Aibing wandered around the room feigning smiles to the guests who gawked at her. She grabbed a few snacks, and a few drinks, hoping to prove to everyone else that she belonged here. No matter what she did, she kept provoking more stares. In a desperate measure, she reached for a carbonated drink from a waiter.
She immediately regretted her actions when someone grabbed her hand before she reached the drink. She whipped her head around to see a middle-aged man staring at her in awe. His curiosity dissipated as quickly as he had shown up however, and it was replaced with anger.
"What're you doing in that dress?" The man said. His voice was barely above a whisper, but the pain and frustration in his voice were evident. When Aibing didn't respond, he tightened his grasp on her wrist to the point where she exclaimed a gasp from the pain. With others still looking at Aibing, the man pulled her off to the side of the room. "I asked you a question girl!"
Aibing was clueless as how to respond. She had no idea who this man was, but she knew that him seeing her wearing this dress was the pinpoint of all of her soon-to-come problems. She wasn't good at talking to people, especially at public places. She was utterly speechless, and instead stared at the man nervously.
"Do you not know who I am? How dare you wear that dress in front of me!" He began to yell. His hand never left Aibing wrist, and it was beginning to bruise. Aibing's nervousness was replaced with annoyance. She didn't want her wrist being bruised in case Xue Yingjie changed his mind about brining her to the capital.
"Do you not know who I am?" Aibing carefully responded. In her mind, she was crossing her fingers that this would work. "Who are you to bruise the wrist of Xue Yingjie's only daughter." She scoffed. Aibing's ice-blue eyes contracted to slits, which looked menacing to the middle-aged man, but in reality she was watching for his reaction.
Immediately, the man let go of Aibing's wrist. His face showed fear, then confusion, then apology. But, instead of apologizing, he looked across the room where the esteemed guest Xue Yingjie was sitting. He couldn't help but notice that the famous man was spitting his drink in surprise.
"I didn't know that he had a daughter?" The man questioned carefully. He had known Xue Yingjie for ten years now, and had never knew him to have a daughter - let alone a child. And seeing his reaction, he surmised that the girl was lying.
"He doesn't like to talk about me." Aibing replied, trying to sound as sullen as possible.
"Why wouldn't he want to talk about his only daughter?" The man said with a twisted smile. He was getting ready to trap the girl. "Especially one as beautiful as you."
Aibing was immediately reminded of He Delun when the man spoke. Her sullen face was replaced with one of obvious annoyance, and a spark ignited in her blue eyes. All she could see in front of her was He Delun whispering to her before she left.
"You better visit soon. I want to continue where we left off. It'd be a shame if we never finished and I had to replace you with your little sister.. right?" He Delun had whispered.
The layer of pre-mature frost that had covered Aibing's heart two years prior had been melted over the last two years slowly and carefully, and the first emotion to return was her hatred of her teacher's son. The only reason she hadn't attacked him on the spot was because of her respect for his father- and the fact that if she killed her teacher's only son he'd retaliate and kill her family.
The middle-aged man in front of Aibing thought he had finally trapped her when the girl went silent, but a second later and he was fearing for his life. Nothing had changed, other than the fire blazing in her ice-blue eyes. He suddenly felt tension, and found it hard to breathe. He wanted to flee, but because he had pulled her to the side of the room he was trapped as she blocked his escape route.
Aibing raised her hand, and the man fell to the floor in fear. As she was about to drop it- hitting him smack in the face- suddenly everything changed. Her hand was once again grabbed, but by a familiar face this time. The tension in the air lifted, and the middle-aged man was able to stand up.
"What're you doing here A'bi? I thought I told you not to disturb our hosts." Xue Yingjie said with an annoyed smile. Aibing jumped at the nickname her family used to call her, but went along with the skit. She just pouted at her supposed father, and then put her hand down as if she had just been lectured. The middle-aged man couldn't believe what he was witnessing. Did Xue Yingjie really have a daughter? "Sorry about her Cheng Fan. She spilt something on her dress so I sent her to go ask for a change of clothes - I'd have never imagined she'd end up wearing your late sister's dress."
Cheng Fan swallowed his anger, in fear of angering the one and only Xue Yingjie. He just nodded his head and made his way back to the party. But first, he went to the bathroom to make sure he hadn't shown the little girl how scared he had actually been.
"Hua Aibing," Xue Yingjie suddenly spoke. "I see you've grown smarter since the last time I saw you."
"I only learn from the best, Papa."