Hearing Duan Linrang say that, Sun Qingyang stood frozen in place. Could it really be true, just like the rumors said, that Duan Linrang simply couldn’t get it up for women?
Having completely lost interest in her, Qi Yunyuan remarked, “Ms. Sun, please have some self-respect.”
Watching Qi Yunyuan stride away gracefully, she stamped her foot in pure exasperation. Her expression turned ice-cold; not only had she failed to gain any favor in front of Duan Linrang, but she had also failed to secure the suitor her father had introduced to her.
Managers from other companies crowded around her once again to discuss potential business cooperation between their firms.
Yet Sun Qingyang was in no mood to deal with any of that. “Get lost…” she snapped angrily.
Just as the words left her mouth, a flash of her father’s teachings crossed her mind. Swallowing down all her anger, she forced a smile. “Apologies, everyone. If you have any collaboration ideas, please find my secretary. I have an urgent matter to attend to, so please excuse me.”
Qi Yunyuan rubbed the bridge of his nose as he walked shoulder to shoulder with Duan Linrang. “I never expected Ms. Sun to have such clear targets. It’s a good thing my dad wanted me to marry into her family thinking I could live off a wealthy wife; I didn’t even get a rice bowl set out in front of me.”
With an unhurried pace and his hands tucked into his pockets, Duan Linrang nodded and smiled in greeting to everyone who bowed to him.
Qi Yunyuan originally intended to follow him upstairs, but halfway there, he realized Duan Linrang was going to find his sweetheart, and what was the point of him tagging along…?
Sighing, Qi Yunyuan turned back toward the banquet hall.
Meanwhile, Wen Qi was sitting idly in the VIP room, handling the task assigned by his store manager—companion gaming.
It was his very first order since starting the job.
“Big Sis, let me get that blue buff for you,” Wen Qi operated the game smoothly.
“Your voice is so nice to listen to, Xiao Qi,” the client said, thoroughly enjoying herself. “Can Big Sis book you as a companion often from now on? I really like your kind of—oh right, Xiao Qi, let me ask you, how much money would it take for me to see a picture of you?”
Wen Qi licked his dry lips and sweetly called out, “Big Sis, our companion gaming services don’t cover that kind of thing, oh.”
“Aiya, Big Sis can pay extra, you know.”
“Um… sorry, Big Sis.”
“No need to say sorry! If it means not looking at you for our store manager’s sake, that’s fine!”
“…Big Sis, that would violate other people’s portrait rights, you see.”
“Aiya~”
With a beaming smile, Wen Qi said, “Alright, Big Sis, come over here quickly, this red buff is yours too.”
Outside the door, Duan Linrang stood listening with rapt attention, delaying opening the door for quite a while.
Leaning against the wall, Duan Linrang let out a long sigh before pushing the door open and stepping inside. At the sound, Wen Qi turned his head. “You finished your business so fast?”
With a low, gravelly voice, Duan Linrang asked, “What are you playing?”
“Companion gaming with a client, my very first order.” Wen Qi quickly shifted his focus back to the game.
Choosing to sit down right beside Wen Qi, Duan Linrang asked, “An order? You mean work? Our Qiqi picked up an order just like that.”
“Is there someone else next to Xiao Qi?” the client chimed in over the microphone.
Lowering his head, Wen Qi stammered, “Ah, um, yeah. Just a…”
For a moment, he was at a loss for words. How was he supposed to explain Duan Linrang’s identity to the client? A relative? A friend?
Whichever one he picked seemed bound to offend Duan Linrang!
With a burning gaze, Duan Linrang swept his eyes over Wen Qi’s lips.
“A friend of Xiao Qi’s? That doesn’t sound like your store manager’s voice,” the client said, sounding puzzled.
Vaguely, Wen Qi answered, “Mhm, basically, yeah.”
Unhappily, Duan Linrang murmured, “What happened to the promise Qiqi made me last time? How come you’re giving it all back to me?”
“Cough… I’m just not quite used to it,” Wen Qi attempted to argue his way out.
“If we’re just friends,” Duan Linrang paused slightly, “that’s fine.”
“…” Seeing a flicker of unusual emotion cross Duan Linrang’s handsome face, Wen Qi actually felt a twinge of grievance coming from him.
Compromising, he explained to the client, “He’s an older brother, not a friend.”
Duan Linrang felt much more at ease. Even though he understood that forcing Wen Qi to change how he referred to them was off-putting, didn’t “older brother” sound a lot nicer than “friend”?
He would rather Wen Qi genuinely treated him like an older brother.
“You guys… are you blood-related?”
Raising an eyebrow, Wen Qi replied, “What? Of course we aren’t blood-related.”
Drawing out the syllable meaningfully, the client said, “Oh, is that so~”
Just as the match ended in victory, Wen Qi hurriedly wrapped up the conversation with the client and logged out of the game.
Putting his phone down, he said, “I changed it, older brother.”
Tilting his head, Duan Linrang asked, “Do you hate it when I treat you like this?”
“Since we agreed, I should call you that in front of others. I’ll respond to whatever you ask and call you that… I don’t hate you doing it, it’s very…” Covering his mouth, his eyes darting away in evasion, he murmured, “Very cute.”
“Cu, cute,” Duan Linrang repeated. “Then do you like it?”
Wen Qi nodded. “I like it.”
“Qiqi,” Duan Linrang said, “just having you say those words is enough.”
Unable to follow his train of thought, Wen Qi asked, “Why?”
Duan Linrang only smiled, and since Wen Qi couldn’t get any answers out of him, he simply gave up. Staring straight at Duan Linrang, he decided that no matter the reason, he liked this man named Duan Linrang.
At that moment, a loud crash erupted, triggering screams from numerous people.
Duan Linrang glanced toward the balcony.
“What happened?” Wen Qi poked his head out to ask.
Downstairs was absolute chaos as a woman dressed in golden-red formal wear roared loudly at another woman, “Can’t you open your eyes and watch where you’re going?! If you’re blind, why bother coming to a banquet?!”
Locking onto the source of the noise immediately, Wen Qi narrowed his eyes—
And happened to catch sight of Wen Xi being heavily slapped across the face by that woman.
Pulling Wen Qi close, Duan Linrang said, “I’ll have Ding Tong sort this out immediately.”
“She’s my younger sister, how can I stand by and tolerate this?” Placing his cool hand over the back of Duan Linrang’s hand, Wen Qi slowly pushed downward until their intertwined fingers finally separated.
Duan Linrang conceded, “Alright, I’ve got your back.”
The origin of the incident was that Sun Qingyang was in a bad mood and had chosen to seek out a quiet corner for some peace and quiet, only to run right into Wen Xi, who was just standing up around the corner.
All of Sun Qingyang’s wine spilled.
Drenching her million-yuan designer dress.
She pinned the entire blame on Wen Xi.
“Would it kill you to apologize?” In a fit of rage, Sun Qingyang smashed her wine glass. The shattered glass scattered all over the floor, causing everyone else to keep their distance.
They knew the Sun family had power and naturally didn’t dare to step forward and provoke Sun Qingyang.
Those who dared were few and far between.
Lowering her posture, Wen Xi bowed at a ninety-degree angle and said, “I’m sorry.”
Snorting derisively, Sun Qingyang snapped, “Why didn’t you apologize right away instead of putting on an act now? Whose family do you even belong to, sneaking around without anyone willing to back you up? If you dare provoke me, Sun Qingyang, today, does that mean you plan to offend the entire city of Beijing tomorrow?!”
Seeing the other party refusing to let up, Wen Xi offered her sincere apologies once more.
Keeping her head bowed, she tried to scan the crowd to find her father’s figure so he could rescue her.
Wen Wenyan had long since dragged Wen Jiangwu off to the side to watch the show.
Grabbing a full glass of wine from a passing waiter, Wen Xi braced herself.
Sun Qingyang aimed the wine glass right at Wen Xi, preparing to dump it all over her.
Lunging forward abruptly, Wen Qi intercepted Sun Qingyang’s movement. Her grip was tight enough to hurt, and with a splash of wine, the glass crashed to the floor.
Splashes of wine dotted Wen Xi’s outfit.
“Who dares stop me?!” Frowning deeply, Sun Qingyang, still boiling with rage, yelled, “And who do you think you are—”
Stepping over the broken glass scattered across the floor, Wen Qi stood protectively in front of Wen Xi. Speaking in a gentle voice, he asked Wen Xi, “Are you alright?”
Moving close to Wen Qi with a startled expression, Wen Xi nearly buried her face in his chest as she whispered in panic and guilt, “I’m sorry… Older Brother, I… I didn’t mean to cause trouble for you.”
“This has nothing to do with you,” Wen Qi said.
“What kind of relationship do you have, daring to run your mouth in front of me!” Sun Qingyang scoffed mockingly.
Before she could react, an infuriatingly striking figure stepped directly into her line of sight. With his hands tucked in his pockets, Duan Linrang stood majestically to back up the siblings. A cold, fierce gloom shadowed the man’s eyes, brimming with heavy disgust, instantly dropping the temperature of the surrounding air by several degrees.
Not only that, but standing right beside Duan Linrang was another woman.
Crossing her arms over her chest, the woman wore a sharp, professional suit that projected intelligence and capability. Her long, straight hair was tied back in a clean, crisp bun, and her uptight, sharp gaze carried a natural-born edge as she looked indifferently at Sun Qingyang.
Instinctively, Sun Qingyang took two steps back.
Stepping forward step by step, the woman spoke, “When the precious pearl of the Sun family and future heir of the Sun Corporation goes out and relies on her background to bully a young girl, does Chairman Sun consider that appropriate?”
Stunned for a moment, Wen Xi covered her cheek and glanced sideways. That woman… was Sheng Li.
“President Sheng,” Sun Qingyang swallowed hard. Her legs turned to jelly, causing her to collapse onto the sofa as she stammered, “I she was the rude one who bumped into me first, I was just trying to teach her a lesson…”
Looking down from on high, Sheng Li cast a disdainful glance at Sun Qingyang. “I saw everything crystal clear from not far away.”
Now Sun Qingyang had no way to defend herself; she hadn’t expected anyone to notice such an inconspicuous corner.
She wanted to flee.
Seeing through her intentions, Sheng Li smiled faintly. “I suppose Chairman Sun has always been pampered to the point of arrogance, failing to distinguish between primary and secondary roles. Would you like me to personally teach you how to behave?”
“What right do you have…” to make me apologize?
“Using your scummy tactics to throw your weight around and bully people is fun, is it?” Sheng Li pressed forward relentlessly.
Remaining silent with a fierce expression, Duan Linrang emitted an overwhelming aura of authority.
Struggling back up by bracing herself against the sofa, Sun Qingyang gritted her teeth. Just as she was about to apologize to Wen Xi, her father’s voice drifted over from not far away, restoring a surge of confidence.
Hearing that trouble had broken out, Chairman Sun had rushed over to the banquet hall without stopping to catch his breath.
Yet witnessing this scene with Duan Linrang holding absolute power and Sheng Li representing the Sheng family heirs both staring uniformly down at him, Chairman Sun nearly stopped breathing.
Offending either side would spell disaster for the Sun family’s development.
Dragging his daughter over awkwardly, he urged, “How about you just apologize? I’ve heard what happened…”
“I didn’t do anything wrong, why should I apologize?! Dad, can’t you stand up for me?”
Stepping up to take the lead, Duan Linrang struck straight at the core of the issue: “Spouting wild words and showing no remorse it seems Chairman Sun really knows how to teach his daughter. I previously heard that the Sun family’s daughter turned the company’s fortunes around with strong leadership. But looking at it now, this surely wasn’t a persona specially crafted by Chairman Sun for his daughter, was it?”
“…President Duan, you jest. Qingyang indeed… indeed has that kind of capability.”
Sheng Li challenged dubiously, “Is that so? If I hadn’t seen with my own eyes how she bullied a young girl, I might have believed you, Chairman Sun. To phrase it another way: are President Duan and I both wrong?”
Facing such blatant threats, Chairman Sun secretly broke out in a cold sweat for Sun Qingyang.
Whispering a warning, he pleaded, “Yangyang, hurry up and apologize. Come on, what are we going to do if you offend them?!”
“Hh” Realizing that her father couldn’t protect her in this matter, Sun Qingyang lazily bent forward and said to Wen Xi, “I’m sorry. Happy now? Satisfied now?”
Wen Xi silently accepted her apology.
With this farce finally brought to an end, Wen Qi took Wen Xi and left the banquet hall.
Leaning against a wall on the other side, Qi Yunyuan, lost in his own thoughts, gracefully set down his wine glass.
Rolling up his sleeves to go deal with the mess the Sun family had caused, he turned the corner and collided squarely with a man.
Frowning, the exact micro-second his eyes focused and recognized the person before him, Qi Yunyuan felt his heartbeat momentarily stop. Staring in a daze at the alluring man who was currently rubbing his aching head, Qi Yunyuan blinked blankly for a few seconds. “Sorry.”
Wen Wenyan said softly, “It’s fine. You… are you okay? I didn’t notice anyone in this hallway.”
“No, no, my fault,” Qi Yunyuan blurted out hastily.
With a seductive smile, Wen Wenyan replied, “It’s alright.” With that, he brushed past Qi Yunyuan.
The fragrance of perfume filled Qi Yunyuan’s nasal passages. With a completely fogged mind, and acting entirely on impulse, he caught hold of Wen Wenyan’s hand:
“May I ask what your name is?”
“Wen Wenyan.”