Chapter 136: A Fine Performance

"Feng Jingyun, you vixen, open the door! Open it!"

"You had the nerve to seduce him, why don't you have the nerve to open the door?"

"Open up, you slut!"

In a corridor on the fourth floor of a Western-style apartment building near Cielos, Chen Wenqi, looking agitated, slammed her hands against the door of room 407 while cursing at the top of her lungs.

Li Wensheng, standing to the side, was stunned. Having spent a month with her, he knew Chen Wenqi wasn't exactly the quiet, demure type, but she was nowhere near being a shrew either.

Room 407 remained locked, but several other doors on the fourth floor began to creak open. The people peeking out were either housewives or children. Hearing Chen Wenqi’s barrage of insults—"slattern," "vixen," "unbred harlot"—the women merely pushed their children’s heads back into their rooms and continued to watch with avid interest.

Seeing that she had an audience and had achieved her goal, Chen Wenqi stopped her tirade.

"Refusing to open up, are we?" She turned and snapped angrily at Li Wensheng, "Ram the door! Did I feed you for nothing? Can't you see what needs to be done?"

"Oh, oh!" Li Wensheng feigned a blank expression, acting like a dim-witted simpleton.

Chen Wenqi stepped aside, and Li Wensheng backed up against the corridor wall before hurling himself at the door.

*Bang!*

"Ouch!" Li Wensheng clutched his shoulder and let out a pained cry.

"Useless trash! If you don't break this door down today, don't expect a meal," Chen Wenqi scolded furiously.

"I'll break it, just don't stop feeding me," Li Wensheng whimpered, continuing his act.

"If you want to eat, then ram the door!" she roared.

"Oh, oh!"

Li Wensheng retreated two steps, leaned against the wall, and slammed into the door again.

*Bang!*

It still didn't budge, but the sound was louder this time. Then, crying could be heard from inside.

"You vixen, so you know how to be scared, huh? I'm going to make you pay," Chen Wenqi said with excitement. She turned back and barked at Li Wensheng, "Keep at it! Don't you dare stop until it's open, or I’ll starve you for two days!"

"Oh, oh!" Li Wensheng hurried to obey.

*Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Five more impacts, yet the door held firm, and the sobbing from within grew louder.

Seeing that the time was right, Li Wensheng put a little more force into his next attempt.

*Bang!*

The door flew open, and Li Wensheng tumbled inside, landing hard on the floor.

The room was tidy and decorated in warm, reddish tones. Feng Jingyun, with disheveled hair, wearing a nightgown, and possessing fair, delicate features, was holding a kitchen knife and screaming as she scrambled toward the bedroom.

As Chen Wenqi stepped inside, Feng Jingyun dashed into the bedroom and slammed the door shut.

"You waste, you're so slow to get up!" Chen Wenqi scolded the struggling Li Wensheng.

Li Wensheng glanced at the doorway. Seeing no one, he whispered, "There's no one at the door anymore. You're still yelling—are you just using this as an excuse to berate me?"

The fury vanished from Chen Wenqi’s face. She laughed softly and whispered back, "Do I need an excuse to scold you?"

Then, her expression shifted faster than the flipping of a page, and she reverted to her shrewish persona. "Ram the door!"

At that moment, someone peeked in from the hallway. Li Wensheng had to retreat into his simpleton act. "Oh, oh," he mumbled.

*Bang, bang...*

With every impact, the sound grew louder, and the crying inside intensified. After three hits, Li Wensheng judged it was enough; a bedroom door was far less sturdy than the main entrance.

*Bang!*

With a slight bit of extra effort, the door gave way.

Because Feng Jingyun was holding a kitchen knife, Li Wensheng was worried Chen Wenqi might get hurt if she walked in unprepared. So, this time, he didn't stumble in with the door; he charged straight toward Feng Jingyun, who was cowering in the corner.

"Ah! Wuu-wuu!"

Facing the aggressive Li Wensheng, Feng Jingyun squeezed her eyes shut, screamed, and swung the knife down.

Li Wensheng caught her wrist with effortless grace. A slight twist of pressure made Feng Jingyun cry out in pain; her grip loosened, and the knife was easily taken from her.

*Smack!*

Chen Wenqi, having just walked in, landed a stinging slap across Feng Jingyun's face. It was delivered with such force that Feng Jingyun was left dazed.

Watching Feng Jingyun’s bewildered expression, Li Wensheng felt a vague, lingering sense that his future days might not be so easy.

"Hold her hands!" Chen Wenqi commanded.

Li Wensheng stepped up and grabbed Feng Jingyun’s wrists.

"Seducing men, you vixen! I'll teach you to seduce!" Chen Wenqi gritted her teeth, as if she could kill Feng Jingyun, her movements relentless. With her left hand pulling Feng Jingyun’s hair, her right hand rained down slaps.

*Smack, smack, smack...*

Soon, Feng Jingyun’s left cheek swelled up, and blood trickled from the corner of her mouth. She could only weep.

Defend herself? She was a dance hostess; to make money, she had to flirt. She had lost count of how many men she had given coy glances to, how many dinners she had shared, or how many movies she had watched with strangers.

After a few more slaps, Feng Jingyun’s cheek was as swollen as a bun, and her sobs had died out. Chen Wenqi’s blows had been so heavy that Feng Jingyun had lost consciousness.

Seeing that the desired effect was achieved, Chen Wenqi stopped. "Take her! We're going to find that spineless man. I want to see what he does when he sees her like this!"

Li Wensheng hoisted Feng Jingyun over his shoulder and followed Chen Wenqi toward the exit.

"What are you looking at? Trying to stand up for her?" Chen Wenqi barked at the women peering from their doorways. The group immediately turned and scurried back into their rooms, locking the doors behind them.

Chen Wenqi’s shouting had been so loud that not just the fourth floor, but the entire building had heard it. As they descended the stairs, no one dared to intervene, even seeing Li Wensheng carrying the unconscious girl.

The building faced the street. Though not a commercial thoroughfare, it was wide enough for a car to pull up. Reaching the vehicle, Chen Wenqi opened the back door. Li Wensheng tossed Feng Jingyun inside, taped her mouth shut, and tied her hands and feet with rope. Then, he drove off at high speed.

As soon as the car started, Chen Wenqi let out a long breath. "Whew!" She rotated her right wrist, turned to look at him, and smiled, revealing two deep dimples.

"Well? How was my performance just now?"

"Uh, it was excellent," Li Wensheng replied, still sounding a bit dull.

Chen Wenqi rolled her eyes at him. "We've already got her in the car—why are you still acting?"

"Cough, cough. I just couldn't snap out of it for a second."

It wasn't that he couldn't stop acting; it was that he found Chen Wenqi’s performance truly difficult to reconcile with the person he knew.

"Couldn't snap out of it?" Chen Wenqi’s eyes twinkled. She tapped his arm playfully and laughed. "You were scared of me, weren't you?"

"No, no."

After the hasty denial, Li Wensheng felt it sounded too fake, so he added, "I wasn't scared, it’s just... you were so different from how you usually are."

"Usually? When I was a kid, I was the leader of the pack. Boys and girls alike were terrified of me!" Chen Wenqi laughed heartily.

Li Wensheng glanced at her. Seeing her smile so genuinely, he couldn't help but smile too. The old Chen Wenqi was gorgeous, but she always seemed burdened by deep, hidden thoughts. But now, though still stunning, she felt vibrant and full of youthful spirit.