Chapter 667 - Choose the Lesser Evil (1)
Li Meili was aware that she was out of place at this celebration party which she had no idea who was hosting. It was also laughable how some people tried to become acquaintances with her once they found out about her identity as Li Yuanyi's younger sister and also the prodigal daughter of the Li family who had been missing from the public eye for the past six years.
"Li Yuanyi's sister? How come we've never met her before?" Some women hide their grins behind their flutes as they look at Li Meili with curiosity. For someone who had a status as high as Li Meili, she sure didn't know how to flaunt it to other people.
Even if the empress of Shenzhen's business circle was incomparable to her, Li Meili had still chosen to turn against her family and live as a commoner. Although her identity as the Black Nightingale wasn't known to the public, it should be enough to topple Liu Ruoyan in terms of social status and wealth.
"Don't listen to them. You are who you are. As long as you aren't stepping on someone else." Li Yuanyi muttered next to her, annoyed that these shameless women dared to look down on his sister.
If only they knew that the dress they were wearing tonight was made by Li Meili herself. Just the amount of money his sister could earn from her creations was admirable, something these women wouldn't easily earn as they never bothered to dirty their hands to do manual labor. They were like flower vases that only knew how to make themselves beautiful but are actually pretty useless.
"Oh, dear brother. Please spare me. Don't tell me you've developed a sister complex over these years?" Li Meili tried not to roll her eyes from the absurdity of the situation she was in. Seeing her brother being so overprotective made her want to cringe and run to the nearest exit.
"Miss Li, may we know what you do for a living?" One of those women gave Li Meili a sinister smile, intending to nitpick on the Li heiress.
Li Meili blinked twice before turning to look at her brother who had an obvious scowl on his face. Smiling blandly, she chuckled lowly and regarded the woman. Was she really bored with her life to try to pick a fight with her? Li Meili wondered.
"Nothing fancy, Madam." She emphasized the last word, reminding the woman of her age. Li Meili had stumbled upon the other woman's insecurity when she overheard a conversation about her and her cheating husband earlier.
"But I must admit that your family seems to think that you can buy a piece of the latest Black Nightingale dress, considering that your family business is on the rocks. Ah, has your husband found other investors? The issue about the product recalls of your skincare products were all over the news."
The woman's face blanched upon hearing Li Meili's words. How could she bring out her family issue like that? She could only look at Li Meil with shock as the latter smirked defiantly.
Li Yuanyi raised a brow, surprised with his sister's response. Since when did his sister gain a backbone to slay bitches like this? He briefly remembered that when they were younger, Li Meili was easy to bully by her peers before she was able to befriend Tang Moyu.
Was this something she picked up from the empress during all those years Li Meili stayed with her? Ah, at least he wouldn't have to worry about defending her at all. Not only was she efficient in physical fights, but Li Meili had also gained a poisonous tongue that could make her opponents vomit blood from her shamelessness.
"Oh my gosh, is that true? Wow, she has a lot of money to waste then."
"And yet she came here bragging about how she managed to buy three of the Black Nightigale's limited edition dresses?"
"Well, she only needs to pretend she's rich. It doesn't have to be true as long as she looks like she is." Someone snickered.
The poor woman who tried to pounce on Li Meili scampered away in tears, not being used to being under the scrutiny of other socialites. How could her husband hide this information from her? If she had known that their family business wasn't doing well at the moment, she wouldn't have dared to insult Li Meili in front of everyone.
Anyway, even if she did know, who gave her permission to look down on someone? Whether Li Meili was an heiress or not, even if she didn't have money or title to her name, no one should look at a person's value based on how much money they had or who their father was.
This was why Li Meili rarely attended social events like this. The only reason she would attend was to find out how the public perceived her creations or if there were aspects she could improve on.
"Please excuse us, ladies. My brother and I have more important things to do." Li Meili hooked her arm with her brother's and dragged him away. She had enough of this circus for tonight. She was expecting to meet the Zhang brothers as well as her parents at this party and she wasn't looking forward to it.
Speaking of the devil, Li Meili spotted Zhang Jiren a few meters away from them and she had this urge to groan and leave the place. Being in the same place with any of the Zhang family members wasn't something she enjoyed.
She s.u.c.k.e.d in a deep, shuddering breath. The butterflies in her stomach refused to settle as she gripped Li Yuanyi's arm tightly.
"Are you alright? You don't look good." Li Yuanyi asked.
"I'm fine." Li Meili tried to assure him but failed. It was too late to back out now that Zhang Jiren and Zhang Liang had spotted the two of them. Their conversation with her parents was put on hold when they saw her and her brother.
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