Sun Jiajia blinked at Gu Xiqiao incredulously, as if the very notion of her having his phone number offended her. “Are we just supposed to believe you when you say that it’s his number?”
She didn’t know Zhu Yuan personally, and the two of them hadn’t even spoken even so much as one sentence with each other. It was just a coincidence, that day when her coursemates saw them in close proximity of each other and mistook them for being acquaintances. When she was asked whether she knew him, she nodded for some reason that she didn’t know herself, but it was true that anyone who lies would have to cover up their lies with many more.
And so the entire thing snowballed until she didn’t know how to deal with it anymore, and so she could only have everyone wait here at the entrance. Wouldn’t Zhu Yuan leave through this route after he finished his speech?
Her prediction proved to be wrong when they stood here for an hour and only saw Gu Xiqiao.
She had already planned to say that Zhu Yuan was busy—No one knew him personally after all, but she hadn’t expected Gu Xiqiao to step in.
She heard that Zhu Yuan had just come back from abroad, and to her, the world outside the borders of China was too far away and too alien to her, so she thought that of course, Gu Xiqiao wouldn’t know Zhu Yuan either, and must be here just to call her bluff and humiliate her on purpose!
She looked at Gu Xiqiao’s orbs that seemed to be able to peer into her very soul, and she stood there undecided on what she should do.
Seeing her reaction, Gu Xiqiao only smiled and looked at the other. “Go back, everyone, the sun is blistering hot at this time of day. Especially you girls, do you want to get sunburn? Zhu Yuan hasn’t left the school yet, and he’s probably going to stay here for another couple of days, so if you guys really want to meet him that much I would say the best option is to butter Professor Jiang up.”
Between the two girls, the others definitely believed Gu Xiqiao more. Her popularity in A University couldn’t be surpassed at the moment, and it could be seen by how only posts about her stayed on the front page of the school forum when all the others were pushed down by news of Zhu Yuan’s speech.
They were already quite dubious about Sun Jiajia’s claims that she knew Zhu Yuan as she didn’t have particularly good grades nor a high status or background, but they had wanted to meet him in person so much that they didn’t want to let go of even the bleakest opportunity.
Now that Sun Jiajia’s lies were exposed, they all looked at her with varying expressions wordlessly before bidding Gu Xiqiao farewell.
“Hey, let’s go back and butter Professor Jiang up!”
“Nah, we’re not Beauty Gu, after all, I’m scared that he might throw a bunch of thesis papers onto us…”
“Well it’d be better than staying here, my skin is almost going to peel!”
Some of the girls in the group came here in a rush, so they didn’t bring umbrellas to shield them from the ruthless sun rays, and they all looked at Sun Jiajia thoughtfully.
If she planned to have them all stand here in the sun on purpose, then she was a truly frightening person…
They had to make sure not to get involved with her in the future!
Sun Jiajia had never been stared at with such gazes. Back in her hometown, she was the smartest student in her school, and even the local news interviewed her, but here in A University she was outclassed in every single way, especially by Gu Xiqiao that was like an indomitable mountain blocking her way, and with her only edge in terms of grades gone, she was ignored and given the cold shoulder.
Now that she had become pretty, her life completely changed and she finally got some friends, but it would all be reset after today!
As embarrassment and anger flashed on her face, Sun Jiajia knew that all her hard work was for naught.
The moral of this story, kids, is to not bite off more than you can chew!
As the others left, Sun Jiajia’s head remained lowered as she stared at the asphalt wordlessly, before she heard the loud sound a roaring engine and looked up towards the road. With a smile, as if what had transpired earlier was just a dream, she strutted over. “My boyfriend’s here, so why don’t we eat together? All our plans to eat together were foiled in some way or another, and it’s lunchtime anyway.”
As she spoke, a red Ferrari stopped at the entrance of the university, and its ostentatious color combined with its streamlined shape showed that it was definitely quite expensive.
The door of the car opened, and a young man with hair dyed blond stepped out and attracted the gazes of many young girls nearby.
Gu Xiqiao immediately stopped her internal musings that the car looked pretty decent.
The young man walked over, and Sun Jiajia glanced at Gu Xiqiao and Xu Jing. “He’yang, these are two of my roommates. Let’s invite them to lunch?”
Wen He’yang picked off his sunglasses and looked over, and his nonchalant gaze brightened when he saw Gu Xiqiao.
The girl didn’t even give her a single glance, was she really disinterested or was she playing hard to get? Wen He’yang was intrigued, and he smiled at being faced with a challenge.
Sun Jiajia hadn’t expected that Wen He’yang would have reacted in such a way, and the smile on her face crumpled immediately. “Hey Gu Xiqiao, where’s that insanely rich boyfriend of yours?”
Once he heard that this girl that a boyfriend, and a really rich one at that, Wen He’yang’s brows furrowed unconsciously.
“Sun Jiajia!” Once Xu Jing heard Sun Jiajia’s tone, she glared and her and wanted to speak further, but was stopped by Gu Xiqiao.
“He’s going to be here soon.” Gu Xiqiao looked at Sun Jiajia expressionlessly, her skin glowing under the sun and her aura making it hard for anyone to even think of defying her. “We already told you that I’ll be treating you this time!”
She was going to strip away Sun Jiajia’s painted skin!
“I’ll be treating! Treating! Treating!” Xixi parroted while it was perched on Gu Xiqiao’s shoulder,
Its red feathers shone in the sun like fire, and it looked extremely beautiful.
“Where’s your boyfriend?” Sun Jiajia looked around and chuckled happily when she didn’t see the military-grade jeep. “He’yang came here for me and even pushed away his car race, and that boyfriend of yours isn’t even here on time, he seems awfully willing to let you suffer in the blistering heat like this.”
“He’s here.” Gu Xiqiao looked into the distance, and her expression softened, her eyes brightening for a second as she smiled warmly.
Wen He’yang finally knew what unparalleled beauty was, and for a moment, he could see flowers blooming in the air.
He was stunned for a long moment but then he realized that the girl wasn’t looking at him, and he followed her gaze to look behind him, and his pupils constricted slightly.
It was a black Bugatti, and just from the looks of it it seemed quite normal, but he knew that it was a subtle extravagance, as it was clear to him that it was custom made, and what astonished him the most was the number plate attached to it.
F*ck! His eyes were blinded by the brightness!
“Gu Xiqiao, did you get a new boyfriend again?” Sun Jiajia knew that the car that came for her last time wasn’t this one, and for a second, she felt both jealous and relief. “How do you change boyfriends so quickly?”
“Change boyfriends?” Wen He’yang asked.
“Right.” Sun Jiajia looked at the car in front of her and muttered. “The last time, it was a military-grade jeep…”
Before she could continue any further, her words became stuck in her throat.
The door of the car had opened, and a lean and regal figure stepped out of the car, and as he raised his head slowly and looked over in their direction, his dark orbs reflected the sunlight and made whoever looked at them feel like they didn’t belong to a human. He stood there elegantly, his sculpted features clear as his very presence seemed to sweep away all the shadows.
Wen He’yang’s glow was like a firefly in comparison to the moon as soon as the man stepped onto the scene.
Sun Jiajia was completely stunned. When she guessed that Gu Xiqiao had gotten a new boyfriend again, she felt a vindictive sense of glee, but when it was Jiang Shuxuan that stepped out of the car, she was both excited and depressed.
So she hadn’t gotten a new boyfriend after all?
“Let’s go eat at the Royal Hotel.” Gu Xiqiao didn’t really have an appetite when the person she was going to eat with was Sun Jiajia, so she picked a random one off the top of her head.
Sun Jiajia spoke up: “Let’s go to the Garden of Eden. He’yang, you have a membership there right?”
Wen He’yang glanced at Gu Xiqiao and puffed his chest slightly. “Yeah I have one, let’ go eat there!”
“I said the Royal Hotel, are you two going to eat with us or not?” Gu Xiqiao looked at the two, her brows furrowed.
“Yes!” Sun Jiajia agreed immediately.
Wen He’yang glanced at Jiang Shuxuan, not saying any further.
Gu Xiqiao nodded in satisfaction, and Jiang Shuxuan brought her and Xu Jing over to the hotel.
Xu Jing sat there nervously on the back seat of Jiang Shuxuan’s car, her limbs frozen awkwardly, not daring to move a muscle with Jiang Shuxuan right in front of her. Beside her, Xixi looked over at her with a clear look of disdain.
Xu Jing: Is this bird a yōkai? Why am I being looked down on by a bird?!
The Royal Hotel was quite nearby, so they got there in less than two minutes, and they sat down in a private room while Gu Xiqiao ordered some dishes.
It was peak hours, but the speed at which the food was served was surprisingly quick.
“We still don’t know what this…Gentleman’s name is?” Sun Jiajia broke the silence.
Gu Xiqiao glanced at her. “His surname is Jiang.”
Sun Jiajia pondered over the information, before looking at Jiang Shuxuan with an expression of realization. “Are you a local, Mr. Jiang?”
Jiang Shuxuan only continued to peel off the shell of a prawn, not caring to reply.
The table was plunged into silence again, and Sun Jiajia couldn’t even pull off an awkward smile.
“He’s from the Imperial Capital, yes. Do you have any other questions?” Gu Xiqiao asked with a smile, supporting her chin with her palm.
Her gaze was as clear as always, and Sun Jiajia felt so exposed that she lowered her head flusteredly, not daring to meet her gaze, while Gu Xiqiao continued staring at her.
“Eat, Xu Jing.” Before you lose your appetite.
“He’yang, I don’t feel so good…Can we go now, please?” Sun Jiajia felt more and more panicked the longer she was stared at by Gu Xiqiao, and she looked up at Wen He’yang pleadingly.
Wen He’yang was already uncomfortable with the entire situation, especially when he looked at Jiang Shuxuan and felt it hard to even breathe.
And so, he stood up and led Sun Jiajia with him to leave.
The couple had barely reached the exit before the Gu Xiqiao spoke, “Sun Jiajia, you must pay your dues.”
A white spark flashed from her fingers, and the door slammed shut with a bang. Sun Jiajia yelped in fear and tugged at the door as hard as she could, but it couldn’t be opened.
Gu Xiqiao stood up and sauntered over with a harmless smile on her face, but Sun Jiajia felt immense fear as she stared into those orbs, as if it were a monster instead of a girl.
She suddenly realized that she shouldn’t have gotten into any contact with this girl when even Bai Xinran couldn’t defeat her!
The girl raised her hand slowly, and purple lightning flashed from her palm.
Xu Jing had never thought that she would be a witness to such a supernatural scene, but the next thing she saw was the skin on Sun Jiajia’s face peeling and melting off, revealing the rotten, black meat underneath, and the entire scene was gory and horrific.
And so, the poor girl puked into her bowl.
Wen He’yang was the closest to the horrific view, and he immediately let go of her hand like a hot potato and fled to the corner where he proceeded to throw up too.
He was a couple with such a monster? Upon thinking of the times he kissed her cheek, he threw up so much that even bile juice came out.
“It’s fine, she just had a failed plastic surgery, don’t be scared.” Gu Xiqiao smiled and reassured Xu Jing.
Xu Jing: If you’re going to treat me like I’m dumb, at least find a better reason?!
‘This world is insane,” thought Xu Jing as she threw up so much that she blacked out.
[Beauty Qiao, I think Big Jiang is the only person that can withstand you.] The system spirit glanced at the disgusting scene, starting to pity Jiang Shuxuan to some extent.
Gu Xiqiao: “If you take that back, we can still be friends.”
The system spirit: [If you accept the role for Empire Under Siege, we can be BFFs!]
Gu Xiqiao: Is all that’s left of our relationship just interest and benefit?
With a sigh, she told the taxi driver: “Take me to Studio City, please.”
The system spirit: [Mwah, I love you, Beauty Qiao!]
Gu Xiqiao: “Be good and call me daddy.”
The system spirit: …Something seems to have gone wrong with her head.
-Studio City-
In Empire Under Siege, Li Yu was standing there in brocade robes, his head slightly tilted upwards and as handsome and fresh as always, but flashing in his eyes was regret and sadness as deep as the sea. A tear escaped his orbs and slid down his cheek slowly like a pearl.
The people on set all looked at this scene stunned, and from his eyes, they could see Princess Qixia’s death.
The next second, a commotion started up near the gates, and everyone’s attention was immediately attracted, and their sad expressions turned to ones of excitement.
Li Yu sighed at the atmosphere being broken just like that, like the last time a certain someone came, and he looked over in the direction of the entrance too, where a thin figure was walking over.