There was a long beat of silence. As Fu Renshu uttered the number eleven, even Ruomei was shocked. She was confident that Lihua was going to lose. But to think...

The hall resounded with a burst of loud laughter as Kang Hongqi said, "O-OMG! Eleven? Seriously? Only eleven?" He clutched his stomach as he rolled, laughing hard. His ridiculed gaze landed on Jiang Fai.

"I am sorry bro~ I know this is not funny but...eleven? Your pathetic drawings managed to sell eleven copies?"

Kang Yuming sneered. "Bro, I think that that eleven number is also fake. I am sure that nobody bought it, so he just sold them to himself."

Kang Hongqi laughed even more. "Come on, Jiang Fai. If you had to sell it yourself, then at least, you should have sold a hundred copies."

Kang Yuming berated. "Hongqi, Meifen, enough! It's sad that he lost so badly. You shouldn't humiliate him. He is your brother."

She didn't fail to act as a kind woman who was concerned about Jiang Fai too. When Li Tingzhe heard the result, joy burst in his chest to know that he won't have to divorce Jiang Xiurang. The icing on the cake was that she would come to live with him again. He arrogantly glanced at her with a sly smile on his lips.

Ruomei had an urge to laugh, but she held it in because she didn't want others to have a bad image of her. As a competitor, she was supposed to act kind and maybe sorry too for Lihua's loss.

Her gentle voice was laced in sadness and pity. "Lixue, it's okay. I know you must be feeling horrible, but the most important thing is that you worked hard. Sadly, it didn't pay off, but it's important to recognize one's efforts too."

Shi Zhen shook his head. "Ruomei, you are too kind. If it was someone else, he or she would have been laughing hard at her defeat. But you are still so respectful."

Ruomei smiled. "Of course, Dad. That is what you have taught me. It isn't right to insult your competitor like that."

He smiled. "I am proud of you."

The media and the few business reporters too whispered amongst themselves.

"I always knew that Shi Ruomei would win, but I thought that there would be at least some tough competition."

"Yeah, this is nowhere near to what she has achieved."

"Was this even a competition?"

"To think that she performed so badly…"

One of them sighed. "Well, this is the difference between an amateur and an educated, experienced professional. An amateur shouldn't be too arrogant."

Everybody nodded in unison.

Hearing those insults, Jiang Weizhe, who had been quietly listening to everything with a poker face, had a grim expression. He narrowed his eyes and glanced at Fu Shen, his assistant.

"They shouldn't talk about my daughter-in-law like that," his quiet but cold voice rang in the air with the hint of an aggrieved tone in it. "I don't like it."

Fu Shen solemnly nodded.

"They should learn to be patient."

"It will be done, Master."

"En."

Fu Shen didn't need to hear it from his master's mouth as for what was supposed to be done. If Jiang Weizhe was dissatisfied with something, there was only one result.

Destruction.

Jiang Xiurang felt her mind go completely blank.

We lost…

That meant she was supposed to go back to that hell again.

The Old Madam chuckled and signaled the maid. She immediately brought her bags and put them in front. "See? We don't have to waste time on this. Xiurang and Fai are ready to leave."

Li Tingzhe couldn't help but feel excited. He drooled at the thought of her coming back. Kang Yuming bit her lip and felt furious at his reaction. She was happy to see her lose, but it also meant that she would return.

You bitch. Just wait until you are back. I will make your life a living hell!

She sneered as she already thought of many ways to deal with her. At the peak of her troubles, she would kill Jiang Xiurang and get rid of her.

Seeing Li Tingzhe so mesmerized by her beauty today, she realized that her position would always be in danger as long as she was around. Her death was the only solution to her problems and get him back.

Jiang Xiurang froze. Her face turned pale. But this wasn't time to mope in sadness. Somebody else needed more comfort.

She quickly came out of it and worriedly looked at her son. She smiled and gently held his hand. "Fai. Don't worry about it, okay? I am proud of you. I... always thought that you hated me. But you worked so hard in the last month and fought my battle. I was supposed to fight this, but I dumped everything on your shoulders. So-"

Jiang Fai rolled his eyes. "Mom, take a chill pill."

She was taken aback by his carefree response. Here, he lost by such a big margin, and he wasn't looking depressed at all. She thought that he would blame himself and lose all hope.

"H-Huh?"

He shrugged. "Turn your head and take a look at my sister-in-law."

Puzzled, she glanced at her and was stunned to see Lihua smiling instead of looking crushed by her defeat.

"Why is she still smiling?"

Jiang Fai smirked. "Because we haven't lost yet. I don't know what is up to, but she definitely has something up her sleeve."

Lihua sighed. "Assistant Fu. You didn't complete your report. Can we do this quickly pretty please? So that Fai Fai and I can start celebrating!"

Everybody looked at her wide-eyed. They stared at her as if she was an idiot.

Huh!? Celebrate what?

"Has she gone into a trauma?"

"Definitely! Otherwise, why would she be babbling about the celebration? Clearly, she lost."

Kang Hongqi laughed and mocked Jiang Fai. "Look at your sister-in-law who protected you in school. She has gone crazy! I think it's time that you protect her now hahaha!"

Ruomei pursed her lips. "Lixue. There is no need to drag this anymore. The result is not going to change. It's hard, but you will have to accept your defeat."

"Oh, but it will change~" Lihua smiled.

****

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