Ye Qing was furious. She had totally forgotten that she was the one who had started this and became jealous the second she saw the price of the dish that Jing Yunzhao had sent.
Wasn't Jing Yunzhao a bastard with no parents? How dare she humiliate her like this?
"Forget it, Ye Qing, we were the ones who sent them leftovers first anyway," one of the girls reminded her, worried it was getting out of hand.
Ye Qing as the commissary in charge of studies had always been kind and soft-spoken, but for some reason she had started to behave differently and was actually shouting in public over a plate of leftovers. How embarrassing!
As teenagers, they were all concerned about their image, so they became quite unhappy when Ye Qing started making a fuss.
"So what if I sent them the leftovers first? There was still a lot to eat in my dish, but did you see hers? It was as good as empty, and not to mention dirty too! Maybe you can eat it if you want to side with her!" Ye Qing angrily snatched the plate out of the waitress' hand and tossed it towards the girl. The plate landed on the table loudly, and the sauce in it splashed onto a few of Ye Qing's classmates.
Ye Qing instantly regretted tossing the plate. She was fuming, but now she couldn't take back the things she said. Ye Qing cared most about her dignity so instead of apologizing, she looked away angrily.
Her classmates started to get upset. They were fine if Ye Qing wanted to pick on Jing Yunzhao, but who was she to lash out at them? They only came for dinner because Ye Qing had invited them to celebrate her birthday, but not only did they not get to eat any fancy dishes, they also ended up getting embarrassed and dirtied.
"You're too much! Do you think you're so great just because you are the commissary in charge of studies? At least Jing Yunzhao never disrespected or bullied any of us! Apologize now or we'll pretend you don't exist!" One of the boys sprung up from his chair and said angrily.
"Are you saying that you want to isolate me like how you isolate Jing Yunzhao? Who do you think you are? Remember that I'm paying for everything you're eating and drinking right now, so what right do you have to lecture me? I haven't done anything wrong anyway! You came to celebrate my birthday, so how dare you side with Jing Yunzhao?" Ye Qing demanded stubbornly.
Ye Qing was worried that her classmates would really isolate her, but there was no way that she would admit her mistakes.
What she said ended up provoking even more of her classmates, and their commotion soon attracted attention from other diners.
Ye Qing's face had turned red from embarrassment but she forced herself to remain calm.
"I thought you were a gentle person, Ye Qing, I'm shocked to see this side of you. However, I have to say that Jing Yunzhao was indeed petty. Why would she send leftovers if she wanted to treat us? Why don't you order two sets of Coral Abalone for all of us and we pretend that nothing happened? We came here to have fun, surely we can't turn our backs on each other just because of Jing Yunzhao?" Jiang Xia the pushover started to do what he was best at, but what he said sounded so silly that even the diners at the table next to theirs were amused.
The young boy seemed quite self-righteous and selfish since all he could think of was the fancy dish and how he could make the girl pay for it despite the tension between his classmates.
Of course, that was not how Jiang Xia saw it. In his mind, since everyone got worked up over the Coral Abalone, the conflict should be ended by Coral Abalone. Treating them to Coral Abalone would not only show Ye Qing's generosity and tolerance, but also shows Jing Yunzhao that the dish she sent to provoke them didn't do the trick since they could easily afford the same thing.