Chapter 123 - To Be Beautiful (1)
"Qian?" Su Xiaofei called when her best friend didn't say anything. She heard Xi Qian take a deep breath and sigh, shaking her head in the process. What was that supposed to mean? She wondered.
"Feifei, you really don't know?" Xi Qian eyed her.
"What is there to know?" Su Xiaofei asked in return.
"Feifei, most people would notice physical appearance before anything else. You are beautiful and that's a hard fact that everyone who knows you can't deny. So it's indeed your character and attitude that made them wary of you. But recently, you changed for the better and that made you look more attractive in everyone's eyes."
Su Xiaofei hummed and slowly nodded her head.
"If that's the case, then how come Ye Mingyu is still more popular than me and no men are chasing after me?" She asked with curiosity.
"Feifei, have you ever heard the proverb that says, 'every woman is beautiful until she opens her mouth'?"
When her best friend shook her head, Xi Qian continued. It was rare for her to have this kind of conversation with Su Xiaofei.
"They say beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. And that is true to a great extent. Whoever you consider as beautiful may not be beautiful to me. However, when it comes to how one speaks, we can all agree on what is beautiful and what is ugly. Ye Mingyu might seem popular now, but her reputation is starting to deteriorate on its own." Xi Qian started. Now that Su Xiaofei had mentioned Ye Mingyu, she was now starting to see the difference between the two sisters from the same father.
"Gossiping, lying, cursing, slandering, nagging and backbiting are some, to name a few acts we do not consider as attractive, and whether Ye Mingyu liked it or not, her actions speak louder than her words. It's hard for her to keep her kind and innocent facade now that her identity as the mistress's daughter is revealed."
"And sad to say, there are many women who look beautiful but are ugly in speech. They are simply not refined or restrained. I think you are getting better at this now, Feifei. You used to speak your mind no matter how ugly your thoughts are, but now, you don't let others, even me or Lu Qingfeng, know what's going on in your mind." Xi Qian commented on her recent thoughts about her best friend's obvious change.
As she listened to her best friend's words, Su Xiaofei couldn't help but feel a little guilty that she had to keep some secrets to herself now. She used to share everything with Xi Qian, but currently, she needed to keep her silence about certain things to protect not only herself, but everyone she cared about as well. She could only wish that they would understand why she was doing this and trust her judgement.
If Xi Qian was able to notice it this early, Su Xiaofei had no doubt that Lu Qingfeng had also realized the same thing. The only difference was, Lu Qingfeng didn't openly question her about it.
It wasn't like she wanted to lie, but saying that she was reborned and was aware of what could happen in the future might put her in danger, especially now that she had some inkling that Ye Mingyu might also have been reborned like her and knew something about her already.
As for instigating her enemies to fight each other, she could only do this to avoid the red flag that was waiting for her in the future if she allowed the same event to occur again, just like in her past life.
"These women are only beautiful until one hears the ugliness from their mouth. In the end, their ugly character overshadows their beautiful looks, making them unattractive. Of course, women are not alone in this. The same could be said about men. Men are probably more guilty, if not equally guilty. Women are only used to create the imagery or contrast between ugliness and beauty. Thus, this also applies to men, not just women like us."
"Wow, Qian. I know you are smart, but I never knew you could be this deep." Su Xiaofei chuckled. "Anyway, wouldn't that mean that the less I say, the fewer mistakes I'd make?"
Xi Qian nodded, confirming it. It was definitely better than personally providing others with the 'bullets' to shoot oneself down.
"Something like that. I really like that you are calmer these days. You don't allow anyone to provoke and annoy you easily. I like seeing Feng Xue'er's face whenever she tries to rile you up only to find herself angered to death instead."
"Heh, Xi Qian. You'll be disappointed. You probably don't know I've been cursing them and stabbing them to death in my mind." Su Xiaofei smiled, before forcing her attention back to the paper in front of her. She wouldn't have enough time to study her lessons once the Yun family got back to her.
"Well, at least you aren't committing a crime. No one would police you on what and how you should think." Xi Qian agreed with her best friend.
"Is this why you dislike Ye Mingyu?"
In her past life, while Xi Qian wasn't impressed withYe Mingyu, she had never openly provoked the woman as she did during their dodgeball game.
"I don't know why some people pity her. It's clear to me that she's a white lotus, pretending to be sweet and kind to get other's approval."
"So you'd rather befriend a villainess like me?" Su Xiaofei twirled the pen in her hands as she listened to Xi Qian.
"What's wrong with that?" Xi Qian shrugged. "At least you aren't lying to me. Not that you'll get anything from doing me favors. I'm comfortable because I don't have to pretend that I am a good person when I'm with you."
"I get your company, I get your trust. Isn't that more important than any material things?"
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