Strike Back, Proud Goddess!

Reassured by Liu Chengyu, Xiao Jinning nodded in delight and walked outside, holding Liu Chengyu’s arm. The sales clerk in the styling salon looked at their backs with envy and said, “Xiao Jinning is so intimate to her fiance.”

On the other side of things, Xiao Sa and Xiao Jing had soon arrived at the banquet. It was a cocktail party hosted by an influential person of City A to facilitate the communication of the upper class in City A. Xiao Jing and Xiao Sa usually didn’t like coming to such occasions, but Xiao Sa’s company had received the invitation, while their vice president had gone to the City S on business, so Xiao Jing had had no choice but come here on behalf of Qiao’s International Group.

Why didn’t the vice president of Qiao’s International Group come over?

The vice president had to attend to numerous affairs every day and had no time to attend these kinds of parties, so Xiao Jing was the best person to be here.

Although Xiao Jing also served as vice president in Qiao’s International Group, he owned shares of the group and so he was also a shareholder. Therefore, as he was not as busy as the hired vice president, it was more suitable for him to attend.

Moreover, as soon as the invitation was sent to the company, Qiao Liang’s secretary had brought it directly to his office. How could he decline?

The two brothers went in after handing the invitation card to the receptionist at the door. Xiao Jing took two glasses of champagne from the waiter’s tray and handed a cup to Xiao Sa. Looking at the crowded hall, he gave a speechless shrug and said, “In truth, this banquet is a realistic portrayal of people from all walks of life building relationships with each other.”

“I want to watch the movie.” Looking at the crowded hall, Xiao Sa was sure that no one would find out even if they left. There were so many people—who would notice if they didn’t come? In any case, they had given the invitation card to the receptionist.

When the two brothers were about to leave, somebody stopped them. Upon hearing a familiar voice, the two brothers exchanged a glance and turned around to greet Xiao Hongyi and Lin Ru indifferently. Xiao Sa said, “Uncle, Aunt, you came to the banquet too?”

Xiao Hongyi nodded indifferently and asked, “Only the two of you came?”

Xiao Jing muttered with a cold face, “We wouldn’t have come here if we knew we would meet you.” His voice was loud enough for the four of them hear.

Lin Ru was very angry when she heard this. When Jinning had come back home yesterday, she told her that she lost that endorsement contract because of a trick played by the two brothers. She wanted to call them to ask why they did so, but Xiao Hongyi had stopped her. She hadn’t expected for them to still dare talk to her like this upon meeting her. They simply went too far in bullying her!

Lin Ru glared at them with a scowl and asked harshly, “How could you do such a terrible thing to Jinning? Did she ever offend you? How could you try so hard to ruin her career?! Would it be good for you if she lost her endorsement? Aren’t you shareholders of Xiao’s Group? Aren’t you from the Xiao Family?”

Seeing that Lin Ru was so desperate to defend Xiao Jinning, Xiao Jing sneered, “Aunt, what do you mean? When did we ruin her endorsements? Do you mean OLS’s endorsement? Are you talking about what happened yesterday? Xiao Jinning told you we ruined her endorsement? She is really good at calling white as black…”

Xiao Jing still wanted to continue, but Xiao Sa stopped him and said, “Stop it. Don’t you know about a certain somebody’s ability to call black as white? She could even claim a random girl as her biological daughter. Why can’t she claim we did something we have never done?”

Lin Ru’s face turned darker. She stepped forward and glared at them, saying, “Hey, watch your tongue!”

“So what? Is Aunt going to drive me out of the Xiao Family?” Xiao Jing stared at Lin Ru coldly. “Can you?”

Lin Ru raised her hand to hit Xiao Jing, but Xiao Hongyi hurriedly stopped her. “What are you doing? So many people are looking at us!”

Lin Ru glared at Xiao Hongyi and replied, “Don’t you see how presumptuous they are? Aren’t they implying that I’m not a member of the Xiao Family? That I’m only an outsider!”

Xiao Hongyi turned to look at the two brothers, but Xiao Jing stepped up and said, “Aunt, Uncle, I don’t mean to offend you both, but can you offer any evidence in support of what you said? You can’t only listen to Xiao Jinning’s side of the story. You should also hear what we say, right? Or listen to what the other people involved say.”

Just at the moment, He Wanning came out of the hall. It seemed that he was going to leave. Xiao Jing immediately called out to him, “Director He!”

A touch of surprise flicked across He Wanning’s eyes when he saw them, but he quickly came over and greeted them with a smile, “Mr. Xiao Sa, Mr. Xiao Jing…” When he glimpsed Xiao Hongyi and Lin Ru, however, his face turned cold and he said coldly, “So President Xiao and President Lin are also here.”

Very satisfied with the change on He Wanning’s face, Xiao Jing said with a smile, “Aunt insisted that we should give her an explanation. She claimed that Xiao Jinning lost the endorsement because Sa and I played a part in it, and we made you replace Xiao Jinning with someone else. Can you explain to her?”

He Wanning was told that the two had met Xiao Jinning in the underground parking lot yesterday. Perhaps Xiao Jinning misunderstood them when they tried to stop her from going upstairs to look for him. With this thought in mind, he frowned and said coldly to Lin Ru, “President Lin, I think our company’s lawyers have explained to you about Miss Xiao Jinning’s endorsement contract with us clearly enough at court. We canceled the contract because, firstly, Miss Xiao Jinning is not suitable for the theme of our TV commercial; secondly, Miss Xiao Jinning unilaterally breached the confidentiality agreement, so we had to terminate the contract. It has nothing to do with Mr. Xiao Jing and Mr. Xiao Sa. They came to my company yesterday because of something else that had nothing to do with the contract.”

“You are friends. Of course you’ll cover up for them!” As Xiao Jinning’s endorsement was canceled and they had even gone to court, Lin Ru was no longer polite to He Wanning. “Director He. You said you found a more suitable endorser, so I have the right to know who she is, yes?”

He Wanning smiled, but his smile was cold. He shook his head and replied, “No, President Lin, you have no right to know that. We have to abide by the confidentiality agreement, which should not only be observed by the model, but also by our company. I think you, as the decision-maker of an entertainment company, should know this.”

Lin Ru paused, and then her face darkened. Her daughter was replaced by someone else because she didn’t abide by the confidentiality agreement. She didn’t even get any liquidated damage and had to pay an attorney fee for the lawsuit because of this reason! Thinking of this, Lin Ru cursed at He Wanning fiercely in her heart.