Everyone's eyes followed the trajectory of the falling object until it came to a stop on the ground.
He Yajing held her breath for a few seconds, her nerves tightly wound.
"What is it..."
"It doesn't look like a ring."
"It looks more like an earring?"
The crowd murmured, and He Yajing breathed a sigh of relief when she saw what it was.
"Can we stop now? It's like the thief crying 'stop thief', or the pot calling the kettle black. Shen Xingkong, I think you're..."
"This...looks like my earring?" Shen Xinrou recognized the object and examined it closely, realizing it was indeed hers.
When she went on stage earlier, she was worried that the earring would get in the way while she was dancing, so she took it off and put it in her bag.
Her face grew colder, and she looked at He Yajing with displeasure. "Yajing, why was my earring in your bag?"
"I..." He Yajing was at a loss for words.
How did she know?
What happened tonight, and where did things go wrong?
It was supposed to be Shen Xingkong being accused of stealing and being punished by everyone, but now it was her?
"Yajing, why did you do this?" Shen Xinrou looked at He Yajing with a heavy heart, angry and disappointed. "I know you really like this jewelry set, but I've told you before that it was a birthday gift from Yunxing to me and couldn't be given to you. I didn't expect you to like it so much. If I had known, I would have given it to you."
"It's not like that, Xinrou, please listen to me. I really don't know why your earring was in my bag. I didn't steal it, please believe me, I didn't steal it." He Yajing panicked. She couldn't let people think she was a thief, or her future would be ruined.
Xin Rou let out a sigh and took two steps forward towards He Yajing. "Yajing, I want to believe that you wouldn't do something like this. Have you considered that you might have accidentally taken it from my bag when you were looking for something earlier?"
"Looking for something?" He Yajing was confused.
But Xingkong understood. She was hinting at He Yajing, suggesting that she take the blame for everything.
Huo Mingzhu also had a feeling that this was what she was doing, but she couldn't accept that Shen Xinrou was a person who smiled while hiding a knife.
"Yes, when I was on stage with Yun Xing, dancing the opening dance, I saw you touch my bag. Did you accidentally take the earring then?"
Shen Xinrou thought about it and realized that both she and He Yajing had been set up.
He Yajing wanted to frame Shen Xingkong, but somehow she found out and turned the tables on her.
Shen Xinrou glanced at Shen Xingkong from the corner of her eye. It had been a long time since she had seen her, and she seemed like a completely different person.
Yes, she had changed.
How had she not noticed it before?
The old Shen Xingkong would never have been so calm and collected in a situation like this. Even if no one was bullying her, she would always be hunched over, shoulders drooping, and timid.
When had she become so composed, aloof, and noble?
She pinched her fingers and whispered in He Yajing's ear, "Yajing, take the blame for all of this, and I promise you a bright future."
He Yajing was nervous and uneasy.
"So, what's going on?" Qi Rongchen sat down again, propping his chin and asked impatiently.
He Yajing took a deep breath and pinched herself hard, forcing herself to stay calm. "It was me. I liked the Soft jewelry set too much, so I took it when she went on stage. In my panic, I accidentally left my own things in her bag."
Shen Xinrou gathered her curly hair and disapproved, "Yajing, why are you so silly?"
"I'm sorry, Xinrou. I'm the one who caused you to be laughed at just now." He Yajing squatted in front of the trash can, picking up the things that were thrown away by Huo Siye and stuffing them into her bag.
"These are all mine. I was going to... I'm really sorry, Xinrou, I'm sorry."
"If you want resources, Yajing, you can just tell me. There's no need to do this."
"I..." He Yajing's face turned pale, feeling extremely upset.
When Shen Xinrou said this, she was basically telling everyone that He Yajing was planning to use her body to exchange resources with some big shot. Although this kind of thing was commonplace in the industry, being exposed publicly was still too embarrassing to bear.
But what could she do now?
The matter had come to this point, and she could only admit it.
Shen Xingkong couldn't help but applaud Shen Xinrou silently. Shen Xinrou was Shen Xinrou, able to turn the situation around in just a few minutes and resolve the matter cleanly.
"Xin Rou, I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize to me. You should be apologizing to yourself," Shen Xinrou sighed. "What about the ring?"
He Yajing looked at her, not understanding why she suddenly brought up the ring again.
"Didn't you blame my sister for stealing your ring from the beginning? Yajing, tell me, where did you hide the ring?"
He Yajing widened her eyes, opened her mouth, but didn't know what to say.
She looked at Shen Xinrou, and Shen Xinrou looked at her.
After a few seconds, she gave in.
Turning to Shen Xingkong, "Miss Shen, I'm sorry."
Xingkong sneered, glanced at Shen Xinrou.
Impressive.
In just a few words, not only did she clarify the matter, but she also made He Yajing admit to framing her sister.
However, how could she let Shen Xinrou be so pleased?
"Sorry? If it weren't for what happened later, was Miss He planning to publicly accuse me of being a thief? I really don't know where I offended you. Is it because I just said that some people can only rely on pleasing others to get a chance to show their face, that you're targeting me like this? But it was clearly you who came over to mock me first, saying that even if I could attend such a high-end banquet, no one would care," Xingkong said, her eyes turning red, looking very aggrieved.
After hearing this, Huo Siye's gaze sank again.
His cold eyes swept towards He Yajing, and the darkness in his eyes was almost overwhelming.
If it weren't for the stars noticing it early and secretly intercepting him, he would have probably taken action to deal with He Yajing.
"Not all harm can be erased with a simple apology."
"Hmm, what play is this?" The onlookers couldn't take it anymore and Lin Zhiyi walked out with his arms crossed, unable to hide his gloating eyes.
"Shen Xinrou, aren't you too heartless to treat someone like that?"
"Zhiyi, what do you mean?" Shen Xinrou didn't get angry, but instead smiled.
It made people feel that Lin Zhiyi was just making trouble.
"How stupid is He Yajing to accidentally drop her things into your bag while stealing?"
Shen Xinrou's smile froze for a second, then she smiled generously and said, "Maybe she was too nervous."
"Oh, nervous." Lin Zhiyi sneered, "Do you think everyone is stupid?"