232 The Set Up

As she walked under the crystal chandeliers, her high-heels clicking on the marble floor, she suddenly thought of a problem.

Where was she going to go? What would be something fun to do? She had walked out enthusiastically but without a proper plan. Seeing the people around her in the lobby walking by in pairs, she felt at a loss. It was rare for her to go out on her own. In her past life, she would drag Pei Ziheng around with her to look for the newest eats or places; In this life, it had been very busy and chaotic until now, and she did not have a chance to enjoy herself. She thought for a while and decided to do something that she had always wanted to do but never got the chance to, like…

Before she could think of something, she heard another voice —

"Oh, isn't this Ye Xingling?"

She turned her head and saw a man and woman walking over together. The woman was wearing a shiny silver dress with a wine-red, mink coat draped over her shoulders, looking luxurious and extravagant. It was Gu Lin.

Xia Ling did not recognize the man by her side.

You would always meet enemies when you least wanted to… what was Gu Lin doing here? Xia Ling did not want to speak to her and frowned as she made to leave.

The man by Gu Lin's side came forward and blocked her way. "What's wrong? Why are you so bent on running away after seeing my sister?"

His sister?

Xia Ling realized that this man was Gu Lin's brother; she had heard Li Lei speak of him before. She recalled that his name was Gu Yao. Was this really Gu Yao then? The man looked cleanly-cut and was relatively good-looking, but there was an unhealthy color about him, likely due to his overindulgence in wine and lust. He was of similar age to Li Lei, but his build was a far cry from Li Lei's.

Xia Ling regarded him with disdain in her mind and quashed the irritation within her with difficulty. She asked, "How can I help the both of you?"

Gu Yao looked on at her cold demeanor and felt a stir in his heart. He had always heard his sister complain about what a bitch Ye Xingling was, but seeing Ye Xingling in person, she was more attractive than his own sister, at least from a man's point of view. She was slight but cold and chic; she was slender but seemed to have built a wall around herself, which made men even more keen to tame her.

No wonder Li Lei was smitten with her.

Gu Yao felt lustful desires rise within him as he licked his lips and lowered his voice seductively. "How much?"

"How much for what?" Xia Ling asked confused.

Gu Yao gave a laugh and replied. "I'm asking how much is it to buy you for a night? Since your deal with Brother Lei is over, it shouldn't be a problem for you to sleep with someone else. Whatever Brother Lei can give you, I can too…"

"Pa!"

Xia Ling realized that she seemed to like slapping people in this life since there were so many people that she had slapped already. She shook out her smarting hand from slapping Gu Yao with too much strength and turned to leave.

"Brother!" Gu Lin screamed.

"Stop right there!" Gu Yao had not expected Xia Ling to be so fierce as to give him a slap when he insulted her. He covered his face with one hand and pulled her back with the other hand. "Ye Xingling! Don't think you can leave just like that!"

Xia Ling felt her arm being pulled back and could not shake herself free. She was grossed out from his hand on her arm — she did not want to be touched by this piece of rubbish. She forcefully shook her arm again but was unable to shake him free. She then turned and stared at him angrily. "Gu Yao! Get your hand off me! Or I'm going to shout for someone to come over!"

"Go on and shout, you bitch… shout!" Seeing that she was unable to rid herself of him, Gu Yao felt his confidence rising again. He gave her a sinister smile and said, "You dare slap me… Let's see just how much you've got to give…"

Xia Ling's soft skin made him hot with lust.

"Hey, bitch… I'll give you a chance to beg for forgiveness right now. Otherwise… " He threatened her meaningfully. "I won't be the only one who wants to have a taste of you…"

Xia Ling was unable to break free of his grip and was afraid that he would do something to her. She screamed loudly. "Security! Security!"

The security in the lobby heard the commotion coming from this side and hurried over. Her shouting also drew the attention of the other guests walking by, and they all turned to look over. Seeing that one of the protagonists in the commotion was the singer Ye Xingling, they started to come over.

Gu Yao had not expected her to really shout for help.

Typically, wouldn't artistes try to hide something so shameful from others?

He silently cursed at his miscalculation. He had wanted to ridicule Xia Ling in front of his sister and drag her off to his territory, and then gang rape her with a few of his best buddies. Yet, it looked like this plan would have to be shelved.

As the crowd of onlookers started to grow, Xia Ling spat out angrily. "Are you still not going to let go of me?!"

Before Gu Yao could say a word, Gu Lin started to scream. "Ye Xingling, you shameless bitch with horrible upbringing! How dare you slap my brother? Did you think you could just walk off after hitting someone?"

To play the blame game… that was something the spoiled and wilful wealthy girl, Gu Lin, was very familiar with.

Xia Ling was momentarily stunned, almost laughing out loud in anger. Why? Why did she have to tolerate the insults and not be allowed to hit Gu Yao?! She was not someone to be trifled with and immediately retorted. "Horrible upbringing? Ha, I'm the one that should be asking what's up with the Gu family's upbringing? How could they let two crazy dogs out in the open to randomly bite others?!"

"What crazy dogs?" Gu Lin was taken aback.

Pfft. Many of the onlookers laughed.

Was Gu Lin an idiot? How could she not tell that Xia Ling was calling her a crazy dog?

Gu Lin realized what was going on in the midst of the jeers, and her face turned red. "You… Ye Xingling… You! Why did you insult us?!"

"So what if I insulted you?" Xia Ling coldly said and turned back to glare at Gu Yao. "Get your hand off me!"

"Let you go?" Seeing that they were now in a disadvantageous position, the cogs in Gu Yao's brain were spinning quickly to find a way out. After all, he was accustomed to getting into flaks with all of his other wealthy friends and was a little smarter than his sister. Quickly, he came up with an alternative plan. He feigned anger as he stared down Xia Ling. "You were going to slap my sister earlier, and I luckily blocked you first. How can I let go in case you try to slap my sister again?"

"Brother, what are you saying? I didn't… " Gu Lin started saying, confused but saw the signals that her brother was sending her through his eyes. He was desperately winking at her before she finally understood what he was trying to do and shut up before she spoiled his plan.

Xia Ling gave a cold laugh at their performance.

"I did not slap your sister." She said. "I slapped you."

"Don't try to find an excuse for yourself." Gu Yao continued on in his set up. "My sister and Li Lei grew up together, and everyone knows that they are made for each other. You came into the picture and tried to break them apart a while back. Ye Xingling, aren't you a naive one? What makes you think that you can marry a rich man when you are just a third party coming from a lowly background? Luckily, Li Lei saw through your ploy and came to his senses, dumping you aside. Hmph, you couldn't keep Li Lei and want to take it out on my sister now by slapping her?"