What about now?
Shen Liao put down his coffee and stared at Jiang Lai's face.
Jiang Lai pretended not to notice, continued eating, and after finishing, changed clothes, grabbed her bag, and headed out.
"Where are you going?"
Shen Liao was also heading to the office, and seeing Jiang Lai dressed like that, he knew she was going out.
"I made plans with a friend to go to the comic exhibition."
"Which friend?"
Jiang Lai frowned, walked out with her bag, and casually tossed back a remark.
"Someone you don't know."
Really now, controlling much?
Currently, Shen Liao's interest level was nearly fifty percent. Jiang Lai knew that if she continued like this, his fondness for her might reach at most sixty percent.
After all, in his eyes, she was ultimately just an accessory.
Thinking of this, Jiang Lai turned and walked away. Spending time on Shen Liao was a waste; focusing on her career was more urgent.
Outside the Xuhui Comic Exhibition Center, the line hadn't formed yet. Jiang Lai entered through a special passage with her staff badge and followed the staff to her assigned dressing room.
The original owner once became famous for cosplaying a renowned male character from a Japanese anime, gaining quite a fanbase in the anime community. Unfortunately, at the peak of her fame, the unwise original owner chose to dedicate herself entirely to Shen Liao. Nearly a year has passed, and in this fast-paced internet age, not many people remember her now.
Today's exhibition was quite grand, with the organizers even inviting popular celebrities for interviews. Ten thousand entry tickets had been snatched up in advance, making this comic exhibition an unmissable opportunity for many cosplayers.
Sharing a dressing room with Jiang Lai was a girl whose name sounded familiar, something like Xiao Fu, originally named Wei Fu, seemed to be a rather famous cosplayer.
Seeing Jiang Lai arrive alone, without even an assistant and sitting next to her without a greeting, Wei Fu complained to the makeup artist.
"What's the deal? Wasn't this dressing room supposed to be just for me?"
Jiang Lai found her somewhat familiar, pondered a while without recalling, and unexpectedly, Wei Fu spoke first.
"Jiang Lai? Damn, you're Jiang Lai!"
Looking at her, Jiang Lai still couldn't remember, but vaguely guessed this might relate to her previous forced entry into the socialite circle.
Sure enough, Wei Fu's expression quickly turned from surprise to mockery.
"How could you forget me? During the yacht party, weren't you the one who came up wanting my WeChat?"
Finally, Jiang Lai dug out a memory fragment about Wei Fu from the original's chaotic past.
A private yacht party that Wang Nan Nan took her to, where all she did was subtly hint to those rich kids that Jiang Lai was just a kept woman. Just as expected, not a single boy or girl paid her any attention.
In the end, Jiang Lai mustered her courage, approached a girl who seemed friendly, and after drinking together suggested exchanging contacts.
The girl did leave her WeChat, and after adding her, they chatted for a while, even arranged to go shopping together through WeChat.
But when she arrived at the designated place, two sleazy men showed up, touching her and calling her a whore.
That girl was Wei Fu.
Later, Jiang Lai learned that the WeChat wasn't even Wei Fu's. She had given Jiang Lai a contact of a sleazy second-generation rich kid, claiming to introduce her to business opportunities.
Following the original trajectory, Jiang Lai's demise wouldn't be unrelated to this girl. She was the closest friend of Bai Yueguang, who had never done or said anything to Jiang Lai, yet her best friend Wei Fu completely shut down all her paths.
Oh right, the guy who later appeared in Jiang Lai's life, ultimately leading her to a dead end, seemed to be recommended by Wei Fu as well.
And now nothing had happened yet, meeting again felt like inevitable confrontation.
Since she remembered, Jiang Lai couldn't pretend not to recognize her.
"As I recall, ever since I added you on WeChat, I received countless harassing calls. For a while, I thought you were running a duck shop, that eager to drum up business for your 'ducks'."
Within a few words, the already tense atmosphere in the dressing room reached a peak.
Wei Fu wasn't one to be trifled with, having a strong background and privilege, never once in her life had someone dared to verbally assault her like this!
"Jiang Lai, how dare you curse me?"
Jiang Lai frowned, visibly annoyed.
"Or what? If acting isn't enough, should I just do this?"
With that, Jiang Lai stepped forward, raised her hand, and slapped Wei Fu's half-made-up face hard.
The slap left Wei Fu dumbfounded, eyes wide, staring at Jiang Lai in utter shock.
Jiang Lai shook her hand, her voice and expression unchanged.
"Alright, now do you have anything else to say?"
One way or another, get revenge first rather than letting this woman continue her ridicule?
See, now everything's calm.
"Jiang, Lai!!"
Wei Fu's face twisted, paint-palette mix of smeared makeup and palm print. The makeup artist and assistant stood shocked, frozen in place.
Jiang Lai took a step back, watched Wei Fu grab a bottle of makeup water from the table, and threw it hard, crashing to the ground. The expensive cosmetics shattered, accompanied by a woman's furious scream.
Soon the commotion spread, and the organizers came over. Upon seeing the victim was the investor's daughter, demanded Jiang Lai leave immediately, permanently banning her from the comic exhibition.
Of course, Wei Fu wasn't going to let Jiang Lai off just like that. She called the police.
"You just wait, I'm going to sue you until you can never show your face in Jiang City again!"
The words sounded familiar; the last person to say that, Wang Nan Nan, still hadn't taken any action.
Wei Fu was sure of her victim status. As long as she claimed discomfort, she could bankrupt Jiang Lai, and unless she agreed to a settlement, Jiang Lai would land in jail!
"She hit me."
"I didn't hit."
Wei Fu almost laughed out of frustration, this woman really could lie without blinking!
"I want an injury assessment, I want to go to the hospital."
A slap like that couldn't possibly go unnoticed.
For the first time, despite being the victim entering the hospital, for a full check-up, not even the tiniest trace of abrasion was found.
Where she was slapped, not visible to the naked eye or diagnosed with any instruments, was there any sign of injury.