Chương 71: The Hong Men Banquet (2)

Xu Jing was sitting in the living room trying to talk some sense into his daughter when the message from Qing Qing came. He had been working hard to end the cold war between the mother and daughter but he had been making negligible process.

He had been talking non-stop but Sylvia only went along with his words insincerely. Xu Jing knew she promised to talk to Joann merely to mollify him, she was not going to do that in the end. He knew his daughter well.

His nagging, on top of the secret that Xu Jing did not know his daughter knew, annoyed Sylvia. In fact, she turned up the volume of the television she was pretending to be watching just to drown him out. 'Just why do you think I am in such a foul mood?' thought the young woman darkly.

"Sylvia, why don't you come with me to talk to your mother? I am sure an open channel of communication will help clear up all the misunderstanding. Hiding from each other like ships passing in the night is not the way to solve the problem. You have to talk it out, there is no point hiding all your emotions and secrets to yourself. How is your mother going to know how you feel if you do not tell her? Communication is key to solving any kind of conflict…"

Xu Jing was interrupted by the message alert on his phone. He pulled it out and when he saw the name of the sender, his face fell.

Xu Jing did not realize his daughter was actually watching him. When Sylvia saw the shift in her father's expression, she knew what was up. 'The other woman has come a-knocking. Sure, go have your fun with her then!'

Xu Jing tried to slip the phone into his pocket surreptitiously but Sylvia had caught everything with her hawk-like eyes. The details did not escape her observation, and this went to show that she indeed had the talent and affinity to be a reporter of the entertainment beat.

When Xu Jing turned back to Sylvia, her daughter was branding him with a gaze that was filled with resentment.

Just as he was about to ask her what was wrong, Sylvia said with more grit than she had summoned for the whole afternoon, "Indeed, secrets are the root that ruin most relationship! Communication is key to solving any kind of conflict, so why don't you take your own advice?!"

Xu Jing was taken aback by the sudden aggression. Sylvia grabbed the remote to close the television, slammed the remote on the cushion, stood up and stormed off without another word.

Left baffled in the sudden silence of the living room, Xu Jing was not sure what to think. 'What had happened? Was it anything that I have said? But what could it be? What have I said to set her off…'

When Xu Jing was busy contemplating what he had done wrong, there was another message alert on his phone. He pulled it out without thinking and when he saw the name of the sender, the frown between his eyes creased even harder.

"Brother Xu Jing, why aren't you replying to my message? [Sad face]"

Xu Jing had half a mind to stand up, move to the loo and flush the phone down the toilet but he knew the woman had other methods of reaching him even if he did that. He placed his phone on the coffee table face up. He was going to ignore it to the best of his ability, essentially he was ghosting Qing Qing.

However, his plan was bound to fail because the method had a weakness in itself. Ghosting only worked if the person you were trying to hide from did not know how to find you, it was definitely not the case in Xu Jing's situation.

The messages kept coming and his phone was pulsating like crazy on the glass table.

"Brother Xu Jing, are you avoiding me? [Crying face]"

"Am I that scary?"

"Brother Xu Jing, reply me please. I am worried about you. Just let me know that you are alright. [Pleading baby face]"

"Brother Xu Jing, knock knock!"

"Brother Xu Jing, why are you ignoring me? What have I done wrong? Did I anger you in some way? Please forgive me, Brother Xu Jing. [Sad face]"

The messages kept coming in for five minutes straight. Eventually Xu Jing caught onto the fact that the young woman was just toying with him because he noted there were repeated messages. She was flooding his inbox on purpose, probably to get the people around him to ask him what was wrong and from there, got the whole thing exposed.

Xu Jing felt gripped by exasperation and before he could stop himself, he grabbed the phone off the table and fired off a reply to the woman, saying, "Haven't I told you to stop contacting me? What are you up to? Stop this nonsense immediately!"

"Brother Xu Jing! [Heart emoticon] You finally replied! What are you talking about, there is nothing nonsensical about me and you~"

"I am telling you, this is officially my last message to you, this thing is over!" Xu Jing sent in parting.

He hoped that would be enough to warn the woman off but he obviously did not know the young woman well. She was nothing but persistent. When she had her eyes on something, she would not let go until she had achieved it.

Few minutes after he sent that message, when he thought everything was finally settled and done, Qing Qing's reply came.

In spite of himself, Xu Jing clicked it open, read the message and his body froze.

Qing Qing had extended him an invitation that he simply could not refuse. The young woman had gotten under his skin, and she knew which button to push to make him twirl obediently around her little finger.

This was because the message said…