Lu Qingyun ignored the imaginary sparks flying between the two women as he walked off.
“Mr Lu, you’re welcome to come keep me any time!” Shi Sheng calmly shouted this at Lu Qingyun.
Lu Qingyun’s footsteps paused for half a second before continuing on like usual and disappearing from their sights.
With Lu Qingyun gone, Tang Yan finally spoke freely, “Are you eyeing big brother Qingyun’s money? I’m telling you, big brother Qingyun will never like you. With your background, you aren’t even fit to carry his shoes!”
Without waiting for a reply, Tang Yan glared at Shi Sheng before running off to chase after Lu Qingyun. Shi Sheng rubbed her temples. ‘I just knew getting close to a villain was going to be a demanding yet thankless task.’
Shi Sheng felt like she shouldn’t have come out today. This feeling was reinforced when she came back from going to the restroom to find the private room she had been in surrounded by people who were making a lot of noise.
When she finally managed to squeeze in, she found the room in shambles as pieces of shattered porcelain lay scattered on the ground with their contents spilled out on the floor. Xia Man was sitting on the floor and clutching her head with a single hand. Blood trickled between her fingers and dripped onto the floor.
“Xiaoman, I’m really sorry. I didn’t do it on purpose.” Xia Xuan made to help Xia Man up, an apologetic expression on her face. “I didn’t expect you to lose your balance. Xiaoman, you’re bleeding. Let me take you to the hospital. Sorry, it’s all my fault.”
Xia Man’s face was frosty as she smacked Xia Xuan’s hand away. Her voice was low and raspy as she spoke, “Xia Xuan, if you’re done acting you can get lost now.”
“Hey, why is this person so rude? Just now I saw that it was her who was pushing the other lady but she lost her balance and fell. Now she’s even blaming the person she was trying to push!”
“Isn’t that Xia Xuan?”
“Who’s Xia Xuan?”
“Heavens, I actually saw the national goddess! My goddess is so gentle. Who’s that other woman? She even dares to treat my goddess this way.”
The surrounding onlookers pointed at Xia Man. They were both excited to see their ‘goddess’ as well as angry on her behalf. Fortunately, those who came to eat here usually had some status so they wouldn’t do anything extreme like actually hitting people.
“Xiaoman, it’s my fault, okay? Don’t be angry, please? Let’s go to the hospital first, it won’t be good to leave behind a scar.” Xia Xuan put forth the image of a good big sister as she gazed in worry and bewilderment at Xia Man. Her expression was just right, as expected of someone just a step away from being a Queen of Acting.
Just as Shi Sheng was about to go over, Tang Yin emerged from the crowd and helped Xia Man up. He blocked off the lines of sight of the people in the crowd. His face was expressionless but his eyes were icy-cold. “Ms Xia, as a public figure, shouldn’t you pay more attention to the surroundings? This place is private property, what is the meaning of you attracting the attentions of others?”
Tang Yin’s words were not masked in the slightest. How would the people who could afford to eat here not be sharp? In that short amount of time, their thoughts had already gone through several possibilities.
Xia Xuan could clearly feel the gazes of the onlookers changing. Though she was hating inside her heart, she couldn’t help but put forth a kind and gentle exterior. “This sir here… I am Xiaoman’s big sister. All I want to do is to bring her to the hospital to have her injury treated. I don’t have any other motives. After all, it’s not good for a scar to be left on a girl’s face.”
Xia Man laughed coldly inside. This woman couldn’t wait for her to die yet now she put on such a pretence. ‘How disgusting.’
Xia Man held herself back from slapping Xia Xuan when she saw Shi Sheng in the crowd. She simply spoke to Tang Yin, “Let’s go.”
Tang Yin supported Xia Man as they walked towards the door.
“Xiaoman…” Xia Xuan pulled on Xia Man. “I heard you wanted to be an actress. I have a few scripts on hand so if you want…”
Xia Man unceremoniously shook her hand off before smiling coldly and saying, “Is this charity? Well aren’t you just thoughtful? A pity, I have no need for it.”
“Xia Man, is that how you speak to your elder sister?” A deep voice rose from behind.
Xi Mo’s tall and broad frame walked out from the crowd, his handsome face dark. Especially when he saw Xia Man being helped by Tang Yin, a thin veneer of killing intent surrounded him, causing the people who had planned on greeting him to back away.
The moment Xia Man saw Xi Mo, her already pallid face paled even further but she forced herself to meet Xi Mo’s gaze. It was as if whoever looked away first would lose.
“Apologise to your sister.” Xi Mo spoke with a hardened face.
“Apologise? Why should I?” Xia Man’s voice was a bit cracked.
“Ah Mo, it’s fine. She’s my little sister.” Xia Xuan went forth to pull Xi Mo’s back while saying very ‘big-heartedly’.
But weren’t her words indirectly saying that Xia Man was the one at fault while Xia Xuan herself was blameless? Because she was the elder sister so she put up with her younger sister’s troublemaking, look at how big-hearted she was!
“If you keep spoiling her like this she won’t know how high the heavens are and how deep the earth is[1]. Xi Mo’s cold gaze swept across Tang Yin. He had underestimated this man, he actually hooked up with Xia Man…
Tang Yin was a bit worried. Their company hadn’t even started. If they offended Xi Mo, how would they be able to run it smoothly in Qing City?
“Ah Mo, she’s my only little sister. If I don’t spoil her, who will?” Xia Xuan protested coquettishly. In her heart, she was feeling triumphant. ‘Xia Man, what can you use to fight me now? As long as I can get the shares in your hands, I’ll be able to completely have you beneath my feet…’
Xi Mo was clear about how Xia Xuan really felt about Xia Man but right now, Xia Man had pissed him off so he didn’t mind acting together with Xia Xuan to give her a punishment.
“Even if you have good intentions, certain people won’t be able to realise it.”
Xia Xuan looked at Xia Man with an aggrieved expression. “Xiaoman… go to the hospital with me. I’m not reassured leaving you alone with this stranger.”
These words were hinting both subtly and openly that Xia Man and this man’s relationship was not pure.
As expected, Xi Mo’s gaze at Tang Yin turned colder.
“Tang Yin, do you want to see Xia Man die due to blood loss?” Shi Sheng turned off spectator mode and shouted at Tang Yin.
Everyone’s attention was attracted by Shi Sheng’s shout. Xia Xuan still remembered from last time that this woman didn’t know where her limits were, and now she teamed up with this Xia Man bitch. Xi Mo didn’t have a pleasant face on either. He didn’t know what methods she had used to get Xia Man to pay the compensation fee for breaking the contract but in his eyes, Shi Sheng had betrayed him.
And he was never merciful to traitors. He had been planning on teaching her a lesson, but after she dissolved the contract, she simply hadn’t shown herself. If she wasn’t in the entertainment circle, even if he wanted to teach her a lesson, there was nothing he could do.
“Hurry up, are you planning on becoming a flower vase? Even if you do, you’re not getting paid for it!” Shi Sheng urged the two when she saw they still weren’t budging.
Xia Man knew Shi Sheng didn’t mean any ill will so she didn’t kick up a fuss over her choice of words. She pulled Tang Yin and walked towards Shi Sheng. Xia Xuan was about to block her again.
“Ms Xia, your sister is currently bleeding to death. If you still want to block her, I’ll just take it that you want her to die, right?” Shi Sheng spoke before Xia Xuan could do so.
The onlooking audience, “…” ‘Are you guys really on the same side? Why does that tone sound so obnoxious?’
Xia Xuan didn’t dare to stop them anymore, she could only watch as the three of them walked off. Her heart was filled with hatred as she thought, ‘It’s this woman again! How despicable!’
Xi Mo silently watched, his thoughts unreadable.
[1] Meant to express that there is always someone better. He’s using it to say she won’t be able to learn that and hence won’t be humble.