novelraw Chapter 584: Alliance
Chapter 584: Alliance
Yancheng, Pure Dimension Culture Hall.
Halloween exclusive cosplay night.
Outside, the night was as dark as ink, but inside the hall was brightly lit and crowded with people.
Orange-yellow pumpkin lanterns, black spiderwebs, three-dimensional bat decorations...
Together they created an eerie yet wonderfully cute festive atmosphere.
In a corner on the first floor’s photo area, in front of a backdrop of blood-red roses.
“Qingqing, look this way! Yes, make your gaze fiercer—imagine you are the bride taking revenge on the whole world!”
Xiao Mei, holding a camera, half-crouched on the ground, clicked the shutter with a “ka-ka-ka” sound.
In the center of the lens was Xu Qing, dressed in a white veil soaked in “blood,” the hem decorated with realistic dark red roses and dried “bloodstains.”
Her exquisite makeup, under the light, exuded a strong gothic vibe—both eerie and dazzling. “Okay, perfect! Wrap it up!” Xiao Mei called out with satisfaction.
Xu Qing immediately lifted her skirt, clicked her high heels with a “da-da-da” as she jogged over, snatching the camera.
Looking at the photo of herself with sharp eyes and a unique temperament, a proud smile crept across her face.
No wonder! The little Su Yu of the cosplay world, absolutely smashing it!
Heh heh, I’ll send a few photos to Little Songzi before bed tonight and scare him!
Haha~~
Speaking of which, she wondered how her best friend was doing in the “shura battlefield” of Hong Kong.
These past few rounds seemed so busy that they barely chatted.
But Xu Qing wasn’t too worried.
Having known her for so many years, she had never seen Shen Yuyan lose in the open or hidden battles among women.
“Scheming Yuyan” wasn’t called that for nothing;
in a way, her best friend was quite the “green tea.”
Thinking of Lin Muxue and Shen Yuyan, Xu Qing couldn’t help recalling the mysterious hints her friend gave before leaving.
“Three-player game,” “four-player game”...
If she and Yuyan really moved into the Lan Feng International apartment, what if one day the door closed and Lin Muxue and Little Songzi walked in hand in hand—
o(>
<
)o No, please!
Xu Qing shuddered violently, feeling every hair on her body stand on end.
But then, a more awkward and strange image involuntarily popped into her mind.
What if it was just her and Yuyan? The two of them playing with Tang Song?
It seemed... not so unacceptable?
Her face instantly blushed bright red, and she hurriedly fanned her face with her hand.
Ugh! Ptooey!
Being with Yuyan was also weird, okay!
How could she have such strange thoughts!
“Qingqing! Qingqing! Daydreaming again? It’s your turn to take pictures for me!” Xiao Mei nudged her elbow.
“Oh, coming!” Xu Qing quickly snapped out of it and walked forward holding the camera.
As the largest cosplay theme experience hall locally, Pure Dimension held grand celebrations every October 31 on Halloween night, which was practically the ultimate annual event for local cosplayers.
Almost every well-known cosplayer in the city was there.
As the “face” of the local circle, Xu Qing naturally came to show off.
Of course, mainly because Tang Song often asked her for cosplay photos when they chatted.
Her stock of photos was almost used up.
After finishing the shoot, Xu Qing carried her camera.
Her eyes sparkling, she said, “Let’s go upstairs to shoot some more sets and see if Luoluo and the others have finished makeup.”
“Let’s go!” Xiao Mei followed excitedly, rushing upstairs.
The second floor was livelier and darker than the first.
The main lights were off, with only colorful spotlights, pumpkin lanterns, and electronic candlelight effects flickering, while eerie background music flowed through the air.
Various cosplayers moved back and forth, cloaked, with fake blood, wings, lace skirts...
Some were filming videos, some chatting, some livestreaming, and many boys and girls gathered and interacted.
It was like a real-life otherworld.
“Bloodied Bride” Xu Qing’s appearance immediately drew stunning gazes.
Delicate makeup and gorgeous cosplay costume paired with her cute, pretty face and petite, well-proportioned figure.
Even in such a chaotic scene full of demons and beauties, she could easily stand out.
Soon, she met up with Ma Luoluo and several other girlfriends.
They began playfully laughing and joking on the second floor.
“Hi, miss, can I add you on WeChat?”
A confident male cosplayer dressed as Dracula was pushed forward by his friend, smiling confidently as he offered his phone.
Xu Qing raised her eyebrows and casually waved her hand, speaking with an air of entitlement: “Sorry, I have a boyfriend, so it’s inconvenient.”
Although Little Songzi was a total scumbag, Miss Xu Qing was no easy catch.
The boy shrugged, then smiled again: “Miss, your cosplay is amazing. Can I take a photo with you?”
Hearing this, Xu Qing smirked, her big eyes with contact lenses rolling playfully, “Alright then.”
Then she crossed her arms, lifted her chin, and struck a cool, aloof pose.
“Click—”
The shutter clicked.
Another guy invited, “Beautiful, we have a little event here later. Want to join?”
“No, thanks,” Xu Qing shook her head gracefully, lifted her skirt, and continued deeper into the venue.
Sure enough, this was truly Miss Xu Qing’s domain!
Recalling her terrible performance last time at Minghui Mall, crushed by those two women, Xu Qing felt a burning itch of hatred.
Heh heh! If that pervert Little Jing and Liu Ruyan dared to meet her here,
Miss Xu Qing would definitely suppress them without mercy!
Just as she was daydreaming, a commotion erupted not far away.
Whistles, rapid shutter clicks, and uncontrollable gasps sounded continuously.
Xu Qing squinted curiously and looked toward the source following the crowd’s glow.
Then, the smile on her face suddenly froze.
About ten meters ahead at the dressing room entrance, a familiar figure that made her hair stand on end was slowly walking out.
Black gothic lolita dress, cat ear hairpin, over-the-knee socks, blood-red tattoo stickers...
Sweet, pretty, and innocent-looking face, made even paler and more alluring by the black outfit, with a hint of pathological sweetness.
Like a yandere girl from a manga.
From the moment she appeared, she became the undisputed absolute focus of the entire venue.
Little Jing Nana!
(°°;
)
She abruptly turned around and dove behind her companion Ma Luoluo, mumbling to herself.
Damn! Here to ruin the party again!
Never expected to bump into this “yandere maniac” here.
At that moment, Ma Luoluo in front of her suddenly excitedly stood on tiptoe, waving her arms vigorously, “Miss Tian, over here! Qingqing is here too!”
Xu Qing’s body instantly stiffened, cold sweat beginning to bead on her forehead.
Oh great! Ma Luoluo! So it was you, you betrayed my whereabouts!
“Da da da—”
Clear footsteps quickly approached.
Little Jing’s coquettish voice sounded in her ear: “Eh? Qingqing-neechan (big sister), didn’t you say on WeChat you had to work overtime tonight?”
Curious gazes instantly focused on her.
Xu Qing stiffly turned around, forcing a smile that looked worse than crying, “Sud- suddenly no overtime, so... just came to browse.”
Little Jing blinked big eyes, then stepped forward.
Extremely naturally and intimately, she hugged Xu Qing’s arm, “Great, now we can play together! And look, I’m wearing black, you’re wearing white, we’re a perfect black-and-white CP!”
“Hehe, yeah, what a coincidence,” Xu Qing trembled, her head weakly lowering.
Seeing this, Little Jing’s mouth curved into an inscrutable smile, then pulled Xu Qing to play around the venue.
“Qingqing-neechan, look at this little devil headband, doesn’t it go well with my cat ears?”
“Wow! The blood plasma drink looks so real, let’s buy two bottles and try!”
“Let’s take a double sticker photo over there, with the ‘Hell Bride’ frame!”
For over an hour, Little Jing enthusiastically dragged her around taking photos, checking in, visiting booths, and buying props.
The way “Qingqing-neechan” called her grew more and more intimate.
The whole venue was captivated by this pair of seemingly “super close” sisters. Googlᴇ search N0veI.Fiɾe.net
Xu Qing kept up a stiff fake smile the whole time, letting Little Jing chatter and drag her around.
At 9:30 p.m., the event was winding down.
People lined up to change clothes, and the background music gradually slowed.
“Qingqing-neechan, here’s your drink.” Little Jing handed over a bottle of chilled mixed juice with a smile and sat close to her on the rest area sofa.
“Thanks.” Xu Qing reached out, her facial muscles nearly twitching.
Little Jing shook her foot and softly asked, “Qingqing-neechan, I called a car. How about I take you home later?”
“No need, Xiao Mei and I will just share a taxi.”
Before she finished, Little Jing suddenly hugged her from the side.
Xu Qing froze, “Hey, Little Jing, what are you doing!”
“Qingqing-neechan, do you hate me?” Little Jing pouted in grievance, “You haven’t been replying to my messages lately, and today you even lied about working overtime...”
Xu Qing’s eye twitched, “No, you misunderstood.”
“Then, my birthday is on the 12th of next month. Will you come to my birthday party, please?”
“I... will see. Might be busy,” Xu Qing instinctively shrank back.
What a joke!
There was no way she would attend the yandere maniac’s birthday party!
What if she got drunk and was dragged into something with Tang Song... small whips, bondage, gags...
My god! The image was too vivid to bear!
Suddenly, Little Jing leaned close to her ear, voice low and mysterious, “Qingqing, remember I told you before, there’s a hidden, high-ranking BOSS-level lover beside Brother Tang Song?”
Xu Qing was stunned for a moment and whispered, “Y-yeah, I remember.”
Last time at Little Jing’s house, she mentioned this vaguely, only saying the person worked inside Smile Holdings, was “beautiful, high-ranking, strong control,” but the identity was unclear.
“I’ve preliminarily identified her.”
“Oh?” Xu Qing perked up, curiosity overcoming fear, “Who?”
Little Jing lowered her voice, expression extremely serious, “You know... Jin Meixiao?”
Xu Qing blinked, then suddenly widened her eyes, nearly spitting out her drink, “What? Director Jin from Smile Holdings? She’s Tang Song’s lover?!”
Little Jing knocked Xu Qing’s head with an exasperated look, “How wild is your imagination? I’m definitely not talking about Director Jin herself!
If Director Jin was Tang Song’s lover, she’d have given up long ago, why bother fighting?”
“Oh, you scared me.” Xu Qing patted her chest, still uneasy.
“Though not Director Jin, the other woman’s identity isn’t simple...” Little Jing lowered her voice and said slowly, “According to my information, she’s very likely Director Jin’s top aide, the executive in charge of Smile Holdings’ main power—Shangguan Qiuyas!”
“What?!” Xu Qing gaped, feeling like she had just unearthed a bombshell.
(0∞0"n)!
She wasn’t unfamiliar with the name “Shangguan Qiuyas.”
Her friend Shen Yuyan had mentioned several times that Director Jin’s assistant was a big shot.
She never imagined Little Songzi was “involved” with her!
Little Jing’s expression grew even graver and dropped another bombshell: “Besides Shangguan Qiuyas, there’s an even heavier hitter.”
“Who?” Xu Qing’s curiosity was fully ignited, almost like playing a real-life mystery game.
“Wen Ruan from Lightshadow Media. She’s also a major shareholder of Xingyun International Group, with assets exceeding 1.5 billion, a bona fide top female tycoon.”
Xu Qing knew Wen Ruan, of course, but didn’t expect her to be so wealthy.
Little Jing continued, “Qingqing, for my birthday, Shangguan Qiuyas has confirmed she’ll be in Yancheng. She told me over the phone she’d stay here for a while. She’ll definitely know about you then. The situation is very serious;
it’s time to form an alliance!”
“Alliance...?”
Little Jing nodded heavily, eyes burning with intensity, “Yes, with me. We must work together to fight the strong enemy!
Think about it, Brother Tang Song’s energy and time are limited. When more women come around him, the first to be eliminated will definitely be the weakest.
Figure it out yourself, among us, who is the weakest?”
Hearing this, Xu Qing subconsciously began calculating in her head.
The next moment, she felt itchy all over, cold sweat pouring down her forehead.
Good grief, it really looked like she was the weakest!
No way! Little Songzi wouldn’t really abandon her, right?
E(°△°l) Waaah—!
Actually, similar words had been hinted at by her best friend Shen Yuyan before, quietly telling her:
A man like Tang Song is destined to have more and more women around him.
Her hopes of marrying Tang Song were extremely slim.
Maybe it wouldn’t even get to the end.
Back when they first got together, she was just enjoying the fun of dating, not thinking or worrying about those troubles.
Now, having been with Tang Song so long, growing closer day by day,
Her feelings had deepened to an irretrievable point.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t have “endured humiliation and bore the burden,” accompanying him on that awkward date with Little Jing and Lin Muxue.
If she left Tang Song now, just thinking about it would bring unbearable pain.
Her lips trembled, and her mind was a mess.
At that moment, Little Jing extended a pinky finger clad in a black lace glove toward her.
Xu Qing instinctively reached out hers.
Their fingers gently hooked in the air.
Little Jing’s eyes were bright and resolute: “Don’t worry, Qingqing. As long as I’m here, we can definitely walk with Brother Tang Song together.”
After saying this, she leaned over and planted a smack on Xu Qing’s chubby cheek.
Then she pulled her up, “Let’s go change clothes first.”
Xu Qing looked at Little Jing beside her, finally lowering her eyes and following her toward the dressing room.
In fact, she had known Little Jing for a long time, but they had only been simple online friends before.
In the “Beautiful 2D World” group, where Little Jing played the role of a newbie HR just entering the workplace, their relationship had always been good, often interacting in the group. She had even been a loyal “reader” of hers.
Thinking this over, forming an “alliance” with her didn’t seem so hard to accept.
Anyway, leaving Tang Song was absolutely not an option!
The only problem was that Little Jing was a big weirdo who always wanted to pull her into her games...
Thinking of this, Xu Qing shuddered violently again.
More than ten minutes later,
They finished changing and stepped out of Pure Dimension Culture Hall.
The night wind carried the coolness of late autumn, gently fluttering their skirts.
Little Jing pulled Xu Qing into a Maybach already waiting by the roadside.
“Rumble rumble”
The Maybach started smoothly;
the cabin was quiet and comfortable.
Little Jing held Xu Qing’s hand, enthusiastically chatting about various 2D and cosplay topics.
From new anime rants to which cosplayer released a god-tier work, her voice was crisp and full of smiles.
However, her eyes flickered with uncertain light and shadow.
Although she never showed it in front of anyone, she cared more than anyone about the women around Tang Song,
Especially the most threatening ones.
For example... Wen Ruan.
Just yesterday, she had heard this name from her father’s mouth.
The reason was that Miss Wen had recently appeared frequently in major financial magazines and business forums, even giving an in-depth interview to Fortune magazine.
This afternoon, she represented Xingyun International Group at a press conference, announcing strategic cooperation with Tang Yi Precision, Qingning Technology, and other well-known companies.
Xingyun International Group’s valuation soared, and according to the most professional analysis institutions, it now exceeded tens of billions, soon to be listed.
Wen Ruan was a rising star in the business world, a blazing new female entrepreneur.
There were reports she would be included in this year’s “Top 100 Outstanding Business Women of Huaxia.”
Combining this with her own family’s current decline,
Wen Ruan’s existence brought her unprecedented, immense pressure and fear.
Compared to her, Shangguan Qiuyas wasn’t even a big threat.
After all, from Shangguan Qiuyas’ attitude toward her, the latter seemed to have no intention of fighting for the “main wife” position;
otherwise, she wouldn’t be so polite, enthusiastic, and supportive.
But Wen Ruan was completely different.
Recalling that meeting at Jinxiu Commerce, where Wen had deliberately come to her turf and kissed Tang Song in front of her,
This proved she was a woman with strong aggression and territorial awareness.
Her identity, status, and career prospects perfectly matched Tang Song, enough to support her to rightfully marry him.
At that moment, she clearly realized for the first time that she might really “lose” Tang Song.
As for being a mistress...
Though she didn’t particularly care, it was simply unrealistic.
Her parents would never agree, nor would her relatives, friends, or social circle accept such an abnormal relationship.
This was a reality-rooted social problem.
Unless Tang Song was powerful enough to ignore all rules and sweep away all obstacles.
Seeing all this clearly made her anxious and forced her to take the initiative.
Forming an “alliance” with Xu Qing was just the first step in her plan.
Next, she wanted to find ways to approach other women around Tang Song, to see if any could be won over or divided,
Like Lin Muxue and Gao Mengting, who were currently known targets.
She planned to build her own “Avengers Alliance.”
And this birthday party would be the key.
She deliberately set the venue at the Lan Feng International Hotel, Tang Song’s home turf and his stage as “President Tang.”
Taking the opportunity to “officially announce” their relationship to everyone.
Then smoothly take the final step forward.
Next, she would try to get more deeply involved in Tang Song’s career, family, and closest circle.
To integrate quickly and become the most important and indispensable person to him.
Of course, the birthday party held the most important matter.
Leveraging Tang Song and Shangguan Qiuyas’ power to resolve her family’s crisis and save Hueneng Electronics from bankruptcy.
To get her increasingly despondent father back on track.
From what Shangguan Qiuyas hinted over the phone, this should be feasible.
But that was not enough!
To resist Wen Ruan, she needed more, weightier leverage.
Her father’s Zhongcheng Group was already declining.
If Hueneng Electronics could hitch a ride on the industrial giant Tang Yi Precision, supported by the country’s new energy policies,
They could regain their footing on the future golden track and even carve out their own realm.
This required Shangguan Qiuyas’ strong support and convincing her at all costs.
Only then, with her age advantage, could she roughly suppress Wen Ruan.
Thinking of this, Little Jing couldn’t help but sigh heavily in her heart.
Old Tian! My good father! You’re only in your forties, the prime of a man’s life.
If you don’t fight tooth and nail to build this empire for your daughter now, then when?