Worthless.

Suddenly.

Everything made sense.

Xu Mingyao stared fixedly at the pink remote control lying on the beige tatami mat.

She knew exactly what it was.

Recalling the scenes that had just unfolded, Xu Mingyao trembled with rage.

"Damn it!"

"Damn it!"

"Damn it!"

"Damn it!!!"

Xu Mingyao roared hysterically. Pushed to the absolute limit of her anger, she lost all restraint and flipped the low table right in front of her.

Food mixed with the dark brown broth of the sukiyaki pot spilled all over the floor.

Scrambling to her feet, Xu Mingyao closed the distance in a few quick strides, reached the pink remote, and stomped on it viciously.

"Ah!"

With one stomp, the pink remote remained completely intact, while Xu Mingyao cried out in pain from the hard impact against her foot.

Xu Mingyao was driven almost insane with anger.

Even this stupid remote control was against her!

You and that bastard Lin Yu can both go to hell!

Fierce fury washed away the pain in her foot. Xu Mingyao turned and dragged over the low table she had just overturned.

Kneeling on the tatami mat, she smashed the table against the thumb-sized pink remote like a madwoman, venting all the grievances and humiliation she had suffered recently onto the poor device.

Under the heavy blows of the table, the pink remote soon cracked and was smashed to pieces.

It wasn't until the internal chip was crushed into several fragments that Xu Mingyao finally stopped.

After venting her rage, Xu Mingyao barely managed to regain a shred of rationality.

She stood up, grabbed her bag, and prepared to leave.

But soon.

Another piece of bad news arrived.

Looking at a large patch of dark oil stains on the bag's packaging, Xu Mingyao froze. Then, like a maniac, she tore open the paper bag and took out the expensive purse worth eight hundred thousand inside.

Flipping the bag over to check the bottom, Xu Mingyao's heart sank.

The bottom of the linen-white bag was stained with a huge, glaring patch of black grease.

It was completely ruined.

Xu Mingyao's heart plummeted to rock bottom.

Originally, since she couldn't give this bag away and couldn't return it, she could have at least sold it to a second-hand luxury store.

A rare, brand-new bag like this with no signs of use could easily fetch five hundred thousand, even if she couldn't get the full eight hundred thousand back.

But now that it was stained with oil, regardless of whether it could be cleaned or not, the bag was worthless.

Let alone six hundred thousand, no one would even pay ten thousand for it.

Realizing she had just lost eight hundred thousand for nothing while already in such a desperate state, Xu Mingyao felt a surge of rage rampaging through her body, driving her to the brink of madness.

Standing there, she took deep breaths for a long while. After forcibly suppressing her anger, Xu Mingyao resentfully turned to leave the private room.

"Wait."

"Wait!"

Just as Xu Mingyao was about to walk out of the sukiyaki restaurant, the receptionist at the front desk stopped her.

"Miss, please wait a moment."

"You haven't paid the bill yet!"

The receptionist was an older woman. Judging by the crow's feet at the corners of her eyes that even thick makeup couldn't hide, she was probably in her forties.

Women of this age generally didn't have the best tempers.

Moreover, seeing someone trying to dine and dash made her tone even harsher.

What?

Xu Mingyao's eyes widened in disbelief.

Didn't pay the bill?

Lin Yu and the others actually left without paying?!

Xu Mingyao grew even more furious.

She had suffered such immense humiliation here, and those two actually dumped the bill on her?!

Xu Mingyao's anger skyrocketed.

Right at that moment, the waitress who had gone into the private room to clear the dishes hurried out with a panicked expression.

Upon seeing Xu Mingyao, her eyes lit up. Pointing at Xu Mingyao, she said in a shrill voice:

"Don't let her leave!"

"She made a huge mess in the private room!"

"The pot is overturned, and the tatami mats are soaked and ruined!"

Hearing this, the receptionist instantly became even angrier.

She grabbed Xu Mingyao's arm, ensuring she couldn't run away, before speaking in a caustic tone:

"Well, well."

"No wonder you were trying to dine and dash!"

"So you're the one who broke things!"

"Let me tell you!"

"You are not leaving!"

"You have to pay for the damaged property at full price!"

"Otherwise, we are calling the police!"

Xu Mingyao stood rooted to the spot. Her grip on her bag tightened more and more until her knuckles cracked.

The waitress's piercing voice and the curious gazes of the surrounding bystanders were like splashes of hot oil.

Pouring onto the blazing fire of anger in her heart.

Finally.

Her fury broke past the breaking point. Unable to endure it any longer, she angrily raised the bag in her hand and smashed it into the waitress's face...

...

Tao Yaoyao had just gotten off the plane and anxiously rushed to the H City police station.

Upon arriving at the police station, as soon as Tao Yaoyao walked through the door, she saw Xu Mingyao sitting on a metal chair with a numb expression.

She looked miserable. The neat, well-groomed long red hair she had before leaving was now a messy bird's nest.

Her naturally charming and beautiful face now bore several red scratch marks from fingernails, and one side of her face looked somewhat swollen.

No...

It wasn't just one side that was swollen.

Both sides of her face were swollen, but one side was much worse than the other.

Tao Yaoyao approached Xu Mingyao with concern. She squatted down, gently held her hand with one hand, and carefully touched her swollen left cheek with the other, comforting her softly:

"I am sorry, I am late."

Looking at Tao Yaoyao in front of her, Xu Mingyao's dull eyes flickered.

Suddenly enveloped by care, her nose tingled, and she felt an uncontrollable urge to cry.

However, just as this emotion surfaced, it was suppressed by another, much stronger emotion.

How could she be moved to tears just by Tao Yaoyao's simple concern?

Wouldn't that be admitting that she cared about her deeply?

Xu Mingyao refused to admit that she cared about her.

Even less did she want to show her vulnerable side in front of her.

She was the eldest daughter of the Xu family.

She was among those standing at the very top of the social pyramid.

How could she reveal her pitiful side just because of the casual pity of someone like her?!

Knowing full well that she had already lost everything, Xu Mingyao absolutely would not allow herself to lose this last remaining way to maintain her dignity.

The emotion and vulnerability in her eyes rapidly faded, replaced by a surge of resentment.

She slapped away Tao Yaoyao's hand that was reaching for her cheek and cursed viciously:

"If you know you're late, what are you dawdling for?"

"Hurry up and get me out of here!"

Tao Yaoyao's hand, which had reached toward Xu Mingyao's injured face, was knocked aside.

Feeling the burning pain on the back of her hand.

Tao Yaoyao looked into Xu Mingyao's eyes in a slight daze. She lowered her eyelids slightly, her gaze dimming. Her pink lips parted slightly as she apologized softly:

"I am sorry."