There was a loud slap, echoing through the room. It hit Shen Xinai's face, and the pain echoed in Dong Ru zhu's heart. For the ten thousandth time, she regretted leaving her behind. She should have let her die with Liang Xinying, without a trace left behind.
"Dad, do you still think a slap can't make a sound?" Shen Xingkong turned to Shen Zhizhou, knowing deep down that he had never loved her, not in this life or the last.
Shen Zhizhou's face turned sour, but he was relieved that it wasn't directed at Huo Mingzhu. Otherwise, it would have overturned the entire Shen family, and Dong Siyu wouldn't have let it go easily.
"Ah! Shen Xingkong, if I kill you, ah!" Shen Xinai screamed, holding her cheek.
"If I were you, I'd shut up right now." Shen Xingkong couldn't stand her screeching voice and impatiently dug out a lemon from the low table and stuffed it into her mouth.
"You...ah..." Shen Xinai wasn't prepared and bit into the lemon, the sour juice filling her mouth instantly. She felt like dying.
Unlike the angry Dong Ru zhu, Dong Siyu admired Shen Xingkong's courage and decisiveness. Compared to the weeping Shen Xinai, she preferred Shen Xingkong, who took action directly.
It was a pity that she was born into the wrong family. If she wasn't Liang Xinying's daughter, she might have considered taking her in.
Shen Xinai, with a pained expression, finally managed to take the exploding lemon out of her mouth. She drank several glasses of water before recovering.
With distorted features and gnashing teeth, Shen Xinai rushed towards Xingkong like lightning, trying to grab her neck, but Xingkong reacted faster and directly poked two fingers into her eyes.
"Ah ah ah ah ah! Ah ah ah ah!!!" Shen Xinai screamed in pain again.
In her past life, she must have been a screaming chicken.
Xingkong impatiently dug her ears and rolled her eyes with disdain after glancing at the complex expressions of the people around her. "Self-defense," she said casually.
Shen Zhizhou scrutinized Shen Xingkong, "..."
Dong Ru zhu's cheek muscles twitched constantly with anger.
Dong Siyu's admiration for Xingkong grew even stronger.
Liang Xinying was already dead, and in the eyes of the world, Shen Xingkong was the orphan that the Shen family mistakenly picked up in the hospital...
No, even she herself thought so.
And she would never know that she was Liang Xinying's daughter.
Therefore, even if she was taken in, there would be no problem.
With this thought in mind, Dong Siyu quickly came up with a plan.
"Dad! You see, she dares to treat me like this in front of you. You can imagine how she bullies me when you're not at home." Shen Xinai covered her eyes and stomped her feet, complaining to Shen Zhizhou.
Her eyes were burning with pain, and Shen Xinai was in a panic, afraid that she would go blind.
Shen Zhizhou's face was also extremely embarrassed. He didn't expect Shen Xingkong to be so excessive. "Xingkong, you're too much. Do you know that you could blind Xinai's eyes by doing this?"
Xingkong sneered, "Compared to my sister using a knife to attack me and my mother having me kidnapped, what I just did was nothing."
Shen Zhizhou frowned.
Xinai used a knife on her? Dong Ru zhu had her kidnapped?
Why hadn't he heard about this from Dong Ru zhu?
"Or does Dad think it's okay for them to bully me, but not for me to fight back?" Xingkong blinked her innocent, large eyes, which were slightly red. Her pitiful appearance was truly heartbreaking.
Xingkong looked at Shen Zhizhou with a mournful expression and said, "If Dad thinks..."
"That's enough!" Dong Ru zhu suddenly interrupted Xingkong's words. She couldn't stand her hypocritical behavior anymore.
"What do you want to do, Xingkong? Do you have to make the Shen family unable to live in peace before you're satisfied? Yes, I didn't arrange a celebration for your academic achievements, and I can understand if you're unhappy. But do you have to go this far?" Dong Ru zhu was angry.
Xingkong faintly sneered at the words.
It seemed that she had guessed correctly.
Dong Ru zhu hadn't told Shen Zhizhou the whole truth.
Perhaps Shen Zhizhou had always thought that the reason for all this trouble was because Dong Ru zhu hadn't arranged a celebration for her academic achievements.
"The Shen family raised you, and this is how you repay them? I always thought that you weren't the Shen family's biological child, so I often had to consider your feelings. Even when it wasn't Xinai's fault, I would still punish her just to prevent you from feeling left out. But you've gone too far. Today, I can't indulge you anymore." Dong Ru zhu looked at Xinai's red eyes and wished she could cut Xingkong into pieces.
God knows how much pain she felt as a mother when she saw Xingkong poke her fingers into Xinai's eyes.
"My Lord, you saw what she just did. Fortunately, Xinai's eyes are fine. If something happened to her, how could we face her biological mother under the nine springs?"
As soon as Liang Xinying was mentioned, Shen Zhizhou's face changed instantly, with complex emotions flashing in his eyes.
Dong Ru zhu pretended not to see anything and continued, "my Lord, we can't tolerate Xingkong's behavior anymore."
Shen Zhizhou gave a cold glance at Xingkong and said, "Then we'll punish her according to family rules."
"Isn't that a bit too harsh...?" Dong Ru zhu's lips twitched as she glanced at Xingkong, hoping to see panic or even begging on her face, but unfortunately, she saw nothing, feeling a little surprised and disappointed.
The Shen family's family rules were passed down from their ancestors and were quite severe. One had to kneel in front of the ancestor's tablet, wearing only thin clothes, enduring the whip's beating, and kneeling for a full thirty days before being allowed to stand up. Because it was too cruel, no one had received such punishment for many years, not even Shen Zhizhou.
"You're right. She's gone too far and needs to be properly educated."
"How about just a few hits?" At this moment, Dong Siyu suddenly spoke up.
She knew about the Shen family's family rules from Shen Xinai's complaints before.
"Auntie!" Shen Xinai was unhappy with Dong Siyu's favoritism towards Shen Xingkong. "She's gone too far. Why only a few hits? If you don't hit her hard enough, she won't learn her lesson."
"Then you can hit her yourself, and she'll remember." Dong Siyu said again, curious about what Shen Xingkong would do next.
Shen Xinai's eyes lit up. If she was the one to execute the family rules, it would definitely be satisfying!
"Dad, just listen to Auntie. After all, my sister is still injured... And if it spreads out, it's not good for our family's reputation," said Shen Xin'ai.
"She dares to spread it out!" Shen Zhizhou glared at Xingkong, with a threatening look on his face.
"Dad... Dad, can you spare my sister? Thirty days is too much, she definitely can't handle it," Shen Xinai held onto Shen Zhizhou's arm and shook it, acting coquettishly.
Shen Xingkong was happy to be punished, but if it was done by herself, whether it was thirty days or two or three times, she didn't care. Anyway, she would be ruthless and make Shen Xingkong taste the punishment of family law!