Chapter 11 - Qin Jua reality show - 1
Jing Lihua stepped out of the car, accompanied by Zhao Liying. She glanced at the three-story European style mansion. A strong strong feeling of nostalgia hit her. When her mother had married her father, he was already in a relationship with Jing Tian's mother. He Zhoyan, her stepmother, was a commoner so her paternal grandfather never allowed their marriage. Her mother no the other hand was the only daughter of the prestigious Tang family. Under the influence of greed, her father married her mother, Tang Yuyan.
The marriage was a disaster.
After her marriage, for some reason, her grandfather had cut her ties with her mother. So she had no background to support her. This mansion was given to her mother at her wedding. Funnily, her mother, her father and his mistress, all lived in the same mansion. Because shortly after Jing Lihua's birth, her stepmother gave birth to Jing Junhai.
As her mother had lost her backing, they both took delight in bullying her mother. But her mother endured silently, all for Jing Lihua's sake. Jing Lihua had countless times witnessed her mother being humiliated in front of guests when her father openly favored his mistress. And even, away from everyone's eyes, she wasn't treated better.
Her mother successfully protected Jing Lihua until her death when she was ten years old. After that terrible day, Jing Lihua's nightmare started once she was left all alone in the hands of those beasts.
Zhao Liying noticed that her Xiao Hua face was darkening. Zhao Liying shuddered when she saw Jing Lihua's scary expressions. "Are you alright Hua'er?"
Jing Lihua snapped out of it. "Yes, Let's go in"
Jing Lihua walked into the house. She glanced around and found countless guests in the lobby. She saw Jing Tian rushing to her.
"JieJie!" Jing Tian enthusiastically exclaimed, attracting everyone's attention and hugged her. "I've been waiting for you. You have no idea how much I missed you." To make the act seem realistic, she even cried a bit.
For a while, Jing Lihua frowned a little. She laughed inwardly. Then her face expressions changed and she hugged Jing Tian tightly. A warm, heart-rending smile covered her feature.
"Xiao meimei!" Jing Lihua held Jing Tian's hands and greeted her with the affection a hundred times greater than Jing Tian. If Jing Tian acting was good then Jing Lihua acting was top-notch. "I missed you even more than you could ever miss me. All the time I was thinking about you. I even prepared a gift for you."
Jing Tian stared dumbly at Jing Lihua. Jing Tian had expected her to push her away and scoff. Then Jing Tian could act hurt and gather people's pity by playing the victim card.
"I have also prepared a gift for you. I sent it to your old room." Jing Tian smiled politely and pulled back. Jing Lihua remembered from her last life what 'gift' her sister had prepared for her.
For a moment Jing Lihua's warm smile turned to a cold one. Her eyes looked sharp. Only Jing Tian noticed the momentary change.
A sudden chill ran up Jing Tian's spine. What was that smile about? Jing Tian didn't know why but when she looked into her eyes, her confidence vanished and she felt an icy feeling at the back of her head. She lost all her words.
"Such a nice girl. It's her first visit home after her marriage and she even brought a gift for her sister"
"Indeed, their sisterly love is so genuine. How ridiculous of me to believe for once those fake rumors that Jing Lihua didn't treat her little sister well. She surely dotes on her little sister."
Jing Tian was not happy to hear all those praises. Her first step failed.
Qin Jua came and introduce herself. She told that they would be starting the live stream soon.
"I can't believe it! Is it Zhao Liying? The famous Zhao Liying? Such a pleasant surprise! So are you here to take part in my reality show?" Qin Jua was delighted. If Zhao Liying was also here, her show would be the most viewed in the month; she was sure of that. Zhao Liying agreed. Qin Jua chattered with them cheerfully.
Jing Tian wasn't pleased for being ignored.
"Sister Zhao, It's such an honor to meet you. I've heard a lot about you. As a newbie in the career, it is so great to meet someone experienced. And with you making headlines in media nowadays, you are quite famous." Jing Tian implicated at the recent event while her eyes held subtle mocking.
Zhao Liying was recently involved in a scandal. The scandal was nothing but a petty scheme devised by her biggest competitor, Su Lanfen, to slander her when she won the top model award. The scandal was totally lame. But Zhao Liying was famous. The media had still given it quite a huge coverage.
"I'm sorry who are you?" Zhao Liying feigned a confused face. She was aware that Jing Lihua was at odds with Jing Tian. And her bestie enemy, her enemy! And she was not as merciful as Jing Lihua. She knew how to make her enemies suffer till they begged and she laughed at them. "I'm sorry are you really in the profession? I keep an eye for talented newbies but I don't recognize you"
That meant to say that Jing Tian must not be someone talented for Zhao Liying not to know about her. Jing Tian felt cold from the insult but quickly composed herself.
"I don't make headlines in media because of any scandals so it is only natural you wouldn't know me." She laughed. "Besides, I'm relatively new so you wouldn't recognize me"
"Of course, you wouldn't make a headline because of scandals." Zhao Liying giggled gracefully, placing her fingers over her lips. "For someone to even make headlines for any reason, he must be famous first. But I still find it strange to not have recognized you. Pardon me. From now on, I'll widen my standards to include more people in my memory"
That meant to say Zhao Liying must lower her standards to accommodate Jing Tian. Jing Tian couldn't come up with a smart retort and was gradually ignored by everyone. People wouldn't talk to her anymore and only turn away once she tried to converse with anyone.
'Wait till the show starts' Jing Tian thought angrily glaring at Jing Lihua and Zhao Liying. They were surrounded by a crowd of Zhao Liying admirers, taking her autograph and blatantly ignoring Jing Tian. They were invited here to embarrass Jing Lihua. But they turned their backs on her once Zhao Liying appeared? Jing Lihua had must have brought Zhao Liying, her competitor, here purposely to make Jing Tian feel inferior!
But Jing Tian would get back at her soon. Thinking about it she walked away to get the 'gift'.
Once Jing Lihua reached her old room, Jing Tian came in after a knock.
"JieJie, the other day I and Brother Liwei went to shopping, I myself selected this dress for you. Even Brother Su liked it." Jing Tian purposely mentioned Su Liwei expecting Jing Lihua to burst into tears. After all, Su Liwei was her weakness. "I would like it if you wore it for the show"
"Leave it here. I'll wear it." Jing Lihua's voice was cold. Not shattered as Jin Tian had expected. Jing Tian wasn't satisfied. She wanted to see some tears in Jing Lihua's eyes to feel satisfied after being embarrassed by Zhao Liying. So she tried again to incite her.
"You know that day Brother Su even bought me a necklace that I'm wearing now." Jing Tian touched her necklace. "He said it matched my fair skin. I first objected that it was very expensive but he said I am worth much more than that. I didn't feel right accepting all the gifts from Brother Su so I also wanted to buy him a watch. I even selected one for him. But it was his own mall so they wouldn't even accept money from me. I felt..."
"Would you please stop lying for once? Or else I fear I might vomit." Jing Lihua was really irritated by her. When Jing Tian had realized her tricks were not working, she should have given up. Why stay and irritate Jing Lihua? "The necklace is from last year's collection of Infinity jewelers. Su Liwei malls do not even host that brand. At least come up with a plausible story if you intend to lie. Don't embarrass yourself like this. It makes me disgusted."
Jing Tian was aghast. When did her ignorant sister learn about brands? And how did she recognize it with a single glance?
"Now if you'll excuse me, I still have to change for the show." Jing Lihua pushed her out of the door and slammed the door shut on her face. Jing Tian stood frozen outside flabbergasted.
Jing Lihua had been managing the enterprise. She had looked through a lot of jewelers brands to decide one that she would host in her upcoming malls - Her new project. She had seen the necklace before. Jing Lihua walked to her bed and looked at the dress.
She had made a mistake of wearing in her last life once hearing that Su Liwei selected it. But now...
She picked up a glass a dumped the all juice over it.