Pei Mingxuan's barrage of words left the two of them completely stunned.
Xu Meng momentarily forgot her pitiful facade, her expression twisting. But she quickly regained her composure, whimpering, "I know you never liked me before, Pei, but you..."
"Pei Mingxuan, how did you become like this? I don't even recognize you anymore," Sun Mo said in shock.
"Maybe because you're blind," Pei Mingxuan sneered, then pointed at Xu Meng and began recounting past events to Sun Mo.
"Have you forgotten? You once had a chance to become an overnight sensation in the film industry. I agreed to be your manager because I saw that you could be the male lead in that movie. But what did you do? For the sake of this idiot, you missed the best opportunity, making your path to fame so much harder for all those years."
Upon hearing this, Sun Mo's expression changed drastically.
A flicker of panic crossed Xu Meng's face.
In the distance, Ji Fei quickly added some context.
[Oh, I see. Back then, there was an award-winning film that held open auditions for new actors. Sun Mo, with his young, handsome face, natural acting skills, and tireless work ethic, successfully made it to the final round of male lead candidates, and he was the best performer at the time.]
[But just before the final audition, he suddenly left, missing the golden opportunity. The role went to a less capable new actor, who then won the Best New Actor award and quickly rose to fame in the film industry.]
[The reason he left was because of a phone call from Xu Meng. She said there was a fire at home and she was trapped, crying and begging him for help. Sun Mo, of course, left without hesitation to save his love.]
[Normally, this wouldn't be blameworthy, and Pei Mingxuan could only lament their bad luck. She couldn't possibly criticize Sun Mo for wanting to save someone. But when Pei Mingxuan learned the details of what happened, she was absolutely furious.]
[Damn... Do people like this really exist?]
The private room wasn't far away, and they were eavesdropping intently. Ji Fei kept exclaiming, leaving Qin Zhao on tenterhooks.
Qin Zhao: What exactly happened?
[When her home was on fire, Xu Meng didn't immediately call the fire department. Instead, she chose to keep calling Sun Mo until he answered.]
Qin Zhao: What kind of bizarre behavior is this?
[She seems to have some serious issues, acting like she's the damsel in distress who can only be saved by the hero.]
[Actually, if Xu Meng had called for help immediately, by the time Sun Mo got back, the firefighters would have completely handled the situation. It wouldn't have spread to the upper floor at all.]
[The couple living upstairs were elderly and light sleepers. They discovered the fire and called for help. So when Sun Mo just got back, the fire trucks were just arriving.]
[As the old man came down holding his frightened wife, they learned the situation and suddenly realized the girl downstairs wasn't unconscious or in any other danger – she just couldn't get out because her door was stuck. At that moment, she was being lectured by the firefighters. After all, if she had contacted them immediately, given the timeline, even her own living room wouldn't have been completely burned.]
[The old man was so angry he started cursing at her, questioning her ancestors back eight generations, asking if she was mentally ill and whether she needed to be sent to a psychiatric hospital.]
[Xu Meng just cried and hid in Sun Mo's arms, saying she was too scared at the time and couldn't think of anything except wanting Sun Mo to come save her.]
Qin Zhao was also stunned by what he heard and blurted out, "Is she insane?"
The whole table fell silent and looked at him. Qin Zhao awkwardly pointed at his phone and said, "I... I was just reading a message."
Then he gave Yang Hong a strange look, wondering how he could be interested in such a mentally unhinged woman. Was it just for collecting idol merchandise?
Meanwhile, Ji Fei's inner monologue continued.
[This was when Pei came and heard the truth. She was so angry she wanted to slap Xu Meng twice right then and there.]
[Hit her! How could Pei hold back from hitting her! This... I feel my aversion to stupidity acting up.]
"Isn't it normal for people to dislike someone like you?" Pei Mingxuan said with disgust. "Sometimes I really suspect you're doing this on purpose."
Xu Meng's eyes immediately filled with panic. She shook her head vigorously and cried even harder.
[Huh? Wait... Is there more to this fire incident?]
[Let me check... Holy crap... She wasn't really stupid, Pei was right, she did it on purpose. She was paid 500,000 yuan to exploit Sun Mo's lovesick nature, selling out his chance to change his fate as a nobody. The person who paid her was Xu Meng's later rich boyfriend, and that's how they met!]
[Wow, hidden gossip! It seems even Pei Mingxuan doesn't know about this! Sun Mo definitely doesn't know, right?]
Qin Zhao suddenly drew in a sharp breath. This unexpected piece of gossip caught him off guard.
He quickly lowered his voice to ask the well-informed person next to him, "Brother Gao, do you remember which capital was behind XX's rise to fame?"
Brother Gao didn't understand why Qin Zhao was suddenly asking this out of the blue, but he recalled, "Gao Group."
"Then who was Xu Meng's former rich boyfriend?"
"The Second Young Master Lin... Why?"
Qin Zhao immediately sent a message to his second brother asking if there was any connection between the two families.
Qin Xian looked at the message in silence. Weren't they supposed to have a dinner gathering tonight?
Then he realized it was probably Ji Fei uncovering some gossip again.
He could only reply: There's no real connection. The younger generation used to hang out together a lot a few years ago, but later fell out due to various conflicts.
So even if Pei Mingxuan and Sun Mo had the ability now, they wouldn't be able to investigate any suspicious circumstances from back then.
Qin Zhao silently sympathized with Sun Mo, thinking about how badly he had been deceived.
"That's enough. The fire wasn't something that could be controlled, and she was just scared out of her wits," Sun Mo couldn't help but interject. As a man, he wouldn't blame a woman when something went wrong. At that time, Xu Meng was so dependent on him, how could that be wrong?
"There's no point in dredging up old issues."
[Pfft, he really is... impossible to sympathize with. If he ever learns the truth, let's see if he still says there's no point in dredging up old issues.]
"Is the only thing worth bringing up how she abandoned you? How many times are you going to try to eat this leftover grass? Sun Mo, how cheap can you get?" Pei Mingxuan mocked relentlessly, continually ripping open old wounds, probably still trying to shock Sun Mo back to his senses.
Sun Mo's face contorted. How could he admit that he just couldn't let go of this woman who had betrayed him? Wouldn't that be admitting he was a hopeless fool?
But seeing her again, interacting more and more, he really couldn't help but care about her.
He knew he both loved and hated Xu Meng, while he both respected and felt guilty towards Pei Mingxuan... So even though he had resolved to marry Pei Mingxuan, he still couldn't control his desire to be close to Xu Meng. He felt frustrated and self-loathing, yet still allowed himself to fall.
Sun Mo wore a pained expression. "I haven't forgotten. Don't worry, I'll never forget the humiliation she brought me. Alright, Mingxuan, don't be angry anymore. Let's go home. I... I promise I won't have any contact with her in the future..."
Sun Mo seemed to have made a choice, but when he turned and saw Xu Meng's pale little face, his heart suddenly ached violently. Seeing her about to collapse, he couldn't help but reach out to support her, only to be avoided by Xu Meng.
Xu Meng's eyes were filled with endless grievance.
Just then, a voice rang out from afar, startling Ji Fei who was hiding in the private room. She quickly closed the door, but still caught a glimpse of a young girl rushing over to support Xu Meng.
"Sun Mo, you heartless bastard! How could you do this to Meng Meng? You jerk!" The young girl exploded like a firecracker, cursing furiously.
