Observing Qiu Xinxue's expression, Xia Qingtian offered a subtle smile and said, "When I bought this dress, I never imagined I'd end up wearing the same one as Xiong."
"It's okay, it's still a cute matching set," Ji Meina called out, waving. "Sit next to me."
Hearing Ji Meina's words, Qiu Xinxue's face grew even more displeased.
There was an empty seat between her and Ji Meina, which she had deliberately left unoccupied, not wanting to sit next to Ji Meina. However, she had inadvertently dug a pit for herself.
"Alright," Xia Qingtian cheerfully sat down between Ji Meina and Qiu Xinxue. As soon as she sat, Xia Qingtian remarked, "Ah, I left my phone in the room."
"It's the same if you get it after eating," Ji Meina urged. "Let's eat first."
At this moment, Ji Jun, sitting opposite Xia Qingtian, chuckled and said, "You two are wearing the same outfit."
"We are," Xia Qingtian looked at Qiu Xinxue. "What a coincidence."
"We're telepathic," Qiu Xinxue forced an unnatural smile. "It's a shame my overall dress doesn't have any matching battle-worn bear cubs."
"What does it matter? You weren't bitten by a snake either," Xia Qingtian said casually.
"Qingtian, I'm sorry," Lu Songtao said apologetically again upon hearing this.
Just as Xia Qingtian was about to say it was nothing, Qiu Xinxue interrupted.
"Qingtian, he didn't do it on purpose. Let's leave it at that," Qiu Xinxue said to Xia Qingtian. "Everyone makes mistakes. There's no need to be like this."
Qiu Xinxue's words were quite subtle. Those who didn't know the truth might assume that Xia Qingtian had been making things difficult for Lu Songtao off-camera, and that her wearing this outfit was a deliberate act to embarrass him, something even Qiu Xinxue, who was unrelated to the incident, couldn't stand to see.
"Where do you think I've done too much, or too little? Do I need you to uphold justice and decide that this is 'enough'?" Xia Qingtian propped her chin with one hand, looking at Qiu Xinxue. "I didn't intentionally coordinate outfits with you, so there's no need for you to make a fuss about this, is there?"
"I didn't, I just because..." Qiu Xinxue seemed taken aback by Xia Qingtian's direct retort, her expression changing.
"Because of what?" Xia Qingtian didn't give Qiu Xinxue a chance to argue back. She turned to Lu Songtao. "You tell me, from beginning to end, have I ever blamed you? Have I ever made things difficult for you?"
Lu Songtao felt extremely awkward at this moment. His dislike for Qiu Xinxue grew even stronger. Was this Qiu Xinxue bored and out of her mind?
Was she using him to cause trouble for Xia Qingtian, treating him like a tool?
The scene became eerily quiet. For a moment, no one knew what to say.
"I didn't mean it like that, Qingtian. You don't need to be so sensitive," Qiu Xinxue looked at Xia Qingtian as if she were the one wronged. "You don't need to make things difficult for Lu Songtao either."
"How am I making things difficult for him now?" Xia Qingtian found it amusing. "So, it's all my fault, inside and out?"
"I didn't say that. I just think Lu Songtao didn't do it on purpose, and there's no need to keep dwelling on this matter," Qiu Xinxue spread her hands, appearing extremely innocent.
"Qingtian isn't dwelling on it, but you've been talking about it," Ji Meina increasingly felt Qiu Xinxue was going too far and couldn't help but say, "There's no need for you to be like this."
"I know you two are close, but there's really no need for this," Qiu Xinxue was about to say more when Lin Yirou interrupted.
"Alright, no more arguing," Lin Yirou took a deep breath and looked at Xia Qingtian. "Qingtian, go change your outfit."
"Okay," Xia Qingtian rose to leave the table.
"Wait a moment." Ling Fenghan stood up and directly draped his light-colored jacket over Xia Qingtian's shoulders. "This should be fine, right?"
After saying this, Ling Fenghan glanced at Qiu Xinxue.
Qiu Xinxue's lips twitched. She didn't say anything further, appearing as if she was the one who had been wronged.
"Let's eat," Tong Nian Zhe tapped the edge of the table with his knuckles, seemingly unwilling to continue the pointless conversation.
"You all eat," Qiu Xinxue abruptly stood up. "I've lost my appetite!"
With that, she left the table in a huff and stormed upstairs.
After going upstairs, the unhappy expression on Qiu Xinxue's face vanished instantly. She then quickly headed towards Xia Qingtian's coffin room.
Xia Qingtian's phone was left in the room, and now was the perfect time for her to retrieve it.
That Xia Qingtian was truly foolish. She had merely picked a fight, and Xia Qingtian had fallen right into her trap. The most amusing part was that those two idiots, Ji Meina and Lin Yirou, had mindlessly supported her.
Truly brainless.
Upon reaching the door of Xia Qingtian's room, Qiu Xinxue didn't enter directly. Instead, she first looked around to make sure no one was following. Only then did she push open the door to Xia Qingtian's room.
As the door opened, Qiu Xinxue found the place eerie and disgusting.
It was clearly not a place for a living person to reside.
Upon entering the room, Qiu Xinxue immediately spotted a few books piled near the coffin bed, with a woman's phone on top of them. It looked like the phone she had seen last night.
Qiu Xinxue walked straight in, picked up Xia Qingtian's phone, and stood in place to confirm it.
She simply pressed the lock screen button and saw that the lock screen was a selfie of Xia Qingtian, looking very pretentious.
Her lips turned down. Qiu Xinxue picked up Xia Qingtian's phone and walked out.
As she reached the doorway, Qiu Xinxue heard a noise from the stairs. Her heart skipped a beat, so she hid Xia Qingtian's phone inside her clothes and hurried out of Xia Qingtian's room.
Qiu Xinxue wasn't skilled in this area, but she had placed her own people in the program. As soon as she handed the phone over to them, they could quickly extract all the data from Xia Qingtian's phone.
Not only could she find Mobius's contact information, but with a bit of luck, she might even find some leverage against Xia Qingtian.
Thinking this, Qiu Xinxue's entire body buzzed with excitement.
Before Qiu Xinxue could find her contact person, her own phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID, and a look of impatience flashed in her eyes. She answered the phone with a feigned politeness, "Hello, President Su."
"You idiot! Are you brainless!" Su Wan's furious voice boomed from the phone. "You actually went to steal Xia Qingtian's phone!"
"What?" Qiu Xinxue was stunned. How could Su Wan know?
"Xia Qingtian's room was live-streamed. The entire process of you stealing the phone was seen by the viewers of the live stream! You useless piece of trash! Go to hell!" Su Wan trembled with rage. How could anyone be so stupid?
Qiu Xinxue's mind went blank. Xia Qingtian's room was live-streamed?
Weren't the cameras in the room turned off? How could...
Xia Qingtian!
A belated realization sent a shiver down Qiu Xinxue's spine.
That b*tch had deliberately set her up!