Xu Jing was so touched by his wife's concern that he accepted the invitation readily.
After the incident with the nasty surprise of the movie trailer, Xu Jing had made it a point to avoid searching up or looking at videos or news related to the movie, Bringing the Nation's Husband Home. See no evil, speak no evil and do no evil was his policy. The fact that Joann seldom talked about her work with Xu Jing made that easy for him.
Therefore, it was not until they arrived at the party and his wife went to greet the host that Xu Jing realized the man of the hour was his wife's on screen lover. Neither of the main cast thought this was something to be awkward about so it would be socially unacceptable for Xu Jing to turn his nose up at Lee Mu even though his greatest desire then was to punch the man's face in.
On top of that, the rational part of Xu Jing's brain said the man has technically done nothing wrong. He was an actor, playing a role that was assigned to him. One could not fault the man for doing his job, right?
However, the biggest reason Xu Jing did not concern himself that much with Lee Mu was because he had a bigger fish to fry that night.
Before agreeing to the party, he should have known Qing Qing would be invited on the account that she was also part of the cast. Xu Jing had not seen the woman since the "accident" that happened few months back and he would not have any regret if that was the last they had seen each other.
After extricating herself from the slightly drunk Lee Mu, Joann turned to find for herself and Xu Jing a place to sit. Qing Qing spotted her from afar and the young woman waved excitedly at her. Joann smiled in return before pulling Xu Jing along with her, saying, "It looks like Qing Qing has reserved for us some seats. Such a considerate girl, wouldn't you agree?"
Joann did not receive a response from Xu Jing and she did not notice the weird expression on her husband's face when she asked the question.
"Sister Joann!" Qing Qing greeted her with good cheer before turning to face Xu Jing, "And Brother Xu Jing is here as well!"
"Qing Qing, have you been here long? How is the party? And thank you for saving the seats for us." Joann naturally took the seat next to Qing Qing and even though Xu Jing wished to have any other seat in the room other than the one so close to the young woman, he had to settle beside Joann.
Xu Jing merely smiled at Qing Qing in terms of greeting before turning his face away. An imperceptible impish smile appeared on the young woman's face.
This meant that Joann was bookended on both sides by two individuals who had hidden great secrets from her and even though she was the main subject for which said secrets revolved around, she was clueless about everything.
In any case, it was going to be an interesting party.
"I came just a touch earlier than Sister Joann and Brother Xu Jing but when I arrived, the party was already well underway. The party is not bad and everyone seems to be having a blast but unfortunately, I am unable to stay for long, my father will have a fit if he finds out I stay out until so late," answered Qing Qing.
'Such an obedient and responsible young woman,' Thought Joann with an approving smile.
Xu Jing's heart though buoyed with gladness when he heard what Qing Qing had to say. 'Perhaps the disaster of a catastrophic scale can be avoided after all,' was what he thought.
However, in spite of her words, Qing Qing stayed until way past midnight. Some of the party goers had already left but she was still there. No one other than Xu Jing noticed that she had gone back on her words but he was not dumb enough to point that out. It would only make it obvious that he had been paying too close of an attention to the young woman and was waiting for her to leave. That would attract questions, especially from his wife, that he would not be able to answer.
…
Lee Mu, after he had a little bit of wine in him, instead of falling asleep or turning feisty like most do, he became what was known in a specific circle as an alcohol pusher.
The term refers to someone who pushes alcohol towards you and forces you to drink them with veiled threats or overly passionate insistence. People like this are often the life of the party but is also a huge source of headache for the socially awkward or non-drinkers around him or her.
Lee Mu's target that night was the shy-looking Qing Qing. The shy and the reserved were always the targets. "Qing Qing, come on, have a shot with me or do you think it is beneath yourself to drink with your senior? Hmm…" Lee Mu grumbled drunkenly as he shoved a shot of tequila towards Qing Qing.
Qing Qing demurred by explaining, "Brother Lee Mu, thank you for the offer but I am really not a drinker. I cannot stand the smell of alcohol. It will make me vomit."
"Hmm… Cannot stand the alcohol or your Brother Lee Mu? Qing Qing, are you seriously not going to give me face on my birthday?" Lee Mu threatened half-jokingly. However, the man was so drunk that he might get really angry if Qing Qing continued to rebuff him.
When Qing Qing was at her wit's end, an arm reached out to grab the shot away from Lee Mu. The person then downed the glass of tequila in one fell swoop before slamming the empty shot glass on the table.
"Now are you satisfied? Stop bullying our Qing Qing."