Chapter 248

Chapter 248: A Xu, Don't You Believe Me? Someone explained the whole situation to Shu Mingyue. Shu Mingyue was greatly alarmed. "Chutang, Chutang, are you okay?" Shu Mingyue ran toward Chutang, grabbed her hand, and carefully examined her from head to toe. "Are you hurt?" Chutang shook her head. Beside them, Jiang Shixu's gaze was icy cold, filled with scrutiny. "You invited them?" Jiang Shixu's voice was very low, and anyone could tell he was furious right now. Shu Mingyue quickly shook her head. "It wasn't me. I'm not close with him." Jiang Shixu's jawline was taut. "If you didn't invite them, how could they get on the boat?" Shu Mingyue's tone was urgent. "It really wasn't me, A Xu. I did invite a few friends from Sucheng, but Tan Bin wasn't among them. It must have been one of my Sucheng friends who brought him along on the boat." "Even if it was your friend who brought him, wouldn't the passenger list have gone through your hands? Do you dare say you didn't know he would be on board?" Jiang Shixu's gaze was intimidating, and his entire body radiated coldness. Shu Mingyue paused, her momentum weakening slightly. "I did look at the list. When I saw Tan Bin's name, I didn't think much of it. I didn't know he had a grudge with Tangtang. If I had known, I definitely wouldn't have let him on the boat!" Jiang Shixu remained cold-faced. Shu Mingyue's eyes looked hurt. "A Xu, don't you believe me?" Jiang Shixu's face darkened as he coldly spat out two words: "I don't." Shu Mingyue's face turned pale, and a mist of tears welled up in her eyes. She turned to look at Chutang. "Tangtang, do you not believe me either?" Chutang pressed her lips into a straight line, her eyes lowered as she pondered something. Seeing that Chutang didn't respond, Shu Mingyue's heart died in an instant. Her expression was sorrowful, desolate, and tinged with grievance. "Why won't either of you believe me? Tangtang is my lifesaver. If I had known Tan Bin had a grudge against her, how could I have let him on the boat? I would never, ever hurt Tangtang..." At that moment, Zhou Xueluo, Chen Yuanyuan, Qin Yan, Zhou Zheng'an, and his young girlfriend Shao Yufei all gathered around. "Tangtang, what happened?" Chen Yuanyuan asked. Chutang briefly explained the cause and effect of the matter. Chen Yuanyuan said indignantly, "He deserved it! He must have been tired of living to dare treat you like that!" After hearing the story, Zhou Xueluo's gaze fell on Shu Mingyue, who stood off to the side looking upset and distressed. Even Zhou Xueluo was beginning to suspect whether Shu Mingyue had done it on purpose. In the sea, Tan Bin thrashed and flailed, shouting for help at the top of his lungs. Yet no one dared to rescue him. Suddenly, someone pointed at the sea surface and screamed, "Sharks!" Everyone turned to look. In the distance, several sharks with their dorsal fins exposed were swimming toward them. In an instant, everyone began shouting at once. "Sharks! There are sharks!" "The sharks are coming!" "One, two, three—there are three of them!" "Tan Bin is going to be eaten by sharks!" The people on the boat were shouting loudly. Tan Bin, struggling in the water, heard them. The fear of death made all the blood in his body freeze in an instant. He struggled even more desperately, kicking his legs wildly, splashing up white foam. Jiang Shixu watched coldly from the railing. Chutang looked at Jiang Shixu. "That's enough. Let him come up." It wasn't that she sympathized with or pitied Tan Bin—she just didn't want a death on her hands. Chutang knew that Jiang Shixu had thrown Tan Bin into the sea just to scare him, not to actually feed him to the sharks. Besides, most sharks don't even eat people. Gentle-natured sharks like whale sharks generally don't attack humans at all. Fierce species like tiger sharks and great whites might attack humans, but they usually don't eat people either. However, many people at the scene didn't know this about sharks and assumed all sharks ate people. So the onlookers were excited and frenzied, shouting and screaming, creating a chaotic scene. The closer the sharks swam, the louder the crowd's shouts grew, and the more terrified Tan Bin became. Seeing that Chutang had spoken up, and having already achieved his goal of punishing Tan Bin, Jiang Shixu gave a slight nod and said, "Fine." He had someone toss down a small inflatable raft and life jackets, lower ropes, and ordered two bodyguards to fish Tan Bin out. From being thrown into the sea to being pulled out, it had only been a few short minutes, but Tan Bin had suffered immense torment in both body and mind. He had walked through the gates of death. Even after being rescued, the overwhelming terror of near-death kept his nerves on edge. On the boat, he was still trembling all over, shouting things like "Help, help!" "Please don't feed me to the sharks!" and "I really know I was wrong!" He looked like he had gone mad. Liang Chuman was scared stiff. Her legs went weak, her body trembled uncontrollably, and her heart was filled with lingering fear. She thought that if she hadn't accepted Ruan Chutang's proposed way of apologizing, would she have ended up like Tan Bin—thrown into the sea by Jiang Shixu to be fed to the sharks? Many people who usually disliked Tan Bin and Liang Chuman pulled out their phones to take photos and record videos. Spectacular. Absolutely spectacular. Such a rare and exciting scene was worth documenting properly. Shu Mingyue's heart felt heavy. She looked at Chu Tang, her eyes red-rimmed. "Chu Tang, I really didn't know that Tan Bin and Liang Chuman had a conflict with you before. I truly didn't mean to let them on board." Chu Tang gently patted the back of Shu Mingyue's hand. "I believe you." Shu Mingyue froze, disbelief flashing in her eyes. "You really believe me?" Even the man she had loved for over seven years didn't believe her, yet her rival in love actually did? Chu Tang nodded. "Your intentions aren't that malicious." Chu Tang said this after careful thought and deliberation. Although Shu Mingyue, out of jealousy, had arranged for her and Jiang Shixu to be placed in separate rooms, Shu Mingyue wouldn't be vicious enough to deliberately invite Tan Bin on board knowing he had a grudge against Chu Tang. Moreover, if Shu Mingyue had done it on purpose, she definitely wouldn't have let Liang Chuman and Tan Bin openly mock and humiliate her in front of so many people—wouldn't that be asking for trouble? If she truly wanted to harm Chu Tang, she would have found an opportunity to strike in secret. So Chu Tang believed Shu Mingyue hadn't done it intentionally. Having spent time with Shu Mingyue recently, Chu Tang had discovered that while Shu Mingyue was a decisive and formidable female CEO at work, she was actually very easy to get along with in private. "Tangtang, thank you for being willing to believe me." Tears suddenly rolled down Shu Mingyue's cheeks, moved by the sentiment. Chu Tang's expression softened slightly. "Don't cry. You're the birthday girl today—if you cry your makeup off, you won't look pretty anymore." Shu Mingyue sniffled and let out an "mm." Jiang Shixu shot a look at the head of his bodyguards. The bodyguard immediately grabbed Tan Bin and dragged him away. A senior manager from the cruise ship walked over to Jiang Shixu and murmured something to him in a low voice. After Jiang Shixu nodded, the man announced loudly, "Alright, everyone, disperse. Go eat and drink as you please." The crowd scattered. Only Jiang Shixu, Chu Tang, Shu Mingyue, and a few of Chu Tang's friends remained on the deck. Shu Mingyue apologized to Chu Tang through her tears. "I'm sorry, Tangtang. You were wronged because of me." Chu Tang replied, "You didn't do it on purpose. Don't blame yourself." Shu Mingyue said with reddened eyes, "Even though I didn't do it on purpose, I was still negligent. I should have refused to let someone like Tan Bin board the ship." "He's already paid the price for what he did and said," Chu Tang said. "Stop crying. Go wash your face and redo your makeup. There's still a party tonight—don't let this ruin your mood. It's your birthday today, so cheer up." Shu Mingyue replied with a heavily nasal "Okay."