Aria’s Tales - Chapter 45 3.5 Miss Troublemaker

Qin Huang was gently led into the living room. Her wrist was carefully carried by Qin Zedong while Teng Zexi and Qin Shui, the man with the dishevelled hair, followed as if they were eunuchs. Her expression was completely blank – showing no sign of any emotion – although internally, she was grinning.

She had done it on purpose.

Before they all arrived, she had stared at the mirror to make herself wonder why Cai De would ever break up with her. Her eyes sank while she let herself sink deeper into the pits of depression, and she “realized” that the games she had played the whole night were nothing but a quick relief to the pain – to the truth that she desperately wished to avoid.

She had played for the whole night, but her drowsiness kept getting washed away by the sound of her broken heart.

She pulled the full-body length mirror and let it fall to the ground. There was neither hesitation nor panic in her eyes as she sat down to grab a piece of the broken glass. Even when her closest brother, Qin Zedong, softly scolded her for hurting herself, she showed no emotion.

In the living room, Qin Huang was the only person who sat while their female family doctor was tending to her wounds. The doctor would have complained about the fact that her role was suddenly degraded into a nurse, but her client this time was too powerful for her to offend.

The five men were gathered around a marble table a few steps away from her, and although they were near, their voices were too hushed for her to hear. Every now and then, one of them would look over to check the doctor’s progress on Qin Huang’s wound, and they would show relief when they see the doctor’s meticulous care. However, after that, they would slightly show their restrained agitation and worry making Lily puzzled.

‘Huang, brother Cheng looked over for the fifth time now. Is something wrong?’ Lily watched the well-built man turn towards their direction and swiftly turning back to his brothers to make a comment to their discussions.

Qin Huang stared at her scrupulously bandaged hand before taking a glance to the gathered men. ‘They must be discussing brother Chen’s business. ‘

Her eyes flashed maliciously as the memory of the original soul’s death replayed in her mind again. ‘Xia Xinyi is the daughter of a high-class family, while Cai De is merely from the middle class. His greed must have made him choose Xia Xinyi over Qin Huang.’

Lily tilted her head to the side as she was unsure what her master was trying to say. Qin Huang patted the clueless rabbit in her mind and smiled mischievously. ‘Cai De knows nothing about Qin Huang’s identity, and I’ve always wondered how he could get away from Qin Huang’s four protective powerhouses. Now that I think about it, it seems Xia Xinyi really isn’t as gentle as she seemed.’

The words “gentle” seemed to have triggered the little rabbit and made her bounce around Qin Huang’s mind in frustration. ‘Another white lotus!! Another b*tch!’ She went crazy in her hops that Qin Huang’s head felt a bit dizzy.

Suddenly, a bang brought her back into reality while the sound of a crashing teacup was heard in the background. When she turned to look at the men, she found her three brothers and Teng Zexi blocking the view of an erupting Qin Cheng – her eldest brother.

“Everything’s fine~!” Qin Shui held his hands up in surrender as he tried to give his sister a smile. “Huang mei doesn’t need to worry~ Brother Cheng is just in his mens- ack!”

Qin Zedong smacked the back of his head while his mouth twitched. Then he projected the perfect sweet smile to his Huang mei. “It really is nothing. Huang mei doesn’t need to worry about it okay?”

Qin Huang wanted to laugh. But she held back and simply nodded, pulling her doubtful gaze back to her bandaged hand. When she did, the four men, and even the erupting Qin Cheng, sighed in relief. They were soon caught up in their serious discussion again while keeping half of their attention to Qin Huang.

To the brothers, it had become a habit, as everytime they took off their eyes off of Qin Huang, she would vanish. To Teng Zexi, however, it was an instinct – something he couldn’t fathom about what and why. But their dedicated attention did not pay off when just a few seconds of their guard had lowered, and she really did vanish.

The whole modern-fantasy castle was once again in panic.

Qin Huang had used the few seconds when they were mulling over a serious matter and escaped the castle. In just a few minutes, she had reached the tall walls surrounding the castle. And with a strong tap of her foot, she jumped into a tree and somersaulted over the wall. She landed with one of her knee almost touching the ground, using her hands to stabilize herself, and waited just a few seconds to let the impact diminish.

She had long mastered such a dangerous stunt.

Qin Huang was agitated. The imaginary heart that loved Cai De couldn’t take the break up and was falling apart. She wanted to hear it again. Although her original plan was to make her imaginary heart give up after Cai De confirmed once again, a small hope was stubbornly budding despite its harsh conditions.

She went back to her hotel, on foot, and quickly showered. When she was about to wear another of her rock style outfits, she paused. Could one of the reason be that she wasn’t girly enough? Her eyes became teary as she believed that it might be a possibility. But her gloomy self suddenly brightened as she thought of an idea.

She wore a simple white shirt and jeans and went to the nearest mall – still on foot. She hadn’t broken a sweat as she ran around under the glaring lights of the sun. Although the temperature wasn’t hot enough to make people pant, the fact that she was running and still hadn’t broken a sweat surprised even the little rabbit bouncing in Qin Huang’s mind.

Qin Huang knew nothing of fashion other than her biker/rock style. So when she stepped foot into a pink store filled with frills and laces, she froze. She decisively turned back and looked for another store. She finally found a branded store and decided to go for it.

Since her alluring body could not be hidden no matter if she wore simpler clothes, the clerks in the store immediately rolled up their sleeves and enthusiastically dolled her up. This shop was actually from a well-known fashion brand that was topping the sales lately, and their theme had always lean on the mature and sexy apparels.

When Qin Huang had come out of the store, and while the clerks waved at her goodbye with blushing cheeks, the people passing by ended up standing stuck still on their spots. She was dressed in a body fit silk cocoa skirt with a soft blouse on top and a pair of black pearl sandals. Qin Huang had instantly seduced many weak hearts even though her outfit clearly expressed a mature innocence.

The clerks who saw this cried in happiness while holding the phone they had used to take a picture of. Qin Huang had given them the approval to use her picture as a poster to their store, and they almost literally cried in tears of happiness.

Qin Huang felt a bit uncomfortable at the skirt, but she endured it. She quickly called Cai De with an eager heart, and silently wished that everything would turn back to the way it was. She was actually feeling anxious that he might not agree to meet up with her after their break up, but surprisingly, he told her to wait for him at the nearby restaurant across the mall. She beamed and said yes – her head nodding along.

The restaurant was quite famous in the area but they only catered to the prestigious guests. Qin Huang’s appearance almost caused a ruckus when she entered as all eyes abruptly turned to look in her direction. There were couples in the restaurant as well, so Qin Huang’s unintentional seduction caused the boys – and some girls – to get glared at by their partner.

Oblivious to this, Qin Huang simply followed the waitress to her spot and sat down while ordering an orange juice mixed with a little bit of alcohol.

She waited for half an hour and continued to take small sips. When sounds of gasps and awes filled the restaurant again, Qin Huang finally looked up from her drink. And what she saw caused her imaginary heart to stricken.

Cai De had a slicked-back dark hair and greyish eyes. Since he was of mixed blood, his features did not resemble a Chinese man. On his arm was a dark brown haired and brown eyed lady wearing a peach cocktail dress. Her fair skin hinted at her prestigious identity. The second lady of the Xinyi family, Xia Xinyi.

The both of them seemed to be bringing spring inside the restaurant as they occasionally glanced at each other with curved bright eyes. Xia Xinyi had a smile etched on her face and her arms were tightly hooked around Cai De’s. She definitely looked innocent and sweet.

But Qin Huang and Lily could see the maliciousness and jealousy in her eyes when she turned to Qin Huang’s table. She even narrowed them in happiness and victory when Qin Huang’s expression changed into that of a devastated lover.

Qin Huang looked like she was about to cry, but she dared not to, or else what she dreaded might really come true. Because even after seeing their obvious display of dog food, she stubbornly held on to that one last ray of hope.

She slowly stood up while feeling uncertain as to how she was going to face them. She kept her own jealousy in check so as not to suddenly erupt, after all, she was still a lady. She gave them a faltering smile that gradually became more and more in pain the nearer they got.

“Cai De geg-”

Cai De’s displeased expression immediately shut her up. Her lips trembled in fright as her eyes widened in disbelief. This was her gentle Cai De? When they were in high school, he wouldn’t even get her to carry her own bag, since their rooms were on the topmost floor, and there were no elevators. He feared that the extra weight would tire from their flight on the stairs.

“Please call me Cai De.” He said with a displeased tone.

Xia Xinyi’s smile sweetened and her earlier jealousy diminished – replaced by her brightened face that was screaming in victory. While no one noticed, she mouthed the word the “sl*t”. But of course, Lily and Qin Huang saw, and they simultaneously rolled their eyes.

Qin Huang’s shock was written explicitly on her face. Although many of the people in the restaurant found it hard to watch a beautiful woman’s saddened face, they know that it was not good to offend the Xinyi family. They were a family that was closely related to the government.

“Cai De ge- gege~”

Qin Huang’s courage was never small and could even be admirable, but against Cai De’s greed, she lost.

Cai De’s frown became more evident, and his mouth curled down. “Lady, I told you to call me Cai De.”

Qin Huang’s imaginary heart was close to shattering. She needed just a little push to finally be free. “B- But gege~ gege, aren’t we-” lovers.

A resounding slap echoed in the abruptly silent restaurant. There was a red handprint on Qin Huang’s left cheek, and the tears in her eyes, that she held for too long, fell like a stream. The customers stared in shock. Even they couldn’t believe that a man could hurt a lady just like that.

They shook their heads. Greed blinds people ah!