The person behind her yanked hard, causing her to lose balance and plummet heavily to the ground, leaving her head spinning and vision blurring.
"Damn it, you’re asking for it! Come on, teach her a harsh lesson—I want her to wish she were dead!"
An Ruo couldn’t make anything out; a resounding slap suddenly struck her face, and without control, her upper body collapsed forward, her forehead hitting the cool marble floor with a thud.
Her long, disheveled hair covered her face, and An Ruo lay on the ground, unable to move for a long while.
The slap had nearly caused ringing in her ears, and she felt waves of darkness before her eyes. Had she not been biting her lip hard, she might have passed out, even if just for a short while.
But the three of them didn’t let her off easily. Her hair was grabbed yet again, and she was lifted from the ground. Through blurred eyes, An Ruo saw Brother Qiang’s ferocious and frightening face, along with the dizzying, dim light from the ceiling.
There was a warm liquid flowing from her nose; she must have had a nosebleed.
Brother Qiang grabbed her hair, pulling her face close to his, pinching her cheek with his fingers and coldly sneering, "Woman, if you don’t take good care of me tonight, do you believe I will ruin this pretty face of yours?"
An Ruo spat in his face, hitting him with a mouthful of saliva.
"Bitch!" The enraged man slapped her hard across the face.
As An Xin stepped out of the private room, she witnessed this scene. Without a word, she rushed back in, seized a beer bottle, and charged out like a whirlwind.
"Stop, what are you doing, let her go!"
"Bang—" The beer bottle smashed hard on Brother Qiang’s head, shards of glass flying in all directions. The man immediately released An Ruo and screamed, clutching his head.
An Xin kicked him hard, pulled An Ruo behind her, and yelled fiercely at them, "You bunch of bastards, do you know who I am? Get lost, or I’ll take your lives!"
Just then, several security guards, having received the call, rushed over, threatening to catch them and send them to the police station. Startled, the trio didn’t wait around; they pushed past the guards and fled with their tails between their legs.
"An Ruo, are you okay?" An Xin turned and was shocked by the swelling on her face and the blood from her nose.
An Ruo gently shook her head, unable to speak.
An Xin helped her back into the private room, had her sit down to rest, and then got a towel and ice from the bar staff to treat the swelling on her face.
It took a while before An Ruo finally caught her breath and regained some strength.
An Xin said apologetically, "I’m sorry, I didn’t know bringing you here would get you hurt."
An Ruo lowered her eyes, saying nothing.
At that moment, she felt something strange, wondering why accidents happened both times she met with An Xin. She speculated whether this could be some plot of An Xin’s.
The more An Ruo thought about it, the more alarmed she became, but she kept her composure, not showing any sign of distress.
"An Ruo, let me take you to the hospital," An Xin said cautiously when An Ruo remained silent.
An Ruo ignored her suggestion and asked indifferently, "Are there any surveillance cameras here? I want to call the police."
"Wait here, I’ll go ask for you," An Xin left for a moment, then came back, "They said there aren’t any because the place just opened and they haven’t had the chance to install cameras yet."
An Ruo looked up, her bright eyes searching An Xin’s face for something.