Chapter 588 No Hiding It
Even though Ning Ran had left the scene quickly and Ouyang Qing tried stopping, photos of their fight still ended up on the Internet. Interestingly, all the photos were taken from an angle advantageous to Ning Ran. Only her back was shown in the photos.
However, Ouyang Qing’s contorted face of fury was smack dab in the center of every photo. Thus, news of Ms. Ouyang’s cat fight on the street in broad daylight trended on every social media platform again. Netizens were once again doubting her civilization.
The identity of the woman that fought with Ouyang Qing was a hot topic as well. Who in the world would be bold enough to go head to head with the daughter of the Ouyang family?
There were many amateur investigators among the netizens. One of them concluded Ning Ran was the brave soul who fought with Ouyang Qing after analyzing the hairstyle, clothing, and body frame of the woman in the photo.
There was an old photo of Ning Ran dressed in the same clothing. After noticing her hairstyle and body frame was an exact match, the netizen concluded it was her.
The Internet stirred again.
Netizens began to guess why the two were fighting on the street.
When men fought, it was mostly for two reasons—power and women.
On the other hand, women usually fought for men and money.
Men knew that as long as they had power in their grasp, women would flock to them.
As for women, once they had men with power by their side, money would flow into their pockets accordingly.
Hence netizens began drawing up all kinds of reasons. One of them was Ouyang Qing becoming Ning Ran’s sister-in-law after getting together with Nan Xing causing a conflict of interest between the two families. Since Ouyang Qing and Ning Ran couldn’t settle their feud in Nan residence, they decided to meet up outside.
The presumption had its merit. It was logical. Hence many netizens considered it the truth.
Once they had the “truth”, they began a heated discussion of who would be the winner.
Eighty percent of the commenters guessed that Ouyang Qing would win.
The claim was made on the basis that Ouyang Qing had a good family background to back her up, while Ning Ran was just an actress. She didn’t have anyone powerful backing her, so they supposed she would lose out sooner or later.
One of the netizens sighed: “Don’t touch anything that doesn’t belong to you.”
Another rebuked: “Even though she’ll lose in the end, at least she has had it before.”
After all, she was impressive and bold to have fought Ouyang Qing.
After arriving at Red Maple City, Ning Ran got a call from Wang Xiaoou.
Wang Xiaoou questioned her about the incident. Ning Ran admitted to fighting with Ouyang Qing but didn’t elaborate further.
Wang Xiaoou mulled briefly before saying, “Ouyang Qing is one of the major investors in the movie. I advise you to not get in any more fights with her temporarily to ensure smooth filming.”
Ning Ran merely muttered an acknowledgment to that.
Undoubtedly, Wang Xiaoou’s advice was for her benefit.
After all, things wouldn’t be good for the actress if a conflict arose between an actress and the investor.
Wang Xiaoou needed to remind Ning Ran to be cautious of her behavior because that was her job as Ning Ran’s manager.
“One more thing, don’t go anywhere in the meantime. Don’t make any comments or clarification. Also, don’t try to explain anything,” Wang Xiaoou advised.
“Got it, Ou,” Ning Ran agreed.
“With Lunar New Year just around the corner, the company won’t be arranging any more work for you, so you can have a good rest. However, be prepared to travel outstation for a while after the holidays. The production team will be traveling to the Xinan region for filming,” Wang Xiaoou informed.
“Okay,” Ning Ran said.
She heard the sound of the engine outside the house after finishing her call with Wang Xiaoou. Nan Chen and my two babies are back!
“Mommy!” Erbao shouted the second her feet hit the ground.
Ning Ran was descending the stairs when she heard Erbao shouting. “You’re back. Come inside quickly. It’s cold out.”
Erbao was wearing a white down jacket with a fur collar, looking beautiful like a doll with her face as fair as the down jacket.
“Mommy, look. I’ve changed my name.” Erbao handed over her household registration book to Ning Ran.
Ning Ran skimmed through the document and noted the head of the household was Nan Chen. The children were listed as Nan Sirui and Nan Sihan.
Ning Ran had some mixed feelings over the change. She wasn’t all that upset or happy about it.
“Mommy, you’ll be on it too next time,” Erbao added.
Ning Ran returned her a smile without saying anything.
Nan Chen, who stood at the side talking on the phone, furrowed his brows.
Ning Ran felt a bit guilty about her fight with Ouyang Qing. She knew Nan Chen would find out sooner or later.
As expected, Nan Chen approached her once he ended his call.
“You fought with Ouyang Qing?”
Ning Ran knew she was about to be reprimanded, so she took the lead. “What? Did she go crying to you about it? Is your heart aching for her?”
“What are you talking about?” The creases between Nan Chen’s brows deepened.
“She was the one who scolded me first, then raised her hand at me. I can’t just stand there and let her hit me, right?” Ning Ran raised her voice.
“Dabao and Erbao, I need you to go to your rooms first. I have something to talk about with your mommy,” Nan Chen ordered.
Dabao and Erbao exchanged a glance and left.
“Why did you send the kids away? Are you planning to hit me to avenge Ouyang Qing?” Ning Ran rebuked.
“Why were you there?” he asked.
Ning Ran got a sense that things were turning south for her. His focus wasn’t on her fight with Ouyang Qing.
“I went there for lunch,” Ning Ran answered guiltily.
“You went all the way to Hotpot City to eat hotpot alone? I asked you to come with us, but you rejected, saying you were tired. Then, you went out alone?” Nan Chen’s voice turned even colder.
How should I explain this? I can’t hide anything, but I don’t know how to explain the truth. If that’s the case, I might as well tell it as it is. I didn’t do anything wrong anyway.
“I was with Ouyang Qi,” Ning Ran said.
“You were unwilling to have lunch with the kids, but were willing to have it with him?”
“He came to fetch me, saying he had something to tell me. I kept asking him about it, but he wouldn’t tell me. He insisted I accompany him for lunch. Since I haven’t had lunch, I went,” Ning Ran confessed.
Nan Chen’s expression softened slightly, knowing Ning Ran had told him the truth.
“What happened after that?”
“He did tell me something. He said…”
She stopped there because it wasn’t easy to repeat what Ouyang Qi said.
Ouyang Qi’s actual words were to sleep with her, but how was she supposed to tell Nan Chen?
“What did he say?” Nan Chen questioned.
“He said… Ouyang Duo asked him to drive a wedge between us.”
“What kind of conflict?”
“I don’t know about that. I also have no idea what conflict there is between us.”
“What exactly did Ouyang Duo ask him to do?”
Dang! Why are we back on the topic? I can’t actually tell him that. What am I supposed to say now?
“Oh, stop asking. All you need to know is Ouyang Duo is a bad guy.” Nerves began pooling in Ning Ran’s belly as she omitted.
“You’re hiding something from me.”
“I’m not. Everything I said was the truth. I came out of Hotpot City and saw Ouyang Qing. She called me a sl*t, and I retorted. Then she slapped me, so I fought back. I ran when I saw someone started taking photos. That’s why the photos didn’t have my face on them,” Ning Ran explained.
“Why would Ouyang Qing call you a sl*t? What exactly is between you and the Ouyang siblings?” Nan Chen noticed something didn’t add up in her explanation.
“You should be asking her that question. Oh, I slapped her too. If you feel bad for her, you can give her a call. Or you can comfort her directly. You don’t have to interrogate me here.”
I should take the initiative, or I’ll keep getting scolded.
