Chapter 9 – Hidden Identity – Miao Bai

“Man Man, why didn’t you tell me about this last night?” Mo Li Xin asked. If she had known, she would have offered her help. Even if Ji Nan Feng was not willing, she could still go to grandpa, and he would definitely help her.

“Yesterday, yesterday… I was too caught up in my emotions. After drinking, I couldn’t even form a coherent thought.” Xu Qing Man stated embarrassingly.

“Xu Qing Man, I didn’t know you could be like that! Being all cute and delicate, aren’t you very macho? Consider last nigh-” Gan Yun Ting hurriedly shut his mouth halfway through his sentence. It seemed like something unspeakable happened the previous night.

Xu Qing Man’s eyes widened, but she was relieved as he thankfully did not continue with his remark. 

“Whether I act like a macho man or a delicate lady depends on who I’m facing!” Xu Qing Man replied snarkily.

“Hey! How dare you use that kind of tone while talking to this young master? You really have no sense of priority!” As Gan Yun Ting drove the car, he continued with his heated banter with Xu Qing Man. This caused the atmosphere in the car to lose a few degrees of awkwardness.

Soon they arrived at their destination. The vegetarian restaurant was decorated with interesting and appealing antiques, giving off a feeling that whets people’s appetites.

The party of five requested for a private room and ordered a few signature dishes.

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Lsv zsdt yqvla vblu ldvlale, Ys Nk Dkd lmkvle ytykd vs zssj qsa y oypbassx.

~~~~

“Jspp Hbys, vbkp kp vbl osxld’p vskzlv. Ebu eke usw nsxl kd?” G nsiwlvvkpb qlxyzl hsknl lxkvvle qasx okvbkd vbl oypbassx. Gp zwnj oswze byhl kv, Ys Nk Dkd alnstdkgle obs vbyv hsknl clzsdtle vs. Mbl rlapsd oyp bla wdkhlapkvu nzyppxyvl, Uyk Nydt.

“Zsw zkvvzl bwppu. Elald’v usw vbl sdl vbyv oyp vlypkdt xl wdela vbl vyczl fwpv dso? Lso usw’al vaukdt vs ynv nsu! Jwv…R zkjl ckvnblp zkjl usw,” Mbl hsknl sq vbl rlapsd obs prsjl oyp y ckv xyvwal. Ys Nk Dkd nswze dsv pll vblx yp pbl oyp kdpkel y nwcknzl, cwv qasx vbl vsdl, vbl xyd pswdele zkjl bl oyp ycswv qkqvu ulyap sze.

“Tyvlqwz, obld eke R…” Uyk Nydt nsuzu alprsdele.

Wzwpb~~

Ys Nk Dkd ynnkeldvyzzu pvlrrle sd vbl zlhla vbyv vakttlale vbl vskzlv’p qzwpbkdt xlnbydkpx. Lso pbl oyp wdyczl vs yhske vbkp lxcyaayppkdt ldnswdvla, pbl bye ds nbsknl cwv vs lmkv vbl nwcknzl.

“Zsw… usw… rzlypl nsdvkdwl,” Ys Nk Dkd nswze dsv cl csvblale vs lhld oypb bla bydep, bla sdzu vbswtbv oyp vs zlyhl vbl oypbassx rspvbypvl.

“Mo Li Xin? Is that you? I haven’t seen you in a year, you haven’t changed much,” still as beautiful as always, Cai Lang greeted as she omitted the last half of her thoughts. 

“Oh! It’s Cai Lang. Is… this your boyfriend? Please excuse me, I didn’t mean to disturb you two. Sorry.”

Since Cai Lang called out to her, she could not continue pretending not to recognize the other party.

Cai Lang was once one of the faculty flowers. Back then, even when her grades were poor, she was still sociable and many guys chased her. However, she was still jealous of Mo Li Xin because Mo Li Xin always portrayed herself to be well-behaved, beautiful, and cute. Hence even more boys in school were crazy over her.

This was but human nature, beautiful girls would always be liked. Yet, it was the conversation between two guys that she overheard on graduation day last year that made her hate Mo Li Xin completely. 

The content of the conversation was fairly simple. They said that although she was sexy and hot, she was an easy lay. As long as a man had money, they would be able to get into her pants. Guys would only go for her due to her looks and body. 

On the other hand, Mo Li Xin was different. People associated her to be warm-hearted and to have an amicable demeanor. But most of all, those guys that liked her were those that would truly treat her well from the bottom of their hearts.

“She is?” The fat man beside Cai Lang asked, snapping her out of her thoughts. His eyes lewdly ogled at Mo Li Xin as one of his hands rested on Cai Lang’s waist, kneading her tender skin.

For the first time, Cai Lang felt humiliated. It was as the two guys had said back in university. She had indeed slept with many people. Otherwise, given her young age and inexperience, she would not be offered the position of Ji Shi Group’s branch office executive leader.

She had never met with an acquaintance when she did these things. Yet today, she met the one she was most unwilling to meet. Since that was the case, she did not care if she were to drag Mo Li Xin down with her.

Wasn’t Mo Li Xin known to be pure and innocent? Then let her tear up her facade. Cai Lang believed that there were no beautiful girls that did not have to go through the unspoken rule of the work industry. Only some were able to portray themselves in a better light as compared to others.

“Boss Zhao, this is my university classmate, Mo Li Xin. We have a close friendship! Back when we were in school, she was the campus flower and many boys chased after her,” Cai Lang introduced.

Mo Li Xin could not understand why Cai Lang phrased her introduction that way.

“Oh? The two of you have a close friendship… Does that mean…” As if understanding Cai Lang’s hidden meaning, Zhao De’s gaze became even more obscene.

Mo Li Xin panicked as she noticed his look, and she wanted to leave instantly.

The problem was, Zhao De would not let her slip away so easily. Based on what he understood of Cai Lang’s words, this little beauty in front of him was made of the same cloth as Cai Lang; a woman that sleeps her way up the corporate ladder. And this fits his taste just right.

“Xin Xin right? I’m the general manager of the Ji Shi Group. I have a private room at the restaurant. Why don’t you join me for a meal? After all, you are also Lang Er’s University classmate. In a way, we were fated to meet. So why don’t we get to know each other better?”

Zhao De deliberately emphasized on the word ‘get to know’.

Even Mo Li Xin, who was ignorant of how the world worked, was able to catch his innuendo. She was utterly disgusted by his offer, furthermore she was even more so by Cai Lang’s underhand method. Besides feeling repulsed, her mind was also rapidly turning, trying to think of a way to get out. Zhao De was blocking the door. Few people would frequent this washroom. She did not bring her phone along. This sticky situation was not easy to get out from.

“Thanks for the offer. But I came with a few friends. Sorry to inconvenience Boss Zhao. Besides, I’m not familiar with Cai Lang,” Even though Mo Li Xin tried to control her anger, her tone was still a bit aggressive.

Zhao De was the general manager of Ji Shi Group, hence his position was quite high. Those that knew of his impressive position would usually treat him respectfully. Hence, he did not expect that the person in front of him would be unmoved, causing him to feel spurned.

“Miss Li right? How dare you not give me face?” Zhao De’s expression had faint signs of irritation.

What Mo Li Xin was most apprehensive of was people that were thick-skinned and bold. Yet, she knew that she had to pretend to be unbothered and fearless.

“Boss Zhao, I don’t remember being that familiar with you!” The subtle meaning, ‘Why should I bother giving you face?’

“You… good, very good!” After throwing out that sentence, Zhao De swung his arms in anger and stormed out. Although he was a man, he was able to differentiate the brands and items women used. Looking at Mo Li Xin’s getup, he could tell that they were average priced clothing so he concluded that she did not have a notable background. Even so, he could not blatantly sort her out. Thus, he prayed that one day she would fall into his hands, then he would show her who’s boss.

Just when Mo Li Xin returned to the private room, Xu Qing Man was on her way to look for her.

“Xin Xin, why did it take you so long to return? You wouldn’t believe who I saw just now! I saw Cai Lang, and she was clinging onto an obese uncle who looked more than fifty years old. The sight was utterly nauseating!” Xu Qing Man shuddered.

Mo Li Xin unhurriedly returned to her seat as she replied, “I also met them.”

“What? Where? In the toilet? No wonder it took you so long to come back. Did she try to cause trouble for you? Tell big sister, I’ll go and settle the scores with her! She has always rubbed me the wrong way,” Xu Qing Man stated indignantly.

Mo Li Xin smiled as her heart warmed. Her personality was not strong, but in the eyes of outsiders, they all viewed her as a person that ignored people and things she disliked as she did not care. Only she knew that, it was because she did not know a better way to deal with the situation.

“It’s okay, it wasn’t like I lost a pound of flesh,” Mo Li Xin consoled.

“Fine,” Xu Qing Man also took her seat.

“You resemble a firecracker all the time, your beauty is wasted because of your character,” Gan Yun Ting tsked as he eyed Xu Qing Man.

“Do you expect me to act like you? Acting like a sissy and flirting with everything that moves?” Xu Qing Man mercilessly shot back, like the previous few times she engaged in a banter with him.

“You-“

“I… I what? I don’t like talking and dining with ugly people!” Xu Qing Man cut Gan Yun Ting off.

Gan Yun Ting felt his indignation getting stuck at the back of his throat. He could neither voice his displeasure nor could he repress it, making his face flushed with anger.

Lu Xing Yan and Ji Nan Feng exchanged a glance and smiled as they watched the two trade insults.

Mo Li Xin did not know how to step in to stop those two. But the more she watched, the more it looked like the two of them were engaged in flirtatious banter. 

The meal went by noisily, filled with talks and laughter. After it ended, Mo Li Xin and Xu Qing Man left as they previously planned.

“Third Brother, looking at your gloomy and lonely expression. You’d think that Sister-in-law left and is never coming back. Really… tsk tsk tsk!” Gan Yun Ting quipped. His third brother had the makings of a domineering president, but his bearing was gentle and elegant. As long as people did not touch his bottom line, they would not trigger his fury.

Unbeknownst to Gan Yun Ting, Ji Nan Feng recently had another bottom line in this life; and that was Mo Li Xin.

“Regarding the incident just now, go and investigate what happened. If I remembered correctly, this restaurant is part of your Gan’s family property” Ji Nan Feng instructed.

“Understood, it’s but a trivial matter!” Gan Yun Ting also knew his third sister-in-law, most likely an unpleasant encounter on her way to the washroom just now.

~~~~

Originally, Mo Li Xin planned to accompany Xu Qing Man to shop. Xu Qing Man, like all other girls, shared a common problem. Whenever they experienced an upsetting incident, they would only cheer up after retail therapy.

Because of Ji Nan Feng’s instructions, Mo Li Xin also decided to buy some housewares. She went to an inexpensive marketplace with Xu Qing Man. The quality of the products there were decent and many others enjoyed shopping there. Even people like Mo Li Xin, who had no shortage of money at home, liked to shop there. The products sold were tasteful.

“Xin Xin, is what you’re saying true? Professor Mo is your grandfather, Mo Shi Bai is your elder brother, and your husband is the second young master of Ji family? My goodness!” Xu Qing Man tried to control her pitch as they were surrounded by a crowd at the market.

“Eh. Previously, you didn’t ask and I didn’t say as it never came up in a conversation before. It wasn’t something that must be said. Plus, I’ve tried to invite you to my place several times, but you rejected my offers. So you can’t fault me for that!” Mo Li Xin grinned.

“Yes, yes… You are not to blame for that. But what about your marriage? Why didn’t you update me? You’ve been married for more than four months but I was not informed!” Xu Qing Man huffed indignantly.

“About that… I’m sorry! However, there were some things that… were not convenient to be said at that time… 

“What about this… Everything you buy today will be on me. This should guarantee that you would be satisfied after venting all your displeasure, alright?” Mo Li Xin tried to kiss up to Man Man and admit to her mistakes without delay as she only had this one friend.

The money within the credit card that Mo Li Xin was planning to spend did not come from the card that Ji Nan Feng gave. Neither did it come from the card given to her by her grandfather and elder brother. It would be from her own pocket.

As Ji Nan Feng forbade her from going out to work. In order to prevent herself from becoming a parasite that only knew how to leech off others, she would often draft wedding dress designs secretly. 

When she was in her third year of university, she was already well-known in the industry. The wedding dresses she designed were well-received. Many tried to find out who she was but she never showed her face. She only went by the name – Miao Bai. It was also the name she used to sign her design drafts.

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Sigh… without Ji Nan Feng, our Li Xin would’ve been a successful career woman! ( ︶︿︶)