"Damn it!" A Miao cursed. She estimated that no more than two minutes had passed since the blackout. She could not make any more delay.
However...
The direction was headed toward the garden. She remembered that there was a large fountain there. She closed her eyes and in the next second, she turned around without hesitation.
"Let her go!"
The scene in the garden caused A Miao's anger to erupt. Xia Mei was suppressing Zhao Xiao at the fountain, forcing the latter's head into the water. A Miao ran to them and shoved Xia Mei aside.
With a turn of her body, Xia Mei plunged into the water.
"Zhou Xiao, are you okay?" A Miao helped Zhou Xiao sit down, frantically patting her back.
"Ha... A Miao... Ha..." Zhou Xiao was gasping for breath. She then burst into tears and threw herself into A Miao's embrace. "A Miao! I thought I'm going to die! I nearly died earlier."
Xia Mei pathetically climbed out of the fountain. She raised her hand and was about to strike when A Miao thrust her leg at Xia Mei. Right then, A Miao saw that the lights had come back on inside the hall.
"You bitch..."
Without waiting for her to continue her words, A Miao bellowed, "Shut up! Do you think I don't dare to call the cops and tell them you're committing murder?"
"Try it if you dare!" Xia Mei cried. "Go on! Let's see who the cops will believe!"
The music inside the hall once again resounded, yet A Miao's mood had never been darker. She had failed. Shen Xinglan gave her an opportunity that lasted five minutes, yet she still failed...
"Hmph! Cat got your tongue?" Xia Mei threatened her, saying, "Kneel down and beg for my forgiveness, both of you! Or else I'd tell grandfather that you hit me."
Right then, A Miao was so furious that she even desire to kill Xia Mei. She said coldly, "Go ahead. Let's see how you'll explain why I hit you."
"I'd tell them I caught your friend stealing things. Do you think I'd..."
"Are you an idiot?" A Miao interrupted Xia Mei's words. "Whatever reason you have, I dare say they'll immediately lock you up the moment you charge in."
Xia Mei was stupefied. It was only then that she remembered today's occasion. Her parents were not around either. If she ruined Xia Wan's banquet, Yao Lili would certainly scold her and her grandfather might very well throw her out of the house.
"Just wait and see! I won't let this go!" She stared hatefully at A Miao before turning around and running away.
A Miao brought Zhou Xiao back to her room. "How are you? Do you feel a little better now?"
The rim of Zhou Xiao's eyes was red. "A Miao, they're all bullying you, aren't they? You're not living well at all, aren't you?"
"You make it sound so serious. It's natural for them to hate me. After all, there's now another person competing with them for the inheritance!" A Miao patiently placated her. "Moreover, I'm the one who got you involved in this. It's because of me that she treated you this way."
"I'm fine. I just got a little shock, that's all." Zhou Xiao shook her head. "I was too flustered earlier. She was only scaring me."
A Miao smiled without saying anything. She was worrying over how she should explain herself to Shen Xinglan and if that guy would cancel their deal.
Once Zhou Xiao changed into a new set of clothes, A Miao once again led her out of the house through the back door. She sent her friend all the way to the bus stop. When she saw that Zhou Xiao still appeared upset, she smiled. "Don't tell Auntie when you return. You'll just make her worry."
"I know." Zhou Xiao nodded. "Please be careful!"
A Miao handed her a bag stuffed with food. "Enjoy these at home."
"Okay! See you!"
A Miao began to slowly walk home. If she had a choice, she would rather that there was no end to this road. That way, she would not have to face that psycho. Unfortunately, halfway down the road, she saw a car stopping next to her.
"Get in." Shen Xinglan opened the door and stared at her.
Since she had no way of avoiding this, then just let it be! She clenched her teeth and entered the car.
"Sit on the other side." Shen Xinglan pointed at the seat opposite him with a disgusted expression.
Without his instructions, A Miao had smartly seated herself opposite him. "I'm sorry that I failed."
Shen Xinglan looked incredibly unhappy. It had not been easy to find an opportunity to damage the fuse wire and give this woman an ideal situation to steal. Yet she did not manage to bring the item out of the banquet.
"What happened?"
"Xia Mei was bullying my friend. I went to save her." A Miao displayed a teary face. "Please give me another chance. I'll definitely succeed."
Shen Xinglan sneered. "Go on and cry. If you manage to produce tears, I'll consider forgiving you." Did this woman think he was one of those idiots from the Xia family? "Stop wearing that expression and putting on an act in front of me."
"..." A Miao was trying to squeeze out of a tear when she heard the man's sneering voice. "It's useless even if you try squeezing out of blood from your nose. Looks like you don't want your ID anymore."
The Xia family had her ID hidden. Shen Xinglan had promised to create a new identity for her and send her to study abroad after the deal was completed. Furthermore, he also agreed to find the best doctor to heal Song Baohua's legs.
"Is your friend's problem more important than mine?" The man's voice was as sharp as a knife. "There's something you need to be clear about. You're the one begging me now. I can still get the item without you, but without me... He-he."
"Then go and steal it yourself!" A Miao sniffled but dared not to say this out loudly. She was really worried that Shen Xinglan would get someone else to do this task and thus, continued to act as if she was pitiful. "I panicked, so..."
"Then you can continue being the obedient daughter of the Xia family!" Shen Xinglan revealed a sinister smile on his face. "I hope they won't torture you to death."
"Thank you for your concern!" A Miao plastered on a fake smile. "I'll live well."
The car stopped on the roadside and someone opened the door from the outside. Just as she was about to quietly get off the car, she heard Shen Xinglan speak again.
"Since you've wasted this opportunity, you'll have to deal with the rest. Give me the item as soon as possible or prepare yourself to marry Bai Youran, that idiot. Oh, give me your wallet."
"What are you going to do?" A Miao hugged her bag close to her.
Shen Xinglan looked at her thoughtfully. "Why aren't you feigning a pitiful look anymore? Hand it over."
"I don't have any money..." Before A Miao could finish her words, Shen Xinglan had already snatched her bag and fished out her purse. He took out all the money inside.
"You can't do that!" A Miao tried to snatch her money. "That's all I have!"
Shen Xinglan tossed the empty purse back to her and flicked the money in his hands. "I'll consider this payment for my appearance tonight."
"Then you sure are cheaply-priced!" A Miao was like an enraged cat. That money was her living allowance for next month.
Shen Xinglan closed the car door. Before the car began to move, he lowered the window. "Didn't you like putting on an act? Go and cry in front of your grandfather. Who knows if he'll give you some money?"
The car then drove off. A Miao angrily picked up a stone from the road and threw it after the car. She then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Shen Xinglan's parting words struck a chord in her. She would never admit that she had anything to do with the Xia family.
Even if Xia Yongqiang died in front of her, she would not shed a single tear. Her tears had been wrung dry back when her mother passed away.
She rapidly ran back home, rushed into her room, and took a shower. She must think carefully about how she could steal the bronze mirror as soon as possible. There was a limit to Shen Xinglan's patience for her.
When she was done showering, she found Xia Wan sitting on her bed.
"Don't you knock when you enter someone else's room?" A Miao stared at her.
Xia Wan's smile was unlike her usual smile. She pursed her lips and spoke in a probing tone, "Where did you go?"
"I'm seeing my friend off!" A Miao laughed. "What's wrong?"
Xia Wan was suppressing a bellyful of anger. Not only was there an abrupt blackout during her birthday banquet, but Shen Xinglan had disappeared afterward as well. Meanwhile, Xia Mei had been going around, crying about how A Miao brought in a random stranger.
"Why did it take you so long?" Xia Wan was suspicious of her. Someone saw Shen Xinglan's car circling around the area twice.
A Miao put on a look of astonishment as she wiped her hair. "The minibus was late, so we waited for a bit."
Xia Wan frowned. Seeing the confused look on A Miao's face, she thought that she might be overthinking. Why would Shen Xinglan have anything to do with this illegitimate child?
"Did something happen?" A Miao purposefully asked.
"Oh, nothing!" Xia Wan stood up. "Rest early!"
Instead of returning to her room, Xia Wan made her way to the study where Xia Yongqiang was waiting for her.
"See, I didn't lie to you, did I? Shen Xinglan is so much better than the youngster from the Bai family." The old man had a shrewd face and there was a calculative look in his eyes. "If you're able to marry him, we'll be able to enter the Ji family's company..."
He did not complete his sentence. He had even thought of making the Ji family's business his. His greed continued to expand with each passing day and he had long become unsatisfied with his current circumstances.
"We barely exchanged a few words before the sudden blackout." Xia Wan continued in a dejected voice, "It's improper for me to be too direct when he has a celebrity as his companion."
Xia Yongqiang was unhappy. "You didn't even get his number?"
"I didn't get the chance and he's nowhere to be found after the power failure," Xia Wan complained. "Grandfather, why isn't the fuse wire fixed beforehand if there's an issue with it?"
"I didn't expect it either." Xia Yongqiang massaged the space between his eyebrows. "I've already asked your father to get someone to fix it."
During breakfast time the next morning, Xia Haixin entered the dining hall and said, "The repairmen said they'd need to fix the entire circuit so I told them to fix it over the weekend. Since there won't be electricity the entire day, why don't we stay in the holiday villa?"
"I don't want to go with her!" Xia Mei slammed her hand onto the table, creating a loud banging sound.
Yao Lili cried, "Do you want to go, A Miao?"
"I..."
"Have you caught up with your schoolwork for when classes begin?" Yao Lili interrupted her. "Why don't you stay home and revise your studies?"
A Miao shrugged expressionlessly. "Okay."
On Friday morning, Xia Wan spoke to her before leaving. "Let's go out for dinner tonight. Stay home and wait for me to pick you up!"
"Why?" A Miao could tell that Xia Wan was up to something.
Xia Wan did not reply and left in a rush. A Miao deliberately took her time getting ready at night and by the time she left the room, she saw that Xia Wan's expression was a little dark. "Why are you so slow?"
"I've got an upset stomach. Why don't we have dinner some other day?" A Miao sized her up. Xia Wan was wearing a purple dress. Evidently, she had put the utmost care into her appearance today.
"Let's go! I've already booked a table for us."
In the car, A Miao could see that the corners of Xia Wan's lips were upturned as if she was suppressing some sort of emotion. "Is it going to be just the two of us?" she asked, trying to gauge Xia Wan's reaction.
Xia Wan turned her head to look at her. "That's right!" When she got no response from A Miao, she smiled and continued, "We'll be going on a holiday tomorrow, leaving you alone at home. So I'm going to treat you to a feast today!"
"Is that so? Thanks then!" A Miao smirked. Deep inside, she was sneering at this woman. "I'd be a fool if I trust you..."
When the car took a turn into a street, the driver suddenly said, "Miss Elder, that's the Bai family's car."
"Oh?" Xia Wan got near to the car window. "That's Youran! Hurry up and stop the car."
Bai Youran was standing on the roadside while making a call. When he saw them, he happily said, "Xia Wan! What a coincidence."