Chapter 229: Unqualified
Of course, Yu Yuan wouldn’t possibly start a fight with Wei Xiao in broad daylight at a wine tasting event.
What others saw was this: as Yu Yuan and Wei Xiao walked together chatting, some sort of disagreement seemed to arise. Yu Yuan tried to leave, but Wei Xiao grabbed her wrist.
A bit of physical struggle followed—simply put, Yu Yuan desperately tried to pull her wrist free, but given the difference in their builds, it was almost impossible.
However, compared to Wei Xiao, who still cared about maintaining his image, Yu Yuan struggled with far more force.
And the result, in everyone else’s eyes, was that Wei Xiao suddenly lost his balance and was dragged into the champagne tower.
Crash—clatter—smash.
The sound of champagne splashing and glasses shattering overlapped, instantly making the two of them the center of attention.
By the time Gu Qinghuan and Yu Xin arrived, Yu Yuan was standing there at a loss, her skirt visibly soaked, the smell of alcohol clinging to her. Fortunately, she seemed otherwise unharmed.
But Gu Qinghuan didn’t see Wei Xiao—only Xu Zhishu standing nearby with an unpleasant expression beside the shattered glass, while Cui Wanning stood in front of her, anxiously saying something.
Yu Xin rushed over to Yu Yuan, holding her shoulders and checking her over. She found a bruise around her wrist, and a few small cuts on her calf from flying glass shards. Thankfully, the wounds were minor and barely bleeding anymore.
“Are you okay?” Yu Xin asked worriedly.
Yu Yuan was still shaken, but upon hearing the question, she instinctively shook her head. “I’m fine…”
Before she could finish, Cui Wanning suddenly turned around and strode toward her, raising her hand high.
Yu Yuan instinctively pulled Yu Xin into her arms, turned her back to Cui Wanning, and shut her eyes tightly.
But after a sharp smack, she felt no pain.
Startled, she opened her eyes and turned her head—only to see Yu Wenxiu standing beside her, arm raised, having blocked Cui Wanning’s slap.
“Mrs. Cui,” Yu Wenxiu said word by word, “everyone saw clearly that this was just an accident. Why are you hitting Yu Yuan?”
Cui Wanning laughed in anger. “An accident? If she hadn’t argued with Wei Xiao, would this have happened? Wei Xiao has already been sent to the hospital!”
Gu Qinghuan had already asked around and understood the situation. She stepped forward to stand beside Yu Wenxiu. “Wei Xiao was sent to the hospital because glass shards pierced his hand. He was sent there to properly clean the wounds and bandage them.”
She didn’t say anything like “his injuries aren’t serious.” She simply stated the facts calmly.
After all, Cui Wanning’s words sounded reasonable at first. To prevent people from instinctively siding with Wei Xiao, it was necessary to present things objectively.
People had been worried about Wei Xiao, but after hearing this, they relaxed.
So it was just some glass shards in his hand.
Looking closely, the shards on the ground hadn’t even been fully cleared, and there were barely any traces of blood—it probably wasn’t serious.
“Aunt Cui, I understand you’re worried about Wei Xiao,” Gu Qinghuan said, “but Yu Yuan was also frightened in this incident. She needs your concern too.”
She continued, “Not just the accident that caused Wei Xiao’s injury—being suddenly restrained by someone physically stronger and getting into a physical struggle… at least for me, that’s not something I’d ever want to experience.”
She didn’t say what others might think—only spoke from her own perspective. But precisely because of that, others couldn’t help but put themselves in Yu Yuan’s position.
Yu Yuan was just a teenage high school student. Whether in height or weight, she was no match for Wei Xiao.
Being grabbed and pulled like that—just imagining it was frightening. Who knew what Wei Xiao had intended?
Shen Jianwei, hiding in a corner, was tapping furiously on her phone, live-reporting everything in the class group chat.
Ming Xiaolan: [That’s our class monitor.]
Xie Xiangxue: [Instant sense of security.]
Xu Xinghe: [Not a single word is accusatory, yet every word is.]
Yao Shali: [“Why didn’t you even show concern for your daughter?”—that hit hard.]
Song Yi: [She even tried to hit Yu Yuan!!!]
Lin Zhulu: [Well… hearing that Wei Xiao got hurt actually makes me kind of happy.]
Bao Qingsong: [Serves him right! Why couldn’t it be his face? He hurt another girl’s face back then!]
Leaving aside how lively the group chat was, the atmosphere at the scene had already eased considerably. At least no one was placing full blame on Yu Yuan anymore.
Cui Wanning’s expression was grim. She took a shallow breath, regaining her composed and dignified posture. “Xiao Gu, this is a matter between the Yu family and the Wei family.”
In other words—stay out of it.
Of course Gu Qinghuan understood the implication.
She could intervene as Yu Xin and Yu Yuan’s friend, but a friend was still an outsider. Forcing her way in might make her seem unreasonable.
Just as she was about to maneuver around it, Yu Yuan grabbed her arm, stepped forward, and bowed politely toward Xu Zhishu.
“Aunt Xu, I’m sorry. It was my carelessness that caused Wei Xiao to get hurt.”
“Our family will cover the medical expenses. And until his wounds heal, I will take responsibility for looking after him at school.”
She raised her head slightly, glanced at Cui Wanning, then quickly lowered it again, bowing even deeper, her tone more sincere.
“I’ll do my best to earn Wei Xiao’s forgiveness. I also hope you can give me a chance to apologize and take responsibility.”
“Alright,” Xu Zhishu finally spoke. “Wei Xiao was careless himself—it’s not your fault. I saw it just now; his injuries aren’t serious.”
“As for taking care of him, there’s no need. It’s a minor injury—he can recover at home in a couple of days. Don’t take it to heart.”
She looked somewhat weary. “I’ll go to the hospital to check on him. I won’t be staying for the rest of the event.”
With that, Xu Zhishu nodded slightly to those she knew and left in a hurry.
Cui Wanning shot Yu Yuan another glare before quickly following after her.
The crowd gradually dispersed. Though some were still discussing the incident, no one paid further attention to Yu Yuan.
Yu Yuan straightened up, turned to Gu Qinghuan and the others, and forced a smile. Her voice trembled. “Did I… do okay?”
Yu Wenxiu immediately grabbed her hand and led her to a corner, then pulled her into a tight embrace. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here—I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Yu Yuan buried her face in Yu Wenxiu’s shoulder, saying nothing.
But Gu Qinghuan and Yu Xin could both see the fabric on Yu Wenxiu’s shoulder gradually darkening with moisture.
Shen Jianwei quietly came over as well. “Is she okay?”
Gu Qinghuan said, “Can you help get a warm towel?”
Yu Xin immediately added, “I’ll go with her—we also need iodine and cotton swabs.”
Even though the cuts on Yu Yuan’s leg had stopped bleeding, disinfecting them would be better.
Yu Xin and Shen Jianwei hurried off, while Gu Qinghuan sat beside Yu Yuan and spoke gently, “You did really well just now. You gave Xu Zhishu a way to step down gracefully. Everyone knows this wasn’t your fault—they won’t blame you.”
Yu Yuan sniffled, lifting her head and looking at Gu Qinghuan. “But… my mom…”
“She’s not a qualified mother at all!” Yu Wenxiu suddenly spoke, her voice filled with anger and bitterness.
She had already collected enough hair samples and completed a paternity test between herself and Yu Yuan—confirming that Yu Yuan was indeed her daughter.
But before she could find the right moment to tell her, this incident happened today.
If she hadn’t come along… if she hadn’t stepped forward just now… would that slap have landed on Yu Yuan?
And without even understanding the situation, Cui Wanning had immediately blamed Yu Yuan. Had she considered how others would see her? Or how much it would hurt Yu Yuan’s self-esteem?
The daughter she had spent over a decade searching for—how could she be allowed to suffer like this?
