Li Wen’s heart was flooded with myriad thoughts, and facing An Yiqing, the incredibly low-profile owner of Yuyuanzhai, she was so distraught she could almost cry. Not even the most basic hatred could she muster.
There was no helping it, the disparity between the two was too vast. One was the darling of Xuandu’s top-tier wealthy Xuanjin family, and the other was an ordinary citizen scraping by with odd jobs, Li Wen couldn’t even afford to hate. At that moment, her heart was filled with nothing but endless fear.
What if An Yiqing wanted to deal with her, would she lose her job? Would she have to leave Xuandu City? Would she have to return to that backwater village?
No! She didn’t want that! She didn’t want that!
It had taken her over a decade to claw her way out of that rural backwater and into the urban life she had dreamt of, how could she just go back!
Ignoring the pain in her body, Li Wen struggled up from the ground in a haste, scrambling on her hands and knees to An Yiqing’s feet, her shaking hands tightly clutching the hem of her trousers.
"Miss An, Miss An! I was wrong! I was wrong! It was my lack of insight! It’s all my fault! You have a generous heart, please forgive me! I beg you! I beg you!" Li Wen, with snot and tears streaming down her face, clutched at An Yiqing’s trousers and kowtowed as she spoke.
An Yiqing looked down, her gaze cold as she watched the woman crying and scraping at her feet, having cast aside all her dignity. A trace of indifference and sympathy crossed her clear eyes.
Yes, she sympathized with Li Wen.
An Yiqing sympathized with her for losing the most basic principles of being human, for discarding all dignity in pursuit of wealth and status, for becoming a slave to power and money, for in the decades to come... having no place to stand in Xuandu City!
Without another look, An Yiqing deftly removed her trouser leg from Li Wen’s grasp.
Turning around, she walked away with unhurried steps, her elegance untarnished, leaving behind only her icy words in the air.
"Brother Yusheng, take her back to Ital. From now on, she’s not allowed to appear anywhere I am!"
With that one sentence, she sealed the course of Li Wen’s life for the coming decades!
Kneeling on the ground, staring blankly at the figure that had already disappeared from the hall, Li Wen’s complexion had long lost all color. The last words An Yiqing left her with echoed in her mind: she’s not allowed to appear anywhere I am!
This meant, in Xuandu City, there was no longer a place for Li Wen! Perhaps, even in other cities, there would be no refuge for her!
By that time, Li Wen had lost all her previous composure and shrewdness, seeming to age a decade in an instant, with nothing in her eyes but defeat and fear.
Zhang Yuksheng looked at the distraught Li Wen and sighed deeply, shaking his head helplessly. He didn’t know what had transpired between An Yiqing and Li Wen. But Zhang Yuksheng knew that his mistress always forgave when she could. Throughout the years, unless pushed to her limits and her bottom line breached, she would never totally annihilate anyone!
It seemed that Li Wen had done something to incur public wrath!
Zhang Yuksheng bent down and, without the slightest pity, dragged her up from the ground and out of the exhibition hall.
The incident with Li Wen was just a trivial interlude; An Yiqing didn’t take it to heart, nor did anyone else.
The staff of Yuyuanzhai arranged their work one by one, beginning to prepare for the arrival of guests.
At the entrance of the exhibition hall of Yuyuanzhai, flowers bloomed splendidly and fragrances wafted through the air.
As time went on, vehicles began to come and go at the entrance, and the crowd slowly grew.