"Sis! Sister!"

Xi Xinyi quickly shoved Han Yifeng away, lifting her skirt and running upstairs.

When the crowd saw this, they were all instantly shocked.

They had only heard of Mayor Xi's daughter, Xi Xinyi, yet she had just called that woman in black "sister"? In fact, she had called her out loud and ran over without caring for her image.

What was happening?

The crowd all looked up in surprise as their gaze followed the direction that Xi Xinyi had ran towards. They only vaguely saw a slim, black figure on the second-floor corridor.

When Han Yifeng saw this, he frowned slightly. After a split second of thinking, he finally followed her upstairs too. The entire hall instantly became quite chaotic as whispers erupted all around. The crowd all stared in astonishment at the second floor.

"Stop right there!"

Xi Xiaye had just walked past her shortly when Deng Wenwen's stern voice was instantly heard. She wanted to ignore it, yet the two black-clothed men behind Deng Wenwen had also followed her and instantly blocked her way. She was forced to stop.

"You've already gotten what you want. What else do you want from me now? Director Deng?"

Her cold tone did not have any hints of warmth.

"What attitude is this?" Deng Wenwen frowned very unhappily.

"This should be the legendary heiress of the Xi family, Miss Xi Xiaye, isn't it?"

There was suddenly the evil laughter of a man. Xi Xiaye looked past the man from the corner of her eyes, noticing that slightly feminine but charming face which was very familiar. If she remembered correctly, he should be the young master of Qi Kai, Qi Lei!

When she saw that Xi Xiaye did not respond, Deng Wenwen shouted, "Xiaye, quickly come over and greet Master Qi."

She had invited Qi Lei over with quite some difficulty. Obviously, Deng Wenwen did not want to ruin things just like that. If Qi Lei could take a fancy toXi Xiaye, it would definitely be a fantastic thing. Not only would it perfectly resolve Yueying's crisis, but Xiaye would also be able to marry into a prestigious family and get a decent home.

Qi Lei's eyes fell onto Xi Xiaye. When her stubborn and indifferent look entered his eyes, there was suddenly a light that glowed in his eyes. It was the kind of flickering gaze a beast had when it discovered a prey.

They had let Xi Xinyi show up a few days ago since they thought that he was interested in the woman and wanted Qi Kai to consider investing in some things. However, since it was the mayor's daughter, what was wrong with having some fun?

Now, very clearly, the Xi Xiaye in front of him at the moment was even more attractive to him. It was not only because of her cold and exquisite appearance but more so because she was Glory World Corporation's Planning Director. At such a young age, there were not many women who had both beauty and brawns. Fascinated, he was already rather interested in her.

Qi Lei's reaction was picked up by Deng Wenwen and she smiled, well aware of what was going on.

Deng Wenwen gave Qi Lei a look and suddenly softened her tone to say, "Xiaye, Master Qi is our Xi family's special guest. Take Master Qi out for a walk. There're many people inside. Master Qi doesn't quite like crowds like you. Maybe you can visit Master Qi's residence. That'd be good too since your mother is very close to Uncle and Aunty Qi."

"I wonder if I have the honor? Miss Xi?"

Qi Lei's plain and evil laughter rang out.

"I'm afraid you've got the wrong person, Master Qi. There's only one Miss Xi in the Xi family and that's Xi Xinyi." Xi Xiaye suddenly turned around to stare straight at Deng Wenwen with an incredibly calm gaze. "I've told you... If you want to use me as a chip in your marriage transactions, dream on!"

"Move away!" She coldly barked. As Xi Xiaye wanted to shove the two men in black who were blocking her way, she had just lifted a hand when she felt her head become dizzy. She suddenly felt like all of the energy in her was gradually draining...

She stumbled and Qi Lei immediately went up to hold her by her slim waist.

"Let go of me!" Xi Xiaye subconsciously struggled. Propping herself up with a hand on the wall and panting, she shook her head and tried hard to stay clear-headed.

Something was not right!

Her heart sank. She suddenly felt that there was something amiss. She abruptly looked up at Deng Wenwen, but she noticed that the woman had exchanged a knowing look with Qi Lei.

Scenes started to swiftly replay in Xi Xiaye's head —

That cup of water in Grandfather's study room!

But Grandfather had drank it then too...

Her body felt stiff and weak as she leaned against the wall. Her dimmed eyes stared quietly at Deng Wenwen and her eyes that firmly endured this were still flickering with a mixed light —

Desolation, disappointment, gloom, sadness, and even pain...

Seeing that gaze, even Qi Lei could not help but feel something on the inside while Deng Wenwen just turned away and pretended that she had not seen that.

"W-why?" Xi Xiaye held both her hands and asked with a ton of effort.

Deng Wenwen did not answer as Qi Lei just looked at her and smiled faintly. Then, he moved closer towards Xi Xiaye.

"Sis! Are you leaving when you've just arrived?"

At this moment, Xi Xinyi's voice suddenly came. Before the crowd could react, the little figure instantly rushed over and when she saw Qi Lei and Deng Wenwen, something flashed in her eyes. Then, she looked at Xi Xiaye...

"Xinyi!"

Han Yifeng trailed after her.

"Sis, are you okay? Why do you look so pale?"

Xi Xinyi went over and wanted to hold onto Xi Xiaye's arm, she just took a step back, evading her with a gaze that was both hostile and distant. "Don't touch me."

"Sis, are you okay? You look really pale. I'm really worried about you! Don't be like that, alright? I... seeing you like this, I... I feel really pained..."

Xi Xinyi stiffened as she bit her scarlet lips and teared up. She turned pale too. "If it's still because of Yifeng that you... worst comes to worst... worst come to worst, I can just return him to you..."

Three voices were heard at the same time.

"Xinyi! What are you saying?!"

"Xin Er, you're crazy!"

"Nonsense!"