Mei Mengzhen sat by the window in the Cafe, her brows tightly furrowed, clearly dissatisfied.
It had already been twenty minutes past the time she agreed to meet her bestie, and yet the person still hadn't shown up.
She picked up her phone and sent a voice message: "Sis, do you know what time it is? I'll give you five more minutes. If I don't see you in five, don't bother coming."
On the other side.
A young woman walked in from the side door of the Cafe. After scanning around, she quickly spotted her target and hastened her steps toward that direction.
The girl was dressed in a knee-length white dress, her long hair glossy and black, her round face, and big, sparkling eyes gave off a vibe of youthful serenity.
After coming to a stop right in front of her, without even thinking, she started cursing, "Mei Mengzhen, you shameless bitch, can't you understand human language? I told you to stop bothering my husband, so why do you keep chasing after him? Are you only happy if you ruin our happiness?"
There were so many things packed into the girl's opening line that it immediately grabbed everyone's attention in the shop.
Mei Mengzhen hadn't even reacted yet when the girl snatched up the coffee off the table and poured it straight onto her face.
Right now, Mei Mengzhen had only one thought: Thank goodness I ordered an iced Americano—if it had been hot, I'd be needing reconstructive surgery.
But that wasn't the point. Once Mei Mengzhen saw who it was, she grew furious: "Are you insane? Who's stealing your man?"
"Still denying it? I saw a chick messaging my husband to meet at this Cafe. The minute I walk in, I see you. If it's not you, then who?" the girl said angrily.
Mei Mengzhen sneered, "Yeah, I'm here waiting for someone, but it ain't your husband. And who's your husband anyway? That's my ex-boyfriend. I get that you feel insecure after snatching him as the mistress, but you can't keep hassling me because of your own paranoia."
"You, you're still making excuses! What are the odds? He comes to this Cafe and you just happen to be here too? You think I'm stupid?"
"Oh, you're definitely stupid. If a guy cheats once, he'll cheat again. Who knows which chick he's messing around with now? You, my dear, are barking up the wrong tree." Mei Mengzhen said, full of contempt.
Mei Mengzhen was basically rubbing it in her face, accusing her boyfriend of cheating. Whether it was true or not, the girl was livid, and lifted her hand, wanting to slap the woman in front of her to vent her anger.
Mei Mengzhen was already braced for a fight; the second she dared make a move, Mei Mengzhen would retaliate before she knew what hit her.
But just as the girl's hand was raised, someone yanked her arm from behind, holding it in a death grip.
Mei Mengzhen glanced sideways and felt even more annoyed, "Let go."
The man opened his mouth, looking like he wanted to ask what the hell was going on, but before he could say a word, the girl in front instantly plastered a look of aggrieved innocence on her face and threw herself into his arms, hugging him tight. The man, caught off guard, let go of Mei Mengzhen's hand as he got full-on glomped.
The crowd enjoying the drama wondered what would happen next, when the girl wailed miserably, "Acheng, she tried to hit me."
The man called Acheng was none other than Jiang Cheng, her ex-boyfriend, and the girl with the over-the-top "White Lotus" vibes was the homewrecker mistress named Yu Duoduo.
This White Lotus act—Mei Mengzhen was all too familiar with it. Back when Yu Duoduo hadn't officially replaced her, she'd lost out because of this White Lotus routine more than once.
Jiang Cheng frowned and demanded, "Why did you try to hit her?"
Yu Duoduo looked smug, see, Jiang Cheng was still on her side.
At this point, the gawkers in the coffee shop all gasped after Jiang Cheng's question.
He seriously bought that?
Mei Mengzhen rubbed her sore wrist with a cold laugh. Back then, she'd held her tongue because she cared what Jiang Cheng thought. Now, his opinions didn't mean shit to her.
Mei Mengzhen said disdainfully, "Lady, my slap hasn't even landed yet, and you're already lying with your dog eyes wide open."
Bossy.
That was the most genuine reaction the crowd could muster for Mei Mengzhen.
"Zhenzhen, why are you talking like that?" The crowd around was thick, and Jiang Cheng felt like Mei Mengzhen was embarrassing him, "Everyone's watching."
"So what if they're watching? The embarrassment isn't mine. I was just sitting here minding my own business, your little mistress walks right over and dumps coffee all over me. What, she messes up but still acts all high and mighty? Who does she think she is? I'm not her mom, why should I spoil her?"
"When did you get so...," Jiang Cheng frowned even harder and looked at her, as if searching for the right word, "unreasonable?"
"Who are you calling mistress? Let me warn you, stop clinging to Acheng. I'm his wife now," Yu Duoduo seemed desperate to establish her status, but honestly, who cared?
"Warn me? Do you not remember how I warned you back then? Didn't stop you from stealing him anyway. I seriously doubt you've got a few screws loose to fall for this loser. But hey, it's good you two are together. If you broke up, you'd just go ruin someone else's life."
Yu Duoduo choked on the insults, unwilling to let it go, aggressively acting as if she'd strike.
Mei Mengzhen just smirked, "Oh, you wanna brawl with me? Forget your White Lotus act—let me tell you, once you make a move, years of pretending will go out the window."
Yu Duoduo glanced at Jiang Cheng, hurriedly dropped her hand, and tried desperately to cover it up, "You're talking nonsense, who's pretending? You... Acheng, don't believe her."
"Hmph, you can't keep your man in line, coming after me won't help. Guys like him are nothing to me. And as your 'big sister,' let me give you a heartfelt warning: if you could steal him, you'd better be ready for someone else to steal him too—but that someone sure as hell won't be me."
Mei Mengzhen sized up the scumbag couple, "Honestly, I wish you both a long and happy life together. Don't be ungrateful."
After saying her piece, Mei Mengzhen was ready to grab her bag and leave, but when she saw the coffee stains all over herself, her anger spiked again. She'd already reached the door, but the more she thought about it, the more pissed she got. So she turned back, pulled a hundred out of her purse, handed it to a random hot guy, and casually snatched the fresh coffee out of his hands.
Without missing a beat, she tossed that coffee straight into Yu Duoduo's face with a smirk: "Here's your return gift. You're welcome."
After drenching Yu Duoduo, Mei Mengzhen strode out of the Cafe feeling vindicated, just as her long-overdue bestie, Liang Xiao, finally called.
She was boasting about her glorious triumph on the phone, walking toward the down escalator, when suddenly, Yu Duoduo lost it and charged out of the Cafe.
Mei Mengzhen, caught off guard, got shoved down the escalator by a mad Yu Duoduo.
She didn't even have the time to register what happened—she just tumbled all the way down.
After catching a familiar whiff of Osmanthus scent, Mei Mengzhen completely lost consciousness.