The lady accused of stealing her fiancé's fiancée immediately put her hands on her hips and raised her voice, "What's so great about you? Am I wrong? How dare you steal your sister's fiancé, and have the nerve to shamelessly cling to Mr. Jin and attend the party, yet you can't stand hearing others gossip about you..."
"Exactly, dressed like that, you're definitely not a good person."
"Pretending to be pure."
The other two complained in hushed tones, but their words were clearly audible.
Su Ding sneered, about to retort, when she heard someone approaching down the corridor, a clear voice quickly rang out:
"You gossiping hens have the audacity to talk about others. Look in the mirror and see what freaks you are!"
Before the words even fell, Xin Jia'er, in her high heels, walked over quickly.
She raised her delicate and small face, haughtily pointing at the women, "Each of you is so old, your wrinkles could kill flies. Just mind your own husbands, why are you so nosy all the time?"
"You! You..." The three middle-aged ladies were rendered speechless by her words.
Although they were older, their expensive beauty treatments had kept them much younger and prettier than their peers, still possessing a certain charm. How dare this little brat speak to them like this.
"Who do you think you are, to speak out of turn?!" the leading middle-aged lady roared.
"And who do you think you are, Grandma?" Xin Jia'er sneered, then walked over and hooked her arm around Su Ding's. "This is my friend, and her business is my business."
"She looks like the Xin family's daughter," the lady behind them said timidly.
"The Xin family?!"
The leading lady's expression immediately changed. The Xin family's status in Jiangcheng was second only to the Jin family. How could they afford to offend them?
"It's a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding. Miss Xin, you're busy, we'll be going now."
One lady tugged at her companion's arm, and the three of them quickly scurried away.
Xin Jia'er let out a charming hum, then turned to Su Ding, a wide smile on her face, "Sister Su Ding, what a coincidence."
Su Ding had a good impression of Xin Jia'er and nodded with a smile, "Thank you for your help just now."
Xin Jia'er affectionately took her hand, "What's there to thank each other for? You saved my life, you know."
Su Ding let her hold her arm and said with a smile, "Yes, yes, yes."
Xin Jia'er chuckled, "I'm going in, wait for me, okay? I want to talk to you, I haven't seen you for days because you've been so busy."
Su Ding felt a pang of awkwardness, remembering how she had deliberately put off Xin Jia'er's invitations. "Okay, I'll wait here for you."
She stood outside, glanced at her phone, and waited quietly.
In fact, if Xu Lang hadn't frequently used Xin Jia'er's WeChat to contact her, she might not have always rejected Xin Jia'er.
After all, she didn't have many friends in Jiangcheng, and it was rare to meet such a lovely girl.
Soon, Xin Jia'er came out, "Sister Su Ding, I'm here."
She casually linked arms with Su Ding, as if they were close friends, and began to chat.
"I didn't even want to come, but Lang insisted I come with him, saying it would help expand my network. I don't know anyone here, so I didn't expect to run into you, haha, what good luck."
Su Ding silently grumbled: If you hadn't brought him, given his status, he wouldn't even qualify to be here.
Recalling Xu Lang messaging her about investment matters that evening, Su Ding really wished she could just delete the chat. Now that she had seen Xin Jia'er, it was necessary to mention it.
"Jia'er," Su Ding said softly, "There's something I want to tell you."
"Yes, what is it?" Xin Jia'er asked, confused.
"Xu Lang has been discussing the South China Sea project investment with me lately, do you know about this?"
"Investment? I didn't know," Xin Jia'er asked in surprise.
Su Ding frowned. Seeing Xin Jia'er's expression was not faked, she also wondered why Xu Lang would seek investment from her instead of the Xin family.
"Xu Lang used your WeChat to contact me," Su Ding prompted.
"Ah?" Xin Jia'er took out her phone and opened WeChat. She saw that the chat history only showed up to her last conversation with Su Ding.
She handed her phone to Su Ding to see.
Su Ding understood. It was clear that Xu Lang had stolen Xin Jia'er's phone to talk to her about investment matters. He probably assumed she wouldn't normally chat with Xin Jia'er, which emboldened him to use it.
Xu Lang's reasons for not using his own phone were, firstly, he feared Su Ding would refuse if she disagreed, and secondly, he anticipated Su Ding would help him out of consideration for the Xin family.
"Alright," Su Ding hesitated whether to show Xin Jia'er her side of the chat history. She then asked, "Jia'er, have you looked into the projects of Xu Lang's company?"
Xin Jia'er shook her head. "He always talks to my dad about it."
Looking at this innocent young girl, Su Ding became even more certain that Xu Lang was after the Xin family's power and wealth, which was why he was with Xin Jia'er.
In the bridal shop, Xu Lang had been nonchalant and perfunctory.
Now, he was secretly using her phone for personal gain. This kind of man was truly despicable.
"Did Xu Lang really talk to you about investment projects?" Xin Jia'er looked at Su Ding apologetically, remembering how Su Ding had often refused her invitations, and thought Su Ding had some issue with her.
"Has Lang caused you trouble? I'm sorry," she lowered her head. "I'll go tell my dad when I get back, and he can help Lang with his company. Dad often helps Lang's company."
Su Ding felt a headache coming on hearing such "love-struck" words.
The Xin family was wealthy and powerful, and handling such minor issues was naturally not a problem. However, Xu Lang was simply not worthy of a young lady like Xin Jia'er.
She wondered how the Xin family patriarch had agreed to their marriage.
And even more, she wondered what Xu Lang's true intentions were...
Su Ding didn't want to hurt this innocent young girl, so she patted her hand. "It's okay, don't overthink it. Since you didn't know, I'll talk to Xu Lang directly."
Xin Jia'er nodded, but still looked a bit unhappy.
Su Ding wouldn't lie to her. Did Lang really use her phone to bother Sister Su Ding? How could Lang do such a thing?
As the two walked into the main hall, Su Ding was about to look for Jin Ye when suddenly, the crystal chandelier exploded with a bang, and glass cups clattered to the floor.
The screams of terrified men and women, the sound of overturned tables and chairs, falling objects, and the deafening gunshots, roars...
In the center of the hall, a man in a waiter's uniform was holding a gun and firing randomly.
The "bang, bang, bang" of the gunshots almost shattered everyone's courage.
Wherever the dark gun barrel pointed, there were heart-wrenching screams. When Jin Ye was targeted, he bent down and dropped to the ground at the fastest speed.
At the same time, Jiang Jiayi, who was beside him, reached out to grab his sleeve.
Jin Ye understood that she was trying to save him. As he bent down to shield against the bullets, he instinctively pushed her under a table.
Jiang Jiayi's bright eyes stared intently at Jin Ye and she quickly whispered, "Thank you."
Jin Ye didn't respond. Instead, he looked worriedly towards the outside.
In the panic, he finally saw Su Ding in the crowd. Immediately, the gunman aimed the barrel at Su Ding and pulled the trigger...
Almost instinctively, he roared, "Su Ding!"