Volume One, Chapter 16: Who Are You Calling a Scoundrel?

Song Min leaned weakly against the doorframe, her eyes filled with sorrow as she looked at the two figures inside the hospital room. “So, you didn’t answer the phone because you were here with her?”

Song Fang reclined against the head of the bed, his gaze drifting casually from Wen Huaiye’s face to Song Min’s.

Wen Huaiye’s expression was cold, but his eyes were fixed intently on Song Min.

Pain and disappointment clouded Song Min’s eyes.

Song Fang lowered his gaze.

It was unmistakably obvious.

So obvious, in fact, that the only way she could pretend not to see it was by feigning blindness.

“Song Fang, Wen Huaiye!” a sharp voice snapped through the room.

Song Siyen rushed in, worry etched deeply across his face as he steadied the trembling Song Min. His eyes blazed fiercely at Wen Huaiye and Song Fang inside the room.

“What’s going on?” Song Siniang came forward and saw Song Fang and Wen Huaiye there.

Behind him were Song Lin’an and his wife. “Fangfang, what are you doing here?” Jiang Zhiyi stared at her in shock.

Song Siyen gently handed the trembling Song Min to Song Siniang and strode over to the bedside.

From his elevated stance, he looked down at Song Fang on the bed. “Was this deliberate?”

Wen Huaiye stepped to the side, blocking the way in front of Song Fang. “Fangfang was frightened in Kushan; that’s why I brought her to the hospital.”

“Ha! If there’s nothing going on between you two, why didn’t you answer your phone, or even turn it off?” Song Siyen sneered. “Wen Huaiye, don’t forget your place.”

“Song Fang is one of the Song family. You have no right to protect her.”

“And you don’t have the right either.”

“You know exactly who you should be protecting.”

Song Fang tightened her grip on the game case she held, then suddenly lifted her eyes to meet Song Siyen’s. “My fiancé—if he doesn’t protect me, then who will?”

She curled her lips into a smile. “Could it be that in these five years I was gone, Huaiye betrayed me and found some wretched woman?”

“Who did you call a wretch?” The word clearly struck a nerve with Song Siyen. He shoved Wen Huaiye aside and grabbed Song Fang’s collar fiercely. “Who did you call a wretch?”

Song Fang met his gaze without flinching. “Knowing full well the other party is already engaged, yet still going after her—if that’s not wretched, then what is? A saint?”

Before Song Siyen could respond, Song Fang sneered. “Big brother, you’re so angry. Do you know that wretched woman who came knocking?”

“Huaiye, did you really betray me?”

“I was just joking,” she said, her expression wounded and anxious as she looked at Wen Huaiye.

Wen Huaiye had his back turned to her since earlier. Now, hearing her words, he slowly turned his head to meet her eyes.

“Huaiye, did you betray me?” she asked again.

All the Song family members fixed their eyes on Wen Huaiye.

Even Song Siyen, still gripping her collar, loosened his grip slightly and turned to look at Wen Huaiye.

Song Fang’s hands clenched tighter around the box.

Even she didn’t know what answer she hoped to hear from Wen Huaiye’s lips.

It seemed that no matter what he said, she would never be satisfied.

“Fangfang, how could you say such things? Such words are not fitting for someone with your upbringing.” Wen Huaiye frowned but looked at Song Fang gently. “Of course, I have not betrayed you.”

Just then, Jiang Zhiyi’s startled cry rang out from the doorway: “Minmin!”

The scream was so chilling that everyone turned to look.

Even Song Fang’s eyes widened.

Song Min, leaning against Song Siniang’s chest, had fresh blood seeping from beneath her.

Her face was pale, her gaze mournful as she looked at Wen Huaiye. “Heh, in the end… I still can’t compete with her.”

She slowly closed her eyes, tears trailing down her cheeks, heartbreakingly beautiful. “This is for the best.”

As if resolute, she opened her eyes again, filled with unwavering determination. “Song Fang, Wen Huaiye has never betrayed you.”

“He loves you.”

“He only loves you in this world.”

“For you, he would give up everything.”

Her hand rested gently on her abdomen, her voice heavy with pain. “Everything.”

After speaking, she leaned back into Song Siniang’s embrace. “Second brother, take me away. I don’t want to stay here.”

“I don’t want to see them.”

Song Siniang lifted her tenderly in his arms. “Minmin, I’ll take you to see a doctor. Don’t be afraid.”

He hurriedly carried Song Min away.

Jiang Zhiyi followed.

Song Lin’an stared coldly at Wen Huaiye. “I respect Minmin’s wishes, but that doesn’t mean anyone can bully the daughters of the Song family at will.”

He took a few steps, then turned back to look at Song Fang in the room. “Ha! If we hadn’t done a DNA test, I wouldn’t have believed that you’re really my daughter.”

“From the Song family, we actually have such a beast.”

With that, he strode away.

Song Siyen’s gaze fell on the blood dripping at the hospital room’s threshold. It seemed to strike a nerve, causing his eyes to slowly shift back to Song Fang.

His look was darker than ever.

His hand gripping Song Fang’s collar tightened. “Song Fang, do you know what you’ve done?”

Song Fang: “I don’t know.”

“Is Song Min sick? Why is she bleeding so much…”

Bang.

Before Song Fang could finish speaking, Song Siyen slammed his fist onto the headboard beside her.

The fist grazed past Song Fang’s cheek, making her eyes snap wide open.

“I won’t allow you to curse Minmin like that!” Song Siyen’s voice was low and fierce as he bent down, locking eyes with Song Fang. “If you dare bully Minmin again, you will regret it.”

“No one will protect you.”

He glanced down at the box she held tightly in her arms. “You? You’re not even worthy of playing the game Minmin designed.”

He reached out to snatch it away.

Song Fang clutched it tighter. “Don’t touch my helmet—it was a gift from Huaiye.”

Hearing it was from Wen Huaiye, Song Siyen tugged even harder.

As Song Siyen exerted force, Song Fang suddenly released her grip, and the helmet case flew from his hands, crashing against the wall. The helmet fell to the floor and shattered instantly.

“My helmet!” Barefoot, Song Fang jumped down from the bed and knelt on the floor, cradling the broken pieces with heartbreak. “This helmet was Huaiye’s gift to me.”

“It was the first gift he gave me after I returned to the country.”

Sitting on the floor, Song Siyen sneered as he watched her cry. “Serves you right.”

Wen Huaiye, who had been silently standing nearby, slowly approached and whispered, “Fangfang, don’t cry. I’ll get you another one.”

Song Fang shook her head. “Even if there’s another, it won’t be this one.”

Wen Huaiye crouched down and wiped the tears from her cheek. “They’re all gifts from me, aren’t they?”

“I want to keep both. They were both from you. Even if one’s broken, it’s still mine.”

“Of course.”

Song Siyen shook his head and stood up. “You two are disgraceful.”

He stormed off in anger.

Wen Huaiye lifted Song Fang from the floor and gently laid her back on the bed. “Fangfang, you’re weak. Get some rest.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll go buy you a new helmet.”

Song Fang clutched his sleeve. “Then hurry back.”

“All right.”

Wen Huaiye turned and quickly left.

As the hospital room door closed, Song Fang stopped her tears and roughly wiped her face.

She lowered her head and inspected the helmet in her hands.

Fortunately, only the exterior parts were damaged; the core components remained intact.

She breathed a slow sigh of relief.

Since this was the first fully immersive holographic game, every device required real-name registration, and one person could only bind to one machine.

And now, she had two.