Angry? Just Pacify Her

What had been supposed to be a good date was interrupted by someone who suddenly showed up. Xi Zhen had only walked part of the way before she slowly came to a stop, as if she wanted to explain something but didn’t know where to start.

Li Xingqing seemed to sense her hesitation. Really, she should have seen it coming. The line Xi Zhen had said at Ke Wei’s wrap banquet back then couldn’t have come out of nowhere. Xi Zhen was ten years older than her; she had already missed so much of the other woman’s life.

Still, Li Xingqing was confident Xi Zhen wasn’t the type to play games with her. She stepped half a pace forward and took Xi Zhen’s hand, giving it a light shake.

“Didn’t you say this restaurant was hard to book? I haven’t been here before.”

That was a complete lie. The place was indeed difficult to get into, but only for ordinary people. Li Xingqing had followed her father to several business dinners before, and this was always the restaurant they booked.

Naturally, the price was also especially beautiful.

Fortunately, her lie seemed to soften Xi Zhen. The other woman squeezed her hand back and said, “Okay.”

They’d been seated by the window. Looking down from here, the people below seemed tiny.

The restaurant was called Bai Yujing; the name sounded archaic and grand, and the decor matched it.

A waiter brought over the menu, styled like a set of floral note cards. Xi Zhen took it with a smile and handed it to Li Xingqing. “See what you want to eat. I’m paying.”

Li Xingqing had been here before, but she had never seen the menu. She had no interest in studying her father’s business partners’ tastes and preferences; and at business dinners, how many people were really there to eat?

Well, Li Xingqing actually was here to eat.

She took the menu, originally planning to order a few dishes she remembered tasting well. But just as she was about to speak, she quietly closed her mouth again.

Damn it, she was a hardworking student now, “studying and working at the same time.” It clearly didn’t make sense for her to seem so familiar with ordering at a place like this.

Still, did being an artist’s assistant really pay this well? Xi Zhen had actually chosen such a place for their first date in A City.

So Li Xingqing very considerately prepared to look at the prices and order the cheapest dishes. Then she discovered there wasn’t even a price list.

Fuck... why was this restaurant like this?

Li Xingqing cursed inwardly, but on the surface she still wore that slightly cautious expression.

The waiter beside her was extremely professional, staying right at their side; it made Li Xingqing’s head heat up. One part of her thought maybe she should just order anything, while another part kept telling her no, she still couldn’t ruin their first date.

Seeing that she still hadn’t moved, Xi Zhen assumed she was nervous. She waved the waiter away and asked gently, “What’s wrong, baby?”

What else could be wrong? Your baby is wondering how to fool you.

Li Xingqing awkwardly tugged at the corners of her mouth. “Nothing, Sister Zhen... is this place very expensive?” After circling around for so long, she’d finally managed to keep up her persona. Li Xingqing exhaled. Good, good.

“It’s fine. Just order. The company will reimburse it.” Xi Zhen smiled and reached out to hold her hand.

“This can be reimbursed too?” Li Xingqing, who had ranked first in finance, was deeply suspicious. She felt like this company probably wasn’t making much profit. Flights were reimbursed, and now meals too; maybe the company was actually owned by Xi Zhen.

It really was the boss speaking: “...”

“It’s fine. Just eat.”

The dishes were eventually brought out. To be fair, expensive did have its reasons; the food actually tasted pretty good. At the very least, with Xi Zhen sitting in front of her, Li Xingqing felt like this was better than anything she’d eaten before.

After dinner, Xi Zhen went to the restroom. Li Xingqing guessed she was also going to settle the bill, so she didn’t follow. She sat in her seat and looked out the window.

It was already dark. The surrounding high-rises had lit up; from this angle, there really was a decadent, lavish feeling to it.

Her mind was just going blank when an uninvited guest appeared again.

“What’s your name?” Song Xunqing had somehow already come to stand beside Li Xingqing.

Her gaze was haughty. With Xi Zhen no longer by her side, the look she gave Li Xingqing was openly hostile.

“I’m not at liberty to say.” Li Xingqing didn’t know what relationship this hot actress had with Xi Zhen, but since Xi Zhen hadn’t planned to tell her, that meant she was nobody important.

Dealing with someone like that, Li Xingqing couldn’t be bothered to spare a single extra glance.

But Song Xunqing seemed to have been used to being the center of the universe from birth; with fans constantly praising her, she’d completely forgotten who she was. She leaned closer, refusing to stop until she got what she wanted. “Why, scared to say it? Afraid I’ll target you?”

“You’re sick. If you’ve got nothing to do, shrug your shoulders more and squeeze out that pimple in the middle of your forehead.” Li Xingqing lifted her eyes and glanced at her, her tone calm and flat as she sneered.

Song Xunqing hadn’t expected her to actually dare say that to her. Did she really think that clinging to Xi Zhen meant everything would be fine? Furious, she raised her hand to hit her; before her hand could reach anyone, however, she heard Xi Zhen’s voice, low with anger: “Song Xunqing, what are you doing?”

Li Xingqing was still sitting down, so just from the difference in height she was a head shorter than the other woman. From a distance, she looked like a pitiful little thing who’d been bullied badly but didn’t dare fight back. Xi Zhen’s irritation, which had been building all evening because of Song Xunqing, exploded completely at that moment.

Hearing Xi Zhen’s voice, Song Xunqing’s outstretched hand trembled. She stumbled back involuntarily, putting some distance between herself and Li Xingqing. “I didn’t; she was the one who insulted...”

“Sister, I’m fine.” Before Song Xunqing could finish, Li Xingqing cut her off and told Xi Zhen, who was walking over, that she was okay.

Of course, at this point it wasn’t really a question of whether she was fine anymore. Anyone with eyes could tell that with Song Xunqing’s height—barely 165 centimeters even in high heels—there was no way she could bully Li Xingqing, whose barefoot height was 178 centimeters.

But Xi Zhen couldn’t be bothered to care that much. She had long been sick of Song Xunqing; selfish, narcissistic, acting as if everyone in the world ought to love her. No one knew how she had developed such a personality.

As for how she had once actually dated someone like that, Xi Zhen didn’t know whether she herself had been blind or whether Song Xunqing had simply been that good at pretending back then.

When they’d fallen out all those years ago, Xi Zhen had already blacklisted her in her heart. But since they still moved in the same circle, there was no need to tear each other apart completely.

Xi Zhen didn’t want to waste any more words on her, so when she ran into her that afternoon, she’d chosen to put up with it. But Li Xingqing had done nothing wrong; why should she have to tolerate her?

The fire in Xi Zhen’s chest surged up at once. Whether it was because she hated Song Xunqing or because she felt sorry for Li Xingqing, she simply could not stand Li Xingqing being bullied right under her nose.

She grabbed Li Xingqing, laced their fingers together in a blatant display, and held their joined hands up in front of Song Xunqing as she demanded loudly, “See that? She’s my girlfriend now. She’s not some little celebrity you can bully however you like. She’s an A University top student; she’s going to be your boss someday, got it?”

Xi Zhen’s voice was genuinely loud this time. She really must have been furious.

Inside Bai Yujing, quite a few customers turned to look. Song Xunqing was a public figure, after all; if she were photographed and the pictures ended up online, it would be another storm of chaos, and not worth the trouble.

She looked at their clasped hands, then at the furrowed crease between Xi Zhen’s brows; finally, she stamped her foot and left.

With the excitement over, many people looked away. But there were still some who kept watching every move on this side, afraid of missing even a little of the fun.

Li Xingqing had never liked being stared at. Yet at this moment, being watched under the title of “Xi Zhen’s girlfriend” made her feel unexpectedly good.

With Song Xunqing gone, there was no reason for the two of them to stay any longer. Xi Zhen swore she would never come to Bai Yujing again; it seemed nothing ever happened there except bad luck. But after thinking it over, Li Xingqing decided they could come often in the future.

Of course, that would be after she told Xi Zhen who she really was. A poor student like Li Xingqing couldn’t afford this place, but the only daughter of the Li family group could.

Because they had to drive, neither of them drank. At this hour, once you got on the road, no matter what kind of car you were in, you had to obediently crawl along at twenty miles an hour.

Xi Zhen was stuck in traffic, and the irritation Song Xunqing had stirred up in her hadn’t eased at all.

The cars in front didn’t move an inch, as if they’d been glued to the road. Xi Zhen’s mood felt just as stuck, as if the stickiest glue had been smeared over her heart; she was so agitated she didn’t know what to do.

Li Xingqing sensed her agitation. She simply couldn’t stand Xi Zhen being upset because of someone unimportant, or rather, someone she didn’t even know at all. During the traffic jam, she finally spoke up. “Sister Zhen, just now that...”

Hearing Li Xingqing ask, Xi Zhen didn’t feel annoyed; instead, she actually let out a breath of relief.

She wasn’t afraid to talk about her relationship with Song Xunqing. After all, who hadn’t done something stupid when they were young? What she wanted was for Li Xingqing to ask on her own. If Li Xingqing didn’t ask even once, she’d start worrying that the other woman had never planned to properly date her in the first place.

The blazing fire in her heart had finally found a cool stream of water. Xi Zhen paused for a moment, then said, “She was an artist I used to manage.”

No wonder. Li Xingqing nodded as if accepting the answer.

“She’s also my ex-girlfriend.”

Damn it. Li Xingqing looked calm on the surface, but inside she was already jealous to the point of going crazy. For Song Xunqing to have forced the gentle Xi Zhen into that state just now, she couldn’t even imagine how much Xi Zhen must have suffered when they were dating.

Song Xunqing, huh. Li Xingqing remembered this person now.

“Mm, so you’ve broken up?” Li Xingqing deliberately asked a stupid question, probably just trying to make Xi Zhen laugh.

As expected, hearing that question, all the replies Xi Zhen had prepared in advance for Li Xingqing’s interrogation became useless.

“Of course. I don’t have the habit of cheating on one person with another.” Xi Zhen had decent morals; she couldn’t bring herself to badmouth her ex to her current partner. But saying that much was enough for Li Xingqing to understand the general situation.

Just an ex with a spoiled rich-girl temperament? Looking at Xi Zhen now, it seemed obvious the two of them really hadn’t been a good match back then. Li Xingqing let out a breath and placed her hand over Xi Zhen’s on the steering wheel. “Then I’ll be good. Sister, keep dating me, okay?”

“What are you comparing yourself to her for?” Xi Zhen found it funny, but she still didn’t shake off Li Xingqing’s hand. “Okay, okay, I’ll date you. I’ll only date you.”