After finishing her dance, Meng Xiaoyu looked at the quiet crowd below the stage, puzzled.
“Did I not dance well? Why is it so quiet down there?”
As she pondered this, she walked off the stage and turned behind the screen.
However, the moment she stepped behind the screen, a figure in white suddenly embraced her.
Still caught up in her thoughts about whether her long absence from dancing had made her movements clumsy and unattractive, she forgot to push away the person who had suddenly hugged her.
“Xiaoyu, you were so beautiful while dancing just now, like a butterfly gracefully fluttering about. It was amazing…”
Ye, filled with excitement, held Meng Xiaoyu tightly and happily recounted how she had danced.
“Is that really true?”
Meng Xiaoyu, deeply conflicted, asked with hopeful eyes upon hearing Ye’s praise.
“Yes, it is,” Ye replied, lowering her head to gently kiss Meng Xiaoyu’s forehead.
“Hehe, I knew it! With my talent for dancing, how could I possibly become clumsy after just a few months? The reason the people outside were so quiet was that they were stunned by my elegant dance!”
After hearing Ye’s affirmation, Meng Xiaoyu immediately became self-absorbed again.
“Hehe, little sister, what kind of dance did you just perform? It was truly beautiful. How about we make a deal?”
Yan Rumei, standing nearby, also spoke up.
“What deal?”
Originally lost in her self-admiration after hearing Ye’s compliments, Meng Xiaoyu snapped back to reality, looking at Yan Rumei with suspicion.
“Hehe, I just want to make a small deal with you. Why are you looking at me like that? It really hurts my feelings!”
After saying this, Yan Rumei took out a small handkerchief and pretended to cry dramatically.
Seeing Yan Rumei’s fake crying, Meng Xiaoyu felt a headache coming on.
“I say, your act of crying is useless. I won’t make any deals with you again. I was tricked once, and I won’t be foolish enough to fall for it a second time!”
After saying this, Meng Xiaoyu turned her head, ignoring Yan Rumei’s ongoing charade.
“Xiaoyu, what does it mean to be tricked?”
Before Yan Rumei could respond, Ye, still holding Meng Xiaoyu, asked curiously.
“Oh! Being tricked means… Ah! Why are you hugging me again?!”
Meng Xiaoyu, who had intended to explain what being tricked meant, suddenly realized that she was once again in the embrace of the white-clad woman named Ye, and hurriedly jumped out of her arms.
“………”
“………”
Now it was Yan Rumei and Ye’s turn to be speechless, both thinking, “How slow can this girl be?”
Yan Rumei found it both amusing and frustrating, while Ye wanted to embrace Meng Xiaoyu once more.
However, just as she moved closer, a white figure flashed by, and Meng Xiaoyu found herself in the arms of a stunningly beautiful man dressed in a moon-white robe, who looked cold and aloof.
While holding Meng Xiaoyu, he fixed a wary gaze on Ye and Yan Rumei.
Suddenly being embraced by an unknown person again made Meng Xiaoyu want to explode.
However, before she could fully react, a gentle voice reached her ears.
“Yu’er.”
Hearing that familiar voice and name, Meng Xiaoyu immediately looked up at the person holding her.
Upon seeing her, her rising anger instantly calmed down.
“Ru… Rubing… sister,” she stammered, and her heart began to roar, “How could Sister Rubing be here?!”
Before Meng Xiaoyu could finish her thoughts, another familiar voice turned her internal roar into a wail.
“Are you having fun, little one?”
As the voice sounded, a man in a blue robe stepped behind the screen.
His half-smiling gaze made Meng Xiaoyu feel like she was internally screaming, “Oh no… I’m doomed. Sister Rubing and Sister Rushuang must know that I sneaked out to play and have come to catch me. Why am I so unlucky?! Not only did I get caught sneaking out, but now these two powerful women know I came to a brothel and are here to catch me. I’m finished! I hope Sister Rubing and Sister Rushuang just arrived and didn’t see me perform on stage earlier.”
At this moment, Meng Xiaoyu was praying in her heart that Han Rubing and her sister had just arrived and hadn’t witnessed her performance.
However, it seemed that the heavens were not listening to her prayers, as Han Rubing’s next words made Meng Xiaoyu’s eyes well up with tears.
“Little one, you danced quite well. When we return to the inn, I’ll reward you properly,” Han Rubing said, still wearing that half-smile as she looked at Meng Xiaoyu.
Hearing Han Rubing’s words, Meng Xiaoyu felt an overwhelming sense of regret.
She mentally scolded herself, “Now I’m really in trouble, right? I had to be foolish and come to a brothel to see what legendary courtesans from novels are like. Didn’t I know that novels are all lies? Now look at this! Not only did I not meet any legendary women, but I also got tricked by a fox-like woman. And now, the two powerful women from my family know and have caught me. I’m doomed! Just wait for the punishment when I get back! And judging by Han Rubing’s expression, I can’t even imagine how she’ll punish me at the inn.”
With these thoughts, Meng Xiaoyu’s already sorrowful face became even more pitiful, her watery eyes brimming with tears, as if she would cry at any moment.
“Yuer, what’s wrong?”
Seeing the expression on the girl in her arms, as if she had been severely bullied, Han Rushuang gently kissed Meng Xiaoyu’s tear-filled eyes and asked with concern.
Looking at Han Rushuang’s caring expression, Meng Xiaoyu was about to say she was fine, but before she could speak, a cold, angry voice interrupted her.
“Let go of my Xiaoyu!”
Ye, who had been momentarily stunned by the sudden appearance of Han Rubing and her sister, snapped back to reality upon seeing Han Rushuang kiss Meng Xiaoyu’s eyes.
A surge of anger ignited within her, and as she uttered those words, she lunged toward Han Rushuang with her hands outstretched.
