Ch. 631..640

Chapter 631

Everybody knew who their boss was speaking to without having to guess.

Apart from Xyla Quest, their boss would definitely not show such a pleasant facial expression to anyone else. In fact, Stanley Batton would never speak this nicely in front of anyone else. "Why are you suddenly eating at the staff's cafeteria?" Xyla asked.

"Hmm. I felt like eating the tomato scrambled eggs here," Stanley said truthfully.

"In that case... Enjoy your meal! I'm still spending time with the players. Talk to you back at home," Xyla said.

"Okay. I'll pick you up after work tonight," Stanley said.

"Alright."

After hanging up, Xyla turned around and was about to walk into the room when she heard a man's voice from behind.

"Hey... Aren't you Xyla Quest?”

The unfamiliar voice made Xyla stop moving, and she immediately turned around to look at the man.

He was a plump, middle-aged man who wore Armani from head to toes.

Xyla didn't recognize him. "Do I know you?"

The man walked up to her and extended a hand to her. "My name is Hugo Clive. I own Team RS."

Team RS was also one of the teams in the League of Legend competition. This team was only slightly weaker than Team EW.

From what Xyla could recall, Team RS's owner once personally contacted her on League of Legend and invited her to become his team's lead ADC player.

However, Xyla had rejected him without even considering the offer.

Xyla was told that this team's owner came from an influential family. She happened to be from a similar background too.

With a polite smile, Xyla held his hand. "Nice to meet you..." She said.

"Now that the esports industry is growing rapidly, everyone wants a piece of the pie. Even those who don't know much about the industry want in..." The man said with a smile. Although he was smiling, Xyla could sense the sarcasm in his voice.

She felt certain that he thought of her as someone who knew nothing about the industry.

His arrogant attitude made her want to throw up.

"But anyone who becomes part of this industry naturally has a passion for competitive gaming. Since there is passion involved, that person surely knows something about the industry," Xyla replied with a smile She kept calm and composed.

"But I don't see you as the type of person who knows much about esports, Miss Xyla. These days, very few women understand esports. There are also very few who truly love esports. After all, most women don't even understand how to play League of Legend," Hugo added.

Xyla felt extremely offended by what he said.

Why was he such a sexist?

These things didn't sound like someone from his background should say.

Xyla kept a smile on her face. "You must have misunderstood."

"Oh?" From what I'm hearing, does that mean you're very good in this game?" Hugo asked.

"Not too shabby," Xyla said.

Hugo couldn't resist laughing out loud. "Stop kidding. I've never met any woman who looked as beautiful as you and still played games well."

Xyla found it unbearable that he was looking down at her.

There was an undertone that this man thought of Xyla as a good-looking woman who could only be involved in certain businesses, but absolutely not gaming. Right then, a young man walked out of the room. He went directly over to Hugo. "Mr. Clive, what are you doing?"

Xyla recognized this man as a very popular streamer, but she had forgotten his name.

"I'm chatting with Xyla. She insisted that she's good at playing League of Legend... I find it a little hard to believe," Hugo said.

Chapter 632

Chapter 632

The young man chuckled a little. "Anyway, none of the pretty ladies I know are good at gaming-besides, none of them like spending time on games. I simply don't believe Xyla when she said she's good at the game," ," he said.

Right then, Alex came out of the room.

As soon as he did so, he overheard the young man insulting Xyla Quest. He quickly walked over to Xyla. "Why don't we go somewhere, and my boss can show you her skills?" Alex asked.

"Sure... Xyla, do you have the guts? Let's go against each other, solo. I'm not great, but only the fifth in the country's server," the young man said.

Although they had only met each other once, Xyla already disliked this man.

Clearly, he was trying to kiss Hugo Clive's ass because Hugo's power was more alluring than Xyla's wealth.

"Sure. But you'll have to wait until I'm done eating. Let's do it after dinner," Xyla said. There were a bunch of people waiting for her in the room. It wouldn't be polite for her to leave right now. "Don't be a coward. That's not fun," the young man said.

"We'll do it right now," Alex said right away with a confident look in his eyes.

"Boss, go ahead. We can wait. Don't let anyone look down on you," Alex added.

This young man seemed to trust Xyla with all his heart.

"Are you that confident in me?" Xyla chuckled.

"Yeah. I know you would never lie," Alex said and nodded.

"Why are you so sure?" Xyla asked.

"My instincts tell me so. Prove them wrong. Don't let them look down on you or our team. I'll pass the word on to the rest," Alex said.

Xyla nodded confidently before turning to look at the other two men. "There's an internet cafe across the street. Let's go there. You each get a chance to fight against me. But what happens if you lose?" Xyla said.

Hugo snorted coldly. "If I lose, I'll tag you on the Team RS page and apologize to you."

"I'll apologize to you on Weibo too. Not only that, I will even call you my 'daddy'," the young man next to Hugo chipped in.

"Okay..." Xyla said before turning around and walking away.

The two men followed close behind her.

Soon, the three of them arrived at Black Cat Internet Café that was across the street from Victoria Hotel.

Since there wasn't any separate room to be booked, Xyla brought them to the main lobby and switched on a computer. She sat in between the two men.

As soon as they sat down, many players in the lobby began paying attention to them.

Firstly, they did so because of the young man who came with Xyla. Secondly, it was because of Xyla's beauty.

Countless players stood up and huddled around the young man while they greeted him.

"Hey, Amigo, I can't believe you're here! I'm your fan..."

"Amigo, what are you doing here? Why aren't you streaming?"

"Amigo, I love watching you stream while you play."

After hearing what these players in the internet cafe said, Xyla recalled that this young man's streaming ID was Amigo.

"There's a pretty girl who claims to be great at gaming, and she wanted to fight against me, solo." The young man glanced at Xyla, who sat next to her, with an annoyed expression on his face. Everyone seemed equally annoyed after hearing that.

"Pretty lady, is there something wrong with your head? Do you know what his tier is? Do you have any idea about his ranking in the country's server?"

"I don't think we need to watch this. Amigo will win for sure. It's without a doubt.”

"Although she looks pretty, she has zero self-awareness. I'll have to give her a thumbs-down."

These people were all throwing sarcastic remarks at Xyla, but she didn't care. Instead, she silently logged into her account.

While picking the server, she glanced at Amigo and Hugo. "Where do you want to fight? Who will go first?"

"Let's do it in Warfare College! Do you have an ID?" Amigo asked.

"Yes..." Xyla chuckled before logging into her account right away.

This was a back-up account, and it was only of the silver tier.

Chapter 633

Chapter 633

Amigo glanced at Xyla Quest's account. "What's your tier?"

"Silver..." Xyla said.

"I'm a Challenger. I feel bad for bullying a Silver player like you," Amigo said sarcastically.

"She boasted so much earlier, but she turns out to only be a Silver player?"

"Yeah... I thought she would at least be Platinum or something."

"Pretty lady, what gave you the courage?"

The players who gathered around couldn't resist laughing at Xyla.

Xyla ignored them, and she looked at Amigo's ID before searching for his account and adding him as a friend.

After that, she created a '1-versus-1' game and invited Amigo to enter her room.

"Pretty lady, you can choose any hero you want..." Amigo said.

"You go first," Xyla said.

"Don't regret it later..." Amigo snorted coldly.

With that, he picked Aphelios right away.

Meanwhile, Xyla casually chose Ezreal.

When Amigo saw the hero Xyla picked, he started laughing. Hugo Clive and the rest of the people around started laughing too...

"Xyla, I think you lack knowledge about this game. In this version, Aphelios is very strong. There's no way Ezreal can beat him," Hugo said as he glared coldly at Xyla's screen.

"A Silver Ezreal actually wants to fight against a Challenger Aphelios. Is she mad?"

"Fighting Aphelios with Ezreal is just insane."

"How can she win? Even if Amigo went easy on her, she wouldn't be able to beat him..."

The people around began saying nasty things again.

However, Xyla continued to ignore them. She bought equipment and proceeded to fight against Amigo in the solo match...

As soon as Amigo saw Xyla's hero, he started using his skills.

Xyla was able to dodge his skills agily. After that, she started casting skills at his hero.

Within thirty seconds, Amigo's hero was dead.

Everyone was shocked!

Amigo was dumbfounded. He had no idea how he even died.

Shocked, he looked at his grey screen blankly. "How did she make such a perfect move? Why was she like a freaking ghost?"

Suddenly, the players who stood around became silent. The entire internet cafe had gone quiet.

Everyone began to feel respect for Xyla.

Xyla calmly clicked on her mouse and stepped over his dead hero's body before returning to the soldiers around her own. After Amigo's hero was revived, he approached Xyla once more.

However, his hero was killed by Xyla within a few hits.

In the next few minutes, he tried countless times more, and it all ended in the same way.

Finally, in less than ten minutes, Xyla destroyed the crystal in his base, and the game ended.

Amigo was thoroughly stunned. He felt completely embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Hugo seemed equally shocked.

Xyla turned to look at Amigo with a glimmer in her eyes. "You should post your apology on Weibo now."

Amigo started coughing wildly, but he didn't dare say a word.

"He's not good enough. Let's do it, the two of us," Hugo said with a dissatisfied look on his face. He refused to believe that they would both lose to this beautiful woman!

Chapter 634

Chapter 634

Xyla Quest probably got lucky earlier.

Perhaps, Amigo was simply too horrible a player.

"Which server are you in?" Xyla Quest asked as she looked at Hugo Clive.

"Wait. I'll search for you..." Hugo said before quickly logging into the game and entering Xyla's server.

He was also a Challenger in this server.

After they added each other as friends, Xyla created another '1-versus-1' game and invited him.

This time, Hugo chose Aphelios as well.

Meanwhile, Xyla chose Ezreal as she did before.

The entire internet cafe had become quiet. More and more players were gathered around them, and they all paid attention to the match between Xyla and Hugo.

In fact, many of them took their phones out and began recording them.

Hugo began feeling nervous because he couldn't allow himself to lose. If he lost, he would be thoroughly embarrassed.

Meanwhile, Xyla remained calm as usual. There wasn't any emotion in her eyes.

Once the game started, she began to play silently. She was like an elegant predator that hunted her prey down with a calm expression.

After a few simple moves and skills cast, Xyla killed Hugo's hero. His screen turned gray.

The amount of pressure Xyla was piling on top of Hugo was something he had never felt before. Hugo was finding it a little hard to breathe.

In the future, he would argue against anyone who told him that women weren't good at this game.

Meanwhile, the players who stood around began clapping and cheering for Xyla.

However, Xyla simply ignored all of them. She walked past Hugo's in-game character's dead body and continued to fight alongside her soldiers and destroy her opponent's towers. Right then, Alex arrived with everyone from Team XS. They moved past the crowd and stood behind Xyla.

Since everyone was focusing on the exciting match, no one realized a group of prestigious e-sports players standing next to them.

Within five minutes, Hugo lost to Xyla as his base was destroyed.

Xyla's fantastic gameplay and moves shocked everyone present.

Even the professional players were amazed by Xyla's skills.

Instantly, Alex and every member of Team XS respected Xyla even more.

In that instant, when Hugo's crystal exploded, he felt the deepest humiliation he had ever felt in his life.

Having played this game for so long, he had never been slaughtered like a pig in such a manner.

Today, he ended up losing to a woman he looked down on.

"I wonder who was looking down at her earlier. Do you feel embarrassed now?"

"Both Challengers were defeated by a Silver player. This is the biggest joke of the year."

"Weren't you both very obnoxious earlier? You acted as if there was no way she could beat you. Why aren't you boasting now?"

The words of the people around them made these two men drop their heads in shame after Xyla had beaten them both in the game. They were completely silent.

While everyone praised her, Xyla calmly flicked her wrists around. She turned to look at Hugo on her left and then to Amigo on her right. "Publish what you said you would on Weibo now..." she said.

"I recall someone saying that he would publish a post on Weibo to apologize to our boss for looking down at her if he lost. On top of that, he would even call her 'daddy'," Alex said coldly as he looked at Hugo and Amigo.

As soon as he spoke, he attracted the attention of everyone there.

Upon a closer look, everyone noticed the professional gamers around him.

Suddenly, the crowd went wild.

Countless people took their phones out and began taking pictures of the group of professional gamers.

Chapter 635

Chapter 635

"What did Alex call that woman just now? Boss? Holy sh*t... I recognize her now. I think she's Xyla Quest... No wonder she looks so familiar."

"I didn't know she's so good at video games. This is why she's trying to acquire a professional team."

"Come on! Shouldn't you two be posting on Weibo right now? Don't chicken out."

"Amigo, you're a famous anchor. It's not a big deal to lose a bet, right? Hurry up and post it."

Suddenly, there was a drastic change in the crowd's attitude toward the three of them.

Hugo Clive and the young man had become a target of public criticism.

This scandal had left the two with egg on their face. They felt like their faces were being slapped by Xyla Quest, again and again, leaving behind four burning hot cheeks.

They both started to regret what they had done earlier. Why did they accept this stupid challenge in the first place?

Taking a deep breath, the young man hesitantly logged onto his Weibo account and typed, "@XylaQuest, I'm sorry for despising your gaming skills. Xyla, you're my daddy." Then, he forced himself to click 'post'.

Xyla's phone soon vibrated.

Her phone screen showed that the game anchor had just tagged her in his newest post. The content of the post was clear too.

"What about you, old man? It's your turn now..." An onlooker turned to Hugo and asked.

"Are you scared, old man?" Another onlooker said.

"Old man? You're the old one! Your whole family is old..." Hugo bellowed grumpily as he glared at them.

"Don't try to change the subject. Faster post what you're supposed to post. You're the boss of Team RS, aren't you? You can't just back out now."

Under the crowd's pressure, Hugo had no other choice but to log onto Team's RS official Weibo page and post an apology to Xyla. "I'm sorry, Xyla. I shouldn't have looked down on you and doubted your ability You've proved me wrong."

Shortly after he uploaded the text, Xyla's phone vibrated again.

After taking a glance at the notification, Xyla got up from her seat right away. Her gaze slowly shifted from the two men to her team members, her expression as calm as ever. "Let's go, guys... Back to lunch." Subsequently, she turned away from them and headed to the exit.

Alex and the rest of the QPG members followed closely behind her.

As they squeezed through the crowd, the entire cybercafe burst into wild applause. The crowd started cheering 'Xyla rocks!' loudly in unison.

Nevertheless, Xyla paid them no attention and stalked out of the cyber cafe without turning a hair.

As soon as she stepped out of the cafe, she stopped in her tracks, her feet rooted in front of the entrance. Slowly, she took a deep breath of fresh air to refresh her mind.

Alex and the gang immediately stopped in their tracks too.

As expected, all of them started to butter up their boss, praising her performance one after another.

"Nice one, boss! I'm impressed by your gaming skills. You're my daddy!"

"Boss, why are you hiding your light under a bushel? My admiration for you has instantly doubled up after watching those two games."

"Boss, you're our idol. Why don't you join our team and try playing ADC?"

"Boss, how did you do that sharp blocking just now? I don't think Alex can even do that."

Everyone's eyes were full of adoration as if they were her most loyal fans.

Xyla remained calm as water despite their excitement. "I just played like how I usually would, so you guys don't have to... Nevermind. Let's go back to eat. I'm starving." With that, Xyla quickened her pace to the hotel.

Along the way, praises and affection from the guys did not cease to ring in her ears.

As soon as they stepped into the hotel lobby, Xyla's phone vibrated, and a news headline popped up on the screen again.

Chapter 636

Chapter 636

"Why did the owner of Team RS and the well-known gaming anchorman, Amigo, apologize to Xyla Quest?"

Xyla Quest totally did not expect their little conflict to make headlines.

She opened the article without hesitation.

"A few minutes ago, Team RS's official Weibo page had expressed their apologies to Xyla Quest. They had reflected on their misbehavior to look down on Xyla Quest's gaming skills. Besides, Amigo-the famous gaming anchorman-had also uploaded a similar post.

"Likewise, he apologized for being condescending toward Xyla, and he even addressed Xyla as 'daddy'. The bizarre events that took place simultaneously had attracted the attention of countless gamers in no time.

"Shortly after the two posts, a player revealed the truth behind their sudden apologies at ESPN, a sports commentary and news platform. According to him, Xyla mentioned that she was good at video games but was despised by the Team RS's boss and Amigo.

"To prove herself, the three of them went to a nearby cyber cafe and made a deal: If the two men lost to her in two Solo games, they had to apologize to her publicly on Weibo. Undoubtedly, they were both defeated by Xyla despite being two of the strongest national players."

Moreover, several images of her playing games with Amigo and Hugo Clive at the cyber cafe were attached below the article.

As a result, the comment section exploded with agitation again.

Numerous netizens were commenting '????', apparently dumbfounded by the news. Some of them were praising her, and scolding Amigo and the owner of Team RS at the same time. Xyla briefly went through the comments before switching to Weibo app.

As expected, her name was on the trending list.

It was not just one.

The top of the list showed #Xyla Quest's Gaming Skills#.

Right below that was #Xyla Quest Rocks#.

Xyla opened the two of them, one after the other.

The two topics were both filled with scoops from various entertainment accounts. The contents of the scoops were exactly the same as the article she had just read.

The only difference was that the entertainment accounts had attached a video of Amigo, Hugo and her in their posts.

Unsurprisingly, those two topics had gone haywire on the internet.

The onlookers were enjoying the drama whereas the gamers were making fun of the two men.

"It's such a shame that Team RS has a boss like him. Can you stop bringing disgrace on the whole team?"

"Damn... Look at the way Xyla played in the video. It's giving me goosebumps! Are Amigo and that boss dumb?"

"Those two idiots have just made a fool out of themselves. Speaking of which, Xyla is really something, eh? It's a pity that she didn't become a professional gamer."

"I can imagine her being the world's top ADC player in the future. She's so cool!!!”

"Xyla, you rock!!! You're on fleek! Has Xyla ever thought of trying out acting? She's definitely the best actress for a gaming drama!!!"

Xyla quickly scrolled through the comment sections before leading the team into the elevator.

Right at that moment, the boys saw the hot topics about Xyla on their phones too.

Alex immediately waggled his phone in front of Xyla. "Boss, you're on the trending list, and there are two trending topics about you. Everyone's praising you." Xyla gave an indifferent shrug. "Yeah, I saw that."

"How do you manage to stay so unperturbed when everyone else is astounded by your performance? I'm really impressed," said Simon.

"Boss, are you sure you don't want to become one of us? You're really talented."

Intense adoration was reflected in the boys' eyes.

Xyla shook her head helplessly. "Stop joking, guys. I have loads of work waiting for me everyday. How am I going to be a professional gamer?"

 

Chapter 637

Chapter 637

"It's not impossible, though. There've been cases of team owners taking part in the tournament before. They don't train often, but they can play really well. Hey, the Summer Playoffs semifinals is in a couple of weeks. Why don't you give it a try and play for the team?" Alex suggested.

Inwardly, Xyla Quest was tempted by his encouragement.

However, she forced herself to hold back her desire. "Nah... It'd be bad if I ruin the team's performance."

Playing a game and playing a match were two different cases after all. She might be good at playing games, but that did not mean that she could excel in matches.

On top of that, she had never trained with anyone in the team. She had no confidence that she could cooperate well with them. If something went wrong in the middle of the game, they would lose the tournament, and the consequences were dire.

"I think you can do it, boss. Maybe you can win the first regular season championship for our club!" Simon gushed.

"You guys need to stop. Please. I promise that I'll be there to watch your game, but I'm not going to play..."

Alex laughed. "We didn't mean to mess with you. We just think that you're skilled. Trust me. We're good judges of character. I know what you're worried about, boss. Relax! Don't worry so much." Xyla, yet, shook her head once more.

Seeing that Xyla had already made up her mind, the boys did not say another word.

After lunch, Xyla brought everyone to Team QPG's new base.

The five-story villa was located next to Navy River.

The villa was just right beside the river, and it was the best location in the entire Navy River neighborhood.

The courtyard was about the size of two soccer fields, with an outdoor swimming pool, an outdoor soccer field, and a basketball court. Furthermore, there was a large garden laden with all kinds of flowers and shrubs.

The villa was mainly designed in European-style. The entire villa was pure white, looking very much like the palaces in European countries.

As soon as the members got out of the car, all of them were astonished by the huge yard and luxurious villa, their eyes expressing utter bewilderment.

None of them had ever imagined that the base Xyla prepared for them would be so splendid.

Their old base was simply incomparable to the current one.

"Wow, for a second I thought I've ventured into a high society community. The vibe is so different here..." Hugo Clive-the president of the team-exclaimed, his eyes shimmering like the ocean on a clear night.

Likewise, Xyla was extremely satisfied with the place. She smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it. Come on..."

Following that statement, she led them into the villa.

She did not expect that the whole villa had been turned into a professional base for the team.

The Team QPG logo was everywhere on the wall.

The first floor had been turned into a training room filled with numerous alienware gaming desktops, all of which were the most expensive model of the brand.

"These computers are even better than the one we used for competition..." Alex was surprised as he approached those computers.

Each monitor was labeled with the members' exclusive gold stamping names, including his.

Upon hearing that, the others immediately gathered around the desks, looking at the equipment with delight.

Although the villa was huge and classy, it was not as impressive as the advanced equipment to this bunch of gamers.

Noticing everyone's happy faces, Xyla was pleased too.

Her gratitude to Stanley Batton deepened once again.

Without hesitation, Xyla pulled out her phone and sent a text message to Stanley. "Thanks, hubby. I'm very satisfied with the base."

No matter what was on her mind, the man was always able to think ahead of her. He would settle everything nicely for her even if she did not mention anything to him.

Xyla could not wait to find out what it looked like up there. Immediately, she snapped her fingers at the boys. "Let's go. I'll take you all upstairs for a tour."

Chapter 638

Chapter 638

With great interest, everyone looked away from the training room and followed Xyla to the elevator. They then took the elevator and visited the rest of the villa floor by floor.

The second and third floors were the dormitory for the players and the management team.

The rooms' doors were carved with the names of the team members, manager, team leader, and president, respectively.

Each person was assigned a room.

All the rooms were equipped with a king-sized bed, a desktop of the same model downstairs, and various broadcast equipment.

There was a study room, a badminton room, a tennis room, and a physical therapy room on the fourth floor.

The top floor was large and spacious, with a huge indoor swimming pool occupying the entire space above. Every wall was made of tempered glass, offering an expansive view of Navy River. Not only that the boys could swim here, but they could also enjoy the night view here before going to bed.

As Xyla strolled around each floor, satisfaction and surprise gradually overtook her heart.

The same was true for everyone else.

Alex stared blankly at the huge pool and said, "Boss, you're too considerate... I can't believe that you actually took our recreation into account."

"They're all not prepared by me," Xyla told him truthfully.

"Then, who?" Alex asked.

"My husband." Her soft lips stretched into a smile at the mention of Stanley.

"Wowww... Boss, your husband is awesome!" Hugo shrieked.

"That's true. I have the best husband in the world." Xyla could not help complimenting Stanley. She then took a look at her wristwatch and said, "Get ready to move, guys. Try to move all your stuff here by tomorrow night. I should probably get going."

The others nodded in response.

After saying goodbye to everyone, Xyla strode out of the villa and got into her red Maserati, heading straight for Quest Property Group.

Shortly after she left the villa, her phone vibrated.

Xyla immediately answered the call when she saw Stanley's name, a flicker of a smile playing on her face subconsciously. "Hey, hubby."

"Hey, I was in a meeting just now, and I forgot to bring my phone with me. Sorry for the late reply," the man explained in earnest on the other end of the phone. "It's okay."

"By the way, I saw the trending topics about you... My girl rocks indeed." His tone was as gentle as ever.

Xyla grinned. "Are you serious?"

"Of course."

"Hubby, thanks again for everything that you've done." His help had really saved her a lot of trouble.

Stanley chuckled over the phone. "Silly girl, is there a need for you to say 'thank you' to me?"

Feeling happy because of her husband's words, another sweet smile blossomed on Xyla's face. "Well, I'm just saying what I have to say. I'm happy with the base, and so is the team." "That's great," he said again.

Suddenly, Sharon Lindt's call came in while the pair were chattering joyfully. Noticing her name, Xyla immediately ended their conversation. "I need to answer Mom's call first. I'll get back to you once I reach the office."

Then, she hurriedly picked up Sharon's call.

As soon as she answered the phone, Sharon's kind and friendly voice blasted from the speaker. "Xyla, what are you doing?"

"I'm driving now, Mom. I'm on my way back to the office." The corner of Xyla's lips gradually curved up into a shallow arc.

“Erm... I'm planning to go to an art exhibition later. Can you come with me? Initially, your Dad was going to accompany me, but something came up..." Sharon was acting cutely.

Though Xyla had some work to do, she could not bear to reject Sharon. "Alright, sure... What time is it?"

"In an hour. Just go to Atlantis Art Gallery right away, and we'll meet at the entrance," added Sharon.

Chapter 639

Chapter 639

"Okay."

Hanging up the phone, Xyla Quest briefly calculated the time and found out that the journey from her location would take at least an hour.

Without further ado, she floored the gas pedal.

Her red Maserati then sped down the streets, all the way to the destination.

Xyla finally arrived at the art gallery at the appointed time.

Effortlessly, she caught sight of Sharon Lindt from afar. Her mother-in-law was standing at the main entrance with a large group of bodyguards, patiently waiting for her.

Sharon was dressed in a mint knitted cardigan with a white chiffon dress inside, matching them a pair of pastel flats. She completed her look with light makeup and a low ponytail, looking very much like a young little girl.

The entrance of the art gallery was extremely crowded.

However, no one was as eye-catching as Sharon.

As Xyla stared at that elegant lady in the sea of heads, she could not help wondering how alluring she would have been when she was young.

Xyla quickly found a nice spot to park her car and walked up to Sharon with a bright smile.

Noticing her arrival, Sharon instantly wrapped her arms around Xyla's as her heart leaped up in joy. "Let's go, Xyla... We shall go in now. It's Wilmer Lacroix's exhibition today! He's my favorite contemporary French painter!"

Xyla smiled in response. "I like him too."

"Really? We better hurry up then! Go ahead and pick the paintings you like. I'll buy them for you." Hand in hand, the two of them strode into the art gallery.

Inside the hall, countless authentic French paintings were hanging on the walls.

In addition to the popular landscape paintings and bird-and-flower paintings, Wilmer Lacroix presented many other notable paintings.

Every painting was so exquisite that all the visitors who passed by could not take their eyes off them.

The hall was filled with visitors in no time. Everyone was admiring the paintings in silence.

Suddenly, Xyla caught a glimpse of a familiar figure in the middle of the crowd. She squinted to focus on that figure... It was May Conner. May was wearing a scarlet silk body-hugging dress, exuding a powerful yet graceful aura.

She was currently studying a piece of landscape painting.

Xyla threw her a cold glance and held Sharon's hand right away, leading her to a pair of peony paintings.

Colorful peonies were blooming vividly on the snow-white canvas.

"What do you think? Do you like this painting?" Sharon asked.

Xyla nodded lightly. "Yeah. I do like it, but I think there are some flaws in this painting."

Sharon's eyes were brimmed with doubt. "Flaws? I don't see any flaws here."

She leaned over and carefully examined the painting, trying to find out what Xyla meant. Unfortunately, her effort was in vain.

"Based on Master Lacroix's standard, I think he can draw a better peony painting than this. Look at some of the petals here. He must have applied too much pressure on the brush. Though they're not too obvious, you can still notice them if you take a closer look. Sigh, that's such a pity."

Coincidentally, May was walking in their direction when Xyla was pointing out the painting's imperfections to Sharon. When she overheard their conversation, she burst out laughing instantaneously and stopped beside Xyla. "I was wondering who the hell was

criticizing Master Lacroix's painting. Ah, it's you, Xyla..."

Xyla glared at May in disdain. "So what?"

"You've never painted a French painting before, have you? I can't believe an amateur like you dares to make stupid comments on a master's artwork." May hissed.

The hall fell silent.

May's statement had instantly drawn everyone's attention to the two of them.

"Look, I'm professional in French painting. I don't find any mistakes in the master's artwork," May continued.

Upon hearing that, the crowd started to gather around them. Their eyes fell upon the peony painting curiously.

Chapter 640

Chapter 640

"Neither do I. Don't judge when you can't even draw."

"Can someone who can't draw simply comment on Master Lacroix's artwork? That's pretty shameless."

"I think the master's painting is perfect. Why is that girl acting like she's very knowledgeable about art?" The crowd's criticisms were getting harsher and harsher.

However, happiness glowed inside May Conner when she heard them. 'You're dead this time, Xyla...'

"I might have known nothing about French paintings before. But how can you be so sure that I'm still the same after so many years?" Xyla Quest met her eyes apathetically.

"Do you think that French painting is something that can be learned overnight?" May jabbed, "Besides, learning it and mastering it are two different cases..."

"That's right. Are you even qualified to judge Master Lacroix? Paint yourself then if you're so good at it."

"Is Master Lacroix someone who can be simply attacked by a novice painter? Show us your paintings if you think you're better than Master Lacroix!"

"Do you even know how to respect seniors? Stop acting like an attention seeker..."

The onlookers surrounding them were getting indignant at the way Xyla behaved.

Sharon Lindt kept a straight face the whole time, coldly scanning the crowds and May. "Do you guys want to be dragged out by my bodyguards? How do you know if Xyla is good or bad at painting? What does it have to do with you?"

"This girl is right. I did not paint this picture with enough care and concentration..." Suddenly, a man's voice echoed across the hall.

There and then, everyone subconsciously looked in the direction of that voice.

A white-haired elder dressed in a traditional tunic gradually came into sight. He made his way through the crowd and walked up to Xyla directly.

Everyone in the hall recognized the old man at once.

He was Master Wilmer Lacroix.

As soon as Wilmer had made his point, the babbling crowd shut their mouths in shock.

"I was in a bad mood when I painted this, so I was performing well below par. However, I decided to display it anyway because the mistakes weren't too obvious... I thought normal people wouldn't be able to notice anything." As Wilmer spoke, he fixed his gaze on Xyla.

He stared at her with eyes full of acclamation. "Little girl, I can tell that you're quite knowledgeable about French paintings. In fact, I've overheard your evaluation of me, and I've been observing you for a long time... I don't think you're 'someone who can't draw'. There are some blank canvas and paint on the table over there. Why don't you draw something and show me?"

"Master, I appreciate your acknowledgment, but I'm afraid that you think too highly of me..." Xyla shook her head. Since today was Master Lacroix's art exhibition, she did not want to steal his thunder. "You're too modest, girl. Come, show me," Wilmer said again.

"Master Lacroix, please don't give Xyla a hard time. She hasn't learned much about painting." May glanced at Wilmer and pleaded. Subsequently, she approached Xyla and hugged her arm intimately, pretending to help to take the heat off her. "She can't do it."

"I agree... Master, she can critique but that doesn't mean she can draw..."

"Yeah."

The clueless onlookers followed suit and jeered at Xyla.

"Please... girl." Without paying any heed to their malicious comment, Wilmer squeezed through the crowd and headed straight to the table.

"Show them, Xyla. Prove them wrong." Sharon gave Xyla a confident look.

She knew that her daughter-in-law was an excellent lady. If she could make such professional comments on that painting, she must be really outstanding at French painting.

Taking one last look at the people around her, Xyla gripped Sharon's hand and strode across the hall to Wilmer's table.

Wilmer waved his arm at Xyla gratifyingly as though to encourage her.

Without further delay, Xyla picked up the brush next to her.