I Am Her Secret Beauty - Chapter 45

When Nan Xi arrived at the laboratory, a small group of people had gathered inside. Upon seeing her push the door open, they tacitly fell silent and scattered like startled birds, not even glancing at Nan Xi.

But just before entering, Nan Xi had distinctly heard sharp laughter inside. She didn’t know whether that laughter had anything to do with her or with Mu Xi, but since it stopped the moment they saw her, it was likely connected.

Nan Xi pursed her lips deeply and said to Zhao Liang, who was walking toward his seat as if nothing were amiss, “Zhao Liang, please step outside.”

“What for?” Zhao Liang immediately became alert, his ears seemingly pricked up. He clung tightly to his seat, refusing to move an inch, his eyes filled with wariness as he stared at Nan Xi. “Are we even that close? If you have something to say, say it here.”

His tone was a far cry from the familiarity he had shown earlier in the parking lot.

As he spoke, Tong An’an also arrived at the laboratory. Observing the situation, she found a nearby seat and settled in, ready to watch Nan Xi take on the crowd single-handedly.

She scrutinized Nan Xi carefully. Nan Xi was in excellent fighting form, though she stood alone, her presence was formidable.

In contrast, Zhao Liang seemed somewhat weak, perhaps because he hadn’t done anything honorable in the first place.

Nan Xi was absolutely right, being in the right or in the wrong made all the difference!

“Fine.”

Nan Xi took two steps forward, her voice loud and clear, ensuring everyone in the laboratory could hear: “Did you spread rumors about me?”

This was the first time Nan Xi had ever done something like this. As the question left her lips, she felt an overwhelming sense of relief, as if a blockage in her heart had instantly cleared.

She deeply understood that problems needed to be addressed immediately, taking action was its own reward.

She stood tall and proud, casting a contemptuous gaze upon the wrongdoer.

The wrongdoer’s lackeys exchanged uneasy glances, likely feeling too guilty to speak, afraid Nan Xi would turn her questions to them next.

The wrongdoer herself, however, crossed her arms. “What rumors? Why don’t you tell us, Senior?”

“That day in the parking lot, you saw me being intimate with someone and asked if I had a partner. I didn’t want to discuss my personal life, and after that, you started spreading rumors about my relationship with that person, didn’t you?” Nan Xi responded calmly and methodically. “Sugar daddy, lowlife thug, you shouldn’t make baseless claims like that. It’s disrespectful to both me and yourself.”

Nan Xi had never witnessed how others confronted people, but based on her own performance just now, she felt she had presented her case logically and convincingly. Zhao Liang should have no room to refute it.

After all, according to Tong An’an, Zhao Liang was the one who had spread those words. How could she deny having said them?

She had already mapped out a clear trajectory for how the situation would unfold, but unfortunately, Zhao Liang did not follow that path.

“I did say those things, but what did I say that was wrong? How is it baseless?” Zhao Liang spoke unhurriedly, her eyes locked intently on Nan Xi’s face, searching for any sign of weakness. “What I saw is the strongest evidence there is. Since you refused to answer the question, Senior, what other assumptions could I make? If you don’t believe me, why don’t you tell us now who is that person, and what is your relationship? Otherwise, how can you prove I was spreading rumors?”

…?

This time, Nan Xi was thoroughly confused.

She sensed a strong purposefulness in Zhao Liang’s words, it felt as if Zhao Liang was deliberately targeting her with a clear agenda, her tone both urgent and impatient, hardly the demeanor of someone afraid of getting an answer.

How strange. If Zhao Liang wanted to defend her own actions, shouldn’t she hope that Nan Xi would find it difficult to speak up?

Nan Xi frowned in bewilderment. “Could it be that you did all this just to get my partner’s personal information from me?”

Zhao Liang laughed in exasperation.

Dropping all pretense of civility, Zhao Liang’s expression instantly turned fierce:

“Are you out of your mind? If you really have nothing better to do, focus on understanding the experiments instead of picking fights with me. Not everyone is as lucky as you, born with a mother who can serve as a backer. I despise people like you who rely on connections.”

So, this was the explanation, the reason Zhao Liang had inexplicably targeted her all along?

And the reason everyone, who had been so friendly during their first meeting, was willing to join in making harsh comments behind her back, it all came down to this, didn’t it?

Zhao Liang’s words were harsh, so much so that even Tong An’an couldn’t bear to listen and couldn’t help speaking up for Nan Xi: “Zhao Liang, Nan Xi’s abilities are clear for all to see, and her contributions to the entire team are widely acknowledged. Calling her a ‘connection hire’ is a bit much, don’t you think?”

She glanced at Nan Xi, worried that Zhao Liang’s words might have upset her. Nan Xi just stood there, unmoving. Tong An’an couldn’t see the expression on her face and guessed she must have been stunned by the verbal attack.

Well, there was nothing else for it, she’d have to step up and defend Nan Xi herself.

“Clear for all to see? Whose eyes are we talking about? A lackey’s dog eyes?” Zhao Liang shoved past Nan Xi and shot Tong An’an a fierce glare as she passed by. “A connection hire’s lackey is even more disgusting than the connection hire herself.”

She didn’t give Tong An’an a chance to retort. Cursing under her breath, she stormed out of the lab, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.

With their ringleader gone, the remaining five or six people showed no intention of stepping up to continue Zhao Liang’s crusade. They pretended nothing had happened, busying themselves with the bottles and containers at their workstations, avoiding even a glance at Nan Xi standing in the middle of the room.

Nan Xi slowly turned around and made her way back to her own workstation, head lowered.

Tong An’an kept a close watch on her. For the rest of the afternoon, Nan Xi seemed distracted. Although she continued to make progress, her pace was noticeably slower than usual. Tong An’an knew Nan Xi was still affected by what had happened.

Yu Yacheng stopped by the lab in the afternoon, seemingly unaware of the earlier conflict. After all, aside from Nan Xi herself, no one else had any reason to bring the lab’s underlying tensions to Yu Yacheng’s attention.

But of course, Nan Xi wouldn’t do that. She simply went about her tasks, lost in thought.

By three o’clock, Tong An’an had had enough. She pulled Nan Xi into the stairwell.

“Are you okay?”

“Me? I’m fine…”

Tong An’an’s face was full of disbelief. Seeing Nan Xi so spaced out, she felt an urge to shake her by the shoulders.

And she did exactly that, giving Nan Xi a few vigorous shakes until Nan Xi finally snapped back to attention and focused on her.

“Snap out of it! Look, Zhao Liang didn’t even show up this afternoon, she must be avoiding you out of guilt. Since she knows she’s in the wrong, don’t let this bother you anymore-”

“Senior Tong… thank you for standing up for me, but I’m really fine. I was just lost in thought.” Nan Xi bit her lip sheepishly. “Sorry for worrying you…”

Tong An’an still didn’t believe her.

She’d often wanted to pry open Nan Xi ‘s skull before, just to see what went on inside that brilliant mind.

Now she wanted to even more… except now, that brilliant mind had turned into a fragile one.

“If it’s too much, you should take some time off and go home. Your workload is probably lighter than ours anyway,” Tong An’an said with concern.

Seeing Nan Xi remain unmoved, Tong An’an simply started pushing her toward the door, as if planning to escort her straight downstairs.

Startled, Nan Xi felt touched but also helpless, and finally explained, “Senior, I was really just thinking about why Zhao Liang wants to know who I’ve been intimate with.”

To be honest, Tong An’an didn’t quite follow Nan Xi’s logic.

In her view, Zhao Liang was just spouting nonsense out of spite, it was Nan Xi’s straightforward nature that made her think Zhao Liang genuinely wanted to know something.

“Hmm, maybe she has a crush on you and it turned into hatred?” Tong An’an blurted out randomly. “Anyway, she’s a jerk, and it’s not like you can actually tell her about your butler’s identity, right? So, stop overthinking it and go get some proper rest-”

She ended up shooing Nan Xi away. When Nan Xi refused to go home, Tong An’an pushed her into an empty classroom next door.

Mainly because, aside from Zhao Liang, there were several others in the lab who had spoken ill of Nan Xi. Tong An’an was worried about them crossing paths with her.

Nan Xi was brave, but she couldn’t possibly confront every single one of them! That would just make it impossible for her to stay in the group any longer…