Cao Xueqin was filled with anger. She was born into a wealthy family in Suzhou and Hangzhou, raised with pampering and indulgence, never having faced even the slightest grievance. However, after marrying into the Shen family, she found herself repeatedly humiliated by Shen Monong.
The Shen family patriarch insisted that the women of the household clean up the dishes after meals themselves, a practice intended to instill thrift and household management skills in the younger generation. Cao Xueqin could understand this, but Shen Monong was an exception. Although Shen Monong would sometimes voluntarily perform these tasks, more often than not, someone would stop her, saying, "A girl's hands are precious before marriage, but after marriage, they are no longer valuable?"
This situation left Cao Xueqin deeply uncomfortable. No matter how much she tried to be obedient, thoughtful, and win over the patriarch, he always treated her with a cold and indifferent demeanor. But if Shen Monong happened to be in a good mood and chatted with the old man, he would be overjoyed for half a day.
Cao Xueqin was the one who facilitated Shen Monong's engagement to Bei Kesong, the eldest son of the Bei family. On the one hand, getting Shen Monong out of the Shen family would be a relief, sparing her from further frustration. On the other hand, Bei Kesong's mother was a distant aunt of hers. If she could make Shen Monong the Bei family's daughter-in-law, it would strengthen the familial ties. More importantly, if she succeeded in arranging this marriage, her status in the Shen family would naturally rise. She even expected that Bei Kesong would be grateful to her.
Unexpectedly, Shen Monong resisted the marriage and resolutely left Suzhou for Beijing to pursue her career. This left Cao Xueqin in a difficult position. Bei Kesong's mother became sarcastic and cold toward her, and the Shen patriarch considered her actions foolish. Although he couldn't say much due to the relationship with the Bei family, his attitude toward her worsened. With Shen Monong's departure, Cao Xueqin found herself in an awkward situation, neither belonging to the Shen family nor being welcomed elsewhere.
Cao Xueqin, already frustrated, had another unpleasant encounter with Shen Monong. She was even kicked out by Tang Guo, the daughter of the Tang Corporation. Being a person of high social standing, she couldn't tolerate such humiliation. And to top it off, a mere bodyguard dared to act insolently toward her. Finally, Cao Xueqin found an outlet for her anger.
She decisively raised her hand to slap the bodyguard. What she couldn't accomplish with Shen Monong and Tang Guo, she would achieve with this bodyguard. Hitting a bodyguard, even if they were angry, wouldn't cause much trouble for her. As she swung her right hand, she felt a significant portion of her anger dissipate.
*Smack!*
Cao Xueqin's hand didn't land on Ye Qiu's face but was caught in his large, powerful hand. The grip was so strong that it made her hand sting with pain.
"What do you think you're doing?" Ye Qiu asked coldly.
"Let go! How dare you, a lowly servant, resist—" Cao Xueqin tried to pull her right hand free from Ye Qiu's grasp but couldn't. Her anger surged again, and she swung her left hand at him.
*Smack!*
This time, the sound of a slap rang out. However, it wasn't Cao Xueqin who landed the hit. Ye Qiu avoided her attack and then slapped her back—*a return of courtesy*, as they say.
Cao Xueqin couldn't dodge the slap; she hadn't even considered that a mere bodyguard would dare to hit her.
Cao Xueqin was stunned, as were Tang Guo, Shen Monong, and Lin Bao'er, who all looked at Ye Qiu as if nothing had happened. But Cao Xueqin's husband, Shen Erli, went mad. His wife had been slapped by someone—an act no man could tolerate, especially for those like him, who valued face more than life itself.
"You lowly servant—" Shen Erli shouted as he lunged at Ye Qiu. Ye Qiu swung Cao Xueqin's body, causing her to stumble into her husband's arms. She wore such high heels that it was unclear if she twisted her ankle.
The couple collided, and it wasn't until Cao Xueqin felt the pain that she realized what had happened. She clutched her face and burst into tears.
Shen Erli, holding his wife, knew he couldn't physically overpower the bodyguard. Worse, this bodyguard was unlike others. Normally, bodyguards wouldn't dare dodge or fight back if he struck them, but this one—even hitting women—clearly wouldn't show him any mercy.
"Miss Tang, you must give us an explanation. Your bodyguard hit a member of the Shen family. Are you just going to let this go? I demand to see your father."
Tang Guo was now in a tough spot. In their line of business, reputation was everything. If someone dared to slap her, her father might even consider risking his life for revenge. But now, Ye Qiu had hit someone from the Shen family, and she didn't know how to handle it. Mishandling it could spark a feud between the Tang and Shen families.
Shen Monong understood the gravity of the situation. She handed a few tissues to Cao Xueqin to comfort her, then looked at her uncle and said, "Uncle, this happened too quickly for us to react. How about this: I'll have Ye Qiu apologize to Auntie, and we'll let this matter go. How does that sound?"
Cao Xueqin was even more enraged upon hearing this. She pushed away Shen Monong's hand, which was wiping her tears, and screamed, "An apology? Shen Monong, are you even part of the Shen family? I may have the surname Cao, but now that I'm married into the Shen family, I'm one of you. I've been slapped, and you think an apology will restore my dignity?"
"Auntie, I understand. It was Ye Qiu's fault. I'll have him apologize to you first, and then we'll punish him properly. Is that acceptable?"
"No! I've been slapped, and you think an apology will make it right?"
Tang Guo approached Ye Qiu, who stood there as if nothing had happened, and said with a mix of frustration and amusement, "Why did you hit her?"
"Didn't you see? She tried to hit me first," Ye Qiu replied.
"But she didn't actually hit you," Tang Guo said, wishing Lin Bao'er would bite this arrogant man to death. He acted as if what he did was perfectly justified, oblivious to the serious consequences.
"Exactly. She didn't hit me because I dodged," Ye Qiu said.
"Then why did you hit her back?"
"If she can hit me, why can't I hit her?" Ye Qiu grinned. "She could have dodged too, but she was too stupid to avoid it."
To read the manga version, please click the YouTube link https://youtu.be/GnU613H6xm8