Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
She clenched her teeth, and then her clear eyes were very quickly covered with gloom. She continued coldly, "If I said that it was the man who framed me, asking me to be with him, that he couldn't seduce me, so he forced himself onto me, and after that in the middle of the ordeal, I got hold of a pen and stabbed his eye blind, would you believe me? He got the title as an excellent instructor every year while I'm just a bad student who got in through connections. Who'd believe me?"
When she said this, Mu Yuchen was shocked for a moment. Suddenly, there was a cold sharpness that flashed in his eyes.
"After that, I was expelled by the academy, and was even almost sent to jail. My father used his connections to erase all of my records whilst my mother used Grandfather's money to shut that man up. On the day that I left the academy, the class teacher used me as a bad example in front of my whole class. What do you want me to say? How do I explain? Tell me! How can I prove my innocence?"
All of the anger and suffering she had endured instantly could not help but show in her eyes that heated up. The instant her tears were about to fall, she turned her head away stubbornly. She sniffed with both her hands clenched into tight fists. Choking on her sobs for a moment, she continued to stammer in a raspy voice, "All of them say that I'm a thief, that I'm a shameless woman. Even my grandfather and grandmother didn't believe me..."
Then, she lowered her head and covered her pale face in her hands again. She was so hurt. All of her grievances and unbearable past being completely exposed in the open was something hard for her to accept.
"That's just them being stupid and not knowing right from wrong. You didn't even seduce me. What would that man have to make you think so highly of him? Who brought this up tonight?" He still could not hold back his anger.
She sniffed and looked up at him with her red eyes, not saying anything.
"Was it that Xi Xinyi again, or that stepmother of yours?"
From the way she looked, Mu Yuchen could already guess the answer.
"Are you a fool? Are you so stupid that you don't know how to attack her back? The best way to handle a woman like her is to give her a taste of her own medicine. If that doesn't work, then play dirty!"
When he said this, his tone was far from the stern scolding like before. Instead, there was a tone of evil influence and smugness now.
She was triggered by his words. This was the first time someone had called her stupid. She immediately straightened her back and refuted angrily with justification, "If I were so invincible, why would I need you for?!"
"You!" Mu Yuchen felt that she had the ability to anger him to death. He really did not know what else to say after that rebuttal, so he just inhaled, nodded, and glanced at her helplessly. "If you had acknowledged this earlier, I might've still been praising you right now, but now, with this attitude of yours, I..."
Xi Xiaye widened her reddened eyes and glared at him coldly. When she was about to say something, the sound of footsteps from the side interrupted them. What followed was a huge black umbrella shading Mu Yuchen's head from the sky above as Ah Mo's voice came through.
"Master, this is what you wanted."
Mu Yuchen looked at Xi Xiaye, then turned around and took the thick stack of papers from Ah Mo's hands.
He casually flipped through it, then nodded and handed it back to Ah Mo. He said calmly, "The banquet's about to end soon, isn't it?"
"Yes, Master, the guests have started to leave, but they're not out yet. Manager Liang has already explained the matter to me," Ah Mo said softly.
"This is your forte, so just go with the usual and play by ear," instructed Mu Yuchen, yet he looked at Xi Xiaye as he did. "Do you want to take revenge?"
When she heard him, her eyes that were a little misty from the tears suddenly brightened up. She stared at him and muttered, "Do you have a plan?"
His gaze was as still as water. Noticing a sliver of hope in her eyes like a bullied little girl looking for her parents to help her take revenge, her eyes twinkled with a light that flickered akin to scattered diamonds. He could not help but feel sorry for her. Quite a while after that, he lifted a hand to wipe away her tears...
Xi Xiaye followed his slightly cold fingers, rubbing her tears away, feeling embarrassed. Her eyes were still focused on his extraordinarily handsome face.
His hand lifted slightly and patted her head as his tone became soft and gentle. "Get down from the car. Follow me."
Xi Xiaye was shocked, but she nodded and followed him out of the car...
At this moment, it was already past 9 p.m. and the banquet was about to come to a close.
When Su Nan returned to the banquet hall, she had rushed over angrily, intending to settle the score with Xi Xinyi and Yu Lingling, but she was stopped by her parents. Just like that, the storm that erupted at the banquet was finally suppressed.
After Xi Xiaye left, Xi Xinyi and Yu Lingling continued chatting away happily as usual to everyone, but when everyone mentioned Xi Xiaye's matter, Xi Xinyi would just smile in response and not comment. However, it was exactly because of this reaction that everyone was afraid of the high probability of the matter being true.
When it was past 9 p.m., a group of people finally decided to leave.
Outside the hotel, Xi Xinyi and Wang Zilou's group bade goodbye to each other at the stairs.
"Hey, Xinyi, was that true about Xiaye? To be honest, I also thought it was weird back then that she would suddenly go abroad despite doing well in the military academy," Sun Mei could not help but ask Xi Xinyi.
"Xiaye's not like that, Sun Mei. Even if it was as Lingling said, I'm sure there's something else," Wang Ziluo hesitated for a moment, then said.
"I think Sister wouldn't too, but... I'm really sorry, my grandfather and father don't let me talk about this matter, so..." Xi Xinyi very innocently stated, yet the awkwardness on her face had set the accusation against Xi Xiaye in stone!
Everyone exchanged glances knowingly. Even Wang Ziluo's expression darkened.
Xi Xinyi lowered her head, seeming a little upset as she sighed, "Sister has been having it hard all this while, so I hope that everyone won't see her differently because of these things. She's a very good person and I've always admired her, so please, everyone, don't bring this up again anymore, okay? I'm begging you..." Xi Xinyi's voice trembled slightly. She sounded like she was being considerate towards Xi Xiaye, yet, the moment she said that, a motorcycle had swiftly driven towards them and stopped before them.
On the motorcycle was a tall man with a helmet on. He got down from the bike and held a thick stack of documents before walking up to the few of them and asked politely, "May I know who Miss Xi Xinyi is?"
The tone of the man was polite and humble whilst he looked at them at the bottom of the staircase.
Such attitude rarely alerted cautiousness, so the crowd all looked at Xi Xinyi who put on a smile and said, "Hello, I'm Xi Xinyi, and you... Ah! Ah! Ah!"
Before she could finish her sentence, the tall man's eyes turned cold and he grabbed Xi Xinyi's shoulder, slapping the thick pile of document papers in his hand on Xi Xinyi's beautiful face!
The sound of paper slapping her reached everyone's ears.
Xi Xinyi screamed in agony. She felt her head go light as her foot tripped and she fell onto the ground. The man then threw the stack of papers onto Xi Xinyi, making the papers rain everywhere. Meanwhile, the other pillion rider on the motorbike threw another stack of papers towards Xi Xinyi as well. The sharp edge of the papers actually caused thin bloodlines to appear on her face!
"Be careful in the future. Don't always stab people in the back. I've seen too many people like you. I'll make sure you'll have a hard time if I see you do it again. Bro Mo doesn't have to even lift his finger!" The first man threatened her coldly and then left on the bike.
Everything happened too quickly. The crowd came back to their senses a while after Xi Xinyi started screaming. At that moment, the papers almost covered up Xi Xinyi. Some people started picking the papers up to take a closer look.
They were some inappropriate photos of Xi Xinyi and they even included specific captions of when, where, and who the photos were taken with.
In addition to that, conflicts between Xi Xinyi and other celebrities, and any tricks used were included. For example, there was one about how soon after Xi Xinyi's debut, the female lead suffered severe injuries from falling off a hanging wire due to a system failure. The circumstantial evidence suggested that Xi Xinyi was guilty. There were many other similar cases whereby anyone who was found to be going against Xi Xinyi would somehow be involved in an accident, and every single time, Xi Xinyi was found at the scene!
The detailed information was all available. There was even a close-up photo of Xi Xinyi secretly vandalizing a certain celebrity's dress!
Many things were listed down. From the time Xi Xinyi debuted until now, her whole career had been recorded and those unknown events were now fully presented to everyone.
Sun Mei and the others stared at the photos with their scandalized eyes wide and because the wedding was ending, many guests came out from the hotel as well. Fueled by the breeze, many of the papers flew inside and most of the guests grabbed one unconsciously!
Xi Xinyi felt that something was wrong when Sun Mei and the others were looking at her with shock, so she quickly grabbed one of the papers.
It was all about the conflict between her, Caitlyn, Lin Ling, and...
She yelled as she crawled up from the ground, "These aren't true! They aren't true!"
She was trembling uncontrollably. No matter how hard she tried to keep herself composed, the fear in her heart made her feel light-headed.
Her first reaction was that someone had to be messing with her!
If these went out, her reputation in the entertainment industry...
Suddenly, many people surrounded her. Some of them quickly snapped photos and posted it on their Weibo!
This was some hot news!
Xi Xinyi's face went pale as her mind turned blank. She wanted to do something but she could not move, totally freaked out.
Beside the car somewhere nearby, Xi Xiaye witnessed what happened with her cold eyes. Her hand was still holding the paper Mu Yuchen had handed her.
"Master, this is the video they took. Take a look!" Ah Mo passed his phone over and Mu Yuchen flicked his cigarette on the ashtray as he took it. Glancing at it, he then gave it to Xi Xiaye beside him. "Take a look."
Xi Xiaye frowned as she grabbed it and saw a video of Yu Lingling talking.
"I didn't do it on purpose. I was triggered by Xi Xinyi! She told me that it was Xi Xiaye who locked me up in the school toilet and even asked Su Nan to remove my name from the student council... That's why I... I've told you the truth. Please don't hurt me..."
"You had people..." Xi Xiaye looked at him, startled.
"You use odd ways against odd people. Sometimes, it's better to be direct."
He took the phone back from Xi Xiaye and gave it to Ah Mo. After a brief moment of silence, he said, "Send it to Han Yifeng together with that thing."
Ah Mo took his phone back and nodded. "Yes, Master!"
Xi Xiaye looked at the battered up Xi Xinyi. She seemed lost as Sun Mei and the others tried to drag her out of the crowd. She suddenly lost interest in watching and felt tired, so she opened the car door and sat inside.
Mu Yuchen turned his head over when he heard the sound of the door close. When he saw she had her eyes closed and her hands resting on her forehead, his eyes darkened and there was worry nestled between his brows.
"Master, next up..." Ah Mo mumbled quietly.
Mu Yuchen frowned as he threw the cigarette away and said, "You decide." He then opened the car door and sat inside as well.
"Start the car," Mu Yuchen told the driver in front as he got in. His eyes looked over at Xi Xiaye beside him. She seemed a little sad, so after some thought, he asked, "Are you worried about Father? Or Mother?"
He was always very observant, easily guessing what she thought.
She remained quiet after some time. Then, she took a deep breath and said in a bitter tone, "I feel like many feelings seem to become insignificant when it comes to conflicts and grudges. Humans are really insignificant. It doesn't mean that problems will just disappear if you care less.
"I'm really afraid that the things I try to protect will all just turn into a ridiculous joke..."
On the way back to Maple Residence, she did not say anything at all and Mu Yuchen did not bother her. He just put a blanket over her when she got tired and slept as she leaned against the window.
It was late at night and there were fewer cars on the road. The shadows of the trees from the streetlights flashed past her face, appearing cold and depressing.
She could see her own fragility as she closed her eyes. She could also still feel the sadness as a lump in her throat. Opening her eyes a little and looking at the cold drizzle outside, as well as the streetlights that passed by, her expression suddenly turned calm and tranquil.
She let out a light cough and pulled the blanket around her tightly. Her dry throat sounded awful and Mu Yuchen quickly got her a tissue.
"When I was 5, Father had just started working in the government office. Because of the shift in his work, there was a two-week break. He brought Mother and me to stay by the seaside," Xi Xiaye grabbed the tissue from him and said quietly, her eyes filled with sadness.
He was listening to her while looking at her. He waited for a bit but she did not continue.
After a long time, she touched her forehead, as if she was reminded of some fond memories. A smile appeared on her face. "Mother was really caring towards Father back then. She said she wanted to experience how it was like providing for the family, so at that time, our expenses were covered by the earnings we got from selling Mother's paintings. Father would cook at home, awaiting my mother's return, and I helped her to sell the paintings. Most of the people that came to the beach were kind, young people. They really liked Mother's paintings..."
Suddenly, her expression changed. After some time, she sighed, "Those days... We were really happy as a family, and now... They're just memories."
Mu Yuchen's eyes darkened, but he did not say anything at all.
The car slowly went towards Maple Residence and parked right in front of the house. Xi Xiaye swiftly got down from the car and walked into the house, then went upstairs.
When Mu Yuchen went into the house, she had just disappeared around the corner of the staircase. He took a deep breath and took off his coat before going into the kitchen.
Xi Xiaye's phone kept on ringing after she took a quick shower. When she browsed through her history, she saw many missed calls, mostly from Shen Wenna and Su Nan. She gave them a brief reply before switching off her phone.
She then saw the man taking a bowl of something inside when she was about to leave the bedroom.
"Eat something. Leave the worries for tomorrow."
He put the bowl on the coffee table beside the sofa. Xi Xiaye glanced over at the contents of the bowl. It was noodles with an egg.
He turned over his head and handed her a pair of chopsticks. Although she wanted to say that she was not hungry, she did not want to reject his kindness, so she took the chopsticks and sat down.
"You go and wash up as well. I've prepared the water for you."
She picked up a tomato and was about to put it into her mouth, but she saw that he was still watching her. Stopping mid-way to her mouth, she then changed directions to feed him instead.
He was startled for a moment, but he did not reject and ate it. At the same time, he patted her head with a warm smile on his handsome face. Without saying anything, he went out of the bedroom.
The next morning, as Xi Xiaye was done washing up and was going downstairs for breakfast, her phone started ringing. She picked up the call as soon as she saw that it was Su Nan.
The moment the call connected, Su Nan's eager voice reached her through the phone. "Xiaye, Xiaye, look at the TV and Weibo! Hurry! It's super big news!"
Xi Xiaye was stunned. She walked towards the living room and found the man reading the papers on the sofa. She grabbed the remote on the coffee table and switched the television on.
The screen showed a crowd of reporters flooding the entrance to Yueying Media Culture Company, many of them holding papers and photos from last night. Deng Wenwen and Yue Lingsi were surrounded and the reporters were all asking about Xi Xinyi.
It was chaos on Weibo as well. Many fans of the female celebrities whom Xi Xinyi had sabotaged before were outraged, but there were also a lot of fans defending her.
She grabbed the papers from Mu Yuchen and scanned through it. A big portion covered Xi Xinyi. After some additional commentary by the writers, it seemed even more severe than it should be.
Was he trying to end Xi Xinyi's career?
Just a few intimate photos of Xi Xinyi going to a resort with someone was enough to cause a big stir. However, the news about causing severe harm to a female celebrity was much worse.
"Vice President Liu just called. The advertisement shoot for Imperial Sky Jewellery City was about to start, but the PR Department has decided to swap people and revoke the contract with Xi Xinyi. Manager Fang isn't in the company now, so they need you to sign the contract and pay a visit to Yueying. What do you say?" Mu Yuchen sipped some tea and looked at her.
Xi Xiaye was reminded about what had happened at the opening ceremony. The PR Department had found out that Mu Yuchen was unhappy with Xi Xinyi, so they already had plans to remove her. The circumstances now made things easy.
After a brief moment of silence, Xi Xiaye nodded, her long eyelashes flickering a little. "I'll go in place of Manager Fang this afternoon."
"Forget about those unhappy memories. No matter what, you're my Mrs. Mu that impressed me," he said so as he took the papers away from her, "You won't be able to stand your ground if you're too kind. This saying works well in any circumstances."
She was slightly wavered by his words, and she nodded a little.
After Ah Mo clocked in, he went straight to Mu Yuchen's office.
As he knocked on the office door, Mu Yuchen was watering the plants on the rack. He continued even when he heard the sound of the door opening.
Ah Mo went to Mu Yuchen and called out to him respectfully, "Master!
Mu Yuchen stood up straight and left the watering can, grabbing a towel to clean his hands as he said, "I have something that I need you to do personally."
Mu Yuchen raised his head slightly and looked pointedly at Ah Mo.
"Please tell me, Master!" Ah Mo replied quietly.
Mu Yuchen nodded and walked towards his table slowly. Then, he took a folder out from the bookshelf in the back, opened it and then glanced at the document inside before handing it to Ah Mo.