Chapter 55

Chapter 55

“Okay… wait, what?!”

“Xiao Xi, did you accidentally add an extra word in there?”

“Are you insane!”

“…”

Ning Xi remained as calm as a monk in meditation. “I didn’t misspeak. Feel free to make your wishes, everyone-I won’t let a single one of them come true!”

Since she couldn’t make everyone happy, she would just make everyone unhappy.

Flawless logic.

[Fly high, Ning Xi! If anything happens, you’re on your own!]

[Sister, just remember: at this moment, there is no one behind you.]

[I’m dying of laughter. Other people join variety shows to make friends; Ning Xi is out here offending everyone.]

[Sister, you only have us fans left. Take it easy, I’m afraid we won’t be able to win the flame war against the other six fandoms.]

[It’s fine, at least Xie Lanchen is definitely on Ning Xi’s side.]

After dropping that bombshell, Ning Xi happily headed off to work out.

“Xiao Xi must be joking, right?” Ning Mingyue asked tentatively.

Fu Zhi let out a cold sneer. “It seems you still don’t know her very well.”

Jiang Sheshe scoffed. “You say that like you know Ning Xi so well yourself.”

“You…”

“Alright, it’s getting late. Everyone should head back and pack their bags for tomorrow as soon as possible.”

Wei Xuan spoke up just in time, cutting off their impending argument.

Jiang Sheshe glanced at Wei Xuan out of the corner of her eye and fell silent.

After her workout, Ning Xi went for a stroll outside the villa.

She was wandering leisurely when she spotted Xie Lanchen in the courtyard. A spread of fruit platters sat before him. Her feet automatically changed direction, and she gravitated toward him.

“Eating all this by yourself?” Ning Xi asked, feigning shock.

Xie Lanchen’s eyes crinkled. “It does seem like a bit much. Would you like to join me?”

Ning Xi sat down instantly. “Then I’ll help you take care of some of it.”

Xie Lanchen watched her with a smile.

Noticing that Ning Xi seemed particularly fond of the mangosteens, he proactively pushed that platter closer to her.

Only then did Ning Xi realize that Xie Lanchen had barely touched any of the fruit. He only took a small piece occasionally.

“Are you not eating anymore?”

“I’m full already.” Xie Lanchen shook his head gently.

Ning Xi immediately felt it was a waste.

With a grand wave of her hand, she declared, “Then I’ll help you finish it all!”

Xie Lanchen paused. He looked at the seven or eight platters of fruit and drinks on the table and hesitated.

“Can you really finish all of that?”

Instead of answering, Ning Xi asked a question of her own: “Do you know the true essence of humanity?”

“What is it?” Xie Lanchen played along, looking curious and providing plenty of emotional validation.

“When a person gets stepped on, they open their mouth. Therefore, the essence of humanity is a trash can. As a trash can, this little bit of food is obviously no problem at all.”

Xie Lanchen couldn’t help but laugh.

Under the sparse stars and bright moon, the two of them sat in the courtyard, enjoying the summer breeze, eating fruit, and chatting. It was quite a cozy scene.

On the second floor of the villa.

Shen Yibai stood on the balcony, his hands resting casually on the railing as he watched Ning Xi and Xie Lanchen in the distance.

Ning Xi said something else, and Xie Lanchen burst into laughter.

The distance between them even seemed to shrink until they were huddled together, looking at Ning Xi’s phone.

The moonlight hit Shen Yibai’s sharp features, casting half his face in shadow. The coldness gathering in his eyes condensed into a frosty mist.

His phone rang.

It was his father.

“What is wrong with you? The dignified heir of the Shen Family, actually fooling around on a variety show with those two girls from the Ning Family?! Do you have any idea what people are saying out there?”

Shen Yibai’s attitude was indifferent. “What they say has nothing to do with me.”

“Shen Yibai, what kind of attitude is that? You aren’t the master of the Shen Family yet! Don’t tell me you think that just because you have the title of heir and those shareholders like you, even I have to answer to you?!”
“You can strip me of my position as heir whenever you like. I don’t care.”

“You!”

On the other end of the line, Father Shen’s chest heaved with fury.

Ever since his remarriage, his son, Shen Yibai, had become completely estranged from him. Because he was busy with work, he had asked his second wife to take extra care of Shen Yibai. Instead of being grateful, Shen Yibai treated his stepmother and stepbrother with nothing but cold indifference.

Over the years, Father Shen naturally grew to favor his younger son, who stayed by his side and obeyed his every whim.

However, to everyone’s surprise, Shen Yibai demonstrated exceptional business acumen and a talent for investment after he began interning at the company following high school graduation. He was immediately fast-tracked for grooming by Old Master Shen and the shareholders, eventually being chosen as the next successor to the Shen Corporation.

By now, Shen Yibai’s status within the company had subtly begun to eclipse that of his father, the current head of the family.

Father Shen was helpless to change it and had no choice but to accept the reality. After all, during the dozen or so years the Shen Family had been in his hands, he had merely maintained the status quo, barely managing to keep their position as the leading enterprise in Xiangcheng. But if the company were in Shen Yibai’s hands, there was a chance they could expand beyond Xiangcheng and develop into a top-tier elite powerhouse…

Thinking of this, Father Shen’s attitude unconsciously softened.

“Fine, I trust you to know what you’re doing. Although the Ning Family is no longer a worthy match for our Shen Family, since you like her, I suppose Ning Mingyue could barely be accepted into the family if she’s willing to be a good, supportive wife. However, you still have a verbal engagement with that girl Ning Xi. If you truly love Ning Mingyue, it isn’t impossible to swap the names on the engagement. They’re both daughters of the Ning Family, so the family itself won’t lose anything.”

Shen Yibai remained silent.

“But once Ning Mingyue is engaged to you, she must quit the entertainment industry. When Ning Xi was younger, it didn’t matter much if she played around in that circle, but you and Ning Mingyue are adults now. How can the young mistress of the Shen Family go around showing her face in public?”

“Is that all?”

“Nothing else for now…”

Shen Yibai hung up immediately. He continued to watch Ning Xi in the distance, his eyes hiding a whirlwind of inexplicable emotions. It felt as though only here, in the shadows, could he… look at her like this.

In the courtyard, Ning Xi suddenly looked up toward a certain direction, her gaze sharp.

“What is it?” Xie Lanchen asked, turning toward her.

Ning Xi shook her head and withdrew her gaze from the empty balcony.

“I felt like someone was watching me just now. Maybe I’m overthinking it.”

Xie Lanchen looked in the direction she had been staring, appearing thoughtful.

Right then, an uninvited guest disturbed their peace.

Fu Zhi had been holding it in all evening and finally couldn’t resist coming over to find Ning Xi. He was dying of curiosity regarding how Ning Xi would assign the rooms for tomorrow night.

By now, Fu Zhi had learned the proper way to speak to Ning Xi.

“Ning Xi, if I give you a thousand yuan, will you answer my questions honestly?”

Ning Xi’s eyes lit up. “A thousand per question? Of course. But…”

“But what?”

“You’ve already asked one question,” Ning Xi said, spreading her hands.

Fu Zhi: …

Don’t get angry, don’t get angry, don’t get angry.

Fu Zhi gritted his teeth. “…Fine. I’ll give you three thousand to ask three questions. Happy?”

Ning Xi nodded. “Sure, but you’ve already asked three questions.”

Fu Zhi’s temper flared, his voice rising instantly. “When did I ask three questions?!”

Ning Xi replied, “Just now.”

Fu Zhi: …

Who could talk to Ning Xi without losing their mind? Who?!