mind was occupied by only one thing: she had to beat Lu Yunqi into the ground to avenge her grandmother.

She raised her hand and slammed it against Lu Yunqi’s face. Once wasn’t enough; she followed up with a backhand slap.

“Ah!” “Ah!”

Following Lu Yunqi’s two shrieks, Lin Xi lunged forward and grabbed her by the throat. Lu Yunqi thrashed, but she was shorter than Lin Xi, and her arms were too short to reach Lin Xi’s face. She could only flail, scratching and pinching at Lin Xi’s arms.

Lin Xi winced as the pain hit, her grip loosening slightly. Lu Yunqi seized the chance to shove her away. “Lin Xi, are you insane? Do you even know the consequences of hitting me?”

Lin Xi didn’t know, and she didn’t care. She balled up her fist and smashed it into Lu Yunqi’s head.

Lin Xi had a fair amount of real-world fighting experience. Growing up poor, without parents, and having lost her brother, she had been bullied by classmates countless times. Teachers never helped, only telling her to stay away from the bullies. She couldn’t tell her grandmother—the old woman already struggled enough to raise her, and she didn’t want to burden her.

Eventually, she had just sought out the ringleaders and challenged them one-on-one. She wasn’t afraid of pain, and she didn’t cry; she just relentlessly pounded them with her fists. Because they were just kids, they’d get hurt and cry after a few blows. Then, she would turn the tables and threaten them: if they told their parents, she’d beat them every time she saw them.

Lin Xi had made a name for herself in elementary school that day, and no one dared to bully her again. She had actually suffered worse injuries than her opponents, but her gaze was ruthless, her attacks were vicious, and she never once shed a tear, which terrified the other kids.

Now, facing Lu Yunqi, that same ruthlessness surfaced. After her first punch, she grabbed Lu Yunqi by the hair, pinned her to the floor, and slammed her head against the ground.

Lu Yunqi eventually went silent and passed out. Exhausted, Lin Xi stopped. She let go of Lu Yunqi’s hair, but as she looked at the pool of blood on the floor, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed as well.

As she lost consciousness, she thought she heard Song Xu’s voice.

“Xixi!” Song Xu caught Lin Xi just before she hit the ground. When he saw Lu Yunqi on the floor, he was stunned. Lu Yunqi’s face was unrecognizable. Song Xu reached out to check her breath—she was still alive.

He frantically hit the call button, summoned the doctors and nurses, and they were rushed into the emergency room. Waiting outside, Song Xu dialed Lu Yunzhou’s number. “Brother Yunzhou, you need to come to the hospital. Xiaoqi is hurt. It’s pretty bad.”

After hanging up, Song Xu checked the room’s security footage. When he saw what Lu Yunqi had done to Grandma Lin, his face darkened to a terrifying shade. When had Lu Yunqi become this malicious?

Hearing what Lu Yunqi had said to Lin Xi later, his opinion of her plummeted further. He suddenly understood why his mother disliked her; perhaps she had seen Lu Yunqi’s true nature all along. He also caught a key detail: Lu Yunqi had mentioned his grandfather was returning to the country? He had no idea—his parents hadn’t mentioned a thing.

Whoever was coming back, nothing would stop his determination to be with Lin Xi. She was already his, and he would never be a heartless man.

Song Xu continued watching the footage. Lin Xi had struck back with moves that were seamless and efficient, leaving Lu Yunqi no room to recover. It was obvious she had been driven to the brink. By the end, Song Xu breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like Lin Xi had only fainted at the sight of the blood and hadn’t been seriously injured. He saved the security footage to his phone. If the Lu family wanted to give Lin Xi trouble, this video was evidence of Lu Yunqi’s provocation.

Lu Yunzhou hurried over. “Xiaoxu, what happened? Why is Xiaoqi hurt?”

Song Xu gave a vague explanation. “Xiaoqi and Lin Xi had a conflict and got into a fight. By the time I got there, they had both fainted.”

“They’re both inside,” Song Xu pointed to the emergency room.

Lu Yunzhou frowned. “Are they seriously injured?”

“Xiaoqi lost a lot of blood,” Song Xu said. “She might need a transfusion.” He didn’t mention Lin Xi; she might have already woken up inside.

Hearing that Lu Yunqi needed blood, Lu Yunzhou looked worried. Their family had a rare blood type—his parents were both Rh-negative O-type, commonly known as “Panda Blood.” Both he and his sister had inherited it, so they were always most afraid of injuries involving heavy bleeding. To be safe, they kept several people with the same blood type in their employ.

He took out his phone to text his assistant, telling him to bring those people to the hospital.

Just then, the emergency room door opened. A nurse hurried out. “Is there a family member of Lu Yunqi here?”

Lu Yunzhou stepped forward. “I am her older brother.”

The nurse handed him a form to sign. “The patient has lost too much blood and needs a transfusion. Please sign this notice.”

“Does the hospital blood bank have her type?” Lu Yunzhou glanced at the form and saw the blood type written as “Type A.” His brow furrowed. “How are you people working? How can you get the blood type wrong? Are you playing with her life?”

The nurse looked at the form. “It’s correct, sir. Lu Yunqi is Type A.”

“Impossible,” Lu Yunzhou said firmly. “My sister should be O-type Panda Blood.”

The nurse was taken aback. “Sir, I think you’re mistaken. The patient who has the Panda Blood is the other one—the one named Lin Xi.”