Chapter 154: The Gathering is Over, Begging for Forgiveness

"What did you mean by 'whatever you see fit'?" Chu Luoxi looked at Ding Ju, who was staring at the card in her hand with boundless longing, and finally understood the phrase. "Didn't the company issue them to you?"

Just look at that. Even the company was out of tickets, so how precious must these be? Was she just casually scattering wealth around with these tickets, then? She was even more generous than Bai Yufei.

"Ahem, they did. Just one. Xiaoxi, anyway you have so many, can you spare one more for me? Just one..." Ding Ju twirled her fingers together, looking somewhat embarrassed as she realized she was being a bit too greedy.

"Are you taking a boyfriend?" Chu Luoxi asked with a gossipy glint in her eye, while secretly making plans in her mind.

"No way! I have a good friend who didn't manage to grab a ticket. She is a hardcore fan of the Heavenly King Xiao, and well... I want to go to the concert too, so..." The more Ding Ju talked, the more embarrassed she became, feeling as though she were scheming against the other girl.

"Alright, I'll give you one. But let's get this straight first—after the concert, you have to return the ticket to me," Chu Luoxi requested bluntly, figuring this was the best solution she could come up with.

Just kidding, these cards would be worth far more than the face value of the tickets in the future; she definitely had to take them back and hoard them...

"Deal! Should I give you mine too?" Ding Ju beamed, unable to resist teasing her. She always knew there was something fishy between her artist and Heavenly King Xiao. Look at this—the cards were plastered with portraits of Heavenly King Xiao, yet Chu Luoxi couldn't bear to part with even those.

Had Chu Luoxi known what Ding Ju was thinking, she surely would have wanted to bang her head against a wall. The reason she wouldn't part with them was because of their value—the unique value of every single card, understand? It had nothing to do with the portraits themselves...

However, if the cards didn't feature the portraits of the great God Xiao, and if no two cards were identical, how could they possibly hold such high value? So, essentially, it all came down to the same thing.

"Of course that's fine, I don't mind," Chu Luoxi said with a light chuckle, noting that fans hadn't yet realized every single ticket was entirely unique.

"Ah..." Someone shrieked. To be precise, someone shrieked while staring at the stack of cards in Chu Luoxi's arms. "Aren't these tickets for Heavenly King Xiao's very first solo concert? Oh my god, Xiaoxi, how do you have so many?"

As soon as those words dropped, countless pairs of eyes snapped toward Chu Luoxi in unison. The intense, burning gaze made Chu Luoxi shiver involuntarily, as if she had suddenly transformed into a helpless lamb.

Faced with the questioning stares, Chu Luoxi remained silent. She certainly couldn't blurt out that the God Xiao had handed these to her specifically so she could win favor with others!

"Are these really tickets? Xiaoxi..." Zhu Xueshuang sidled over with her eyes gleaming, drawing out her final syllables in a lingering tone that gave everyone goosebumps.

Of course, only Chu Luoxi felt that way; given the chance, many others would have gladly done the same.

Three minutes later, Chu Luoxi realized she didn't even have a ticket left for herself. Were these people always this ferocious? Fortunately, she remembered to make them promise to exchange the cards back after the concert, though that demand earned her quite a few rolling eyes.

"Tell me, Xiaoxi, what kind of relationship do you have with Heavenly King Xiao? Why on earth did he give you so many tickets?" Bai Lingxiao arched an eyebrow, her tone loaded with insinuation.

Tickets were in such high demand right now, yet Chu Luoxi could just casually pull out a whole stack of them? That defied all logic...

Chu Luoxi felt a twinge of awkwardness. How was she supposed to answer that? It seemed like the conversation had just circled right back to the beginning.

"If someone gives you a ticket, just take it. Why so many questions? Don't you know Xiao Jingxuan is our senior brother?" Zhu Xueshuang gave her a light slap, feeling quite cheerful inside.

Bai Lingxiao pouted with grievance, still struggling to understand the ways of this circle. So what if he was a senior brother? Aside from Chu Luoxi, weren't the two of them junior sisters as well? Yet she had never seen him treat them this nicely.

With that thought, Bai Lingxiao cast a worried glance toward Bai Yufei. Although her older brother was a business genius, he was utterly naive in certain aspects, and she could vaguely sense what was on his mind. Don't think the management of the Bai Group left him so idle that he could just wander over here whenever he pleased; she, as his younger sister, certainly didn't possess that kind of magnetic pull.

Sensing his sister's gaze, Bai Yufei took a nonchalant sip of tea, looking completely carefree. It made Bai Lingxiao want to stamp her feet in frustration...

Seeing that everyone was too hyped to function, Fan Li displayed a rare streak of good nature and gave everyone half the day off. She happily patted the card in her pocket and prepared to head home—after all, her daughter happened to be a devoted fan of Xiao Jingxuan!

Though somewhat reluctant, Chu Luoxi dragged her feet and made her way home. Predictably, the great God Xiao was indeed there.

Filming movies was truly fantastic; even though they started shooting later than *Bloody Phoenix*, they wrapped up earlier, leaving him ample time to start preparing for his concert. Rehearsals were required too, making his schedule genuinely enviable!

"Did you do something you shouldn't have?" Xiao Jingxuan suddenly asked, startling Chu Luoxi out of her wits. The woman had walked through the door wearing such an ingratiating smile, practically radiating guilt. Then, when she finally spoke, she hemmed and hawed for ages—anyone with eyes could tell something was amiss.

"Ahem, well, you see, um..." Chu Luoxi bit her lip, mentally organizing her words before gathering the courage to speak. "Today, I accidentally... gave away all the cards you gave me. So, uh, I guess I won't be able to attend your concert..."

Die sooner, be reincarnated sooner. Hence, Chu Luoxi had hurried back to "confess her crimes" to avoid the God Xiao discovering she wasn't at the venue and settling scores later, which might turn out even more tragic. Though, truthfully, she had no idea how the God Xiao could possibly pick her out of a crowd of a hundred thousand people to verify if she had attended.

The omnipotence of the God Xiao was already deeply rooted in her mind; who knew if some so-called "intuition" of his would prove terrifyingly accurate? She might as well make a voluntary confession for leniency, sparing herself days of nervous anxiety.

Hearing this, Xiao Jingxuan watched her sit there with her head bowed in repentance, unsure of what to make of it. After a long silence, he slowly drawled, "You don't want to go? That is my very first concert."

"No, that's not it! I want to go, but there are just too many people on the crew, and before I knew it, I'd given all the tickets away." Chu Luoxi couldn't bear the disappointment in the God Xiao's tone, feeling as though she had committed a heinous crime. But how was she supposed to go without a ticket?

"You didn't mean to?" Xiao Jingxuan raised an eyebrow, deciding that Chu Luoxi's attitude in admitting her fault was exceptionally good—so good that he couldn't even find a pretext to make an issue of it. He felt genuinely disappointed by that!

"I definitely didn't mean to!" Chu Luoxi swore, assuring him she was telling the truth. Besides, she would have to be out of her mind not to want to attend the God Xiao's debut solo concert...

"Alright, I forgive you," Xiao Jingxuan stated simply. He set down his teacup and leaned in close to Chu Luoxi. "However, as a warning so you don't repeat the same mistake next time, I think you still need a punishment."

Still basking in the relief of having cleared the hurdle so easily, Chu Luoxi hadn't even had time to process his subsequent words when she felt a magnified face fill her vision. A wave of gentleness covered her lips, and as she fell into an embrace carrying a familiar scent, she completely lost herself.

And so, someone got heavily taken advantage of...