I put my arm around Mai Qiâs shoulders and brought her out of the room. The door slammed close behind me. Mai Qi sighed in relief and led me away.
I chided. âMy dear princess, you look like youâve just been kidnapped.â
Mai Qi sighed. âIt sure felt like it.â
I asked, âShall we return to the dorm?â
âWhere are you going?â She asked when she saw the bags I had packed.
âIâm going home. Iâm going out with Jing Tian tomorrow.â I answered, telling her implicitly that we didnât want a third wheel.
She was disappointed. âThe whole world is abandoning me!â
I nudged her. âIf you want, you can turn back and they can be your whole world.â
Mai Qi pouted, âNanxing, donât you have anything that my father can help you with?â
I was confused. âWhat can your father do for me?â
Mai Qi thought for a moment. âWell, anything.â
I smiled. âCan your father help me write my thesis then?â
Mai Qi hit me jokingly, âWell, I can ask him to find you two ghostwriters.â
I stuck out my tongue. âIâm afraid Professor Jing will break my legs if I do that.â
We walked out together. She said, âBut really Nanxing, if you or your family needs any help from my father, just say it! Youâre my friend so I will definitely help you!â
I patted her shoulder. âThank you, my dear princess! But my little uncle and I donât have any problem that we canât face on our own but I am very happy to hear you say that.â
Mai Qi turned to look at me. âNanxing, youâre the only one who is nice to me because of me and not because of my dad.â
I chuckled, âI donât even know your father, why would I treat you nice because of someone I donât know?â But my chuckle halted when I saw the loss on Mai Qiâs face. I felt quite sorry for her. I squeezed her hand. âDonât be sad. Iâm already very happy that youâve offered to help me. You are the princess, your status is important. No one can control you, donât care about them!â
Mai Qi sighed sadly, âBut I thought they treated me nicely because they liked me. It wasnât until I knew you that I understood what they were up to. Especially recently, they started to demand things from me. They think Iâm dumb, they assume that I would do things for them with a few praises sent my way. They think they can make use of me to get to my father.â
I didnât even know how to console her. âBut at least theyâve allowed you to learn this valuable lesson.â
Mai Qi was still sad.
I pulled her over. âKnock it out, my dear princess. Itâs good that you can now understand these things. As for those people, why do you care how they think of you? Youâre living for yourself. Youâre living for your parents and your brother, you are not living for people who just want to take advantage of you.â
Mai Qi nodded. âNanxing, thank you!â
I squeezed her hand.
âBy the way, Nanxing, Gu Yan wants me to get my dad to help Jing Corporation to acquire a piece of land. I donât really understand these things but I know that if they can do this themselves, they wonât need my father. Clearly, they are only using me as a pawn.â
I scoffed. âHow naive are they? Do they think your father will do everything they want because you told him to? If thatâs the case, I doubt he would reach the heights he enjoys today.â
Mai Qi said, âThey also want me to introduce members of the Jing Family to my father. Nanxing, I want to ask you. Jing Tian and Jing Ning, do they belong to the same Jing Family?â
I was startled by Mai Qiâs astuteness.
âIf they are from the same Jing Family, then I donât mind being the middle person, for your Jing Tian. But if they are not from the same Jing Family, then I will not help Jing Ning. He now listens to that Ye Qian and Ye Qian is an especially capable woman.â Mai Qi frowned.
âThank you, Mai Qi,â I said sincerely.
Mai Qi sighed. âUnfortunately I donât know anything about business. But I feel Ye Qian is not a simple character. Even Master Gu Er dotes on her a lot. Clearly, she is his favored niece.â
âWhat about Gu Yan?â
âGu Yan? She is just an accessory. Master Gu Er doesnât care that much about her. He is only waiting for the right seller to purchase her off his hands.â I gave Mai Qi two thumbs up, she was a very clever person. As Mai Qi said, no one was that dumb.
Ye Qian was undeniably very smart. Everyone was a chess piece to her and she needed to hold everyone in her palms. However, she couldnât even influence Mai Qi, the girl who looked so silly and naive. Ye Qianâs downfall would be her own pride.
However, there was another dangerous character in that room, Gu Nian!
Mai Qi said, other than greeting her at the start, Gu Nian had not uttered a word.
This Gu Nian, I couldnât read him. As Jing Tian said, he was no simple character!