Chapter 153: You’ve Been Given Face, but You Don’t Want It
Chapter 153: Chapter 153: You’ve Been Given Face, but You Don’t Want It
As she spoke, Liang Xiaoxiao looked Xu Qingsui up and down, her gaze tinged with contempt.
Xu Qingsui’s brow furrowed, put off by Liang Xiaoxiao’s expression.
But to Liang Xiaoxiao, her reaction was nothing more than the displeasure of someone who’d just been called out.
This only made Liang Xiaoxiao more certain she had some dirt on Xu Qingsui, and she prepared to use it as leverage to force her out of the 27th District.
And through it all, she still believed that Shen Yan’s heart belonged to her.
She believed Xu Qingsui’s appearance had simply made him stray, and that as soon as Xu Qingsui was gone, he would come back to her.
"Aren’t you going to invite me in? We’re both women, after all. I’m trying to save you some face. If I say what I have to say out here, and people overhear... well, you’ll never be able to hold your head up again."
Xu Qingsui’s face fell. She knew she’d never done anything disgraceful, and she was stunned that someone would try to blackmail her like this.
With a clear conscience, she was determined to see what Liang Xiaoxiao could possibly say that would make it so she couldn’t hold her head up.
Her mind made up, Xu Qingsui stepped out of her doorway and deliberately raised her voice. "Then why don’t you say it right here! I’d love to hear what sordid deeds you think you have on me."
By this time, most of the residents who had things to do had already left the dormitory building. Still, a few people were coming and going, and others were resting in their rooms.
Xu Qingsui’s loud voice certainly drew some attention.
The situation between Xu Qingsui, Shen Yan, and Liang Xiaoxiao was already a hot topic of gossip.
Seeing Liang Xiaoxiao show up at her door again, many people slowed their pace, hoping to eavesdrop on the drama.
Now, Xu Qingsui’s shouting gave those who had been straining to listen an excuse to stop in their tracks and openly stare.
Xu Qingsui’s reaction took Liang Xiaoxiao completely by surprise.
’She couldn’t understand. How could someone be so shameless? Wasn’t she afraid of having this kind of thing exposed?’
As Liang Xiaoxiao stared in shock, Xu Qingsui pressed on. "Cat got your tongue? I’ll have you know, you’d better have something real to say. Don’t just make things up, or I can sue you for slander."
"Our little feud is already common knowledge around here. If you’re caught slandering me, everyone will just see you as a sore loser resorting to dirty tricks because you were rejected. If that kind of talk gets around about a girl, you’ll lose every last shred of your dignity."
Xu Qingsui spoke with such force and conviction that it left Liang Xiaoxiao a little dazed.
’How can she be so confident? Could it be... what I heard was all fake?’
A flicker of doubt arose in her mind, but she immediately crushed it.
’I have a witness. How could it possibly be fake?’
’Besides, if she wasn’t that kind of woman, how could Shen Yan have fallen for her after just one meeting? It even caused a stir with the elders.’
Whether it was out of a genuine sense of injustice or simply because of Shen Yan’s change of heart, Liang Xiaoxiao had firmly decided that Xu Qingsui was a shameless homewrecker.
Her gaze hardened as she stared at Xu Qingsui. "So you’re determined to do this the hard way. You really think people here don’t know what you’ve done in other places, is that it?"
"Let me tell you, you can’t hide the truth forever. Especially not the disgusting things. They always come to light."
Liang Xiaoxiao grew more animated as she spoke, that look of contempt returning to her eyes.
At first, Xu Qingsui was furious. But seeing how utterly convinced Liang Xiaoxiao was, her anger gave way to a strange sense of excitement.
’She couldn’t wait to see how Liang Xiaoxiao was going to get herself out of this mess.’
The crowd of onlookers continued to grow, with some people having rushed over after getting word of the confrontation.
In the safe zone plaza, some of the busy staff had also gotten the news.
One of the staff members glanced at his phone, then instinctively looked over at Shen Yan, who was busy directing work nearby. He hesitated, wondering if he should tell him.
’After thinking it over, he figured Shen Yan would find out eventually anyway. Plus, one of those two women was likely to become his boss’s wife.’
’If he gave his boss a heads-up now, maybe the boss would remember the favor if something went down later.’
His mind made up, the staffer walked over to Shen Yan, phone in hand.
"Boss, take a look at this."
Shen Yan took the phone, confused. His eyes widened the moment he saw what was on the screen.
It was a live video from the scene, perfectly capturing Liang Xiaoxiao accusing Xu Qingsui of being too stubborn for her own good.
Hearing Liang Xiaoxiao’s words in the video, Shen Yan frowned. ’What exactly did Xu Qingsui do in the past?’
His mind filled with questions, Shen Yan handed the phone back to the staffer. "Alright, get back to work. And find out what really happened last night as soon as you can."
The flat reply left the staffer feeling a little disappointed. He took back his phone and returned to his duties.
’The staffer even started to wonder if Shen Yan wasn’t interested in either woman. How else could he be so calm?’
But what the man didn’t know was that the moment he turned his back, Shen Yan pulled out his own phone.
"Patch the surveillance feed from the first-floor lobby of the dorm building to my phone. I want it live."
He made the call, spoke that single sentence, and then opened an app on his phone.
Instantly, the figures of Xu Qingsui and Liang Xiaoxiao appeared on his screen.
"Then please, by all means, tell me exactly what disgraceful thing I’ve done. Let everyone hear it. But you’d better have proof. You can’t just frame someone with your words alone."
Liang Xiaoxiao laughed and nodded. "Fine. I was originally trying to let you save some face. If you’d just left the 27th District, I would have pretended I didn’t know about the things you’ve done. But since you’re asking for this, I don’t see any reason to hold back or protect your reputation."
Xu Qingsui let out an exasperated laugh and even began to clap. "Well, I guess I should thank you then. But I’m not interested in your charity. Just hurry up and tell everyone what I’ve supposedly done! I’m dying to know myself."
Shen Yan narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on the screen. He was growing more and more curious about what exactly Liang Xiaoxiao was referring to.
From what he knew of Liang Xiaoxiao, she could be willful and obstinate, but she wasn’t the type to make baseless accusations.
The fact that she was confronting Xu Qingsui in front of so many people meant she must have some concrete proof.
And yet, he couldn’t imagine Xu Qingsui having any skeletons in her closet.
He hadn’t known Xu Qingsui for long, but he’d always prided himself on being an excellent judge of character.
He could tell Xu Qingsui was an open and honorable person; he truly couldn’t imagine her having any blemishes on her past.
Though he wasn’t physically present, his full attention was on the unfolding drama.
He was too tied up with the inspection work to leave, so he had to multitask—watching the scene unfold on his phone while waiting to give his staff further instructions based on their feedback.