After his speech, Ling Fulei began to mingle with the crowd, a friendly, but coy as a fox expression on his face. He looked so laid back and companionable, many people found it easy to chat with him. His temper was very good, and he seemed to be the type of person that would always try to prevent a fight.Zhao Lifei was surprised to see him behave like this. It seemed this young man has really changed throughout the years. This transformation was not a rare occurrence. She, too, had changed drastically within two years, but that was with the ma.s.sive help of therapy and strict regimen in the military. What exactly happened to him for his easily-angered behavior to disappear into the air? Perhaps adulthood had truly changed him, but she highly doubted that.
Her eyes s.h.i.+fted to Yang Feng who was listening intently to another man. His arm was still loosely wrapped around her waist and every few minutes, he would gently caress her sides while speaking. She found their conversation boring and gave his hand a light pat before walking to the food table.
Along the way, someone very familiar caught her eyes.
"Oh my, Xiao Nai, you"re dress is very lovely! Is this part of Versace"s new Spring collection?"
"This light pink, as soft as a freshly bloomed cherry blossom flower, suits your pale complexion perfectly!"
"Xiao Nai, I heard you were hospitalized a while back. Are you alright now?"
Xia Mengxi smiled at the small child in front of her, who despite her very young age, had a major say in Ling Conglomerate.
If there was anyone in this world who Ling Fulei valued, it would be his younger sister, Ling Yunai. She was a prodigy whose academic skills got her very far in life. Even though she was just eight years old, Ling Yunai was already attending middle school with kids four years her senior, but exceedingly more intelligent than them.
Xia Mengxi"s calculative eyes skimmed over the boring socialites in front of her who was trying their best to appease Ling Yunai. She understood why they were doing this.
Ling Fulei recently rose to his t.i.tle as CEO, but there was not a single dating rumor about him. His wealth was practically endless and even if Ling Conglomerate suffered a fall a while back, they were still filthy rich and seeing as Ling Fulei made the company wealthier than before their fall, it was clear to many people just how outstanding this man was.
Many of the socialites wanted to date Ling Fulei, or even better yet, become the next Madam Ling. And who else would be better at appeasing the man aside from his highly treasured Ling Yunai, famously known for curbing her brother"s tempers?
Rumors had it Ling Fulei might"ve had good relations with his parents, but only love and care for Ling Yunai. Ever since she was born, he was always the one handling her celebration dinners and parties. His gift always outranked everybody else"s. Whatever Ling Yunai wanted, her older brother would get for her.
Xia Mengxi laughed inside her head. These women, they were all useless and stupid. Their empty compliments was not making Ling Yunai happy, instead, it was the other way around. This girl practically grew up in wealth, hearing compliments about her appearance was a daily occurrence for her.
Xia Mengxi decided to outs.h.i.+ne all of these socialites in her way of making Ling Yunai happy. She looked down at Ling Yunai and said, "Xiao Nai, I heard you did very well on the delivery of your speech in English."
At this, Ling Yunai"s nonchalant expression changed. The boredom once occupying her eyes was beginning to disperse. "Oh, what about it?"
Xia Mengxi gently smiled, one that was filled with love, the same one that many kids loved to see. "The teachers gave you high praises, that much was clear. But I loved how you used English metaphors instead of solely sticking to our idioms. They came harmoniously together."
Ling Yunai"s eyes brightened. She tilted her head up, disliking how she was so short, but pushed the thought aside and said, "Which metaphor did you like the most?"
Xia Mengxi felt her lips twitch. In reality, she had not heard Xiao Nai"s speech, but overhead Chen Xing complimenting the young girl to Zheng Tianyi and advising him that it would be good to consult Ling Conglomerate.
She was not like these socialites who grew up with English on their belts because of their expensive tutors, thus, Xia Mengxi did not understand English. It was embarra.s.sing to admit, but she was trying her best to learn it, however, was failing…
When she was quiet for a while, Ling Yunai"s previous happy expression was turning sour. So this woman was just lying to me all along? Why are adults all like this? They always use me to get close to Lei-ge!
Xia Mengxi saw the thunderous expression forming on the girl"s face and quickly tried to make up an excuse. "Uh well, you see—"
"Don"t throw out empty compliments if you can"t back it up." Zhao Lifei cut to the chase, entering the scene with a slice of triple-layer chocolate cake on her plate. She remembered seeing all of the snacks that Xiao Nai gave her had some variety of chocolate in it and figured the child must"ve enjoyed it.
Ling Yunai"s soured face turned pleasant again, a childish glimmer lighting up her eyes. She was happy upon spotting the chocolate cake she desperately wanted to eat, but was prevented by these annoying crowd of societies who came up to her before she could even get her hands on a slice.
Xia Mengxi internally frowned. Why was this woman here again? Why was she always going against every little thing I say or do? All I did was help Zheng Tianyi escape from a loveless marriage! Just for this very reason, she has to make my life h.e.l.l? She"s already clutching another big-thigh, so what was she doing here again? Can"t you just leave me be?
"I was talking to her, it"s rude to interrupt people." Xia Mengxi kept her temper in check. She was in front of too many socialites and people that treat her with respect for being the current Queen of the Socialites. Not wanting her reputation and image to crack just because of a simple woman, she figured it was best to not snap at Zhao Lifei. Besides, why should I be petty like her and use anger to win people over?
"I a.s.sumed you were going to waste Xiao Nai"s time with a gibberish excuse for why you can"t remember the metaphors she used and decided to save both of you guys the ha.s.sle." Zhao Lifei folded her dress a bit so that she could bend down to Xiao Nai"s height so the child didn"t have to cram her neck so much.
She saw Xiao Nai eying the chocolate cake in her hand and let out a small laugh. "Here, Xiao Nai, I got this for you." She handed the cake to Ling Yunai whose entire eyes lit up as she gratefully took the cake.
Zhao Lifei watched Ling Yunai devouring the cake with a tiny smile on her face. So she was, after all, just a child...Even with the endless array of accomplishments and intelligence, every kid in the end, still wanted to be a child.
"Don"t eat so quickly, I"ll get you more." Zhao Lifei mused, brus.h.i.+ng a stray hair on Xiao Nai"s bangs aside.
The socialites smirked to themselves, expecting Ling Yunai to lash out at her for touching her hair. Everyone knew she harbored great hatred for people that randomly patted her head or touched her without permission. She was known for throwing a tantrum or smacking people for doing it.
"But Lei-ge said it"s not good to eat so much chocolate." Xiao Nai relaxed around Zhao Lifei, for she knew the woman meant no harm.
At her reaction, the socialites" scheming smiles fell. They were completely blown away to see Xiao Nai wasn"t furious or even the slightest bit mad! Their eyes snapped back to Zhao Lifei, their gaze filled with bitter envy. Of course, the previous Queen would be good at handling people she wanted to befriend. She always was!
"Indeed, it is not. But a little bit more won"t hurt." Zhao Lifei winked before standing up to grab another slice of cake and then pa.s.sed it to her before bending down to Xiao Nai"s height again.
Seeing her behavior, Xiao Nai began to like this woman more and more. First, she gave her a cake and now, she was nice enough to always leverage their height...
"Quite frankly, Xiao Nai, instead of the speech delivered in front of the entire school, I liked the one you broadcasted on television more." Zhao Lifei mused, remembering the time she was browsing on television and saw the little girl giving a speech on the importance of children"s mental health. She was surprised to see the young girl was a Ling, but figured, it shouldn"t have been a shock to her, for the Ling was known to have a prodigy hiding in their house.
Xiao Nai"s head snapped up. That speech was not as widely accepted than the one she delivered at school because it was such a controversial topic. Her parents had heavily scolded her for delivering it…