Fang Jinchen was a man of decisive action; once an idea took root in his mind, he felt compelled to see it through. However, constrained by the formal requirements of the venue, he ultimately found himself unable to execute his thoughts immediately.
As the absolute star of the evening, Fang Jinshi’s grand entrance officially marked the commencement of the banquet. Following the pre-arranged itinerary, Father and Madam Fang delivered a few polished pleasantries before leading Jinshi to the stage for a brief address to the gathering. After a collective toast to celebrate his return, dinner was officially served.
Even though Fang Jinchen utterly detested that scumbag Li Jin, he couldn’t exactly send someone over to Gu Tuo at a time like this to say, “Your nephew brought his little lover here to nauseate everyone; if he stays to eat, nobody else will have an appetite, so throw him out.”
Ultimately, he could only bite the bullet and endure it just this once.
Yet, while the Fang family chose to show restraint, Li Jin possessed absolutely zero self-awareness. He continued to shamelessly flaunt his affection at the dining table, repeatedly picking up food and placing it in Lin Nuo’s bowl, his eyes dripping with intense devotion every time their gazes crossed.
The surrounding guests certainly hadn’t expected him to show off his romance so brazenly right in front of the ex-boyfriend he had cheated on—and at the young man’s official welcome-back banquet to Haicheng, no less. This behavior was incredibly ungentlemanly, causing everyone in the room to look down on him.
Yet, while some were profoundly displeased, others were highly amused by the spectacle. They watched not out of malice, but simply to enjoy the drama, deriving entertainment from other people’s emotional turmoil. After all, the Fang family was no minor player; with their dignity being trampled on so publicly by Li Jin today, how exactly would they choose to retaliate?
At this thought, the gossiping glances grew even more intense. Those heavily charged looks darted back and forth between the Fangs and Li Jin. As the central figure of the drama, Fang Jinshi was naturally acutely aware of it.
He had long anticipated that Li Jin’s ridiculous love life would become premium gossip material for Haicheng’s high society, which was exactly why he had demanded a clean break to wash his hands of the man completely. He hadn’t expected that even after the breakup, this person would still insist on bringing humiliation straight to his doorstep.
He had known Li Jin for many years and had once appreciated his harmless “pride.” He never could have anticipated how that former confidence would devolve into this reckless, arrogant egocentrism. With the passage of time, looking at this man now, he resembled nothing more than a crude, oblivious swine!
At this thought, Fang Jinshi gripped his chopsticks tighter, a sudden wave of revulsion churning in his chest. His disgust for this man had reached its absolute zenith.
The young man’s fingers were long and slender, the faint blue veins visible beneath his pale, translucent skin. As he tightened his grip, his fingers looked like delicately carved mutton-fat jade—exquisite yet fragile enough to break at a single touch.
Gu Tuo shared the same table with him. Given his supreme status in Haicheng, he naturally occupied a seat at the main VIP table. Though he wasn’t sitting right next to the youth, he could distinctly sense Fang Jinshi’s deep displeasure and the boiling rage of the rest of the Fang family. It was painfully obvious who that anger was directed toward.
Gu Tuo knit his brows. Placing his chopsticks down, he gave a subtle wave of his hand, summoning a nearby waiter.
Intimidated by the man’s overwhelming, powerful aura, the waiter dared not step too close, merely bowing respectfully to ask how he could be of service.
Gu Tuo wanted nothing extraordinary; he merely instructed the waiter to deliver a brief, direct message to Li Jin.
Hearing the instruction, a look of profound shock flashed across the waiter’s face. Yet, observing Gu Tuo’s calm and unyielding demeanor, his stance was unmistakable. One could only say that CEO Li had truly crossed the line this time!
When the waiter approached, Li Jin was still entirely lost in his sweet world with Lin Nuo.
Lin Nuo had a notoriously small appetite, refusing to eat any rice or meat and settling only for a tiny half-bowl of vegetables. Li Jin coaxed him with sweet words, then playfully scolded him with a stern face, acting entirely as if they were the only two people left on earth—a picture-perfect devoted couple.
If one ignored their sordid past, the scene before them might have looked rather sweet. But remembering the messy twists of this romance and the tragic role his family’s young master had been forced to play, the waiter could only silently add a footnote in his heart:
A perfect match indeed—a grade-A scumbag and an utterly pathetic lover, custom-made for each other.
Despite his internal vitriol, the waiter maintained a flawless professional smile as he stepped forward, leaning in to whisper in Li Jin’s ear, relaying Gu Tuo’s exact words.
Upon hearing the message, Li Jin stiffened violently, his gaze snapping instantly toward the main table.
His eyes landed first on Fang Jinshi, only to see the young man quietly enjoying his meal with a perfectly expressionless face. He then looked at his uncle, who was equally detached, his face an unreadable mask.
Gu Tuo was always like this, keeping his emotions perfectly under wraps. Yet Li Jin knew with absolute certainty that his uncle was furious. Gu Tuo possessed a rather old-fashioned, traditional mindset; he firmly believed that family scandals should never be aired in public, choosing instead to discipline him behind closed doors.
For him to lose his temper back at the Eastern Emperor Entertainment office was rare enough; this time, he had actually used the Fang family’s waiter to issue a stern warning, willing to embarrass him right in front of high society. It was clear his dissatisfaction had reached a boiling point.
Snapping out of his self-absorption, Li Jin immediately reined in his behavior, no longer daring to act out of line.
With this sudden shift, the shrewd socialites at the banquet saw right through him. It turned out that this grand CEO holding the reins of Eastern Emperor Entertainment was still nothing more than a submissive, obedient nephew when faced with his uncle, terrified of making a single wrong move. Seeing his usual arrogant, larger-than-life display, people had assumed he was capable of standing on his own two feet; as it turned out, all his glory was merely borrowed from his uncle, Gu Tuo!
At this realization, a collective wave of quiet disdain rippled through the room.
Catching those subtle glances of contempt out of the corner of his eye, Li Jin gritted his teeth, forcing himself to maintain an aura of calm composure, as if his sudden restraint wasn’t out of fear of his uncle, but rather a quiet, protective indulgence of his lover. He played his role of the deeply devoted partner to the bitter end.
Yet, Lin Nuo, the beneficiary of this “indulgence,” felt a hollow ache settle into his chest.
For some reason, whenever Li Jin was intensely passionate toward him, it filled him with a deep sense of dread; yet if Li Jin grew even slightly distant, a profound sense of loss consumed him. He felt like a wretched thief who had stolen someone else’s bread, living in perpetual, suffocating anxiety. Perhaps this was his divine retribution from the heavens!
After all, he was the one who had chosen to fall hopelessly, irreversibly in love with a man he should never have touched.
With Li Jin finally quieting down, Fang Jinshi found the rest of his meal significantly more peaceful. However, his appetite remained poor, and he ate very little.
Gu Tuo watched him out of the corner of his eye, noting that the young man only picked at a few light, bland dishes. He took a mere bite or two of each as if he had no real preference, quickly setting his chopsticks down with half a bowl of translucent white rice still left untouched.
This was a stark departure from the memories he held.
In his recollection, Fang Jinshi had been someone who couldn’t live without spicy food. He preferred rich, heavy flavors and possessed a substantial appetite. He vividly recalled a time when Li Jin had invited the boy over to their house back when uncle and nephew still lived together. The teenage Fang Jinshi had singled out every spicy dish on the table, eating until his lips were flushed cherry-red. Yet, terrified that his massive appetite would make him look unrefined, he had reluctantly set his chopsticks down despite clearly still being hungry, his eyes tracking the remaining feast like a kitten yearning for fish treats. The image had left a lasting impression on Gu Tuo.
It seemed that life-threatening illness had indeed stolen his robust health, forcing him to endure immense suffering. The thought flickered through Gu Tuo’s mind before he seamlessly pushed it away.
With dinner drawing to a close, the remaining hours of the evening were once again handed back to the guests. Raising their wine glasses, the attendees began mingling anew, launching into animated conversations with newly made acquaintances from across the dining tables.
While a pleasant atmosphere filled the grand ballroom, Fang Jinshi felt a suffocating tightness squeeze his chest, the sweeping orchestral melodies morphing into a chaotic, irritating din. Since his role as the guest of honor had effectively concluded for the evening, he quietly slipped away from the ballroom, deciding to head into the courtyard for a breath of fresh air.
Fang Jinchen originally intended to follow him, but his eyes caught a familiar silhouette in the crowd—his cousin, Liu Linong. Given Gu Tuo’s recent intervention, it was no longer appropriate to make a scene about Li Jin, but while he couldn’t meddle in other families’ affairs, he was absolutely determined to demand answers when someone meddled in his own family’s business! With that thought, he strode purposefully toward her.
On the other side of the room, Li Jin, who had just finished exchanging pleasantries with some guests, lifted his eyes while swirling his wine glass. Catching sight of the young man in the white suit heading toward the garden, his heart stirred, and he instinctively began to follow.
But before he could take a single step, a pair of ice-cold hands clamped onto his right arm.
It was Lin Nuo.
Turning around, Li Jin met his lover’s gaze—a look that appeared timid on the surface but held an unyielding defiance underneath. “Hubby, I want to go too.”
“Nuonuo.” Li Jin let out a soft sigh. But after uttering those two syllables, the words of gentle refusal died in his throat.
What could he possibly say to him? Lin Nuo’s absolute desperation to keep tabs on him was born out of love and triggered by his own failure to cherish him in the past. He had made this bed, and now he had to lie in it. The person he chose to love was the person he had to pamper.
“Alright, let’s head over together,” Li Jin finally relented.