Chapter 513: Chapter 514: Self-Loathing
As she stepped inside, the door closed behind her, shutting out the outside noise. It was as if she had crossed through time, the tranquility washing over, her troubled thoughts quietly settling, slowly replaced by calmness.
Ye Xingbei followed Gu Junzhu into the private room he had reserved. Unconsciously, her heart had calmed significantly.
She couldn’t help but exclaim, “The designer of this club must have been a genius! How did you find such a great place? I lived in Jiang City for a year and I never knew such a place existed here.”
“You’re just out of the loop,” Gu Junzhu handed her the menu, “Preparing well for a date with a girl is a crucial quality of a good man.”
Ye Xingbei fliped through the menu, suppressing a laugh, “You really do have an answer for everything, don’t you? Arrogant much? You’d make a brilliant lawyer. Why even bother with the pretense of nonchalance?”
“I’ve told you,” Gu Junzhu replied, “I’ve always been nonchalant, it’s just different around you. It must be something off about your aura.”
Ye Xingbei rolled her eyes at him, finished ordering, and passed the menu back.
The club was efficient in serving food. As soon as the menu was passed back, the food came out promptly.
They chatted while eating.
Gu Junzhu asked Ye Xingbei, “I can start setting off tomorrow, when will you be available?”
Ye Xingbei looked at him with chopsticks in her mouth, “Going to Country Y?”
Gu Junzhu nodded, “Yes.”
“I need to deal with some affairs at Star Palace,” Ye Xingbei responded, “I can leave day after tomorrow… you really will come with me?”
Gu Junzhu looked at her helplessly, “How many times must I repeat myself?”
Ye Xingbei: “…This isn’t a small matter. Are you sure you don’t need to think it over some more? The Shi family is a distinguished family in Country Y. I know you’re very capable, but Country Y is the Shi family’s home turf, a local snake is more fearsome than a strong dragon.”
Seeing Yu Nuo’s injuries, she earnestly wished she could drive a blade into Shi Qianying’s heart.
But after cooling down, she frustratingly realized that she was no match for Shi Qianying.
Shi Qianying was the second young mistress of the Shi family.
The Shi family was one of the top ten wealthy families in Country Y.
She was the Director of Star Palace, but her position was given to her by the Ye Family.
The people beside her, other than Xueno and Yu Nuo, were all arranged by Ye Xinglan and Ye Xingli.
And Ye Xinglan was protecting Shi Qianying.
That is to say, if she wanted to confront Shi Qianying, aside from Xueno and Yu Nuo, she had no one she could count on.
Perhaps, this was why Shi Qianying was so brazen in her torment of Yu Nuo.
Shi Qianying knew that without the protection of Ye Xinglan, Ye Xingbei, who had nothing to her name, stood no chance of opposing her.
She might have been the wealth accumulator for Star Palace, but she had no personal influence.
She wasn’t strong enough.
Upon realizing this, she felt a deep self-loathing.
She loathed her own uselessness. She couldn’t protect Yu Nuo, let alone avenge him.
She was also saddened by Ye Xinglan’s attitude towards her.
In Ye Xinglan’s eyes, she was still that indebted servant, desperately managing Star Palace to repay him for his kindness, who didn’t dare to defy his orders and completely subservient to the Ye Family.
But wasn’t she more than that now?
She was Ye Xinglan’s cousin.
Even if a cousin didn’t have an obligation to rescue another, she did owe a favor to Ye Xinglan. However, if you really wanted to talk about obligations, wasn’t her uncle the one who took care of her as she grew up, and her parents had died looking for him. Didn’t her uncle owe her father then?
She found that, unknowingly, her mindset had changed.
In the past, she was willing to make money for Star Palace, to repay Ye Xinglan’s kindness, she followed his orders dutifully without any resistance, positioning herself in the most humble position without any resentment toward Ye Xinglan.
But now, she could no longer tolerate it.