The Sweet Rival (Mango Shen and Nathaniel Ye)
Chapter 969

"Hi, I want to buy a zither. Can you recommend one that would be suitable for me?"

Mango glared at Rainie and hurriedly opened her mouth.

Her attitude was refined and courteous. Thus, Pinksy was ashamed of herself.

"Sure, may I ask what price range you're looking at?"

"I don't really have a budget. I'm fine with it as long as it's a high-quality one."

Mango could tell that Pinksy probably really needed the money.

Pinksy ignored Rainie's probing gaze as much as she could and brought Mango to the area tagged with higher prices. "The price of the zither here are higher, but the quality of these instruments is good. These strings will not snap easily too." "Pinksy, why are you here?"

There were fewer people here, and Rainie could not hide her true intentions anymore, so she asked.

Pinksy was confounded.

She knew Rainie.

Ares said that he had found an artist that he wanted to train and support, so the whole team would need to support her.

Pinksy did not want to have any conflict with Rainie. After all, she could not offend anyone that was working with Ares. However, Pinksy had her own troubles.

"Miss Blu, I know it's my fault that I quit the team halfway, but I really need the money."

Rainie did not know how to what to say after hearing Pinksy's words.

Pinksy seemed sincere, and she did not pretend not to know Rainie. Thus, her actions calmed Rainie down a bit.

"You can get an advance if you need money desperately."

"Well... it's complicated. I don't really want to tell others why I need this money so desperately."

Pinksy covered her belly as she spoke.

Mango was too familiar with this action.

She could not help but think of the child she had not met.

"You're pregnant."

Mango's words were not a question but a statement. Her words stunned Pinksy

immediately.

"What? How did you know about that?"

Rainie was astonished too when she saw Pinksy's surprised expression.

"If you're pregnant, then just give birth to your baby. However, you can't earn this much money in a short time."

Pinksy felt dismayed.

She whispered, "I... I can't keep this child."

"Do you plan to abort this baby?"

Pinksy nodded at Mango's words.

"Yes, my brother and sister need to go to school, so I can't rest for too long. I heard that the operation is painless, and the recovery period is short, so I want to do this. But the operation needs to be done soon, and I'm running out of time. If I don't do it soon, everyone will know what happened after that!"

Pinksy began to cry as she spoke.

Rainie did not expect that she would ask such questions and could not help but feel anxious.

"You..."

"Shh!"

In order to prevent Rainie from saying anything, Mango stopped her quickly.

Mango was quite experienced in this matter.

Obviously, Pinksy did not want to keep her child. However, it would be troublesome if she did the operation later as the procedure would be too painful.

Both of them were women, and now that Mango had replaced Pinksy's position, she still felt a little guilty about this.

"I'm going to buy a high-end zither. How much commission can you get?"

Pinksy paused for a moment and said, "I can get a 1% commission."

"In other words, if I buy a one hundred thousand dollars zither, you can get around ten thousand?"

"Yes, you're right!"

Pinksy nodded her head. However, she felt that the possibility was very slim.

Many people came to buy zithers, but most of the deals she got were the middle-priced ones. People would normally buy zithers ranging from a few thousand dollars to around ten thousand dollars. However, she would only get around two dollars as commission! This was not sufficient for her to pay for the abortion. Thus, Pinksy got more anxious as the days passed as not many people came in to buy instruments. Mango looked at her and said in a deep voice,

"Then please choose a zither worth one hundred thousand dollars for me."

Pinksy thought she had heard Mango wrong.

"Come again?"

"I said I'm going to buy a zither that costs a hundred thousand dollars. It's a deal. After you get the commission, go to the hospital as soon as possible."

Pinksy's eyes were filled with tears.

"Thank you... thank you very much! May I know your name?"

"Mango Shen, I'm the one who replaced you in the team. Hurry up and settle your matters and return to the team. I'll take your place during this period of time. When you return, I'll leave. Do your best!" Pinksy was slightly startled by Mango's words.

She had heard that the team had found a replacement for her. Also, she was even a little worried about finding a job after the surgery. After all, she had a lot of free time and a decent income in this job, but it was hard to find jobs that required a zither player.

Thus, Pinksy could not believe it when she heard Mango say that the latter would give her the position as a zither player after she returned.

Rainie said, "Don't worry, I brought Mango to make up the vacancy. After all, my album needs to be listed on the market, so I can't delay it. She's the CEO of Illimite Entertainment, so how can she work for the others? She was only helping you out. You should rest well first and help me out when you come back."

Pinksy was still amazed.

Mango smiled, "Hurry up and pack my zither."

"Oh! Yes, sure!"

Pinksy finally reacted and quickly gave the zither that cost one hundred thousand dollars to Mango.

After doing all this, Mango brought the zither and left the music store.

Rainie smiled and said, "You're always so kind. Who knows if Pinksy is really pregnant?"

"It's true."

Rainie was slightly startled after hearing Mango's words.

"Hmm? How can you tell that?"

"Her expression was obvious, and her hands always covered her belly subconsciously. In my opinion, she likes this child very much. But she said that she couldn't keep this child, so there must be a reason behind it. Alas! After all, women always get hurt easily."

Rainie believed that Pinksy was pregnant after hearing Rainie's words.

"Haha! I can't believe that you were generous enough to pay one hundred thousand dollars for a zither. I bet their boss will feel like today is his lucky day!"

"It doesn't matter. If you can help others, you may get good karma in the future. Besides, the timbre of this zither is really good. After all, good things don't come cheap."

"Alright, if you say so then. Now, let's see how those people will deal with it. Did she say that the strings of the zither would not snap easily just now?"

Rainie was still thinking about the problems in the team.

Mango smiled, "Haha! Don't think about it. I'm not an easy target for bullies."

"Uh... That may not be the case. I'll protect you anyway."

Mango felt amused when she saw Rainie's heroic demeanour.

When they returned home, they saw Nathaniel smoking at the door.

There were a lot of cigarette butts piling up beside his feet. Obviously, he had been waiting here for a long time.

Rainie felt that she would only make the atmosphere awkward if she stayed here.

"Um... I'll go and buy us some drinks."

Then, she ran away.

Mango could not even stop Rainie.

Nathaniel saw that she was holding a zither and initiated the conversation.

"Did you pick up the zither recently?"

"It's for work."

Mango answered every of his question as if they were as close as before.

She opened the door and whispered, "Come in and take a shower. The odour of the cigarette smoke on your body smells terrible!"

Although Mango did not reject him, she sounded a little upset.

Nathaniel was slightly startled.

Was Mango concerned about him?

He could not help but feel happy.

"I didn't bring any clothes to change."

"Let Desmond buy some then."

Mango responded naturally, and Nathaniel felt jolly.

When Desmond got the order from Nathaniel, he went to buy some clothes.

Nathaniel went to the en-suite in Mango's room and turned on the faucet.

He could not help but feel aroused when he thought about the passionate night they had a few days ago.

Mango did not think too much. She simply carried the zither to the study and started to tune it after setting it up.

Nathaniel listened to the tuning sounds outside and suddenly felt serene and peaceful.

Rainie did not dare to go back to Mango's place now, so she went to see Ares instead. She refused to leave Ares' place and said that she wanted to ask him some questions regarding music composition. After Mango finished tuning it, she told herself that this zither was worthy of the price she paid. Its timbre was truly extraordinary!

Then, she blushed when she saw Nathaniel coming out of the bathroom.

"You beat Lebanon up, right?"

This was not a question for him, but an affirmation.

Nathaniel did not avoid her question, and he admitted it without hesitation.

"Yeah, I beat him up. After all, he disfigured my wife. It's not a big deal."

"Urgh. So childish."

His actions warmed Mango's heart, but she did not express her feelings.

Nathaniel did not care what Mango said and continued, "If he dares to harass you again, I swear I'll continue to beat him until he becomes disfigured!"

"Don't! He isn't part of Rainie's album anymore. You should stop already, okay?"

Mango did not want to create a big fuss over this matter.

Nathaniel had no objection to Mango's words.

"Well, I'll forgive him for your sake. Hmm... Haven't you gone to the hospital to change the bandage on your face?"

"I'll do it myself later. It's not a big deal anyway."

Mango covered the zither and took out the first aid kit.

Her face was a little itchy and she wanted to change the dressing.

"Let me do it then."

Nathaniel volunteered to help her with it.

There was still a nice scent of shower gel lingering on his body. When Mango smelled it, she was stupefied. At the same time, her face flushed, and her heart started beating fast.

"I can do it myself."

"Nah, it'll be troublesome for you because you have to look in the mirror. Let me help you instead."

Nathaniel carefully removed Mango's bandage.

When he saw the wound on Mango's face, he could not help but feel upset for her.

"D*mn it! I should have beat him up more!"

Mango smiled immediately.

"It's alright. Lebanon didn't do it on purpose too."

"Urgh! He was staring at you affectionately on purpose! I think he won't give up."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

Mango felt that Nathaniel's words were eccentric, but Nathaniel did not explain anything. However, an ambiguous look flashed across his eyes.

Nathaniel was gentle when he was helping her with her dressing. He even blew some air tenderly to her wound.

Mango felt a tingling sensation on her face, and it aroused her.

Her breathing became heavy.

Nathaniel did not seem to notice the changes in Mango. He moved slightly forward to her, and his broad and muscular chest appeared in front of her. Right now, Mango couldn't resist the temptation that was in

front of her!

She swallowed unconsciously and took a step back.

"Don't move."

Nathaniel called out in a deep voice. He took a step forward, and his upper body immediately came into contact with Mango's sensitive spots.

She screamed, and the two of them bumped into each other.