"You don't look so good, Miss Wu," Long Jinjing asked in a 'concerned' voice. "Are you okay? Do you feel sick? Wait here, I'll get you something to drink."
She took a glass of red wine from a waiter passing by. She was about to give it to Wu Qianxi when she "tripped". The red wine splashed all over Wu Qianxi, staining her ruby-beaded peach dress.
Wu Qianxi shrieked in horror at her expensive designer dress which was now ruined by several big and ugly stains.
Her shriek caused a few people to look at them. When they saw the state of Wu Qianxi's dress, they instantly felt sorry for her.
"Oh no! I'm so sorry!" Long Jinjing apologized, her expression contrite.
"You—" Wu Qianxi was about to slap Long Jinjing before she realized that people were looking at them. She forcefully controlled herself.
At first, the people thought that there was a fight between Wu Qianxi and Iris' group, but seeing Long Jinjing's apologetic expression, they concluded that it was just an accident. They didn't doubt Long Jinjing's angelic appearance. She didn't look like someone who would maliciously splash a drink onto another person on purpose.
"Long Jinjing, what have you done? You're so careless!" Meimei 'scolded' Long Jinjing.
Then Meimei grabbed a cloth serviette from a nearby serving table. Then she started patting the stain on Wu Qianxi's dress. However, it only worsened the red wine stains on the dress, making them spread even further.
"Stop!" Wu Qianxi slapped Meimei's hands away, but Meimei insisted on being 'helpful' and continued her actions.
"What are you doing?! Stop it! My dress!! Do you have any idea how much I paid for this?!!!"
Wu Qianxi had now completely lost her composure. Her expression turned ugly, and she pushed Meimei roughly away.
"Ah!" Meimei 'fell' hard to the floor, making sure to roll twice before stopping. "Ouch! It hurts!"
"Meimei!" Iris ran to her.
Both Iris and Chen Fei helped Meimei from the floor.
"Miss Wu, I know that you're upset about your dress but you didn't have to push her so hard," Iris told Wu Qianxi in an accusing tone. "Meimei was just trying to help you. Please don't take your anger out on her."
By this time, the commotion attracted the attention of more people. They murmured to each other, throwing disapproving looks at Wu Qianxi's behaviour. They thought that her barbaric retaliation was low-class and didn't reflect her respectable status. The ones who felt sorry for her before because of her ruined dress now sided with Meimei and the rest of Iris' group.
Wu Qianxi became self-conscious and quickly fixed her furious expression into an understanding one. Inside, however, she was boiling in anger. She didn't even push the bitch that hard.
"Miss Yang Mei, I'm terribly sorry for pushing you. I didn't mean it. It was done out of reflex," Wu Qianxi apologized to Meimei before turning to Long Hui. "I really didn't mean it, Hui. I was just too shocked and my body moved on its own. Please believe me." Then she moved to touch his arm again.
Fury flashed in Wu Qianxi's eyes. She glared at Jiang Ying Yue for a second before changing her expression once again into a more pleasant one.
"This is all my fault. If I wasn't so clumsy and didn't trip on my own feet, I wouldn't have spilled the wine and ruined Miss Wu's beautiful dress." Long Jinjing's expression became even more pitiful.
Iris left Meimei to Chen Fei and went to Long Jinjing's side instead. "What are you saying, Big Sister Jinjing? It's not your fault. It was an accident." Then she turned to Wu Qianxi. "Miss Wu, do you blame my sister?"
The murmurings of the crowd grew louder, making Wu Qianxi even more self-conscious. Of course Wu Qianxi blamed Long Jinjing and everyone in Iris' group. She knew that they were doing all of these on purpose to humiliate her, but she couldn't just publicly blame them without ruining her own image to the people.
"You misunderstand, Miss Long Xiulan. Of course I don't blame Miss Long Jinjing," Wu Qianxi quickly said. She turned to Long Hui again and pleaded with him. "Hui, please believe me. All of this is just a big misunderstanding."
Long Hui had no idea that Iris and the others were just acting out an impromptu play to torment Wu Qianxi and cast her in a bad light to the people attending the party. At first, he sided with his sisters, especially after Wu Qianxi pushed Meimei to the floor. However, he was starting to feel sorry for Wu Qianxi. She had already apologized many times, yet his sisters seemed to continue pushing the blame on her.
"Let's not turn this into something bigger. It was just an accident. Apologies have already been given. How about we act like adults and move on? Alright?" he suggested.
"Thank you, Hui. Yes, I agree. Let's be adults and move on," Wu Qianxi was the first one to reply. Her smile looked a little smug, thinking that Long Hui was taking her side.
Of course, Jiang Ying Yue also thought the same way. Her eyes darkened with great disappointment. She released her hold on Long Hui's sleeve and stepped away from him.
Then Iris saw that Long Tengfei and Yang Jiahui were making their way to them. It seemed that the commotion finally reached their ears. She quickly whispered to Long Jinjing, "Big sister, do us a favour and cry. Go."
"W-what?" Long Jinjing confused.
Iris felt annoyed at her slow reaction. She whispered to Chen Fei instead. "Our father is coming. Make my sister cry. Hurry."
Chen Fei immediately understood Iris' purpose. She positioned herself close beside Long Jinjing and covertly pinched her best friend hard on the side of her waist.
"Ah!" Long Jinjing cried out in pain.
Chen Fei held the pinch and even brutally twisted it.
Poor Long Jinjing had no choice but to cry. Huge tears fell down from her pitiful eyes. She threw a heartbroken look at Chen Fei, Iris and Meimei. She bit her lips and whimpered. She looked so much like a crying angel that it pinched the hearts of the people around them. They felt sorry for her.
"Oh no, Big Sister. Please don't cry. I know that Miss Wu was very harsh earlier but she already apologized," Iris 'consoled' Long Jinjing in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. "Yes, she yelled at you for accidentally spilling that wine on her dress and even pushed Meimei hard to the floor for trying to help her, but she already said sorry. Are you worried that she's still angry at you?" Iris turned to Wu Qianxi. "Miss Wu, I'm begging you. Please don't be mad at my sister anymore."
"Yes, Miss Wu. Let's be mature here and not hold grudges," Chen Fei added. "Look, Jinjing is crying so hard. Don't you feel sorry for her?"
After her, others also stared speaking out. They all defended Long Jinjing.
Wu Qianxi felt mortified. She wanted to scratch the faces off of everyone from Iris' group. But the one person among them that she hated the most was Jiang Ying Yue, even though the bodyguard didn't participate in humiliating her. She knew from her intuition that Iris and the others were only tormenting her because of Jiang Ying Yue. After all, it had already been reported that Iris and Jiang Ying Yue were friends.
The useless spoiled brat. The bodyguard who stole her man. The illegitimate daughter of a mistress. The orphaned niece of Long Tengfei's third wife. And the illegitimate daughter's best friend.
Wu Qianxi looked down on everyone in this group. They were all inferior in her eyes. It was infuriating to act courteous to them when they were obviously making trouble for her. If only they weren't surrounded by a lot of important people, she would've already shown these low-class bitches not to mess with her.
"What's going on here?" Long Tengfei's deep voice asked. When he saw his first daughter in tears, his eyes turned cold.