The lights from the hallway and the restroom converged at the door, the tiles reflecting a chaotic light that made it impossible to immediately discern Xu Shiyue's expression.
Xu Minjun's impression of Xu Shiyue was still that of a pitiful woman who was almost dying in the hospital. Her tone was rude: "Xu Shiyue, what's wrong with you? Let go of me!"
However, such intimidation had no effect on Xu Shiyue, who remained unmoved, gripping Xu Minjun's wrist tightly.
No one could guess what kind of strength was hidden in her slender body, not even Xu Minjun.
She struggled several times, but found that she couldn't break free from Xu Shiyue's grasp. She became somewhat exasperated: "Didn't you hear me tell you to let go?"
Xu Shiyue tightened her grip and coldly retorted, "Did you hear what I just warned you?"
Upon hearing Xu Shiyue's words, Xu Minjun couldn't help but chuckle.
Completely unaware of how things were about to unfold, she sneered, "You blind fool, if you're afraid that I'll ruin Lu Shizhen and you'll have nothing to rely on, you should kneel down and beg your older sister for help."
As she spoke, Xu Minjun looked Xu Shiyue up and down.
But this person didn't match the pitiful image she remembered. Instead, her long dress swayed, and her tall, aloof figure aroused her jealousy, which in turn fueled a surge of malice: "Speaking of which, I forgot to ask you, how's it been serving that madman for the past six months? He seems to care about you quite a bit, keeping you so fair and delicate. He must really like you, right? I heard he has unusual interests; before you, he'd bring other women along every now and then..."
As Xu Minjun spoke, she turned her sharp words back on Lu Shizhen.
Unfortunately, before she could finish her sentence, the source of her voice was silenced.
Xu Shiyue grabbed Xu Minjun by the neck, her well-defined fingers gripping the man's throat.
Several blue veins stood out on the back of his fair hand, as if it were a violent force buried in the snow.
Xu Shiyue lifted her eyelashes and said in a low voice, "Xu Minjun, I warned you."
The scissors, left behind by a staff member on a nearby table, reflected a silvery light. Xu Shiyue, as if she had planned it all along, reached out and picked them up, then pressed them against Xu Minjun's cheek as she spoke: "Or do you think I was joking with you just now, sister?"
The silver blade slowly sliced across Xu Minjun's skin in Xu Shiyue's hand, the pressure and coolness it brought feeling incredibly real.
Xu Shiyue deliberately softened her voice, as if it were a sister whispering intimately in her ear, but the corners of her lips curled up in a terrifying smile.
Xu Shiyue's eyes, reflecting her own image, magnified in Xu Minjun's eyes, and their gazes met precisely.
The vulnerable person shed the label of vulnerability, and Xu Minjun realized something. Fear gripped her throat and squeezed her heart with the scissors. Her voice trembled: "You...you're not, you're not blind, aren't you?"
"Do I need to tell you whether I'm blind or not?" Xu Shiyue retorted, pressing the scissors against Xu Minjun's face even harder.
pain.
Xu Minjun's brows furrowed involuntarily, her fear amplified by the sharp scissor tip.
She was genuinely concerned about her appearance, and cautiously, yet subtly, brought up her father to Xu Shiyue: "Xu...Xu Shiyue, I'm warning you, you'd better let me go. My dad...my father is waiting for me in the banquet hall. If he finds out what you've done to me, he...he won't let you get away with it..."
Xu Shiyue sneered and retorted, "Then do you think I'd let you off the hook if you tried to harm Lu Shizhen?"
Compared to her own warning, Xu Minjun felt that Xu Shiyue's warning was much more intimidating.
In all these years of her family and friends, she had never seen Xu Shiyue like this before. It was as if she had suddenly changed completely. The scissors pressed against her face shattered her impression of Xu Shiyue.
Or perhaps this person was never understood by me in the first place.
This person, who was more well-behaved and aloof than anyone else in the past, would actually do such a crazy thing.
Xu Shiyue wasn't interested in Xu Minjun's renewed perception of her, nor did she have the patience to wait for her to react. She continued to warn her coldly, "Xu Minjun, if you dare to spread rumors about Lu Shizhen again, I'll cut your tongue out. If you dare to lay a finger on Lu Shizhen, I'll make you wish you were dead. I mean what I say, and I will never go back on my word."
The scissors pressed against Xu Minjun's cheek slowly slid down to her lips, the sharp blades pressing down on them until they turned a ghastly white.
Xu Minjun couldn't help but swallow, but the smooth movement was stopped by the hand gripping her neck.
Unable to move or resist.
Xu Minjun truly felt a fear born of despair; she didn't even know how Xu Shiyue would agree to her request.
Or perhaps, Xu Shiyue will let him go.
The tense atmosphere at the entrance reached its peak, just as the hotel's cleaning staff came over with their tools.
Not understanding what was happening, she blankly broke the atmosphere of despair and fear: "Ladies, the banquet has already begun, aren't you going over there?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Shiyue subtly moved the hand that was gripping Xu Minjun's neck to the side of her hair.
Xu Minjun felt a sense of relief, but then Xu Shiyue's voice rang out: "One of my sister's hair strands is too long and doesn't look good. I'm cutting it for her."
Xu Minjun seemed to realize what Xu Shiyue was about to do, and fear suddenly welled up in her eyes.
Before she could fully react, the pair of scissors pressed against the corner of her mouth grazed her face and went towards the hair on the side of her face.
"Crack!"
With a swift movement, a strand of long, black, curly hair fell to the ground.
A cool breeze rushed in through the open bathroom window, the winter night air stealing away at one's body temperature.
Xu Minjun felt the coolness of the scissors against her face, her eyes filled with terror, and she froze completely.
Xu Shiyue looked at the work of art in front of her with great satisfaction, and with a smile in her eyes, she tidied Xu Minjun's hair and said to her in a joking tone, "Sister, you see, I told you, if you don't move, of course I can't hurt you, right?"
Looking at Xu Shiyue's smile in front of her, Xu Minjun felt all her resentment and anger vanish.
She barely moved her stiff lips, uttering a single, hesitant syllable: "Yes."
Although tonight is a banquet, it is also a gathering for networking, and the opening ceremony is unavoidable.
Lu Shizhen was destined to never be involved in such serious and profound events in her life. She almost fell asleep listening to this gentleman and that gentleman give speeches on stage.
Although she did eventually fall asleep.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw the message Xu Shiyue had left for her: "Going to the bathroom, will be back soon."
After the opening ceremony ended, people who were either sitting or standing started to move around.
Lu Shizhen originally came with Xu Shiyue, but now that Xu Shiyue is not here, even though the opening ceremony is over, she is still unemployed and just looking around.
So she saw that Xu Shouxian, that damned bastard, had finished and then snuggled up to Mr. Wang, chatting with him quite happily.
Meanwhile, her brother Lu Shize was chatting with a group of big names in the field of artificial intelligence, completely ignoring Mr. Wang, who was very important to him and Xu Shiyue.
Lu Shizhen was extremely puzzled for a moment, and with a frown, she stuffed a strawberry into her mouth.
Unexpectedly, the strawberry turned out to be a fake, filled with white chocolate. The moment Lu Shizhen tasted the sweetness, she immediately developed a mask of pain.
Lu Shizhen hurriedly grabbed a paper cup from the side and spat out the chocolate, when she heard a teasing voice: "What are you looking at? Can't you even tell the difference between a real strawberry and a fake one?"
"I didn't..."
Lu Shizhen was somewhat displeased and was about to retort when she saw that Xu Shiyue had returned at some point.
She was holding a full bowl of fresh strawberries, still glistening with water droplets.
Whether it was the strawberries or the person, Lu Shizhen's displeasure immediately dissipated.
She naturally accepted the strawberries Xu Shiyue offered and described the scene in the banquet hall: "It's nothing, I just saw my brother talking to people who do scientific research, and Mr. Wang was being pestered by Xu Shouxian."
"Oh." Xu Shiyue nodded, her expression unusually calm, and sat down next to Lu Shizhen after adjusting her skirt.
The crystal chandelier overhead cast light into Lu Shizhen's vision, illuminating Xu Shiyue's skirt as if surrounded by stars.
The slit in her skirt draped naturally over the sofa, her slender legs gracefully crossed, their snow-white skin gleaming against the starry sky.
Lu Shizhen's eyes widened slightly, and she asked as if trying to shift her attention, "Um... was your journey smooth? Did you encounter any difficulties on your own? Actually, you should have asked me to take you."
As Xu Shiyue listened to Lu Shizhen's series of questions, her calm eyes seemed to hold a hint of a smile: "I saw that you were sleeping quite happily, so I didn't wake you."
Lu Shizhen had forgotten what had just happened, and her face fell.
She glanced at Mr. Wang, who had moved a few steps away from her, and said, "Hey, why don't you go talk to Mr. Wang? Isn't he involved in that matter too?"
Xu Shiyue didn't mind Lu Shizhen's change of topic again. She glanced at Mr. Wang and Xu Shouxian not far away and said in a low voice, "I'm not going."
"Why?" Lu Shizhen was extremely puzzled.
Xu Shiyue, as a character in the book, may not know the importance of Mr. Wang, but as someone who has read the original text, she cannot just watch Xu Shouxian change the plot.
Just as Lu Shizhen was about to say something, something was suddenly stuffed into her mouth.
Sweet, yet with a hint of sourness, it's like...
Xu Shiyue, for some reason, took a strawberry and put it in Lu Shizhen's mouth: "I heard this strawberry is quite sweet, you should try it."
The girl's fingers, carrying that familiar coolness, brushed lightly against Lu Shizhen's lips.
Lu Shizhen's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
She was somewhat surprised, but more than that, she was bewitched and acted on impulse.
Without saying anything more, she simply ate the strawberry as Xu Shiyue had instructed.
Xu Shiyue watched Lu Shizhen eat the strawberry, and asked expectantly, "Is it sweet?"
“Sweet.” Lu Shizhen nodded sincerely and earnestly.
However, she was still preoccupied with the matter of Mr. Wang, which had just been interrupted by Xu Shiyue, and couldn't help but ask again, "But Xu Shiyue, aren't you worried about Mr. Wang?"
Xu Shiyue paused, her hand holding the strawberry stem still, and asked, "Lu Shizhen, do you believe me?"
As if by conditioned reflex, Lu Shizhen blurted out when she heard Xu Shiyue's question, "Of course..."
But before Lu Shizhen could finish speaking, she suddenly felt herself being pulled over by a force.
The sound of the crystal chandelier falling and shattering exploded in her ears. As the distance rapidly closed, she met Xu Shiyue's focused eyes.
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