Chapter 19: Don’t You Dare Believe Her Nonsense

“F*ck! Chen Younan, what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Xie Jingting’s expression darkened with fury.

Chen Younan ended the call, spun his phone lazily between his fingers, and shrugged. “Didn’t you always hate that sister-in-law of yours? We’ve been ‘friends’ for years—I’m obviously on your side. Get rid of her, and you can finally switch to a new one.”

“Who said I dislik—”

Before Xie Jingting could finish his sentence, a loud crash echoed from the floor below, followed by the sound of dishes shattering.

Both men turned their heads and looked down.

They saw a girl sitting with her back toward them, shoving a waiter to the ground. Her voice was cold with disgust:
“Don’t touch me with your filthy hands. You want me to apologize to you? Do you even deserve that?”

The waiter bit his lip hard, putting on the perfect picture of someone being bullied but too afraid to resist.

Many customers had already started recording the scene with their phones.

The girl didn’t explain herself at all. She simply sat there, aloof and indifferent, looking down at the waiter on the floor with an air of superiority.

Xie Jingting thought the voice sounded familiar—he just couldn’t place where he’d heard it before.

Just then, the restaurant manager rushed over.

The waiter, Ning Hao, instantly lit up like he’d seen his savior. He hurriedly tattled:

“Snow Nian-jie! This customer said she didn’t have enough money, wanted to split the bill. I told her we don’t allow split payments, and then she cursed me to die, said I’d go to hell! I didn’t want to make a scene and disrupt the other customers’ dining, so I tried to be the bigger person and went over to apologize… but she hit me!”

As he spoke, two tears slowly trickled down his cheeks.

Ah yes, the classic ‘handsome guy crying’ move.

The manager—Wang Xuenian—was a woman in her early thirties with shoulder-length hair and a sharp black uniform. She looked like the capable, no-nonsense type.

She reached out to help him up. “Get up first.”

Ning Hao pouted and swatted her hand away with a huff, expressing his dissatisfaction.

Wang Xuenian sighed silently, a brief flicker of sympathy in her eyes.

Once Ning Hao stood up, Wang Xuenian patted his arm. “I’ll handle this. Go take care of other tasks.”

“Hold on.” Tu Shanju finally spoke, having taken in the entire scene. “Did I say he could leave?”

Ning Hao’s expression darkened. “What more do you want? I haven’t even demanded an apology from you. Don’t push it—”

A sharp look from Wang Xuenian immediately shut him up.

She turned back to Tu Shanju with a polite smile.

“I apologize for the unpleasant experience, Miss. Since we haven’t confirmed what really happened, I’ll need some time to review the surveillance footage. If it turns out our employee was in the wrong, we will deal with it accordingly. But if you did insult, curse, or slander our employee, I hope you’ll offer a sincere apology. Otherwise, we will pursue legal action to protect our staff’s rights.”

Tu Shanju chuckled softly. “Not bad. Looks like love hasn’t completely made you lose your head.”

Wang Xuenian frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

Instead of answering, Tu Shanju calmly pulled out a nail clipper from her bag and placed it on the table. Looking Wang Xuenian straight in the eyes, she said in a low voice:

“Miss Wang, barter a knife. Don’t you suspect he’s hiding something from you? The knife is proof, the words are evidence. I’ll collect payment only after the prediction comes true.”

Ning Hao’s expression twisted. He blurted, “What prediction nonsense? Superstitious mumbo-jumbo! You want me to report you to the police for spreading feudal superstition?”

Wang Xuenian turned to glance at him.

Ning Hao lowered his voice a little and continued indignantly, “I bet she just wants to skip paying for her meal and is trying to scam you into giving her a freebie. Don’t fall for her nonsense!”

Just then, a voice thundered from the second floor:

“Who are you calling nonsense?”

Everyone turned toward the source.

Tu Shanju tilted her head up, slightly surprised. “Oh hey, Third Brother! What a coincidence—you’re having hotpot too?”

Xie Jingting waved. “Sister-in-law! Wait for me—I’m coming down now!”

He had already thought the voice downstairs sounded familiar. And the moment he saw the nail clipper appear, he instantly recognized it.

It was his sister-in-law—Tu Shanju!

Boom. His temper ignited instantly.

Someone dared to bully a member of the Xie family? His sister-in-law no less? What, did they think Xie Jingting was already dead?!

He yanked his head back and charged downstairs without hesitation.

Chen Younan stood frozen for a few seconds. Then he looked down at the scene below and thought: So that’s the legendary mountain-bumpkin fiancée of Xie Shiyu?

She and Xie Jingting seemed to be getting along just fine.

Well, well. No reason to miss a good show.
If he could catch Xie Jingting making a fool of himself, even better.

Having a “superstitious scammer” of a sister-in-law was already embarrassing enough.

Without hesitation, he turned and followed Xie Jingting downstairs.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Wang Xuenian had already started sweating.

As the manager of this place, she naturally recognized the young master of the Xie family.

And just now, he had called this girl sister-in-law—which meant she clearly had a powerful background too.

Today’s mess… would not be easily resolved.

Unfortunately, Ning Hao chose the worst possible time to act up.

He stood defiantly in front of her, arms akimbo, puffing himself up like some self-righteous hero:
“What, you think I’m scared now that you brought backup? Let me tell you, I’m done tolerating this! I’ll quit if I have to, but I’m going to speak up for us folks at the bottom of society!”

His words sparked a chorus of agreement from the crowd:

“Exactly! Just because he’s a waiter doesn’t mean he’s not human!”

“She really did curse that handsome guy to die and go to hell! I heard it myself!”

“She looks like she’s never seen meat before—ate ten whole plates like a starving ghost!”

“She’s clearly trying to use that fake knife-barterer story to skip paying for her meal! Don’t fall for it, Manager!”

The gossip snowballed rapidly, pushing the atmosphere to a boiling point.

Tu Shanju, however, remained calm as ever, as if watching puppets dance on strings.

Soon, she thought, they’ll learn what it means to trust the wrong people.

When Xie Jingting finally reached the ground floor and heard the comments being thrown around, he nearly exploded with rage.

He marched over and shielded Tu Shanju from view, slammed a black card on the table, and growled:
“My sister-in-law—Xie Jingting’s sister-in-law—would scam you for a meal? You’d better give me an explanation for this mess, or I’m suing this entire establishment!”

Wang Xuenian immediately yanked Ning Hao behind her and bowed slightly, lowering her tone:

“I’m terribly sorry, Young Master Xie. This was our mistake. We’ve wronged this lady. I’ll have Ning Hao apologize to her right now!”

She turned and barked, “Ning Hao! Apologize to this lady immediately!”