Of course Yan Bingru knew of the famous Hunt Director Duan Yuanping. But Li Xingxing couldn't have just called her over just to tell her this, could she?
"The thing is, Hunt Director Duan Yuanping will be holding a press conference to discuss about his latest Emergency Hunt Operation, and has invited you to attend as a member of the rescued Hunting Team," Li Xingxing finally got to the point.
Now Yan Bingru finally realised why Li Xingxing had hesitated.
If it were any other invitation by such a famous Hunt Director, there would definitely be no reason to reject him. However, by going as a member of the failed Hunting Team, she would be placing herself in a position of vulnerability.
This would reflect negatively on her and might even affect her future appeal as a Hunter!
"Did the other members of the Hunting Team agree to it?" Yan Bingru asked.
When one was unsure, it was always safer to just go with the flow. At least she would not be the only one receiving flak this way…
But what Li Xingxing said next completely caught her by surprise.
"About that, it seems that you are the only one invited from the Hunting Team. Did you do anything…special?" Li Xingxing eyeballed her suspiciously.
"I am the only one invited?" Yan Bingru was shocked.
Of course Yan Bingru could tell that by 'doing anything special', Li Xingxing was thinking more along the lines of 'committing any mistakes'. However, Yan Bingru did not even interact with the Hunt Director at all, so how could she have done anything wrong?
No…that's not it...
Sky Lowlife Wu Haotian!
This matter must be that guy's doing!
Why else would she be singled out like that?
Heavens! What did she even do in her past life to deserve this?
Why did this Wu Haotian have to bother her this much? Was he so petty that he could not even handle a simple rejection?
"Would it be a problem if I rejected the invitation?" Yan Bingru forced out an awkward smile.
"There are pros and cons to both options. If you were to reject the invitation, that might get you on the bad side of Hunt Director Duan Yuanping. I don't know him well, but if he is the petty type then…" Li Xingxing didn't have to complete her sentence for Yan Bingru to understand her point.
So it was a choice between being potentially blacklisted by the media and being potentially blacklisted by a famous Hunt Director.
What a headache!
Seeing her troubled expression, Li Xingxing felt a little guilt-stricken. She was Yan Bingru's manager, and yet she actually had no way of getting Yan Bingru out of this complicated situation.
"Actually, going to the press conference might not be as bad as you think. The failure of the Hunt Operation is due to Hunt Director Ying Min's mistake after all. So if you handle it properly, you might not be implicated in a bad way!"
"Oh? Is that really possible?" Yan Bingru felt her mood lighten a little.
"Of course I can't guarantee anything. Everything depends on how the press conference pans out!" Li Xingxing hurriedly gave a disclaimer.
"Okay, I will go! As long as there is a hope of not getting on the bad side of anyone, I should aim for the best outcome!" Yan Bingru finally agreed.
"Good! I will accept the invitation on your behalf then. Now tell me everything about what happened during the Hunt Operation, so I can go through with you what you should be saying…"
Their discussion went on for a long time as they carefully went through every small detail. By the time they were done, night had already fallen.
Mentally and physically fatigued by now, Yan Bingru thanked Li Xingxing before exiting the office. She couldn't wait to get home and rest.
Wait! Even before that, she should go get a good massage for her aching body!
Unfortunately, her day was not fated to end yet.
Just as she stepped out of the elevator on the first floor, Yan Bingru came face to face with a group of her Guildmates who were just entering the building. And in that group was one particular person whom Yan Bingru definitely was not looking forward to seeing.
"Look, isn't that Yan Bingru? Are you already back from your Hunt Operation?" one of them pointed out in surprise.
"Yes, I just landed earlier today," Yan Bingru nodded.
"I heard that your Hunt Operation was a complete failure and even had to be evacuated by a rescue team. You really should have done your due diligence and checked out the situation carefully! What if you fell into danger? Did you get hurt anywhere?" a young woman similar in age to Yan Bingru exclaimed with a concerned voice.
However, Yan Bingru had seen enough of her shenanigans. Yan Bingru knew that beneath her caring façade, this Shang Qinyue was definitely laughing in her heart!
Shang Qinyue had always viewed Yan Bingru as her rival ever since they joined Guild Everlasting Road at the same time.
Despite being born into an average family, Shang Qinyue had trained extremely hard to hone her gunmanship. Her hard work eventually paid off, and she was poised to be the top scorer in the Hunter tests at that time.
Since Shang Qinyue was a gunner while Yan Bingru was a sniper, their roles did not overlap much. But Shang Qinyue's pride still refused to let her lose at anything even remotely related to the use of guns.
So when Yan Bingru completely crushed her in the sniping category, Shang Qinyue felt aggrieved and even requested for a reassessment!
While Shang Qinyue's request was ignored, she had since borne a vengeful attitude towards Yan Bingru, trying to put her down at every opportunity available.
"Is what Qinyue said true? Why were you so careless?"
"That's right, it is necessary to choose the right Hunt Operations to go on instead of just taking any job!"
The others chimed in immediately after Shang Qinyue.
"I'm fine, don't worry. We managed to take out our targets easily, but the Hunt Director failed to-" before Yan Bingru could finish, Shang Qinyue cut in again.
"I understand that you are upset to have failed the Hunt Operation, but you really should not blame the Hunt Director for it! No matter what, the Hunt Director must be the person who wants the Hunt Operation to succeed the most!" Shang Qinyue berated her as if a senior advising her junior.
Hearing her words, the other Guildmates immediately nodded in agreement.
Shang Qinyue was right, which Hunt Director would want their Hunt Operation to fail? It would be a huge stain on their record!
Seeing their reactions, Yan Bingru's heart chilled.
No Hunt Directors would want their Hunt Operation to fail? Then did any Hunters want their Hunt Operation to fail?
Why must it be the Hunter's fault when it was obviously the Hunt Director's job to source out all dangers?
Despite those thoughts in her head, Yan Bingru did not bother voicing them out.
Yan Bingru knew how close Shang Qinyue was with the other Guildmates thanks to the latter's remarkable networking skills, so it was unsurprising that these people were easily swayed by her words.
Even if Yan Bingru were to continue explaining herself, Shang Qinyue would probably still twist her words to make her appear as the one at fault.
If so, then why bother?
"Thank you for your concern, I will be leaving first," Yan Bingru simply gave a wry smile before immediately walking away, leaving the group infuriated as they watched her leave.
"What was that? Were we done talking? How can she just walk away like that?"
"Exactly! What a bad attitude?"
"That's right! Who does she think she is?"
"Please don't blame her, Bingru just landed earlier today so she must be tired. And her mood must not be good after a failed Hunt Operation as well," Shang Qinyue tried to appease the others on the surface.
"Oh Qinyue, you are too kind to people!"
"That's right, Qinyue. Some people do not deserve your concern!"
"Well, we are all Guildmates after all. What's more, Bingru and I joined the Guild at the same time so that might be some kind of fate…" Shang Qinyue gave a tired smile as well.
Seeing Shang Qinyue's helpless expression, the other Guildmates couldn't help but feel sorry for her.
Both of them joined at the same time, but how could they be so different in terms of personality?
One of them was so kind-hearted, while the other was rude beyond imagination!