Chapter 189 - Calling Her to Count

Although her temper was not that good, she was not usually that bad tempered, either. But Li Xianxian had been trying to irritate her every now and then. Did she think that Tang Xia was such an easy target?

Moreover, she was not in a good mood at the moment. She could not tolerate Li Xianxian’s provocation at this time. She did not know what Chu Tiankuo thought of her, nor was she eager to find out.

Currently, they were surrounded by people who believed that they were quarreling, due to jealousy, and trying to play all sorts of monkey tricks on them. Didn’t Li Xianxian feel embarrassed? How could she still remain so aggressive?

“Slap!”

As the crowd sat back and watched, Tang Xia turned back abruptly, and slapped Li Xianxian strongly on her face, which made everyone draw a cold breath.

Even Tang Xia herself, did not know how much strength was in the slap that she dealt Li Xianxian, with. She just felt that through this single slap, she was able to vent all the dissatisfaction that had cumulated, through the days. This involved Chu Tiankuo, Ye Yifan’s death, and Li Xianxian’s words.

This slap helped to release the stress in her heart. She felt her palm turning numb.

“You…”

Before Li Xianxian could retaliate, she saw Tang Xia’s piercing and profound eyes, which made her feel as if she were stuck in a cold mire. She was only able to utter one word, and then she clammed up.

She stepped backward. But then she stood upright immediately, and stared at Tang Xia confidently, as she was reminding herself not to be overwhelmed by Tang Xia’s manner.

Tang Xia pushed Xianxian’s shoulder forcefully, making Li Xianxian stumble backward. Tang Xia then told her, one word at a time, in an icy tone,

“You-better-not-mess- around- with-me.”

The crowd were startled when they saw Tang Xia’s momentary outburst, and looked at her with wide open mouths. Obviously, Tang Xia had given the impression that she was a mild-tempered girl. They did not know what to make of her sudden, surging rage.

Li Xianxian was apparently frightened, and stunned at the same time. She always thought that Tang Xia was a person who was easy to handle. This woman, who gave her such a murderous look, frightened her. A saying came to her: The worm turns.

Tang Xia turned back in silence, and started packing her stuff. Li Xianxian remained motionless for a long while, just standing there and staring blankly. Her assistant, who stood beside her, tiptoed to her, when she saw Li Xianxian’s look.

She dared not bother Tang Xia, but since it was Li Xianxian who paid her salary, she had to nudge Li Xianxian, while holding her breath.

Li Xianxian recovered, feeling a burning and aching sensation in her cheek. She covered her cheeks at once. Recalling how she had lost her dignity before the crowd, when Tang Xia had not only slapped her, but also threatened her, she glared at her assistant indignantly.

“Where did you go just now?”

The assistant looked innocent. She kowtowed and kept apologizing. The crowd immediately held Li Xianxian in disdain, when they saw her not daring to bother Tang Xia, but venting her anger on her assistant, instead.

When she heard the chaotic arguments around her, Li Xianxian felt more and more ashamed. She stamped her foot fiercely, turned back and trotted away. Her assistant did not know what had happened, but turned and followed her.

Tang Xia seemed to have heard nothing, and acted as if she had not noticed Li Xianxian’s departure. She continued to pack her belongings. The place was extremely quiet now, since no one dared to comment on Tang Xia. Thus, everyone was looking at her in silence.

Having packed all her things, Tang Xia walked through the door and took a taxi home, without saying a word.

Exhausted, she carried her belongings and opened the door, with the key in her hand. Upon seeing the room that she was so familiar with, she put aside her stuff casually, threw her clothes all over the floor, and laid down on the couch.

She felt like the whole world was silent. There was no Chu Tiankuo, nor Ye Yifan or Li Xianxian. There was no source of trouble, and the day’s trials had been erased. She buried her head into the couch. Yes, she was trying to escape from it all.

But it was not that easy to hide. How she wished that she could get away from everything.

She raised her head instantly, got up and headed for the bathroom. She hoped that all the exhaustion could be washed away. Facing a fogged up mirror, she reached out and wiped, until the mirror reflected her image.

Since she had just taken a shower, her skin was fair and a little bit reddish, while her eyes were clear and bright. She raised her arms to dry her dripping hair, and saw herself in the mirror, with furrowed eyebrows.

After changing into a bathrobe, she was still eager to know the outcome of the latest state of affairs. She decided to face it, instead of evading the issue. She fetched a bottle of cold soda, sat on the couch, and set about updating her microblog.

“There must be an insider working for her!”

“Yes, Tang Xia must have someone working for her!”

“That’s it! How else could Yifan lose?”

“Alas! This is so mysterious!”

“…”

All that she saw on the microblog were indignant comments made by Ye Yifan’s fans. Tang Xia kept quiet, not knowing how to express her feelings.

“Tang Xia won honestly!”

“We don’t care about Ye Yifan’s fanboys.”

“Ignore them, Tang Xia. Xiaxia is the best!”

“…”

Tang Xia’s fans also rebutted, but it was useless. After all, Ye Yifan had maintained his popularity for a long time already, and a newcomer like Tang Xia, could not compare with him.

She put aside her cellphone and sighed. Actually, she did not know who Chu Tiankuo was. He was apparently a character in the game, but he seemed to be a real man, who lived in the game’s world. Unlike a program, he was so life like.

She did not understand what the game’s ending would be like, or who should have been the winner. She dared not face Chu Tiankuo, because she felt uneasy in her mind. Moreover, his expression, when he had questioned her in the last game, suggested that there was something that she did not know about.

Who had truly won the game? She or Ye Yifan?

Her mind seemed about to break down, when suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

Tang Xia was stunned. Who would visit her, at this point?

She picked up all the clothes that were strewn on the ground, and threw them into the laundry basket. When she turned back and opened the door, she saw Ye Yifan.

“Why are you here?”

This was something that Tang Xia had not expected. Why would Ye Yifan come here?

“So? Aren’t you going to let me in and have a seat?”

Tang Xia was surprised. Indeed, they had been standing at the door for too long. As she recovered from her surprise, she suppressed her curiosity and let him in.

Tang Xia closed the door, went to the kitchen, and poured a cup of coffee for him. When she came back, she found him looking around her room. When he saw that Tang Xia was back, he smiled and said, “So this is what a girl’s room looks like.”

Tang Xia felt a little embarrassed, instantly, “Is it that messy?”

Ye Yifan shook his head. “No, no. It’s clean and lovely.”

He cast his eyes over Tang Xia, “Are.. are we going to keep standing here?”

Tang Xia had not realized this till now. She walked over to the couch, sat down and passed the coffee to him.

“How do you know I like coffee?” Ye Yifan took a sip.

Tang Xia was stunned. She did not know that. She had made coffee for him, because she assumed all boys always liked it.

“What are you here for?”

Tang Xia asked him in bewilderment. Ye Yifan raised his eyebrows.

“Can’t I come over, even if I have nothing on?”

Tang Xia was at a loss for words. Then, she waved her hands and said,

“Yes, yes. I was just too curious.”

Upon seeing her anxious look, Ye Yifan could not stop smiling. Compared with Tang Xia’s listless look, which he had seen when he had just walked in, this look was much better.

“Why did you come back so early today?”

Ye Yifan put down the coffee. The smile in his eyes was gone, replaced by a vague seriousness.

Tang Xia was shocked. Apparently, she did not expect that he would ask her such a question. Ye Yifan frowned when he saw her becoming depressed almost instantly, but he kept quiet.

“I was just tired. That’s all.”

“Physically or mentally?” Ye Yifan wanted ask, but he restrained himself.

“I heard that you hit Li Xianxian today?”

Tang Xia’s depressed heart, skipped a beat. “Humph, so he is here to stand up for Li Xianxian.”

She knew that she should not be bothered about this, since the woman he loved was Li Xianxian. However, when she recalled the sentence he had said to her in the game——”Let me be your knight in this game”——she felt aggrieved instantly.

Tang Xia felt upset, though she did not know why. She dropped her eyes, drank a mouthful of the soda water and said, “Yes.”

On seeing Tang Xia becoming even more depressed at the moment, Ye Yifan held his cup tightly. As he was about to say something, Tang Xia suddenly raised her head. She smiled and asked, “So? Are you here to lecture me?”

Ye Yifan fell silent suddenly. Although he saw Tang Xia smile, he could perceive the depression deep within her eyes.

“No.”

Tang Xia was surprised because she had not thought that Ye Yifan would deny it. She recalled that two days ago, she had seen him and Li Xianxian, walking together and passing by her, in the hall. She kept quiet, not knowing what to say. Was he comforting her? Or was he purposely telling her a lie?

Why would he give her hope each time she felt in despair? She did not know whether she should hate him or not. All in all, she was annoyed by his attitude; she could not tell what it was that he wanted, or what he did not like.

She was not sure whether he knew that she had been in love with him. Maybe he kept her waiting because he had known about it, and because of this, he kept provoking her, deliberately.

As Tang Xia’s thoughts wandered, Ye Yifan said suddenly,

“Li Xianxian has turned our company upside down.”

Tang Xia fell silent at once. She did not know what she should say. Li Xianxian was so haughty and domineering, and always relied on her beauty. Tang Xia could imagine what she had done, and how she had messed up the company.

She knew that Li Xianxian’s fans had been cursing her for being a coquette, because they believed that she had come between Ye Yifan and Li Xianxian. Their relationship was something that “everyone looked forward to”. “Everyone looked forward to”… Recalling the expression Li Xianxian’s fans used, she could not help laughing.

She did not know whether they were from the navy. Anyway, the words sounded rather funny when used in this condition. However, this was not something she cared about.

“Don’t you feel upset since you lost the game?”