The next day at noon, Ning Ge was sorting company files with Cheng Su when Ying Xiaoya arrived, launching straight into a tirade against him.
"You almost got me killed, my mom interrogated me all night yesterday, I was almost tortured!"
She plonked herself down and noticed Ning Ge frantically winking at her, so she asked, "What’s wrong with your eyes?"
Ning Ge rolled his eyes exasperatedly; how could she be so oblivious?
Ying Xiaoya was puzzled until she caught sight of Cheng Su’s gossip-filled gaze, and then she began to understand.
"Let me guess, Ning Ge saying he wouldn’t come over to my place for dinner last night was because you two had a date?"
"No, it wasn’t!"
"Who would date him!"
Ning Ge and Ying Xiaoya protested in unison.
Cheng Su narrowed her eyes.
Ying Xiaoya, brimming with excitement, said, "Susu, we went to take revenge for you last night!"
"Hey, stop it," Ning Ge tried to cut her off.
Cheng Su sensed something was off. "Revenge for what?"
"Why not tell Susu? It’s like this, Ning Ge dragged me to Joy Soon Loy last night, and you wouldn’t believe, we..." Ying Xiaoya spilled the beans about their ’heroic deeds’ from the previous evening.
Unable to stop her, Ning Ge could only sit up straight, sneaking glances at Cheng Su to see if she was pleased or waiting for her praise.
But Cheng Su didn’t look happy at all; instead, the more she listened, the darker her face grew, ending with not even a hint of a smile. Far from being pleased, she was clearly angry.
Ying Xiaoya couldn’t continue, she cautiously eyed Cheng Su, "Susu, what’s wrong? Aren’t you happy? That guy messed with your restaurant, so we simply bit back!"
"How am I supposed to be happy?" Cheng Su glanced at them indifferently and said, "Should I be glad that you did what that scoundrel does? One who has studied abroad, and one a university student; is it extortion you learned in your schools? Pardon me for my ignorance."
"No, we were..."
"What were you? Weren’t those cockroaches put there by you two? Did you or did you not take money from someone else’s hand? If this isn’t extortion, what is it?" Cheng Su’s voice rose, attracting attention from nearby customers.
Ying Xiaoya turned slightly pale and looked to Ning Ge, who said, "It was my idea, Xiao Ya had nothing to do with it!"
"Yeah right, Fourth Young Master Ning, how skillful you are. Not only at extortion but also at bullying others with your power. So this is how you do things in Beijing, huh? The Capital is Fourth Young Master Ning’s turf, you have the power and the might to bully others as you please, and prevent them from fighting back, is that it?" Cheng Su said sarcastically.
"Susu, Ning Ge just couldn’t stand seeing you bullied," Xiao Ya couldn’t help but interject.
"So what if I’m bullied and I’m okay with that, who asked you to retaliate?" Cheng Su shot back; "Your bullying has backfired. I was originally in a better position; the other party agreed to a refund, which was fair enough since they paid ten yuan. But what about you two? You left without paying for your meal and used underhanded tactics to extort? Tell me, who is really at a disadvantage here, and who is the lower of the two? I think your methods are even more despicable than theirs."
Ying Xiaoya and Ning Ge said nothing.
"It’s my fault for thinking I was doing something good, if you don’t appreciate it, just leave it, why say such embarrassing and hurtful things?" Ning Ge argued back defiantly.
"How am I supposed to appreciate it? It doesn’t matter if others don’t know, but what if they find out that you two are my friends? What would they think of me, Cheng Su, or Joy Soon Loy?" Cheng Su scoffed. "You heard Song Xiaojang say that the owner of Joy Soon Loy and the person who placed the order with me were in cahoots, and assumed they were conspiring against me. What about the other parties? Seeing you two with me, won’t they think I’m seeking retribution?"
"After all is said and done, you’re just afraid we’ll drag down both you and Joy Soon Loy!" Ning Ge yelled back, somewhat disappointedly.