I See Roses

I See Roses – Chapter 30

Intentional, my foot!

Was she that kind of person?

Sitting in the car, Ming Si recalled the scene that happened just over ten minutes ago. She felt that the only reason she didn’t hit him in the face with the spoon was that she had a good temper.

Now, they sat side by side, Ming Si crossed her arms and remained silent, while Liang Xian didn’t try to appease her right away, and the atmosphere remained tense.

At this moment, Cheng Yu called, and he sounded cheerful on the phone, “Hello, Ming Si, did you sleep well last night?”

He had a loud voice, and without the need for a speakerphone, they could hear him clearly. Liang Xian felt that this person had just stumbled into a wrong situation.

Ming Si sneered and casually adjusted her skirt, “I slept quite well.”

“Really? That’s great!” Cheng Yu couldn’t detect sarcasm, so he continued happily, “Are you coming to my house today? My aunt invited a Japanese chef to cook that ‘whatever’ fish… The name is a bit strange, but they say it’s delicious.”

“Oh, by the way, call Liang Xian, if he’s free, both of you can come together.”

Ming Si had no appetite after her hangover, so she had no interest in the fish he mentioned. However, the words Liang Xian successfully ignited her fighting spirit.

She first straightforwardly refused, “I’m not coming.”

Then, she drew a clear line word by word, “Yu Yu, remember this. In such gatherings, if he’s there, I won’t be there, and if I’m there, he won’t be there.”

After saying that, she provocatively glanced at Liang Xian and almost hmphed in an elegant and cold manner.

Liang Xian: “…”

It seemed that she was very upset because of that joke.

“Why, what’s wrong?” Cheng Yu was confused, “Did you guys have a fight last night?”

“…”

Ming Si fell silent for a moment. Just as she was about to say that they weren’t that violent, a thought crossed her mind. She decided to go along with it and gave a soft Mhm.

Liang Xian felt something was off and glanced at her.

Ming Si raised the corner of her lips, holding her phone and started telling a story with a very innocent tone, “I got drunk last night, you know.”

Cheng Yu nodded in agreement, “Yeah, Liang Xian sent you back home.”

“Back home? When I woke up this morning, I found myself lying in the bushes outside the house.”

Cheng Yu was shocked, “What!”

Ming Si thought for a moment and added, “I was covered in mud, you know, very dirty… And then, I called Liang Xian. Guess what he said?”

“What did he say?”

“He said he had something urgent at the company and just found a random place to leave me,” Ming Si rested one hand on the car’s compartment and forcefully suppressed a smile at the corner of her lips, sighing, “How could he do that? He didn’t even consider my safety.”

“That’s outrageous!!” Cheng Yu felt like he was going to explode just listening, “Ming Si, you wait! I’ll call him and scold him right now!”

After hanging up the phone, Ming Si looked like a triumphant winner, proudly shaking her phone at Liang Xian.

Let’s see if he dared to casually slander her next time.

This little peacock was clearly showing off her anger. If she wasn’t coaxed properly, it wouldn’t look good. Just as Liang Xian was about to speak, he received Cheng Yu’s call.

“Brother Xian, how could you leave Ming Si in the bushes?! What if she was taken away by a bad person! I’ve misjudged you!” Cheng Yu scolded him without hesitation. It seemed that his intention to scold Ling Xian was not just talk, “You treat Ming Si so badly, even though she’s your wife! Scumbag!”

Before Ling Xian could say anything, he was left speechless by the scumbag label he just received. Next to him, Ming Si had already burst into laughter, her eyes and brows clearly expressing her schadenfreude.

He couldn’t help but raise his lips slightly, but then he quickly returned to his senses and leaned back against the car seat. He then turned on the speaker, “Listen to where she is.”

Ming Si stifled her laughter and remained silent.

Having waited for a while yet not getting any confirmation of Liang Xian’s words, Cheng Yu was genuinely angry, “Brother Xian!”

Liang Xian looked at Ming Si and tsked, “Cheng Yu, think carefully. With Ming Si’s personality, if I really left her in the bushes, would she not be angry? Could she still talk to me in that tone just now?”

Was he saying that her temper was bad?

Ming Si glared at him.

Liang Xian looked at Ming Si, the corner of his lips slightly curved. Just as he was about to say something, Cheng Yu immediately interjected through phone, sounding very indignant, “Don’t make excuses. Ming Si is probably too wronged to be in the mood to get angry! Besides, it was so cold last night; she might have been too frozen to react!”

Liang Xian: “…”

He couldn’t help it, so he turned his head slightly and let out a low laugh.

Ming Si: “…”

Very well, she added another name to her grudge list.

The black Bentley drove into Shuiyun Bay. As soon as it stopped in front of Villa No. 17, Ming Si opened the door and got out of the car without even giving Liang Xian a chance to speak.

The ten hours spent at his palce were like a Waterloo in her life. Ming Si had already made up her mind to quickly put it behind her and erase Liang Xian from her memory. She didn’t want to think about it at all.

As soon as she arrived home, she made an appointment with a beautician to come over. Then, she changed her clothes and immersed herself in a bathtub filled with camellia essential oil, closing her eyes to relax.

Perhaps because her nerves were relaxed, memories that she had deliberately suppressed started flooding back and replaying in her mind, full of awkward moments. She alternated between embarrassment and indignation, causing the water in the bathtub to splash and eventually pulling the rubber duck in the water in frustration.

Liang Xian was really clueless. Didn’t he ever spend the night with a girl? Didn’t he know that the most important step for a fairy before going to bed was to remove her makeup!

The rubber duck let out a quack as if agreeing with her.

“I suspect you are deliberately showing off,” Lin Xijia leaned in, carefully examining Ming Si’s face and even poking it with her hand, “Your skin is so tender that one can squeeze water out of it. Where is the damage?”

Inside the VIP private hot spring pool at the West Suburb Kerry Hotel, Ming Si leaned against the pool wall, closed her eyes to rest. But upon hearing Lin Xijia’s words, she quickly sat up, and the hot towel on her forehead fell into the water with a plop, “I’ve been taking good care of it for two days, so of course it’s recovered. But that’s not the point…”

“I know, I know, the point is that he doesn’t know how to take care of people, and his mouth is especially bad, always slandering you!” Lin Xijia quickly interjected, putting an end to the endless nagging from this young lady.

She went to Nancheng as a scriptwriter for the crew last month and hadn’t seen Ming Si for a long time. As a result, as soon as she got off the plane, without even going home, she was dragged to soak in the hot springs.

Upon arrival, she discovered that the hot springs were just a cover. The real purpose was to listen to Ming Si’s dissertation on Liang Xian.

“Exactly,” Ming Si picked up the towel from the pool and casually laid it aside.

Her response was actually a bit insincere.

After all, when she was relaying the story to Lin Xijia, she had polished it up a bit and didn’t mention the incident of touching his Adam’s apple.

“But on the other hand, you can’t expect too much from straight guys. Maybe he couldn’t even tell whether you were wearing makeup or not,” Lin Xijia said, “Take that new production assistant in our crew as an example; on the first day of work, he even pulled off the double eyelids of a female actress.”

Ming Si burst into laughter, “There are actually people like that?”

At this moment, despite her makeup-free face, she looked no different from when she was wearing makeup. Soaking in the hot spring water, her face was fair and clear, truly as beautiful as a freshly bloomed flower, dazzling and attractive.

What was a natural beauty?

This was it.

Lin Xijia suddenly became curious, “Si Si, what kind of man do you like?”

The two of them met in the second half of their freshman year in high school, but Lin Xijia had heard rumors about Ming Si a long time ago. One day, she would hear that she had broken the hearts of several boys in the school, the next day she would hear that she rejected some rich second-generation from outside the school.

Later, Lin Xijia caught a glimpse of her from a distance through the crowd and thought she was outstanding, with a cold and aloof temperament, like a rose, beautiful and unapproachable.

Ming Si propped up her knees and rested her chin, thinking about something, “Is this question important?”

“True, you are getting married. Even if you like someone, you can’t have an affair after marriage,” Lin Xijia said, picking up the wooden tray that the waiter had just delivered and taking an egg, “But you, who is going to get married, are no different from a single dog like me.”

After returning to the country, Ming Si continued to lead a carefree life. Apart from hearing about her gatherings with Cheng Yu, Ling Xian, and others, there were no other men around her.

This led Lin Xijia to often forget about her upcoming wedding.

The wooden tray floated away from her sight, creating a ripple in the pool.

After staring at it for a moment, Ming Si remembered that she seemed to have forgotten to tell Lin Xijia something.

At first, it was difficult to bring it up, but then she felt that such an important matter should be discussed in person, so she kept putting it off until now.

“Um, there’s something I forgot to tell you,” she cleared her throat lightly, “Are you free next Sunday?”

Lin Xijia thought for a moment, “Probably, why? What’s up?”

As a part-time scriptwriter who only worked three days a week, she didn’t have a clear concept of weekends since she spent the rest of her time at home writing scripts.

Unexpectedly, being asked whether she was free or not, she really couldn’t be sure.

Ming Si moved two steps closer to the edge of the pool and tried to remain calm, “I am getting engaged.”

Her tone was so casual as if she was saying she was going to buy a bag. This made Lin Xijia momentarily think she misheard, “Getting engaged??”

“Yeah,” Ming Si nodded, “Actually, we’ve already registered our marriage, just need the ceremony. The wedding might have to wait until next year.”

Perhaps because she had previous experience embarrassing herself in front of Ke Lijie and Cheng Yu, she didn’t find this topic difficult to bring up. She felt it wasn’t that hard, and just closed her eyes to get past it, so her tone remained quite composed.

Lin Xijia was utterly confused, “Wait, when did you secretly register your marriage? Is this the end of the road for our friendship as sisters?”

She knew that Ming Si was getting married. She had even called Ming Si’s fiancé your husband-to-be, but she never expected that Ming Si had secretly registered for marriage without telling her!

And she still didn’t know who the guy was!

The more Lin Xijia thought about it, the more upset she became, and her tone rose sharply, “Who is that guy? Which scumbag?”

“…” Ming Si was unusually hesitant to speak.

She noticed that there were two glasses of sake on the wooden tray floating nearby. Subconsciously, she wanted to reach for one, but Lin Xijia’s anger had already burned high. She grabbed the edge of the wooden tray, “Don’t touch it, confess everything first before you drink!”

Ming Si simply pushed the wooden tray toward her, “You drink first.”

After all, they were good friends for so many years, and Lin Xijia immediately caught on, “You’re afraid I can’t handle it?”

“Hmph, I’m Lin Xijia, I’ve been writing scripts for several years. There’s nothing I haven’t seen or thought of,” Lin Xijia threw the egg in her hand onto the wooden tray, “Even if you were married to a British prince, I wouldn’t be surprised. Now, quickly tell me the name of that scumbag.”

Five seconds later, the service staff waiting outside heard an extremely shocked voice coming from the hot spring pool:

“What the f***? Liang Xian???”

Ming Si and Lin Xijia’s friendship began with a united front against others.

At that time, Ming Si was wearing the uniform of the affiliated high school, acting like a domineering young lady while striding with her arms crossed, leaving a deep impression on Lin Xijia.

Lin Xijia had always been timid and introverted since she was a child, and when she was bullied, she couldn’t find the courage to fight back. She had always admired Ming Si’s strong personality, but never expected that one day she would be able to render the young lady speechless.

“I’m not mad about anything else, I’m mad that you didn’t tell me right away!”

“I’m no longer important to you in your heart!”

“You asked me to come here today to scold Liang Xian, but you’re actually luring me into a trap!”

Ming Si could only lie flat and endure the scolding in the beginning, but as Lin Xijia’s accusations grew harsher, she couldn’t stay quiet any longer. She sat up suddenly from the pool, making a splash, “You’re making it sound like I’m willing to marry him! It’s all because Ming Zhengyuan wants to make money off of me!”

“…” Lin Xijia opened her mouth, and after a moment’s thought, she realized it was indeed the case. Her expression turned sympathetic, “Sigh…”

They fell silent for a while. Ming Si hid her face in the water, leaving only her beautiful eyes visible.

Suddenly, Lin Xijia exclaimed with excitement, her eyes seemed to light up.

Ming Si came out of the water, “What’s up?”

“Doesn’t this sound like the development of those mortal enemies turned lovers in a story?” Lin Xijia, who had seen the world, quickly accepted this reality with her creative mind. She spoke with great enthusiasm, “Actually, Liang Xian is quite handsome, comes from a wealthy family, and knows you so well since childhood…”

“Stop,” Ming Si made a gesture to pause, “How much did he pay you to praise him with a clear conscience like this?”

Although she had thought the same way that night in Shanghai.

But now, she absolutely, absolutely, absolutely refused to admit it.

Liang Xian was just a scoundrel.

Afterwards, their conversation moved on to other topics. Lin Xijia accepted the reality and sighed for a while, then brought up a few incidents from high school and began discussing the recent gossip and daily struggles in the crew.

“…There’s only one movie theater there, and it takes thirty minutes by car to get there, but it’s pretty high-end, with 3D, IMAX, and 4D all available.”

“In the past month, I’ve only watched one movie there,” Lin Xijia held up one finger, “Hot Sea, in 4D.”

Hot Sea was a recent blockbuster that depicted a storm at sea. It was said to have an exciting plot and stimulating visuals.

Ming Si already believed that 4D was a technology that went against humanity, especially for movies based on a natural disaster…

As expected, the next second Lin Xijia sighed sadly, “I feel like I’ve been beaten up, but with seawater splashing on me, you know?”

Sometimes things happen so coincidentally. During the day, Ming Si had just discussed movies with Lin Xijia, and in the evening, Liang Xian asked her out to watch a movie together.

In the past two days, the two of them had little communication, at least Liang Xian’s daily Ming Si is a fairy compliments were never absent. However, the difference was that Ming Si used to respond with an emoji, but this time she ignored him completely.

She was clearly showing that she was very angry.

Perhaps sensing something, Liang Xian added another line after his usual praise for the day:「Can I invite you to watch a movie tomorrow night as an apology?」

Ming Si knew this was a signal to reconcile.

She was about to be generous, but suddenly she remembered Lin Xijia’s words and her mindset quickly changed.

She raised her finger and typed:「Sure, but I’ll pick the movie, and I’ll buy the tickets.」

Liang Xian raised an eyebrow lightly:「Doesn’t that mean you’re treating me then?」

Ming Si snorted:「Dream on, transfer the money to me.」

After a while, Liang Xian indeed sent her a red envelope. Ming Si accepted the money, then decisively bought two tickets for the 4D version of the movie Hot Sea on the app.

After successfully placing the order, she smirked with satisfaction.