The next day, Rong Zhaonan led Ning Yuan to the location where Cha Meiling was being held captive.
Cha Mei-ling was imprisoned in a room in the annex building that was originally used as a storage room. Therefore, the room had no windows and was only furnished with some simple furniture.
She looked much more haggard; her once exquisite makeup had faded, revealing a pale complexion.
Her once bright, charming, and sharp eyes had lost their luster, but her hair and clothes remained impeccably neat, maintaining her usual dignified appearance.
Hearing the door open, Cha Meiling slowly raised her head. When she saw Ning Yuan standing at the door, a complex emotion flashed in her eyes.
There was surprise, exhaustion, resentment, fear, but more than anything, there was vigilance and indifference.
"Ning Yuan, what are you doing here?" Cha Meiling asked calmly and expressionlessly.
Her gaze passed over Ning Yuan and landed on Rong Zhaonan behind her. He was still fully armed, wearing a hood that covered his face, revealing only a pair of cold eyes.
For some reason, even though this man never gave her a kind look and they hardly ever interacted, she was still involuntarily drawn to him and even wanted to maintain a respectable image in front of him.
Rong Zhaonan did not miss the complex emotions that flashed in Cha Meiling's eyes. He stood behind Ning Yuan without making a sound, like a silent mountain, exuding a cold sense of oppression.
Cha Meiling felt a tightness in her chest when he looked at her, as if she were being stared at by a leopard.
For some reason, she subconsciously felt that he shouldn't treat her like that, but she also felt that her thoughts were absurd.
She had barely spoken a few words to this man.
Cha Meiling avoided Rong Zhaonan's gaze and turned to Ning Yuan, continuing to ask expressionlessly, "What, are you here to see me in such a sorry state?"
Ning Yuan walked straight into the room, sat down on the sofa opposite Cha Meiling, and looked at her calmly: "Sixth Sister is joking."
Ning Yuan said calmly, "Why would I laugh at you? We're practically family."
Seeing that the two women had started talking, Rong Zhaonan signaled to the person next to him to close the door with a "bang".
Afterwards, he went to the next room with the big guy next to him.
Upon seeing him enter, the team members who were making final adjustments to the listening equipment immediately stood up: "Captain!"
Rong Zhaonan gestured for them to sit down, then sat down himself, picked up the headset, and skillfully began operating the equipment to record and listen.
...
In Cha Meiling's room,
"A family? Sixth Sister?" Cha Meiling asked, raising an eyebrow.
She slowly walked to the swivel chair opposite Ning Yuan and sat down, her tone full of sarcasm.
"Ning Yuan, when your older brother wanted to break up with me, did you say a single word to him to persuade him to stay?"
Ning Yuan remained calm and unmoved, simply watching Cha Meiling quietly.
“Of course you don’t.” Cha Meiling didn’t need her to answer.
She laughed coldly and said to herself, "Not only did you not try to persuade him, you also kicked him when he was down, told his older brother to be careful of my revenge, and even told his godmother to stay away from me. Is this how family members talk? Stop pretending."
Ning Yuan looked at Cha Meiling for a while, then smiled and said, "Sixth Sister, you seem to know quite a lot. It seems that you have people around Big Brother."
Cha Meiling was taken aback, crossed her beautiful legs, and said calmly, "Little sister, I may be down on my luck, but I am the one who grew up in the Ning family. I have been the future eldest grandson's wife and sixth young lady of the Ning family for so many years, so I naturally have more acquaintances than you, a newcomer."
Ning Yuan wasn't annoyed; she just looked at Cha Meiling with a smile and said, "I can tell."
Cha Meiling slowly picked up the mug beside her and took a sip of coffee. "Little sister, the worst thing a person can do is to be a wolf in sheep's clothing, becoming arrogant and overbearing once they achieve success."
A faint, mocking smile played on her lips: "Your godmother has acknowledged you and held a banquet for you. Now, who in the entire city doesn't know that my little sister is the real heiress of the Ning family? But you don't actually think that's enough to squeeze into our circle, do you?"
Cha Meiling paused for a moment: "Let me give you a piece of advice, little sister, don't think you've suddenly become a phoenix after all."
"Then, in your opinion, what should I do?" Ning Yuan remained calm and composed, as if Cha Meiling was talking about someone completely unrelated to her.
Cha Meiling's lips curled into a mocking smile: "How do you do it? To put it bluntly, this circle in Hong Kong is a cutthroat world that eats people alive. In our circle, what matters is your background, your connections, and the foundation you've built up since you were a child."
She looked Ning Yuan up and down: "Besides having Ning family blood, what else do you have that you can be proud of?"
Ning Yuan nodded, but there was no hint of frustration or fear on her face; instead, there was a playful smile.
"Is Sixth Sister trying to remind me that even though I am a daughter of the Ning family, I am destined to be unable to integrate into your circle, and will only be ostracized by you, ridiculed as a country bumpkin, a sparrow that can't be brought up to the table?"
Cha Meiling looked at her calmly and sighed softly, "I was just trying to kindly remind my little sister that you should never force yourself into circles that are different from your own, but unfortunately, people who suddenly become rich don't understand this!"
Ning Yuan looked coldly at Cha Meiling and suddenly asked, "So this is why you instructed Tang Zhenzhen to steal my Jade Chili Pepper? Because you think I'm not worthy of acknowledging my mother and family since I didn't grow up in your Hong Kong elite circles?"
Cha Meiling froze.
She avoided Ning Yuan's gaze and said coldly, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Tang Zhenzhen is awake, you should know that, right?" Ning Yuan remained calm and composed, her tone as even as if she were discussing the weather.
Cha Meiling's expression changed slightly. She looked at Ning Yuan for a moment, then suddenly frowned and said, "Whether you believe it or not, I'm doing this for your own good."
"Smack!"
A crisp slap echoed in the room. Cha Meiling covered her face in disbelief, staring at Ning Yuan incredulously.
"You...you dare hit me?!"
Cha Meiling had never suffered such humiliation in her life. From childhood to adulthood, she had always been a pampered and favored daughter of heaven. Even after her family's fortunes declined, she remained the high and mighty young lady she always was.
And now, she's actually been beaten up by a "country bumpkin" from the mainland?!
"I'll hit you whenever I want, do I need to pick a day?" Ning Yuan withdrew her hand and casually straightened her slightly disheveled sleeves.
She spoke casually, as if she had just done something insignificant: "After all, you didn't pick a day to tell me that you were going to decide for me whether I would disown my parents and family."
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