Chapter 1277: Yingluo, Run!
Xia Yingluo walked out of the cafeteria with anger still written on her face. She flagged down a cab and headed back to the training camp.
What she hadn’t noticed was that a black car had been parked across the street and that a woman sitting inside had been looking at her from the one-way glass window.
“Miss,” the chauffeur asked that woman. “Do we follow them?”
That woman’s voice was cold and distant. “What for? So that they’ll notice us?”
The chauffeur dared not say any more upon realizing that she was in a bad mood.
It was silent in the car again. As that woman looked in the direction that Xia Yingluo left in, she murmured to herself, “Xia Yingluo, since you won’t cut your ties with Lingnan, don’t blame me for not playing nice. I, Gu Jinxiu, have never known the word ‘failure’ on my dictionary!” She paused and instructed the chauffeur. “Give Zhao Yixuan a call, tell him that Xia Yingluo went to meet Wei Lingnan again and they seem to be getting closer. That piece of trash, he’s taking so long to settle Xia Yingluo. I need him to take control of his woman, lest she seduces other men at her will.”
The chauffeur politely nodded. “Yes.”
He then asked cautiously, “Miss, it’s no use getting angry. I think Zhao Yixuan really is a stupid man, he might not be able to get that cheap woman away from Mr. Wei. Should we help him out?” A while ago, Zhao Yixuan had gone to Imperial Entertainment to look for Xia Yingluo precisely because Gu Jinxiu had let the word out about Xia Yingluo’s identity and Wei Lingnan’s case. Zhao Yixuan had been in a fluster hoping to reunite with Xia Yingluo, hence the hurry to look for her.
What a shame that this man was as foolish as a pig; he hadn’t managed to win Xia Yingluo over.
Gu Jinxiu quietly cursed in her heart. She had no idea what Xia Yingluo had seen in this useless man to have fallen for him. At this point, she had no choice but to continue lending Zhao Yixuan a hand.
“Of course we need to help him,” Gu Jinxiu said. “Tell him that the one thing women take issue with is having ‘done it’. As long as he can get Xia Yingluo to bed, everything will be easy.” If Xia Yingluo and Zhao Yixuan slept together, Wei Lingnan would likely be uncomfortable with it, and perhaps that would be all it took for him to dump Xia Yingluo. That way, Gu Jinxiu would get what she wanted.
Gu Jinxiu had it all planned out in her favor. She couldn’t help but smile at the hypothetical success already.
But the chauffeur was still a little worried. “Miss, Zhao Yixuan may not even have the capability to lure her to bed. And we’ve looked up on Xia Yingluo, it seems that she’d fought with others in the training camp and can take on a few at a go. Zhao Yixuan probably won’t be her match.”
“Of course she isn’t.” Gu Jinxiu scoffed. “Do you think Li Lei is an idiot who wouldn’t teach his daughter self-defense? Tell Zhao Yixuan to target the people around her. Isn’t that Jin Ling’er Xia Yingluo’s best friend? As long as he abducts her, there’s no doubt that Xia Yingluo would find her way to him.” Once they “did it”, Xia Yingluo might just fall in love with Zhao Yixuan again. If that wasn’t achieved, Wei Lingnan would likely be turned off by her, at the very least. Gu Jinxiu would then have a good chance of coming between them.
The chauffeur flattered Gu Jinxiu with kind words about her intelligence and hurriedly got to it.
Xia Yingluo was completely unaware of their scheme as she continued practicing in the training camp and shopping as per normal. But a strange sense of frustration built inside her—she could not understand why, but thoughts about Wei Lingnan, as well as that about love and jealousy, kept finding their way to her head.
After practice one day, she asked the actor of the alien male character in the show, Zhou Hansheng, “What do you think about an alien falling in love with a female human?”
“That’s so romantic!” Zhou Hansheng said, “If I really was an alien, and the girls on Earth were this adorable, I’d definitely fall for one. I’d take good care of her and settle down on Earth. We could then start a family and live together till the end of our lives.”
Xia Yingluo gave a half-hearted smile upon hearing his response. How nice it would be if things were this simple.
“Then what if you already have a girlfriend back on your home planet?” She continued asking Zhou Hansheng, “If you can no longer return, would you continue longing for her or would you really fall for a girl on Earth?”
“Live in the present.” Zhou Hansheng smiled. “If I can no longer return, and I’m no longer able to find an alien girlfriend, then shouldn’t I seize the day and live my life well? Even if that alien girlfriend finds out, she’d probably give her boyfriend her blessings.” He looked at Xia Yingluo. “Yingluo, you seem very engrossed in alien stories.”
Xia Yingluo couldn’t speak the truth, she wasn’t actually engrossed in a story. She was simply perplexed because an incredibly sophisticated love problem, in fact, existed in her life.
She said a few more words to Zhou Hansheng before taking her leave.
The image of Wei Lingnan was still in her head. His emotions, his words, and even his thoughtful action as he poured coffee for her—everything was tugging at her heart.
When she couldn’t resist it anymore, Xia Yingluo would take another look at the makeup set he’d bought her. The beautiful light-gold lip gloss hinted at a beautiful fall. She remembered the day they stood by the road, he had used his finger to apply it on her lips, his movement so careful, so cautious, so gentle, as if he was taking good care of a precious gem.
If only Wei Lingnan was a human, if only Ah Luo didn’t exist, all would be well.
Xia Yingluo was startled by her thoughts. Gosh, had she sunk too deep in? How could she think this way? Whether Ah Luo existed or not, Wei Lingnan wasn’t an ideal partner to look for. He was too secretive, cruel and domineering, it would do her good to stay away from him instead.
Xia Yingluo shook her head in an attempt to shake off all these thoughts and resumed life as usual. In the night, she’d still have dreams sometimes about the faint purple planet and a mess of people and events. But most times, she woke up remembering none of it.
On this day, she went out to shop.
As she walked on the streets in the thick of fall, she remembered that the cafeteria she was going to meet Jin Ling’er at later on was just nearby. She checked the time and quickened her footsteps. Then, a white van stopped right beside her.
She was startled and all ready to yell at the driver for his recklessness. But what greeted her as the door opened were Zhao Yixuan’s familiar face and Jin Ling’er.
Jin Ling’er seemed to be in a terrible state—her clothes were a mess, her hair was no better, and Zhao Yixuan was holding a knife to her throat. She looked pale as she struggled to say, “Yingluo, run!”