Rotting Land: Survive

Chapter 624 613: Are You Even a Man

Feeling the scorching gaze from the opposite side, Wang Qiang felt his face burning. He subconsciously raised his head, meeting Yang Xue's eyes that were almost spewing fire.

This was not good at all. Yang Xue was already in a bad mood, and seeing him staring back like this only made the anger in her heart explode. Immediately, Yang Xue roared in fury, "What are you looking at!"

To be honest, Wang Qiang's temper wasn't much better. But just like the saying, "one thing subdues another," whenever he was faced with Yang Xue, for some reason, no matter how unreasonable she was towards him, he would accept it without complaint, like a gentle little lamb.

Just like in this situation now. Even though Wang Qiang had a lot of anger bottled up inside, it was completely extinguished by Yang Xue's questioning.

If there were bystanders present, if the two of them were a married couple, Wang Qiang's timid appearance at this moment would surely be regarded by others as a sign of "henpecked husband syndrome."

It seemed Yang Xue saw through the frustration, understanding the reason behind it, Wang Qiang slightly shifted his gaze away.

He didn't want to provoke her further. Yet it was precisely his silent demeanor that made Yang Xue even more impatient.

Yang Xue pointed at Wang Qiang's nose, "You, you, you, just look at yourself, no wonder Liu Yunpeng called you a coward, a wimp, seems like that jerk was really right! Look at you, do you have any semblance of a man!"

The hurt those words from Liu Yunpeng caused Wang Qiang was self-evident, and now Yang Xue repeated them right in front of him, emphasizing them, which was like rubbing salt into an unhealed wound, causing Wang Qiang unbearable pain.

But to Yang Xue, this only fueled her anger:

"Can't you say something? If something's bothering you, just speak out! Can't you stop acting like a woman? I find being with you really exhausting! I really don't know what to say to you. Today, when Liu Yunpeng insulted me like that, what were you doing? What do you think of me? I'm your girlfriend, aren't I? Didn't you always say you'd protect me? Is this how you protect?"

Yang Xue, huffing and puffing, settled slightly after a moment then continued:

"Alright, setting me aside, perhaps in your eyes, I'm not that important. That doesn't matter. But then what about you? When that bastard Liu Yunpeng insults and belittles you like that, you just stand there unmoved. Do you have any semblance of a man left? What are you afraid of him for? Does he have an extra arm, or do you have an extra leg over him?"

Wang Qiang had no words for a response.

"Just say something, come on! Hey, the way you act, really makes me look down on you. Being a man, I don't expect much else, but at the very least you should be able to protect me, right? Otherwise, how can you make me trust you, how can you bring me happiness?"

"I…"

Wang Qiang felt choked up, indeed, Yang Xue's disdain for him was reasonable. When she was being humiliated, he just stood there, fists clenched, watching and listening.

But Yang Xue, do you know, I didn't want to be like that. I also wanted to rush up and beat Liu Yunpeng, that brute, on your behalf. But I couldn't. If I took action, the entire team could fall into crisis, and it would make you even more vulnerable.

All of this, Yang Xue couldn't possibly know, nor could Wang Qiang express to her.

Only now did Wang Qiang truly understand the meaning of that phrase, that there is a kind of bitterness known as helplessness.

In the current situation, the only thing Wang Qiang could do was silently endure, endure the misunderstandings Yang Xue had about him, endure the humiliation Liu Yunpeng threw at him.

"What do you mean 'I'?! Can't you be more assertive and say what's in your mind? What's there to hide from me!"

"I…"

"Ah, it's really killing me, I think you might as well not speak at all and just suffocate."

Yang Xue withdrew her raised hand and shoved it back into her waist, intending to take out a cigarette to soothe her irritable mood.

But after fumbling for a long time, she didn't find any left, frustrated, she turned her head to the side, not wanting to see Wang Qiang's pitiful face anymore.

Wang Qiang sat speechlessly in the rear seat of the car, while Yang Xue panted heavily, clearly infuriated by Wang Qiang's cowardice. If possible, she wouldn't even want to be in the same room with him.

Meanwhile, Yang Xue's loud voice in the back of the car was clearly heard by Tang Xiaoquan and Zhao Yunhai in the front seats.

Regarding the woman's outburst, Tang and Zhao had different thoughts. Perhaps due to age, old Zhao could somewhat sympathize with Yang Xue's grievances. After all, as a girl being publicly humiliated like that, anyone would feel uncomfortable just hearing about it, let alone being the one involved.

Therefore, in old Zhao's view, Yang Xue's venting was acceptable, but the way she interrogated Wang Qiang was a bit biased.

However, Tang Xiaoquan had the completely opposite perspective to old Zhao's. From the beginning, he never had a good impression of Yang Xue, whether it was her dressing style or daily habits, one could say he extremely disapproved of it.

Let alone today's farce caused by her; she had the nerve to reproach Qiangzi. Couldn't she see how much Wang Qiang tolerated and sacrificed for her?

If it weren't for considering his brother's face, Tang Xiaoquan would have unhesitatingly asked old Zhao to stop the car, get down to the back, and drag Yang Xue out of the car, giving her a proper slap to make her understand one thing—she had no right to yell in front of Wang Qiang. He was a brother who went through life and death with them in the team, while she was nothing but a discarded plaything by some rich second generation.

If she wished to stay in the team, she should keep that diva attitude, shut her filthy mouth. Otherwise...

Unfortunately, all this was just Tang Xiaoquan's imagination. He regretted agreeing to bring Yang Xue back to the warehouse, for if he hadn't made that decision, the following episodes of Qiangzi falling for her would not have occurred, and there would be no dignity-injuring events like today.

Sadly, there are no remedies for regret in this world, and the only thing Tang Xiaoquan could do now was find a chance to talk privately with Wang Qiang, to see if he could persuade his friend to walk away from this unreliable relationship.

As long as his brother intended to do that, in the future, if Yang Xue dared to act like a spoiled princess again, or curse and complain at will in his presence, she would indeed pay the price for her foolish behavior.

Within these few minutes, Tang Xiaoquan had already thought of no less than three ways to deal with Yang Xue. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read on m.qidian.com.)