Strategy to Capture Men - Chapter 29-1

No matter what Bai Yue said or how her parents argued, Qiao Wenxing found the doctor who had been in attendance when she had arrived at the hospital. From the doctor, he learnt that when Bai Yue was admitted, she had obvious slap marks on her face and a concussion. According to their analysis, someone had slapped her in the face, causing her to fall down, hit her head, and triggering a miscarriage.

Qiao Wenxing thought about the quarrel he had heard outside the door that night, and felt very tired.

At that point in time, Brother Bai rushed to the hospital and immediately accosted Qiao Wenxing. “Where were you when my sister lost her child?!”

But Qiao Wenxing had not come alone. With him were four bodyguards, who trussed up Brother Bai like a chicken.

Panic-stricken, Father and Mother Bai pleaded with Qiao Wenxing on their son’s behalf. “Please, he’s just being young and foolish! He’s just worried about his sister!”

Bai Yue had been slapped, fallen, and miscarried because she had accidentally  let slip that Mother Qiao had offered to send her away with 5 million yuan, and that she had torn up the check.

Five million yuan! Father and Mother Bai couldn’t possibly have earned such a sum in their lifetime. With the money, they could have bought Brother Bai a huge house in his hometown, with no worries leftover for a bride price for his wife!

Not only had Bai Yue actually turned down such a large sum of money, but she had also refused to ask Qiao Wenxing for five million yuan! Furious, Father Bai had slapped her in the face. Her belly already heavy with child, Bai Yue had lost her balance, fell to the ground, smashed her head and lost her child.

Father and Mother Bai had originally planned to press a sum of money out of Qiao Wenxing by means of Bai Yue’s miscarriage. But unexpectedly, the Qiao Wenxing who had came back from D City wasn’t at all like the son-in-law they knew. He was almost like a completely different man, and four bodyguards in black suits followed closely on his heels, inspiring fear in anyone who looked.

It was Father and Mother Bai who first lost their nerve. They were too afraid that he would find out the truth about Bai Yue’s miscarriage to dare ask for money.

“Let me talk to Bai Yue alone,” said Qiao Wenxing.

With the ‘help’ of his bodyguards, the Bai parents had no choice but to leave the ward. Before they left, they winked urgently at Bai Yue, but she didn’t see them. She lay in bed with her eyes closed and tears seeping out from under her lids.

With everyone gone, the ward became quiet.

Qiao Wenxing did not press her for the truth of the matter. She was flesh of their flesh and bone of their bone. No matter how badly her parents and younger brother hurt her, Bai Yue would grit her teeth and defend them to the end.

He only asked, “Why didn’t you call me when this happened?”

“They took my phone away,” she sobbed.

Father and Mother Bai had been afraid that she would tell Qiao Wenxing the truth. They had taken away her phone and forbidden her from contacting him. Not until they had convinced and browbeat her into taking their side that Brother Bai had contacted him. As for where he had vanished to the last few days, not only had Father and Mother Bai not been worried about him, but they had been glad for his absence.

Bai Yue felt uneasy at his long silence. Weakly, she asked, “Where have you been these  last few days? Why did you only come now? ”

Qiao Wenxing looked at her. “I went home.”

Bai Yue didn’t comprehend his meaning at first, but then it hit her. By ‘home’, Qiao Wenxing didn’t mean the apartment they had rented in M City, but the Qiao Family in D City.

“You..!” Bai Yue was frightened and panicked. But when she met Qiao Wenxing’s gaze, there was nothing she could say. What was wrong with him going back? How could she stop him?

“Will you… come back?” she asked eventually in a quivering tone.

“No,” Qiao Wenxing replied. “I’ll settle things here, then return and never come back.”

Bai Yue’s lower lip trembled. “What… what about me? What will I do?”

Qiao Wenxing was once again silent. A long time later, he answered, “You are my wife. You should come home with me. But…”

“If you want to be Mrs. Qiao,” he laid out his terms, “You must break off your relationship with your parents. You have to go completely no-contact with them.”

These terms were beyond Bai Yue. She was the eldest daughter, and she had to be filial to her parents. She was the elder sister, and she had a duty to help out her younger brother. Her parents had raised her, her brother was her only sibling; how could she give them up?

“I can’t…” she shed tears. “They’re my father, mother and brother…”

Once again, the ward fell silent.

A long time later, Qiao Wenxing said softly and gently, “Let’s get a divorce.”

Bai Yue closed her eyes. Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry…”

She had heard news of the Qiao Family from her little brother. She knew that Qiao Wenxing had lost his position as heir.

Bai Yue was no longer a naïve girl who believed that Cinderella would live happily ever after with her prince, that innocent who thought that people could survive on love and water. She understood full well what Qiao Wenxing had lost because of her.

Qiao Wenxing closed down his business in M City and divorced Bai Yue. Just as he had promised, he bought Bai Yue an apartment in M City, and he gave her a generous alimony. If she could hold onto the money, she would never want for food or material comforts all her life.

If she could hold onto it.

After dealing with all these things and returning to D City, Qiao Wenxing felt like he had finally truly awoken from his dream. He had once been a spoiled young master, and this dream had brought him to maturity.

The double date Qiao Chengyu had proposed never came to fruition, but he ate once alone with Han Yanyan. They had grown up together and were even once engaged. Although there was no love between them, they were fairly good friends, and she hadn’t embarrassed him at all even when he had broken off the engagement. Qiao Wenxing is full of guilt toward her.

As soon as they met, he was shocked by how gorgeous she was.

Qiao Wenxing even felt a little confused. Was this really the Han Yanyan he knew? Why was she somehow more beautiful, more confident, more radiant? How had she become even sexier, and more charming than she had been? She hadn’t been like this at all when they had been together.

Over that catch-up meal, Qiao Wenxing felt how different Han Yanyan was from Bai Yue. Whether it was in her vision, her manners or her bearing, they were miles apart.

He was at a loss. Was it because he had known her for too long that he had not seen her elegance in the past? But when a woman was so dazzling, how could he possibly have overlooked her?

“What are your plans for the future?” Han Yanyan asked him.

Qiao Wenxing forced a bitter smile. “Dad gave me two companies to manage.”

When he had returned to the circle, he found that attitudes toward him were very different now than they were before. He had once been the heir to the Qiao Family, but now he was merely the Qiao Family’s eldest young master, nothing more. He was no longer the center of attention among his friends like he had been before.

It was Qiao Chengyu who was always surrounded by people now.

After Han Yanyan had gone home, he lay in bed that night, unable to sleep. Everytime he rolled over and forced himself to close his eyes, the memories of the past year were fresh in his mind, and the changes after he had returned never left.

Qiao Wenxing felt his heart hurt.