Fu Tingchuan’s words were cut off, and he glanced at Gu Qingyu in surprise.
But Gu Qingyu didn’t look at him at all and simply left.
Fu Tingchuan found it strange. Gu Qingyu had always been someone with a strong sense of propriety, someone who handled social niceties impeccably. Interrupting someone mid-conversation and leaving like this was something he had never done before.
Then, thinking back to what he had seen at the restaurant during the day, he suddenly felt that Gu Qingyu had done quite a few things lacking restraint already.
It was just that he hadn’t noticed before.
At that thought, Fu Tingchuan couldn’t help but glance at Xu Yanxi a few more times.
His gaze fell on her bare earlobes and her fair chin, and in an instant, the scene he had witnessed at the restaurant overlapped with her face.
The person Gu Qingyu liked was Xu Yanxi. It felt both unexpected and yet completely reasonable.
After all, their temperaments were similar, and they looked well matched together.
Noticing his gaze, Xu Yanxi smiled and asked, “President Fu, what are you looking at?”
This was not something he could say outright, so Fu Tingchuan looked away. “Nothing.”
Taking the opportunity, Wen Ying quickly pulled her hand out of his and stood up, moving back to sit beside Xu Yanxi.
“You…” Fu Tingchuan reached out, wanting to stop her, but it was already too late.
Wen Ying had already taken a seat opposite him, leaning lazily against the back of the sofa, not sparing him a single glance.
Fu Tingchuan’s gaze fell on her elegant jawline. He paused for a moment, then glanced at Xu Yanxi again. Comparing the two, both seemed to overlap with the image in his mind.
His grip on the wine glass tightened unconsciously, but when his eyes landed on Wen Ying’s purple earrings and her adorned earlobes, he let out a quiet breath of relief.
He silently cursed himself again for overthinking. It was obviously impossible, yet his mind kept drifting in that direction.
Fortunately, Wen Ying and Gu Qingyu didn’t know what he was thinking. Otherwise…
Xu Yanxi looked at Wen Ying, who had suddenly sat beside her, raised an eyebrow slightly, and chuckled. “Did you two have a fight?”
Her voice was soft, audible only to Wen Ying.
Wen Ying replied irritably, “What does that have to do with you?”
Xu Yanxi didn’t mind her attitude. Taking a sip of wine, she smiled faintly. “I’ve heard about President Fu and that little secretary of his, and I also heard a bit about what happened at the banquet that day.”
Wen Ying turned to look at her. “Xu Yanxi, are you deliberately trying to laugh at me?”
Xu Yanxi shook her head with a light laugh. “I’ve been watching your jokes for years. I’m already tired of them. What’s there to laugh at?”
“Xu Yanxi, you—”
Wen Ying stood up in anger. She knew it. The person she disliked the most was indeed Xu Yanxi!
“Don’t be angry.” Xu Yanxi smiled soothingly, grabbing her wrist and pulling her back down into her seat.
She lifted her eyes and glanced at Fu Tingchuan, who kept looking over as if searching for an opportunity to talk to Wen Ying, then smiled. “He treats you like this, and you still like him?”
Wen Ying didn’t want to respond, and Xu Yanxi didn’t seem to care. She continued, “Have you ever thought about changing to someone else?”
Thinking of how Gu Qingyu had suddenly stood up and left earlier, Xu Yanxi raised her glass, a hint of amusement in her smile. “I think Gu Qingyu is quite good, much better than Fu Tingchuan.”
Wen Ying’s heart skipped a beat. She turned to look at her, wanting to ask if she knew something.
But after saying that, Xu Yanxi simply took a sip of wine and said nothing more.
There were many people around, so Wen Ying couldn’t press further. She could only swallow her questions, though her expression didn’t look good at all.
For a moment, silence settled over them, broken only by the singer’s gentle voice drifting through the air.
Seizing the chance, Fu Tingchuan looked at Wen Ying. “Want to go home? I’ll take you.”
Wen Ying lifted her eyelids slightly. “No.”
Fu Tingchuan was about to say something more when a waiter approached. “Miss Wen, someone is looking for you.”
“Who?” Wen Ying set down her glass and stood up.
The waiter smiled politely. “Someone you know. They said they have something to discuss with you.”
Someone she knew?
Wen Ying couldn’t think of who it might be, and she didn’t bother dwelling on it.
Fu Tingchuan was about to stand and go with her, but Wen Ying had already followed the waiter out without even glancing at him.
Feeling somewhat awkward, Fu Tingchuan sat back down.
Xu Yanxi cast him a glance, then stood up. “It’s about time. I’ll head out first.”
Fu Tingchuan looked up at her. “You’re not waiting for Gu Qingyu?”
Xu Yanxi was momentarily puzzled, then realized that when Fu Tingchuan arrived, he had seen her sitting with Gu Qingyu and likely assumed they had come together.
Thinking of how Gu Qingyu hadn’t returned for quite a while after leaving, she smiled and shook her head. “No, he probably already left.”
Fu Tingchuan found it strange. Why would Gu Qingyu leave without saying anything?
Watching Xu Yanxi’s departing figure, he guessed that perhaps the two of them wanted some time alone, so they had left together.
He called for a waiter and ordered another drink, sitting there in silence.
Li Jiayue and the others didn’t dare approach him, so they simply entertained themselves.
Meanwhile, Wen Ying followed the waiter for a short distance before he stopped and pointed ahead. “It’s just over there. You can go by yourself. I’ll take my leave.”
Wen Ying was still wondering who could be looking for her, but she didn’t think much of it and walked straight ahead.
After taking a couple of steps, a hand suddenly shot out from the door of a private room beside her and pulled her inside.
Wen Ying let out a soft cry. In the dizzying moment that followed, she was pinned against the door, her hands restrained behind her. Darkness fell over her vision, and a warm, wet kiss landed on her lips, swallowing the scream that had almost escaped her throat.
Her heart jolted in alarm, her breath stolen. She made muffled sounds, trying to push him away, but her hands were firmly restrained.
Yet the familiarity of the movement, and the unmistakable feeling of his lips, made her quickly relax.
Warm breath mingled in the air. The private room was dark and silent, filled only with the sound of their uneven breathing.
The kiss gradually softened. The man brushed his lips lightly against hers twice before finally letting her go.
His low voice sounded by her ear. “Why didn’t you struggle? What if it had been a bad person?”
Though she couldn’t see his face in the darkness, Wen Ying wasn’t surprised by the voice at all.
“I already knew it was you.” She reached out and turned on the light. The room was half-lit, still dim, carrying a faintly intoxicating atmosphere.
Under the subdued lighting, the man’s sharply defined profile appeared and disappeared in shifting shadows. His eyes were lowered, his breathing slightly uneven, no longer as composed as before, replaced instead by a trace of enticing desire.
Wen Ying bit down on the side of his neck, grinding her teeth lightly, annoyed. “Why did you trick me into coming here? You scared me to death.”
She didn’t hold back, but Gu Qingyu didn’t even frown. Lowering his gaze, he looked at her. “If I didn’t trick you over, would you have left with me in front of everyone?”
Wen Ying loosened her bite and looked up at him, momentarily at a loss for words.
Of course not. It was one thing to play around in private, but making it public would be unsightly.
Suddenly, her waist tightened as Gu Qingyu pulled her firmly into his arms.
Forced against his chest, she was enveloped in his cool, faint fragrance. His deep voice sounded by her ear. “Wen Ying, do you remember what you promised me?”
“What?” Wen Ying’s eyelid twitched.
She suddenly recalled how she had once promised to call off the engagement, and how he had asked her the same question the next day before leaving in anger.
“You’re not going to—”
“You promised me during the day that tonight you’d come home with me.”
So it was that. Wen Ying let out a breath of relief. As long as it wasn’t about breaking off the engagement, it was fine.
“But…” she hesitated, “Fu Tingchuan—”
She wanted to say that Fu Tingchuan was here, and she couldn’t exactly leave with him directly.
But before she could finish, the man lowered his head and kissed her again, sealing her remaining words back into her throat.
He murmured with a smile, “Mentioning another man while you’re in my arms doesn’t seem very appropriate, does it?”
Wen Ying looked up at him and stated matter-of-factly, “He’s my fiancé.”
It was an undeniable fact. Gu Qingyu’s gaze darkened, but he couldn’t refute it, and instead deepened the kiss with more intensity.
Wen Ying’s lips soon felt numb from the kiss. She frowned slightly and pushed at him, but he didn’t budge. Annoyed, she bit down on him again.
A faint taste of blood spread between their lips.
As if he felt no pain, Gu Qingyu showed no intention of stopping. His breathing grew increasingly unsteady as his heated kisses trailed downward to her neck.
The temperature in the private room rose steadily. Suddenly, there was a faint noise outside the door.
It sounded like Fu Tingchuan. Unable to sit still after Wen Ying hadn’t returned for so long, he had come looking for her.
A knock sounded on the door. “Wen Ying? Are you in there?”