Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman novel Chapter 124

Everyone enjoys being complimented. And Madeline was no different. As a highly-acclaimed actress, her inflated ego and pride demanded that she be looked at and treated different from the more common people. Madeline had been upset when Maggie thought that she was in the same league as the actress. However, when Maggie spoke highly of Madeline, she was rather satisfied.

So Madeline changed her bitterly sarcastic tone to a more calm one. She feigned a smile and said, "I am not worthy of such compliments. We are no longer young girls but married women. That man just has a handsome face. Maggie, since your husband looks charming and cares about you so much, you really have enviable luck. We all feel happy for you."

As the women kept flattering each other, Jean stood in her hidden spot. She felt quite disgusted by their fulsome flattery. She had not expected all of these women to be so gorgeous on the surface and yet, be so hideous on the inside.

Wendy Zhang decided that she could not continue the charade any more. And so, she cleared her throat and changed the topic, "I wonder if a man like Mr. Qi could be easily trapped by someone."

On hearing what Wendy had said, both Maggie and Madeline stopped talking. Their attention immediately shifted to Wendy.

Jean did not know Wendy well, but she had a strong feeling that she had seen her before. Jean guessed that might be because Wendy had starred in many TV dramas. However, Jean couldn't recall her being in any of the dramas she had seen. So Jean felt really strange.

Zabrina Jiang seemed to know whom Wendy was referring to. She nodded to show her approval before saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I also think that only she would be able to make Mr. Qi collapse at her feet. Who else could trap such a handsome and wealthy man besides her? More importantly, she also has feelings for Mr. Qi. Am I right?"

Jean could not understand what they were talking about. She also could not guess who this lady was.

Could this person be from the entertainment industry?

Jean was more familiar with Zabrina's reputation. She was just a figurante. Most of the time, she played in a supporting role to leading ladies. But the characters she portrayed were always very malicious. Jean remembered a few dramas where Zabrina's character had been accused of stealing her friends' boyfriends. Since she did not have memorable roles to play, she was no so popular. But entertainment news covered articles about Zabrina from time to time, so it was hard to say whether she was a famous actress or not.

Madeline paused for a while as she seemed to have thought of something. Just as Jean was pondering over the identity of the woman these celebrities had been talking about, she heard a familiar name. "You are talking about Selena Miao!"

"Yes. Who, beside her, is qualified?" Wendy said.

Maggie was shocked. She widened her eyes and asked, "That international start? Selena Miao? She received offers to act in Hollywood films, right?"

"Yep. As far as I am concerned, only a woman with her skills and reputation deserves Zed." Zabrina leaned on the rail, pushed back wisps of hair that had fallen on her cheek, and flashed a meaningful smile.

Selena Miao! Now that she knew the identity of this mysterious woman, Jean froze. Selena Miao, again!

Madeline seemed to realize something and nudged Wendy as she spoke, "I heard that you have a really good relationship with Selena. Do you? Share something about her with us."

"There is nothing new that I can share with you. The media reports everything and so, there are no secrets. You and everybody else already know that she cares for Mr. Qi. When she found out that I had been selected for this program, she asked me to give Jean Wen a hard time." Wendy shrugged and continued to say, "The problem is that I have no good idea how to make Jean miserable."

"Now that we need to trouble her, how about we get her drunk?" Madeline's eyes were shining with excitement. It seemed that she was really good at thinking of ways to make others miserable.

"Drunk? Is that our only option?" Wendy was not satisfied about the idea put forward by Madeline. Getting Jean drunk was too easy. Wendy thought, 'Jean Wen is so shameless. She stole Mr. Qi, who was going to be Selena's man. I need to find a way to humiliate her.'

Zabrina agreed with Wendy and nodded to show her approval before saying, "I also think that for today, we should just get Jean drunk. After all, we still have several days before the shooting is finished. I believe that we still have time to come up with better methods through which to trouble Jean."

"That's right!" The other three agreed.

Jean was so angry that she even could not say anything. She ran away from the balcony to avoid being noticed. Minutes later, the celebrities returned to the room where they had dined. Upon returning, the women noticed that the men had already finished drinking all the wine. One celebrity husband had even passed out on the sofa.

Jean looked around in disdain. Could none of these men drink sensibly? What was the point of drinking only to later, pass out?

She smiled when she saw that Zed seemed to be very normal. Jean could not find any sign that would lead her to believe that he had drunk as much as any of the other men. Zed saw Jean and frowned. He asked, "Where did you go?"

"I... I went to the bathroom." She smiled at Zed as she answered his question. But the anger on her face betrayed her inner thoughts.

Zed knew Jean well enough to understand that she was not being honest. She was hiding something purposefully, but he couldn't guess what it was. He had been watchful while she ate with the other women and hadn't seen anything odd happen then. The other women had left before Jean and returned shortly after Jean had. What could have had happened during this period?

Zed shifted his gaze to the other women. He examined each one's expression and demeanor, particularly when they came near Jean. Eventually Zed figured it out. He lowered his eyes.

When Madeline entered and saw one man asleep on the couch, she frantically searched for her husband. She was pleased to see that he wasn't quite as drunk. And so, proudly she praised him, "Dear, how much wine have you drunk? Did Maggie's husband get drunk enough to need to lie down? I'm so pleased to see that you've kept the charming Mr. Qi company."

"He drunk so much that he needed to vomit." Zed suddenly said. His abrupt action threw the whole room into a dead silence. Seconds later, Madeline's face darkened and she looked quite embarrassed.

Jean was really very angry at that moment but she couldn't stop herself from laughing out loud. She knew that Zed had purposely shared that little bit of information to put Madeline in her place. Madeline shifted her gaze onto Jean when she heard Jean's abrupt laughter. She wanted to show her displeasure, but she was forced to smile.

"Jean, what are you laughing about?" she asked in a sweet and sour tone.

"I feel that my husband has done a good job. He has been drinking with your husband and hasn't passed out yet. How about your husband? He vomited so there must be something wrong. Is he all right?" Jean smiled and asked with feigned concern.

Madeline had not expected Jean to speak like this. In all the time that they had been together recording for the program, Jean had been pliable and genial. Since Madeline's husband had vomited, what Jean had said was true. And so Madeline had no smart retort to give. She was ashamed by her husband's inability to drink sensibly. Embarrassedly, she laughed uneasily before glowering at her husband, who sat opposite her.

Maggie did not dare to speak as her husband had already gotten drunk and fallen asleep.

Besides Madeline's and Maggie's husbands, Wendy's and Zabrina's husbands looked like they were barely holding on to their senses. And yet, they continued to drink. The men seemed to be in some sort of informal competition. Did they think that just because dinner wasn't over, they were required to continue drinking? Did they think that the others present in this room would think less of the man who refused to drink?

Although Wendy was determined to make Jean suffer for what she had done to Selena, she was in no mood to stay in the room. There was just no fun in eating and drinking with men who were highly intoxicated.

She stood and patted down her dress as she spoke, "They have drunk too much. Mr. Qi has an enviably high tolerance for alcohol. He seems to be doing really well considering the other mens' condition. Perhaps it's best if we..."

"Wait!" Jean didn't intend on letting these women get away so easily. She knew if Wendy left, the others would follow. After what they had said about Jean and their vicious plan to humiliate her, she was not going to give up this opportunity to turn the tables so easily. Jean walked to Wendy and said sweetly, "You have been away for so long. You must not have eaten enough. I bet you're still a little hungry. How about we let the men rest here while we find another room where we could talk and eat?"

The other ladies couldn't see the trap Jean was setting. All they saw was an opportunity to implement their scheme. And so, after exchanging eager glances, they nodded. Madeline thought to herself, 'Remember this moment, Jean. You asked us to stay. Later, don't blame us for the trouble you get into.'

"Ok. We can do that. Since those men are only interested in drinking, I don't mind if we don't include them." After saying this, she turned to look to Zed. Then she smiled charmingly and said, "Well, what will you do now, Mr. Qi? It seems you only have the company of a few women."

"Go ahead and do what you like. I don't mind." Zed said nonchalantly as he poured himself some tea.

Jean raised her eyebrows. She didn't know what Zed was thinking. Why was he willing to stay here with all these women? Didn't he have anything else better to do? Normally, he wouldn't stick around for something like this. She pursed her lips, got up from her seat, walked to the door, and asked the waiter to bring two bottles of red wine.

The waiter nodded and hurried off. When he returned with the red wine, Jean asked him to pour the wine into the glasses in front of each lady. Not wanting to make her scheme obvious, Jean also picked up a full glass of wine.

After the waiter left the room, Jean didn't wait for the women to speak. She quickly raised her glass and said, "Thank you all for your help over these past several days. I do admire you for being able to handle all this so well."

The other women glowed at Jean's praise. They lifted their glasses eagerly and glugged down most of the wine. Impatient, Madeline began finding ways to make Jean drink.

"Jeany, you have married such a great husband! How about proposing a toast?"

"Yeah, yeah. Madeline is right. We all feel happy for you. You really should make a toast to celebrate your good fortune." Those who stood by Madeline echoed her words as they all knew that Madeline intended on getting Jean to drink more.

Zed saw this but didn't interfere. Instead, he graciously lifted his teacup and saucer. He blew on the hot liquid and took a small sip as he waited to see what Jean would do. A part of him was concerned. He remembered that Jean was still menstruating and wondered if drinking excessively could have harmful repercussions.

He frowned and glanced at her. What on earth did she plan to do? In all the time that he had known Jean, this was the first time that she asked asked for wine. Normally, she would refuse or drink very, very little.