Chapter 172: Chapter 158: Deliberately Sowing Discord

"Xiaoxiao is here? Please have her come in quickly." Fang Anning immediately said with joy when she heard Li Xiaoxiao had arrived.

"Yes."

Mrs. Chen hurried out to bring Li Xiaoxiao in.

Fang Anning didn’t go downstairs; instead, she asked Mrs. Chen to bring Li Xiaoxiao up to her bedroom.

Ever since she finished her confinement period and could see visitors, quite a few people had come to see her.

But Fang Anning always received them downstairs, except Li Xiaoxiao was different; Li Xiaoxiao was her sister, so naturally, she was brought up to the bedroom.

After Li Xiaoxiao came in, she first hugged Fang Anning saying, "Anning, I’ve missed you to death. I’ve been on the set all this time, wanting to come see you so many times, but your family wouldn’t let me in. Finally, they let me see you."

"I’ve missed you too. But we’ve been keeping in touch by phone and video, haven’t you seen that I’m okay?" Fang Anning said with a smile.

"It’s not the same, I only feel relieved seeing you in person. Giving birth is so terrifying, you’re so amazing to have actually given birth to a baby." Li Xiaoxiao said.

After that, she hurriedly went to see the baby.

Actually, she had already seen the baby on video, but seeing the real thing again, she couldn’t help but exclaim, "Anning, you’re too amazing to be able to give birth to such a child."

Fang Anning laughed, "What’s so amazing about that? Weren’t we all born the same way? Giving birth is a biological instinct."

"But I still think it’s incredible. Look how big he is, and how long. You could give birth to that." Li Xiaoxiao said.

"What you’re seeing now is how he looks after a month. Of course, he has grown. He wasn’t nearly this big when he was born, and he was particularly ugly," Fang Anning shrugged and said.

"Nonsense, he’s so handsome, fair, and tender. Just look at Mr. He in your family and you know what he will look like in the future. With Mr. He’s looks, how bad could the child be?"

"That’s true." Fang Anning laughed.

The baby indeed looked much better compared to when he was first born and was getting more and more handsome, making people unable to resist wanting to kiss him.

Li Xiaoxiao couldn’t resist, and with a laughing smile, she asked, "Can I kiss him?"

"Yes, but wipe off your lipstick first," Fang Anning said.

Li Xiaoxiao nodded quickly, went to the bathroom to wipe off her lipstick, and then gently planted a kiss on the baby’s face.

Soon after, she remembered something, hurriedly took out a solid gold pendant from her bag and said, "This is a meeting gift for you, a bit small. Once your auntie earns more money, I will buy you something bigger and better."

"We thank auntie," Fang Anning gently lifted the baby’s little hand, waving it at Li Xiaoxiao.

However, the little guy woke up at this moment, and upon waking, he started crying loudly.

Li Xiaoxiao was scared, asking hastily, "What do we do, he’s crying?"

"It’s fine, he’s just hungry. I’ll feed him and he’ll be fine," Fang Anning said adeptly, picking him up to feed him.

Sure enough, once fed, the baby stopped crying, opening his eyes and looking around curiously.

Li Xiaoxiao said joyfully, "Look, no more crying, what a cutie."

Fang Anning patted the baby, burped him, and then called the servant to take the baby out to play.

Fang Anning then asked Li Xiaoxiao about her recent situation.

Li Xiaoxiao said, "Thanks to Mr. He’s help, I secured quite a few resources before. Now everyone thinks I’m Mr. He’s person, so they take good care of me. Although I haven’t become super famous yet, I have plenty of opportunities now and don’t worry about getting filming jobs for the time being."

"That’s good. You just do your best, becoming a star will come naturally," Fang Anning said.

Li Xiaoxiao shook her head and replied, "Minor fame can be boosted, but major fame is up to fate. Whether I can become a star in the end is a matter of destiny. I’ve been in this circle long enough now, not as naive and ’sweetly stupid’ as before, thinking becoming a star is an easy task. Anyway, I’m focusing on acting and singing now, doing the right things within my role, and whether or not I’ll be famous is all up to fate."

"It’s good that you think this way. Actually, even if you don’t become a star, having done what you wanted to do is already a success," Fang Anning said.

Li Xiaoxiao nodded, then added, "Oh right, Cheng Wanbai visited the set the day before yesterday. But she wasn’t there to see me; she was visiting another veteran actor in our crew. They had some past connections, so she came to visit him. After Cheng Wanbai left, I chatted with the veteran actor and learned from him that Cheng Wanbai and Mr. He... seem to still be in touch. Do you know what’s going on? I know a lot of the rumors in the circle are fake, like the one about me and Mr. He. But with Cheng Wanbai, I’m a bit confused. I’ve also heard from the veteran actor that she had an abortion recently and it seems to be Mr. He’s."

"Did you initiate the conversation with the veteran actor about these matters, or did he tell you voluntarily?" Fang Anning asked.

Li Xiaoxiao replied, "Neither, really. It was after Cheng Wanbai left. She had said a few words to me, then he came over to chat with me, asking me how I knew Cheng Wanbai. And then we started talking about these matters."

Because of Cheng Wanbai’s past manipulative actions, Fang Anning became wary of her.

Initially thankful and considering her a kind-hearted and generous person for helping Li Xiaoxiao so much.

But after knowing her true colors, Fang Anning became cautious and had warned Li Xiaoxiao to be careful of Cheng Wanbai.

It’s okay to collaborate and interact with her, but one should always be more vigilant.

Since then, Li Xiaoxiao’s absolute worship and trust for Cheng Wanbai had waned, hence why she’s more guarded around her.

Fang Anning snorted with laughter and said, "Don’t worry, there’s nothing between her and He Tingchen. The reason you know about this and then telling me, I think, is mostly because she did it on purpose."

"On purpose?" Li Xiaoxiao was surprised.

Fang Anning said, "Intentionally trying to stir up trouble between me and He Tingchen, and then to reap the benefits from it."

"Are you saying she hasn’t given up on Mr. He and still has hopes with him?" Li Xiaoxiao said.

Fang Anning explained, "It’s normal for a man like He Tingchen to be remembered; nothing surprising there. Moreover, she’s probably liked He Tingchen for many years now. He Tingchen thought she knew her place, but he has no idea how far a woman with deep obsession can go."

"So, what are you going to do?" Li Xiaoxiao asked anxiously.

Fang Anning raised an eyebrow and challenged, "Do you think I can’t handle her?"

Li Xiaoxiao shook her head and explained, "I don’t think that, but Cheng Wanbai has been able to survive in the entertainment industry for so long and remains unyielding, she must not be an ordinary person."

"Of course, I’m aware she is not ordinary, don’t worry, I have my plans. But what about you, hasn’t Liao Hanfeng approached you with the rumor going around about you and He Tingchen? He even made a special call to He Tingchen to inquire about it. He asked about you when he came to visit the baby a few days ago."

Mentioning Liao Hanfeng, Li Xiaoxiao lowered her head.

It took her a while to respond with a bitter smile, "He did approach me, twice. He wanted to get back together, but I rejected him. At first, the second time, I was going to agree, but then I saw Bai Yunzhu come to see him, and his eyes lit up instantly. With him being like that, how could I possibly agree to get back with him? So, I blocked him and no longer contact him at all."

"Good for you," Fang Anning supported her, "You should not give another chance to such a fickle man."

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read