Mistress? Sister!
"Hello?" Xia Tong's voice trailed off, sounding somewhat puzzled. Why was Fu Jia answering the phone but not speaking? She had never encountered this situation before.
"Oh, Brother Fu is taking a bath in the bathroom," a soft, sweet voice replied.
"Oh, then have him call me when he's done washing up." Xia Tong's voice was flat as she prepared to hang up.
"He..." The voice on the other end paused, then replied ambiguously, "He'll be quite busy later."
Xia Tong was speechless. These days, are all the tricks of mistresses taught in a textbook? Or do they think I've never read a romance novel?! She laughed, "Yan Xin, right? Fu Jia is in the swimming pool's bathroom right now, isn't he? What's he going to do later? Is he planning to go back for a swim after he showers? Or will you go with him?"
Yan Xin paused for a moment. She hadn't expected Xia Tong to be able to know all of Fu Jia's whereabouts, and to be so confident.
“You’re not good enough for him.” Yan Xin dropped her pretentious tone and directly challenged him.
"This is none of your business, is it?"
"You don't belong in our circle, and you don't understand our rules. You lack connections, personality, and skills. You simply can't establish yourself in this circle. What qualifications do you have to stand shoulder to shoulder with him?"
"You are qualified, but even if you've clung to him countless times, does he want you?" Faced with this question, Xia Tong was furious.
"Ha, you're arrogant because you're favored. Is that all you have to offer?" Yan Xin mocked.
“Just this alone is enough to leave those without favor here helpless except for sowing discord.” Xia Tong retorted, her tone growing increasingly cold and hard. “Please make sure to tell Fu Jia to call me back, otherwise no matter how many years you’ve been his sister, I can turn you into a stranger.” With that, she hung up the phone first.
Yan Xin, on the other end, gritted her teeth, stung by her tone: "Make me a nobody? Don't overestimate yourself!"
She waited all night for Fu Jia to call back, but the phone remained silent, as if it would never speak again. Xia Tong sat on the sofa waiting for him. She trusted Fu Jia, but she couldn't suppress her anxiety: What was he doing? Was he still with that Yan Xin? Why wouldn't he answer my calls?
Women suffering from paranoia are the hardest to cure. Even if the man beside her is the one she should trust the most, she can't forget how the men who made her paranoid betrayed and deceived her.
She fiddled with her phone, turning it over and over, but nothing worked. She braced herself against something behind her, and the TV, which had been playing a noisy variety show, suddenly went black, plunging the entire living room into silence. She froze for a few seconds, then jumped up, grabbed her keys from the coffee table, threw on some clothes, and stormed out the door.
She hailed a taxi and headed to the same club she'd met before. She knew Fu Jia was attending a friend's birthday party, and she knew where he was, because she'd just declined his invitation yesterday, citing unfamiliarity with the birthday boy. She genuinely didn't want to be part of his social circle, but a fiancée who wasn't accepted was the most likely target for marginalization and deception.
The waiters at this upscale club were indeed quite different. As soon as she entered, a manager-looking person greeted her: "Miss Xia? Are you here to see Young Master Fu?"
"Young Master Fu?" Xia Tong was confused for a moment, then immediately realized, yes, that's what they call him in their circle. "I'm looking for Fu Jia," Xia Tong emphasized again. That's right, she was a commoner and didn't want anyone to elevate her lover to a pedestal, while she was like a trumpet vine clinging to him. If she was there, it was icing on the cake, and everyone would marvel at her good fortune; if not, no one would pay any attention, and everyone was used to it.
"Please follow me." The manager was very well-mannered, and his smile was just right.
Xia Tong followed him, and suddenly felt like laughing. She asked the manager who was leading the way, "Do you provide a way-through service for every young master's wife or girlfriend who comes here? Aren't you afraid that those women will come to catch them cheating and cause trouble, making those young masters look bad in the end?"
The manager then glanced at Xia Tong with surprise, clearly not expecting the usually pampered Miss Xia to be so hostile towards this place. But she immediately realized what was going on and answered very sincerely, "No, only Young Master Fu and Young Master Di's girlfriends can come and go freely here. Others usually only bring female companions."
"Female companion?" Xia Tong sneered inwardly. "Isn't that just the little dessert these rich kids have besides their main meals? This place is indeed a good place for cheating, secluded and remote."
As soon as Xia Tong pushed open the door, she heard a woman singing mournfully, "Am I the one you love the most? Why don't you speak? Holding your cold hand, you don't move at all, which makes me so sad." She frowned slightly. Why was she singing so plaintively? The mournful tone was somewhat eerie.
Fu Jia was already annoyed by the woman singing wildly, so when she saw Xia Tong, she immediately came over and asked with delight, "Why did you come here? Did you miss me?"
Xia Tong felt much relieved when she saw him, but her mood darkened again when she saw Yan Xin behind him. After she sat down, she realized that the woman who was singing so passionately was holding Xi Ming's hand and singing along. Xi Ming looked extremely embarrassed, but he couldn't shake her off because of his pride. He just kept saying, "Stop it, be good."
The woman was tall and slender; while not exactly voluptuous, she possessed an exceptionally refined air. A loose-fitting sweater revealed her delicate collarbones, and pencil pants accentuated her long, straight legs. Despite her height, she had a small frame, her slender figure evoking a sense of protectiveness. With her long, curly hair flowing freely, she held a microphone and sang with a captivating, almost obsessive intensity.
Gradually, everyone fell silent, listening to her pour out her heartache and sorrow. Those who had joked about Xi Ming's charm stopped, and they just silently sighed that love could really turn people like this, abandoning their dignity and begging him to come back.
"Who is she?" Xia Tong asked Fu Jia.
"It seems to be one of Xi Ming's girlfriends."
"She's one of Xi Ming's girlfriends, right?" Xia Tong said sarcastically, her voice filled with empathy.
"Hmm, it seems we haven't broken up yet." Fu Jia didn't notice the odd tone in her voice, and just continued to wonder why that usually arrogant woman was singing and acting crazy today.
Xia Tong was annoyed by his nonchalant tone: "Hey!"
Fu Jia then turned around, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "What's wrong?"
"You guys who are so lacking, do you think it's normal to have multiple girlfriends all at once?"
"What do you mean, 'young'?" Fu Jia was a little confused by her choice of words, but after understanding what she meant, she pulled her close, twirled her long hair with her fingers, and smiled smugly: "Only now do you realize you care about me?"
"I'm asking you this very seriously."
“They do think it’s pretty normal.” Fu Jia shrugged, looking indifferent. Just as Xia Tong was about to criticize them, his expression suddenly became very serious. “But Xia Xiaotong, you have to remember, I’m never just anyone.”
Xia Tong just stared at him, as if trying to see into his heart, and Fu Jia let her observe him so openly. After a while, Xia Tong whispered, "I also hope you never become someone else." But I'm afraid, because my father, my Tan Zhihao, were not someone else at first.
The woman finally finished singing, but Xi Ming's face was extremely grim. He left her alone and continued flirting and laughing with other women. She walked over and silently buried herself in the sofa. Her cascading black hair obscured her pale face. Xia Tong glanced at her discreetly, but she saw her. Just as she was about to awkwardly turn away, she suddenly remembered that this girl was the one who had sat next to Xi Ming and toasted her last time.
"Isn't it embarrassing?" the girl suddenly said, with a hint of self-mockery.
Xia Tong racked her brains trying to find a few comforting words, but before she could say anything, she heard the girl continue, "I know I'm pretty embarrassing."
Xia Tong remained silent.
“I never felt inferior to these people because I felt I was smarter, prettier, and…hardworking than most of them.”
This was the first time Xia Tong had heard someone so openly praise their own beauty, and she couldn't help but glance at her again. Just that close-up glance was enough for her to admit that she truly deserved the word "beautiful." A face like white porcelain, a pair of beautiful almond-shaped eyes that made one feel incredibly honored just by looking at them, slender eyebrows adding a touch of allure, and even her current sullen expression evoked pity.
Xi Ming is also very handsome; the two of them actually make a good match. Xia Tong thought to herself.
"But they never think that way. Their innate sense of superiority might make them think that people like us were born to be their playthings." The girl continued, regardless of whether Xia Tong was listening. "I thought I would be the exception, but I wasn't so lucky. My looks, talent, and personality couldn't hold him back. Maybe children who are excessively pampered by heaven don't really appreciate these things in others, but..."
Xia Tong turned her head. "Just what? Why are you not saying anything again?"
"I love him, but I have to pretend that I'm only with him because I'm after his family background and wealth." The girl covered her eyes sadly, her black hair hanging down and completely obscuring her face.
"Then why don't you leave him?"
"Because leaving him is more painful than enduring his fickleness while I was with him."
"You... okay." How come there are so many people in this world who do foolish things for love?
When the party ended, Yan Xin was still acting coquettishly and affectionately around Fu Jia, which Xia Tong found extremely displeasing. She silently followed Fu Jia up the stairs, then suddenly stopped. Fu Jia, who was walking ahead, turned around and asked her, "What's wrong?"
"I don't like Yan Xin getting too close to you." Xia Tong stood there stiffly.
Fu Jia just laughed when she heard this, thinking that she was being a little petty: "She's just a little sister, from Di Yue's side, don't overthink it."
"Can you really take a girl who has designs on you for granted and treat her like a younger sister?" Xia Tong asked rhetorically.
"How could that be?" Fu Jia also felt that she was making a mountain out of a molehill. Yan Xin was just like that, she loved to act cute and was clingy.
“You treat her like a younger sister, huh,” Xia Tong looked down at Fu Jia from the highest step, “Zheng Yulu used to call my dad ‘Dad’!”
Fu Jia remained silent for a long time before solemnly saying, "I understand," as if making a promise.
If this gives you a greater sense of security, then I'll do it.
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I had classes all day today, and I'm posting this at the last second, just to make it onto the last train of my daily update schedule!
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