Chapter 98 The Banquet (3)
Gong Zeyang was startled at Su Ziyue’s words. “Ziyue, you…” “Zeyang.” Speaking of the devil, Su Yige walked toward their direction while wearing a white evening dress.
As she came closer to them, she was startled by the sight of Su Ziyue and Qin Muchen there. She held Gong Zeyang’s arm in a possessive manner before turning to look at Su Ziyue and said, “I didn’t expect you to be here, Ziyue. Grandpa is here as well; aren’t you going to greet him?”
After she finished her sentence, her gaze lingered on Qin Muchen for a while before she quickly moved away.
This banquet was only open to those with an invitation; Qin Muchen shouldn’t have gotten an invitation card, so how did he manage to bring Su Ziyue along to the banquet?
Su Yige suddenly recalled the dinner she and Gong Zeyang had with them at Lumiere Jade House last time. When she and Gong Zeyang wanted to pay the bill, they were told that the dinner was on the house because Qin Muchen was friends with the clubhouse’s owner.
That’s probably also the reason why they managed to get in here this time, she thought to herself.
She also recalled the incident that Friday; she was one step away from destroying Su Ziyue’s reputation for good. Qin Muchen must’ve asked the owner of Lumiere Jade House to save her.
Su Yige’s smile did not change despite the myriad of thoughts on her mind. She turned to look at Gong Zeyang and said with a hint of reproach in her voice, “Why didn’t you tell me that you know Ziyue is here? You should have told me so that I can greet her and introduce several people to her.
Gong Zeyang thought that what Su Yige said made sense. He turned to look at Su Ziyue, but he choked back the words on the tip of his tongue as he felt a surge of irritation in his heart when he noticed the hint of ridicule in the depths of the latter’s eyes.
He gave Su Yige a nudge and said impatiently, “Take her yourself if you want. I’m going out to get some fresh air.”
With that, he turned around and left, leaving Su Yige alone.
Feeling that she had been embarrassed in front of Su Ziyue, Su Yige looked as black as thunder; she turned around and went after him.
…
After the two busybodies had left, Su Ziyue felt that something was wrong; she turned her head to realize that Qin Muchen was staring at her with a clouded expression on his face.
Feeling guilty under his gaze, she gave two dry coughs and tried to strike up a conversation, “Uh, what would you like to eat?”
Qin Muchen gave a cold snort as he clearly wanted to ignore her, but he still pushed the drink he had brought over toward her. Then, he turned his head away, looking aloof as one could tell from the side of his face.
He sat down and leaned against the sofa with his legs crossed while placing his arm on the sofa’s armrest. Looking expressionless, he held a cigarette in his hand without lighting or smoking it.
“Are you a smoker?” Su Ziyue recalled seeing him smoking last time.
Qin Muchen cast a glance at her sideways and said, “A light one.”
“If that’s the case, why aren’t you smoking the cigarette?” Su Ziyue was puzzled.
Qin Muchen looked at her as though she was an idiot. “Do you enjoy inhaling second-hand smoke?”
“No.” Su Yige shook her head and laughed. She flung herself on him, held his arm and asked, “Are you refraining from smoking for my sake?”
Qin Muchen’s expressionless face looked startled for a moment as soon as she finished her question. However, he then caught a glimpse of her fair-skinned thighs which had been exposed by her overly short dress. Qin Mucheng pulled a long face and reached out his hand to push her away. “Sit properly.”
“Why are you telling me to sit properly at the drop of a hat? I’m not a primary school kid.” Su Ziyue clung to him, refusing to back off. Since he gave in so much to her, why shouldn’t she act spoiled in front of him for a few more times? He wouldn’t do anything to her anyway.
Qin Muchen’s face grew even darker, but he couldn’t do anything to her. Therefore, he could only sit up straight with a long face while straightening her upper body.
Su Ziyue pressed her lips together as she struggled to hold back from laughing.
Qin Muchen’s hand that held the cigarette went stiff for a moment when he saw her suppressing her laugh. As his gaze darkened, he said in a low voice, “I’ll teach you a lesson when we get home.”
Su Ziyue was about to say something when she heard what he said, but An Xia and Bai Jingshu walked toward them right at that moment. “Ziyue,” called An Xia as she went up to Su Ziyue.
“Both of you should sit tight and don’t wander around.” Qin Muchen stood up and smoothened the creases on his clothes before taking a glass of wine that Bai Jingshu handed to him. Wanting to stroke Su Ziyue’s head, he turned to look at her only to notice that she had her hair styled that day. Afraid of ruining her hairstyle, he could only withdraw his hand.
Before he left, he glanced at her and said, “Be good.” Don’t mess around with other men, he then said to himself in secret.
Of course, he did not say his thoughts out loud; he then left with Bai Jingshu.
An Xia sat next to Su Ziyue and said, “This is my first time attending such a banquet, but it’s so boring. I can’t fathom rich people like you guys at all.”
“Stop it—I’m broke as well.” Su Ziyue shot a glance at An Xia. Now that Qin Muchen had left, she felt quite bored as well.
“So, Mr. Qin and you…” said An Xia as she bumped her shoulder against Su Ziyue’s while throwing a meaningful glance at the latter.
Then, she reached out to tug at Su Ziyue’s unrevealing evening dress and said, “Do you see anyone at this banquet dressed as modestly as you? Your neck, chest, and arms are all concealed. Tell me—did you do some indescribable bad thing with Mr. Qin?”
Su Ziyue stretched out her leg with a straight face and said, “Can’t you see that this dress reveals my legs?”
“Tsk, what is this over here?” An Xia pointed at a bruise on Su Ziyue’s leg.
Su Ziyue’s evening dress was indeed unrevealing; it concealed her body from the neck down except her thighs. The dress reached down to her knees initially, but whenever she sat down, the lower hem of her dress shrank inward, revealing a part of her thighs.
An Xia pointed at her skin next to the edge of her dress which had a very obvious bruise.
Su Ziyue blushed; she immediately pulled at her dress while pretending to look calm and said, “It’s nothing.”
An Xia teased her and replied, “I don’t have to experience it myself to know what it is; just look at yourself in the mirror.”
“Alright, stop it.”
“The way I see it, it’s a good thing. Mr. Qin treats you well, and you guys are protected by law since you both have registered for marriage. Even if you divorce him later, you’ll be paid a lot of alimony.”
An Xia was totally obsessed with the idea of alimony.
“Dream on.” Su Ziyue gave An Xia a dirty look upon recalling what Qin Muchen had said earlier.
An Xia still wanted to say something, but Su Ziyue patted her head with a laugh and said, “Continue to daydream while I take a trip to the restroom.”
An Xia curled her lips and said, “I’ll go with you.”
“I can go by myself,” said Su Ziyue as she left.
…
Su Ziyue left the restroom’s cubicle and was washing her hands when she heard Qin Muchen’s voice speaking outside. “Hello, Mr. Gong.”
“Hi.” The other voice belonged to Gong Shuzhe, who was Gong Zeyang’s father. “May I know who you are?”
“I’m Qin Muchen, the Vice-Chairman of Soaring Sky Technologies.”
Qin Muchen’s voice sounded modest and serious, which was a little different than usual; it was as if he was deliberately trying to befriend Gong Shuzhe.
Su Ziyue wanted to go out, but she stepped back and hid inside to eavesdrop on their conversation.
The two of them exchanged several words in a bureaucratic tone before their voices faded into the distance.
Knowing that they had left, Su Ziyue walked out and looked toward the direction they went off as a pondering look flashed across her face.
She wondered why Qin Muchen wanted to conceal his identity and befriend Gong Shuzhe. If he merely wanted to be acquainted with Gong Shuzhe, wouldn’t it be much easier if he revealed his identity?
