*mass update chapters from the collection goal! Next goal is 100 collection for 10 mass updates*
<3
Wan GouRu was indeed a fast runner as her name dictate. As if seeing a ghost, she quickly entered the room that was made only for the host of the party, the girl whose birthday is celebrated throughout the city as she had been known as the most loved and beloved daughter of Jiang Family who is currently holding a party with her beloved family members. Jiang NianNian is also Wan GouRu's best friends, knowing each other since high school and had gotten even closer together despite the fact that Jiang NianNian was once a bully to Wan GouRu. However they had the same enemy back then and after making their enemy suffer, now they are closer than ever.
"NianNian, you wouldn't have believed what I saw!" Wan GouRu was in a rush and immediately pushed the door in and walked inside the room.
Jiang NianNian raised her left eyebrow and eyed Wan GouRu's action. She then stared at the empty hands of Wan GouRu, "Where is the champagne?"
"Oh about that," Wan GouRu immediately pursed her lips. She had broke the bottle of champagne and feared Jiang NianNian would be angry, fearing she would be cut of their friendships which the young woman couldn't afford to happen. "Let me tell you first who I saw!"
Jiang NianNian was visibly unhappy but Wan GouRu was an easy ally for her to use for her dirty deed. She is also one of the people who knew about their common enemy. Just thinking about it soured Jiang NianNian's mood even further. She gritted her teeth and said in a sigh, "Okay so who did you saw?"
"A woman— not just any woman but the woman who has Li ZiChen's one and only gown. The midnight gown you wanted to get but couldn't! That one piece of clothes that is only made once in this whole world. I heard it was also diamond that is around her neckline, no wonder it was shining so brightly," muttered Wan GouRu and she flinched when she saw something flying beside her face.
When she turned aside she saw the hairbrush that had hit the glass mirror behind her and caused a web-like crack on the surface of the glass. Wan GouRu's eyes widened, her body standing in a frozen stance and she slowly turned to stare at the mirror glass beside her with a slow gulp. She then slowly turned back to Jiang NianNian, finding a horrible vexation contouring her face as every words Wan GouRu's said had unknowingly aggravated Jiang NianNian's pride.
She didn't take it too kindly to find out that the gown she wanted was already being bought by someone. But at least she could tell people that Li ZiChen was her only competition who could buy the dress and defeated her in the market. That was her pride, to have the wealthiest son of Li Family to buy the gown she had been waiting for three years to buy. Yet now, to find out that the gown she wanted was already given to someone— a woman— someone more special to her?! Also that woman had daringly worn the gown in her birthday knowing well that every Beijing People had heard about her infatuation to the gown?!
Jiang NianNian couldn't accept this kindly. She wanted to rip apart someone, her ill temper growing like a tumor that was about to explode.
"Who the fuck is she?" Jiang NianNian cursed, it took her all she could to calm down and not destroy the hardwork her makeup artist and hairdresser had done for her. "I'm the beloved daughter of Jiang Family. It's MY day. Someone else is wearing THAT gown in my own Birthday? I knew Li ZiChen is a freak with bizarre taste but which woman had took his frigid heart?!"
"I- I don't know," muttered Wan GouRu fearfully. She had became confident but not because she had started to feel good in her own body and skin. It was because the people around her are the ones feeding to her ego. The stronger and eviler Jiang NianNian is, the better she feels about herself and the more power she thinks she possess.
It was funny. It had been six years yet none of them had changed. AiLin who had been standing outside the door, leaning her back on the wall listened to every of their conversations as they had yelled it loudly.
The "beloved" daughter of Jiang Family.
Jiang NianNian wasn't the one who held that title before. It was her, AiLin, who was to be known as the "Beloved" or the "Sweetheart" of Jiang Family. They all see her as the perfect daughter who is kind, lovely, and always filial to her family. Truth is, in the long long past they were really a good family. The Jiang Family had always been prideful and this was caused by the fact of power that they have coming from a military background. They used that background to build their first jewelry shop known as "Pearl Goose" the shop soon became a company that flourish to where they were now.
Her mother, Mrs Jiang was a lovely woman who would coax her to sleep and feed her when she was ill. Her father, Mr Jiang was someone who would eat the imperfect dim sums to give her the best looking one.
Where had it changed?
AiLin wasn't sure about when did it change. But ever since her middle school year, her mother changed. She became more strict, telling her that she needs to be perfect in all areas. School works? Musics? Languages? AiLin is perfect in all of it. She loved to do ballet and painting but she was only allowed to do ballet back then. She wasn't even allowed to learn martial arts that she had wanted to learn because Mrs Jiang saw it as a waste of time.
Soon enough Mrs Jiang's strict rules became a dictation and her punishments were becoming more severe. First there was no dinner given to AiLin until she was starved completely for not even keeping her smile more often as Mrs Jiang had wished, then she would start hitting her with belt and all those turtle statues in the Jiang Family that they see as a symbol of wealth. AiLin found herself becoming more fearful to go against her mother's words and find herself fearing her mother as a person who would punish her. The love Mrs Jiang showed had also became lesser and she never found a day where she wouldn't be beaten by Mrs Jiang every day since her first year of middle school to high school.
AiLin slowly snapped from her own childhood. When she opened her eyes again she could hear the footsteps that were approaching the room. She immediately avoided the steps by hiding behind a wall and heard as Jiang NianNian spoke even louder, "Then you're telling me that the woman who stole the midnight gown from me had also broke my birthday champagne?! It had been saved up ever since my birth until now for me!"
AiLin's eyes widened upon hearing this. Clearly Wan GouRu had just shifted the blame of the champagne breaking to AiLin because she feared she would be forced to take the blame and lose the friendship. AiLin didn't mind being the scapegoat again but what she found was more amusing was the champagne itself. The champagne that was saved up was once belonged to her with some twisted fate, Wan GouRu had bumped into her and broke the alcohol, making sure that Jiang NianNian herself couldn't ever celebrate with the said Alcohol.
Hearing it made AiLin to let out a chuckle. She thought her fate was horrible but what's this? It seemed her days just became better ever since she left the prison as if she had came out with a guardian angel protecting her.
But before AiLin could inwardly laugh at all the coincidence her body froze as she heard a familiar voice of a man.
The young man spoke gracefully, "What happened little sister? What had made you so upset? Tell your brother here, I will make sure who had made your night bad today will pay for it."