192 The Pieces 15 (2/2)
”Oh yea?!” Sylvia challenged with a smirk of her own. ”Then I'll give you more thing to take to court!”
Before Qing Qing understood what she meant, Sylvia's palm came flying and it left a hand print on the other side of Qing Qing's face, balancing out the first slap that she gave. ”That was for my mother! Perhaps it'll teach you a lesson to watch your mouth in the future!”
Sylvia knew she might get into trouble for doing this but she would not allow the young woman to get away scot-free after saying all those horrible things about her mother. She might be knee-deep in hot waters but Sylvia felt it was worth it.
Furthermore, Sylvia could utilize this incident in the court of public opinion herself. If Joann assaulted Qing Qing, people were going to naturally side with Qing Qing because they were both public figures and Qing Qing would be seen as the weaker party due to her shorter years in the business.
However, if it was Sylvia, a relative unknown who slapped Qing Qing, then things would be a lot more ambiguous.
Yes, the public would still come to Qing Qing's defense, especially those who were her fans. They might even be out demanding for Sylvia's blood. However, people would also be interested in why this had happened, what Qing Qing could possibly have done to provoke a physical assault?
People would not have cared in Joann's case because there was already a well-accepted trope of senior bullying junior in the public consensus but if the assaulter was Sylvia, then it would be a mystery. The public would want to know, this was the natural result of our idol culture. We would want to find out everything about the celebrities, especially if it involved some nasty and depraved details, and Qing Qing, a famed celebrity being slapped by a relative unknown member of the public would fit that bill perfectly well. This was the kind of celebrity gossip the public pounce upon.
As a reporter, Sylvia would make sure the news got out. She had turned Qing Qing's plan upon itself and used it back against her.
Qing Qing was clever enough to know that she had lost the upper hand. Instead of staying longer to suffer more humiliation, she chose to retreat when she still had much of her dignity intact.
”This is not the last you're going to hear from me!” Qing Qing grabbed her stuff and stormed out of the place before leveling one last glare at Sylvia.
Sylvia glared back at her. After Qing Qing left, Sylvia sat back down to comfort her mother. Joann was in an absent-minded state. Sylvia thought her mother was in shock but actually Joann was observing something in the room. She had found an anomaly.
When Sylvia slapped Qing Qing, none of the customers around them seemed to show any response.