Chapter 231 - No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Chapter 231 No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

When the staff heard Tang Xia speak, the few colleagues who had gone too far stopped ridiculing Li Xianxian. However, when they recalled what Li Xianxian had done during the livestream, they looked at Tang Xia with a puzzled expression.

“Tang Xia, why are you still speaking up for her? Don’t you remember how she treated you during the livestream?” a female colleague could not help but ask.

Another female colleague immediately chimed in, “Yes, Tangxia. You are too big-hearted.”

After they said this, the two colleagues exchanged a look and their expressions gave off the same message. They would not have been able to let it go like Tang Xia.

When Li Xianxian heard their voices, her expression turned even uglier. Not only did Tang Xia’s words fail to make her grateful, but they made her feel even more embarrassed instead.

When Tang Xia recalled Li Xianxian’s mean look, her expression changed slightly. However, she quickly recovered and replied calmly, “It’s all water under the bridge now.”

Since Tang Xia had let it go, everyone else was even less qualified to fuss about it. The expressions of those few colleagues changed. Although they continued to look at Li Xianxian with contempt, they did not comment any further.

When Li Xianxian saw the change in them, she became even more hateful and jealous of Tang Xia. It was fine when Tang Xia did not speak. However, when she spoke, Li Xianxian immediately directed all of her resentment and hatred at her.

“Tang Xia, who needs your false kindness?” Li Xianxian screamed, giving a shock to everyone present. Nobody had expected her not to buy it after Tang Xia had helped her.

Tang Xia, who was also stunned, opened her mouth to explain. “I…”

“What? Aren’t you just trying to win over the hearts of the people by pretending to be a good, big-hearted person?” Before Tang Xia could finish her sentence, Li Xianxian sneered coldly and interrupted her disdainfully.

Tang Xia had not expected that Li Xianxian would evaluate her good intentions like this. She instantly looked at Li Xianxian speechlessly.

“If it hadn’t been for you, would I have ended up like this?”

Li Xianxian became increasingly motivated by what she was saying. She seemed to blame Tang Xia for her misfortune, for losing her reputation after the livestream, and for the ban on her livestream.

Tang Xia was left speechless when she heard Li Xianxian. On the other hand, Li Xianxian was so enraptured in what she was saying that her saliva was flying out. Everyone’s jaws dropped when they saw this.

“What? Are you at a loss for words?” Li Xianxian asked smugly with persistence when she saw this, her eyes full of mockery.

Tang Xia was completely defeated by Li Xianxian’s world view. A self-deprecating smile surfaced on her face subconsciously. To think that she had actually sympathized with Li Xianxian earlier… Perhaps she was out of her mind.

Considering how Li Xianxian was, why would she need her sympathy? To think that her brain had short-circuited earlier and she had even stood up for Li Xianxian… She was truly asking to be embarrassed.

“What are you laughing at?” When Li Xianxian saw Tang Xia’s smile, she felt insulted, which made her even angrier. A malicious look flashed in her eyes as she raised her hand to slap Tang Xia viciously.

“Enough.” Tang Xia had had enough of Li Xianxian’s unreasonable abuse. When she saw that she was trying to push her luck, she directly raised her hand to block Li Xianxian’s arm, her expression turning cold.

Li Xianxian did not manage to hit her but she continued to try to make a move while she cursed Tang Xia. Suddenly, a subtle clicking sound could be heard nearby. It was the sound of the camera of the cell phone, which had not been turned off.

It turned out that a colleague who had witnessed this scene from the sidelines had taken a photo of it.

Li Xianxian’s face turned pale. Now that she was infamous, if this photo was circulated, she would never be able to bounce back again.

“Give me the phone!” Li Xianxian immediately turned and hurled a torrent of abuse like a shrew. At the same time, she charged towards the colleague who had secretly taken the photo to snatch the phone and delete the photo.

The colleague was naturally unwilling and the two of them were quickly entangled. Li Xianxian seemed to have lost all sense of reason, so she was not even bothered when her hair became disheveled. She disregarded everything else and simply tried to snatch the cell phone.

When Tang Xia saw this, she shook her head silently. She no longer felt any sympathy for Li Xianxian. After all, she had asked for it. Tang Xia could not be bothered to stay here any longer. Thus, she took one last glance before leaving without any hesitation.

Right now, the person she wanted to see the most was Ye Yifan. When Tang Xia thought about Ye Yifan, she could not help but feel expectant. She had not seen him in a long time and she wondered if he had also missed her slightly the way she had missed him.

Tang Xia’s thoughts ran wild as she walked out with a slight skip. However, as soon as she went through the door, cameras were aimed at her. When the reporters saw Tang Xia, their eyes shone and they stepped over each other to crowd around her.

“Tang Xia, your androgynous appearance during this livestream has caused a heated discussion on the Internet. What are your views on this?”

“Will you use this opportunity to change your style?”

“Have you ever thought about extending the style of the livestream to your actual life?”

“What are your views on Li Xianxian’s misconduct during the livestream?”

“When Chu Tiankuo confessed his love for you, you replied that there was already someone you liked. Could you share with us who that is?”

“Could you answer?”

“…”

Right after that, questions came one after another. Tang Xia gazed helplessly at the reporters, who had crowded around her so tightly that even a drop of water could not leak out. Was this the price of popularity?

The helpless Tang Xia could only deal with them one by one. After a lot of effort, she finally managed to send off the last reporter. By then, the sky was already dark. Tang Xia lowered her head, feeling slightly discouraged.

Initially, she had still been prepared to look for an opportunity to have a chance encounter with Ye Yifan. It seemed like she wouldn’t get such a chance that day. As this thought crossed Tang Xia’s mind, her expression dimmed down.

Suddenly, a chuckle came from above her head. “What? Are you unhappy?”

It was Ye Yifan’s voice! Tang Xia’s eyes instantly turned bright and regained their glow. When she looked up, she saw Ye Yifan staring at her with a smile. The expression in his eyes was as gentle as water.

Tang Xia quickly denied it. “No.” Why would she be unhappy? When she saw Ye Yifan, she was so happy that she almost went crazy! Even though she had felt slightly depressed earlier, this feeling disappeared when she saw Ye Yifan.

If Ye Yifan hadn’t still been looking at her, she would probably have laughed out loud.

Ye Yifan’s smile deepened when he saw how cute Tang Xia was. Then, he asked gently, “In that case, do you want to have a meal together?”

Happiness always came so suddenly. Tang Xia quickly nodded her head hard.

After she ate with Ye Yifan, the slight feelings of depression Tang Xia had experienced earlier were instantly wiped off. All that was left was the joy of having dinner with Ye Yifan.

Ye Yifan took Tang Xia to a newly-opened restaurant. It was said that the chef had been hired with a high salary from abroad and his cooking skills were quite good.

However, Tang Xia’s mind was not on the food at all. During the meal, she often looked up at Ye Yifan subconsciously and exclaimed deep in her heart, “Oh, how could Ye Yifan be so charming?”

Actually, objectively speaking, while Ye Yifan ate, his expression and actions were no different from those of ordinary people. At most, his table manners seemed slightly more gentlemanly. However, for some unknown reason, Tang Xia simply could not get enough of his face, no matter how much she looked at him. This was probably the cultivation of a fangirl.

Tang Xia thought about this while she stared at Ye Yifan. She did not even realize that she had stared at him for a long time.

While she did not notice this, Ye Yifan felt rather uncomfortable because of her stares. Eventually, he smiled slightly and could not help but ask, “Why are you constantly staring at me?”

Tang Xia finally woke up from her fantasy and her face instantly flushed red. Initially, she had thought that Ye Yifan would not notice her tiny action. However, he had unexpectedly picked up on it.

Tang Xia quickly drank a large glass of water and her face felt slightly more natural. Tang Xia then asked cautiously, “Hey… Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” Ye Yifan replied in an easy-going manner. The modest, amicable look on his face sent Tang Xia’s heart aflutter.

Tang Xia bit her lip and paused for a moment before she asked hesitantly, “What do you think of Li Xianxian?”

After she asked the question, Tang Xia pretended to be focused on eating the food that lay before her. However, from time to time, her eyes still glanced at Ye Yifan subconsciously, exposing her inner concern.

“Why are you asking this all of a sudden?” Ye Yifan wiped his mouth, seemingly skipping the question inadvertently. “Oh, right. I will be attending a cocktail reception tomorrow. Do you have time to be my female companion?”

Tang Xia, who had originally felt slightly down because he had not answered the question or shared his view of Li Xianxian, instantly felt happy again when she heard the last part of his response.

How could she miss the opportunity to attend a cocktail reception with Ye Yifan?

Tang Xia quickly agreed. The fact that girls should be more reserved was completely tossed to the back of her mind.

Subsequently, Tang Xia’s mind was completely filled with the information that she would be attending a cocktail reception with Ye Yifan tomorrow. It was almost impossible for her to think about anything else.

If someone asked Tang Xia how the food at this restaurant tasted, she would probably be unable to answer. She had only been eating mechanically throughout the meal, as her mind was on other things.

After the meal, Ye Yifan took Tangxia home like a gentleman. Before he left, he promised to pick her up tomorrow night. When Tang Xia agreed, she said goodbye to Ye Yifan reluctantly.

After Tang Xia returned home, she immediately opened her closet and began to prepare for tomorrow night’s cocktail reception. It was the first time she would be attending a cocktail reception with Ye Yifan! Therefore, she had to treat it with prudence.

With this thought in her mind, Tang Xia almost turned over her entire wardrobe before she finally found a relatively satisfactory set of clothes.

The next day, Tang Xia differed even more from her usual casual style. She took special care while doing her hair and makeup, and she seemed to be even prettier and more charming than usual.

Her date with Ye Yifan was at seven o’clock in the evening, but Tang Xia actually started making preparations for the evening as soon as she opened her eyes in the morning.

At six o’clock, Tang Xia had already finished her meal and prepared everything. All that was left was to wait for Ye Yifan to pick her up. The moment she thought about being able to see Ye Yifan soon, even the wait became sweet.

As Tang Xia was waiting, her cell phone rang all of a sudden. It was a call from Ye Yifan. Without any hesitation, Tang Xia immediately answered the call and brought the phone close to her ear. “Hello?” Even her voice sounded full of joy.

However, Ye Yifan’s voice sounded apologetic. “Sorry, but something has come up suddenly, so I will not be able to pick you up. Could you go to the cocktail reception by yourself?”