Her singing was met with cheers from the three men in the private room.
But she felt a mocking undertone in their applause, as if they harbored ill intentions towards her.
Just as she finished the female part of the song, Manager Wang suddenly placed his hand on her back, making her flinch.
Manager Wang chuckled and said, "Sing the male part with me. I can't find the tune."
"Okay," Xi Xianya tried to pull away his hand, turning to face him, forcing herself to suppress her fear.
But Manager Wang then placed his hand on her leg and said, "This accompaniment is so long."
Xi Xianya stood up, intending to move away, but turned to find that Zhao Jianhua was no longer in the room.
Only President Zheng remained seated on the sofa, smiling at her and saying, "Sit here with me. Sing the next song together."
Xi Xianya dropped the microphone, desperate to escape the room.
"Where's Zhao Jianhua? I'm going to find him."
"He went to the restroom." At this moment, President Zheng stood up, trying to grab her, and Manager Wang also approached her.
Without thinking, she picked up a glass of wine and splashed it onto President Zheng's head. His entire hairpiece fell off, revealing he was wearing a wig.
As President Zheng fumbled for his wig, blocking Manager Wang, Xi Xianya quickly fled the room.
As she ran out in a panic, she bumped into Zhao Jianhua, who was walking towards the private room.
"Where are you going?" Zhao Jianhua asked, surprised to see her.
Xi Xianya calmed herself and said, "The restroom."
Then she quickly passed him and fled the club.
Zhao Jianhua sensed something was wrong and saw Manager Wang and President Zheng chasing after her, President Zheng's hair askew on his head.
Just as he was about to ask what was happening, he heard President Zheng shout, "Don't let her get away!"
At that moment, drivers and bodyguards from adjacent private rooms rushed out. President Zheng and Manager Wang angrily yelled at their men, "Quick, go catch that woman!"
As Xi Xianya fled, she felt someone chasing her and ran even faster, heedless of everything else.
Zhao Jianhua hurriedly apologized, asking, "Old Wang, Old Zhao, what's going on here?"
President Zheng pulled off his wig, his face fallen, and said, "Look at what your goddaughter has done!"
Zhao Jianhua saw that his wig was still dripping. No, it wasn't water, it was wine.
Manager Wang chimed in, "Didn't you say we could do whatever we wanted? Why won't she even let us touch her! You called us here tonight just to play with us?"
Zhao Jianhua was furious that Xi Xianya dared to be so audacious.
But facing these two executives who were planning to invest in his group, he could only continue to plaster on a smile and say, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't communicate with her beforehand. I'll find someone else immediately..."
"No need! If we don't catch this woman today, I won't be able to calm my anger." President Zheng flicked the wine from his wig onto Zhao Jianhua's face and turned back to the private room to wait.
Manager Wang also gave Zhao Jianhua a cold snort and followed President Zheng.
Zhao Jianhua cursed inwardly, "This wretched girl, daring to set me up! I'll never forgive her!"
Xi Xianya ran too fast and twisted her ankle, but she didn't dare to stop, so she ran towards the less illuminated areas.
But with every step, her foot throbbed with pain. Just then, a blinding car headlight shone towards her.
Her heart leaped. She couldn't see the car clearly and thought it was the people chasing her who had found her.
She immediately prepared to turn and run, when she heard someone call her name, "Xi Xianya! Why are you running into the road?"
The voice sounded like heavenly music to her. She ran to the car door, clung to Ai Yifeng's rolled-down window, and pleaded, "Quick, let me get in the car and take me away."
"Where to?" Ai Yifeng asked, confused.
"Someone is chasing me!" Xi Xianya said frantically. "I can't let them catch me."
Ai Yifeng unlocked the car doors, gestured for her to get in the back, closed the door, and rolled up the window.
He continued driving forward and indeed saw several burly men searching the street.
He saw Xi Xianya cowering fearfully in the rearview mirror. Without asking where she wanted to go, he drove directly to his own home.
When the car stopped, Xi Xianya was still trembling inside.
"It's alright, those people won't catch you now." Ai Yifeng asked, "Where do you live? I'll take you home."
But Xi Xianya was still very nervous. Even if the two managers' men couldn't catch her, Zhao Jianhua knew where she lived.
"I can't go back, I'm not going home!"
Ai Yifeng then said, "Then come to my place for a while."
Xi Xianya trusted him and nodded. Her foot hurt, making it a little difficult to get out of the car.
Ai Yifeng asked, "Can you walk by yourself?"
"Yes," Xi Xianya limped along.
Ai Yifeng couldn't bear to watch and offered her his arm, saying, "I'll help you up."
With the support of his arm, Xi Xianya steadied herself and went with him to his home.
She noticed his home wasn't large, but it was very clean.
"Does your girlfriend often come to help you clean?"
Ai Yifeng smiled and said, "I don't have a girlfriend."
"Are you married then?" Xi Xianya didn't say he had a wife because she didn't see a wedding ring on his finger.
"No wife either, still single." As he spoke, he went to the kitchen and asked, "What would you like to drink?"
"Just plain water is fine."
Ai Yifeng took a bottle of drink from the refrigerator and said, "I have all sorts of drinks at home, but plain water is the scarcest."
Xi Xianya took the drink he offered and said, "This is fine too. It'll help calm my nerves."
As she spoke, she opened the drink and drank half of it in one go, finally feeling less afraid.
Ai Yifeng asked curiously, "Who were those people chasing you? They looked quite fierce."
Xi Xianya didn't know how to explain it to him. If he knew how pathetic she was, would he still help her?
Seeing her silence, Ai Yifeng didn't press her. "If you don't want to say, that's fine. Everyone has secrets they don't want to share..."
"It's not really a secret," Xi Xianya said. "My godfather asked me to entertain guests, and I refused. So I splashed wine on one of his friends. I think I've thoroughly offended them."
"I think you did the right thing. Don't force yourself to do things you don't want to." Ai Yifeng opened a can of beer in his hand and took a sip.
Xi Xianya felt he seemed like someone with a story.
He used to be very quiet in the company, and she couldn't tell much about him. But tonight, she saw an indescribable sadness in his eyes.
For some reason, she felt an urge to soothe his sorrow and opened up to him, telling him about some of her experiences.
Since her family suffered a great upheaval, she hadn't confided in anyone about what she had been through.
Ai Yifeng listened quietly as she spoke, without much surprise.
He had experienced similar things himself and could empathize with everything she had gone through.
After his family went bankrupt, he too had tasted the coldness of the world.
No one helped him, he had fallen into despair, and he had also been down on his luck.