THE CONSEQUENCE OF NOT READING

A police officer led Xuan Tianmei and Tan Yao to Xuan Tianyi's cell. Xuan Tianmei had expected her brother to be in a jam-packed cell with about ten other people but was surprised at what she saw. Her brother was alone in the cell, sleeping peacefully. It seemed he had a standing fan? When did he become a VIP?

The police officer rudely hit the cell door with a baton, waking up Xuan Tianyi from his slumber. Just as rudely as he had hit the protector, he said, "You have visitors."

Xuan Tianyi lazily grabbed his limbs from the bed and walked towards the protector. He caught sight of his sister. And Tan Yao? What the hell?

"Pretty Pretty," Xuan Tianyi was tired and embarrassed that she had to see him that way, still, he forced a smile on his face as he called out to his sister.

Xuan Tianmei could barely stop herself from breaking into a sob. Keeping the officer's prior instruction in mind, she didn't let her hand touch or cross the cell door. "Idiot, how did you manage to get yourself arrested?"

"Ah! Go ask your precious boss."

"What? President Hua had you arrested? Don't tell me you stole his money when he gave you his credit card." Xuan Tianmei pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Of course not," Xuan Tianyi rebuked her. "Are you crazy? How can I do something like that?"

"Then what happened?"

"A disagreement at work."

"Just a disagreement?" Xuan Tianmei didn't believe him. "Did you hit him? He can be nice, but he's really stern."

"Did it have anything to do with the fact that he got me to model for Coca-Cola instead of you?" Tan Yao, whose presence had been completely ignored spoke with a smirk on his face.

Xuan Tianyi regarded his smirk with irritation. "You. What are you doing here? Who asked you to come here?"

"No one. I was just being a gentleman and brought her here," he smugly pointed to Xuan Tianmei

"She could've come on her own. You could've, right?" Xuan Tianyi asked Xuan Tianmei who nodded in agreement.

"There's no difference between you two." Tan Yao shook his head in disbelief. "One twin is just as contemptuous as the next."

"Who are you calling contemptuous?" Xuan Tianyi pointed an angry finger at Tan Yao.

"Stop it, you two." Xuan Tianmei said. "This isn't the right time to flirt."

"Who's flirting?" Both boys asked at the same time, eliciting a small mischievous laugh from Xuan Tianmei. They hated each other, but she could see a lot of chemistry between them. What was going on between those two?

"Tan Yao was really worried about you, Xuan Tianyi. Be nice to him."

Xuan Tianyi regarded Xuan Tianmei's words with a look of disbelief.

"I'll go look for somewhere to ease myself," Tan Yao said and left the two siblings to talk.

"So, what happened, what did you do?" Xuan Tianmei asked.

"I didn't do anything. Why do you think I did something?" Xuan Tianyi asked.

"Because you're in jail." Xuan Tianmei replied glibly.

Xuan Tianyi sighed. "I didn't read my contract."

This sounded like Xuan Tianyi had just said, 'If water, then a boy.' She was confused, to say the least. "I don't follow."

"I didn't read my contract. Apparently, I was supposed to."

"Of course, you were supposed to. But I don't see how that got you arrested."

"Well, your President Hua gave me a job I didn't want. I rejected it, but he told me I had to do it. Then I asked to quit. Apparently, I can't quit until the contract has ended. So, here I am."

Xuan Tianmei sighed. "I can talk to President Hua for you."

"Xuan Tianmei?"

"En?"

"If you talk to Hua Zhendan concerning this, I will never, ever, ever, speak to you again."

"What?": Xuan Tianmei asked. "Why?"

"The guy hates me. Don't you see? Begging him means I'm losing my pride to him."

"But you're not the one begging him. I am."

"There's no difference if it's you or I begging him. It all comes back to that."

"Are you crazy, do you want to stay here forever? What if I can't bail you out?"

"Then I'll stay here forever. The food is not that bad, and this place is actually comfortable. I was given a couple of books to read."

"You don't read."

"I don't. But I might start. After all, not reading is how I got into this mess in the first place."

Xuan Tianmei sighed. "Fuck. You're difficult. Fine, I won't ask him. But I'll get you out of here. I—"

"You're free to go," another police officer, who had just walked in unnoticed, interrupted Xuan Tianmei's rant.

"What?" Both Xuan Tianyi and Xuan Tianmei asked in unison.

"All charges against you have been dropped and you're free to go."

At this announcement, the other police officer opened Xuan Tianyi's cell's double bolts and let him out of the cell.

As they both strolled to the reception area where Xuan Tianyi's belongings were kept, Xuan Tianmei asked, "Do you think President Hua had something to do with this?"

"What? Why would he just arrest me so he could release me?"

"I don't know. Maybe to teach you a lesson?"

"What lesson? That I don't have money?"

"Don't be like that. President Hua isn't like that."

"Oh! Get off his dick for one minute. Don't you see how much of an asshole he is?"

Xuan Tianmei sighed.

"Who is an asshole?"

Xuan Tianyi and Xuan Tianmei turned around to see that Hua Zhendan was the one who had spoken.