Chapter 51

Chapter 51

“What could she be after? Money, obviously. Women these days are all the same. Not a single decent one among them-every last one of them is a gold digger.”

“Hey, don’t paint everyone with the same brush. We’re not like Xia Sheng.”

“I feel like Xia Sheng is actually pretty nice. She shouldn’t be that kind of person, right?”

“You can know someone’s face without knowing their heart. She looks quiet and well-behaved, but who knows how messy her private life is?”

Everyone had their own opinion. Seeing her words achieve the effect she wanted, Xia Zhiruo couldn’t stop the corners of her lips from curling up.

Her gaze landed on Xia Sheng again, only to meet the other girl’s icy stare. Xia Zhiruo’s heart gave a violent jolt.

She had gotten carried away just now. How could she have forgotten what happened last time by the footbridge?

Fear crept into her heart, and she wanted to leave as quickly as possible.

But in the next instant, she realized she couldn’t move her body at all.

Overwhelming terror instantly swallowed her whole. She hurriedly begged for mercy. “Xia Sheng, I was wrong. I only spoke without thinking just now. I didn’t mean to spread rumors about you. Please don’t be angry!”

Xia Sheng raised an eyebrow. There was a smile on her face, but not the slightest warmth in her eyes.

“Miss Xia, why are you suddenly apologizing? Weren’t you having a great time just now?”

The moment she finished speaking, Xia Zhiruo felt as if her heart had been seized by an invisible hand, as though it might burst at any second. Pain racked her so badly that cold sweat poured down her body.

“S-Sorry. I really didn’t mean it… Zhou Yichuan is my fiancé. He has nothing to do with you… Please, please let me go first…”

Xia Zhiruo’s face flushed red, then purple, as if she might stop breathing at any moment. She stammered out the sentence with great difficulty.

When the others saw her like this, they exchanged bewildered looks, completely confused.

“What’s wrong with that woman? One second she says Zhou Yichuan is Xia Sheng’s fiancé, and the next she says he’s her fiancé. Is there something wrong with her head?”

“Probably. No one’s even touching her, but she’s suddenly telling Xia Sheng to let her go. What a lunatic.”

“So what she said just now was probably a rumor too? She’s pretty enough, but it’s like she doesn’t have a brain.”

“That’s what I said. A sweet, kind girl like Xia Sheng couldn’t possibly be that kind of person.”

The crowd’s opinion completely reversed, but Xia Zhiruo had no attention to spare for any of it. The pain was so intense that she was on the verge of fainting.

Only when Xia Sheng saw that she was in too much pain to speak did she withdraw the spell she had cast on her.

The instant Xia Sheng’s power retreated, Xia Zhiruo went weak all over and nearly collapsed.

Fortunately, the railing was right behind her. She leaned against it, barely keeping herself from falling.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Xia Sheng was about to leave. Xia Zhiruo hesitated over whether she should go up and stop her.

After what Xia Sheng had just done to her, she wanted nothing more than to get out of here immediately.

But when she thought of what her mother had told her last night, she gritted her teeth and once again blocked Xia Sheng’s path.

No matter what, she had to make Xia Sheng attend Old Master Zhou’s birthday banquet!

Xia Zhiruo stopped in front of Xia Sheng and mustered her courage. “Wait, Xia Sheng, you…”

“I’ll go.”

Xia Sheng suddenly spoke, cutting Xia Zhiruo off.

Xia Zhiruo froze.

Why had this little bitch suddenly agreed?

Hadn’t she been unwilling to go just now?

This little bitch could tell fortunes. Could it be that she already knew what she and her mother were planning to do?

At that thought, a chill suddenly ran through Xia Zhiruo’s heart. She forced herself to calm down.

This little bitch did have some strange abilities, but surely she couldn’t be so powerful that she could even see through what other people were thinking.

In any case, as long as she brought Xia Sheng there, that would be enough. Everything else could wait until the time came.

This was a society ruled by law. She refused to believe Xia Sheng would really dare to kill her.

Xia Zhiruo took a deep breath and said, “I’ll send a car to pick you up this Saturday afternoon.”
Xia Sheng said lazily, “No need. I can get there myself.”

“Do you even know where to go?”

“Royal Court Hotel.”

“How do you know that?”

A look of shock crossed Xia Zhiruo’s face.

Had this little bitch looked up the location ahead of time, or had she actually calculated it?

Xia Sheng said nothing. She took Ning Xi by the hand and left.

Xia Zhiruo watched her retreating back, panic stirring in her heart.

If Xia Sheng could calculate where Old Master Zhou’s birthday banquet was being held, then could she really have calculated what Xia Zhiruo was planning to do that day?

…

When they arrived at the classroom for the next period, Ning Xi sat down beside Xia Sheng, her eyes shining as she launched straight into gossip mode.

“Sheng’er, did you use some kind of spell on Xia Zhiruo just now? She looked like she was in so much pain she was about to cry!”

Xia Sheng set her textbook on the desk. “Just a little trick.”

“We’re amazing!” With such an incredible friend, Ning Xi felt proud by association and was practically vibrating with excitement. She asked again, “Sheng’er, are you and Xia Zhiruo really biological sisters?

“And what’s the deal with Zhou Yichuan? Is he your fiancé or Xia Zhiruo’s fiancé? I feel like when Xia Zhiruo was talking about it just now, her expressions both times looked really serious, like both were true…”

Ning Xi’s little mouth rattled on and on without even pausing for breath.

Xia Sheng directly slapped a silencing talisman on her.

The world fell quiet in an instant.

Although Ning Xi had been muted by Xia Sheng, she was not angry at all. Instead, she excitedly took out a scratch notebook and started writing in it, asking Xia Sheng what kind of Talisman Paper it was, why it disappeared the moment it touched her body, and why she suddenly couldn’t speak.

Xia Sheng was helpless.

This girl really did talk more than the average person.

She gave Ning Xi a simple explanation of the silencing talisman. Ning Xi reacted as if she had discovered a whole new continent and immediately became interested, buying one from her to study.

Later, when Xia Sheng mentioned there was also a Truth-Telling Talisman, Ning Xi found it novel and bought one of those too, pondering where she could use it.

With something else to divert her attention, the little chatterbox finally let Xia Sheng off the hook.

Xia Sheng had a full schedule today, so by the time classes ended in the afternoon, it was already past five.

Before class was over, Shen Yanchen had sent her a message saying he would come to the university to pick her up.

Only after walking out of the classroom did she realize it had started raining outside.

And she had not brought an umbrella today.

She took out her phone and called Shen Yanchen.

“Where are you? Class is over. I’ll come find you.”

The man’s deep, calm voice came through the phone. “I’m already here.”

“Where?”

“The first-floor lobby of Shangxian Building.”

Shangxian Building?

It took Xia Sheng a few seconds to remember that the teaching building she was currently in was called Shangxian Building.

“Why aren’t you waiting for me in the car?”

“It’s raining. I guessed you probably didn’t bring an umbrella.”

“I’ll come down and find you now.”

“Mm.”

After hanging up, Xia Sheng inwardly sighed at how thoughtful Shen Yanchen was.

He was such a gentle and considerate man. She really did not understand why Shen Ze was always telling her that his Uncle Nine was terrifying.

It was right after class, and the lobby was crowded with people coming and going.

Many students had not brought umbrellas and were waiting by the entrance for the rain to stop.

Amid the crowd, a tall, handsome man stood quietly, holding a long-handled black umbrella. His brows and eyes were exceptionally aloof.

His looks would have been top-tier even in the entertainment industry, let alone among this bustling crowd.

Quite a few young women around him were secretly sizing him up, but because of his unapproachable aura, none of them dared to go forward and strike up a conversation.

For one brief moment, even Xia Sheng held her breath because of the man’s beauty.

The lobby was packed, but the instant Xia Sheng appeared, Shen Yanchen noticed her. The coldness in his eyes seemed to soften with a trace of a smile the moment he saw her.