novelJust let it go to waste then
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Apple was neither shy nor reserved as filled with the vigour of youth, she pulled Li Juan along in dashing towards the second floor. Yet, everyone was able to see her happiness and excitement along with the eagerness and anticipation of a bird returning to its nest.
Therefore, that person must be so familiar, so trustworthy, so much of a warm presence to her.
Most of those in the hall had still yet to recover from this. As for those in the corner where Tianle's people was congregated, most of them had rather terrible expressions on their faces. Some appeared unresigned to fate, some appeared uneasy, and there might also be those who were merely bemused.
Tianyi's Shao Jun did not linger for long as he strode off at a steady pace. Despite having answered that final question, he hadn't even mentioned Xu Tingsheng's name in doing so.
"The problem is-who is that person? Why wasn't even his name said?" Some were thinking.
Actually, they already had sufficient information for such at hand.
An old classmate, a member of Rebirth. Just these two alone were sufficient to show that the person in question was an old acquaintance of Apple's, the two of them having already been close long before this. Therefore, even if people continued with their malicious speculations, believing that Apple had tried to latch onto a magnate for fame and career, it was already a completely baseless thing now.
Moreover, such a magnate who was young and rich, handsome and thoughtful-it couldn't be called latching onto, right?
If it really was that, which female artiste would not want to latch onto someone of this kind?!
Moreover, Shao Jun had also mentioned that the person in question had invested in Tianyi because of Apple, hence becoming a new shareholder of theirs.
Although Shao Jun had not put it in any definitive terms in accordance with what Shi Zhongjun had said earlier, with him having said it in a formal setting such as this, it was obvious to everyone that this was really as good as definite certainty.
This entailed two things:
Firstly, this person was very capable and very powerful. To put it rather crudely, he was very wealthy.
Secondly, he also doted on his girlfriend to a 'frightening' extent, spoiling Apple beyond measure. He clearly intended to pave her a smooth path, protecting her all throughout.
Most of those here wished greatly for fame and profit. The more this was so, the more they were feeling envy and jealousy, then finally a sense of loss.
......
Entering the room, Apple found a stern-looking Xu Tingsheng seated on the sofa facing the doorway with the high-and-mighty look of being about to pass judgment on her for her travesties.
Xu Tingsheng felt that he should express such an attitude regarding Apple's actions that night at the very least: He was very angry.
Apple seemed to have turned into another person as she shamelessly ignored all this, leaping onto the sofa immediately upon her arrival. Then, facing Xu Tingsheng directly as she rested on his lap, she pressured him back towards the back of the sofa.
"Xu Tingsheng, you liar! Hurry up and say it. How is it that you're here?" Apple questioned overbearingly from a position of lofty superiority.
Xu Tingsheng glanced up at her, asking ill-humouredly, "Hey, you're... seizing the preemptive here? Your matter should be much more serious than mine, right? So, shouldn't you be explaining it all to me?"
Apple laughed slyly before leaning in close towards his ear and saying in a sickly sweet tone, "Hey, don't be like this! So fierce, you must surely be feeling so very pained inside?!"
Xu Tingsheng's mind that had seemed to drift off momentarily there refocused on Apple.
For that one moment, he seemed to have returned to their senior high days as that shameless demoness Apple resurfaced. This was how she had always dealt with him back then.
Back then, she had virtually always held the upper hand as he was only ever able to flee helter-skelter in a sad, sorry state.
He pushed Apple away and sat upright.
Xu Tingsheng said, "Don't you try this on me! I'm no longer that easy to bully now."
Apple said, "I don't believe you. Shall I test it out?"
"I'm really very angry today."
"I was wrong, " Apple began acting pitiful.
Xu Tingsheng smiled and greeted Sis Juan who was standing awkwardly by the doorway, "Hello, Sis Juan. Sorry that you had to see this. We've actually met once before."
Li Juan nodded, "I remember. It was in Jiannan City; you sent Apple over then."
Xu Tingsheng said, "That's right. Apple has caused trouble for Sis Juan, this I am basically aware of. Therefore, I'm very grateful towards you. I hope that Sis Juan will be happy working at Tianyi in the future. If you find Apple to be too bothersome, you can always change to another artiste or concentrate on training to be an agent."
"No!" Apple leapt to her feet and went over to grab Li Juan's hand before pulling her over to sit on the sofa, clasping her arm tightly in hers.
Li Juan thought for a moment before suddenly saying, "Apple's suffered for a long time because of you."
Xu Tingsheng actually had no way of explaining this to Li Juan. Apple's elbow that was linked in Li Juan's wobbled slightly before she then shook her head slightly, indicating for Li Juan to stop.
While smiling warmly at Apple, Li Juan persisted in saying, "Back in Xihu City, that night when Apple left, she told me that she was off to enter a relationship. She said that you are the best man in the world, and that she would be very happy... back then, I wondered what sort of a person you are that despite suffering like this, she could still feel like she was so happy."
"Back then, I thought that you were just an ordinary person. Because of that, however fatigued and aggrieved Apple was, I was still able to accept it. But as I see it now, you could have done this in the first place, just that for some reason, you didn't... not till today."
"Therefore, seeing how you could bear to let Apple be pitiful to that extent back then, I actually do still blame you for it somewhat now."
Xu Tingsheng smiled awkwardly, "It was my oversight. Back then, I just hoped for Apple to be able to find a path of her own that truly suited her after gaining some life experience. She lost some things along the way."
He turned to look at Apple, continuing, "So, can you say it for certain now?"
Apple nodded firmly, "Yeah! I've come to like that me which I can foresee."
"That's good then, " Xu Tingsheng smiled.
He felt that there was already no longer a need for him to ask Apple about why she had come here by herself that night. She had done so wanting to get rid of her previous mindset in which she relied on others, having lost herself.
As one remained longer in that mindset, even relying on oneself might then become frightening.
Even though the night's events had proven that she was still unable to depend on herself at the moment, at the very least, she now had a direction as well as a future she could look forward to.
Apple said cheekily, "So, it should be your turn to tell me what this is all about now. I was really very worried just now, worried that it would be some fat, bald old man walking out of that room to help me. All because they'd set their sights on this damsel's beauty, you know? You scared me to death tonight."
"What if it had been a handsome dude who came out of the room?"
"It would have to be you. It's just that I didn't consider it at the time."
"So how did you feel just now?"
"Like I was hanging over a precipice, before I saw my Superman flying over to save me, " Apple said, "Still, don't change the topic, Xu Tingsheng. I'm waiting for you to explain yourself."
Xu Tingsheng could only narrate the story from the very beginning.
He talked about the terms agreed upon when he had given the two songs to Tianyi. The songs had actually been prepared for Apple, unless she decided to give up on them. He also talked about the exchange of shares between Hucheng and Tianyi. He had already been a Tianyi shareholder for quite some time now. He spoke of the preparations he had made for this day.
After he was done, Apple asked, "Why didn't you tell us? It was just you and Huang Yaming who knew, right? I remember that Fu Cheng and Song Ni even blamed you because of this."
Xu Tingsheng said, "I wanted to wait for you to make a decision of your own before informing me about your choice. I wanted this choice to be made not because of me and not because of any preparations I may have made for you but because it truly is what you desire deep within."
"Therefore, I didn't want you to know about all this, tonight's matter included. I didn't tell you about it because I didn't want there to be any pressure on you. I wanted to give you time to prepare first before awaiting your choice. In the end, you actually ran over here on your own."
"Didn't you feel aggrieved?"
"A little."
"Did you lose out in the exchange of shares?"
"A little, but it was worth it."
"Then, what if I'd eventually chosen to give up on this path? Wouldn't all that you've done been for naught?"
"Just let it go to waste then."
Hearing Xu Tingsheng's 'just let it go to waste then', Apple finally could not help but collapse in Li Juan's embrace, the tears flowing unimpeded down her cheeks even as she sobbed, "See it, Sis? How hard it would be not to love him."
Li Juan patted her shoulder, saying, "I see it."
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