His Sunday Substitute - Chapter 31

He wanted to push aside her sweater, to draw closer…

Qin Wangxuan stood up abruptly, strode to the curtain, and shouted at Qin Cangye, “Brother! If you’ve got the guts, play that video again!”

All eyes turned to Qin Wangxuan, then shifted to Qin Cangye at his words.

After only a brief hesitation, Qin Cangye pressed the remote in his hand, replaying the footage.

“Stop! Look here, this is clearly AI-generated, the proportions are off. And here, the chair is misaligned…” Qin Wangxuan passionately pointed out over a dozen flaws. Qin Cangye cooperated fully, never interrupting his increasingly technical monologue.

Qin Weishu gradually regained his composure. Once Qin Wangxuan finished, he glared at Qin Cangye and roared, “Qin Cangye, what’s your game here? Framing me with fake footage, do you have any respect for your elders left? Do you even still want to be the next head of the Qin family?”

Qin Cangye sneered, dismantling Qin Weishu’s aggressive stance with a single sentence: “Framing? If it’s a frame-up, why didn’t you deny it from the start?”

The hall fell silent. Qin Weishu’s face darkened, and Qin Wangxuan had no retort.

“The video is indeed fake,” Qin Cangye addressed the guests calmly. “But as for the truth, I believe the elders here have already drawn their own conclusions. Today’s memorial event ends here. If any of you have other matters to attend to, you may leave. As a token of gratitude, I’ve arranged some wellness programs at the Qingshan Retreat for you. The staff will assist if needed.”

Finally, it’s over… Su Yinuo let out a long sigh of relief, thinking: It seems nothing will go wrong today.

“Wait!” Qin Weishu suddenly called out, halting the restless guests. “What you have is a fake video, but what I have is real audio!”

He signaled to a bodyguard, who handed him an old recorder. With a cold stare at Qin Cangye, he said, “Qin Cangye, since you show me no respect, I won’t spare you any courtesy either. This matter must be settled today, dragging it out year after year is pointless!”

With that, he pressed play on the recorder.

“I am Li Ruyin…”

A hoarse, weak, and lifeless voice drifted from the recorder. Qin Cangye’s expression twisted violently, his gaze locked onto the device.

“This is my confession.

I have wronged the Qin family, my husband Qin Jianning, and my father Qin Weishu.

It was my lack of virtue, my improper attire, that gave other men the opportunity…”

Before the recording could finish, Qin Cangye lunged forward and smashed his fist into the recorder. With a crack, the device shattered, and Li Ruyin’s voice cut off abruptly. Qin Cangye roared in fury, “You forced her to say this, didn’t you? You forced her?!”

Old Yan immediately stepped in, shielding Qin Weishu. Qin Weishu smirked shamelessly. “I didn’t force her. Back then, her affair with that officer from Chaoyang Mountain was common knowledge. After being exposed, she even got involved with one of our Qin family’s bodyguards…”

“Shut up!” Qin Cangye roared, throwing a punch. Old Yan’s eyes darkened as he caught the fist with his palm, his withered arm aching from the impact. Several bodyguards immediately rushed over upon seeing this.

“She was crying for help, I was eight years old that year, I understood everything!” Qin Cangye snarled at Qin Weishu. “She was just begging those weak men she thought would save her, men who actually deceived and mocked her!”

“Help or seduction, how could an eight-year-old possibly tell the difference?” Qin Weishu continued to provoke him.

“I couldn’t tell?” Qin Cangye turned to Qin Jianning, who had remained silent, and bellowed, “Then you must have known! Say something, Qin Jianning!!”

Qin Jianning set down his teacup, his hands trembling. He lifted his gaze to Qin Cangye, his eyes filled with helpless weakness. “I… what could I even say?”

Qin Cangye froze, then lunged forward, grabbing Qin Jianning, who had no bodyguards protecting him, by the collar and yanking him up before slamming him onto the round table.

“You’re the worst of them all!” Qin Cangye’s eyes were bloodshot as he shouted uncontrollably. “You were the one she loved most, trusted most, the one she entrusted her life to, and you were also the one who dragged her into the mud but couldn’t protect her at all! You killed her too, Qin Jianning! If you had just said one word, she wouldn’t have… wouldn’t have left me when I was only ten!”

Tears streamed down Qin Cangye’s face as he shoved Qin Jianning away. Qin Jianning slid to the floor, covering his face as he sobbed uncontrollably.

Qin Cangye then turned his furious gaze to Qin Weishu, then to the rest of the crowd. “Qin Weishu was the mastermind, but all of you, every single one of you, were accomplices! You knew exactly what kind of man Qin Weishu was, but you didn’t dare speak up, didn’t dare do anything! You watched as my grandmother suffered abuse and died without peace, and then you watched my mother follow the same fate!!!”

Qin Cangye grabbed a chair and hurled it at the crowd of Qin family members and friends, sending them screaming and scrambling backward.

“He’s lost it again!” Qin Weishu cursed, ordering the bodyguards to restrain Qin Cangye.

Seven or eight bodyguards surged forward, but Qin Cangye didn’t back down, fighting fiercely against them. The venue descended into complete chaos as people shoved their way toward the back exit.

Su Yinuo and Kong Wenxin were swept into the crowd, nearly knocked off their feet. Su Yinuo steadied Kong Wenxin and managed to push through the throng toward the back door, only to see a bodyguard smash a broken wooden leg against Qin Cangye’s head in the midst of the scuffle.

With a sickening thud, blood gushed from Qin Cangye’s forehead. He stood frozen in place, his gaze as cold as a soulless corpse.

“Qin Cangye!” Su Yinuo’s eyes reddened instantly as she tried to rush forward, but Kong Wenxin held her back tightly.

“Nuonuo, Nuonuo, it’s too dangerous!” Kong Wenxin hadn’t expected things to escalate into violence.

Qin Cangye slowly turned around. Blood had already dripped into his eyes, rolling down his cheeks like crimson tears, making him look utterly terrifying.

The bodyguard immediately dropped the wooden leg, stammering, “N-no… I didn’t mean to, Young Master!” He looked desperately at Qin Weishu, who snapped impatiently, “What are you standing around for? Tie him up and get him to the hospital!”

The bodyguards encircled Qin Cangye, exchanging hesitant glances, none daring to make the first move.

“Tie me up? Is that the only trick you know?” Qin Cangye turned, his hollow eyes, devoid of any semblance of reason, fixing on Qin Weishu. His voice was eerily calm as he said, “You tied up my mother too.”

He lifted his head, drawing a deep breath. Tears mingled with blood, blurring his vision. When he lowered his head again, he was both laughing and crying, swaying unsteadily as he moved behind one of the bodyguards. In a sudden motion, he snatched the dagger from the man’s waist and advanced toward Qin Weishu, his vision-stained crimson.

“Letting you live this long has already been too generous.”

As Qin Cangye strode toward Qin Weishu, the scene seemed to slow infinitely in Su Yinuo’s eyes.

Qin Weishu recoiled in terror, stumbling backward in panic; Old Yan lunged forward; Qin Wangxuan stood frozen, stiff with tension; Qin Jianning remained curled on the floor, trembling in fear.

The surrounding bodyguards rushed at Qin Cangye. Alone, he was like a cornered beast, marching toward a fate of destroying others, and himself in the process.

Su Yinuo could wait no longer. She had to stop him. Shaking off Kong Wenxin, she dashed forward, shoving aside a blocking bodyguard before appearing behind Qin Cangye. She seized his right hand, the one gripping the dagger, with all her strength.

Everyone was stunned by the sudden appearance of this girl.

Just as they expected the innocent young woman to fall victim to the madman’s blade, they watched as she yanked Qin Cangye around and threw herself into his arms.

“Don’t do this, Qin Cangye. Don’t. Calm down. They’re not worth ruining yourself over.”

The man in her arms was rigid. Su Yinuo patted his back, murmuring soothingly, “It’s okay, it’s okay now… don’t be angry anymore…”

With a sharp clatter, the dagger slipped from Qin Cangye’s hand. As if jolted awake, he suddenly scooped Su Yinuo into his arms and bolted from the venue.

Silence finally settled over the room. The tension in everyone’s hearts gradually eased with Qin Cangye’s abrupt departure.

Qin Weishu stared coldly in the direction the two had gone, his gaze turning venomous. He turned to the man before him and asked, “Old Yan, who is that girl who somewhat resembles Li Jinmiao?”

“She was brought by Kong Wenxin,” Old Yan replied, his hawk-like eyes quickly locking onto Kong Wenxin near the back door. With a wave of his hand, several bodyguards rushed over and “escorted” her forward.

“Your daughter?” Qin Weishu asked with a mocking smile.

“No, my niece!” Kong Wenxin snapped, shaking off the bodyguards before turning to leave.

“Another worthless nobody,” Qin Weishu sneered.

Kong Wenxin snatched a teacup from a nearby table and hurled it at him, shouting furiously, “You may be ‘worth something,’ but you won’t live much longer, you old bastard!” With that, she stormed out.

Though Old Yan intercepted the teacup, the tea splashed all over Qin Weishu. Glaring at Kong Wenxin’s retreating figure, he clenched his teeth in fury. After a long pause, he took a deep breath and ordered Old Yan, “Teach her a lesson.”

“Yes, Master.”

Behind Qin Weishu stood Qin Wangxuan, a handsome and delicate-looking young man who seemed utterly harmless. The moment the girl appeared, his eyes lit up. After Qin Cangye carried the girl away, he chased after them through the front door, standing in the hallway and watching her retreating figure. A sly smile, uncharacteristic of his usual demeanor, curved his lips as he murmured, “Wow… what an adorable sister-in-law…”

Qin Cangye carried Su Yinuo out of the Qingshan Clubhouse and into the Phantom parked outside.

He settled her onto his lap, holding her tightly as he buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling deeply the fragrance emanating from her skin. Unable to resist, he bit down on her neck.

His arms were wrapped around her so tightly they trembled slightly, and his teeth sank in with unusual force.

Su Yinuo couldn’t move at all. After a soft whimper of pain, she still cradled Qin Cangye’s head in her hands.

He released her after just one bite, then licked the two deep teeth marks left behind, his breath unsteady as he whispered, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

Su Yinuo could sense his emotions were still in turmoil. She stroked his smooth, short hair, doing her best to soothe him. “It’s okay, it’s okay…”

The car started moving slowly. Without Qin Cangye’s instructions, Wu Heng didn’t know where to go. After leaving Chaoyang Mountain, he took the initiative to drive to the nearest villa under Qin Cangye’s name.

Qin Cangye clung to Su Yinuo tightly, his heart still roiling with alternating waves of anger, sorrow, fear, and resentment. His head throbbed painfully, the discomfort spreading through his entire body. He wanted to nuzzle past her high-necked sweater, to inhale more of her scent, but he couldn’t pull it away. Growing agitated again, he slid his hand beneath her clothes, touching the warm, smooth skin of her waist.

The unhindered contact eased his restlessness slightly. He buried his face in the sweater covering her chest, taking a deep breath, while his other hand slid up her back, fingers slipping beneath the strap of her bra.

Su Yinuo’s face had long flushed crimson, but she couldn’t refuse the man holding her so desperately. She keenly sensed that he seemed to see her as his lifeline, his anchor.

When her slender frame was entirely in his grasp, she couldn’t help biting her lip, letting out a soft, breathy moan.

That sound, more enticing than any deliberate whimper, made Wu Heng’s ears burn red. He accelerated toward the villa, bringing the Phantom to an abrupt stop in the garage.

Qin Cangye immediately scooped Su Yinuo into his arms, flung open the car door, and dashed into the bedroom.

By the time they tumbled onto the soft bed, her clothes had already been stripped away. He shrugged off his coat and pounced, his kisses descending upon her like a torrential downpour, urgent, fervent, and relentless.