The Young Miss of the Xu Family is a Little Strange (6)

If it was like this, Tian Meng felt that she would be unable to display her dazzling skills and may have to embark on the path of obscurity just to somehow salvage the plot.

She couldn't become a great villain no matter which direction she took - one would make it so that she would be pursued by the male lead, replacing the female lead as the main character, and the other would make it so that she wouldn't even be a villain but just some insignificant minor character.

No matter how she thought about it, weren't both of these options terrible?

"What do you think?" Tian Meng asked her family's system as she was relaxing on a chair on her balcony, a cup of tea on the table nearby and a magazine in her hands.

She couldn't help but feel a little bit of anger when she saw Yan Mo's perfect face displayed on the magazine, but calmed herself enough to read the interview written on the page.

"Hmm..." The little system bobbed up and down, also reading the interview. "I think that you will need to be more vicious."

"Even if I'm more vicious, will that do anything?" Tian Meng said. After all, there were plenty of vicious main characters out there! Even if she was vicious, it wouldn't automatically turn her back into the villain. And as for Yan Mo, that music obsessed bastard... Tian Meng felt that he would still say some bullshit and not care if she had a terrible personality, as long as her music was good. After all, in his eyes, if her music was good, then she would naturally have no flaws.

"Aish! Why in the world does this have to happen to me?" She crumbled up the magazine, throwing it away from her.

That stupid guy, when he was asked if he had someone he liked, that answer was simply...!!

"It seems Yan Mo's liking toward you really is stronger than we thought... it might be difficult now to retie the string of fate between him and the female lead," the system said, lamenting.

The answer that Yan Mo had given to the interviewer was describing the Xu Mingyue that Tian Meng had worked hard to portray. What "a lovely up and rising musician who plays with the elegance and beauty of a swan", what "she's beautiful and dignified like a snow lotus on the icy mountaintop"!?

Tian Meng wanted to know how thick of a face he had to spout such words so calmly.

"Should we just... withdraw from the competition?" Tian Meng nodded. Mm, this seemed to be a good idea. She would withdraw from the competition first and focus her efforts on bullying Qin Yu, drawing out the female lead's inner talents.

After that, when Qin Yu overcomes her, Tian Meng, would she perform her final piece - in where she would display skill equal to that of Qin Yu!

And then Tian Meng would disappear from the music scene forever. The best ways to going about this would be perhaps suicide? Or maybe she should get into an accident that would cripple her?

Wait! Tian Meng thought this was a good idea. If she made it so that she couldn't play piano again, then wouldn't Yan Mo's interest in her naturally fade? Hopefully even switching over to Qin Yu?

"Alright, for now, let's make an excuse to withdraw from the competition, biding my time before displaying my powers for the final battle, and then finally making it so I can't play piano anymore." Tian Meng nodded, deciding that this was the best course of action she could take to salvage the situation.

Several days later, Yan Mo narrowed his eyes as he received information from his secretary. "Xu Mingyue withdrew from the Franz Liszt competition? Why? She was working so hard before..." His face darkened, clearly displeased.

"From the information that I've gathered, it seems to be due to personal issues?" Ming Yi said.

"In other words, you have no idea?" Ming Yi shivered, feeling that his family's young master's expression was a little bit... too scary right now!

Yan Mo clicked his tongue, withdrawing his glare. Even if he was angry, he still wouldn't be able to know the answer. He stood up, grabbing his suit off his chair. "Let's go." He said coldly, walking to his office door.

"I'm sorry sir? Where?" Ming Yi asked, confused.

"Where else? To see Xu Mingyue, of course."

An hour later, Yan Mo was at the Xu family's manor, a smile on his face as the maid served him and Tian Meng tea. Tian Meng couldn't help but think about how fast he had come - it hadn't even been more than a day since she had withdrawn from the competition, and he was already here.

"Why did you withdraw from the competition? If there are any problems you can just tell me, I'll take care of them!" Yan Mo said as he set aside the tea cup, a concerned expression on his face.

Tian Meng couldn't help but think about how this guy was such a player... Look at that acting! Those creased brows and worried eyes, paired with that handsome face. Tsk, tsk, how many girls had given away their hearts to this man?

She furrowed her brow, lightly frowning. "It's about my mindset, not something you can solve. My mother has been in the hospital for so long now but isn't improving. I decided to wait until another year and first take care of mother." She said in a soft voice.

Yan Mo frowned. This problem truly wasn't something that he could solve. He understood Xu Mingyue's concerns - after all, mindset was really important for a musician. If they were stressed and worried about something, then how could they play to the best of their abilities?

In the end, Yan Mo left without changing Tian Meng's mind.

And Tian Meng proceeded to faithfully spend the next several months taking care of her mother, bullying the female lead, and distancing herself from the male lead.

While Tian Meng kept her presence low in the music circle, Qin Yu was garnering more and more attention as a rising star.

But the more famous Qin Yu got and the better her skills were, the more harshly Tian Meng would treat her. She would call her over from school to coldly scold her about her "impertinent" behavior, remind her of her "lowly" status, and etc.

Tian Meng felt that she was returning to her body former little cannon fodder status.

It wasn't what she wanted, but it was better than the male lead trying to court her.

On one sunny day, Tian Meng was leisurely playing out some notes on the piano when Yan Mo walked in. Her hand quickly retreated as she stood, glaring at the system for not notifying her before bowing.

"Yan young master should have notified me before coming, so that I could have greeted you," she said as Yan Mo walked over.

"No, I wanted it to be a surprise." He replied.

Even though Tian Meng had distanced herself from him, for some reason, this guy still liked to come over and bother her occasionally. The air between them was polite and distant, yet somehow held hints of something else.

One sided though.

Tian Meng insisted on breaking this string of fate that had gotten tangled up between them, yet Yan Mo insisted on continuing to tangle the strings up even more!

It was simply infuriating!

For Yan Mo, this little cat that clearly wanted to avoid him, it only ended up stirring his desire to have her even more. Those clear notes that he had heard before really... really made him want to listen to her playing music again! It was tempting him, but this woman hadn't played anything for the public since her performance at his mother's birthday party more than half a year ago!

"Little Mingyue, how about you play a song for me?" He couldn't help but ask, his smile deepening as his eyes darkened.

But as expected, Tian Meng looked away as she ruthlessly rejected him in a cool tone. "My mental state isn't good and my playing is still not worthy enough to show off. Begging young master Yan to understand. Let's go have some tea in the sunroom." She changed the topic, guiding Yan Mo to the sunroom.

The room was partially made of glass, overlooking the garden. It was already winter, and the outside was a wonderland of cold white snow, but the inside of the sunroom was warm, in contrast to the outside scenery.

The maids brought out tea and snacks.

Although Yan Mo was disappointed, he didn't want to push Tian Meng either. After all, things like music couldn't be forced, else the result would not be the beautiful song that he wanted. Tian Meng knew this, which was why she could use something like "mental state" as an excuse to deny Yan Mo every time.

Although Tian Meng had the option of playing badly for him, she felt that if she did so this would only anger Yan Mo, who would think that she was playing so on purpose. She didn't consider that it may be better than refusing though - after all, for humans, it was always what was unobtainable that was the most appealing to them.

She kept her answers cold and curt during the duration of their tea time, to which Yan Mo seemed undeterred by. When they finished, he bid her a polite farewell, and Tian Meng could only vent her frustrations to her family's system while back in her room.

"Is Yan Mo a f*cking masochist? If not then why does he continue to come find me even after me treating him so badly!?" She said, frustrated.

Aren't men like him supposed to have a high pride? But he still insisted on pursuing her?

"Could it be... that you have completely been stuck with the female lead role? So that your actions... would be considered 'interesting' instead of 'offensive'?" The system ventured out, and Tian Meng buried her face into her pillow, screaming.

What female lead role? She didn't want it!

This was no good! She needed to vent out stress! So she went to go find Qin Yu to bully, fully venting out her stress.

As Tian Meng stood up to leave, she saw the expression of hatred that Qin Yu was trying to hide, her head bowed.

Tian Meng smiled. "Do you hate me? Do you think it's unfair? Do you think that you don't deserve this sort of treatment?" She walked over, putting her hand on Qin Yu's shoulder. Qin Yu paled. Even though it was only a delicate hand, not putting any pressure on Qin Yu at all, the girl felt it was pushing her down like how Atlas felt holding up the world. Her hands were clenched into a fist on her lap, trembling from the strength she was using.

"Just an unwanted thing yet you dare crawl over to our family to try and gain advantages." Tian Meng scoffed. She was a little sad inside, having already completely discarded her previous mastermind in the shadows role for a vicious half-sister role.

She grabbed Qin Yu's face, forcefully making the girl look at her. Those eyes were filled with the reluctance to bow down to Tian Meng, really making one feel disdain. "Because of you, mother is still in the hospital. Your existence, not only is it unwanted, but also brings harm to others. If you didn't appear, then would mother have ended up like this? You being here, isn't it just trying to disgust us? You want to destroy our family out of jealousy? What a joke!" She flung Qin Yu's face away from her, taking out a handkerchief to wipe off her hand.

Qin Yu bit her lip, almost about to wonder if that really was the case. In fact, wasn't it that she had been jealous and angry hearing that her blood related father was wealthy and had a family that he cared for and doted on? She inwardly shook her head. No, she wasn't like that. This was just Xu Mingyue trying to get into her head and manipulate her feelings.

It's not like she chose how to be born! It wasn't her fault that her mother did those things. Even so, she was still the daughter of Xu father, right?

Tian Meng motioned to the maid standing by the door. "Big sister is leaving. Escort her out," she said before returning to her room with a satisfied expression.

Although the role was not what she wanted, it still felt good to vent out her feelings on that useless female lead. She couldn't even draw the male leads attention, what use was she? Pei! Tian Meng wanted to spit on her. She wanted to bully her a little bit more, make her look even more pitiful and pathetic. Maybe then Yan Mo would have some interest in this little white lotus.

"Since Qin Yu is attending a competition soon, this should be a good chance? I'll ask Yan Mo to take a look with me." Tian Meng said. Although she didn't want to encourage this crazy guy by inviting him on a "date", because of the last time she was cautious and thus wanted to accompany him to make sure he developed a stronger interest in Qin Yu.

In the end, look at all the effort she had to go to just so Yan Mo and Qin Yu would get together! Other people's male and female leads would naturally end up falling in love, so why is it only her family's male lead that had such a big hole in his head, making trouble for her all the time?

Tian Meng really wanted to call up support and make a complaint!

When the time for Qin Yu's competition rolled around, Tian Meng was conflicted over what to wear, as she couldn't outshine the female lead this time. In the end, she selected a simple dark blue velvet dress, giving her a slightly gloomy aura when paired with her cold face. She let her acting pair together with her makeup and dress, and soon she no longer looked as dignified as compared to before, instead wreathed in a dark and depressing aura.

When Yan Mo came to pick her up, he stared for a little bit before taking off his suit coat and draping it over Tian Meng's shoulders. "It's so cold out, you should wear more," he said in a gentlemanly manner.

Dammit! Tian Meng cursed at Yan Mo from inside. Here she was thinking that his expression was due to her change in aura, but in actuality he pulled off this sort of move? He really was a player!

"Thank you," Tian Meng said with a thin smile and Yan Mo nodded in satisfaction before opening the door for Tian Meng. Tian Meng entered and soon Yan Mo appeared on her other side. The driver started the car, and they soon entered the city, the dazzling bright lights passing them by.

Once more, when they reached their destination, Yan Mo acted as the gentleman again, opening the door for Tian Meng and extending a hand for her. The concert hall was lit up with a warm light, and formally dressed people walked up the stairs. Tian Meng lightly placed her hand in Yan Mo's, allowing him to help her. After all, if she didn't, it would be too rude.

But... this guy actually didn't let go, firmly grasping her hand in his as he gently pulled her along! The exasperated Tian Meng tugged lightly to make him let go, but his grip only strengthened.

She tugged slightly harder, but he didn't react, a satisfied smile on his face. Tian Meng really wanted to say something about this situation, but after thinking about it, she didn't know what she should say. She soon gave up, letting the happy Yan Mo pull her along. Whatever! She would soon break this flag for good anyways, ship him together with the female lead, and wash her hands clean of this matter!

If Yan Mo could hear Tian Meng's thoughts, he would definitely be devastated by this girl who wanted to eat and run, have a one night stand and not take any responsibilities for him!

Because this concert venue did not have private seats, Yan Mo and Tian Meng were instead seated near the front row. Seated beside them were people that they recognized, as they all happened to swim in the same circles. There were friendly greetings, and some teasing words from the older generation seeing that Yan Mo and Tian Meng had entered together. In their eyes, it was clear that this handsome man and beautiful girl were a couple on a sweet date.

Because of this, these old people decided they shouldn't meddle any further, taking away time from this couple, and so they all quieted down, the others giving Yan Mo and Tian Meng some space.

Tian Meng, seeing the warm gazes of those around her, could guess what they were thinking. She wanted to spit out a mouthful of blood, feeling extremely wronged, but could only hold it in. She had to think of the bigger picture, the bigger picture!!

As the two sat, Yan Mo talked to Tian Meng in what seemed to be an exceptionally warm and gentle tone, his face filled with satisfaction at the reaction of those around him. They had clearly acknowledged him and Xu Mingyue as a couple, and he was very happy about this. Even though he had been pursuing this girl for a while now, she had so far only acted cool and aloof, returning all his advances with politeness. He was even starting to wonder if he was not being direct enough, or maybe even that his charm had faded?

But it seemed that his efforts weren't in vain as Xu Mingyue had actually invited him out today! And look at these conscientious guys, being so polite and reading the situation so well. Because of this, Yan Mo was in an even better mood than usual.

Toward this sudden change in Yan Mo's mood, Tian Meng was really speechless, not knowing how to react. Although there had been times when she had been treated well by the male lead as she hid her blades and schemed, but those emotions were never ones of lovers. Sometimes it was the love between family members, sometimes the care and consideration between friends, but never like this. And... every time, that care would certainly change into hate, disappointment, and despise.

She inwardly shook her head. She would make sure this was the case this time as well.

Although... perhaps she was secretly, just a little bit, reluctant...

Tian Meng closed her eyes. Being hated, wasn't she already used to it?