Xia You actually had a good relationship with Bai Mengling originally.
After all, when Bai Mengling was in the student union, even though she was a bit troublesome, she did pay everyone. It wasn’t much, but for just a little bit of work, they could get a salary, and being a student union member sounded prestigious—she herself was quite grateful to Bai Mengling.
However, the turning point in their relationship was after she broke up with Liu Yan, and Liu Yan immediately confessed to Bai Mengling.
Then, even worse, Bai Mengling actually dared to ask her for tips on dating Liu Yan!
‘Is this even human?’
She knew that as an eldest miss, Bai Mengling might be lacking in this area. The other party might genuinely think she had experience and wanted to learn.
It was a diligent person’s thirst for knowledge, but it was indeed very hurtful.
That was also the reason why later, when she saw Liu Yan’s post on Moments, she immediately screenshotted it and forwarded it to Bai Mengling.
‘Xia You also has something to say. I, Xia You, broke up with Liu Yan voluntarily, and Liu Yan didn’t even delete my contact info. Why did you, Bai Mengling, get dumped by Liu Yan and even have your contact deleted?’
‘I think you, Miss Bai, must have some serious problems too.’
Of course, she didn’t come here to work because Chen Tang paid too much.
There were mainly two other reasons.
One was that after breaking up with Zhou Bin, she discovered she didn’t feel the slightest regret. Instead, she kept recalling the time she spent with Liu Yan and found it increasingly precious.
Perhaps, as Chen Tang said, she deeply regretted breaking up with Liu Yan.
The other reason was that she wanted to take a roundabout approach.
From the current situation, if you compared matters of the heart to commanding troops in battle, this woman Chen Tang had already taken absolute advantage in this area. No one could be Chen Tang’s opponent.
This woman, taking advantage of the two intervals—her breakup with Liu Yan and Bai Mengling’s breakup with Liu Yan—had developed fiercely and now had fully grown wings. Confronting her head-on would be unwise.
In Xia You’s memory, Chen Tang was completely harmless before.
Like a child who hadn’t developed intelligence.
And Liu Yan didn’t seem to see this beautiful girl as a woman at all.
But after a few days apart, one must look at each other with new eyes.
If nothing else, Chen Tang had successfully turned around her own impression in Liu Yan’s eyes by seizing those two opportunities. Although their recent contact was minimal, Xia You could guarantee that Liu Yan could no longer treat Chen Tang as a good brother like before.
He was just being stubborn and not saying it.
And Chen Tang didn’t dare to press further unless she was sure of victory. She wouldn’t easily reveal this matter.
Now, if she wanted to go back to her ex, she couldn’t confront Chen Tang head-on like Bai Mengling did—that was just asking for trouble. It was like Chen Tang inviting her here to fight Bai Mengling in a ring.
Could Chen Tang not defeat Bai Mengling?
Absolutely not. It was clear that she no longer considered Bai Mengling a rival. She felt that Bai Mengling and herself, the ex-girlfriend who had abandoned Liu Yan, were in the same league—letting her face Bai Mengling while she herself further developed her relationship with Liu Yan.
Now, Xia You saw things clearly, observing the current situation like an outsider.
But Chen Tang was still that Demon Ball School Beauty.
She might think that Xia You would feel humiliated, but she precisely forgot that working here was the perfect time to build a good relationship with Liu Yan’s parents.
Of course, she knew what kind of people Liu Yan’s parents were.
But actually, it wasn’t Chen Tang’s fault. Since Chen Tang and Liu Yan had been close families for so many years, it was normal for her not to realize the importance of this. After all, in a sense, Liu Yan’s parents regarded Chen Tang as their own daughter.
The two families were that close—so naturally, Chen Tang wouldn’t notice.
But for an “outsider” like herself, this was a crucial step.
As long as she could win the favor of Liu Yan’s parents, making them not too biased toward Chen Tang when she and Chen Tang faced off, then half the foundation of her victory would be laid!
Moreover… it was well known that women were creatures skilled at finding a sense of superiority, or rather, they were naturally good at playing “win science.”
For instance, why was Xia You disgusted by Bai Mengling before?
Wasn’t it because Bai Mengling was pretty, good at studying, and from a rich family?
Where did she, Xia You, fall short?
In her original family!
Even if her family was just an ordinary well-off family, she wouldn’t be this inferior. But as it happened, her family was struggling on the poverty line.
It wasn’t that they would starve to death, but becoming well-off seemed very precarious. A small accident could destroy all the hope in their family.
But now!
What about you, Bai Mengling?
The man I didn’t want no longer wants you. By that equivalence, you are far inferior to me.
Maybe you are indeed beautiful, but your value as a partner, your value as a woman, has been far surpassed by me.
Xia You had a sense of superiority in her heart.
Look at the women around Liu Yan!
Chen Tang—so what if she’s a childhood friend dramatic? Just a coward who doesn’t even dare to confess.
Bai Mengling—just an abandoned loser.
Liu Mengmeng—where’s this little cousin from, just a nobody on the street.
Shi Yiyi—who are you, lady?
Then what about her, Xia You?
She was the one who was actively pursued by Liu Yan and then abandoned him!
So now, if she says she stands above everyone else, so what?
Thus, when she looked at Bai Mengling now, there was a trace of contempt in her eyes. She didn’t even take this woman seriously.
In the back kitchen, Liu’s father and mother secretly watched the front counter through the window.
“Does our son have that much charm? I was dumbfounded when I saw Xia You come. And it was Chen Tang who invited her. What exactly is Sweet Girl up to?” Liu’s mother didn’t understand.
Liu’s father shook his head. “I don’t know. When I was young, why wasn’t I this popular?”
“You want to die! Still want to be popular?” Liu’s mother reached out to pinch him, but Liu’s father caught her hand and pulled her into his arms.
“Shh! Watch carefully!”
“…Oh.”
Of course, Liu’s parents’ spying wasn’t known to anyone.
Bai Mengling stared at Xia You. When she saw Xia You standing there, her brain froze for several dozen seconds before she finally realized that this was Chen Tang’s way of finding an opponent for her.
‘Absurd!’
Even with Bai Mengling’s composure, her face turned red and white alternately!
She had to know that ever since she started taking over the family business, even she, Bai Mengling, had been overwhelmed, struggling every day. She had been relying on coming here every week to eat, letting Liu Yan talk to her, to relax…
‘How dare you let Xia You oppose me!’
‘And you, Xia You! I treated you well in the past! How dare you actually oppose me!’
‘Do you really think I, the eldest Miss Bai, am made of paper?’
“Oh? Working here alone? What about your boyfriend Zhou Bin?”
Heh, an expected attack.
Xia You’s expression remained normal. “Miss Bai might not know, but I’ve already broken up with Zhou Bin. You shouldn’t call him my boyfriend, but my ex-boyfriend.”
“Oh? You broke up already?”
For a moment, Bai Mengling wanted to spread some nasty rumors.
Like, “Broke up so quickly, is it because after being with Liu Yan for so long, Zhou Bin couldn’t satisfy you?” and other vicious words.
But thinking of her upbringing and education, she felt she couldn’t say that, so she changed her words. “You broke up with this boyfriend and came to work at your ex-boyfriend’s place… Xia You, you’re trying to go back to your ex, aren’t you!”
“Hehe~” Xia You had actually started preparing a couple of days ago. She had anticipated this conversation. Bai Mengling’s hasty response now was all within Xia You’s expectations.
“Still better than someone who was dumped and still shamelessly hangs around, right? Isn’t that a bit shameless?”
She really dares to say that!
For a moment, the eldest Miss Bai wanted to make Xia You taste the flavor of power, let her see the little whims of authority. But this was Liu Yan’s family’s restaurant. If she did that, then…
She took a deep breath, then looked at Xia You, glaring at her. “Xia You, do you really want to be my enemy? What good will that do you? You’re just helping Chen Tang!”
Xia You just smiled.
Chen Tang had Chen Tang’s methods. You, Bai Mengling, obviously weren’t very high-level. It was like a math exam—you should do the easy questions first, then concentrate on the hard ones. Only then could you get the desired high score.
Chen Tang couldn’t be taken down for the time being. First, defeat Bai Mengling.
At that moment, Shi Yiyi spoke up. “Miss Bai, we came here to eat. How about we eat first? It just so happens that in the past few days, it was Liu Yan’s cooking. Today, why not see the skills of Liu Yan’s father?”
Bai Mengling calmed down. She felt she had chosen the right secretary.
Shi Yiyi was talented.
Indeed, she was lacking in some areas. It wasn’t that she forgot about Liu Yan’s parents, but she had felt that because of her unpleasant break with Liu Yan, it was hard to face his parents. She was afraid they might have a bad opinion of her.
But today, with Liu Yan and Chen Tang clearly absent, and Xia You brought here, as a regular customer who often came to eat, what harm was there in chatting with the old couple?
Xia You immediately knew what she planned to do, but she had no intention of stopping it.
She knew very well that in this matter, her poor family background was actually an advantage.
Bai Mengling’s family was too well-off, which would put pressure on Liu Yan’s parents. Her own family was poor, so from Liu Yan’s parents’ perspective, she was marrying up. As long as she had a good enough attitude and was respectful enough, it would be easy to win their favor.
And frankly speaking, for people of the older generation, a family background like hers was easier to control.
You, Bai Mengling, probably don’t know how realistic we petty citizens are when facing such matters.
Because no one can afford to lose.
You, eldest Miss Bai, go ahead and interact. The moment you interact, you’ll be silent. They certainly won’t offend you, but if you expect any results, it will only be laughable.
She calmly continued working.
When Liu Yan and Chen Tang hurried over, they found the scene unexpectedly harmonious.
Bai Mengling, Shi Yiyi, and Liu Yan’s parents were sitting at the same table eating and chatting, while Xia You stood at the counter earnestly carrying out her duties. There weren’t many people at noon, so there wasn’t much to do. Besides, his parents were just sitting down for a couple of drinks.
“Hey? Little Yan, Little Tang, you’re here? Little Yan, go to the kitchen and cook two dishes. I’ll chat a bit more with your classmates.”
Liu’s mother instructed.
Liu Yan: “?”
Chen Tang followed him into the kitchen.
Liu Yan looked a bit panicked. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know!”
Chen Tang was also baffled. She had thought they would start tearing into each other right in front of everyone, looking forward to a battle scene. Why was it so harmonious? Was this supposed to happen? If there was no scene of girls pulling hair, the audience would change the channel.
“But no matter what, since they didn’t fight, shouldn’t you be happy? I set this up hoping to see them pull hair, so I’m the one who’s disappointed. What are you afraid of?”
Liu Yan was stunned. He realized Chen Tang had a point!
He had come here precisely because he was worried about a fight. Since no fight had broken out, wasn’t that a good thing? He wasn’t like Chen Tang, who wanted to see chaos.
He reached out and grabbed Chen Tang’s head. “Don’t tell me you did that on purpose!”
“Ow!!! I was wrong! I’m sorry! Let go! I won’t do it again!”
She begged for mercy repeatedly. Liu Yan’s head-crushing grip was no joke; it really hurt.
Chen Tang wondered if he were born in ancient times, if this setting of Liu Yan would really crush people’s heads and then charge into battle with a big cleaver, killing one at a time.
If he used full force, would he really crush someone’s head?
She looked at Liu Yan suspiciously.
Liu Yan had just let her go when he saw her strange expression.
“What’s that look?”
“I was thinking, Uncle wasn’t some fierce general, I heard. Why are you so strong? Are you Uncle’s… Ah! Wrong! Really wrong! My head is cracking!”
To be honest, since Chen Tang turned into a beautiful girl, Liu Yan hadn’t disciplined her like this for a long time.
After all, she was a delicate beauty, and he couldn’t bring himself to do it.
But today, he felt like he was finally giving Chen Tang what she deserved again. Even though she had been well-behaved for a while, she couldn’t help but reveal her true nature today.
After taking care of her for a bit, Liu Yan felt much more at ease.
The recent confusion he felt about Chen Tang’s behavior had dissipated, and he even felt a sense of relief.
Yeah, Chen Tang was still the same Chen Tang. There was nothing wrong with their relationship. They were still good buddies.
He told himself that.
“Since nothing’s happening, why don’t you cook these two dishes and then we sneak away?”
Chen Tang held a small fan and brought it close to Liu Yan’s cheek. “It’s so hot out, and the kitchen is even hotter.”
The small fan seemed to blow the girl’s fragrance into Liu Yan’s nose.
“…”
Different. Completely different!