Chapter 10: Pretending to Be Innocent
Honestly, there was no need to worry about her happiness anymore. Divorce had already become something certain sooner or later!
But the two women in front of her... one was like a passionate red rose, the other like a proud snow lotus from the mountains. The first caught people's eyes with her beautiful looks, and her hot figure made it hard for anyone to stay calm. You just wanted to keep looking at her again and again. The second stood out because of her elegant temperament. With her gold-rimmed glasses and office lady outfit, she gave off the feeling of a mature and graceful older woman.
Both of them were amazing in their own ways, hard to compare. And most importantly, they were arguing because of her. That made Cheng Fei feel extremely satisfied inside.
Her vanity was fully satisfied, and a proud little laugh escaped from her throat, immediately attracting the attention of both the icy snow lotus and the fiery rose.
The two women were arguing so fiercely for her sake, while she was sitting there laughing. Sneaking a laugh was one thing, but openly showing it was a bit...
Seeing their expressions, Cheng Fei instantly felt that things were bad. Very bad.
She lightly coughed, stopped smiling, then walked forward and grabbed both of their hands, secretly rubbing them a little while she was at it. She pressed them down into their seats and brought over two cups of lemonade she had already prepared.
"Take a break and rest your throats after all that arguing."
Zheng Qi looked relaxed and casually sipped the sour lemonade through a straw. Bai Xi still looked worried for her, sitting there silently with a frown. Cheng Fei inserted the straw for her and placed the cup into her hand.
Bai Xi accepted it and glanced at her with an expression that clearly said she was disappointed in her.
"I think both of you make good points. But now the rice is already..."
"So fast?”
“It's already cooked?!"
The two women spoke at the same time, though their expressions were completely different.
Zheng Qi looked extremely excited, almost overflowing with happiness. She practically wanted to open champagne and set off fireworks to celebrate. Bai Xi, on the other hand, frowned even harder. She looked so worried that she almost seemed miserable.
Not only were their expressions different, but both of them stared directly at Cheng Fei's stomach, making her feel like she was about to collapse.
Come on!
Did they seriously think she was already pregnant? Even test-tube babies were not that fast!
Cooked? How could it possibly be cooked already! Besides, even if someone was going to get someone else pregnant, it should be her getting others pregnant! Cheng Fei's changing expression completely confused the two women. They quietly exchanged looks, wondering if she had suffered another huge shock and become mentally unstable again.
"Uh... I think that since we're already husband and wife, I should try to think positively. What if he really is the other half I've been missing? I believe my judgment shouldn't be that bad."
"Exactly!" Zheng Qi slapped her palm excitedly. "What if he's actually one of those rare good men? Then you'd really hit the jackpot, Feifei..."
"But what if..." Bai Xi sighed deeply.
This woman really worried too much. Cheng Fei suddenly saw the image of her own mother in Bai Xi, and for a moment she felt emotional.
"Like Qiqi said... what if it's true?"
Saying such dishonest words made Cheng Fei feel terrible inside. She honestly wanted to hit herself in the head and end all this trouble once and for all.
Looking at the two women in front of her, Cheng Fei truly felt happy for the original owner of this body for having such good friends. For a brief moment, she wanted to tell them the entire truth. But since the original Cheng Fei had chosen to hide everything from them, there must have been a reason. She decided to at least respect the choice of the deceased.
Bai Xi became speechless. When anger reached a certain point, sometimes you could no longer even cry, only laugh bitterly.
"You... you've always been like this since the day I met you. Gentle and innocent. Men are like wolves, and they especially love tricking little lambs like you!"
Gentle and innocent!
Sigh! With such a good personality and beautiful appearance, she really was a one-in-ten-thousand kind of girl. How did Gao Ming end up so lucky? If Cheng Fei were still a complete man, she would have risked everything to steal her away!
"With you guarding her like a sheepdog, what wolf would dare come looking for trouble?"
Zheng Qi crossed her legs carelessly and complained after hearing Bai Xi's words. Bai Xi was already annoyed enough, and Zheng Qi's comment only made things worse. Bai Xi lightly adjusted her glasses, and a cold light flashed through her eyes toward Zheng Qi.
Seeing another battle about to begin, Cheng Fei both wanted to watch the drama and worried about how to stop the fight. Men could usually settle things with a few nice words, but between women... she really had no experience dealing with that. But then—
"One Snow Top coffee!"
A customer arrived at the perfect moment.
One woman immediately picked up the menu and sat properly like a refined lady, while the other elegantly crossed her legs to one side. Hah. They had just been arguing red-faced behind the scenes, but now they instantly returned to acting like goddesses in public. Ah, women... every one of them had two faces.
Cheng Fei shook her head and sighed at how quickly women's emotions could change, almost like face-changing magic. Still, she felt her earlier efforts had not been wasted. Happily, she ran behind the counter to serve the customer.
"Coming right up!"
"Extra ice!"
"Got it!"
In just a few quick moves, a cold Snow Top coffee was ready. She packed it up and handed it over, only to receive a stunned look from the customer.
That was the power a beautiful appearance had over men.
The customer reluctantly walked away, and Cheng Fei turned back to check on the two beauties again.
"Hey, ladies! It's already noon. Are you hungry?"
"Hungry? Of course! That boxed meal on the plane was no better than pig food. It made me feel sick! I rushed all the way back without stopping. First, to celebrate for you, and second, because I wanted to eat your spicy hot pot!"
"Such a foodie!"
Bai Xi rolled her eyes hard at Zheng Qi.
Vegetables, mushrooms, tofu skin, meatballs. It was basically just those kinds of ingredients. For someone like Cheng Fei, who had spent years living alone with nobody to rely on, making food like this was not difficult at all. The problem was... how should she handle it now?
Such a beautiful lady had already requested it, so of course she should agree. Otherwise, how could there be any future development between them~
"I can eat a lot and just work it off with exercise later. But you, sitting in an office all day, probably can't even eat much anymore."
"Hmph!"
Bai Xi looked completely unconvinced and no longer wanted to continue arguing. She turned toward Cheng Fei instead.
"Feifei, don't listen to her. This isn't home. If she wants food, she can order it herself."
"I never said I wanted it right now."
Zheng Qi pouted unhappily. If Cheng Fei really made it for her right now, she would be overjoyed. But since the shop was open for business, even close friends should not disturb work too much.
"I'm tired of eating meat and heavy food. Today I want something lighter. I'll get chicken noodle soup. What about you two?"
"You're paying?" Bai Xi stared at her.
"Obviously! I already opened the app, so hurry up and order!"
"Shrimp dumplings, crystal shumai, braised ribs, and one bowl of rice."
A big eater?
Looking at her figure... well, she really was pretty flat in one area. Still, she was definitely very slim! Not even close to Cheng Fei's type, and absolutely impossible to compare with Zheng Qi's explosive figure.
Holding her phone, Zheng Qi looked at Bai Xi with almost the same expression Cheng Fei had.
"What happened to dieting?"
"When life is good, you should enjoy it! Besides, the queen of the runway is paying today. If I don't order expensive dishes, how could they match your status?"
"......"
"Got a problem with that? Still not enough? Then maybe I should add something else too... two-head abalone and a blue lobster."
"Oh my god!"
Zheng Qi instantly panicked.
"Are you trying to rob the rich here? My money didn't come from the wind either!"
The tense atmosphere from before suddenly became much lighter. They argued and fought often, but after over ten years of friendship since high school, their bond had already survived too much. A simple fight could never break it apart.
The weather gradually improved, and people hiding indoors started coming outside to enjoy the cool air after the rain. Business slowly became better. Cheng Fei got so busy she almost could not handle everything alone, so Bai Xi and Zheng Qi both started helping.
With Zheng Qi's beautiful face and sexy clothes, having the model handle customers and payments immediately attracted countless eyes from passing men. For a while, there were clearly many more male customers than before.
Hearing all the praise Zheng Qi received, Bai Xi glanced over with obvious disdain while helping Cheng Fei work. The words "showing off her body" slipped from her mouth with a strong sour tone.
It was just like how men naturally liked comparing money, status, or physical strength. Women also naturally wished for a better figure.
Sadly, heaven did not bless Bai Xi in that area, so she had no choice but to focus on elegance and temperament instead.
The lunch they ordered had arrived long ago, but because customers kept coming nonstop, they could only leave it sitting there. By the time things finally became quiet again, it was already three in the afternoon.
"Feifei, why don't you hire someone to help you?"
"Seriously, you should hire somebody. If the two of us weren't here today, you really wouldn't be able to manage this alone."
Yeah...
Seeing that the entire shop only had one worker, Cheng Fei also felt confused. If this level of traffic counted as "average business," then what would happen during busy days? Even all three of them together might not survive it!
Looking at things now, there was no way the shop had never hired helpers before. So where were they now?
Grrrr—
Their stomachs started protesting loudly. Cheng Fei's stomach made the first sound, quickly followed by the other two.
An awkward laugh was unavoidable. Right now, filling their stomachs was the most important thing.
But...
"I never eat at fixed times anyway, and I rarely get hot meals."
Holding her noodles, Zheng Qi looked completely unconcerned. Bai Xi also did not object. The teaching profession was far less glamorous than it looked from outside.
"These past few years, grading homework has really... sigh. I often end up eating cold food too."
Just moments ago Cheng Fei thought she was the odd one out, but now she suddenly felt understood.
At least they still had time to eat. Back when she worked in sales, she ran around everywhere all day. There was never a proper mealtime. Usually she just grabbed whatever food she could find.
Everyone in this city was struggling to survive. Who really had it easy?
Cheng Fei stuffed a huge spoonful of rice into her mouth, her puffed-up cheeks looking exactly like a cute squirrel. In just a few quick bites, she finished an entire rice bowl, followed by a loud burp.
The two women across from her were almost stunned. Their normally gentle and elegant friend suddenly ate with such wild boldness that it naturally caught attention.
"Were you starving to death or what?!"
Bai Xi did not answer. Instead, she narrowed her eyes and carefully observed Cheng Fei, almost as if she suspected someone had secretly replaced her.
Cheng Fei froze awkwardly and laughed weakly. She had been so hungry that she focused only on eating and almost forgot the two women were still sitting across from her.
"Hey, now that you mention it, her face today also..."
Zheng Qi narrowed her eyes, then suddenly reached out and rubbed Cheng Fei's face. She looked carefully at her fingers before bringing them under her nose for a sniff.
"You're not wearing powder... no makeup base either... You're actually bare-faced today?!"
"Uh..."
Well, not completely. She did at least put on some moisturizer!