A beautiful summer night

The banquet wasn't over yet, and Xia Wanzhi had no time to care whether others were happy or not. When she went to the restroom to share the good news with Zhu Zi, she secretly rejoiced while looking in the mirror.

"You saw it just now, didn't you? That guy from the Xia family is really shameless."

"If it weren't for Zhou Yu, she wouldn't have had the chance to attend tonight's banquet."

The sound of two women talking came from behind her. Xia Wanzhi looked up and saw the two of them in the mirror.

Perhaps because they had been chatting all the way, they were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even notice the woman they were talking about standing in front of the sink when they entered the restroom.

When they realized she was standing there, the two of them stopped talking, as if they were flustered and embarrassed for a moment. They looked at each other for a while, then regained their composure and pretended not to see Xia Wanzhi.

Xia Wanzhi shook her hands and asked unhurriedly, "I wonder if you two could tell me where I'm shameless?"

If someone insults you, you should at least know why.

The woman on the left felt uneasy under her gaze. Although she knew that Zhou Yu was no longer as glamorous as before, she still gritted her teeth and didn't utter a single word out of consideration for her status as Zhou Yu's fiancée.

Another woman, however, arrogantly retorted, "If you dare to do it, what can't we say! When the young master of the Zhou family took you to toast others, don't think I didn't see you exchanging glances and flirting with that person from the Xie family in private. What is this if not shameless?"

Xia Wanzhi raised her eyebrows.

"Me, flirting with that guy from the Xie family?" Xia Wanzhi laughed in exasperation. "Why would I flirt with someone else when I could be flirting with Xie Qiyan?"

"You..." The woman glared, wanting to retort, but was stopped by Xia Wanzhi's words.

"I advise you not to let these words reach Xie Qiyan's ears. When he's wronged, he's not as easy to talk to as I am." Xia Wanzhi smiled gently, but it was deadly. After drying her hands, she didn't say anything more and left, slightly lifting her skirt.

The two women stood frozen in place, not daring to move.

They took Xia Wanzhi's well-intentioned reminder to heart.

Even if Xia Wanzhi really has something going on with Xie Qiyan, if she says even half a word today, neither of them will have a good ending.

Even though Xia Wanzhi has fallen on hard times, she is still someone you can't afford to offend.

When they returned to the banquet, Zhou Yu, holding a wine glass, disappeared into the crowd. Xia Wanzhi saw that the men were having a great time, probably talking about business. She had never been interested in those kinds of things, so she didn't bother to go over.

Not all female companions have to be by their male companions' side all the time. For example, the ladies from the Lu and Qu families would chat and laugh together in the dessert area.

Xia Wanzhi glanced at it, then took a glass of wine and pretended to be lost in thought in a corner.

She knows what happiness looks like, and she always believes in love.

She agreed to the marriage with Zhou Yu because she believed that Zhou Yu was someone who would treat her well for the rest of her life.

Just like Old Xia and Ms. Ross.

But now I realize that not all men can withstand the test.

For twenty-five years, Zhou Yu has been the one who has always been by her side, protecting her and treating her well.

But overnight, the man who once said he couldn't live without her turned around and was able to do the most intimate things with another woman.

They got engaged without dating, but Zhou Yu respected and cherished her, even asking for her permission before holding hands or hugging.

She didn't know anything about dating, so Zhou Yu told her to take it slow.

She was slow to warm up and needed time to accept that she was his fiancée, so he restrained himself and never did anything inappropriate for her.

Xia Wanzhi always thought he was a gentleman.

But he is a completely different person in private.

It turns out that I can also misjudge people.

Xia Wanzhi gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Taking a deep breath, Xia Wanzhi put the wine glass back on the waiter's plate. As she looked up, she unfortunately found herself directly in Xie Qiyan's line of sight.

No wonder people say she flirts with Xie Qiyan.

That was all a misunderstanding caused by Xie Qiyan's eagerness to see her make a fool of herself.

Shrugged, Xia Wanzhi straightened her face, lifted her skirt, and turned to walk directly towards the banquet exit.

Xia Wanzhi left.

He abandoned Zhou Yu and left alone.

Xie Qiyan squinted, tilted his head back, and downed the champagne in one gulp. His brows relaxed, and he looked more pleased.

"What are you looking at?" Jiang Baichuan came over with a glass of wine and clinked it against Xie Qiyan's empty glass. "I'm just wondering, don't you never attend banquets like tonight?"

Xie Qiyan raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

Jiang Baichuan looked at him meaningfully: "What, is your target here?"

"Didn't you send me?" Xie Qiyan retorted with ease.

Jiang Baichuan scoffed, "You come just because I told you to?"

"Be confident, you deserve this respect." Xie Qiyan patted his shoulder, then put down his cup and left.

Jiang Baichuan sneered: "You're really good at making things up."

He was a year older than Xie Qiyan. Most of the children from aristocratic families knew each other since childhood. Although the Jiang family did not have much contact with the Xie family and were mostly competitors, he and Xie Qiyan happened to be deskmates in elementary school.

Although Xie Qiyan was later sent abroad, their connection remained unbroken.

Xie Qiyan took control of the Xie family upon his return to China. He did indeed put in a lot of effort and fostered a stable cooperative relationship between the Xie and Jiang families for the rest of their lives.

This was a good deal.

"Mr. Jiang, have you seen my fiancée?" Zhou Yu asked Jiang Baichuan after getting out of the room and searching around without finding Xia Wanzhi.

Jiang Baichuan raised his chin, his tone cold: "I'm leaving."

Zhou Yu paused, feeling slightly ashamed in front of Jiang Baichuan.

Firstly, Xia Wanzhi had left, and secondly, Jiang Baichuan's attitude towards him was clearly worse than Xia Wanzhi's.

A bankrupt heiress easily gained the favor of the heads of the Lu and Jiang families at this banquet.

On the contrary, he became Xia Wanzhi's foil.

His face was filled with dissatisfaction and resentment, but he quickly suppressed it.

Back at the banquet, Zhou Yu put on a smile and continued to raise his glass to cultivate good relationships with those of higher status in the aristocratic families.

Xia Wanzhi only realized that her impulsive departure was undignified when she returned to the Zhou family's door.

This is beneath Zhou Yu's dignity.

Xia Wanzhi sent Zhou Yu several messages, but he didn't reply. Not wanting to go in and face Zhou's mother's harsh criticism, she waited in the car for more than half an hour.

When she couldn't stop dozing off, Xia Wanzhi figured the banquet should be over, so she dialed Zhou Yu's number.

The ringing lasted only three seconds before being disconnected.

Xia Wanzhi looked at her phone screen, hesitated for a moment before calling back, and switched to WeChat to chat with Yun Li for a while.

After waiting for another ten minutes or so, Xia Wanzhi finally lost her patience and swiped down on the WeChat interface, found Zhou Yu's name, and clicked to call.

She probably developed muscle memory from video chatting with Xie Tan so much lately that she accidentally pressed the wrong button for a video call.

I hesitated and hung up to call again, but the video call had already been connected.

The rustling sound came through the phone's receiver, accompanied by rapid breathing and a soft, delicate woman's voice.

"Oh, Young Master Zhou—"

The last note seemed to have been smashed to pieces.

Xia Wanzhi had never heard such a sound before.

I've never seen such a limited-edition image before.

The image was shaky and unclear.

Seemingly seeing that Xia Wanzhi hadn't hung up, a strange woman's half-face appeared on the screen with a joyful expression.

This is a blatant provocation.

Xia Wanzhi's breathing became heavy, and she finally stiffly pressed the hang-up button.