Chapter 324: Jessica, who saw through the

In the restaurant, following Lin Xiuyuan's departure, Zheng Xiuyan—listening to the topic that Jessica had suddenly brought into the open—reacted in a way that was unexpectedly not as explosively intense as before.

Perhaps she had become desensitized; after all, others would cue her every now and then, so she had long since prepared herself mentally.

So much so that when Zheng Xiuyan watched Lin Xiuyuan's flustered, fleeing back, the corners of her mouth even curled into a strange smile.

Then, turning her head back to look at Jessica, her tone returned to the indifference from the beginning, even carrying a hint of a critical flavor.

"What's the use of being fast for a moment? Just like how you threw yourself into his arms so quickly, it's very cheap. Reading books, the first choice is Tian Tian Kan Xiao Shuo, 𝚝𝚝𝚔. 𝚝𝚠 is super awesome."

"Things obtained easily are often the most easily despised; you wouldn't be unaware of this problem, would you?"

This response was a very sharp retort to the "fragility" Jessica had previously shaped in front of Lin Xiuyuan by utilizing her advantages and experiences.

But this also depended on who Zheng Xiuyan was facing; if it were someone else, they might have already had their defenses broken.

Yet, when it came to Jessica, the smile on her face never changed in the slightest, and it even became a bit more radiant.

She then gently set down her cutlery, folded her hands on the table, and leaned forward slightly.

With a voice that was almost gentle, yet in a tone that made Zheng Xiuyan's spine go cold, she smiled and countered.

"Hmm, you're right too. Then tell me, this cheap, easily obtained attention and pity of mine————"

At this point, Jessica deliberately paused her voice, her gaze hooked onto the person opposite her.

"Could it also make Xiuyuan subconsciously associate you, who are the same as me, with it? Will he also instinctively feel that you are just a little bit cheap? After all, we are essentially the same person. Could any impression he forms of me also subtly influence his view of you?"

As she spoke, Jessica clicked her tongue with great pity, "Tsk, if that's the case, then someone hasn't even gotten to eat yet, and it's already like this; it's truly a bit pitiful."

"Screech—!!!!"

The second after this sentence ended, the fork in Zheng Xiuyan's hand uncontrollably scraped fiercely across the pristine dinner plate.

It emitted a noise sharper and more ear-piercing than the sound Jessica had made just moments ago, one that could almost pierce the eardrum!!!

The knuckles of the hand holding the fork were pinched white, and the veins on the back of her hand were clearly visible.

In her beautiful eyes, a storm of rage, frustration, and a tiny bit of worry and panic instantly surged.

The air at the dining table solidified once again.

The candlelight flickered uneasily, casting the silhouettes of the two women in confrontation onto the wall, distorted and huge.

At the same time, Lin Xiuyuan, who had truly escaped to the restroom, was leaning his back against the cold door panel, letting out a long breath of lingering fear.

Right now, he truly felt that he hadn't just been eating, but had fought a high-intensity psychological battle.

Exhausted in body and mind!!

After exhaling that long breath, Lin Xiuyuan hurriedly took out his phone, the cold light of the screen illuminating his slightly helpless face.

His fingers slid and flipped through his contacts rapidly.

Who to find? Who could come to save the situation? Who could keep those two ancestors outside—the two Ms. Zhengs—in check?

His desperate gaze wandered over the sparse few names in his contacts, finally landing on the name "Krystal".

Looking at that string of numbers, Lin Xiuyuan hesitated subconsciously.

Because he was worried that dragging Xiujing into this might not be very good.

The main thing was that she here was Jessica's own younger sister, which would result in Zheng Xiuyan losing a side to stand on, and then the atmosphere would be a headache————

However, there didn't seem to be a more suitable candidate at the moment.

Lin Xiuyuan could only choose to trust Krystal now.

Then, thinking that the two people outside venting at each other and exposing each other's shortcomings had reached a white-hot stage.

The heavy words and harsh words that needed to be said had all been thrown out, and what remained was mostly emotional venting and a standoff of stubborn pride.

If he let them stay alone any longer, there was no guarantee they wouldn't actually fight.

Although the possibility wasn't high, when it came to throwing food or plates at each other, it was a bit precarious.

Thinking back to how he had naively believed at the start that one meal and one frank conversation could resolve the knot and confrontation between these two at once.

Looking back now, it was simply wishful thinking; it was too childish.

How could the complex emotions of regret, pride, and inferiority—rooted in the same person but stemming from choices made at different stages of life—be resolved in one go?

If it could really be solved, the PK between Park Jiyeon and Dalongzai would have already been settled; why would Zhiyan still be calling Dalongzai an "old woman" now~

Thinking of this, Lin Xiuyuan no longer hesitated and immediately pressed the dial button on the screen.

The phone rang a few times and was quickly answered.

"Hello? Xiuyuan? Are you back?"

Krystal's clear and lively, smiling voice came from the other end of the receiver.

The background noise was a bit chaotic; there seemed to be the sizzling sound of frying oil and faint laughter, sounding like they were in a Barbecue Restaurant.

Hearing this familiar and reassuring voice, the tense nerves in Lin Xiuyuan's heart relaxed slightly, and he hurriedly asked, "Xiujing, where are you right now?"

"I'm eating with friends, what's wrong? Did you miss me?" Krystal answered in a relaxed tone, and one could even hear her whisper "Sorry" to someone nearby.

As for Lin Xiuyuan, he stated the situation directly, "Um, Xiujing, you need to come to the Villa; there's a situation here, you have to save me."

After the previous hesitation, speaking now was much more natural.

Facing Krystal, his trust level and dependency were still relatively high.

At this moment, the noise on the other end of the phone also quieted down a bit; Krystal must have walked to a slightly quieter place.

Her voice followed up with, "Something happened?"

Based on her understanding of Lin Xiuyuan, if he hadn't truly encountered a thorny situation, he would have let her finish her gathering with friends before coming over after learning about it.

"Cough, cough~" Lin Xiuyuan coughed twice, trying to make his tone sound less serious, "It's okay, I can hold it for now. I just need someone to help keep the scene under control, or rather, to break up the fight."

"Who?" Krystal asked straightforwardly, though she already had some guesses in her heart.

"Jessica." Lin Xiuyuan reported one name first.

"Just this?" Krystal's tone carried a bit of confusion.

If it were just that she was in a bad mood or had drunk too much, Lin Xiuyuan would definitely be able to handle it himself; there was no need to call her specifically.

As a result, Lin Xiuyuan swallowed again and, biting the bullet, said another name, "And... Xiuyan."

"..." There was silence on the other end of the phone for two seconds.

Immediately, Krystal's voice of sudden realization came through.

Following that was a burst of unmasked, loud laughter; on the other end of the phone, Krystal was leaning against a wall, laughing so hard she was rocking back and forth, almost unable to catch her breath.

"Hahaha, Xiuyuan, oh Xiuyuan! Wow! You really are, you are just too brave! My god! Hahaha!"

Her laughter was filled with disbelief and the excitement of watching a good show.

"I was still thinking about what opportunity to find, what method to use to help you settle the situation with these two. I didn't expect, I really didn't expect, that you would actually create such a 'king meets king' situation for yourself. And you chose dinner time, OMG, Xiuyuan~ do you think you have too many lives to spare? Hahahaha!!!"

In the restroom, Lin Xiuyuan listened to Krystal's merciless laughter, sighed into the phone with a face full of embarrassment and helplessness, "Xiujing, stop laughing, saving my life is what matters—"

"Got it, got it!"

Krystal, having finally stopped her laughter, still had a thick trace of amusement and interest in her voice, "I'm coming back right now! Immediately! Be good, wait for me~"

That last sentence, "Be good, wait for me," was said as if coaxing a child, but Lin Xiuyuan only felt it was the sound of heaven at this moment.

"Yeah, hurry up—" Lin Xiuyuan replied sincerely.

Afterwards, when hanging up the phone, he tidied up his emotions a little and looked at his expression in the mirror.

He took a deep breath and washed his face.

Although reinforcements were on the way, before the other party arrived, Lin Xiuyuan was afraid he would still have to bite the bullet and return to that battlefield where the smoke of gunpowder had yet to disperse.

Finally, as if resigning himself to fate, he pulled open The Gate and walked out.

At the dining room.

After Zheng Xiuyan was dragged into the water by that "cheap remark" from Jessica earlier, the dining table fell into a brief silence again.

Both were trying hard to steady their breathing, attempting to re-arm themselves.

After another half a minute or so, Zheng Xiuyan seemed to have finally broken free a little from that stifling anger.

She raised her head, no longer looking at the dinner plate, but instead looked at the opposite side with a gaze of complex emotions, and squeezed a sentence out through her teeth.

"You've really changed a lot; it seems you've been living quite miserably all these years."

Unable to find other words, Zheng Xiuyan could only try to strike at the other party's career and life status once more.

However, the result was beyond her expectations; after hearing this, Jessica was not only not provoked or saddened.

—

Instead, she gently swirled the red wine glass in her hand, a calm, even slightly superior, faint smile appearing on her face.

"Then you've guessed wrong."

Jessica said slowly, her eyes carrying the pride of a victor.

"Although my status and fame on the surface are quite terrible, even very poor—but the money I've earned is much more than those who are still struggling hard right now."

After putting down the wine glass, Jessica tapped the tabletop lightly with her fingertips, as if stating a simple fact.

"After all, whatever I earn basically goes into my own pocket. There is no company, no middleman skimming off the top to snatch it from me."

Afterwards, her tone even carried a hint of relaxed teasing, "Being your own boss means you bear your own profits and losses, but the freedom is more real."

"So what?" Zheng Xiuyan frowned, not expecting the other party to counterattack from this angle, and it didn't seem to be a lie.

This caused her prepared follow-up mockery to fall flat.

"So?" Jessica raised her eyebrows slightly, her gaze landing on Zheng Xiuyan's face, the corners of her mouth hooking into a smug smile, "So I live more comfortably than you; I don't have to rush to those boring schedules, I don't have to look at too many people's faces, and I can have more time that belongs to myself—"

This time her voice lowered, carrying a near-provocative bluntness.

"And I can have more time to occupy Xiuyuan."

Watching Zheng Xiuyan's jawline tighten instantly, Jessica's smile deepened, and her tone even carried a hint of pity.

"Sigh, just think how good it would have been if Xiuyuan could have told me about this earlier; it was a waste of more than half a year. If I had known earlier, I don't know how comfortable and carefree he and I would be living right now."

"You—" Zheng Xiuyan was so angered by this naked declaration that her blood surged, and the anger she had just calmed down was ignited once again.

"Stop talking nonsense."

But soon, Jessica cut off her about-to-erupt anger cleanly and decisively.

Having grown tired of this verbal tug-of-war, she intended to solve the problem at hand in a direct way.

Thus, she picked up the decanter, refilled her glass with the deep red wine, and then looked straight at Zheng Xiuyan, her eyes filled with determination and provocation.

"Let's drink." She said very directly, "Isn't that what you want, to get me drunk? Or rather, do you want to do something? Now I'll give you a chance; tonight, just the two of us, let's have a go. Who wins and who loses will be clear at a glance."

This sudden invitation was like a basin of cold water poured down, cooling Zheng Xiuyan's head, which had been heated by anger, very quickly.

Her eyes fluctuated violently as she thought rapidly about the situation in her mind.

A straightforward drinking contest was definitely not the plot she had originally envisioned.

Because alcohol would blur reason and cause things to spiral out of control; this was dangerous.

Zheng Xiuyan wanted to control the initiative, not this kind of uncertainty.

However—

Looking at the wine glass Jessica was practically poking into her face, and looking at the unmasked provocation in her eyes, the pride and refusal to admit defeat in Zheng Xiuyan's bones instantly overwhelmed the warnings of reason.

Refuse? Wouldn't that be admitting defeat?

Admitting defeat in front of the "failed self" she perceived?

Admitting defeat in a situation where Lin Xiuyuan was paying attention?

This was absolutely not allowed!

Thus, Zheng Xiuyan immediately squeezed the answer out through her teeth with force, "Come on! Who's afraid of whom!"

So when Lin Xiuyuan, having spent a long time in the restroom building his psychological defenses, finally gathered the courage to return to the dining room, the scene he saw was still the same mode of the two women "greeting" each other with one sentence after another as before he left.

But the smell of gunpowder in the air had eerily become more intense and more concrete.

Why?

Because they were no longer limited to just verbal attacks.

They started a drinking contest.

One could see that the red wine glasses in front of Zheng Xiuyan and Jessica, which had originally been sipped slowly, were now being raised frequently.

They looked at each other, their eyes clashing, and then, almost simultaneously, downed the wine in their glasses in one gulp; their throats moved slightly, and the sound of swallowing was clearly audible in the dining room.

Both of their cheeks began to flush with an unnatural red, yet their eyes were brighter than before, and neither would show weakness.

This scene made Lin Xiuyuan's scalp tingle.

Subconsciously, the image of a "rainy day dance-off" popped into his mind—what an unspeakable, cringeworthy thought.

And just as Lin Xiuyuan's mind was wandering, thinking of other "chuunibyou scenarios," Zheng Xiuyan seemed to feel that the red wine wasn't strong enough, or perhaps there wasn't enough left.

She stood up with a "whoosh," her footsteps swaying a bit unsteadily, but she quickly steadied herself.

She turned and walked straight to the double-door refrigerator in the Kitchen, took out all the canned beer from inside, and placed them heavily on the edge of the dining table.

At the same time, Jessica across from her was not to be outdone.

With a cold sneer, she stood up and walked to the wine cabinet on one side of the Living Room, skillfully taking out two bottles of whiskey that looked quite expensive.

She placed one in front of herself and pushed the other directly onto the tabletop toward Zheng Xiuyan.

Beer—mixed with whiskey? And on top of the red wine they had already been drinking!!

This combination made Lin Xiuyuan feel as if his vision had gone black.

Then, no longer caring about the possibility of getting burned, he bit the bullet and tried to stop them, "Um, mixing drinks isn't very good, is it? Not only is it easy to get drunk, but it's also bad for your health—"

However, his voice grew quieter and quieter under the scorching gazes of the two ladies.

Jessica's gaze swept over like a searchlight, and because of the alcohol, her eyes were more alluring than usual, "Xiuyuan~ you just eat your food, don't worry about us."

Then, as if she had suddenly thought of something, her eyes lit up, and she added with a hint of a coquettish tone, "How about you join us for a drink too? Xiuyuan, it's more fun with more people~"

As soon as these words fell, Zheng Xiuyan across from her seemed to have been electrocuted; she jerked her head up and shouted in a voice that was somewhat sharp from excitement and alcohol.

"Absolutely not!!!"

She even slammed a hand on the table, making the plates and cups rattle.

"Xiuyuan, you are not allowed to drink!!!"

This sudden, intense opposition not only stunned Lin Xiuyuan but also startled Jessica, who had made the suggestion.

She whipped her head around to look at Zheng Xiuyan, her brows furrowed, not understanding why the other woman had such a huge reaction to this.

This didn't seem as simple as just worrying about Xiuyuan's health or not wanting to drag Xiuyuan into a drinking contest.

As Jessica looked closely at Zheng Xiuyan, seeing her cheeks flushed from the alcohol and excitement, and seeing the expectant look in her eyes when she looked at Lin Xiuyuan.

And then connecting it to the wary and evaluating gaze Zheng Xiuyan would occasionally cast toward her—

The truth behind Zheng Xiuyan's real intentions and ultimate plan, which had been shrouded in mist, was suddenly struck by a bolt of lightning, appearing crystal clear in Jessica's mind.

Several special terms that the other woman had repeatedly mentioned during their previous argument flashed by.

"Too fast," "take it slow," "contempt," "cheap," "keeping at a distance"—

Immediately following this, a conjecture so bold it was almost insane struck Jessica.

She's crazy, is she actually trying to—

A sudden realization hit Jessica, and she opened her mouth in shock, even forgetting to close it.

Looking at the stubborn-eyed, younger version of herself across the table, who possessed an air of burning her bridges behind her, only one thought remained in her mind: She's crazy, this person is even crazier than I am!

She had originally thought that the things she had done and the behavior she had exhibited to grasp onto Lin Xiuyuan as a lifeline were already going all out, even a bit unscrupulous.

But she hadn't expected that her younger self was planning a path that was even more thorough, more risky, and more greedy.

However, after the shock, under the influence of alcohol, a feeling mixed with competitiveness and a perverse sense of humor surged into Jessica's heart.

This made her feel not offended or threatened, but rather, she found it even more interesting.

Thus, a more vigorous fighting spirit was ignited, along with a certain almost wicked interest.

Then, Jessica looked at Lin Xiuyuan again, and from the perspective of Lin Xiuyuan, who was completely confused by the situation, she suddenly said something nonsensical and meaningful.

"Right~ Xiuyuan, you're right, mixing drinks is bad."

She answered following the previous topic, but her tone was extremely strange, "So, Xiuyuan, you cannot drink."

After emphasizing this, Jessica looked at Zheng Xiuyan and revealed a knowing smile, "Just her and me, the two of us can drink."

After saying this, she picked up the whiskey bottle, poured a small half-glass of the amber liquid for herself, and gestured for Zheng Xiuyan to also pour some beer or whiskey.

"Let's see which one of us passes out first."

In the dining room, Jessica's voice carried a hoarseness from the alcohol and a certain dangerous allure, her gaze wandering between Zheng Xiuyan and Lin Xiuyuan, finally settling on Zheng Xiuyan's face.

With a double entendre, she said every word clearly.

"Zheng Xiuyan, if you are the one who gets drunk and passes out first, then tonight—is going to be, just, too, fu, nny."