At this moment, Huang Zhenzhen finally came to her senses and realized what she had just done. Meeting Dai Sha's surprised yet appreciative gaze, she felt a bit embarrassed.
"I was just so angry just now that I acted without thinking," she said.
Dai Sha replied, "In my opinion, you should have been tougher a long time ago. People like Yao Fei will only get more aggressive in bullying you the more you give in."
After leaving the restaurant with Huang Zhenzhen, Dai Sha thought for a while and said, "Zhenzhen, you mustn't take what Yao Fei said to heart. Xiao Xi is not that kind of person."
Huang Zhenzhen nodded. "I know. I won't believe her. Yuan Xi risked her own safety to help me subdue Xu Minghe and then sent him to prison, allowing me to live the rest of my life in peace. The relationship between us won't be affected by a few ambiguous and insinuating words from Yao Fei."
What had happened in the restaurant wasn't a secret, and it quickly reached Xu Zixi's ears.
Miss Xu had never been the kind of person who would care about others' opinions or act according to others' faces. However, Yao Fei's words forced her to face the issue of public opinion.
"Yan! When will you stop this nonsense?!" Blocking someone in the tea room, Xu Zixi frowned and said.
"Do you know what it means to know when to stop? Have you forgotten the unforgivable things you did to me? I hope you understand that I agreed to the bet with you because I want to take back what belongs to me openly and honestly, not because I've stopped caring about what happened four years ago, and certainly not because I'm easy to manipulate!"
Lord Yan moved his lips. Facing her scolding, he had no defense and could only say hoarsely, "Zixi, I didn't mean anything else. I just want to protect you."
The truth about what happened four years ago that Guan Baocheng had revealed had been weighing on him with a sense of self - blame and regret.
Failing to protect her by her side was the original sin he had recognized.
Back then, it was his irresponsible departure that had led to her being taken away from him, her reputation being ruined, and her being deceived by falsehoods for four years.
The man named "Xiong Han" who had contacted Guan Baocheng back then had disappeared without a trace. Now, Yuan Ya'er and her best friend Ji Xinyue had emerged. Although he had already left people to closely monitor all the movements of the Yuan and Ji families, he still couldn't rest easy.
He was afraid that if someone tried to hurt her while he wasn't by her side, he would never be able to forgive himself.
"Is this your way of protecting me, by following me around like a stalker? All you're doing is making me feel like my personal rights and privacy are being violated! I don't feel your protection at all. I just feel uncomfortable!"
Xu Zixi thought he was being unreasonable. His appearance and unpredictable actions had been bothering her in the past few days.
"Moreover, your identity as the third young master of the Yan family has only brought me endless troubles. I need space and respect. So, I'm begging you. Please, stay away from me! Don't create unnecessary troubles and disputes for me!"
Her words were straightforward and cruel.
"If I weren't from the Yan family, would you stop being so angry?" he said. "If you mind my identity as Yan Zhen's uncle, then from now on, I can stop bearing the surname Yan. The 'Yin' in my name is from my mother's surname. I can be Yin Cheng."
This name stabbed Xu Zixi's heart. It inevitably reminded her of the time when she had been deceived by him.
She had thought countless times that if he didn't bear the surname Yan and if they had met and gotten to know each other as "Yin Cheng" and "Xu Zixi", they could have become good friends and excellent partners.
But he was a member of the Yan family, and he was the chief culprit who had hurt "Yuan Xi" and pushed her into the abyss.
Although she wasn't the original owner, when she had come to this world, she had clearly felt the original owner's despair when she had been on the verge of death, which had remained in this body.
So she had no right to forgive on behalf of "Yuan Xi".
Xu Zixi closed her eyes and turned around to leave. His suppressed, pleading, and humble voice came from behind.
"Zixi, everything I've done is out of my own will. I don't need your response, and I don't expect your forgiveness. I don't want to force you, nor am I begging for mercy. Please don't feel any pressure, okay? You can ignore me and live your life at your own pace. If you want to hate me, just hate me. Just pretend I don't exist, okay?"
How could she completely ignore him?
How could she live a peaceful life as if nothing had happened?
As soon as she saw him, she felt like an out - of - control balloon that could explode at any moment.
Taking a deep breath, Xu Zixi made her attitude cold.
"If this is what you want, then I'll grant your wish."
From then on, no matter what happened to him, she wouldn't care anymore. As he had said, she would ignore him and treat him as air. She wouldn't do something like blocking the water splashed at him again.
After saying that, she strode away.
Yin Cheng let out a sigh of relief and stubbornly followed her like a shadow.
In the bathroom, with the help of a few junior secretaries, Yao Fei finally managed to clean the food off her body. She even washed her hair and changed into a new set of clothes, but there was still a lingering smell on her body, which made her so angry that her facial features were distorted.
She sprayed perfume on herself desperately until her whole body was filled with a strong perfume smell before she stopped.
Looking at the clothes thrown in the trash can, Yao Fei gritted her teeth. "Huang Zhenzhen, Dai Sha. If I can't deal with Yuan Xi, can't I deal with you? Just you wait!"
She led a few junior secretaries out of the bathroom bravely. Just as she was about to go to the human resources department to deal with Dai Sha and Huang Zhenzhen, she unexpectedly bumped into a few black - suited bodyguards standing there outside the bathroom.
"Ugh..." A Wei almost fainted from the strong smell.
"What a stench! This smell is so disgusting!" A Biao covered his nose tightly.
A Meng was the most composed. Facing the "fragrant" Yao Fei, he could even raise the stamped document in his hand expressionlessly and say,
"Yao Fei, Yue Lian, and Bai Xue. We are officially notifying you that you have been fired by the Pei Corporation because you left your work posts without permission for more than two hours during working hours. Please pack your things and leave within ten minutes!"
These people were all Yin Cheng's bodyguards. They were the ones who had thrown Pei Weiwei out of the Pei Corporation back then, and Yao Fei had witnessed the scene. She never thought that it would be her turn now.
"This is unfair! I didn't leave my post without permission! I came here to clean myself up because someone had splashed food on me and made me dirty!"
"Yes, yes!" The junior secretaries behind her quickly defended themselves.
A Meng looked at his watch and said mercilessly, "You have eight minutes left."
Only eight minutes left! Thinking of Pei Weiwei's fate, Yao Fei didn't dare to argue with him anymore. Afraid that she would be the next one to be kicked out in public, she quickly led the two junior secretaries away.
After she left, A Meng finally couldn't hold it anymore. Leaning against the wall, he gasped weakly, "Guys... quickly... call an ambulance for me."