The initial plan of cleaning up the restaurant was postponed as everyone waited for the drama to happen. A crowd was starting to form, because a group of people gathering had always attracted undue attention.
"Lao gong! You have to help me seek justice! Your darling had just been bullied!" Mrs Poh whined into the phone as she dialled for her husband. Her voice was so high and irritating that Xue Ning's eardrums were threatening to go on strike.
"What happened now?" Her husband asked in a half-worried, half-wary tone. His wife had a tendency of making mountains out of molehills, giving him extra trouble.
But she was still his wife, no matter how annoying she was. If he didn't help her, how could he hold his head up high in the community? Their reputation as a lovey-dovey couple, and him as a family man, would be ruined! How will he run for re-election then?
"Do you remember Li Xue Ning? She's back from Shanghai, and she brought back three men! One of the men told me to 'shut the fuck up' and 'kneel for a long time'! I've never been so hurt in my life!"
"I see, don't worry, I'll definitely seek justice for you! Where are you? I'll go and find you now!" He declared hotly.
Li Xue Ning was a girl, but she regrettably inherited none of her mother's grace. The beauty she had inherited was wasted on someone like her, since she became a roughhousing troublemaker.
As a child and a teenager, she was always two steps away from delinquency! Who knew what kind of dangerous friends she met in the city?
Damn her for bringing trouble all the way to their tiny, peaceful town! Everyone knew the Li family's restaurant got trashed yesterday, and Xue Ning arrived a day later with her new friends? Clearly something was up!
At least her parents knew how to keep their head down. They never courted trouble when he arrived to become the new Mayor. Li Yue Niang never even stirred trouble when he tried to sleep with her - it was a pity her daughter was such a mean spirited girl, never willing to play nice, not even for him.
Now, he needed to call the police. He had to teach Li Xue Ning and her delinquent friend a lesson they would never forget.
Meanwhile, Jingwei and Xue Ning rolled their eyes in tandem. Talk about cherry-picking things to emphasise!
"Wow, this woman is really delusional." Jingwei muttered, in a voice low enough for Xue Ning to hear. He leaned closer to her, purposely using his body to block Wei Yan from getting closer.
"This is only the tip of the iceberg." Xue Ning muttered back, using the chance to shrug out of Wei Yan's hold. It was getting too stifling for her comfort. "You should see her throw temper tantrums. She makes Zhou Yu look calm and dignified."
"Yikes," Jingwei shook his head. His arm instinctively wanted to curl at her waist, where it belonged, but he remembered just in the nick of time that they were a secret in public, so he let his arm hover behind her back as he flexed his hand, reminding himself not to touch.
He need not bother, because Xue Ning could feel the heat of his body as he stood next to her, and she could imagine his arm behind her.
She was so aware of his presence that it set her skin aflame with longing. It had only been a few hours, but she wanted to hug and kiss him already. Her body, her mind, and possibly her soul had gotten so used to his presence that it was excruciating to go without.
She wanted to steal another last glance at him, only to find that he was already looking at her, his eyes dark with want.
Xue Ning gulped, feeling her resolution to keep their relationship a secret waver. She wanted to pull him down and kiss him before everyone, feelings be damned.
Thankfully (or not), the thick tension was interrupted by the annoying voice of Poh Jin Lian. They sprung apart quickly.
"Laogong, I knew you would support me!" Poh Jin Lian cried out, relieved. "I'm in front of the Li family's restaurant now, with the broken sign and dirt everywhere. It looks like a beggar's hideout! Come quickly!"
Everyone tensed, but Jingwei barked out a loud laugh that attracted their attention. "Everyone, you heard that right? She's increasing her sentence. Excellent. She must really love going on her knees."
Xue Ning wheezed in laughter, while her brother made a rapturous sound of delight. Sun Jingwei was endearing himself to him pretty quickly, especially now when he knew that Sun Jingwei wasn't Xue Ning's boyfriend. He seemed like a pretty cool dude!
Tai Cheng and Yue Nian hid their smiles behind their palms, but their eyes were bright with joy. Even if everything went to shit with Jingwei arrested, they would have this memory of Poh Jin Lian getting insulted to keep themselves warm at night!
"Laogong!! You heard that right?! You see! I'm not exaggerating! Now he's sexually harrassing me! Come quickly!" She whined again, before finally hanging up the phone with a huff.
"Hey, can you not insult my taste in women?" Jingwei commented. He pointed to himself, purposely drawing attention to his handsome face and his drool-worthy body, just to better emphasise his point.
"Do you honestly believe someone like me would go after a middle-aged woman like you? I don't even know whether to call you confident or delusional!"
Everyone tittered, seeing his point. More eyes roved over this new man appreciatively, and Xue Ning caught more than one shy glance and one red face. There were also pairs of friends that were playfully nudging each other, wagging their eyebrows as they gazed at him like he was a piece of fresh meat!
Xue Ning snarled. She wanted to block his body from their greedy eyes! How dare they look at something that was hers!
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