"Yan Huan?"
Upon hearing Sakuramiya Hitomi's words, Tong Yingying's expression froze slightly.
Looking up, she saw that it was indeed an incoming Plane call. The caller ID read "President," and Tong Yingying easily recognized Yan Huan's profile picture.
It really was Yan Huan calling.
Tong Yingying furrowed her brows, harboring silent doubts in her heart:
'Didn't Yan Huan turn into a heartbroken puppy after this girl exposed her true colors? Why is he still contacting her?
'Wait, could it be that the Yan Huan I haven't been able to devour all this ti is actually a Lick Dog for this little brat right in front of ?!'
The re thought of Yan Huan wearing a shy smile while wrapping his arm around Sakuramiya Hitomi and appearing before her made her furious.
Imagining him saying sothing like, "She doesn't even peep on others anymore, so I chose to forgive her," made a fiery rage ignite within Tong Yingying.
A fine layer of sweat beaded on Sakuramiya Hitomi's forehead, but she curled her lips into a smirk and said to Tong Yingying,
"It seems the situation isn't quite what you claid. As for you, absolutely nothing has happened between you and the president, has it?"
"That has to be it! This ten-thousand-year-old virgin—Mmph!"
Nara had barely opened her mouth when Tong Yingying applied even more pressure with her foot, forcing an uncontrollable whimper of pain from the woman.
Holding her cigarette, Tong Yingying did not even spare a glance at Nara. Instead, she licked her lips, as if savoring the aftertaste of so rare delicacy.
"What a pity, no one is hurt. Your imagination is just as barren as your completely unattractive figure, little girl. Go ahead and keep guessing, then. Guess whether or not anything actually happened between
and Yan Huan."
"..."
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi's pupils contracted slightly.
Ard with the Sakuramiya family's secret Perfect Expression Managent, Sakuramiya Hitomi also possessed a wealth of experience in reading the expressions of others.
Generally speaking, when people lied, no matter how hard they tried to conceal it, they would reveal flaws. However, the Tong Yingying standing before her displayed no such weakness.
Either she had also studied advanced expression managent techniques.
Or, she truly had done sothing with the president...
'But what exactly? How far had they gone?'
As the degree deepened and the bases were gradually rounded, it eventually transford into unspeakable bedroom activities within Sakuramiya Hitomi's mind:
"It is fine. Once you feel good, you will forget that Sakuramiya Hitomi who broke your heart. Just relax and leave it to ..."
"Sister Tong..."
'N... No way!!'
'The president and this old woman in front of
doing that kind of thing...'
Ultimately, she was still inexperienced with the world. At this thought, the expression mask on her face began to crumble.
'No, I cannot get distracted. She still has Nara!'
'If worst cos to worst, I will just treat it as the president getting so early technical practice!!'
Sakuramiya Hitomi bit her lip, the pain stimulating her rationality to return to the high ground.
"Why should I guess? It is all just nonsense anyway. I do not believe the president would... would do that with you!"
At the end of the day, although Tong Yingying had indeed taken Yan Huan's first kiss that night, it was an unfair victory after all, so the expression on her face faded slightly.
"So what? Playing the deflection ga, girl? I ca here to deal with this traitor, not to fight you over a man. Get that straight."
"..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi pursed her lips, not replying.
Taking a drag from her cigarette, Tong Yingying looked up at her.
"I do not know why you are protecting this scum. With your family's conditions, if a bodyguard is gone, can't you just replace her?"
Sakuramiya Hitomi's gaze fell on Nara. She took a deep breath, her tone firm.
"I have... my reasons."
"Hmph."
Tong Yingying tossed the cigarette butt onto the ground and replied,
"Then hang up the phone, and we can discuss terms?"
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi paused slightly, a glimr of hope surging in her heart.
Her finger was just about to move toward the "End Call" button when Nara, lying on the ground, gritted her teeth and shouted loudly,
"Eldest Miss! Do not listen to her! She will not let
go! She is just tricking you into hanging up the phone!!"
As she spoke, she stared at Tong Yingying's back, her charming features imbued with the radiant glow of soone who had seen through everything.
"She is actually tricking you into hanging up? She definitely never told Yan Huan what she does for a living! And who knows how twisted her fetishes really are!
"Yan Huan probably just thinks he t a mature and reliable Big Sister, entirely unaware that he actually encountered a Red-Haired Demon with a Sadistic Streak!!
"Just like how Yan Huan thought he had t a perfect, youthful, beautiful female lead in you, only to find out you were a rat-like person with a peeping fetish!
"Eldest Miss, however much you want to hide your peeping from Yan Huan, that is exactly how much she wants to hide her past livelihood!!
"Quick! Answer the phone and tell Yan Huan all of this! Expose her completely! Let us drag everyone down together!"
Hearing this, both Sakuramiya Hitomi and Tong Yingying's faces darkened simultaneously. Evidently, they were both nearly dealt a fatal blow by Nara, who knew them both inside and out.
Tong Yingying shot her a sinister smile, her voice sounding like a mourning death knell.
"Are you courting death?"
The hand Sakuramiya Hitomi used to hold the phone was trembling; she had clearly suffered massive internal damage.
"Nara, if you do not know how to speak, you can actually just shut up..."
Nara, however, understood the crux of the situation.
Her Eldest Miss's secrets had already been exposed, but Tong Yingying's had not.
Dying alone would be unbearable, but if soone accompanied her to hell, what was there to fear?
The barefooted do not fear those who wear shoes. If they were going to die, they would all die together!!
Nara looked at Tong Yingying and sneered,
"Heh, if I get to see that happen, even dying would be worth—"
"Click."
Tong Yingying's stance with the gun remained unchanged, but she lifted the foot that had been resting on Nara's abdon and aid it directly at her neck instead.
Seeing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi's face paled. She cupped the phone with both hands and moved to press the "Answer" button.
"Let her go! Or else I will answer the call!!"
Tong Yingying's expression was lethargic as she said softly,
"Hang up the phone, or I will kick her to death."
Lying on the ground, Nara gritted her teeth and yelled at Sakuramiya Hitomi,
"Eldest Miss, answer the call!! Do not worry about !!"
A triangle, truly the most stable shape in the world!!
The atmosphere was incredibly tense at this mont, but after the three spoke in turn, the situation remained deadlocked. Everyone feared that a rash move would break this fragile strategic balance!
In such a balanced standoff, without any external factors changing, who knew how long this stalemate would last...
Right at that mont, a bodyguard standing next to Sakuramiya Hitomi seed to sense her own historical mission from sowhere in the void.
Her eyes, hidden behind sunglasses, glanced at her Eldest Miss, then flicked toward Tong Yingying and Nara.
After a second of silence, she spoke up,
"Eldest Miss, although the situation is urgent, there is sothing I am not sure if I should say."
Sakuramiya Hitomi gritted her teeth and furrowed her brows.
"Look at the ti, do not bother
now!!"
Tong Yingying scoffed and said,
"Let her speak. Perhaps her brain works better than yours, you wet-behind-the-ears little brat."
Nara continued to grit her teeth and shouted,
"Ignore everyone else, Eldest Miss. Answer the phone!!"
'Great, it was another freaking triangle!'
'Damn it, should I say it or not?'
The bodyguard's expression looked as grossed out as if she had swallowed a fly, but after thinking for a mont, she felt she had no choice but to say it.
Gritting her teeth, she leaned in slightly closer to Sakuramiya Hitomi and whispered,
"But the problem is, this is an incoming call. If we keep dragging this out, the other side might hang up."
Hearing this, all three sides of the triangle twisted slightly, clearly on the verge of total collapse.
Sakuramiya Hitomi and Nara's pupils contracted, while the smile on Tong Yingying's face grew even fainter.
Right!
This wasn't a nuclear launch button that could be pressed at any ti; this was ti-sensitive!
If the call hung up, Tong Yingying probably wouldn't give her the chance to dial him back!
A choice had to be made!!
"Ring, ring, ring~"
The phone's ringtone grew more frantic as ti passed. Sakuramiya Hitomi clenched her jaw, and in the very next second, finally unable to bear the pressure, her hand swiftly tapped the screen.
'Whatever!'
The call was answered!
And to better deter Tong Yingying, she even put it on speaker!!
"You!"
Tong Yingying's expression shifted, and her body moved instinctively.
The mont she moved, all the bodyguards around Sakuramiya Hitomi went on high alert. Their muzzles raised higher, the friction of their sleeves producing a series of sharp rustling sounds.
The worst part was that Tong Yingying's foot dropped subconsciously, accidentally landing squarely on Nara's abdon.
That was exactly where she had sustained a severe injury from Tong Yingying's elbow strike earlier in the elevator.
Unable to hold back the pain, Nara squeezed out a wail from deep within her throat.
At the exact sa ti, Yan Huan's gentle voice sounded from the phone,
"Sakuramiya..."
"Ah, it hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts!!"
The Red-Haired Demon, Tong Yingying, glared fiercely at Nara behind her, and Sakuramiya Hitomi hurriedly took over the conversation.
"President, I am here!"
"Where are you right now, Sakuramiya? Why did it sound like soone wailing?"
Tong Yingying furrowed her brows. Sakuramiya Hitomi didn't answer imdiately; instead, she reached out and pressed the mute button.
The mont it was muted, Tong Yingying spoke sharply,
"If you dare spout nonsense, believe , both of you will end up dead right here. You know Nara very well, so you should know that I am not joking!"
As soon as she spoke, red laser dots successively lit up on the bodies of Sakuramiya Hitomi's bodyguards.
Their expressions changed slightly, and they looked toward the ergency exit doors that had opened at so unknown point.
Over there, a burly man stood smoking a cigarette.
In the darkness behind him, the faint flashes of laser sights emitted from rifle muzzles could be seen.
'Rifles?'
'Getting their hands on long guns like that in Linn?'
'How did these guys get them without governnt permission?'
'Unless...'
Sakuramiya Hitomi had no ti to think deeply about it, but she also knew the principle that even a mighty dragon could not suppress a local snake.
She hurriedly pointed at Nara, whose face was twisted into a mask of pure agony from Tong Yingying stepping on her wound, and said repeatedly,
"Don't you dare! Take your foot off her wound first!!"
"Sakuramiya?"
From the phone, Yan Huan's puzzled voice transmitted through, making Tong Yingying click her tongue in annoyance and lift her foot.
Seeing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi imdiately unmuted the call and replied,
"We are watching a movie at ho, so it was a little loud just now. President, I have already ordered the maids to turn it off."
"Ah, I see..."
The speaker volu was set very high by Sakuramiya Hitomi, so everyone could hear everything crystal clear.
Sakuramiya Hitomi glanced at Tong Yingying and asked,
"I apologize, President, but I have so urgent matters to handle at ho today. I also forgot to hand over my duties for the Club War to anyone else for help. I have caused trouble for everyone..."
"Ah, it is fine. It happened to rain today, so it ended halfway through anyway. I was just a little worried that you might be feeling unwell, so I called to check in."
Yan Huan smiled slightly, his voice steady.
"It is good that you are okay."
"Eh?"
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi paused slightly, her face flushing with a rosy hue as she held the phone.
Tong Yingying's eyes widened, her grip on the gun tightening.
She probably wanted to shoot sothing.
"T-Thank you for caring about , President... It is nothing major, just..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi pursed her lips, that uncharacteristic gloominess swept up by her racing heartbeat and surfacing once more.
'Since the president already knows what I have done, this kind of inquiry is probably just a polite pleasantry, right?'
When Nara described Sakuramiya Hitomi as a rat, she was referring to her low self-esteem, hypocrisy, and her secret surveillance and peeping.
But these were rely surface traits, not her true essence.
Essentially, what Sakuramiya Hitomi truly lacked and sought was a "sense of security."
Just like at this mont, she couldn't help but start doubting: what did Yan Huan really an by saying those words to her just now?
'Have we already made up?'
'Has he already forgiven
for what I did before?'
'Does he still... have feelings for ?'
But this was rely a single sentence. She needed more evidence to corroborate it, to seek out the truth.
Therefore, she needed to monitor his whereabouts throughout the day, to confirm if any third-party events had influenced the president's perspective...
Therefore, she needed to use her Jiejiè to see exactly what expression the president was wearing when he said those words, whether it was just an expressionless formality...
What Sakuramiya Hitomi wanted to question, control, and eradicate was always just that trace of anxiety, nothing more.
Consequently, her words unconsciously revealed a flaw, leaving an opening that caused Yan Huan on the other end to ask in confusion,
"Is there sothing you want to say to , Sakuramiya?"
Tong Yingying possessed no way of analyzing Sakuramiya Hitomi's thoughts in this mont. She only sensed that after Sakuramiya Hitomi's bashful display, leaving an opening was an attempt to "expose and eliminate" her to Yan Huan.
She imdiately raised her foot again, aiming directly at Nara's neck.
Seeing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi's budding romantic sentints vanished like smoke and clouds. Her expression changed, and she hurriedly spoke into the phone,
"President! I apologize! The cat at ho just knocked over a shelf, I need to go clean it up..."
"Ah, should I call back later?"
"No need! Just... just wait a mont, it will only take a few minutes!"
"Okay, that is fine. No rush."
Upon hearing those words, Sakuramiya Hitomi finally let out a sigh of relief. She instantly tapped the mute button and questioned Tong Yingying,
"What are you doing?! Going back on your word?"
"What did I agree to? Or did you really think I would let personal matters interfere with a blood feud?! Threatening
with a man—is this the laughable upbringing of your prestigious families?"
"Blood feud my ass! Tong Yingying! You know damn well Mama Bai's death had nothing to do with ! You are just venting your anger! Venting your anger because I failed to stop the assassination back then!! I have already told so many people, I tried my best!"
Nara clutched her chest and cursed vehently while staring at Tong Yingying,
"You might as well just admit that you are doing this to steal a man. That would be a lot easier to swallow!"
"Then tell , if it was not you, why did you run away back then?!"
"Who doesn't know the temper of the Red-Haired Demon?! If I did not run and stayed to explain myself to you, it would an I was tired of living!!"
Tong Yingying opened her mouth, staring blankly at Nara before saying expressionlessly,
"Did the people who contacted you not tell you that I have already turned over a new leaf?"
Hearing Tong Yingying say this, Nara laughed out loud from sheer anger.
"Turned over a new leaf, my foot! Do you really think that keeping a 184-centiter male university student around as eye candy every day counts as cultivating your moral character?!
"Look at yourself! It has been so long, and yet you are still trying to kill
without even distinguishing right from wrong! Do you not find it ridiculous to even ask that question?!"
Watching the two of them argue, Sakuramiya Hitomi also flared up in anger. Holding up her phone, she reminded Tong Yingying,
"I am still on a call right now! Hurry up and let go of Nara! If you make the president suspicious—"
Tong Yingying shot her a glare and cursed,
"Suspicious? Were you not just trying to expose
to Yan Huan? Do you think I would still trust you?"
Sakuramiya Hitomi froze briefly and retorted,
"Expose? I wasn't..."
Nara cast a glance at Sakuramiya Hitomi and scolded Tong Yingying,
"Tong Yingying, can you change that awful temper of yours? Since when was the Eldest Miss trying to expose you!!
"She just likes Yan Huan! Her heart was racing and she was filled with anxiety just from a single sentence of his. She wanted to press him on how he really feels about her, but she was as timid as a mouse and did not dare to ask!!"
Completely seen through and exposed by her own bodyguard's words, Sakuramiya Hitomi's face flushed bright red as she said indignantly,
"Nara!!"
Tong Yingying glanced at Sakuramiya Hitomi's extrely crimson face, then looked up and down at her constantly heaving, ager chest, and sneered,
"Hilarious. A female pervert who spies on Yan Huan actually has the nerve to talk about love?"
Hearing this, Sakuramiya Hitomi's face instantly turned chalk-white, evidently triggering her PTSD.
"I..."
Seeing her Eldest Miss being deflated, Nara imdiately stepped in to defend her.
"It is exactly because she likes him that she acted that way! Besides, she never peeked at anything excessive. She rely wanted to grasp Yan Huan's whereabouts and preferences, so that she could change herself into the kind of person Yan Huan likes!
"eting soone and willingly changing oneself for them—can that not be called love?"
As she spoke, she raised her hand to point accusingly at Tong Yingying instead, scolding,
"Look at yourself! Even after staying with Yan Huan for so long, you are still the sa miserable wretch! You are the type of bastard who only ever considers yourself, expecting the whole world to revolve around you! No wonder you are still a ten-thousand-year-old virgin!"
At those words, Tong Yingying's previously gloomy gaze gradually turned bloodthirsty.
"You dare speak to
like that? Good, very good..."
She let out a sinister smile and looked at Sakuramiya Hitomi, saying,
"Now, I can finally understand a little bit why you would risk everything to protect her... It seems the stray little fox has a very good relationship with her new master."
Nara clutched her chest, looking toward the heavily panting Sakuramiya Hitomi.
Her charming features lowered slightly at this mont, and then she smiled,
"Yes, it is definitely better than my relationship with you, Red-Haired Demon."
"Enough! Let her go! I will not expose you to the president. We can negotiate whatever other conditions you want—be it money or favors..."
Tong Yingying cast a glance at Sakuramiya Hitomi. After a mont of silence, she suddenly smiled slightly and said,
"Fine, I can let her off the hook."
Sakuramiya Hitomi's expression did not relax in the slightest. She rely asked in return,
"What are your terms?"
Tong Yingying pointed a finger at the phone and sneered,
"Tell Yan Huan that you actually do not like him at all, that you only monitored him because he is good-looking, and that you hope he knows his place.
"Sothing along those lines will do; you can improvise. Once you say it, I will let her go."
Sakuramiya Hitomi's pupils shrank slightly. Staring at Tong Yingying, she was left montarily speechless.
Nara looked at Sakuramiya Hitomi and reminded her,
"Eldest Miss, I worked so hard to help you salvage this! Please do not waste all my efforts!
"Furthermore, even if you say it, she will not let
go! She is just enjoying the process of torturing you and !!"
Hearing this, Tong Yingying smiled faintly, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, but the sense of oppression only grew thicker.
"Believe it or not, it is up to you. But I am increasingly certain that Sakayori Mina was hired by you privately, right?
"Look at those bodyguards around you. They have zero emotional attachnt to this traitor beneath my foot.
"Once you say those words, the person you love will cut ties with you completely. If you take her back, you will still have to deal with your family—losing on both ends. Why bother?"
She hadn't moved a muscle, but a red laser dot suddenly lit up on Nara's body.
Seeing this scene, Sakuramiya Hitomi's body trembled slightly.
She bit her lip forcefully. Clearly, she knew that Tong Yingying was right.
She truly lacked the confidence to deal with her family's interrogations. Even to honestly fall in love with soone, she had to play tricks, wearing a mask to pretend she was glamorous and flawless.
Because only by doing so could she succeed in Overcoming Insecurity, and only then would she not feel afraid.
Over ti, she even began to doubt...
'If the thods I used were wrong, does that an my original intentions were fake too?'
'This so-called love is just candy that can be packaged up to lure the other party into a trap.'
'This so-called elegance is rely a temperant that can be concealed by beauty.'
'Everything... is entirely fake.'
But, Nara alone had told her:
Her love was genuine.
'Is that why she helped
without a second thought?'
"..."
In the next second, Sakuramiya Hitomi lowered her head slightly and spoke up,
"I will say it! I will tell the president right now!!"
"Eldest Miss!!"
"..."
Tong Yingying narrowed her eyes, and Nara's expression also changed.
But it was already too late to stop her. She watched as Sakuramiya Hitomi, with a pale face, tremblingly reached out her finger and disabled the mute button.
"...President."
After a second of silence, she finally spoke.
"Mhm, I am still here, Sakuramiya."
"Actually... I... do not..."
Sakuramiya clenched her teeth, forcing out the lies that she was usually so adept at spinning, word by painful word.
But at this mont, the phrase "like you at all" that she had yet to vocalize felt incredibly stiff.
It felt as though a saw was grinding against her throat.
"What is it?"
"Actually, I do not like you at—"
"Smack!"
But right in the split second before Sakuramiya Hitomi could finish her sentence, a hand clamped down on her palm like a phantom.
"!!"
Her pupils contracted sharply as she looked up.
She saw an expressionless Tong Yingying standing right in front of her. She had closed the distance almost instantaneously, grabbing her hand before anyone else could even react.
"..."
Sakuramiya Hitomi froze briefly, about to speak, but Tong Yingying simply stared at her.
The next second, Tong Yingying's slender finger tapped lightly, ending the call.
"Beep~ Beep~ Beep~"
"You..."
Disbelief covered Sakuramiya Hitomi's face, but after doing all this, Tong Yingying simply released her hand.
She slipped her raised gun back into the inner pocket of her jacket, seemingly completely unbothered by the fact that the surrounding bodyguards still had their guns aid at her.
Tong Yingying rely lowered her eyelids, looking straight at Sakuramiya Hitomi with a smile as she said,
"Forget it...
"When dealing with a flat-chested little girl like you, I consider it beneath
to win using tricks like this."
After saying this, the smile on her face slowly faded, her expression turning into that of a true demon passing judgnt.
"The conditions have changed.
"Sakayori Mina, I want to know all the details of the night Mama Bai died.
"At the sa ti, I am giving you one month to capture the murderer who assassinated Mama Bai back then and bring them to ."
Saying this, Tong Yingying turned her head with a sinister smile, looking at Nara collapsed on the ground, and asked,
"Do you hear ?"
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