Xia Yuan put on a soft, ingratiating smile and then said pitifully, “Meng Xiyue, they were badmouthing you.”
That’s why I took action.
Meng Xiyue naturally understood the implication behind her words. Her eyes clearly reflected Xia Yuan’s appearance.
Her slightly curly long hair was in disarray, and the scratches on her cheeks looked particularly tragic against her fair skin. The carefully applied lipstick was smudged at the corners of her mouth, and her exposed white arms had several red marks from being scratched, though fortunately, the skin wasn’t broken.
Meng Xiyue carefully smoothed Xia Yuan’s hair. “Yuan’er, you did well.”
Xia Yuan was momentarily stunned, then broke into a happy smile. Her eyes sparkled like stars, as if the entire sky had fallen into them, bright and dazzling.
Meng Xiyue’s heart, which had been restless from the start, never calmed down. She swallowed but didn’t speak, shifting her gaze to the three people. Their disheveled appearance was no different from Xia Yuan’s. The three huddled together, trembling when they met Meng Xiyue’s eyes.
Their bodies shook.
Those eyes were cold and piercing, like they were forged from ice, making people shiver with fear. The arrogance they had while gossiping was completely gone, and they hung their heads like quails, not daring to speak.
Seeing them so quickly admit defeat, Meng Xiyue had no intention of letting it go. She spoke, her voice deep and icy, “Where are your male companions?”
As soon as she said this, the three men in suits nearby didn’t dare to play dead and quickly spoke up.
The tall man in a suit smiled apologetically, “President Meng, I’m really sorry. It’s my fault for not managing them well.”
The slightly chubby one echoed with a smile, “Yes, President Meng, it’s our fault. We didn’t keep an eye on them and let Miss Xia get hurt.”
The balding man with a beer belly spoke up, “President Meng, don’t worry. I’ll make sure to discipline them properly when we get back. What do you think?”
Meng Xiyue’s gaze fell on the three women who were too scared to speak, then moved to the three men who kept apologizing. Her eyes were sharp, “Talking behind people’s backs deserves proper discipline.”
“Vice President Chen of Jiayuan, President Li of Fuhong, Manager Zhou of Wanyu.” Meng Xiyue had a good memory. These three had sent collaboration emails before, and N.S was still considering them. Now, she directly gave the notice, “If you can’t even manage the people around you, N.S has doubts about your ability to manage your companies. We will not consider collaboration for now.”
As soon as she said this, the three men’s faces turned pale. They knew better than anyone what it meant to collaborate with N.S. However, this opportunity was ruined because of the three women they brought. They looked at the women with extreme displeasure.
Manager Zhou of Wanyu, who was slightly balding, stepped forward and slapped the woman in the red dress. “Hurry up and apologize to President Meng and Miss Xia.”
The woman in the red dress was his kept mistress, usually obedient and well-behaved, much prettier than his nagging wife at home. He brought her today to show off, but she caused such a big problem. If he could sign a contract with N.S, his position would rise even higher. Now that it was ruined, he might even lose his job.
A man’s strength is naturally greater than a woman’s. With that slap, the woman in the red dress’s face immediately swelled. Trembling, the pleasure of gossiping was now replaced with regret. “I’m sorry.”
The slap served as a solid warning to the women in the white and yellow dresses, prompting them to apologize profusely.
Meng Xiyue didn’t bother watching the farce. She didn’t need their apologies. Holding Xia Yuan’s hand, she looked at the red mark on her face with a pained expression and said softly, “Let me take you to the hospital.”
Xia Yuan didn’t care about the three women at all. She smiled and said, “Sure.”
The two of them left together.
Nearby, Xia Ke watched their slender and harmonious figures, feeling increasingly uneasy. However, he had to deal with the matter of his sister being bullied first.
His approach was the same as Meng Xiyue’s: “Yuan’er is my sister. She owns half of Xia Corporation, and Xia Corporation will not consider collaborating with the three of you.”
This was another devastating blow. The three men in suits glared at the three troublemaking women as if they wanted to eat them alive.
It was clear that as long as N.S and Xia Corporation didn’t relent, these three women would have a hard time ahead.
Moreover, in front of such a large audience, the three women had gained quite a reputation. If they wanted to find another benefactor, no one would risk offending two major companies for them.
They knew all too well what awaited them, but it was too late for regrets now.
…
Sitting in the car, Xia Yuan was looking at her face in a small mirror. The long red mark looked terrifying, and she was on the verge of tears. She valued her face the most. With teary eyes, she said, “Meng Xiyue, am I going to be disfigured?”
Meng Xiyue held her hand and gently patted it to comfort her. “No, it will be fine in a couple of days.”
Fortunately, the skin wasn’t broken. A bit of ointment would do the trick.
She was taking Xia Yuan to the hospital to check for any other injuries. Facing three opponents, Xia Yuan was at a disadvantage.
Xia Yuan sniffled. She knew she wouldn’t be disfigured, but she couldn’t help but act spoiled. “If I become ugly, you have to love me even more than before.”
Meng Xiyue felt a ripple in her heart and promised, “Okay.”
Assistant Li, who was acting as the driver outside the partition, trembled at their conversation, his face frozen in shock.
Something felt off to him.
Or maybe he was just overthinking it.
The conversation in the back seat continued.
Hearing her words, Xia Yuan was satisfied. She leaned on Meng Xiyue’s shoulder, playing with her fingertips. Just thinking about what those three people said made her angry on Meng Xiyue’s behalf: “What right do they have to talk about you like that?”
Meng Xiyue pinched Xia Yuan’s fingertips: “Don’t be mad.”
Xia Yuan rested her head on Meng Xiyue’s shoulder, looking at her delicate eyelashes, unable to stop the smile from spreading on her face: “You’re so wonderful.”
“They must be blind.”
As soon as she finished speaking, her lips were sealed.
She blinked blankly.
Those eyes were too bright. Meng Xiyue couldn’t help but cover those star-filled eyes with her hand, the long eyelashes brushing against her palm, bringing a tingling sensation.
Unable to resist, Meng Xiyue gently bit her lip.
Their noses intertwined, breaths mingling. The faint cool fragrance from the person on top of her made Xia Yuan’s rationality blur.
After they separated, Meng Xiyue, slightly breathless, looked at Xia Yuan’s moist red lips. She lowered her gaze, a blush quietly rising, her voice carrying a hint of hoarseness: “Sorry, I wanted to kiss you.”
Translated, she obviously meant: Sorry, I kissed you without your consent.
Her gaze fell on Meng Xiyue’s thin, slightly moist lips. Xia Yuan blinked and hugged her, half her body leaning on her, looking up slightly: “Meng Xiyue, you can kiss me anytime you want.”
After saying that, she boldly and straightforwardly added: “I like it when you kiss me.”
Meng Xiyue looked down at her quietly for a few seconds, then turned her head calmly, but the redness of her ear tips gave her away.
Xia Yuan was extremely surprised and couldn’t help but poke at it. So Meng Xiyue was this shy?
The moment her hand touched her ear tip, Meng Xiyue couldn’t help but feel a tingle. Xia Yuan, focused on her ear, didn’t notice. Her mischievous hand was quickly caught by Meng Xiyue.
“Yuan’er, stop it.”
Xia Yuan reluctantly responded with an “oh,” stopped messing around, and started playing with Meng Xiyue’s hand again.
Beautiful and delicate, Xia Yuan never gets tired of playing.
For a moment, the car fell silent.
But Assistant Li in the front seat wasn’t as calm as he appeared; he had heard everything.
If he had any doubts before, they were now completely dispelled.
The friendship he had imagined was all a lie.
Friends don’t kiss each other; that’s something only lovers do.
The CEO is dating Miss Xia!
No wonder, in the past, when the CEO mentioned he was in a relationship, Assistant Li never saw him with any man. He thought the CEO’s partner was just as much of a workaholic as the boss, so they didn’t meet often.
But it wasn’t that they didn’t meet often; they were seeing each other every day. No wonder the CEO recently stopped having him drive them around.
In the past, he also took on the role of a personal assistant. Now that he thinks about it, it’s been a long time since Meng Xiyue had him do any driving.
All these glaring pieces of evidence were right in front of him. The CEO never intended to hide it. There were so many clues, but he chose to ignore them, thinking it was just a close friendship between girls.
Now it was clear.
This wasn’t sisterly affection; it was love.
After the initial shock and heartache, Assistant Li couldn’t help but feel a bit smug. He was probably the first person in the company to figure it out.
Thinking about the countless names of the CEO’s supposed boyfriend that had been guessed in the group chat, and even a poll that was created, he couldn’t help but feel proud.
He decided to show off a bit in front of Secretary Gao tomorrow. As for the rest of the company, let them keep guessing.
Soon, they arrived at the hospital.
Meng Xiyue accompanied Xia Yuan for a thorough check-up.
There were no internal injuries or concussions, just some superficial bruises that looked worse because of her fair skin. A bit of ointment would do the trick.
Xia Yuan, still worried, asked, “Will it leave a scar?”
The doctor had heard this kind of question many times before. Girls’ concern for their faces was something beyond ordinary understanding. Given that Xia Yuan was also very pretty, the doctor couldn’t help but tease, “If you’re so afraid of scars, why did you dare to fight in the first place?”
This injury was clearly caused by scratching.
Unexpectedly, this girl was not only beautiful but also had a fiery temper.
Xia Yuan pouted, “Who told them to talk nonsense.”
The doctor thought that the nonsense referred to someone badmouthing her, which made her lose control and start a fight. “Now you know the consequences. Next time, don’t fight. You’re so pretty, a scar would ruin your looks.”
Xia Yuan snorted, “If next time I hear someone badmouthing my girlfriend, I’ll fight again.”
Girlfriend?
The doctor’s gaze fell on Meng Xiyue, who was standing nearby with a faint smile. He had initially thought the two were just friends.
No wonder, from the beginning, there was an intimacy between them that outsiders couldn’t intrude upon. As a doctor, he had seen a lot, so after the initial surprise, he mostly felt like he was being fed dog food.
After giving some more advice, the doctor finally left. Before leaving, he thought, working the night shift was one thing, but being shown affection on such a cold night made him miss having a girlfriend.
Wait, he was still single. Where would he get a girlfriend? This made him even more frustrated.
After the doctor left, Meng Xiyue held Xia Yuan’s hand, “Let’s go back.”
Xia Yuan held back, giving her a gentle smile, “Okay.”
Assistant Li, who was in the background, followed behind and secretly noted to share this with Secretary Gao tomorrow.
Just as they walked out of the hospital doors, the tightly held hands of the two met with Xia Ke, who had come looking for his worried sister.
Xia Ke: “???”
