Tang wasn't alone; she was brought downstairs by that cousin.
Tang's complexion wasn't good, but she was forcibly pulled into a circle of young women by her cousin. Xuan Yi was there too, seemingly ready to introduce this makeup artist to the surrounding sisters.
Tang didn't look around; she just stood there uncomfortably, barely managing to respond.
[Damn, there's no limit to shamelessness. Xuan Yi, why are you putting on such an act? Aren't you afraid this will backfire? Are you really so determined to force a destined confrontation and completely cut off any possibility between them? How childish!]
Not just Ji Fei, but all the Qin Family members who could hear these thoughts were watching anxiously, waiting to see how the situation would develop.
[Tang didn't want to come down and see Luo Zhou, not just because she wanted to avoid causing trouble at someone else's important occasion, but because she was completely disgusted by the truth. Now she doesn't want to face Luo Zhou at all. So even though she knows Luo Zhou is here, even though she might have already been seen, she doesn't want to face him. But unfortunately, they won't leave her alone, forcing her to come down.]
"Luo Zhou, who are you looking at? Xuan Yi or that little cousin?" Qi Li asked curiously.
After all, they had expected Luo Zhou to argue with Ji Fei and Qin Xian, but he suddenly stopped as if he'd seen someone. Given Luo Zhou's temperament, this was very strange.
"Oh? That makeup artist," Han Ziyu suddenly spoke up beside Qi Li.
Surprised, she momentarily forgot to maintain her innocent act. Normally, Qi Li would have warned her, as he truly disliked when the replacement for his first love acted too opinionated, just like the original.
However, Ji Fei became curious upon hearing this and looked at Han Ziyu. "You know her too?"
Hearing her idol speaking to her, Han Ziyu ignored her boss's warning, "Yes, at the last class reunion at that hotel, I met her in the bathroom. She had some makeup products with your signature, so we chatted. She was working there as a makeup artist that day."
Han Ziyu spoke rapidly and energetically, quickly explaining everything.
Since Tang hadn't looked over, Luo Zhou didn't know how to react, but upon hearing Han Ziyu's words, he was stunned, asking in disbelief: "She was there then?" His brows immediately furrowed.
[Oh my, he's probably wondering if his identity was discovered that day.]
"What a coincidence?" Jing Yan frowned.
"Is she a well-known makeup artist in the industry?" asked Bai Xiaoxi, who had been abroad for a long time and wasn't familiar with the situation.
Cen Ting shook her head, "Never heard of her."
Luo Fei turned to Ji Fei and asked: "She has your signature? So she's your fan? You just said you know her too? So you do know her?"
Like a true police officer, he was very perceptive.
Upon Luo Fei's comment, Luo Zhou immediately looked at Ji Fei, "You know her too?" He had become wary of Ji Fei, feeling that anything connected to her couldn't be good.
However, when Ji Fei glanced at him, that look made Luo Zhou's spine chill.
He felt that Ji Fei's gaze contained some very harsh criticism.
Yes, Ji Fei was indeed criticizing him, because she had just realized something.
[This bastard claims to love Tang, but I don't believe it anymore. Being a scumbag is in his bones; he has no conscience.]
"Oh yes, I know her. During my previous variety show, Tang was part of my and Qin Zhao's makeup team for two months. What a coincidence indeed," Ji Fei said with a smile.
Qin Xian was startled, also realizing something, and looked at Luo Zhou in disbelief.
Luo Zhou appeared shocked and dazed.
[He has the nerve to be surprised, not even knowing that Tang worked with me for two months. Even if he doesn't care for gossip, our show was so popular, and we lived together – how could Tang not have mentioned it? She must have, but he probably didn't even register it in his mind. How little attention must he pay to his girlfriend! He clearly doesn't care about her career at all.]
Now, the Qin Family members who could hear these thoughts also realized.
Qin Zhao and Qin Rong were particularly speechless. Of course, the people on their team would know who they were working for, especially since the show was so popular. The fact that Luo Zhou didn't know was so absurd that everyone had momentarily forgotten about this detail.
Now that they thought about it, "speechless" wasn't enough to describe their feelings.
Seeing Luo Zhou still not realizing how despicable he was, Ji Fei became angry.
She spoke directly.
"Tang is a good person, skilled, hardworking, and not afraid of difficulties. It's just that she has bad luck with money and men."
"How so?" Bai Xiaoxi immediately responded, proving that human nature is inherently curious about gossip.
Luo Zhou also looked over, his eyes probing and defensive, as if suspecting Tang had been speaking ill of him behind his back, unable to bear the fact that she had raised him, only enduring it because she knew his identity, but couldn't help complaining about it outside.
He was afraid to acknowledge the earlier mockery from Ji Fei and Qin Xian.
Ji Fei had already begun speaking in a gossipy tone, attracting everyone's attention at the table.
"During our previous collaboration, she had to borrow money from her mentor because her boyfriend got into an accident with a luxury car owner. Her boyfriend's privileged attitude escalated the original conflict, causing her to end up with a debt of several tens of thousands. She had no savings, so she had to borrow money from her mentor for the emergency. After that, she worked day and night taking jobs to repay the debt, almost fainting from exhaustion at our show."
Upon hearing this, Luo Zhou was completely shocked, as if finally digging up this small incident from his distant memory.
With his privileged attitude, he had just let the conflict escalate, and although Tang paid the compensation afterward, he had assumed she had money, never bothering to calculate how much money he had spent from his family or how much Tang could actually afford with her salary.
"What? Her boyfriend was so irresponsible?" Bai Xiaoxi frowned.
Cen Ting: "Only good at showing off and fighting, but not taking responsibility. Such men are the worst."
"Making his girlfriend bear this expense?" Yu Yue said with disgust.
"This Tang must be blinded by love, not even breaking up after this?" Jing Yan laughed.
With each comment, Luo Zhou's face darkened further, his lips trembling, scalp tingling, probably never imagining that what he considered a minor incident would receive such harsh judgment from others.
Luo Fei and Qi Li were stunned, somehow feeling this situation familiar.
Because after the conflict, when Luo Zhou was angry, he had complained to Qi Li and Luo Fei that the luxury car owner was just a nouveau riche.
Then they heard Ji Fei continue: "Recently, her family ran into some trouble and needed to borrow money. She tried everywhere but couldn't get a loan, asked her boyfriend for help, and he ran away."
