Mind reading saves the whole family; I'm firmly in the role of a charlatan.

Chapter 17 Full of Mischief

Xi Jingyue, who also knew the whole story, almost lost his composure. After a moment, he looked at everyone for confirmation: "Is that so?"

Apart from Du Hexuan, who wholeheartedly supported his sister, no one else dared to speak. They either looked up at the sky or the ground, but never at Xi Jingyue.

Jiang Huaiying wanted to refute, but her wrist was still in someone else's hand, so she could only grit her teeth and take the blame: "...Yes, she's right."

Xi Jingyue sighed deeply, seemingly believing this absurd claim: "President Jiang, what you're doing is really a bit impolite."

Jiang Huaiying knew she had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill today, and said coldly, "Today is my fault. I failed to properly manage my subordinates, causing such a mess. I will punish myself with three drinks to apologize to President Xi. I will pay for this table tonight, and I will have the boss bring everyone another table later."

Du Hexuan scoffed, thinking to himself, "You want to treat me? I'd rather not eat it."

Zhou Shunzhe and Director Gao simply didn't dare to speak; such a battle of titans was not something these little devils could get involved in.

Xi Jingyue understood Jiang Huaiying's meaning more clearly: she was bowing down to him today, but not to the people in the room.

He glanced at Du Anrao without leaving a trace, only to see her looking lost in thought, clearly not interested in the outcome of their negotiations.

For some reason, a slight bias arose in my heart, and I smiled and said, "I don't mind, but today's dinner was only invited by Actor Du because of me. President Jiang's actions are somewhat disappointing."

These words were a blatant message to Jiang Huaiying that the people she should apologize to were not herself, but the guests in the room.

Not only Jiang Huaiying, but also Zhou Shunzhe and the others looked over in surprise, finding it hard to believe that Xi Jingyue would offend Jiang Huaiying, a big shot in the industry, for their sake.

Jiang Huaiying was surprised that Xi Jingyue would be so disrespectful to her, and her expression turned even uglier after the initial shock.

If it were just an apology, that would be fine. Xi Jingyue's attitude clearly indicates that he intends to protect the Du siblings. If he were to cause trouble for a few more people because of what happened today, he might offend Xi Jingyue.

Although the Xi family doesn't have much of a foothold in the entertainment industry, top-tier wealthy families like them have a complex and intricate network of connections. Offending them could lead to your downfall at any time.

Ultimately, circumstances were beyond her control. She couldn't win a fight, and she dared not offend anyone easily. Jiang Huaiying could only swallow her bitterness in silence.

"Mr. Xi is right. I am truly sorry to have disturbed your enjoyment of dinner tonight. Consider this drink my apology."

Jiang Huaiying said this through gritted teeth, then picked up the only surviving glass of baijiu on the table and drank it all in one gulp.

Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Du Anrao silently withdrew his hand.

Jiang Huaiying shook her numb right hand, her cold gaze sweeping over everyone in the room before finally venting her anger on the few bodyguards who were staggering to their feet.

"Why aren't you leaving? You're making a fool of yourself."

Watching this industry queen leave indignantly surrounded by bodyguards, Du Anrao's gaze towards Xi Jingyue brightened slightly.

[Okay, Mr. Xi, I admit I was a bit too loud when I spoke to you earlier! Just a few words and you've already forced that old witch to bow her head and apologize to us—that's incredibly impressive!]

Du Hexuan was secretly pleased with Jiang Huaiying's humiliation, but upon hearing this, he immediately became alarmed. He looked at Xi Jingyue as if he were looking at a pig that might steal his cabbage at any moment, his eyes blazing with daggers.

Xi Jingyue naturally noticed Du Hexuan's hostility towards him, his eyes flashing slightly as if he were deep in thought.

Du Hexuan was unaware that his bitter and resentful appearance had aroused someone's suspicion. Just as he was about to sharpen his knife against the wild boar, he heard Du Anrao add a sentence with great interest.

Because of what happened tonight, we're now practically brothers!

Du Hexuan: "?" Don't talk so much. Xi Jingyue: "..." Okay, but no need.

"I was also at fault today. I shouldn't have rashly agreed to other people's request to share a table, which gave everyone a bad experience. I'm really sorry."

Director Gao finally found an opportunity to interject and hurriedly stated, "President Xi, you're too kind. This was purely an accident, and it's not your fault at all."

"Then I'll have someone prepare another table..."

Before Xi Jingyue could finish speaking, Du Hexuan stopped him, saying, "No need. It's already late, and we have filming tomorrow. I want to take my sister home to rest first."

Although others dared not be as blunt as he was, they also expressed their opinions.

We were actually full just now.

"Yes, yes, we've already eaten enough. Ordering another table would be a waste, no need to go through all that trouble."

No wonder Zhou Shunzhe and the others looked bitter; if they continued eating like this, they were genuinely worried about indigestion.

Xi Jingyue knew that after tonight's events, everyone probably had no appetite, so he didn't force them.

“Then please allow me to take you back.” Xi Jingyue glanced at Du Anrao and added before Du Hexuan could refuse, “Consider it my apology for what happened tonight.”

Du Hexuan choked, his face darkening as he remained silent.

There were too many people, so Xi Jingyue called another car on short notice.

Having spent the entire night on tenterhooks, Zhou Shunzhe and Director Gao immediately jumped into the car they had just called and locked the doors, explaining that they were not going the same way as Du Anrao and asked Xi Jingyue to personally take them home.

Du Hexuan strongly condemned and despised the two's desertion. After pushing his sister into the car, he hurriedly followed and sat firmly between the two, preventing any physical contact between his sister and the person next to him.

Du Anrao, however, was completely unaware of his good intentions and secretly glanced at Xi Jingyue a few times, passing Du Hexuan.

[President Xi is such a nice guy, he even personally drove us home. Good-looking, rich, and so approachable—could he be the legendary…eligible bachelor?]

Xi Jingyue, taken aback by the description, was speechless.

Du Hexuan was conflicted, Du Hexuan remained silent, Du Hexuan was so angry that his head was practically steaming!

"How did President Xi and President Jiang meet? You two seemed quite familiar with each other during your conversation just now."

As Du Hexuan said this, he winked at his sister as if his eyes were twitching, as if to say, "My dear sister, did you hear that? This Mr. Xi, whom you have a good impression of, is quite familiar with that crazy woman, Mr. Jiang."

As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together. So, Mr. Jiang is an oddball, but can this Mr. Xi be a good guy?
Unfortunately, Du Anrao's attention was not on him; the movie star's flirtatious glances were all directed at the blind man.

Xi Jingyue saw through Du Hexuan's little scheme and immediately found the two siblings quite interesting.

One who appears innocent but is actually full of evil intentions, and who lies without even thinking before he speaks.

One is a highly skilled actor, but when it comes to anything related to his sister, his emotions are written all over his face.

Right now, I wish I could kick him off the car!
(End of this chapter)