Chapter 100 Scandalous Photos (2/2)
”So she's leaving for real?” Xin Qing thought. Shrugging, Xin Qing said, ”I don't know.”
”She was doing fine. Why would she be withdrawing all of a sudden?” Kass' eyes brightened instantly. ”Hey, let me tell you something. I bet she's seduced some married man, and then the wife came knocking on her door and scared her off.”
Xin Qing had got to hand it to this lady. Even gossip could get so close to the truth. Kass went on, ”But there's a piece of even more shocking news! You're already married, and you even had a kid!” Kass looked at Xin Qing. ”I heard your husband is handsome and rich?”
”Where did you even get all that?!”
Kass stared back at her. ”Oh, please. The entire academy knows by now. This isn't some hidden secret anymore. There were even photos of you and your family having dinner on the Intranet.”
”What?” Xin Qing asked in shock. She hurriedly took out her laptop and logged on to the academy's website. There was a thread pinned right on top, which contained a photo of herself and Ying Qingcang when they celebrated Ah Sha's birthday.
Kass drew closer to Xin Qing. ”Tsk, tsk. Look at that! So handsome, and the baby's so adorable. How old is she?”
”One,” Xin Qing answered distractedly. ”Who posted this?” Xin Qing asked. More like, who took the photo? Was it Meyer? No. Meyer would not have done such a thing. Then it had to be Ailey, or that woman known as Mira? Xin Qing was completely in the dark as to why the picture was even posted.
Kass looked at Xin Qing in confusion. ”Don't you want everyone to know that you're married?” After a while, something came to Kass' mind. ”Ah! Makes sense. That way, you'll have fewer people pursuing you.”
Xin Qing was not in the mood to entertain Kass. She waved her hand and said, ”Go back to your seat. Class is about to start.”
At noon when class ended, Xin Qing bumped into Meyer on the way back. When Meyer saw her from afar, he grinned at her and hollered, ”Mrs. Ying!”
”Why are you yelling so loudly? You think I'm not famous enough?”
Something came to Meyer's mind, and he said, ”By the way, was it you who uploaded that photo?”
”What, you think I'm nuts?” Xin Qing glared at him. ”I thought it was your younger sister!”
Meyer shook her head. ”Nah, that's impossible. She did not have the chance to snap a photo that day.” Seeing the look on Xin Qing's face, he added, ”Neither did Mira.”
”Weird. Then who's it? Is someone stalking me?” Xin Qing wondered aloud, frowning. Seeing her like this, Meyer said, ”Come on, don't overthink it. It's nothing, anyways. It will pass in a few days after everyone gets over the shock. Let's walk together?”
Xin Qing quickly waved him off. She remembered Ying Qingcang's words. If she was seen with walking out of the academy with Meyer and his family somehow found out, they would no doubt think there was something going on between them!
”I'm off to the library to do some research. You go on ahead!” Xin Qing threw out a random excuse. Meyer waved at her and left.
That night, she told Zhang Mi and Shi Qianqian about the photo. Zhang Mi shot back with much enthusiasm. ”That is some weird sh*t you got right there. It's like someone is watching and controlling your every move. The person behind it must love you so much!”
”I don't think this kind of perverted behavior has anything to do with love.” Xin Qing thought that Zhang Mi was focusing on the wrong thing here.
”Mimi, can't you think normally for once?” Shi Qianqian said. ”This should be a sign of threat.”
”Exactly. I'm just a normal student. What's there to surveil about? It wasn't just me either. All three of us were in the photo.”
Zhang Mi chuckled. ”Then why don't you release a statement and tell everyone that the child was adopted, and that Ying Qingcang is actually an ex-boyfriend. Tell everyone that you're still single and open to any pursuit!”
”Doing that would just add to my own troubles!”
”Right,” said Shi Qianqian, who did not see the situation as entirely bad. Shi Qianqian went on, ”I don't think you should think about it too much. You'll be going nowhere with wild guesses anyway. Regardless of their agenda, at least right now the photo had taken care of those men who'd been bugging you.” Shi Qianqian paused. ”But you should still watch out. Don't go out alone at night. Remember to lock the door whenever you get home.” 平时晚上不要一个人出门，回了家就锁好门。”
Xin Qing soon forgot about the incident, because CK suddenly contacted her. They wanted her to represent the academy in a design competition known as ”Tears of an Angel”, which would be held during the end of this year. ”Tears of an Angel” was the most prestigious award that any jewelry designer could ever hope for. Xin Qing did not expect CK would ask her to represent the academy. She had always thought they would ask Dianne.
”I took part in it last year,” Dianne said, not sounding surprised at all. ”I didn't even get into the top ten.”
Xin Qing's eyes widened. ”What? That can't be it. There are others even better than our academy?”
”It's not only open to academy students. Think about all the professional designers in those jewelry companies. Which one of them isn't a prodigy?” Dianne patted Xin Qing's shoulder. ”Don't worry. I don't think CK is expecting you to win a prize. They just want you to make an appearance. This will also be an advantage when you become an official designer next year.”
Xin Qing understood what Dianne was trying to say. At the same time, she could not help but look upon CK in awe. No wonder CK had the best designers in the world. It was because CK had given its students such opportunities to broaden their views and improve their design skills. Once these students grow, all of them would become prodigies!
Xin Qing saw this as a golden opportunity. She would give her everything to complete her design for the competition. Because of that, Xin Qing had deliberately requested a two-day leave from the academy. She wanted to use the time to visit the ancient castles nearby and find her inspiration. However, she received a call from the diamond mine.
”Miss Xin, I'm in France. The auction of the diamond will be held the day after tomorrow. You must attend.” Rang's excited voice rang out from the speaker. It was then that Xin Qing was reminded of the diamond.
”Where will the auction take place?”
Rang rattled out a name, and Xin Qing was surprised at how coincidental it all was. Apparently, the auction would be held at the ancient castle she had been planning to visit tomorrow.
”Understood. I'll see you at the castle!”