“It’s nothing.”
Lin Ting hurriedly withdrew her gaze and forced a reassuring smile at him.
“I was thinking of going to the restroom, but the auction starts in five minutes, so I figured I’d just forget it.”
Ji Yunzhen rubbed the top of her head. “Alright. If you really need to go, remember to tell me.”
Lin Ting hummed in response, lifted her champagne glass, and took a small sip, trying to hide the unrest in her heart.
Their seats were arranged toward the middle-back.
Lu Hesheng sat in the very front row. From the moment he entered, he had practically drawn all the attention in the room.
Lin Ting’s gaze was mixed in with the crowd.
People kept approaching him with wine glasses, striking up conversations with enthusiasm. Lu Hesheng would occasionally nod and reply with a word or two.
Whether at private, indulgent gatherings among rich young men or at formal banquets like this, he always seemed the same—careless and indifferent, yet effortlessly the center of attention.
When the stage performance ended, the host came up and announced the start of the charity auction.
Lu Hesheng bid generously, snapping up dozens of items in a row without even blinking.
Someone beside him flattered, “President Lu is truly young and accomplished, and so passionate about charity.”
Nearby, Shen Xiao eyed him with suspicion.
This guy was buying diamonds, necklaces, art pieces—everything under the sun—yet after returning home for days, there wasn’t even a hint of a close female figure around him.
Something felt off no matter how he looked at it.
Lu Hesheng lifted his eyelids slightly. “What, you fallen in love with me? You keep staring.”
Shen Xiao replied shamelessly, “Brother, that Patek Philippe Nautilus looks pretty good too. Think you could casually buy one for me?”
The photo flashed up on the big screen—gleaming gold, priced well into seven figures.
Lu Hesheng glanced at Shen Xiao’s slightly protruding belly and mused, “If you were my mom reborn as me, I’d buy it for you.”
He spent money at events like this purely to maintain the Lu family’s image. After all, it was Lu Huaishan’s account—he didn’t feel a shred of heartache spending it.
Shen Xiao exploded. “Get lost! I can afford it myself.”
Unlike Lu Hesheng, who was destined to inherit the family business, Shen Xiao was the so-called black sheep of the Shen family—though a deeply favored one.
As long as he didn’t court death by fighting his siblings for power, the dividends alone would be enough for him to squander for several lifetimes.
After dinner, the charity gala drew to a close.
A wave of post-work relief rose in Lin Ting’s body.
Seeing Ji Yunzhen deeply engaged in conversation with another business partner, Lin Ting signaled him with a look and quietly slipped out through a side door of the banquet hall.
She wandered into the hotel’s back garden to pass the time.
The environment was beautiful, filled with lush greenery and blooming flowers, the air heavy with floral fragrance.
Suddenly, a man’s low, lazy voice sounded behind her:
“Miss, you’re occupying my spot.”
Lin Ting jumped in fright and spun around, eyes wide like a startled deer.
Lu Hesheng stood there languidly, dressed head to toe in black. He almost blended into the night—hard to notice without looking closely.
Between his fingers was a cigarette not yet fully burned out. Several extinguished cigarette butts lay piled beside the nearby trash can.
Lin Ting caught that detail immediately and frowned slightly. She remembered—he didn’t smoke in high school.
Realizing the situation, she tactfully prepared to leave. “Sorry, I didn’t realize someone was here.”
She turned to go.
“Wait.”
Lu Hesheng strode over and caught her wrist.
Lin Ting looked up at him, confused.
The line of his jaw was beautiful. His dark eyes were unreadable, always giving the illusion of closeness while remaining impossibly distant.
Out of nowhere, he asked, “Is this hotel mine?”
Lin Ting shook her head. “No.” She remembered reading in a financial article that the hotel’s president was a kindly-looking foreign gentleman.
Lu Hesheng raised an eyebrow. “Since it’s not mine, and this is a public area of the hotel, why can’t you stay here?”
Lin Ting replied, “I thought you had private business here.”
Lu Hesheng stubbed out the cigarette and tossed it into the trash.
He leaned down toward her, warm breath mixed with faint tobacco brushing her ear.
“What private business could I possibly have here?”
“Hugging women? Kissing them? Or… having sex?”
Lin Ting stared at him in disbelief. She couldn’t reconcile such crude words with the Lu Hesheng she knew.
She didn’t understand where his sudden anger was coming from.
Yet he didn’t let her off, pressing step by step. Lin Ting nearly bit through her own lip.
“Scared?” he asked. “Because you’ve never done it?”
He paused, then added, “Or are you looking for a man to try it out with here?”
Lin Ting instinctively stepped back, shaking her head. Her eyes reddened uncontrollably.
Lu Hesheng’s heart softened abruptly. He loosened his grip on her wrist, his tone returning to its usual calm.
“Lin Ting, with me, you don’t have to be so well-behaved.”
“I don’t like girls who are too obedient.”
The words fell like a pebble into water, rippling a bitter ache through her heart.
Lu Hesheng had always thought she was too good, too considerate.
When they first met—when she was still in middle school in Nancheng—he liked her, wanted her, wanted to mark her inside and out with his presence. Yet he never dared to forcibly intrude on a life that was already smooth and bright.
When they met again, it was after her biological mother passed away. By coincidence, she came to his city. All he felt then was uncontrollable heartache—what kind of life must she have lived to develop such a personality?
Lin Ting turned away, nose stinging. The sound of her sniffing echoed clearly in the empty garden.
Lu Hesheng’s chest tightened, the nameless jealousy burning in him finally extinguished.
“Why are you crying?” He began seriously reflecting on which step he’d messed up.
He shouldn’t have asked.
What had been silent tears instantly turned into suppressed sobbing.
Lu Hesheng grasped her shoulders and turned her to face him.
He bent down to her eye level and used his thumb to wipe away the endless tears streaming down her face.
“I’m sorry.”
“Can I properly apologize to you?”
His tone was solemn in a way she had never heard before.
Lin Ting’s heart trembled violently. It was she who had crossed the line—yet she had fallen apart simply because he said he didn’t like that.
Lu Hesheng explained, watching her closely, “What I meant was, in front of me, you can be more relaxed. More natural. You don’t need to worry so much about my feelings.”
“Lin Ting!” Ji Yunzhen’s anxious voice sounded from not far away.
Lu Hesheng immediately let go, resuming his usual distant demeanor.
Ji Yunzhen ran over and pulled Lin Ting to his side. Seeing her reddened eyes, he asked instinctively, “Why are you crying?”
His gaze flicked between Lu Hesheng and Lin Ting.
Though he didn’t know what had happened, Ji Yunzhen neither wanted to nor dared to offend the fast-rising Lu family heir.
He quickly suppressed his emotions. “President Lu, I’m very sorry.”
“If my fiancée is young and ignorant and unintentionally offended or disturbed you, I sincerely apologize on her behalf.”
With that, Ji Yunzhen took Lin Ting’s hand, preparing to leave.
“Lin Ting, I’ll take you back to school.”
Lu Hesheng’s eyes fell on their tightly clasped hands.
As Lin Ting brushed past him, he offered a pointed reminder:
“Junior… don’t forget to return my suit jacket.”