I wonder if Sang Ning is busy with something else; the phone rang for a long time before she answered.

After the call connected, Sang Ning said "Hello" with no trace of emotion.

"Sangsang, I just did something great for you. Guess what it is?" Xi Meina played coy, her tone cheerful. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

She knew Sang Ning’s mood must be bad right now, and she didn’t want to add more mental pressure, so she kept her tone lighthearted.

"What happened?" Sang Ning’s voice was soft and tender, so much so that Xi Meina couldn’t tell if she was upset or not.

"I kicked Qingyue and Lu Ye out of the group chat! Isn’t it satisfying? Let them taste what it’s like to be isolated!" Xi Meina said fervently.

Sang Ning: ???

"Girl, kicking one is understandable, but why did you kick out both of them? Aren’t you afraid of being blacklisted?" Sang Ning’s tone turned serious.

Xi Meina instantly felt unsure: "Oh, Sangsang, don’t exaggerate to scare me. It’s not as dramatic as you’re making it out to be. My backer is the goddess Sister Wen Jiu! No matter what, you have to have faith in Sister Wen Jiu, right?"

"Nana, I’m not trying to scare you. Qingyue’s backing is the Hai Chuan Group, and even Wen Jiu might get casually blacklisted. By doing this to Qingyue, aren’t you worried about retaliation?" Sang Ning’s voice grew heavier.

Silence came from the other end of the line. After several seconds, there was the sound of heavy breathing, tinged with trembling.

Sang Ning frowned slightly. She hoped she hadn’t scared the young girl too much.

Just as she considered comforting her, Xi Meina began sobbing softly.

"I was wrong! I really was wrong! I acted too impulsively! Why are my hands so reckless? Sangsang, do you think Qingyue would forgive me if I asked him to rejoin the group chat?"

Sang Ning’s heart tightened; this time, they were in deep trouble. "Nana, don’t cry. I was just trying to scare you earlier; it’s not as bad as—"

Before Sang Ning could say the word "serious," Xi Meina burst out wailing.

"Sangsang, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to; I was just caught up in the moment and wanted to kick out those two scumbags!"

Sang Ning was at a total loss for what to do. She always dreaded encountering someone crying pitifully; she only had experience making others cry but none in comforting them.

"Nana, don’t cry! You didn’t do anything wrong; why are you apologizing to me? You were only trying to stand up for me; why make it seem like you owe me an apology?"

Sang Ning mustered all her patience to coax Xi Meina, her voice as gentle as it could be.

After crying her heart out for a while and venting her emotions, Xi Meina’s sobbing gradually shifted to soft sniffles.

"Sangsang, you and the goddess Wen Jiu have already been slandered by Qingyue buying public blackmail articles. Yet, I still couldn’t see the situation clearly and provoked Qingyue at this critical juncture. I’m on your side, but Qingyue will definitely hold it all against you. I’m so sorry—I’ve made things worse." Xi Meina apologized earnestly.

While taking revenge had felt satisfying at the moment, it only took a split second for Xi Meina to realize she’d made a mess of things. Now she was genuinely worried about Qingyue venting his resentment about being kicked out of the group on Sang Ning.

"Nana, you don’t owe me an apology. On the contrary, I really appreciate that you had the courage to stand up for me at a time like this. Don’t worry—I’ll handle this. What I said earlier was just to scare you. Don’t take it to heart." Sang Ning explained to Xi Meina and spent quite some time convincing her, finally putting her at ease.

"Sangsang, are you telling me the truth? You can really handle it?" Even so, Xi Meina was hesitant to believe Sang Ning. After all, Qingyue was backed by Hai Chuan—if she clashed head-on, what good outcome could there be?

"I swear I didn’t lie to you!" Sang Ning had given her assurance countless times, but Xi Meina remained skeptical. To divert Xi Meina’s attention, Sang Ning decided to change the subject entirely.

"By the way, what about Lu Ye? What’s his deal? Why kick him out too?" Sang Ning hadn’t checked her WeChat yet, so she didn’t know what had happened in the group.

"Oh, nothing much. Initially, Lu Ye said he had something very important to discuss with you. I asked if he was trying to comfort you, and then he started cursing. I got annoyed and kicked him out." Xi Meina explained briefly.

Something important?

Sang Ning frowned in doubt. She didn’t have any urgent matters with Lu Ye privately, so what was so important that he’d want to reach her?

While on the call with Xi Meina, Sang Ning opened WeChat. Although Lu Ye had been kicked out of the group, his past messages in the chat were still visible.

Her intuition told her that Lu Ye might actually have something crucial to discuss at this critical juncture.

"Nana, do you have Lu Ye’s WeChat? Could you send me his contact? Or perhaps his phone number would work too?" Sang Ning asked.

"No. A guy like Lu Ye, with his nose up in the air, wouldn’t ever share his WeChat with me." Xi Meina replied.

When talking about Lu Ye, Xi Meina still seethed with anger. Back then, she had approached him with her usual friendly, outgoing attitude, thinking it’d be a good idea for members of a group to connect with one another.

She had even shamelessly gone up to Lu Ye to ask for his WeChat, only to receive a dismissive reply: "I don’t associate with bumpkins like you."

Lu Ye had insisted on only joining group chats without adding WeChat contacts. The memory of it had left Xi Meina livid, and she had taken personal satisfaction in kicking him out earlier—not just to stand up for Sang Ning but also to vent her own frustrations.

"Never mind, then. Whatever he wanted to say to me probably wasn’t anything good." Sang Ning decided to let it go.

She’d already gotten into a fight with Lu Ye before, and the two had become sworn enemies ever since. There was no way he was reaching out with kind intentions.

"Nana, don’t overthink this. It won’t affect you. If you don’t have anything else, I’m going to hang up." Sang Ning was about to end the call when Xi Meina suddenly had a flash of inspiration and hurriedly stopped her.

"Wait, wait, wait—I don’t have Lu Ye’s WeChat or phone number, but I think I have his agent’s contact information. Do you need it?"

Sang Ning hesitated for a moment. Reaching Lu Ye through a middleman seemed troublesome; maybe it wasn’t worth it.

Before she could decide, Xi Meina had already read out the agent’s number aloud enthusiastically.

With the call ended, Sang Ning initially didn’t plan to reach out to Lu Ye’s agent, but the number stuck in her mind like glue. The more she tried to forget it, the deeper it seemed ingrained.

Maybe she should call after all?

Opening the phone’s dial pad, Sang Ning entered the number Xi Meina had just recited from memory.