Xie Xuanchen didn’t expect this turn of events, he was the one who caught her cheating, but in the end he was the one being questioned.
“Old acquaintance?” Xie Xuanchen found it strange when he heard these words, “I don’t even know her, how can she be my old acquaintance?”
“Then why did she stare right at you, she looked like she was almost about to cry in the end?”
“How would I know.” Xie Xuanchen said without thinking much about it, “I don’t even know her father, why would I know who she is? If it wasn’t because you said that you were used as her substitute, I would be too lazy to even meet them.”
Mu Mingtang stared at Xie Xuanchen’s expression carefully, and said with doubt: “Really?”
“Yeah. There are so many people who like to stare at me. How can I know each and every one of them.” After Xie Xuanchen finished speaking, he suddenly felt that something was wrong. “Hold on, I was asking about you and Xie Xuanji, how can you ignore my question and accuse me in return?”
“You were the one who ignored my question and accused me in return.” Mu Mingtang laughed, she wasn’t scared of him at all, raised her eyebrows and taunted back, “I have nothing to hide, is it because you can’t explain your relationship with your old acquaintance, so that’s why you keep mentioning something that is completely non existent. Are you trying to divert my attention?”
Xie Xuanchen looked at her speechlessly. After a while, he nodded and said: “Yes, I also think you’re using the same trick on me.”
The two of them glared at each other, they questioned each other, but in the end, they didn’t unravel anything, so they could only take a step back and let the topic come to an end. Mu Mingtang snorted and complained: “I feel really wronged. It was you who acted suspiciously. In the end I was the one being questioned.”
“I feel even wronged.” Xie Xuanchen raised an eyebrow and said, “I don’t even know her.”
Xie Xuanchen spoke calmly, his eyes twinkled, and he didn’t seem guilty of lying. Mu Mingtang couldn’t spot anything too suspicious, and she was half convinced, maybe, what he said was true? But then Mu Mingtang remembered that this guy was the best at acting, so she had better stay doubtful first.
The two made peace, but in fact they were secretly afraid that they got cheated on. At this time, Xiang Nanchun and the others had returned, there were other people in the room, so Mu Mingtang and Xie Xuanchen were too embarrassed to argue further. Mu Mingtang then helped Xie Xuanchen to slowly walk back.
They walked around the veranda of the house and talked. Xie Xuanchen asked: “You said earlier that you were adopted because you looked like Jiang Mingwei, and you were almost engaged to Xie Xuanji. I thought you two really looked similar. But after seeing the both of you today, you guys look completely different.”
Mu Mingtang almost said that she and Xie Xuanji were not nearly engaged, but were already engaged, but her rationale prevented her from doing so. Mu Mingtang didn’t correct Xie Xuanchen, but said: “Yes, I didn’t bump into Jiang Mingwei when I entered Jiang’s Manor. The others said that I really looked like her, so I thought I really did. Later on, when Jiang Mingwei came back, I saw her with my own two eyes, but I didn’t think we looked alike.”
Mu Mingtang frowned when she said that, and thought: “Perhaps, as Mrs. Jiang said, it’s our spirits that resemble each other?”
“Spirits? Are you talking about the way you two speak and act?”
“Correct.”
Xie Xuanchen thought about it for a while, and commented truthfully: “To be honest, you don’t resemble each other in that aspect either.”
Mu Mingtang glared at him angrily: “We used to be alike. When I was in the Jiang Manor, I tried my best to imitate her, the way I talked and my actions were very elegant. I just don’t bother to try hard now.”
Xie Xuanchen didn’t speak. Mu Mingtang thought that Xie Xuanchen couldn’t imagine her being elegant, and was slightly frustrated: “Why, can’t you imagine me being that way?”
“No.” Xie Xuanchen shook his head and sighed softly, “You have suffered so much before. Why should you imitate a person? You should comfortably be the person you really are, constantly comparing yourself to others, that’s really meaningless.”
Mu Mingtang didn’t expect Xie Xuanchen to say this, and looked at him in surprise.
“Why are you looking at me?” Xie Xuanchen glanced at her and said, “My father never liked me even when I was a child. When he saw people who worked really hard, he felt that I wasn’t working hard enough. When he saw the poor scholars from the common folk, he felt that I was wasting too much money. When Xie Xuanji came, he felt that I wasn’t gentle enough.