Chapter 77: A “Harmonious” Gathering at the Banquet

The day of the banquet quickly arrived. Fang Chuning, dressed and ready, sat downstairs waiting for the men of the household.

The first to come down was Eric, wearing a cute custom white suit. He looked dejected, without his usual lively enthusiasm for social gatherings.

Fang Chuning asked curiously, “What’s wrong with you?”

His gloomy aura made even his golden hair less radiant. His emerald eyes looked at her pitifully, “Li said you’re going to get engaged to Tang.”

Fang Chuning sipped her yogurt and nodded, “He’s not wrong.”

In an instant, even the hair on top of his head drooped, “So we can’t be friends anymore?”

Fang Chuning couldn’t understand his meaning at first, “What does getting engaged have to do with being friends?”

“Li said that after getting engaged, women don’t have friends anymore.”

What nonsense.

“If we’re friends, we’ll always be friends. My engagement or marriage won’t affect our friendship,” Fang Chuning didn’t know why she was explaining this to him.

Satisfied with the answer, Eric’s eyes lit up. He happily ran upstairs, undoubtedly to “show off” to Fang Tianli.

Fang Chuning shook her head, feeling like they had inexplicably gained another child in the house.

…

At the downtown apartment, Xu’s father opened the door to find the interior dim, the floor-to-ceiling windows covered by curtains blocking out light. He frowned slightly, casually placing the items in his hand on the coffee table, and used the remote to open the curtains.

As the curtains slowly opened, light flooded in eagerly. Behind the towering bookshelves, a figure was curled up in the corner by the bed.

Xu’s father walked over, looking down at him, “Do you plan to keep wallowing like this?”

The person in the corner didn’t move at all.

“Darling, I’ve been very tolerant of you, letting you repeatedly challenge my bottom line, but your behavior has disappointed me,” Xu’s father stared at the top of his head for a while, “You shouldn’t be curled up in a corner like a weakling. Victory won’t favor you for being fragile. If you really like something, you should pursue it by any means necessary.”

The person curled up in the corner moved slightly, slowly raising his head. One gloomy eye stared at him from behind messy bangs.

Xu’s father took out a blue and gold invitation from his pocket, placed it on the bedside table, “It’s up to you.” He then turned and left the living room.

Xu Muzhou slowly stood up from the ground. His slender fingers lightly pressed on the invitation, a ripple stirring in his quiet eyes, his tender red lips slightly pursed.

…

Meanwhile, Fang Chuning had just arrived at the banquet venue, along with Fang Tianli, his son, and Eric. The two younger ones happily ran off hand in hand to play as soon as they got out of the car.

Their relationship was as close as twins.

“Jiajia should be here already, go find him. You two are the main characters today,” Father Fang said to her.

“Alright.”

By now, many people had already arrived at the banquet hall. Although they hadn’t met Fang Chuning in person, her face was familiar to them, as she had long occupied hot searches and headline news. Beyond curiosity, they were more interested in establishing good relations.

“Hello, Miss Fang. I’m the head of Tai’an Company.”

“Miss Fang, it’s an honor to meet you. I’m the executive director of Guangou Company.”

“Miss Fang…”

A group of well-dressed women suddenly surrounded her. Fang Chuning exchanged a few polite greetings, then unobtrusively made her way through the banquet hall to the garden outside. In the center of the garden, by the fountain pool, there were quite a few people gathered in small groups chatting.

Fang Chuning immediately noticed Tang Jiali talking to someone. She walked over, but before she could speak, Tang Jiali, happy to see her coming to find him, linked arms with her and said to the men in front of him, “This is my fiancée, Fang Chuning.”

His tone was quite boastful.

After appraising Fang Chuning, the men immediately gave him envious looks. Tang Jiali’s tail seemed about to curl up to the sky.

Fang Chuning very much wanted to roll her eyes, but refrained from such an impolite gesture due to the crowd. She smiled at the men and whispered in his ear, “Have you shown off enough? You need to stay with me the whole night. Let’s go inside for a drink.”

Now that she wanted him, Tang Jiali let go of her hand and said petulantly, “No, I want to chat with them a bit more.”

“Fine, come find me later then.”

Thinking she would beg him a bit more, Tang Jiali crossed his arms sulkily, “What if I don’t come find you?”

Fang Chuning acted as if she hadn’t heard him and turned to walk away. Tang Jiali’s sulkiness increased. The men who had been observing their interaction carefully said, “Maybe you should go over, Jiajia. We can chat later.”

“No way, why should I always listen to her?” She had never asked what he wanted, and didn’t give him any face in front of his friends. What kind of treatment was this?

Unless she came back to coax him gently once more, he wouldn’t listen to her no matter what she said today. He wanted to let her know that he, Tang Jiali, had a temper too.

Returning to the banquet hall, Fang Chuning was unaware of his thoughts. She found an inconspicuous corner to eat cake. The soft, delicate texture and the melting mango flavor in her mouth slightly eased her previously irritated mood.

Suddenly, an expensive pair of leather shoes appeared in her line of sight, and a man’s teasing voice sounded above her head, “The female lead of the Fang family’s night banquet sulking in a corner eating cake – this could be tomorrow’s hot topic.”

Fang Chuning looked up to see Li Yipeng holding two glasses of wine, his eyes smiling, seemingly flirtatious. Five years hadn’t left any trace on his face; if anything, he seemed even more charming.

She averted her gaze, stuffing the last bit of cake into her mouth, “Those people are really bored.”

She was referring to the netizens who constantly pay attention to others’ every move.

“Indeed.” Li Yipeng handed her a glass of wine and sat down beside her, “You’re about to completely leave single life behind. Any thoughts?”

“None.”

Noticing the man staring at her, Fang Chuning turned her head to look the other way, and her gaze met with Jiang Luoyu, who was walking towards her. He was dressed even more formally than the other day, with his jet-black bangs slightly covering one of his fine eyebrows, looking exceptionally handsome and refined.

“So this is where you are. I’ve been looking for you,” Jiang Luoyu said, somewhat happily.

“What for?”

Jiang Luoyu, having accidentally spoken his thoughts aloud, shyly pursed his lips, “I’m not very familiar with those people, and had no one to talk to, so I wanted to find you.”

Li Yipeng sized up the young man before him, while Jiang Luoyu was also appraising him. Both were somewhat displeased by the other’s presence but didn’t show it. Jiang Luoyu gave him a friendly smile, “We meet again, Secretary Li.”

The man nodded coolly, “Hello.”

Jiang Luoyu didn’t mind and turned his gaze back to the woman, “May I sit here?”

“Of course, sit wherever you like.”

Fang Chuning was sandwiched in the middle, but fortunately, the sofa was large enough not to feel crowded.

Suddenly, the overhead lights dimmed, and a spotlight shone on the stage. Everyone’s attention was drawn there, where a white grand piano stood. Seated at the piano was a woman in a blue gown. Her fingers danced nimbly over the black and white keys, and beautiful melodies filled the air, making people want to listen quietly.

“Do you know who she is?”

Fang Chuning was thinking about work when Jiang Luoyu suddenly leaned close and whispered in her ear.

She looked at the woman playing the piano, confirming she didn’t recognize her.

“That’s Zhu Xixi, the one who used to be in our class.”

Zhu Xixi?

Fang Chuning looked again at the somewhat thin woman, “She’s changed a lot.”

She looked like a completely different person, unrecognizable from her student days.

Jiang Luoyu agreed and started chatting with her about their school days. Li Yipeng, sitting to the side, couldn’t join in the conversation at all. He seemed to blend into the darkness, his gaze lingering on the woman’s profile.

After the piece ended, the lights came back on. Tang Jiali, seeing that the woman still hadn’t come to find him, felt increasingly anxious and decided to seek her out himself. When he saw Fang Chuning chatting animatedly with men on both sides, he was furious.

“Fang Chuning, what are you doing?!”

Fang Chuning gave him a “are you blind” look, “Eating, of course. What else?”

“You-” Tang Jiali’s face reddened slightly with anger. He looked at her left side, then her right, and finally squeezed himself between her and Jiang Luoyu. The previously spacious seating suddenly became cramped, forcing Fang Chuning to be pressed against Li Yipeng, clothes touching. “There’s no room here, go sit somewhere else.”

Tang Jiali gritted his teeth: “Dream on!” It wasn’t clear whether he was saying this to her or to Jiang Luoyu.

Jiang Luoyu pursed his lips, allowing him to squeeze in but refusing to move away.

Li Yipeng discreetly adjusted his posture, draping one arm over the back of the sofa, making it appear from a distance as if the woman was leaning into his embrace.

This scene drew the attention of nearby people. They wanted to look but dared not do so openly, pretending to chat with others while constantly glancing over.

It was fucking annoying.

Since becoming an adult, Fang Chuning had rarely felt such a strong urge to curse as she did now. Just as she was about to get up and find another place to sit, Li Yipeng grasped her wrist. His deep, affectionate eyes met hers, “Even if you move somewhere else, the result will be the same.”

No matter where she went, her followers would only increase, not decrease.

Fang Chuning hesitated, then peeled the clingy Tang Jiali off and pushed him away a bit, tolerantly sitting back down.

Suddenly, there was a commotion in the crowd. Almost everyone looked in one direction. From their position, they couldn’t see anything. Fang Chuning continued chatting with Jiang Luoyu across Tang Jiali, completely ignoring his fiery gaze.

“Wow, is that really the prince? Why is he here? This is the first time I’ve seen him in person. He’s so handsome!”

Two young men, looking only about seventeen or eighteen, excitedly discussed as they moved towards the gathering crowd.

The two young men happened to pass by where they were sitting. Hearing this, Fang Chuning’s expression faltered slightly for a moment, then returned to normal.

Li Yipeng caught her change in expression and his thin lips curled slightly, “Don’t you want to take a look? Your ex-boyfriend came specially to attend your engagement party.”

He didn’t lower his voice intentionally. The people around who were paying attention to their movements all turned to look, including Tang Jiali and Jiang Luoyu, whose gazes were particularly intense.

If looks could kill, Fang Chuning would have been stabbed into a sieve by now.