The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 155: Chapter 155: Someone Died

Han Xiaorui was delighted. ”Since everyone’s coming to my place tomorrow, don’t come alone—bring the kids!”

”It’s the weekend, so let the kids come out and play. I’ll prepare some good food, and we can all eat, drink, and have fun together. That’s what it’s all about!”

Everyone looked at each other, knowing Han Xiaorui wasn’t just being polite.

Chen Yishui nodded. ”Alright, let’s all get together tomorrow! I can sing Kunqu opera; I’ll definitely have to perform a piece for you all.”

Sister Lan smiled. ”My hometown is in Yu Province. I’ll be sure to give you all a taste of Yu opera tomorrow.”

”I can sing Huangmei opera.”

”I can’t sing, but my kids practice martial arts. I’ll have them perform a routine for you.”

...

The more they talked, the more excited they became, their faces beaming with smiles.

”Alright, once you’re all packed up, you can head home. I’ll go settle the bill!”

Han Xiaorui returned home, took a shower, and changed into a sleeveless white polka-dot dress with a pair of small black sandals.

’If you go to the bank dressed poorly, they’ll look down on you.’

Boss Zhang was ready on his end, so Han Xiaorui got right into his car to go to the bank and transfer the money.

Boss Zhang was a major client at this bank, so they could make the transfer immediately upon arrival.

They didn’t have to wait long before the money was in Han Xiaorui’s account.

Han Xiaorui and Zhang Fa Cai walked out of the bank, one after the other.

Just then, a weathered-looking middle-aged woman rushed over and slapped Han Xiaorui across the face.

Han Xiaorui had been chatting with Boss Zhang about what kind of seafood was selling well recently and hadn’t noticed the woman’s approach.

And just like that, Han Xiaorui was slapped clean across the face.

Although Han Xiaorui instinctively dodged backward, her face still stung.

”You homewrecker, how dare you seduce my man!” the haggard-faced woman shrieked hoarsely.

Startled, Zhang Fa Cai quickly reacted and tried to explain, ”Ah Rong, you’ve misunderstood!”

The woman glared at Boss Zhang. ”Zhang Fa Cai, you heartless bastard! You’re still protecting this homewrecker. I turned a blind eye to you messing around, but you’ve gone too far! How dare you ask me for a divorce and even transfer our family’s money away!”

Hearing this, it all clicked for Han Xiaorui.

She was annoyed that this woman had struck her without getting her facts straight, but she was even more furious that Zhang Fa Cai’s damn philandering had dragged her into this mess and damaged her reputation.

Even though she, Han Xiaorui, was divorced, she had always acted with integrity and had never done anything immoral.

Han Xiaorui raised her hand and slapped Zhang Fa Cai hard across the face. ”I do business with you, and you dare to drag me into your mess! From now on, I’m not selling you a single fish from my boat!”

The onlookers, who had been gathering to watch the drama, had all assumed the beautiful Han Xiaorui was Zhang Fa Cai’s young mistress.

But Han Xiaorui’s slap didn’t just stun Zhang Fa Cai; it left his wife and the surrounding crowd completely baffled.

Zhang Fa Cai wasn’t very tall to begin with, and Han Xiaorui’s slap sent him stumbling back several steps before he lost his footing and fell to the ground.

The middle-aged woman, Ah Rong, saw her husband get hit and fall to the ground. Her face filled with anguish, she rushed over to help Zhang Fa Cai up. ”Why are you just hitting people randomly?”

Han Xiaorui rolled her eyes, strode forward a few steps, and slapped the woman across the face as well.

”You’re so stupid you can’t even tell right from wrong. You can’t even catch the right person when you’re trying to expose an affair. You’re hopelessly stupid! Serves you right! This slap is for the one you gave me earlier!”

”Everyone here is my witness! I, Han Xiaorui, sell fish, not my smile, and not my body. Anyone who spreads rumors about me, I’ll slap them too!”

Han Xiaorui nonchalantly dusted off her hands, picked up her bag from the ground, and sauntered away.

The crowd erupted in an uproar. So this was the Han Xiaorui who Mazu herself was scrambling to feed!

The middle-aged woman, Li Rong, was stunned. She turned to glare at Zhang Fa Cai. ”Zhang Fa Cai, you want to divorce me... isn’t it because of her?”

Zhang Fa Cai, having come to his senses, clutched his swollen face and scrambled up from the ground. ”That woman is crazy, just an unreasonable lunatic. So stupid. We’ll talk at home. Don’t make a fool of ourselves in public.”

At this point, Li Rong also realized she might have hit the wrong person.

If the other woman really were Zhang Fa Cai’s mistress, she would never have slapped him so hard.

In the car, Zhang Fa Cai’s face was dark.

Li Rong got in the car after him, her earlier arrogance gone.

”Fa Cai, I’ve been with you since we had nothing, all the way to the great fortune we have now. At home, I’ve honored your parents and raised our children. I’m the one taking care of your parents now that they’re sick. You can’t divorce me.”

Zhang Fa Cai remained silent.

Li Rong grew afraid. ’Isn’t the only reason I made this scene to save our marriage?’

”Go to a pharmacy and buy some medicine,” Li Rong said to the driver in front.

The driver glanced at his cousin’s dark face in the rearview mirror, feeling immense sympathy. He had been scared stiff just now.

’That woman, Han Xiaorui, is really something else. She knocked my cousin down with a single slap.’

He bought the medicine and handed it to Li Rong. ”Cousin-in-law, here you go.”

Li Rong tried to apply the medicine to Zhang Fa Cai’s face, but he shoved her hand away. ”Who told you Han Xiaorui was my woman on the side?”

Li Rong flinched. ’Of course, it was her sister who told her that Han Xiaorui ate at the restaurant without paying and that Zhang Fa Cai always gave her so much money.’

”I... I found out myself. You give Han Xiaorui so much money!”

Zhang Fa Cai said irritably, ”Most of the seafood we use at the restaurant comes from Han Xiaorui’s boat. It’s all top-grade stuff; it’s worth that much.”

”Because you slapped her, Han Xiaorui won’t sell her seafood to me anymore. I do have a woman on the side; I’ve told you that plainly. Even if I divorce you, I’ll still support you...”

Li Rong’s face went pale with fear. Zhang Fa Cai was dead set on divorcing her. ”If... if you divorce me, I... I’ll kill myself right in front of you.”

”Then go ahead and die. It’ll save me the trouble of a divorce,” Zhang Fa Cai snapped, his annoyance with Li Rong boiling over into rage.

Li Rong’s heart turned to ash. Her world went dark. She lowered her head and said nothing.

Hate consumed her.

’No wonder men are all scum. Get a little money and they turn bad, wishing their wives would just die so they can marry someone young and beautiful.’

’I’ve worked so hard for so many years. I can’t just let someone else reap the benefits.’

’Zhang Fa Cai’s fortune can only belong to my son and daughter.’

When they got home, Li Rong attended to Zhang Fa Cai as attentively as ever, taking all the food out of the refrigerator and cooking a table full of fine dishes.

Zhang Fa Cai was fuming. He wanted to go explain things to Han Xiaorui, hoping they could continue their business partnership, but his face was too swollen.

He drank to drown his sorrows and went to his room, where he fell into a deep, snoring sleep.

Li Rong hated Zhang Fa Cai, and she hated that he had another woman. In the middle of the night, she found an axe and smashed his head open.

Zhang Fa Cai clutched his head in disbelief as blood gushed from the wound.

”Help me... help me...” Zhang Fa Cai collapsed on the floor, struggling feebly.

Seeing Zhang Fa Cai’s gruesome state, it finally hit Li Rong: she had killed someone.

She packed a bag, took all the money in the house, and fled.

The next day, Zhang Fa Cai’s driver and cousin, Cheng Qiang, came to pick him up, only to find him lying dead in a pool of blood.

Cheng Qiang immediately called the police, then closed the door to preserve the scene.

The police arrived quickly, and Zhang Fa Cai’s cousin recounted the recent events truthfully.

Han Xiaorui had just finished breakfast when the police showed up, telling her she was connected to a murder case and needed to come in for questioning.