It was a bit surprising but the stupid plan actually worked. While acting as the male lead"s a.s.sistant, Dong Lan and Ren Lian actually managed to get inside the chateau-like residence. They were even attended by one of the housekeepers who then led them to a stand-alone pavilion in the middle of a well-kept flower garden. Along the way, even though the male lead"s companions did their best not to wander their eyes too much, it was just hard not to appreciate the trimmed hedges, ornamental plants, fountains, and every fanciful decoration that they encountered in this short walk.
They exclaimed in their hearts, the lifestyle of the rich was indeed a totally different world with common people.
They walked for some time before catching sight of their destination.
Two figures were seated on the white-painted benches there, one boy and one girl. Atop the table standing between them were several books opened on pages packed with notes.
The handwriting definitely belonged to the girl who was now looking at them, not with curiosity, but with surprise.
Han Su wondered if it was because she remembered him as her supposed fiance. He studied her for a while. Long straight hair not inferior to those in commercials, snow-white skin, cat-like eyes, a nose that was neither too high, red lips, and rosy cheeks. The girl was indeed very pretty, in fact, prettier and more refined than the one by his side.
However, he felt nothing about it. Regarding the recent rumors about her dating somebody else behind his back, he didn"t pay those much attention. They were never an item, to begin with. She could like whoever.
Anyway, she was not truly his goal for today.
"Miss, this is Mr. Han. He insisted on speaking with you."
Ye Xinya nodded then instructed the housekeeper to get them refreshments and snacks. She then stood up and as if it was a natural thing to do, she half-circled the table there and then sat down next to Jiang Li. In that way, the opposite bench was vacated.
"Feel free to sit down." While gesturing with her hands, she told the three visitors.
It was Ren Lian who took a lead this time and sat down opposite the girl dressed in a shoulderless blouse and walking shorts, looking so fresh and neat due to her exposed white blemishless skin.
"What brings you here?" Indifferently and lacking welcome, Jiang Li directly asked while glancing at Han Su and the other two. "It"s obvious you told the housekeeper you"re going to speak with her, but in reality, the one you three wanted to meet is me. I wonder why."
"I know you"re smart, or else, how did you plan out the escape and even the students" profiles. So yep, we want to speak with you."
Han Su did not sit down but walk towards Jiang Li and stood in front of him. A moment later, a blue scented folder landed on the table before him, creating a faint thud sound as it hit the marble surface.
The seated guy placidly looked at it without opening it. He already expected the content to be the leads" collected information. That was why he did not show any reactions to it.
Yesterday he already expressed his stance and said that he was more inclined to worry about his future and stay out of trouble than chase a mysterious and hidden force in this country. His reasoning behind this was simple. He was not somebody guarded and loved by fate.
What was Jing Mo"s role again here? Oh, a small villain set to die in prison once he was no longer a minor protected by the law.
Even if he was already informed that the fate would only start going after his life on the next phase, it didn"t mean he had so much free time that he would try courting death by being with the leads.
"Sorry, once again, I don"t plan to be involved. In fact, my desire to not get dragged by you in this is so much that in four-days time, I will be flying abroad to flee."
Ye Xinya turned her face away while covering her mouth to hide her giggling expression. Han Su scowled, while the female lead gaped her mouth at the one who just spoke.
Meanwhile, Dong Lan secretly chuckled, amused by the statements he heard. "Wow. At least the foul mouth is the same as ever."
"Before deciding, could you at least pretend to be looking at what I presented to you?" Even though the now official heir of the Hans tried his best to calm himself down to make the bulging veins in his forehead disappear, mild irritation still showed in his tone and voice.
Seeing the tenseness in the situation, Ye Xinya lightly elbowed Jiang Li on the waist.
At the same time, the only average-looking person in the place coughed and said, "Mr. Jiang. Please take some time to even glance down at the transparent part of the front cover. I a.s.sure you you"ll find a wonderful surprise."
Jiang Li gave the person who spoke a good look, remembering his strange behavior earlier. Thinking he had done his part acting like the unreasonable semi-villain that he was, he nodded.
His pupils shrank a bit though some time after. "An older me? No. Who is this guy? The Original"s real father?"
He didn"t expect to see a picture of somebody resembling him in the square-shaped cut-out part in the upper center of the folder. Naturally, it made several thoughts surfaced in his mind. And the direction where they took him was leading him into thinking of a weird cliche plot.
Jing Mo was not the real son of that annoying guy. The Jing family knew, but didn"t say a thing due to the stuff and info the paparazzi spread around and them being idiots too concerned about their reputation.
"Lols, no wonder the Original is treated less than a human being in that household. He"s not one of their own. Of course, he won"t receive any acknowledgment there!"
His guesses which he was sure close to the reality amused him. It was hard stifling his laughter, but he knew he had to control his expression since he still had a show to put on. So troublesome. Now he was getting a bit angry for real. The leads definitely investigated him not for a simple reason.
"Blackmailing me?" A cold smirk displayed on his lips.
"What"s the meaning of this?" Tone holding chips of ice, his gaze slowly went up to the male lead"s face.
Han Su never thought he would ever freeze after being stared by somebody not his father or someone with a very high position in the corporate world or government. Yet, Jing Mo did.
Actually even the villainess, the female lead, and the extra widened their eyes at the invisible frost that seemingly seep out of the billionaire"s heir"s body. The feeling was as if they got thrown into either of the world"s poles naked. The cold was biting at them.
In reality though, they were at an open s.p.a.ce, with the sun s.h.i.+ning brightly above. How come they suddenly felt like they were currently braving a snowstorm in a wintery region?
The cause of their dilemma picked up the folder and leaned his back casually against the metal backrest as he flipped on its pages. Ye Xinya"s eyes all the time were alternating between her boyfriend"s expressionless face and the texts and images in the pages she could take a glimpse from her position.
Jiang Li purposely let her see and read everything.
How would she react once she realized the leads were threatening her beloved tutor of his real origins? Would she go down the blackening path right away, forced by plot?
Highly likely, but even if she did, he could easily take her away to the Western side of the globe and block her from having contact with the troublesome darlings of heaven.
Not long after, while he remained expressionlessly flipping through the pages, the reaction he was waiting finally came.
It started with the girl silently withdrew her head near the stacks of paper in Jiang Li"s hand. After looking around and fiddling with her phone, she then stood up and started to glare daggers at the trio.
Somehow, apart from the female lead, all others directed their eyes at the phone Ye Xinya put down on top of an open book. But while they were doing that, she suddenly slammed her palm on the tabletop and roared with madness and anger evident on her face, "Han Su! What the h.e.l.l is wrong with you!"
"No! Don"t come over!"
"Stop!"
"Since you already have a girl by your side, shouldn"t you be content and stop bothering me?!"
Dumbfounded, the male lead blurted out, "Hey, what the h.e.l.l are you saying?"
In actuality, he was not the only one confused and stunned by the sudden turn of events. But unlike him, the others merely stayed silent. Her tutor was watching her with wide eyes, then facepalmed and looked away, because her lines were just so...
Maybe Han Su just unconsciously responded because his name was mentioned.
And Ye Xinya hurriedly used that opportunity to spat out in the same furious tone, "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
"Han Su, I never think somebody from a so-called family of former royalties can be this shameless!"
"I"m telling you! Don"t you dare open your mouth again if you"re just going to insult me or Jiang Li! You have no right to just badmouth anybody from this house!"
From the moment Ye Xinya finished saying her first line, everybody already guessed that she was recording the audio or the scene itself. If she gave it to some media people or her family, what would happen to Han Su"s reputation? The society was biased. Women"s voices were default taken as the weaker side which people should sympathize with.
This was why when the villainess was still in the middle of delivering her impa.s.sioned speech, Ren Lian instinctively reached out for the phone sitting atop the book.
The attempt naturally did not succeed because of Jiang Li who raised it up high. This left the female lead huffing as she tried to s.n.a.t.c.h it from him.
Angered once again, the girl who was staging a one-man act bombarded the male lead with many more accusations which became fiercer after the panicking female lead tried to s.n.a.t.c.h the phone.
The already angry girl became harsher and more ridiculous in her words. and only stopped when her equally raging grandfather appeared on her sight.
Jiang Li looked through her phone after lightly pressing on its power b.u.t.ton. Then a smirk hung on his lips upon seeing that she actually did not open any sound recording app.
Now, this explained why Grandfather Ye, who quite liked doting on his granddaughter, appeared very furious when he arrived at the gazebo and even brought security personnel with him. It was because she actually phoned her grandfather directly and had him listen to her angry statements! And ooops, maybe she did record the conversation.
If his guess was correct, the grandfather did not truly fall for her trick, but still turned mad because the girl"s message got across him.
Han Su did something, maybe blackmailed, or insulted their bigshot guest. Most likely he knew his granddaughter well and expected that she would record the call before uploading it somewhere. So since the matter was bound to be known by the world, he was forced to take a stand.
"Boy when you requested to see Xinya, I gave you my consent because I was feeling guilty and a bit of pity about the dissolved engagement. But the moment I heard you bullying my granddaughter, I know my pity and guilt are unfounded. This house no longer welcomes you. Please leave!"
Han Su looked at a loss. Seeing this, Ren Lian tried to say, "Wait, Sir. We still have something important to discuss with Mr. Jiang and Miss Ye."
Grandfather Ye chose to pretend he didn"t hear a thing, "Guards! Guards! Lead our visitors out!" The second to the last word was strangely emphasized.
"Jiang Li!"
"Bye and thanks, Han Su," With an amused smile put on, Jiang Li raised the folder given to him then waved his other hand at the trio chased out of the mansion.