Chapter 857: Substitute
Mu Chenyan was always called omnipotent. Everyone admired her. Even if she caused a million troubles, people praised her greatly. But the problem was that most people didn't know about her arch-nemesis who could always leave her in the dust.
Looking at her, she always had one thought; no matter how good you are, there will always be someone better than you. In her case, that someone better had always been Xia Zhao.
The most infuriating part was that his attitude towards life was even more leisurely than her. She was just reckless and careless. He was super lazy and yet he always surpassed her.
She really wanted to hate him all her life but it was just not possible. So what if he was better than her? It was her own problem that she wasn't competent enough. How could she hate him for that?
"You seem very proud that just one painting pulled me here," she said bitterly.
"Shouldn't I be?" he asked in return.
Mu Chenyan took a deep breath but didn't respond as the waitress brought their order and left after placing the iced Americanos before them. Mu Chenyan took a sip to cool her head before saying, "I want to buy that painting."
"Not for sale," he replied.
"Name a price. I want it," she said.
Xia Zhao also drank his coffee before saying, "Why are you still standing where we parted?"
"Huh?"
"Mu Chenyan, the heiress of the Mu Clan, still thinks that anything can be solved by throwing a punch or money at others' faces? You still didn't change your view about that? Things don't work that way, Yan Zi!"
Mu Chenyan's expressions froze when she heard him say that. Only this person won't stop reminding her of this. How she wished she could refute his words but she couldn't!
"So what? 99% of my problems are always solved with this method," she told him firmly.
Xia Zhao shook his head at her and said, "Well, then I'm still that 1% you can't solve with your method. You can't beat me and you can't buy me either. So, Yan Zi, I'm curious. How are you gonna solve this problem?"
"You are also still the same," she snapped. "You still love to get on my nerve."
"If I don't do it, how else would I leave an impression on you?" he retorted.
"Bastard!"
Xia Zhao didn't even react when he heard her cursing in low voice. It even made his lips curl up and he lowered his head as he focused on drinking his coffee. Oh, this tasted sweeter than ever. He hadn't enjoyed his coffee this much in years. But then again, he hadn't drank iced Americano in years as well.
Others always thought he liked espresso but only this little lava girl knew he loved Ice Americano. And she said she didn't care about his likes or dislikes. He purposely chose to ignore the fact that they both actually had the same taste and interests so it wasn't that Mu Chenyan remembered what he liked, she was just following her own likes and dislikes.
"I don't care, I want that painting!" she said again.
"You never like taking a loss, why do I think I'd like to take a loss?"
Mu Chenyan really didn't know how to deal with this person. She never could and it was the same now. How could anyone hold a conversation with him and win? No, just as Hyson had said, none of their family members had ever been good with words. So, it was okay for her to feel at a loss.
"Aren't I offering money here? How is that a loss?"
"But I don't want money," Xia Zhao repeated himself. "Taking money for that painting would be a loss to me. I can't put a price on it. It's a priceless treasure."
Mu Chenyan was slightly stunned when she heard that. "It's just a painting."
"To you, yes, it's a painting. To me, it's not just a painting," said Xia Zhao. "It never was and it never will be."
"I can never understand you," she muttered. "And I can't win in this argument as usual. How I wish..." Her eyes suddenly sparkled. "How about I bring someone else for the negotiation?"
"What?" he asked in surprise.
Mu Chenyan nodded her head, "Yes, yes. I'll bring my negotiation representative. You'll never be able to win against her. Yes! Haha!"
Xia Zhao gave her a weird look but she didn't care. She just realized that her Elle had never lost in an argument. Why was she wasting her breath with Xia Zhao when she knew she won't win? She'd rather bring someone who had the perfect chance of winning. And that someone was Raelle Xiang! How can anyone win against her dear Elle?
She'd like to see how he doesn't give that painting when Raelle is the one asking for it!
Don't ask why but Mu Chenyan had a blind trust in her Raelle. She only knew how to solve things with violence but Raelle always had alternative solutions. Especially, in an argument, no one could dare challenge her!
She felt like patting herself as she thought she was a genius. Why didn't she think of this earlier?
"When did you start using a substitute?" he raised his brow at her.
"Why can't I?" she retorted.
"If you leave the battlefield, you lose," he said straightforwardly. How could he let her escape so easily? That won't be fun at all.
"You just don't have any intention of selling it! You're being unreasonable!"
"I made myself clear from the beginning that I'm not selling the painting. I really have no such intention." He took a pause and asked, "But the real question is, why are you so insistent on having that painting? In your opinion, there is nothing special about it."
Mu Chenyan gave him a disbelieving look, "How do you know that?" She immediately slapped her mouth. That was a dumb question considering how easy it was for him to see through her mind.
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