1657 Such an Intimate Greeting

"Now, I need to continue putting on makeup for Lu Man." Shi Xiaoya checked the time. "You should probably start preparing as well, or else there wouldn't be enough time."

How would Howard be in the mood to prepare for the competition? He already appeared to be panicking slightly. "Mr. Han, I have already apologized to her. She's the one who refused to forgive me no matter what. I'm at fault in this matter."

Howard could not care less anymore. He'd even apologized in front of everyone and felt his scalp turning numb.

All the boasting and arrogant pretense he'd put on ever since he arrived until now, all of it culminated in the embarrassment of today.

"Please don't take it against me, I am the narrow-minded one," Howard said. "I am very sincere about acting as one of the characters in Cyre Pictures' films. Please give me this chance."

Han Zhuoling raised his eyebrow and said, "Did you think that if Xiaoya forgave you, I would retract my orders?"

Shi Xiaoya was startled.

She did not hear properly the rest of the things that Han Zhuoling said. Her mind was just preoccupied with how he'd called her "Xiaoya" just now.

Her ears were still ringing with his voice calling her "Xiaoya." She could not hear anything else.

Unknowingly, her face reddened, and her hands started to tremble ever so slightly.

Lu Man secretly pinched Han Zhuoli to make him look down.

She then whispered into his ear, "How does Big Brother usually call Xiaoya? Did he always address her so intimately?"

Han Zhuoli tsked at her and replied in the same hushed voice, "No! He always went 'Shi Xiaoya,' 'Shi Xiaoya,' and even earlier before that, he called her Miss Shi. Don't you see how Shi Xiaoya is completely scared stiff?"

Lu Man glanced over. Indeed, Shi Xiaoya seemed to have fossilized on the spot. She was rooted to the floor, looking dazed and silly.

"Judging from Shi Xiaoya's reaction, that is definitely the first time Big Brother called her that way," Han Zhuoli said in a low voice.

Lu Man was stunned. "I really couldn't tell that Big Brother was the tsundere type. He just changed the way he called her unknowingly, and he even made it sound so natural to other people."

She did not expect that when Han Zhuoling was being thick-skinned, it would be quite surprising to others.

Not just Lu Man and Han Zhuoli, everyone else noticed that Han Zhuoling had changed the way he called Shi Xiaoya.

Shana quietly shifted glances between Han Zhuoling and Shi Xiaoya.

Howard was even more shocked.

He had thought that Shi Xiaoya was close to Lu Man.

He even found it strange just now. No matter how close Shi Xiaoya was with Lu Man, Han Zhuoling would not go to such lengths just to help Shi Xiaoya.

He even stepped out personally to make sure he was dropped.

Yet now that he heard Han Zhuoling calling her so intimately, what was there for Howard not to understand?

Looks like Shi Xiaoya's relationship with Han Zhuoling was much better than her relationship with Lu Man!

Howard really regretted it now. He just wanted to bully a weakling at first and show off his prowess, yet he never expected to stub his foot on an iron board.

Han Zhuoling seemed to have gotten addicted to calling her that way and continued saying, "Whether Xiaoya decides to forgive you or not has nothing to do with my decision. Even if she forgives you, I won't change my decision just now. Just like what Xiaoya said, you may have apologized now, but it was not sincere. Don't even talk about how you didn't even bother to pretend like you cared just now. Even if you pretended to apologize sincerely, it would just be a silent endurance for the time being. You would still be unhappy deep down. When you are safe after you go back, you would then think of ways to deal with her."

Han Zhuoling scoffed mockingly. "I won't believe that your temper that has remained unchanged for decades of your life will suddenly change with the few words you said just now."