Chapter 40 She couldn't bear her capriciousness any longer, so she gave in.

Qin Man felt that she had caught a chill and wanted to drink some ginger soup before going to bed.

She wandered around the kitchen, then ran to the bathroom door and slammed her hand on it, saying, "Why don't you have a housekeeper? I want some hot soup."

The sound of water coming from inside gradually subsided, and after a while, the door suddenly opened.

Qin Man immediately covered her eyes, "What are you doing!"

"..."

Jiang Xuchi tossed the towel over his head. "What are you expecting?"

Qin Man lowered her hand and saw that he had already put on his pants and t-shirt. She immediately felt that she had been a bit pretentious just now. She snorted and said, "I want to drink ginger soup."

"No."

"I caught a cold."

"Drink some hot water," Jiang Xuchi said calmly.

Qin Man refused to give up; wherever he went, she stood in his way.

In short, her demands cannot be ignored.

Jiang Xuchi stopped in his tracks, staring at her as she said, "Are you thinking that I'm here to be a pampered young lady, and that I can't even get a bowl of soup tonight?"

His androgynous tone was still as nasty as ever.

“Otherwise, what would I do here?” Qin Man continued, “I certainly wouldn’t want to come here to suffer.”

After much haggling, Qin Man resorted to all sorts of shameless tactics, forcing Jiang Xuchi to personally cook in the kitchen.

Since there was no ginger or brown sugar at home, Jiang Xuchi asked the villa's housekeeper to deliver it to his door.

He took the small pot out of the cupboard, and Qin Man leaned closer. The pot and pan were brand new, so it seemed he rarely ate at home.

No wonder there's no housekeeper here; he only stays here when she's around.

Qin Man leaned against the door frame and watched him deftly chop ginger and pour water in the kitchen, making a clattering sound, and he did it quite skillfully.

"You can actually cook?"

"When studying abroad, you have to learn even if you don't know how."

Jiang Xuchi ladled the boiled soup into a bowl, placed it on the table, glanced at her, and said, "Drink it."

"What a surprise," Qin Man muttered, picking up a small spoon and scooping out a few mouthfuls.

It's sweet and spicy, with a very clean flavor.

She thought Jiang Xuchi was a young master who never lifted a finger, but she never expected him to have this side to him.

*

The next morning, Qin Man had to leave early. It was even colder, and the windows were covered with a layer of condensation.

The dance troupe's rehearsals were from morning till night, with no chance to catch her breath. She ate a rice ball on the way to maintain her energy for the whole day of exercise.

When the dance troupe first saw her, few paid any attention to her presence. They were all practicing alone in the dance studio, and most of them treated her as if she didn't exist.

She and Lin Xian stood in the corner, listening to the instructions from the person in charge.

After the person in charge left, the atmosphere relaxed noticeably, and the lead dancer among them walked up to Qin Man and Lin Xian.

"You two got in through connections, so try not to slow down the pace and keep up with the practice, understand?"

Qin Man immediately wanted to retort, but Lin Xian stopped her.

"We definitely will," Lin Xian said good-naturedly.

After the lead dancer left, Qin Man couldn't swallow her anger, but for Lin Xian's sake, she could only ask in a low voice, "What do you mean by getting in through connections?"

She always believed that both of them were selected fairly and squarely.

Lin Xian gave her a complicated look.

Qin Man instantly sensed the unspoken meaning in her eyes, grabbed her, and pressed, "Do you know something?"

"Liu Xingjie told me that you were indeed pre-selected for the job," Lin Xian said honestly. "As for me, I don't know if it was based on my own abilities or because of you, but none of that matters."

"How can it not be important?"

Qin Man wasn't ungrateful.

Although this wasn't the first time she had suffered such malice, things were completely different now. She had fallen to rock bottom and understood the origin of this malice. She couldn't be so arrogant as to ignore it, nor could she retaliate. Instead, she felt incredibly frustrated.

No matter how frustrating it is, you have to endure it.

"Fine, it's normal for them to dislike us. We'll let our abilities speak for themselves."

Lin Xian smiled and said, "Keep it up."

In fact, once the training intensity is high, no trivial matters will occur. The girls in the dance troupe don't even have time to eat lunch. They stand until evening, eating some biscuits to stave off hunger in between.

By evening, the group was starving, but dared not eat much because they wanted to control their weight.

Qin Man is the same.

She was so immersed in this environment that she had long lost her appetite, and even the thought of eating made her feel nauseous.

This went on for half a month.

She leaves early and returns late, and sometimes the two of them don't even see each other in the house. They go back to their own rooms and become strangers, like roommates sharing an apartment.

Qin Man was so busy that she had long forgotten about her conversation with Jiang Chenyao.

Because she didn't want the other members of the dance troupe to look down on her, she practiced with a lot of determination. Even Lin Xian told her to relax and not act impulsively.

Qin Man has gone through bankruptcy and internet celebrity; if she weren't such a hard-working person, she wouldn't have been able to make it through.

This was the first time she had ever given her all to something like this. She endured all kinds of hardships, suffering countless scornful looks and bearing it all.

Life is irrational.

She had no choice but to persist, even if it meant being unreasonable.

She felt dizzy when she got home that night, so she made herself a cup of soy milk powder and decided to drink it before bed.

When the water boiled, she was about to get the cup when, without her noticing, the cup fell to the ground. It looked like it was broken, but she didn't hear a sound.

She doesn't remember what happened after that.

When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital bed in the clinic.

Judging from the environment, this is the private clinic that she visited a long time ago, the one Jiang Xuchi knew.

It's a bit embarrassing to be hospitalized because of low blood sugar.

She stared listlessly at the man sitting beside her. Jiang Xuchi scrolled through his phone, not even looking up. "Awake?"

"Mmm. Thirsty."

Jiang Xuchi got up to pour her some water.

Qin Man never expected that after all her hard work, she would still fail at the last hurdle.

Fortunately, it was just a simple case of low blood sugar. She didn't faint for long; most of the time she was in a daze. She remembered that Jiang Xuchi carried her downstairs, put her in the car, and then drove here.

Everything was hazy and indistinct, like I'd just hit my head.

My arm was suddenly hit by a cell phone.

"It's a call from your brother." Jiang Xuchi gestured for her to answer.

Qin Man was already exhausted, so when she saw Qin Chen's call, she hung up immediately.

She had been holding herself together for a while when a nerve suddenly snapped, and she hadn't recovered yet, so she didn't want to deal with Qin Chen.

Jiang Xuchi was not surprised. "If you're tired, take a nap."

"What time is it now?"

Jiang Xuchi turned on his phone screen to show it to her.

At this point, the dance troupe's training is about to begin!

Qin Man rushed into the bathroom to quickly wash up, then came out and urged Jiang Xuchi, "Take me to the dance studio quickly."

"You want to go train without resting?" Jiang Xuchi's face turned cold.

Qin Man knew he cared about her, but dance troupe training was more important.

"I can take leave at other times, but not today. I have to go!"

She felt a little scared when she thought of the person in charge's stern face.

Jiang Xuchi stared at her for a long time before blurting out, "Were you bullied?"

Qin Man's heart skipped a beat.

"How could that be?"

Her pride wouldn't allow her to admit it.

"Then why are you so flustered?"

"Shut up and get in the car."

Qin Man was late by most of the day. She explained the reason to Lin Xian, but Lin Xian hadn't replied yet.

She pushed open the door with some trepidation.

Everyone else in the dance troupe was still practicing, but when they saw her enter, they all stopped what they were doing.

Unfortunately, the person in charge came today.

She didn't say much, but Qin Man could tell that she was very dissatisfied with her behavior.

Qin Man returned to the last row and joined the rehearsal. Everything else went smoothly, but today happened to be the day the person in charge came to check on the rehearsal.

After a rehearsal, Qin Man was panting heavily.

She knew she wasn't in good form; several of her movements lacked power and were out of sync with the rhythm, making her feel out of place with the rest of the dance troupe.

"Qin Man, come out with me."

Sure enough, the person in charge started calling her name.

Some chuckled, some scoffed, and most cast incomprehensible glances.

Over the past few days, everyone has seen Qin Man's efforts, and in fact, most of the people in the dance troupe have accepted her.

I just didn't expect her to mess things up at the crucial moment.

Qin Man followed him out dejectedly, while Lin Xian comforted her from the side: "It's okay, it's just a couple of curses."

Lin Xian didn't understand that if you found fault with Qin Man and scolded her, it would be unbearable for her.

"Qin Man, do you know why you were able to join my dance troupe?" the person in charge asked her first.

Qin Man replied indifferently, "If you continue to look down on me because of my background, then I won't stay here any longer."

The person in charge smiled; she had long been fed up with this hot potato. "Then you can leave."

Qin Man had had enough of this kind of life, being looked down upon and despised.

Having never experienced such humiliation since childhood, she couldn't bear it any longer.

“I left, Lin Xian stayed, she danced very well.”

“Lin Xian is more sensible than you,” the person in charge said. “Remember, this is your own choice to leave.”

She said this to tell Qin Man not to use her background to intimidate her, that she wasn't afraid.

Qin Man asked, "One last question, whose connections are these?"

She knew it would seem stupid to ask that question, but she couldn't help asking it anyway.

Actually, I already have an answer in my heart.

Jiang Xuchi.

...

Qin Man always thought of herself as a talented dancer, at least among her peers, she was very capable.

She hadn't expected the dance troupe to come and select members; it was only because Jiang Xuchi had given them a heads-up.

Otherwise, the dance troupe wouldn't be short of people and wouldn't have thought of recruiting them.

For someone like Jiang Xuchi, opportunities are created, not seized. Qin Man understood this, of course, but she had a burning anger inside her with nowhere to vent it.

After the person in charge left, Lin Xian chased after her and asked, "Why did you say that just now?"

"I'm not staying here anymore."

"Then what should I do?"

"You danced very well, keep it up."

Qin Man didn't understand why Lin Xian was so angry.

"You just want to leave like that, all because of your pathetic pride? What am I supposed to do without you? I have no connections, no background, what am I supposed to do?!"

Lin Xian's voice grew louder and more agitated, so Qin Man had no choice but to pull her to a quiet corner downstairs.

"Calm down," Qin Man comforted Lin Xian, thinking he was just a little uneasy. "You have the ability, you'll thrive here."

"Strength is utterly useless!"

Lin Xian was furious. She put her hands on her hips and pointed at Qin Man, "If it weren't for the opportunity you brought, would I have been selected? Their dance troupe doesn't accept people in the first place. They only transferred two people because they wanted to take you."

"..."

"Do you know how important you are to me?" Lin Xian spoke frankly and directly, without beating around the bush. "Besides, you already have the ability, why ruin your future because of this one disagreement!"

Qin Man's cheeks flushed red from what she was being said, and her temper flared up as well. "I did what I wanted to do, why should I put up with this? Look at how others are looking at us!"

"Go ahead and suffer if you want, don't drag me down with you." Qin Man said this and pushed Lin Xian away.

She and Lin Xian were compatible at heart, but due to differences in their views, they would always have friction.

The reason this incident caused such a big commotion is because Lin Xian was able to tolerate it.

Everyone has different resources, and Lin Xian cherishes the hard-won resources, which is why she always disapproves of Qin Man in this regard.

Qin Man, on the other hand, was different; she could throw things away whenever she wanted and couldn't tolerate the slightest grievance.

Lin Xian was attracted by her temperament, but also dissatisfied with her actions.

Ever since Lin Xian and Qin Man had that argument, she has hardly contacted Qin Man at all.

Their cold war was like a tacit waiting; neither of them contacted the other, both waiting for their emotions to subside.

He would occasionally see Lin Xian at school, but he would not take the initiative to greet her. Except for one time when Liu Xingjie drove to pick up Lin Xian and saw her on the way, he insisted on taking her along.

No matter how much a fight there is between best friends, it's not good to show it to outsiders, so Qin Man had no choice but to get into the car.

After getting on the bus, I discovered that there was another, somewhat unexpected person sitting in it.

Jiang Xuchi was wearing a tracksuit, seemingly having just finished exercising. He was leaning lazily against the back seat and kept staring at her after she got into the car.

Liu Xingjie drove around the university campus, looking for Lin Xian's dormitory.

The atmosphere inside the car was eerie and extremely quiet throughout the journey.

Liu Xingjie couldn't help but say, "Big brother and sister, why don't you two get out of the car first? I'm afraid Lin Xian won't dare to ride in my car anymore."

Qin Man was unsure how much Liu Xingjie knew about the two of them.

"I think I'll get off the bus," Qin Man replied. "I think someone is throwing a tantrum because they feel I'm not appreciating their kindness."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xuchi simply smiled.

"You should have said you didn't want to join the dance troupe earlier, making me beg my dad for ages." Liu Xingjie teased. "Right, Brother Chi? I told you you should have asked the girl what she thought. Why do you always act first and ask later?"

Liu Xingjie's words do reflect a decent person.

Qin Man felt quite pleased to hear this.

She had actually wanted to talk to Jiang Xuchi about this for a long time, but she had been busy lately and needed to catch up on her studies, so she put the matter out of her mind.

When Liu Xingjie brought it up, she went along with it, saying, "Yeah, you should talk to me. Doing this kind of thing every day, can we still be considered friends?"

“That’s right, that’s right,” Liu Xingjie agreed.

“Friends? Then you have something else to say,” Jiang Xuchi looked at her, “I can tell you’re holding it in too.”

Qin Man: "..."

Liu Xingjie pulled over to the side of the road, Lin Xian opened the car door, glanced at the back seat, and exclaimed "Whoa!"

"It's so lively today," she said.

Given Lin Xian's personality, she would never throw a tantrum at a time like this; she was too busy teasing Qin Man to even think about it.

"It's rare for everyone to get together, why don't we invite Chen Yao and go to Fusheng for some fun?"

Liu Xingjie is quite bold, daring to mention Jiang Chenyao in front of Jiang Xuchi.

To everyone's surprise, Jiang Xuchi replied calmly, "Okay."

Qin Man suddenly became restless. Could it be that the relationship between the two brothers had improved?