Zhang Wan was too lazy to bother with her. She just took a deep breath, bit her lip, and fell silent.
It was Xu Tingyu beside her who was quick - witted. She grabbed Zhang Wan's sleeve. "Wait a minute."
The weather on the island was hot, so everyone wore little. Even Zhang Wan, who usually wore suits all year round, only had on a shirt and a straight skirt.
As Xu Tingyu said "wait", she directly reached out and pulled the back of Zhang Wan's shirt out of her skirt.
Zhang Wan let out a startled cry and was about to dodge, but Aunt Tian grabbed her. She could only let Xu Tingyu lift up her clothes.
Then, Aunt Tian gasped.
Xu Tingyu also frowned.
There were criss - cross blue and purple bruises on Zhang Wan's back.
Obviously, she had been beaten.
No wonder she had been fine before but had been frowning all this time.
"How did this happen? Who dared to lay a hand on you like this? Does Qi Ye know?"
Xu Tingyu put down Zhang Wan's clothes. Her heart was full of doubts and some bad speculations.
Zhang Wan was Qi Ye's most capable assistant.
Putting aside their unclear personal feelings, she herself was a graduate of a prestigious school and had outstanding abilities.
Over the years, working by Qi Ye's side, she was not someone ordinary people dared to offend.
So how could someone dare to beat her?
Even Aunt Tian suddenly understood. "So you've been keeping a straight face because you were in pain? I misunderstood you. I apologize."
Aunt Tian was a reasonable person. One thing was one thing.
But Zhang Wan didn't want to say much. She just shook her head weakly.
"I accidentally got these injuries. Please keep it a secret for me."
"I don't want the boss to worry, so please don't tell him."
She didn't look at Xu Tingyu because she was afraid she couldn't control the hostility in her eyes.
The injuries on her back were inflicted by Qi Ye's bodyguard.
This wasn't the first time she had been punished like this. In the past, it was always the butler who did it. This time, the butler didn't come, so it was the bodyguard instead.
This was a family rule of the Qi family. Qi Ye said he was a Qi family member, so when punishing people, he continued this rule.
Over the years, Zhang Wan was only punished like this when she made Qi Ye extremely unhappy.
She always told herself that Qi Ye punished her in this way because he regarded her as a family member.
Being a family member was closer than just being a subordinate.
So she didn't mind this way of punishment.
Twenty strokes of the rod would make her firmly remember the consequences of making mistakes both mentally and physically.
In the past, when the butler did it, he would control the strength so that she would feel pain but it wasn't unbearable.
This time, the bodyguard's strength was different from the butler's. Moreover, she was on her period, so she couldn't bear it and lost face in front of Xu Tingyu.
However, she would never admit that she had been punished. She just said she got the injuries herself.
Even if this explanation was too absurd.
Fortunately, she didn't get along well with Xu Tingyu. Presumably, Xu Tingyu was too lazy to dig deeper.
As she expected, when Xu Tingyu saw that she didn't want to say, she didn't press further. She just said to Aunt Tian, "Send her back. Don't make a big deal out of this."
Hearing this, Zhang Wan suddenly glanced at her.
It really wasn't a glorious thing that the assistant beside Qi Ye had such injuries.
At least on this point, Xu Tingyu knew what was important.
After the person left, the makeup artist who had been watching the whole show whispered, "This girl must have been threatened by someone, right?"
Xu Tingyu sat back in her seat and continued to get her makeup done. Hearing this, she asked, "What do you mean?"
The makeup artist was a gossip lover. Moreover, in their industry, they met a lot of people and saw all kinds of things.
Seeing that Xu Tingyu was interested, she continued.
"I once took a job as a bridal makeup artist.
"Early that morning, I went to the bride's house to do her makeup. I felt something was wrong because none of the bride's family seemed happy.
"Everyone had a long face. At first, I thought it was because the bride's family was reluctant to let her get married. But when I saw the bride herself, I was shocked.
"The bride looked covered in injuries. There were bruises on her lips and the corners of her eyes. It was obvious that she had been beaten.
"Then, the bride's mother asked me if I could cover up these injuries. After all, it was a happy occasion. It would be very embarrassing if others saw them.
"Before I could say anything, the bride suddenly knelt down, grabbed her parents' hands, and asked if she could not get married.
"Later, I found out that the injuries on the girl's face were caused by the groom. The groom was a domestic abuser and had started hitting her during their relationship.
"Of course, the bride didn't want to marry him, so she wanted to break up. Who knew that he took out some video and threatened her that if she didn't get married, he would send it to everyone who knew her.
"Not only to those who knew her, but also to those who knew her parents, so that her whole family would be embarrassed.
"The bride's parents had decent jobs and couldn't afford to lose face, so they had to force the bride to marry.
"Alas, it was really pitiful. Two days before the wedding, the bride was beaten up again for a small thing."
When she said this, the makeup artist shook her head, looking very sorry.
Xu Tingyu thought for a while and asked, "So in the end, did they get married?"
"Of course. I said the bride's parents were very concerned about face, and it was already the wedding day. All the relatives and friends had been informed.
"So in the end, they forced the bride to put on makeup and go through the ceremony. Poor thing, her tears washed off the foundation again and again.
"After the groom came, I saw that he looked gentle and didn't seem like a domestic abuser at all. But when he saw the bride's red eyes, he immediately sank his face.
"To be honest, I was standing there watching, and I thought his look was terrifying. I can only say that some people look like decent people but are actually worse than animals."
Xu Tingyu understood what the makeup artist meant.
She thought that Zhang Wan was also threatened by someone, so she had been enduring the abuse.
It was not impossible.
However, they were on vacation here, and she hadn't seen any other people around Zhang Wan.
Most of the time, Zhang Wan was either accompanying Qi Ye or her.
It was even questionable whether she had time to sleep.
The person who hurt her, even if he found the opportunity, wasn't he afraid of Qi Ye at all?
Qi Ye was the person who had the most contact with Zhang Wan. Didn't he notice anything?
Many thoughts flashed through her mind, and she had a lot of doubts.
So when she saw Qi Ye, she observed his expression very carefully.
Qi Ye's face was full of surprise at her dressing - up. He kept praising her, and his eyes were full of tender smiles. There was not a single bit of abnormality.