A sound of glasses colliding echoes through the room, attracting everyone's attention and curiosity. Qi Jianyi raised her head, looking towards the commotion that disturbed the atmosphere. She saw a woman in early twenties drenched in red wine sitting on the floor. The ocean blue dress she wore was smeared with the splash of the wine.
Clueless of the identity of the person on the floor, Qi Jianyi sipped her orange juice gracefully. Waiting for the truth to come to light. Ironically, the woman on the floor did not disappoint Qi Jianyi and soon she opened her mouth to apologise.
"Oh I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to," said the woman in panic. She tried to pick up the shattered glass on the floor but was stopped by the bartender she collided into earlier.
"It's fine, miss, don't bother. I will clean it up quickly."
"Tsk, what a poor girl like you doing here? You're ruining the banquet with your presence. Stink." As if waiting for her cue, a woman in a red dress made her way to the scene and spoke with an unkind voice. She glared at the woman on the floor with a disgusted look.
"Who even allowed a village girl like you to appear here?" The woman spoke again, with a clear intention to make fun of her.
"YOU! Xu Mei, it's clearly you who push-"
"No, no, no Xia Ning, now you want to push the blame to me? Are you trying to hide your embarrassment?" The woman in the red dress named Xu Mei cut off Xia Ning. As if trying to stop her from saying things that shouldn't be said.
Xia Ning frowned, pursed her lips and forced herself to stop the grievance in her heart from lashing out. It was intentional. Xu Mei pushed her with an intention to humiliate her.
Unfortunately for Xia Ning, she hasn't had the time to adjust and bumped into the bartender. Caused the countless glasses to fall down and shattered while she got drenched with the red wine.
"Don't try to play a good cop here Xu Mei. I knew that it was you who pushed me just now!" Xia Ning raised her voice slightly, making everyone in the room hear her words.
She stood up from the floor and stood in front of Xu Mei with red eyes and whispered, "I might be poor, but I'm not a fool."
"I have never had any enmity with you. Why do you hate me so much?" Xia Ning asked coldly. From her words, it clearly could be seen that both of them knew each other.
Xu Mei opened her eyes widely, acting shocked. Tears welled up in her eyes, "How can you accuse me like that? I did nothing, I just arrived!"
Xia Ning frowned and opened her mouth to retort but was cut off by another voice at the back, "That's right Xia Ning, How can you accuse Miss Xu as you wish just because you want to hide your clumsiness?"
"That's right, Miss Xu is an innocent girl. She won't do something so shameful like that."
"Yes, you must want to tarnish Miss Xu's reputation!"
As time passed by, more and more voices echoed in the room. Backing Xu Mei and counter Xia Ning's accusation. Hearing their nonsense remarks, Xia Ning felt more aggrieved. She felt like no one was willing to hear her explanation. They would only hear what they want to hear.
Watching the confrontation between the women made He Zejin frown badly. This is his birthday party and the least thing he would like to see was the feud between women. He stood up from his seat, trying to end the unwanted attention at once.
However, before he could utter any words, he heard Qi Jianyi mumble beside him, "Xia Ning?"
He Zejin diverted his attention towards his cousin, asking, "Do you by chance know the girl, cousin?"
Qi Jianyi glanced at the voice and shook her head, "No, her name just sounds familiar."
The truth is, it was more than familiar for Qi Jianyi. Xia Ning, the stubborn cry baby female protagonist of the novel. Qi Jianyi was shocked at herself that she could forget the main plot of today's event. It was stated in the novel that what happened today would be the root of reason for Xia Ning to strive more and stand at the highest place in society.
Qi Jianyi remembers vividly how Xia Ning tried to prove her innocence. Unfortunately, most of the guests in this banquet stand by Miss Xu from the Xu family's side. And the other half? They only spectate till the end of the feud including the male lead.
At this time, Xia Ning and He Zeqing have yet to develop feelings towards each other. Therefore, there was no reason for the male lead to interfere. Not to mention that He Zeqing doesn't even bother to care about the feud.
Qi Jianyi wondered, how could a c-list actress get invited to the young master He's birthday party? She glanced at the birthday boy and asked back, "Do you know her?"
"Maybe? I heard she came with Director Lu. Probably the new main lead in his drama." He Zejin shrugged. Not confident with his own answers. How could he know everyone who came?
Half of them attended his party after pulling a few strings with the other guests who had the invitation. Nonetheless, how could He Zejin throw out the uninvited guests? Wouldn't that mean he did not give any face towards the others.
"Should I stop them?" He Zejin asked, waiting for Qi Jianyi's instruction.
Qi Jianyi turned her attention from Xia Ning and glanced at He Zeqing for a moment just to catch the male lead's eyes that were staring at her. This older cousin of hers has been stealing some glances since she sat at their table.
Qi Jianyi wondered if she acted more out of character than the original Qi Jianyi? But in some senses, the original owner and He Zeqing were never close with each other.
Qi Jianyi raised her eyebrows at He Zeqing. Her eyes seemed to be asking, 'Why are you looking at me?'
However, He Zeqing who noticed and understood the meaning in her eyes only glanced away. As if he never looked at her in the first place.
Not getting the answers she wanted, Qi Jianyi diverted her eyes to Song Chengfeng who had also been eyeing her for a while. Watching the four pairs of eyes that seemed to convey something but said nothing at the end made Qi Jianyi confused.
"What is wrong with these people?" Qi Jianyi mumbled in her heart.
"Cousin?" He Zejin waved his hand in front of Qi Jianyi's face, attracting her attention.
Qi Jianyi pushed away the hand that kept waving around and shrugged, "Do what you want, it's not my party."
He Zejin watched the feud that seemed to be getting more intense as time passed by and decided to step in. After all, as the host, he couldn't let them continue fighting.
Qi Jianyi watched He Zejin walk into the spotlight with confidence and smile lightly. She raised her eyebrows and coughs to hide her laugh. She leaned forward to Qi Jinlu and said softly to her two brothers, "You know, in the future when you meet two women who are on the verge of fighting. Don't step in."
Qi Jinlu frowned in confusion, "And why is that?"
"Because they are scary and you will get hurt." Qi Jianyi muttered softly, and nodded her head towards He Zejin, asking the twins to watch it themselves.
Initially, if He Zejin interfered earlier before everyone around Xu Mei opened their mouths, he might be able to save the situation. Unfortunately, the guy was too late. He waited until things escalated badly.
Xia Ning was the main protagonist. Thus, there's no way she would let herself be bullied easily. Meanwhile, Xu Mei was the youngest daughter of the Xu family, the darling of the family. None of them would accept grievances.