Only Lin Qingqian and Lin Jiayou, the brother and sister, remained in the living room. For a moment, it became very quiet, and neither of them spoke.
Lin Qingqian felt uncomfortable and did not know what to say. She had just risen to go upstairs when Lin Jiayou called out to her.
“There’s a banquet tomorrow night. Come with me.” Looking at her back, Lin Jiayou spoke in a tone that allowed no refusal. “Someone from the Xu family will be there too. You haven’t seen each other in a long time, have you? Why not go catch up?”
Lin Qingqian slowly turned around and looked at her brother sitting on the sofa. His eyes were murky, full of calculation.
“What time and where?” she asked.
Lin Jiayou smiled in satisfaction. Under the warm-colored lights, his handsome face appeared especially deep and striking. Each of his eyelashes was clearly defined in the illumination. Even from his worst angle, the light merely coated his entire face in a captivating golden glow, alluring yet completely without danger.
*
The banquet hall was crowded with guests.
Lin Qingqian wore a pale blue V-neck evening gown that outlined her graceful figure. Her long hair was casually pinned up, with a few loose strands falling down to accentuate her slender, fair, and beautiful neck.
She entered in high heels with her arm linked through Lin Jiayou’s, an elegant, faint smile on her face, just like her name.
Her clear eyes swept over the familiar and unfamiliar faces throughout the banquet hall.
The enormous crystal chandelier refracted the light into countless dazzling points that spilled across the smooth, mirrorlike marble floor.
The air was filled with the complex mingled scents of expensive perfume, cigars, and champagne. Fragrant garments brushed past one another, and glasses clinked, forming a flowing painting of worldly splendor.
“Qingqian!”
A warm, familiar voice rang out.
Lin Qingqian turned toward the sound and saw Xu Weizhou making his way through the crowd toward them.
Today, he wore a dark gray suit. His bearing was tall and straight, and he still had the appearance of an elegant young gentleman. Yet when his eyes fell on her, they held a little more genuine warmth and concern.
“Brother Weizhou.” Lin Qingqian smiled and nodded.
“I heard you’re not going back to Haicheng? What are you planning to do after returning to Jingbei? Start your own business, or join your brother’s company?” Xu Weizhou naturally took his place beside her, walking shoulder to shoulder with her as he regarded her gently. “You look well, though… you seem a little thinner than before.”
His final words were spoken softly, carrying the tender concern of an elder brother.
“I’m fine. Food at home is nourishing. I’ll make up the difference soon.” Lin Qingqian deftly avoided the more important issue, but the concern of this old friend still warmed her heart a little.
From the side, Lin Jiayou laughed. “The moment Weizhou arrives, I disappear from his eyes. Fine, I’m superfluous. You two chat. I’ll go see whether Shilin has arrived.”
He paused, then added, “Come with me to greet Uncle Wang later. We’ll leave at ten-thirty.”
After saying this, Lin Jiayou patted Lin Qingqian on the shoulder and gave her a knowing smile before turning around and melting into the crowd.
Only after watching Lin Jiayou leave did Xu Weizhou turn back to Lin Qingqian. His voice suddenly dropped very low.
“It’s good that you’re back. As for what happened in Haicheng… I’ve heard a little of it. If you need help, your Brother Weizhou still has some connections. Bringing down the Chen family would be a small matter.”
He added, “Don’t feel that you’d be troubling us. Although the Xu family’s influence in Jingbei can’t compare with the Lu family’s, the Xu family is more than capable of dealing with the Chen family of Haicheng.”
His words were blunt, carrying a tremendous weight that struck Lin Qingqian head-on.
The Xu family had deep roots in Jingbei. Although Xu Weizhou himself appeared warm and mild, he possessed no small amount of influence.
For him to say that he had “heard a little” meant that he very likely knew far more than a little. Yet he chose not to ask questions, merely making his support clear.
He was standing up for her.
“Thank you, Brother Weizhou,” Lin Qingqian said. “I can still deal with things for now, it’s just…” She raised her eyes and looked around the banquet hall, where light and color shimmered everywhere. A trace of weariness and self-mockery entered her voice. “It’ll take some time to readjust to this sort of occasion.”
Xu Weizhou saw how ill at ease she was. She had once been such a lively, adorable, mischievous little girl, but after going to Haicheng and dating someone, she had completely transformed.
“Qingqian, you can do it. Believe in yourself.” Xu Weizhou’s tone was firm. “Ever since you were little, you’ve always had more ideas of your own than you appeared to. But…”
He leaned toward her slightly, lowering his voice further, and said with a light laugh, “Be careful of Xie Wan. She’s been watching you from over there the whole time, and there’s something off about the way she’s looking at you.”
Lin Qingqian followed his gaze and glanced over. Sure enough, she saw her older maternal cousin, Xie Wan, gathered with several young men and women. From time to time, Xie Wan cast looks in her direction, the corners of her lips curved in a meaningful smile as she whispered something that elicited low chuckles from the others.
“Brother Weizhou, I heard she’s been getting hot and heavy with a young actor lately. They even made the hot searches after getting a hotel room. Doesn’t my uncle care about her?” Lin Qingqian’s brows drew tightly together as she glanced at Xie Wan among the crowd, her expression changing slightly.
Her fingertips tightened faintly. What was meant to come would always come.
Sure enough, the next second, Xie Wan came over carrying a wineglass, swaying gracefully, with two equally fashionably dressed female companions beside her.
“Oh! Little Sister Qingqian, it really is you! When did you come back to Jingbei?” Xie Wan’s voice was coy and affected, though her eyes held a suggestive hook. “I saw you from far away just now, but I didn’t dare recognize you. This dress… it’s quite distinctive. It suits your figure very well.”
As she spoke, her gaze swept over Lin Qingqian’s simple dress and the neck that bore almost no jewelry. Her sense of superiority was impossible to miss.
The girl beside her in a pink sequined dress covered her mouth and giggled. “Sister Wanwan, you don’t understand. Minimalism is in fashion now. The plainer it is, the more it shows one’s ‘confidence,’ right?”
The sarcasm in her words was obvious.
Another short-haired girl chimed in, “Exactly. Little Sister Qingqian has seen plenty of grand occasions in Haicheng, so her taste must be different from that of us ‘country bumpkins.’”
Xu Weizhou’s brows knitted slightly, and he was about to speak when Lin Qingqian gently raised a hand, signaling him to stay calm.
She slowly turned toward Xie Wan. The elegant, faint smile remained on her face, but her eyes were cold and utterly devoid of emotion.
“My cousin’s eye for things is as good as ever. My brother prepared the dress. He said it suited tonight’s occasion. As for Haicheng…”
She paused, her tone as natural as if she were discussing the weather.
“I did learn quite a lot there—especially how to tell a genuinely lively scene from false prosperity.”
The smile on Xie Wan’s face stiffened.
Lin Qingqian’s words were soft yet barbed. She had both invoked Lin Jiayou and insinuated that Xie Wan could see only the superficial splendor.
“Is that so?” Xie Wan tugged at the corners of her mouth, refusing to let the matter go.
“Then you must have seen plenty of genuinely lively scenes, Cousin. I heard things have been quite lively recently around Second Young Master Chen—one female confidante after another, and even an unborn child. Didn’t you join in on the fun back then, Little Sister?”
The remark was vicious, directly placing Lin Qingqian on the pillar of shame as someone who had been cheated on and humiliated.
Faint murmurs had already begun to rise around them, and quite a few gazes—some open, some covert—turned in their direction.
That was precisely the result Xie Wan wanted: to ruin Lin Qingqian’s reputation.
Xu Weizhou’s expression darkened. “Wanwan, that’s enough.”
Xie Wan seemed not to hear him. She merely stared at Lin Qingqian, waiting to see her lose control.
She wanted to see her embarrassed, make a mistake, and go mad.