Chapter 149
Chapter 149
Father Ning sent over a news link.
Ning Mingyue tapped it open and found it was filled with hate comments about her. In an instant, it felt as if all the blood in her body had rushed straight to her head.
[Ning Mingyue is seriously disgusting.]
[I’m so sick of her. I hate this kind of green tea act. With Ning Mingyue around, I don’t even want to watch this variety show anymore.]
[I went back and watched all of Empress Dowager Ning’s livestreams since filming started, and I realized this woman has been fake and manipulative from beginning to end.]
[Do you guys remember when Ning Mingyue made those slips of paper and had the three girls draw lots for rooms? Some expert in expression analysis said Ning Mingyue had already predicted Ning Xi would end up in the same room as Jiang Sheshe. Some people are guessing Ning Mingyue might have cheated.]
[I remember Jiang Sheshe kept targeting Ning Xi back then, right? Ning Mingyue deliberately put the two of them in one room. She was definitely trying to stir up trouble.]
[And there was that time Ning Mingyue felt unwell and called Shen Yibai, which caused Ning Xi and Shen Yibai’s date to end early. I mean, Shen Yibai isn’t exactly an imperial physician, so what was the point of calling him? Ning Xi’s fans really have good tempers. They didn’t even curse out those two lunatics, Crazy Man and Crazy Lady.]
[…]
Ning Mingyue stared at the hate comments as if she’d been struck by lightning.
In the past, she had played a few harmless little tricks too, but no one had ever exposed her. That had let her taste the benefits, making her believe that everything could remain under her control.
Why? Why had everything changed after she joined this variety show?
Father Ning: [Your mother saw these comments and got so angry her heart condition almost flared up. Mingyue, the entertainment industry isn’t suited for you. Once the show ends, go abroad for a while.]
In other words, he wanted her to quit the industry.
Ning Mingyue dug her nails hard into her palm. Why? Why did she have to slink away like a defeated dog?
As long as she stayed in the entertainment industry, there would always be a day when she could turn things around.
Whether it was her popularity or Shen Yibai, she would be able to win it all back…
Just as she was thinking this, Father Ning’s call came through. The moment he opened his mouth, his tone was cold and commanding.
“Your mother wanted to call you just now, but I stopped her. She already knows everything that happened between you and Ning Xi. If she asks you to apologize to Ning Xi, you must agree. Don’t let your mother get angry over this.
“Also, cut things off with Shen Yibai as soon as possible. Your mother will not allow her two daughters to fall out over a man.”
Ning Mingyue stared at her phone in disbelief. Even her lips trembled as she spoke.
“Dad, you’re joking, right? You clearly promised me you would help me marry Shen Yibai. After all, I’m your biological daughter. Ning Xi is only an adopted daughter. If she marries Shen Yibai, she definitely won’t help the Ning Family in the future…”
“Can you marry Shen Yibai?” Father Ning interrupted her coldly. “I already gave you half a year. For the past six months, I’ve been helping you hide this from Shuangning because I didn’t want her to know that her biological daughter was trying to steal her adopted daughter’s fiancé. But not only did you fail to get him, you made such a mess that the entire internet is cursing you. You even angered Shuangning so much her heart condition flared up.”
Ning Mingyue could no longer hold herself together. She blurted out, “So just because Mom almost had a heart attack, I have to give up Shen Yibai and my career in the entertainment industry?”
The air pressure on the other end of the line instantly dropped to its lowest point.
But Ning Mingyue was completely unaware. All she felt was grief and indignation. “Why is Mom getting angry at me because of Ning Xi? I’m her biological daughter. If she wants me to live well, she should support me in marrying Shen Yibai! Why can other mothers give everything for their daughters, but she can’t?!”
On the other end of the call, Father Ning remained silent for a long time.
Only then did Ning Mingyue realize what she had said. She immediately panicked and tried to explain.
“Dad, I’m not blaming Mom. You know it too. Ever since we were little, Mom has always liked Ning Xi more. Sometimes she treated Ning Xi even better than she treated me. Outsiders even thought Ning Xi seemed more like Mom’s biological daughter! Sometimes, I would rather Ning Xi’s mother had never saved me back then. That way, Ning Xi wouldn’t have become the Ning Family’s adopted daughter and taken away Mom’s love for me…”
“Then are you willing to take Ning Xi’s mother’s place and end up in a vegetative state?”
One sentence left Ning Mingyue utterly speechless.
Father Ning had already hung up in disappointment.
By nature, he was cold and indifferent. The most important people in the world to him were his wife and daughter.
He had kept many of his dirty methods hidden from them, so that he alone would bear the sin.
But now he realized that his daughter’s character was nothing like his wife’s upright kindness. Instead, she was selfish and profit-driven, and she even carried plenty of resentment toward her own parents.
“How is she not the least bit like Shuangning…”
…
Meanwhile, in the livestream room.
Ning Xi was passing the time by reading her script when she saw Jiang Sheshe sneakily appear at the doorway again.
When Jiang Sheshe realized Ning Xi had spotted her, she stopped pretending to be a frightened little quail and asked, with pure curiosity, about the script in Ning Xi’s hands.
“Are you reading a menu?”
Ning Xi smiled and closed the script. “Prejudice in the human heart is a full-course meal.”
Did Jiang Sheshe really think the only thing Ning Xi would read this seriously was a menu?
Someone feed her peanuts!
“All right, tell me. What do you need me for?” Ning Xi could tell from Jiang Sheshe’s expression that something was definitely up.
Jiang Sheshe hadn’t expected Ning Xi to be so sharp, and her expression grew a little awkward.
“Um… we’re friends now, right…?”
Alarm bells instantly went off in Ning Xi’s head.
Friends?
Oh my god. What was her Fortune Grandma trying to set up here?
“Shouldn’t friends…”
“Of course we’re not friends!” Ning Xi declared righteously.
Jiang Sheshe froze.
But Ning Xi continued, “Please don’t sully our pure monetary relationship with the word friends, okay?! Friends are only for a while, but money is for life!”
Jiang Sheshe and Ning Xi were clearly Fortune Grandma and her loyal believer!
There was no emotion in their interactions, only money-grubbing!
So don’t talk to her about friendship. Not a single cent that could be squeezed out would escape her grasp!
[Our girl is nothing if not honest.]
[Her mental state is just that advanced. She loves money openly and honestly.]
[When it comes to loving money…]
[Got it. Money is for life. (taking notes.jpg)]
When Jiang Sheshe heard Ning Xi say that, not only did she let out a sigh of relief, her heart even felt a little warm.
As long as she had money, Ning Xi would be willing to be friends with her?
She thought there was no promise more everlasting, more eternal than that.
After all, she had so much money she couldn’t spend it all in this life, the next life, or even the life after that.
Ning Xi and the viewers who heard this: “…”
Enough. Really, enough.
“When you’re away from home, don’t flaunt your wealth, got it? Do you ever hear me saying that I usually put Starbucks coffee in a Mixue bag with a Luckin Coffee cup sleeve? No! Because I think buying Starbucks is such an ordinary thing. I really don’t get what’s worth showing off about it!” Ning Xi said with righteous indignation.
[She actually drinks Starbucks? Is she not planning to live past tomorrow?]
[Young people still aren’t careful enough. I usually pour my Starbucks into a Mixue Ice Cream & Tea cup. That way, nobody knows I drank Starbucks.]
[This has to be fake, right? Are there really that many people in real life who can afford Starbucks?]
[Can the people in the comments drink something more high-end? Do you see me bragging every time I drink a 1L bottle of iced black tea?]
Jiang Sheshe listened, utterly confused.
Sometimes, she didn’t understand why Ning Xi insisted on maintaining this money-loving persona.
“But it’s obvious money isn’t the only thing in your heart!”
Ning Xi: ?
So Jiang Sheshe had just forgotten about all the money Ning Xi had scammed from her back then?
Jiang Sheshe presented her evidence with flawless logic. “Fu Zhi is so rich, but you don’t like him!”
The next second, the gate to the little courtyard was pushed open again.
Fu Zhi, who had been eavesdropping for quite a while, flew into embarrassed rage. “Jiang Sheshe, shut up!”