Even Ji Xiangnian, whom she liked, treated her with the utmost respect.
Naturally, she was unhappy at being humiliated like this.
A trace of disgust crossed her exquisite face.
Xia Qing awkwardly parted her lips, wanting to say something more, but a voice calling Ji Xiangchen from nearby interrupted her.
Xia Qing looked toward the voice. It was Fang Ning, standing a short distance away, waving and calling Ji Xiangchen.
Even from that distance, she could see Ji Xiangchen's expression change instantly.
Xia Qing stared straight at Fang Ning, the calm in her eyes slowly turning to disgust.
The moment Fang Ning called him, Ji Xiangchen lost all desire to waste any more words on Xia Qing. "Sorry, I have something to do. I'll be going."
Although Fang Ning was also on Ji Xiangnian's side, as his wife, she was different from those good-for-nothing friends of his.
Fang Ning actually knew how to speak up and even helped him tell people off. She was freaking awesome!
Ji Xiangnian knew how to use his hands. When Ji Xiangchen had misbehaved as a child, he would get a beating. He was terrifying.
Thinking this, Ji Xiangchen couldn't help quickening his steps toward Fang Ning.
Watching Ji Xiangchen walk farther away, Xia Qing knitted her brows tighter and tighter. Now she was even more certain that Ji Xiangchen was interested in Fang Ning.
In Xia Qing's eyes, someone like Fang Ning really wasn't worth Ji Xiangchen chasing after. As that man's younger brother, he deserved someone better.
But the person in question had no idea what Xia Qing was thinking and bounded over to Fang Ning's side.
Holding a tray of food, Fang Ning gestured to Ji Xiangnian. "Hey, Ji Xiangchen, want to eat together?"
She had already been starving after removing her makeup, so she had come to the hotel restaurant.
Since the area was full of filming locations, production crews often rented rooms at the hotel, and the restaurant's food was quite good. It was a buffet with soft drinks, alcohol, and dishes from all eight major Chinese cuisines. There was plenty of variety, but it was a little pricey: a meal cost over a thousand yuan.
Before transmigrating into the book, she had been a corporate drone earning only ten thousand yuan a month while working nine to nine, six days a week. Spending nearly a thousand yuan on a meal like this would have made her heart bleed.
But then she remembered that she was now a wealthy woman earning millions a month. She no longer needed to scrimp.
After paying and picking out a few things to eat, she had vaguely spotted someone who looked like Ji Xiangchen and called out. She hadn't expected it to really be him.
"Want to? My treat." She was a wealthy woman earning millions a month now, after all. Ji Xiangchen had treated her to takeout last time, so it was only right for her to return the favor. More importantly, she had spent the past few days on set holed up in her room eating takeout, without anyone to talk to. It had left her feeling stifled and thoroughly out of sorts.
"Sure."
Of course Ji Xiangchen wouldn't turn down this sister-in-law who spoke up and helped him tell people off. The two sat down together. Naturally, since he was trying to lose weight, Ji Xiangchen ate vegetables.
Fang Ning glanced at the vegetables in Ji Xiangchen's bowl and silently grumbled.
As they ate, Fang Ning suddenly remembered the matter between Ji Xiangchen and Zhou Lu.
Although the system had already told her most of what had happened, she still wanted to dig into the gossip.
She still wanted to ask how far their feud had progressed.
Fang Ning pressed down on her chopsticks and feigned nonchalance as she asked, "Ji Xiangchen, do you have a grudge against Zhou Lu?"
Ji Xiangchen stopped picking up vegetables. At the mention of Zhou Lu, he had some trouble controlling his emotions. That asshole had been bad-mouthing him to Fang Ning just yesterday.
He didn't mind being insulted, and he didn't care if his image was ruined in front of other people. He wasn't someone who cared what others thought of him.
He didn't care about those things.
But Ji Xiangchen still felt a little agitated. He casually looked up and glanced at Fang Ning, who was eating at a leisurely pace.
For some reason, Ji Xiangchen felt agitated, inexplicably unwilling to let Fang Ning misunderstand him. "Did that asshole Zhou Lu tell you something? Don't listen to his nonsense. I didn't do any of those things he talked about."
"I don't have a bad temper, and I'm not someone who hits people either. Don't listen to that asshole's nonsense."
The young man's words were jumbled but earnest, with even a hint of fear in them.
Fang Ning nodded. "I know. I believe you."
It wasn't as though she hadn't read this book's plot. Of course she believed him.
Hearing Fang Ning's words, Ji Xiangchen lowered his eyes and let out a breath of relief.
But as soon as he relaxed, a sense of awkwardness welled up inside him. Wait, why was I explaining all this to Fang Ning?
As far back as he could remember, whether he had been wronged outside or misunderstood, he had never explained himself to anyone.
Even in middle school, when he had fought some asshole until his head was bleeding, he couldn't be bothered to explain himself when Ji Xiangnian questioned him.
And when he had been attacked online over certain things, he couldn't be bothered to say anything when his manager asked him, either.
He had always disdained explanations. In his mind, the people who believed him would naturally believe him. What was there to explain?
Seriously, why did I explain myself today?
Why was I a little afraid Fang Ning would misunderstand me?
This feeling really isn't good. So annoying. I'm like a puppy afraid Fang Ning will abandon me. How annoying.
I'm never doing anything this stupid again!
But when Ji Xiangchen looked into Fang Ning's sparkling eyes, so full of belief in him...
All the fire he had just worked up instantly died. He pushed the vegetables he hadn't eaten in front of Fang Ning and said expressionlessly, "These are good. Have them."
Why does she believe me so unconditionally? So stupid.
Fang Ning realized that Ji Xiangchen was actually both a straightforward and an awkward boy.
But she didn't like eating leafy greens!
Looking at Ji Xiangchen's head, with his fluffy hair sticking up, Fang Ning sighed.
[That scheming little nice guy Zhou Lu-Ji Xiangchen's obviously no match for him.]
Ji Xiangchen froze when he heard Fang Ning's words. But he had heard so much by now that he quickly snapped out of it and once again generously pushed the vegetables he couldn't bear to eat over to her hand. "These are good. Really."