The video call that afternoon ended with Ling Wei, mortified to the point of steaming at the ears, abruptly hanging up. While Daddy Xie lamented the loss, he immediately launched a barrage of text messages, shamelessly pestering her for the cute props.
“Don’t throw them away. They’re all mine,” Daddy Xie said unreasonably.
“How did they become yours? They were a gift from someone else,” Ling Wei tried to reason with him.
“Too late. I’ve seen them now, so they’re mine.”
“Do you have any shame at all?”
“I want meows, not shame.”
Staring at his shameless reply, Ling Wei was dumbfounded. “Are you a hooligan?”
“I’m a domineering CEO. Key point: domineering.”
Ling Wei was speechless.
Gritting her teeth, she threatened, “Believe it or not, I’ll post this conversation on Moments?!”
Daddy Xie was utterly fearless. “Believe it or not, I’ll post the video I just recorded on Moments?!”
Ling Wei fell silent again.
As a successful businessman, Daddy Xie generously offered two options. “If you won’t give me the props, that’s fine. Record a clip of you meowing for me, at least ten meows.”
If she did not hand over the props, she had to provide audio instead? Daddy Xie really was a devil!
Was there even a choice here? Was there?!
In the end, Ling Wei endured the humiliation and agreed to give him the props. Yet he pushed his luck and added, “To prevent you from suddenly going back on your word, send them to my home by express delivery right away. The address is xxxxxx…”
Ling Wei was speechless.
After that entire exchange with Daddy Xie, Ling Wei felt as though half her life had been drained away. She tossed her phone aside and collapsed onto the bed, staring at the ceiling in despair.
Did Daddy Xie really have a crush on her? Would anyone expose their sleazy middle aged uncle side in front of the woman they admired, without the slightest concern for their image? Had she really been overthinking it all along?
Ling Wei, who had not quite lost half her life, lay on the bed thinking wildly for quite a while before messaging Chen Xiaoruo, asking her to come take the props and send them off by courier. She truly did not want to see them again for even a second.
That evening, the production team booked two tables at a nearby restaurant. The director and core creative staff all attended, and several main actors showed up as well, giving Ling Wei plenty of face.
Drinking at the dinner table was unavoidable. What surprised Ling Wei was that her manager, Li Yi, could really hold her liquor. Ling Wei only drank a full glass when she toasted everyone sincerely. After that, any drink passed to her was intercepted by Li Yi, who, without changing her expression, took on ten men at once and drank them under the table until they swayed and stared blankly.
Ling Wei looked at Li Yi like an admiring fan, eyes sparkling, thinking she was amazing in every sense.
The group drank until they were staggering and stumbling, then clamored about going to sing karaoke. Ling Wei had wanted to say there was no need to make it so grand, that a meal was enough, but the director said they had already ordered a cake, and it would be a waste not to go. So they all moved on to a KTV. On the way, Ling Wei said a bit uneasily to Li Yi, “Sister Li, this treatment is practically at the level of a leading actress, right?”
Li Yi replied calmly, “You naturally deserve the best.”
Ling Wei thought about it and smiled as well. She had indeed been too cautious. She had strength and ability, so she deserved the best. There was no need to belittle herself.
After everyone howled like ghosts and wolves in the KTV for a while, a huge cake was wheeled into the private room. The microphones were tossed aside, and amid the cheering, Ling Wei was urged to make a wish and cut the cake. Then, without any warning, a cake fight broke out.
As the main character of the evening, Ling Wei became the primary target. In the end, she was miserably smeared all over, in her hair, on her face, on her clothes, everywhere. She was truly annoyed, but facing a bunch of drunkards, she did not even know how to scold them.
Escorted to the restroom by Chen Xiaoruo, she caught sight of her almost unrecognizable reflection in the mirror under the bright lights. Finding humor in hardship, Ling Wei asked Chen Xiaoruo to take a photo of her.
“Is this for a keepsake?” Chen Xiaoruo held up her phone and snapped several shots.
“Joy shared is joy doubled,” Ling Wei said with a smile. With great sporting spirit, she sent the photo to Xie Qingyan, thinking that it should be early morning over there.
After sending the photo, Ling Wei let Chen Xiaoruo help her roughly clean some of the cream off her body. “I cannot show my face looking like this,” she joked about herself.
“Sister Li has already informed the director. She’s going to get the car. We’ll head straight to the parking lot now,” Chen Xiaoruo said.
“You two are absolutely the cutest little angels!” Ling Wei praised sincerely.
Back at the hotel, Ling Wei stayed in the bathroom for nearly an hour before finally rescuing herself from the greasy smell of cream.
After blow drying her hair, she lay back on the bed feeling refreshed. Although it was nearly midnight, she felt no sleepiness and started playing on her phone again. After she had sent Xie Qingyan the photo earlier, he had not replied yet, probably still asleep. Ling Wei skillfully opened Moments again, planning to review Daddy Xie’s previous updates. However…
“Sweetheart at Daddy’s house, the correct way to enjoy, adorable, makes me want to eat.”
Attached was a side profile photo of Ling Wei covered in cake.
The angle of the photo was rather tricky, so her features were not very clear. The most eye catching thing was the cake crumbs and cream smeared all over her body.
Ling Wei was speechless.
What did he mean by the correct way to enjoy? Not only had he not comforted her wounded heart, he had even posted the photo on Moments. Where was his conscience?
The comments below were full of teasing.
“Boss, I did not expect your taste to be this heavy.”
“Bro, did you do this? Are you still alive? Didn’t sister in law beat you to death?!”
“I just want to ask Daddy Xie, is it tasty? I might do the same to my wife next time!”
…
Ling Wei was speechless again.
Anyone active in Devil Xie’s Moments probably was not human either.
Daddy Xie responded very seriously to his Moments:
“This is called foreplay. If you don’t understand, go look it up in a dictionary.”
“My baby is very gentle.”
“You idiot, you can’t pull this off. Be careful your wife doesn’t beat you to death!”
…
With no emotion at all, Ling Wei closed Moments and opened her chat with Xie Qingyan. “Daddy, do you like eating cake?”
Daddy Xie replied, “I do. The piece of red chocolate in the photo looks pretty good. I want to eat it.”
Red chocolate? Ling Wei, full of question marks, went back to look at the photo. She did not remember any red chocolate on that cake. Then…
“Daddy, that’s my red lipstick.”
“Oh, nice shade. I wonder if it tastes good.”
…
So she had once again delivered herself to be teased?
“The shade may be beautiful, but it’s poisonous. One lick could kill you!” she replied fiercely.
“To die beneath a peony blossom, even as a ghost one would still be romantic.”
Aren’t you already a devil? Why bother being a ghost?
This conversation could not continue.
“Goodbye!”
After typing those two words, she decisively exited WeChat and turned off her phone to sleep.
Perhaps because she felt light without worries, or perhaps because Daddy Xie had annoyed her into dizziness, she slept exceptionally soundly that night.
The next morning, the weather was especially bright and clear. In high spirits, Ling Wei flew back to the capital with her manager and assistant.
After getting off the plane, as usual, the three of them chatted and laughed, walking lightly toward the exit. But the moment Ling Wei stepped out of the arrival gate, a piercing scream erupted from the opposite side.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
Ling Wei was speechless.
Li Yi was speechless.
Chen Xiaoruo trembled.
Ling Wei’s first thought was, which big star’s fans are these?
Her second thought was, wow, this is a huge crowd. So many heads packed together, so many colorful support signs, and…
Her third thought was, oh my god, her name was actually written on those signs. Had the world turned into a fantasy novel?
She quickly turned to Li Yi beside her. “Sister Li, did the company hire fake fans to build momentum?”
Li Yi sneered. “You really overestimate the company. How could they possibly be willing to spend that kind of money?”
“Then what is this?”
Before she could finish her sentence, the fans across from them erupted into passionate screams. Jumping and shouting slogans, they chanted, “Ling Wei, Ling Wei, you’re the prettiest! Ling Wei, Ling Wei, you’re the prettiest!”
Ling Wei was speechless.
Wasn’t that slogan a bit low level? Who came up with it? She really wanted to have a life discussion with that person.
Although she was a bit stunned by everything, standing there foolishly was not her style. In her previous life she had been a top tier star, what kind of scene had she not seen? Was she really going to be afraid of this?
With that thought, she immediately adjusted her expression, revealing a flawless, 360 degree perfect smile. She stepped forward gracefully and waved at the screaming crowd. “Hello, everyone.”
“Ahhhhhhh!”
The deafening screams were so professional. That must have cost quite a bit. Which wealthy tycoon had made such a grand move?
Ling Wei’s gaze swept back and forth across the massive crowd, and right in the center she spotted two familiar figures.
Ling Wei was speechless again.
“Ahhhh, Xiao Wei, Xiao Wei, I love you!”
“Ahhhh, Mommy, Mommy, I love you!”
All right, she should not have doubted Daddy Xie in her heart earlier. She owed him an apology. But she would still have to talk to him about this later. How could they just let elderly people and children run around like this? What if someone got lost?
She jogged forward and said to the elderly lady in the center, “Auntie, why did you bring so many people?”
Mother Xie beamed. “Xiao Wei, isn’t this a surprise? Unexpected, right?”
Ling Wei was at a loss for words.
She finally understood. Daddy Xie did not count for much at all. Old Madam Xie was her real big sponsor.
…
Far across the ocean, Daddy Xie suddenly sneezed twice in a row with explosive force, wondering who was thinking about him so intensely.
His phone suddenly chimed with a “meow, meow, meow” notification sound. The foreigner sitting next to him asked curiously, “Boss Xie, your ringtone is so cute. Where did you download it?”
Daddy Xie replied proudly, “It’s an exclusive ringtone. One of a kind. You can’t download it anywhere.”