Chapter 138 – Estranged (2)

Lan Jinyao would’ve preferred to have her evening dress custom made by a well-known designer, rather than a ready-to-wear dress that could be bought in a high-class clothing store. However, there wasn’t enough time for that anymore, so she took her credit card and went out to buy a ready-made one.

And, unexpectedly, Lan Jinyao ended up in a very awkward spot.

Lan Jinyao spent more than an hour choosing a suitable evening dress, and the shop assistant was all smiles as she wrapped up the dress for her. Then, another shop assistant walked up to her and handed back her credit card as she said, “Madam, I’m sorry, but your card has been frozen, and you temporarily can’t use it.”

She’d been using this card all along, so how come it was suddenly frozen? Did Fu Bainian do it?

When she’d left home, she didn’t bring anything else with her as such a situation had never crossed her mind before. Now, the situation had turned somewhat awkward.

“Could you do a home delivery and come with me to get the money?”

When she asked this, the shop assistants shook their heads and answered, “I’m sorry, but we don’t do home deliveries.”

“Then, what if I pay extra for delivery?” she asked again, a little annoyed.

A woman, who seemed to be the Manager, walked over and smiled at her. “If you pay the delivery fee first, we can deliver it for you.”

This was a rule set by the store, and Lan Jinyao understood that, but a wave of groundless anger filled her heart. She couldn’t help raising her voice as she spoke, “What kind of customer service is this? Is this how you treat your customers?”

And, that was when something even more embarrassing happened.

When Lan Jinyao threw down the clothes and left, a large number of reporters suddenly appeared in front of the store. The moment she heard the clicking sounds and camera flashes, a lot of news headlines instantly surged to her mind.

Headlines such as ‘Popular actress Chen Meimei didn’t have any money to pay the bill and turned hostile on the spot’ and ‘Chen Meimei was refused credit by the clothing store and flew into a rage’ popped up in her mind. Even if she wasn’t a reporter, she was able to come up with dozens of headlines every minute. Compared with the headlines, the current situation with the paparazzi was much more shocking.

Witnessing this scenario, Lan Jinyao started to feel anxious and was in a hurry to leave. She knew that it was too late to escape, but there was no other way. If she continued to stay, the situation would only turn out worse later, and by then, she’d be in an even more embarrassing and awful predicament.

Thus, Lan Jinyao didn’t think too much into it and promptly scurried away as soon as she walked out of the store.

The situation was terrible, and as she was rushing, her glasses were knocked off her face. She didn’t know whether it was deliberate or not, but her bare face was exposed to the cameras, causing her panic to increase dramatically.

And, at this time, her hand was suddenly pulled on by someone, to which Lan Jinyao subconsciously struggled a few times before realising that the person was quite strong so she couldn’t break free. That person then pulled her back into the clothing store.

Following that, Lan Jinyao had a good look at that person’s face.

It turned out to be Jiang Cheng!

All that had happened seemed to be a deliberate scheme by someone as everything was so coincidental. However, it didn’t make sense, because Jiang Cheng couldn’t have known that Fu Bainian would have her credit card frozen. It was also impossible for him to know that she’d come to this clothing store at this time.

Jiang Cheng seemed to have had guessed her thoughts, so he smiled at her and said, “My appearance here is just a coincidence. Fu Bainian’s recent scandal, although it was very unfavourable towards you, our company’s publicity isn’t less than that; I don’t want you to get into that kind of scandal.”

Lan Jinyao was a little confused by his words. Meanwhile, the reporters were blocked by the security guards and couldn’t enter the store, but they were patient and refused to leave.

“Miss, do you still want that evening dress?”

Seeing that Jiang Cheng was wearing clothing from expensive brands, the observant Manager immediately came over and inquired. It was as if Lan Jinyao losing her temper earlier at her didn’t happen at all.

Lan Jinyao frowned and said, “I don’t want it anymore.”

“Why not?” asked Jiang Cheng with raised eyebrows. “If you go out like this now, what will the media write later? Although I know that it may not look good if I pay the bill for you, at the very least it would save you some face, right?”

He then told the Manager, “Bring me the evening dress that she picked out earlier.”

Following that, Jiang Chang handed his card to the Manager, who was all smiles as she took it. And, immediately after, another shop assistant quickly handed the clothing bag over to Lan Jinyao.

“Although I don’t mean any harm, I still want to say that a husband really shouldn’t let his wife go shopping alone without money. If I hadn’t happened to meet you today, who knows how Fu Bainian would’ve reacted when you were on the news.”

While saying all of this, Jiang Cheng’s expression was sombre.

Lan Jinyao’s mood was affected by his words, and when it combined with her initial bad mood, it caused her to be even more on edge.

“Since he dares to get into that kind of scandal, then he won’t care what kind of scandal I’ll get into!” stated Lan Jinyao angrily.

Unexpectedly, her actions in a fit of pique made her step into a trap designed by Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng’s lips slightly curled up into a smirk as he took the bag from Lan Jinyao, and tightly held her hand with his other hand. He slightly lowered his head and whispered in her ear, “Since you think that he doesn’t care, why don’t we give it a try?! Follow me out, and openly stand beside me in front of the media.”

Fu Bainian cared before, but what about now? Would he mind if he saw her and Jiang Cheng in a scandal? At this instant, Lan Jinyao abruptly wanted to know the answer.

Thus, she turned towards Jiang Cheng and nodded.

Little did she know that she’d already set foot in a trap.

Seeing her reaction, Jiang Cheng suddenly revealed a profound smile.

The two of them then walked out hand in hand. Lan Jinyao slightly raised her chin, her expression impeccable. She was an excellent actress, to begin with, so this act was just child’s play to her.

Those flashing camera lights lit up again, accompanied by clicking sounds, but Lan Jinyao was no longer afraid, and she didn’t panic. At this moment, even she didn’t realise that, and her mood slowly brightened.

Jiang Cheng’s car was parked on the side of the road. Before Lan Jinyao entered the vehicle, she hesitated a bit. But, when she saw the smile that wasn’t quite a smile on Jiang Cheng’s face, as well as the crowd of reporters behind her, she gritted her teeth and got into the car.

“Do you want to go home or do you want to continue shopping?”

Lan Jinyao kneaded her forehead and indifferently said, “Home!”