章 10: Intelligent people ignore

It was 7.20pm, and Phoenix was already sitting in the waiting area at the hotel lobby waiting for Mia to come pick her up. She decided to come down early and waited in the lobby because her principle does not let her be late and made people wait for her.

She was donned in a green sleeveless solid zipper back culotte jumpsuit and paired it with cream-colored strappy weaved thick-heeled sandals and a cream-colored shoulder straddle bag to complete her look. A beige-coloured coat was placed on the arm of the sofa she was sitting on. She looked simple but elegant in those getups.

Some eyes were on her, even though her face was as impassive as ever. Her aloof beauty still could attract people to look her way.

Flipping the lifestyle magazine in her hands, she skimmed through the pages looking for articles that might interest her to kill the time.

*Ding

Exactly at 7.30pm, she received a text from Mia, notifying her arrival.

[I'm here at the entrance. Silver Audi A7.]

'Right on time,' she hummed in acknowledgement.

Putting down the magazine on the table, Phoenix uncrossed her leg, stood up, picked up her coat and bag and stride to the entrance.

Mia, who was standing outside the car, waved her hand excitedly, seeing Phoenix coming towards her.

"Good evening Ms Qin. Thank you for picking me up." said Phoenix politely. She bowed her head slightly, as a gesture to thank Mia.

Mia waved her hands, dismissing Phoenix's thanks. "It's my pleasure. I'm the one who invited you for dinner, besides you are new to the city, you might have trouble finding your way to the restaurant," she said with a smile and opened the back passenger car door, "Please, come in." She waited for Phoenix to slide in first before closing the car door.

Inside the car, Phoenix caught sight of the man in the driving seat, it was the same man that she saw in the hospital the other night.

Ashton saw Phoenix enter the car and peek at Phoenix from the corner of his eyes. He still kept his stoic face facing ahead and didn't acknowledge Phoenix's presence. He waited for Mia to get in the shotgun seat before driving away from the hotel.

As soon as the car moved, the ever so cheerful Mia started talking.

"I hope you are comfortable back there Ms Li. Oh! By the way, this is my brother, Ashton Qin." referring to the other person in the car.

"Hello Mr Qin," Phoenix said her greeting.

Mia then looked at Ashton and introduced Phoenix, "Brother, this is Ms Phoenix Li, my saviour."

Ashton only hummed in response.

"You'll meet my other brother later at the restaurant. Have you heard of Scrumptious Restaurant, Ms Li? It serves mainly South East Asian cuisine. I hope you are okay with it, I read good reviews about it. Ah… I should ask you about it first." She turned her head around and made a grieving face.

Phoenix just smiled flatly, "It's okay Ms Qin, I don't mind. I'm okay with anything."

Mia's face lit up like a Christmas tree after hearing Phoenix answer. "I'm right. I know you will not mind. The other day, I saw that you tried all those dishes, so I assume you'll like to try all sorts of foods, am I right Ms Li?"

Phoenix was taken aback, 'Ah yes. She already saw me eating during breakfast the other day.' Nodding her head. "Yes. I can eat almost anything. I do like to experience all kinds of foods."

"Have you tried South East Asian dishes before, Ms Li?" Mia asked.

Phoenix took a few seconds to answer, "I've tried Nasi Lemak, and it was a pleasant experience."

"Oh really? I never tried that before, was it tasty?"

"Yes. The dish is delicious, it's so flavourful," Phoenix's answer was short, without a lengthy explanation.

Mia nodded her head in understanding and continued her chattering, talking about different dishes. Once in a while, Ashton and Phoenix would hum in agreement or answered her questions.

Shortly after, they arrived at Scrumptious Restaurant. The restaurant wasn't that far from Camellia Hotel; it was around 10 minutes' drive, but due to the weekend traffic, it took an extra 10 minutes to arrive at the restaurant.

Ashton dropped Mia and Phoenix first, before finding a spot to park his car. Mia and Phoenix exited the car and headed to the restaurant entrance. Due to the good reviews that the restaurant received, there was a crowd in front of the restaurant. Those who hadn't made a reservation have to line up to wait for an empty table, but those who had made an early reservation would be let in.

Mia walked to the front of the line to talk to the restaurant staff. Some people saw Mia bypass them and start to show their dissatisfaction, "Hey, don't cut the line, can't you see people in line here?"

The girl that voiced her dissatisfaction had been waiting for 10 minutes with her boyfriend for an empty table. She was an influencer who had a fair amount of followers and she thought it was beneath her to not get attended quickly but have to wait like everyone else who didn't make a reservation.

Mia ignored the girl and talked to the attending staff to check on her reservation.

"Could you check the reservation for Mia Qin, please?"

The restaurant staff checked the reservation list and did not find Mia's name. He looked at Mia apologetically, "I'm sorry. There's no reservation for Mia Qin."

'Maybe brother Ethan put it under Brother Ashton's name,' thought Mia.

"Could you—"

Mia's words were cut, and the girl said disdainfully, "He already said there's no reservation. Don't try to waste people's time here. Who do you think you are?"

Mia was irritated, but still kept an affable attitude and ignored the girl. She was about to continue talking to the staff when the girl came forward to push her away but was stopped by someone.

Phoenix, who was with Mia, saw what the girl was about to do and caught the girl's wrist. She held it tightly, but put too much pressure on it, making the girl shrieked loudly, catching everyone's attention.

"Ahhhhh….. you bitch! Release my hand."

Phoenix yanked the girl's hand away and stood in front of Mia to protect her, she gave the girl a fierce look to make her back away from them.

The girl was blazing with fury and about to jump on Phoenix when a booming voice was heard, making her movement halt.

"What's going on here?"

Everyone's eyes turned to the tall handsome man who was walking like a model towards the commotion with a frosty look on his face. Both women and men stood frozen, awestruck by the good-looking man who possesses a kingly aura that walked towards them like a dominant emperor who came to address his subjects.

The man scrutinized every person who was involved in the squabble in front of the restaurant, giving off a chilly vibe like a cold winter night, making the hair at the back of their nape stand.

The unruly girl, who was just a moment ago wearing an ugly expression, suddenly turned into a delicate-looking girl, with a blush on her face when the man's eyes passed by her. She beamed a bright smile, thinking the man standing in front of them would take her side. 'What a handsome man, he must recognise me from my videos and come to put these wretched people in their place and let me in.'

She was about to tell her grievances when Ashton turned to look at Mia.

"Are you okay Mia? Why haven't you gone in yet? What's going on?"

"The booking wasn't under my name, so I was about to ask them to check your name, but this lady suddenly flared up out of nowhere." Mia said, glaring sharply at the girl.

Ashton didn't even bother to give a glance at the people gawking towards him, and went straight to the staff and gave his name in a cold voice before taking Mia and Phoenix with him. He gave Phoenix a grateful smile for shielding his sister from harm.

No one, not Ashton, Mia or Phoenix, wanted to waste time on unimportant things like dealing with a girl who acted like 'Karen', they just put those behind them and entered the restaurant when their reservation was confirmed.

Weak people get revenge.

Strong people forgive.

Intelligent people ignore.

The way you choose a battle was the way you presented your thinking.

Choosing your battle wisely is what was on their mind. Why bother with insignificant things and people?

The people outside were left dumbfounded by the situation.

They were looking forward to watching an interesting showdown. They thought they would get free entertainment while waiting in line, but now the main leads were gone, only the villain was left. So there will be no drama to watch. How disappointing!