The Savior Says She's Having a Breakdown - Chapter 16
Chapter 16: Reversal of Status (Part 2)
“So, has the theme of today’s meeting changed to ‘how to deal with your subordinate’?” Feng Qingyu leaned against the back of the chair, looking at her with a half-smile.
“You had better know when to stop!”
“Are you angry?” Feng Qingyu secretly delighted in Maggie’s suppressed fury, yet her expression remained calm. “Since you are so reluctant, then why don’t we—terminate the cooperation?”
Bang— Maggie slammed her fist on the wooden conference table. Feng Qingyu, sitting opposite her, felt the vibration.
The conference room fell silent until Hena opened the door and entered.
“Your Highness, Fiona has been taken to the isolation chamber.”
“Understood.” Maggie withdrew her hand from the table and subtly rubbed her wrist.
Hena had sensed that the atmosphere was even more strained than when she left. Seeing Maggie’s action now, she roughly guessed what had happened. She then said, “The incident was sudden, and the meeting was arranged at short notice. No one was truly prepared. Perhaps we should reconvene another day. What does Your Highness think?”
“Do as you say.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
Turning her chair, Feng Qingyu watched Maggie’s still-furious figure quickly leave. Only then did she slowly stand up and head back to the guest room.
However, as soon as she stepped out the door, someone stopped her: “You shouldn’t have deliberately provoked Her Highness using the cooperation just now. You know how important this matter is to her.”
Yes, Feng Qingyu had deliberately provoked Maggie. She wanted to test her bottom line.
For these barbarians who lived in an environment where force reigned supreme, bowing for the sake of profit could lead to a backlash at a crucial moment. Civilized contracts couldn’t restrain her, and Feng Qingyu needed to know her breaking point to ensure her own survival.
“I didn’t.” Feng Qingyu shrugged. Ignoring whether Yuna believed her, she walked around her toward the guest room. Hearing footsteps follow, she added, “What good does it do me to deliberately provoke her?”
“I know you are still holding a grudge against Her Highness for kidnapping you, but Her Highness did those things for the sake of the Star Kingdom! She has been traveling through various star systems for three years for the future of the Star Kingdom, and her temper is naturally a bit volatile due to the hard work. She did make a mistake then, but we have apologized, and we are now in a partnership. Don’t you Earthlings always talk about ‘harmony being the most valuable’?”
“Stop right there,” Feng Qingyu paused and turned to stop her. “Yuna, if you still want our cooperation to continue, you had better stop mentioning what your Highness did to me! Put yourself in my shoes. If you were kidnapped to an alien planet and bullied for so long, would you easily forgive that person? I can understand her actions for her planet and I have accepted your apology, but that doesn’t mean I have forgiven her! Accepting an apology leading to forgiveness is only a possibility, not an inevitability! I am not a saint; I am just a mortal with a heart as small as a needle’s eye!”
“But…”
“No buts, Yuna. People are selfish, even if we are not from the same galaxy. Between your interests and my feelings, I will choose myself.” Feng Qingyu sighed, “Furthermore, human emotions are complex. We do have a partnership, but that doesn’t stop me from disliking her, and even continuing to needle her in the future. You only know the Earth saying ‘harmony is the most valuable,’ but there is also a type of person on Earth called ‘vindictive.'”
Yuna was not Hena. Facing Feng Qingyu’s lengthy argument, she was completely unable to counter.
“Alright, I’m here.” Feng Qingyu opened the door and walked into the room. After pouring out her inner thoughts, her mind was much calmer. Before closing the door, she smiled at Yuna and said, “To thank you for escorting me, I can tell you a little secret—although I am petty and hold grudges, I am also very easy to appease.”
Hena saw Yuna walk in with a worried expression and slump onto the sofa, immediately knowing she had been put in her place again by Feng Qingyu. She poured her a glass of water and said, “Why bother?”
Yuna shook her head, sighed, and then repeated her conversation with Feng Qingyu. “What do you think she meant by that last sentence?”
“That sentence probably means that if you don’t keep going back to her and reiterating the Commander’s past mistakes, with time, she might just forget about it. Of course, the premise is that we must adhere to the contract, treat her as an honored guest, and meet her demands as much as possible.”
“So, does she still hate the Commander?”
“You can’t call it hatred, but dislike is definitely still there. After all, what we did initially was indeed inappropriate.”
Yuna was puzzled. “But we later went to great lengths to rescue her from the Nüwa Tribe! The merits should cancel out the demerits.”
“That’s why she only dislikes the Commander instead of hating her,” Hena said. “If I recall correctly, Feng Qingyu’s mother mentioned that she was discovered and taken back by the Nüwa Tribe prematurely because she had been to Planet Alpha, and our magnetic field, being different from Earth’s, disrupted the talisman’s own magnetic field?”
After thinking about it, this matter was indeed caused by their Highness, but Yuna still felt somewhat uncomfortable. “Then do we just have to watch the Commander be bullied by her?”
“Perhaps she just wants some psychological comfort. After all, she was almost ‘killed on an alien planet’ back then.”
“Hena, I think Fiona had a point.”
“What is that?”
“You seem particularly biased towards this Earthling, even though she makes the Commander suffer!” Yuna was completely baffled. “The old you, if you saw the Commander being picked on, would have been the first to devise a plan for her.”
“Perhaps it’s because I’ve also been learning some information about Earth during this time.” Hena’s explanation sounded like self-talk, and then she laughed. “Don’t worry, the Commander is not only your Highness but mine too. I will absolutely not allow anyone to bully her. Of course, so far, no one has been able to truly bully the Commander! Feng Qingyu is only playing with words. I can guarantee that she absolutely will not terminate the cooperation!”
Yuna looked at her, unconvinced.
Hena had no choice but to add, “Before the meeting tomorrow, I will talk to Feng Qingyu and ask her not to deliberately provoke the Commander with words anymore. But for the Commander’s sake, you shouldn’t keep looking for Feng Qingyu. You’ll just fuel the fire.”
Yuna nodded. “As long as she doesn’t constantly anger the Commander, I naturally won’t seek her out again. I’m not good with words, and I only went to her because I was upset about how she treated the Commander. But I don’t understand, why did you insist I tell her that even if we fail in the end, we would still give her the spatial shield device?”
“Because on Earth, there is a tactic called ‘courtesy before force.'”
Maggie sat in her study on her princess chair, pondering how to write a report to Edris explaining Feng Qingyu’s situation.
She had originally intended to report to Edris after making slight progress, but after being threatened by Feng Qingyu with the termination of cooperation today, she reconsidered carefully. She thought it would be better to clarify the situation first. Regardless of the outcome, it would at least make it clear to Barbara that Feng Qingyu was on her side.
Even considering the worst-case scenario, if Feng Qingyu was indeed snatched by Barbara, she would still have a legitimate reason to use force to take her back. Even if Edris disliked internal conflict, she would have no grounds to object.
As a person of action, she had to act once she decided, but she was stumped on how to start writing the report.
“Hena, come to my study.”
After staying up late to ghostwrite the report for Maggie, Hena found Feng Qingyu the next day with dark circles under her eyes.
“Can we talk? Before I fall asleep.”
Seeing her condition, Feng Qingyu swallowed the refusal that was on the tip of her tongue and let her in, saying, “Make it quick. I’m afraid you won’t be able to stay awake.”
“I want to add something to our agreement. May I?”
“Is it about Maggie?”
Hena nodded. “Fiona has complied with your wishes and disappeared from your sight. However, the Commander is the direct person involved in your cooperation. Even if you want her to disappear, we cannot possibly comply.”
“I never asked for her to disappear.”
“It’s wonderful that you didn’t think that way,” Hena’s voice was filled with delight. “I knew you were a person of magnanimity!”
“The trick of ‘flattery’ no longer works on me.”
Hena didn’t mind her coldness. “No, I’m sincere. I truly didn’t expect you to agree to continue cooperating with us. After all, you chose us despite having ‘other options,’ and we are extremely grateful. Given our past mistakes, your acceptance of our apology is already very moving. We hope you can give us a chance to better express our apologies.”
Feng Qingyu felt that when Hena mentioned “other options,” her tone was meaningful. Combined with Hena’s squinted eyes, it gave one the feeling of being calculated against.
Hena seemed oblivious to Feng Qingyu’s thoughts and continued, “The Commander comes from a military background, and the Star Kingdom does not emphasize interpersonal emotional communication as much as Earth does. Therefore, the Commander has always been poor at expressing herself. She has actually realized the many inconveniences her past mistakes caused you. All your current food, clothing, housing, and travel arrangements here are personally arranged by the Commander, including the furnishings of your current guest room. This shows the sincerity of her apology and her commitment to the partnership. I know it’s not easy for you to come to an alien planet alone, but how easy is it for the Commander? We are all people with difficulties, and now we are in a mutually beneficial partnership. I think we don’t need to make things difficult for each other anymore, do we?”
Feng Qingyu appreciated Hena’s elaborate effort, which was all aimed at making her stop needling Maggie.
Since her purpose had been achieved, and she didn’t have that much to say for constantly needling someone, Feng Qingyu took the step offered by Hena and said, “I understand. I promise I will not actively seek trouble with Maggie or with you all anymore. Let us coexist peacefully until the cooperation ends. Even if we can’t become friends, we will at least not become enemies.”
With this assurance, Hena achieved her goal. She said goodbye and returned to her bedroom, sending the message to Maggie’s communicator just before falling asleep.
Maggie, looking at the recorded footage on the communicator, fell into deep thought: Is it worth it to humble myself for temporary peace?
As if knowing what Maggie was thinking, Hena sent another message after the video: Sometimes, actively seeking goodwill is not humbling oneself; it is merely a transmission of good intent.