Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lu Jingli adjusted his collar before standing up and said, “Firstly, occupation. Being an actress is a decent job, there's nothing shameful about that. Yes, the entertainment circle is a little messy, but you can't just generalise and discriminate everyone in it. Even I'm the boss of Glory World Entertainment! Since you have investigated, then you should also know that Ning Xi has been nothing but decent since she entered the industry. If not, with a face like hers, she would have been famous beyond comparison by now, and not just a B-list newbie.
“Secondly, education. Before Ning Xi went abroad, she managed to get into Imperial University with excellent grades. Later, it was only due to disagreements with her family that she was forced to further her studies abroad. Within those four years, she didn't receive any financial assistance from her family, and relied on herself to get into the Southern Film Academy. Her grades were stellar and she received scholarships every year — why did you selectively ignore this point?
“Thirdly, private life. Every one of Ning Xi's ex-boyfriends were relationships of open and decent nature. She was neither a third party in any of them, nor was she being taken care of by a sugar daddy, so which part of this is messy? If you guys can accept the fact that I, your son, have had 800 ex-girlfriends, can't you accept that Ning Xi had eight ex-boyfriends? Don't you think you're imposing a double standard here? Let me remind the both of you that we're in the 21st century; men and women are equal!
“Fourthly, family background. Indeed the Ning family has become increasingly outrageous in recent years. They ignore the real treasure of their family and instead side her unruly sister.” But don't forget, Ning Xi's maternal grandfather is Zhuang Zongren. Years ago, they only disowned Zhuang Lingyu because she insisted on marrying Ning Yaohua. Though Ning Xi is still considered their granddaughter, this is a fact that can't be denied. Zhuang Zongren's granddaughter is more than enough to match us Lu family, isn't she?”
Father Lu and Mother Lu were both still angry, and initially they were not prepared to listen to Lu Jingli's defense. However, now that he said his piece, their expressions started to change…
At this point, Lu Jingli added, “Fifthly, I forgot to mention the most important thing.”
“What is it?” both parents eagerly asked.
Lu Jingli told them, “The both of you are worrying too much for no reason! Just yesterday, Ning Xi has already rejected big bro. So, stop worrying because Ning Xi is not becoming your daughter-in-laws, nor your grandchildren's mother. From hereon, she won't have anything to do with us Lu family.”
All of a sudden, a piercing sound came from behind —
Lu Jingli and his parents both turned towards the direction of the sound, only to find Little Treasure's small figure standing there with broken glass pieces on the floor…
“Little Treasure…”
Without waiting for the Lu parents to console him, Little Treasure ran into the house and slammed the door shut.
Lu Jingli sighed, “Great, another one down! After big bro got rejected, he's been locking himself inside the house and hasn't left since last night till now!”
Mother Lu who was worried for her son and her grandson was now even more anxious and scolded Lu Jingli, “Bad son! Can't you watch what you say? Now that Little Treasure has heard us, what do we do now? Little Treasure likes that woman so much!”
Lu Jingli looked innocently and replied, “The day was going to come anyway! Ning Xi only promised big bro that she would accompany Little Treasure for three months, and three months is about to be up. Even if Ning Xi hadn't set things straight with him, she would eventually have to leave!”
I Have A Date TonightTranslator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“Did you just say…that your brother is locking himself up in the house?” Father Lu pondered.
Lu Jingli was just about to say something when his handphone suddenly rang – it was Cheng Feng.
“Second master, help!”
“I know, I'm on my way!”
As soon as Cheng Feng uttered those words, Lu Jingli knew what was up. He hung up the phone and shrugged at his parents, saying, “Brother's assistant just called, he's finally left the house and gone to the office, so I've got to go provide support to my comrades! Bye!”
As they watched Lu Jingli leave, the Lu parents just sat there and looked at one another.
“Chong Shan, what do you think about this?” Mother Lu asked worriedly.
Father Lu merely responded coldly, “Let's just wait further and see how things go. Who knows if that girl is just using reverse psychology?”
Mother Lu bit her tongue as she thought about her son's confession. Which stupid girl would continue playing tricks when they had already succeeded in making him fall for her?
“What about Little Treasure then?” This was what she really wanted to know.
“I think Little Treasure has almost completely healed, so it's no big deal. Stop worrying for no reason. The past few days that he has been with us, that girl wasn't by his side, and he looks just fine, doesn't he?”
“But…”
At the same time, in Movie City
Ning Xi laid on her bed, clammy with cold sweat as her body seemed to writhe with torture written all over her face…
She was having a wonderful time, or at least it was a wonderful dream.
She dreamt that she was wearing a beautiful white wedding dress, her hand held by the one who gave her hope and light, and slowly they walked into the sacred church. However, as the pastor was reading the vows, the world around her started to be engulfed in darkness…
A man was forcefully tugging her hand, and no matter how loud she shouted, he wouldn't let go…
At last, she was finally dragged into the hell hole behind her…
“Ding dong, ding dong…”
The doorbell rang urgently and woke her up from the nightmare.
Ning Xi immediately sat up and realised that her entire body was damp from sweating profusely, and her head hurt so much it felt like it was going to explode.
Last night, she barely got any sleep. When dawn came, she finally got some shut eye, but she might as well have stayed awake because her sleep was ruined by all sorts of nightmares.
“Ding dong…”
The doorbell was still ringing incessantly.
With a heavy head, Ning Xi dragged her feet to open the door.
“Who's there?”
“I bought extra breakfast do you want… some…” responded Jiang Muye who did not finish sentence, as he stared wide-eyed at Ning Xi as if seeing a ghost. “My God! You look frightening! You better be careful not to let the paparazzi see your face or they might think you're on drugs!”
Ning Xi snatched the breakfast out of his hands and snapped, “Stop acting so shocked! Haven't you seen a victim of heartbreak?”
Jiang Muye replied, “I've seen other heartbroken people, but I've never seen you heartbroken, all you do is break the hearts of others…”
Ning Xi took a bite of the bun and said, “Then you're in luck today!”
Jiang Muye sighed worriedly, seeing through her facade, “Ning Xi, are you really okay? Would you like me to drink with you tonight?”
Ning Xi smiled and waved, “Apologies, but no thanks, I've already got a date tonight!”
“What! I was just feeling sorry for you, but you've gotten a date already?!”
It was a good thing Ning Xi only had war scenes today, so her face was covered in black charcoal, strategically covering up her pale skin, otherwise she would definitely have delayed the shooting progress.
As much as she tried her best to focus, she still did make a few mistakes. Some of her kung fu moves almost caused grievous harm to other actors but thankfully, nothing too terrible happened.
Ning Xi knew that she could not continue in her current condition, or else, she would not be able to shoot any longer.
Little Treasure Is UnhappyTranslator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ever since Little Treasure accidentally overheard Lu Jingli's words, the Lu parents were uneasy, but they breathed a sigh of relief at lunch time.
Little Treasure opened the door to let himself out and obediently finished his rice, drank his soup, and even ate some fruits after his meal.
Everything seemed normal but in the past, the little guy's every move was filled with energy, and now he just seemed like a robot who was just following instructions.
After the meal, Little Treasure took his drawing book and went to the garden.
The Lu parents spied on him from afar, trying very hard to see what the little guy was drawing in an attempt to figure out his thoughts.
But the little guy just sat there and stared blankly into the distance without drawing a single thing.
“I knew it the moment that I saw him – our Little Treasure is unhappy!” said Mother Lu mournfully.
Father Lu walked in a few circles, his arms behind his back, finally concluding, “Completely breaking this off is a good thing. If only Tingxiao was just getting a wife, that's fine, but because of Little Treasure, we can't be hasty about this! Will you be at ease leaving Little Treasure in the hands of that girl?”
“But what Jingli said today makes sense too. That girl might not be as bad as we imagined her to be. Besides, she did teach Little Treasure quite well! Didn't you yourself say she was doing a good job too?”
“That was because I was fooled by those two punks!” Father Lu started to become incensed again talking about this. He warned his other half with a stare, “Don't you be nice about this, no more further discussions about this! The most important thing you have to do now is to hurry up and choose a suitable wife for Tingxiao. Make him give up on the girl.”
“If you want to choose, you go ahead! My dear grandson is already like this, I'm not in the mood to deal with such nonsense now!”
“What would it look like if I did the choosing?!”
“Whatever it is, I'm not going! I want to accompany my grandson!”
“You…”
Late at night at Dragon Bay
A group of avant garde fashionable youths gathered together.
One of them was a black short-haired youth that particularly stood out. His entire face was covered with an exaggerated skull, with a tattoo sleeve on his arm. He had a black coloured earring on his left ear and chewing gum in his mouth, he said to the white haired youth beside him, “Ah Ka, is my car ready?”
Ah Ka tapped the car that was shined to sparkle beside him and said, “It's ready, here's the car! Have a look see if you like it!”
The skull-faced youth looked critically at the car, and said stiffly, “It's not bad I guess, but it doesn't have my blackie's cool factor.”
Ah Ka rolled his eyes, “Please, I can make your car look like this is considered not too shabby in just one day, alright? Right, Xi Zi, where's your car? Where's your blackie?”
“I sent it for maintenance, it's still not done yet,” slurred the youth lazily. Her car was still with Lu Tingxiao. It was not too convenient to get it now in their current situation, so she had to borrow another one.
Ah Ka nodded and clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. “Everyone's here, right? Let me reiterate the competition rules! We'll start here from Dragon Bay, and the destination will be Death Valley. First place gets to have our princess Xiang Xiang for one night of fun!
The crowd started to cheer loudly.
A sexy lady with a devilish body stepped out of the crowd to slap the back of Ah Ka's head. “Pfft, please! You hooligan! One night of fun, in your dreams!”
Despite getting hit, Ah Ka grinned as if he had just swallowed honey. He laughed and said, “Haha, I was just joking! Let's start again! The grand prize will be a kiss from our princess! Additionally, there's a prize money of five million dollars!”
My Handsome XiTranslator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
As soon as Ah Ka finished his announcement, he smiled giddily and walked up to Xiang Xiang. “Xiang Xiang, wait for me, tonight your kiss is definitely mine!”
Xiang Xiang rolled her eyes at him with a look of disgust, and then walked up to the skulled-faced youth, clinging onto him, “Xi, you can't lose, okay? I hate those guys, I only like you!”
When it came to Tang Xi, she would be more than willing, even if it was just a one night stand…
“Hey, Xiang Xiang, you're a little biased, aren't you? Why do you hate us and only like Xi Zi?” The crowd started to get dispirited.
Xiang Xiang put one hand on her waist and said, “Obviously it's because Xi Zi is the most handsome!”
Someone from the crowd shouted back, “Please! Every time he plays with us, he covers his face with such ridiculous makeup, How would you know if he's really handsome or not?”
Xiang Xiang scoffed, “I just know! Handsomeness is not just about the face, you've gotta look at the charisma too, okay! What do you rogues understand?”
“Fine, we don't understand! You better be careful of the day that Xi Zi comes bare-faced and scares you to tears with his ugliness!”
“Who knows? Maybe if he was stripped naked, he might be a woman! Hahaha!”
“You guys…,” listening to the guys ridicule her, Xiang Xiang became furious. She turned her head towards the skulled-faced youth who was familiarising himself with the car and said, “Xi, torture them all!”
The youth's lips curved into a smirk, and with a hand saluted, “Your wish is my command, my princess!”
Xiang Xiang was so electrified and starstruck that she felt faint, “Ohh — my Xi, you're so handsome!”
On the side, Ah Ka jealously said through clenched teeth, “Pfft! This little punk, I knew you'd try to act cool! Watch me defeat you today. The first place is definitely mine!”
When the crowd was done fooling around, the midnight race finally officially began.
Xiang Xiang picked up the starting gun and stood at the starting line, “Everyone, please get into your positions! Get set, ready, go!”
At the crack of the gun, all the cars accelerated forward.
“Xi, all the best! I'll be waiting for you at Death Valley!”
Death Valley was true to its name because of the narrow and steep roads. It was a place where many accidents had happened. Yet, it was also a heaven for daredevils who indulged in extreme sports as hobbies.
Ning Xi knew this group of people because when she first returned to the country and sped along the roads, they often had altercations but at last, they became friends.
All these people were from the same racing club but Ning Xi only joined them to race illegally once in a while.
However, as her job became increasingly busy, plus her meeting with Little Treasure and Lu Tingxiao later on, she did not need such extreme and dangerous sports to release and relieve her stress anymore.
That was why it had been such a long time since she had gone out with them, until tonight, that was.
Her nickname Tang Xi and her dressing up as a man was all for convenience. Especially with her current situation, she would have to be extra careful doing something like this.
The sound of the car engine drumming against her ears and the strong wind howling past her as she sped through made her feel as if her soul was being elevated. She could feel the stress that was suppressing and suffocating her leave her body at that moment in time. Even if it was just a momentary relief and calm, it still led her to chase the thrill like a moth drawn to a flame…
“Xi Zi! If you don't mind, I'm going to go ahead first!” Ah Ka mocked as he sped past her at a turning point, successfully overtaking her.
Ning Xi's lips curved up into a smile, not caring. She continued to follow her own momentum of driving, maintaining her spot at second place.
Until the last round. The most dangerous round.