Chapter 198：The Pieces (21)

Xiu Ling brushed off the insult with a smile. Qing Qing tried to replicate the tactic she performed on Joann but Xiu Ling did not rise to the bait.

Xiu Ling studied the young woman patiently and she could read the hostility that was directed her way quite clearly. She assumed it was because she had exposed the girl's tricks but in reality, it was more complicated than that.

Qing Qing hated Xiu Ling with a passion, even more than her dislike for Joann. She detested Joann for how the senior actor had foiled her plan again and again but there was nothing else that Qing Qing really hated about Joann. She saw Joann pretty much more or less like a pawn, something that she would have to sacrifice in her journey to reach the top. Qing Qing did not have much emotional attachment to Joann.

However, the same couldn't be said of Xiu Ling. Even though that was the first time the two women had officially met, Qing Qing despised Xiu Ling to her core because Xiu Ling represented everything she wanted in her life, a paragon of influence, power, wealth and beauty.

Qing Qing had worked her whole life to achieve that status it seemed to have fallen into Xiu Ling's laps without the woman breaking a sweat. Qing Qing couldn't fault Joann because the woman had paid her dues and done her time, but in comparison, Xiu Ling got where Qing Qing wanted to be because she married the most powerful man in the nation by giving him a child. If such a bargain was offered to Qing Qing, she would have birthed a whole soccer team of children to trade places with Xiu Ling.

That was the reason why Qing Qing wanted to see Xiu Ling in person. She wanted to see for herself the type of woman Xiu Ling was that she was able to do what she did. However, Qing Qing was greatly disappointed, there was nothing noticeably super-extraordinary about Xiu Ling that really differentiated the woman from herself.

This meant that Xiu Ling was merely lucky and this realized pissed off Qing Qing even more. What was so unique about Xiu Ling that made her luckier than she was, it made no sense. Qing Qing lamented her lack of good fortune and she turned that into resentment that was directed at Xiu Ling.

Xiu Ling's smile incensed Qing Qing and she pressed ruthlessly, "Why aren't you saying anything? Can I take that as silent admission? You can't defend yourself because I was right, wasn't I? I knew it, you might think that your status carries you above everyone else but you're actually no different from a common street wh*re selling her body for benefit."

Qing Qing scoffed with derision before adding, "Although that is a technique that I have not mastered yet, you do need to teach me the masterful way of sleeping to the top because that seems to be the only thing you're good at."

Xiu Ling was not affected by the way Qing Qing lampooned her. If anything, she smiled to herself because this was sign that Qing Qing was insecure and that was exactly what Xiu Ling wanted her to be.

Xiu Ling replied with a smile, "It's easy, you just need to know to recognize your target. Can you really fault others when you've selected to associate yourself with a gay man?"

Xiu Ling was referring to the rumor of Qing Qing being interested in Lee Mu, a rumor Xiu Ling knew the girl had a hand in manufacturing.

Qing Qing normally would have given herself more time to come up with a response but her inability to get a rise out of Xiu Ling had influenced her own footing instead. She blurted out, "You know as well as I do that was just a fake. Why are you leveling that against me?"

"So you do admit faking it." Xiu Ling had caught the girl at her own game. Qing Qing gasped, regret for speaking too soon was evident on her face. Before she got the time to recover, Xiu Ling continued, "Since we're on this topic, do you mind telling me why you wrote that blackmail letter to Lee Mu and Zao Ming? Aren't they your colleagues?"

With the earlier lesson, Qing Qing knew better than to speak without thought. The decision she came to was to deny her involvement in this issue. "I do not what you're talking about. Please refrain from slandering my name or else I will sue you for defamation!" Qing Qing threatened.

Xiu Ling smiled as if she already expected Qing Qing's answer. Xiu Ling picked up the stack of document before her and slid it towards Qing Qing. "Read this for yourself and I'll give you a chance to change your mind."

Qing Qing flipped through the document hurriedly and even so she knew she was staring at infallible proof that she was the one who sent Lee Mu and Zao Ming the blackmail letter. She didn't think the country's most trusted scientific institute would be brought in to examine the stationery that she used to write the letter. She couldn't have expected that because Qing Qing did not know about the relationship between Lin Kang and Xiu Ling as well as the close friendship between Xiu Ling and Joann. Even if she was privy to all that, she couldn't have expected Lin Kang would go to such an extent to help his wife's friend.

It was to Qing Qing's credit that she was able to come up with a second excuse once she realized that her cover had been blown. She put down the document and claimed with righteous indignation, "So you caught me. Fine, I did blackmail them but I was only doing God's work. The Almighty says a man shall only lies with a woman and what they're doing is a carnal sin! They should be punished and warned lest they burn in the everlasting fires of hell!"