Chapter 137: Sickened to the Core

Tan Songyun felt she must have been out of her mind from drinking. Why on earth had she blurted out the unvarnished truth?

"Am I cursed?" Tan Songyun found it hard to believe those words had actually come from her own mouth.

In Lu Qiang's eyes, she had always maintained the persona of an innocent and pure maiden. To reveal her extensive romantic history with such total disregard was as if she had taken the wrong medication.

Chen Yuxi was especially infuriated—or rather, especially detestable—for having investigated her high school and college dating history with such meticulous detail. What made it even more enraging was that Chen Yuxi had listed every single one of her past boyfriends right in front of her current boyfriend, leaving none out.

Lu Qiang was a man who favored innocent girls. With her past exposed like this, she desperately needed to figure out how to smooth things over.

Lu Qiang was indeed boiling with rage!

The two of them had been officially dating for only three months, and he had taken her virginity just last month. He had naively assumed that a girl who preserved her dignity and self-respect so well even after graduating from college must naturally be pure and innocent.

And that was precisely the type of girl he liked, which was why he had always pampered and doted on Tan Songyun.

Yet, Tan Songyun had just stated out of her own mouth that the number of boyfriends she had dated actually reached a staggering twelve!

This number completely shattered his perception of Tan Songyun. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect that the girlfriend he regarded as an innocent young maiden possessed such a colorful and complex romantic history.

His girlfriend was only twenty-two years old this year. From high school through college, she had dated a total of seven boyfriends—averaging one boyfriend a year. This was hardly the behavior of a pure maiden; calling her fickle and inconstant was putting it mildly. To put it more harshly, she was downright promiscuous.

Even though he had claimed her virginity, he simply could not accept such a fickle, wandering-eyed woman whose gaze was always fixed on the next peak.

What humiliated him the most was his current status as Tan Songyun's boyfriend. Having his girlfriend's sordid past exposed in public made him feel as though he had been cuckolded—and not just once. To make matters worse, everyone now knew about it, leaving him with absolutely no face left to show.

How he had yearned to hear his girlfriend dismiss it as a joke, or even a blatant lie, so that he wouldn't look so utterly humiliated at that very moment.

Yet Tan Songyun had simply admitted to it all.

At that moment, the gaze Lu Qiang cast upon his girlfriend held no more warmth or tenderness; it was as cold as blades of ice.

Seeing the icy glare in her boyfriend's eyes, Tan Songyun swallowed back the words of explanation that had risen to her lips. The present occasion was hardly suitable for elaborate justifications; forcing an explanation now would likely yield results contrary to her wishes.

The atmosphere was deeply awkward. Aside from Yin Xiaoya and Chen Yuxi, who made no effort to conceal their gloating smiles, everyone else was at a loss for words.

Even Li Wenhan, the host of the gathering, had no idea what to say to salvage the situation. It seemed that no matter what he uttered, the ambiance would only grow more excruciatingly awkward.

All of this had been orchestrated by Xiao Yao in secret. He hadn't even needed to employ any esoteric arts; a subtle suggestion backed by his formidable spiritual power was all it took to compel Tan Songyun to speak the unvarnished truth.

The scene unfolding before him was precisely what Xiao Yao had hoped to witness. But this was not enough—he was eager to see what kind of true visage would be revealed once Tan Songyun's painted skin was completely stripped away.

"Shouldn't it be Chen Yuxi's turn to ask a question now? Don't waste time, hurry up and figure out who you are going to question," Xiao Yao broke the awkward silence at the table.

"It is such a rare coincidence to share a table with Tan Songyun, and since I have the opportunity to ask her a truth-or-dare question, of course I have to choose her. Otherwise, I'm afraid I won't have this chance again in the future." Chen Yuxi had loathed Tan Songyun to the core and naturally would not let go of the opportunity to strike another blow.

"Classmate Tan Songyun, it's my turn to question you. Please get ready."

Without giving her any room for refusal, Chen Yuxi went straight to the point: "Perhaps everyone has misunderstood you, so I'm giving you a chance to clear your name. My question is: at what age did you lose your virginity?"

Though the question posed by Chen Yuxi was quite explosive, none of the people present were particularly surprised.

Everyone knew that Chen Yuxi could not stand Tan Songyun, and given her bold and uninhibited personality, tossing out such a bombshell of a question was entirely to be expected.

Facing such a razor-sharp question, how Tan Songyun would respond filled everyone with eager anticipation.

Naturally, everyone had already assumed that if Tan Songyun chose to answer, she would undoubtedly lie. For a woman, if compelled to answer such a question, resorting to falsehoods was forgivable, especially with her boyfriend sitting right beside her.

The company had already braced themselves for Tan Songyun's inevitable lies, or perhaps her choosing to drink as a penalty for declining to answer.

Yet, Tan Songyun's response once again defied all expectations.

She seemed a bit far gone from the alcohol, her eyes slightly glazed. Though her articulation remained clear, a heavy veneer of intoxication had crept into her demeanor.

She picked up her glass and took a very bold, large gulp of alcohol.

Chen Yuxi curled her lips in disdain, and the rest of the people present felt a tinge of disappointment.

Everyone harbored a desire to pry into secrets; even knowing that Tan Songyun would likely lie, they would rather hear the fabrication than see her choose to drink and evade.

"I thought that since you've been drinking today, you'd show some authenticity. I didn't expect you to still be such a coward, too afraid to even admit what you've done. They say alcohol gives cowards courage, but you're worse than a coward." Chen Yuxi deliberately used reverse psychology to provoke her, though she hadn't expected her words to have any actual effect.

Tan Songyun was not a fool; facing such a piercing question concerning her reputation, choosing to lie or dodge the issue was standard practice unless she was genuinely dead drunk.

And yet:

"If you want me to say it, I'll say it! This lady has the guts to own up to her actions!" Tan Songyun took another large gulp of alcohol. "I was eleven years old when..."

She seemed utterly drunken, her mind wandering in a haze as if she had become completely submerged in the currents of the past.

After a moment of recollection, she continued: "I was still in the fifth grade back then, and Xue Hui was two years older than me. Both of us were announcers at the school broadcasting station..."

"Enough!" Lu Qiang stood up abruptly, slamming his wine glass down onto the floor with fierce momentum. The sound of shattering glass was piercingly harsh.

Lu Qiang's gaze pierced into Tan Songyun's eyes like daggers, and his voice carried not a shred of warmth, resembling the biting, merciless gale of deep winter: "Never contact me again. You disgust me."

Turning around to grab his bag, despite the frigid aura radiating from his entire being, he offered a brief courtesy to the others before leaving: "I have matters to attend to, I'm leaving first."