Pick Your Poison

The girl stared back at Su Qiao with a gobsmacked expression. Su Qiao could feel Yao Xun's shoulders shaking as he valiantly tried to hold back his laughter.

"Qiao ah," he murmured. "You're too harsh, I think you've broken her."

Su Qiao looked at the table of drinks. There were a couple of bottles of Louis XIII on it, which had to be Yao Xun's work because, besides him, everyone at this table besides the arm candy they'd brought along was only a second or third-generation rich man's son or daughter and wouldn't be able to burn money like that without some repercussions.

"Such a waste," Su Qiao said. She jabbed Yao Xun with her elbow again. "Pour me a glass."

Yao Xun threw her a side-glance. "Neat?" he asked. "How about I get a bartender to mix it into a cocktail for you?"

Su Qiao knew he was just concerned but she didn't want him to baby her like that. Half the reason why she'd agreed to come today was for the thrill of the experience but the other half was because she wanted to learn. If she was going to use her career as a launchpad for breaking away from the Su Family, she wouldn't be able to avoid such social gatherings in the future.

"What cocktail?" she asked. "A cognac puff? No thank you, I've weaned off milk." She noted the flicker of surprise on Yao Xun's face with a hint of smugness. He didn't expect her to know her drink. The truth was, Su Qiao didn't really. But working in that seedy bar had taught her a thing or two, even if she had been reluctant to memorise these cocktail names back then. And none of the patrons to that sort of low-class establishment had been able to afford such an expensive drink anyway. They probably hadn't even stocked up Louis XIII.

They carried on their conversation as though the girl next to Su Qiao were nothing more than thin air. Su Qiao wouldn't ordinarily treat anyone like this. But she still remembered what this girl did to her last time around. By then, Su Qiao's popularity had already been dwindling and it was this girl who had oh-so-accidentally mentioned during an interview that she had seen Su Qiao together with a rich producer who was already married.

Call Su Qiao petty, but she wasn't going to let her off the hook for that, even if she was technically still innocent for now.

So what if it was unreasonable? None of the lies she was going to tell about Su Qiao in the future were reasonable.

"Q-Qiao Jie," the girl mumbled, her eyes watering up. She was good at this, Su Qiao thought with a sense of genuine admiration. If she picked her roles carefully, she might even win best drama actress, the caveat being she chose to play a character that smelled strongly of green tea.

"Xixi!" The boy that she had been cosying up to earlier lost his patience and snapped at her. He looked nervously at Su Qiao. She still couldn't recognise this random young master but from the tentative aura he had already him at the moment, his family's business wasn't as affluent as hers. "What are you doing? Stop bothering Young Mistress Su and come back!"

Xixi. Su Qiao remembered now. This girl was Feng Xi.

Like a good little dog, Feng Xi bowed her head and went back. She didn't excuse herself and Su Qiao didn't bother calling her out for it. For the rest of the hour, she could feel someone looking at her occasionally but whenever she deigned to spare a glance in Feng Xi's direction, Feng Xi had her eyes downcast, a limp weight against the side of her patron or whoever that boy was to her.

But Su Qiao didn't let her guard down. Snakes were most vicious when cornered. Feng Xi hadn't needed a reason to strike at Su Qiao in her past life and this time around, Su Qiao had given her one.

"Qiao ah, are you going to sit here all night?" Yao Xun asked. Su Qiao could tell that he was on the prowl, his lazy gaze sweeping casually over a couple of beauties who had been eyeing Yao Xun from near the bar for a while now. But he hadn't gone over because he felt like he had to keep her company.

Su Qiao smiled. "You don't have to," she said. "Go if you want."

"You sure?"

She rolled her eyes. What could happen? She'd only had two sips of the cognac and she wasn't so foolish as to accept drinks from strangers.

"All right. I'll come to check up on you in a bit, okay?"

"Mmhm." She didn't doubt that he would, although if he wanted to pull successfully tonight, he probably shouldn't.

Yao Xun finally left and it was like Su Qiao had dismissed her bodyguard because suddenly, the other people at the table were crowding over for her attention, as though Yao Xun had been the only thing keeping them at bay.

"Su Qiao!" She recognised the speaker to be Wu Qian, one of the young mistresses, that was infamous in the circles for dating young fresh meat actors and fooling around at clubs. Su Qiao returned Wu Qian's bright smile with a friendly one. Su Qiao had used to look down on Wu Qian too for her reputation but when shit had hit the fan last time, she'd surprisingly spoken out for Su Qiao when none of Su Qiao's close socialite girlfriends had.

"Ignoring the fact that they're just rumours," this feisty young mistress had said to the reporters that had nothing better to do than try and dig up fresh dirt. "Even if they were true, so what? If Su Qiao wants to sleep around with one guy, that's her business. If she wants to sleep around with fifty, that's also her business. Is it her vagina or your vagina? Why are you being so sensitive?"

Wu Qian's words had been crude but Su Qiao had to admit that her blunt honesty had been refreshing.

"Hey," Su Qiao returned the greeting now, wanting to make up for her past snobbery.

"Super surprised to see you here," Wu Qian said, reaching out to clink her glass against Su Qiao's before throwing it back in one gulp. "But don't get me wrong, it's a good surprise. We thought that after getting engaged to that boring fiance of yours, you'd become even more proper."

Her candid personality would have offended the old Su Qiao but now it just made her laugh. She took a sip of her drink too.

"Not engaged anymore," Su Qiao said casually. Over the blasting music, no one but Wu Qian heard her, but Wu Qian's exaggerated spit-take and boisterous, "WHAT?! FOR REAL?!" captured everyone's attention.

Su Qiao nodded innocently.

Wu Qian blinked before tossing her head back and laughing. She was free-spirited and Su Qiao envied her. She wanted to be like that, she decided. Maybe not as loud but with the same confidence to behave however she wanted without fear of censure.

"Sorry, sorry," Wu Qian said, grabbing some napkins from off the table to wipe at the alcohol covering her legs. "My bad, I'm not usually such a mess, I just got a shock." She hummed thoughtfully. "I don't know why you guys broke up, but if you don't mind me saying, I think you're better off for it."

Su Qiao cocked her head to one side. "Oh?" She was surprised to hear this. Everyone in their circles thought that Lin Zizhou was such a catch. Did Wu Qian know something she didn't?

But Wu Qian just shook her head. "Nah, it's nothing like that," she said when Su Qiao enquired further. "I just don't get a great vibe from him."

…maybe it was because Wu Qian spent so much time around men that she'd honed her radar for scum but Su Qiao had to take a leaf out of her books because she was spot on about this one.

She was just about to ask Wu Qian to elaborate on her gut feeling when a sweet, hesitant voice interrupted them.

"Sorry to disturb," Feng Xi said, glancing down demurely as the waiter she was with laid down a tray of shots on the table. "Young Master Guo ordered a round for everyone."

The Young Master Guo she was referring to was the boy who'd brought her along. He cleared his throat and stood up, giving everyone what he thought was a debonair smile. Su Qiao caught Wu Qian rolling her eyes and didn't bother hiding her amused smile either.

"Young Mistress Su," Young Master Guo said in a tone so respectful that it bordered on sycophantic. "Let's drink to your joining us for the first time."

There was a ready chorus of assent among the other rich kids and Su Qiao could see the jealousy in the eyes of their companions but she disregarded it. They were envious that she was born into privilege and had an advantage over them but what did they expect Su Qiao to do about it?

The world wasn't fair. And if they knew the truth behind Su Qiao's family, their green eyes would brighten with malicious mockery.

Everyone reached for a shot, Feng Xi helpfully handing out glasses to everyone so the people further away wouldn't have to stand up. This was normal ingratiating behaviour from the lowly actors and actresses who tried to network their way into a higher social circle, so no one realised anything out of the ordinary.

Su Qiao too hadn't noticed at first. It was only after she accepted the shot from Feng Xi that she remembered her resolution to behave like a crazy, paranoid dingbat from now on.

[…close call.]

Before Feng Xi could react, Su Qiao reached out and snatched the remaining glass on the table, putting the one Feng Xi had given her back down firmly.

The DJ beat-matched the music into a second track but at their table, silence reigned.

"Sorry," Su Qiao said with an apologetic smile that no one could criticise. "This is my first time at a club too, remember? Ah Xun told me not to accept drinks from anyone. Surely you don't blame me, right, Xixi?"