Fang Jinchen had absolutely no idea how his younger brother had arrived at such a profound misunderstanding of Gu Tuo. He was just about to delve into a detailed breakdown of the tycoon’s true reputation when a robust, clear male voice rang out from nearby: “Jinshi, I’m late.”
It was Ren Minghui.
Ren Minghui was Fang Jinshi’s absolute closest friend. The two had graduated from the exact same academy, initially planning to conquer a bright future side by side. No one could have predicted that a sudden illness would drag Fang Jinshi down, forcing him to spend two years in a California sanatorium.
Ren Minghui, on the other hand, had successfully achieved his dreams, rising to become a recognized star in the entertainment industry. After two years of grueling hustle, he had managed to carve out a decent name for himself. Tonight, he had been held back by a sudden, last-minute addition to his filming schedule, which was why he had arrived late.
Yet, his late arrival was a blessing in disguise. Given Ren Minghui’s notoriously fiery temper, if he had spotted Li Jin anywhere near the ballroom tonight, the two would have absolutely ripped into each other.
Noticing that despite his glamorous, idol-like attire, his friend’s eyes carried a heavy glaze of exhaustion, Fang Jinshi quickly stepped forward to greet him. “Since you were caught up with work, you really shouldn’t have forced yourself to come all the way out here.”
Ren Minghui shook his head, his stance fiercely stubborn. “You’re my brother. How on earth could I skip out on your official welcome-back banquet?”
Despite wearing a perfectly styled, modern outfit, the man inexplicably carried a bit of a rough, rogue-like energy the moment he spoke. Fang Jinshi found it deeply amusing, a soft layer of laughter coloring his eyes.
Left thoroughly bewildered, Ren Minghui grunted, “What are you laughing at?”
“Nothing,” Fang Jinshi replied, his smile widening. “I’m just genuinely happy.”
Ren Minghui’s mind spun for a second before a realization dawned upon him. “Look at you putting up a brave front. You’re just thrilled to see me, aren’t you? Well, as long as you’re happy, I’m happy too.”
After trading a few more sentences, Fang Jinshi personally poured him a glass of wine and gathered a small plate of pastries.
Even though the ballroom dance floor was currently dominated by the rest of the guests, the star of the entire banquet was currently hiding behind a massive marble pillar with a late-arriving guest, secretly scarfing down desserts.
Ren Minghui had been filming out in the rural suburbs and hadn’t managed to catch a single meal in his rush to get here. Driven by raw hunger, he devoured several pastries in quick succession before sighing, “If my manager ever finds out I’m eating this much junk this late at night, I’m going to get chewed out so badly.”
Fang Jinshi had always heard that artists in the entertainment industry were subjected to brutal, merciless physical management. Reflecting on it, he knew Ren Minghui didn’t actually need to subject himself to such hardships, given his background. Yet the fact that his friend endured it all proved he harbored a genuine passion for his craft.
Silencing himself for a brief moment, Fang Jinshi offered a quiet word of concern for his health. “You still need to eat actual meals. Don’t ruin your stomach. Keep some sweets in your car; you can snack on them when your blood sugar drops.”
Surprised by the sudden maternal tone, Ren Minghui blanked before bursting into a grin. “Don’t you worry about a thing. Your big brother knows exactly how to look after himself. That way, I can look after you even better!”
The moment the words left his mouth, Fang Jinchen—Jinshi’s actual eldest brother—shot a literal death glare from across the room.
Tsk. Got a bit too carried away.
Despite claiming to be starving, Ren Minghui maintained a firm hold on his dietary discipline, refusing to overeat. Once he was sufficiently fed, the exhaustion in his eyes grew heavier. Seeing this, Fang Jinshi insisted he stay the night at the estate.
Their relationship was so close that Ren Minghui had frequently crashed at the Fang estate during their school days. The family kept a dedicated guest room prepared entirely for him, complete with his own personal set of toiletries.
Ren Minghui was indeed on the verge of collapsing from sleep deprivation. He let out a massive yawn but forced his eyelids open anyway. “It’s fine. Let me keep you company a bit longer.”
“Alright,” Fang Jinshi replied, making no attempt to dissuade him. “Come with me to find someone. It might just serve as the perfect wake-up call for you.”
Intrigued, Ren Minghui didn’t press for details, noting the neutral look on his friend’s face. He submissively trailed behind him.
The two waded through the thick crowd of socialites, slipping out of the central hall and arriving before the sweeping bay windows of the balcony.
The soft, fluid moonlight spilled across the floor, running as gentle as water, dulling the fierce brightness of a vibrant red dress into a muted, dark hue.
Liu Linong had beat them to the edge of the balcony. Leaning her supple waist casually against a stone pillar, she mindlessly inspected her manicured nails for non-existent dirt. “Well? Speak up,” she drawled, her voice lazy. “What do you want with me?”
Despite her incredibly high-and-mighty posture, Fang Jinshi didn’t display a shred of annoyance, offering only a mild smile. “It’s nothing major, really—”
Liu Linong rolled her eyes at him, her demeanor extraordinarily arrogant. “If it’s nothing major, why on earth would you look for me? Out with it. If you have nothing of substance to say, clear the path and get out of my way!”
She had just been brutally shut down by Gu Tuo, leaving her in a wretched mood and making her temper far more volatile than usual.
Yet, Fang Jinshi turned out to be far more volatile than her. “Why should I get out of your way? I called you out here specifically to tear you a new one. I hasn’t even started roasting you yet, so why would I let you leave?”
Liu Linong froze in sheer disbelief, completely losing her speech for half a beat. Even Ren Minghui was slightly caught off guard. He had always known Fang Jinshi possessed a sharp temper, but he had never witnessed him delivering such savage threats with a perfectly calm smile. He couldn’t begin to fathom how this cheap cousin of theirs had managed to provoke him this time.
Ren Minghui might have been in the dark, but Liu Linong knew exactly what she had done. She had already received a harsh scolding from Fang Jinchen earlier. Though she had fiercely denied any wrongdoing, she knew the brothers had already seen right through her.
Her eyes flickered, but she refused to back down in terms of raw dominance. “Fang Jinshi, where on earth are your manners and upbringing? Is this how you speak to your own elder sister?”
Oh, so now she considers herself a ‘sister.’ When she willingly ushered that scumbag ex and his pathetic lover through the front doors, had she spared a single thought for how her “younger brother” would feel?
Fang Jinshi had long unmasked her true nature, so he didn’t feel a shred of emotional hurt over her actions. Instead, he focused entirely on dismantling her: “A cheap, knock-off sister like you? I wouldn’t take you even if you were sold by the pound!”
Hearing Fang Jinshi suggest she be sold off by the pound, Liu Linong’s nose practically twisted from pure, unadulterated rage.
Before she could even scramble to fire back a retort, Fang Jinshi unleashed a relentless, rapid-fire torrent of words. On the surface, he always appeared perfectly pleasant and mild-mannered, but he was a master class in verbal warfare.
When he chose to strike, he absolutely refused to grant his opponent a single window to speak: “You like to hide behind the title of a sister, yet you have never shared a life with me, nor have you ever spared an ounce of consideration for my well-being. This welcome banquet was organized entirely by my parents and executed with the help of my brother. You are not a host here; at best, you are a guest who managed to get in without needing an invitation. Extending invitations to guests on behalf of my household? Who on earth gave you the right?”
Ren Minghui was thoroughly bewildered. Just who had Liu Linong invited to trigger such an absolute explosion from Fang Jinshi? The thought consumed him until he blurted out, “Who did she bring?”
Fang Jinshi didn’t break his rhythm, pausing only to drop two syllables into the air: “Li Jin.”
The moment the name hit Ren Minghui’s ears, his own temper ignited instantly. He launched into a tirade right alongside his friend, his curses running even more savage and ruthless than Fang Jinshi’s.
Pampered and worshiped since childhood, Liu Linong had never experienced this brand of collective verbal execution. Stunned into a stupor on the spot, her eyes gradually rimmed with red before she shrieked in absolute fury, “So what if I invited Li Jin? Just based on the fact that I call your mother ‘Auntie,’ are you telling me I don’t even have the right to bring a plus-one through the doors? The two of you are ganging up on me—this is flat-out bullying!”
Hearing her screech, Fang Jinshi’s tone surprisingly smoothed out, dropping into an almost gentle cadence. “You’re entirely right. This is flat-out bullying. But when you dragged that trash ex and his pathetic lover right into my face, wasn’t that the exact definition of bullying me?”
The realization hit Liu Linong like a physical blow. Fang Jinshi had engineered this entire confrontation precisely to force her to taste the exact flavor of being targeted and humiliated. The sheer realization made her chest tight with distress, and she spat out in a desperate frenzy, “How on earth did I bully you? I was clearly trying to help you two clear the air and move on! You and Li Jin shared ten years of history; are you honestly going to become bitter enemies over some low-tier, insignificant little actor?”
“Look at you, speaking with such effortless righteousness,” Fang Jinshi remarked, looking at her. His eyes were perfectly tranquil—running cooler and lighter than the moonlight framing them, acting entirely as though the person who had just unleashed a savage verbal assault a second ago wasn’t him at all.
Held under that detached gaze, Liu Linong felt as though her reflection in his eyes was nothing more than a pathetic, dancing clown. Her hollow motives—trying to curry favor with Li Jin to secure a path closer to Gu Tuo—were stripped completely bare, exposed down to the very bone.
Her eyes darted frantically as she hissed in raw anger, “I refuse to waste my breath arguing with you! I’m going straight to Uncle to let him judge this situation!”
Fang Jinshi let out a soft scoff. “I highly advise against that. Unless you’re eager to be thrown out of this estate by my father directly and become the ultimate laughingstock of high society.”
Liu Linong froze solid.
Carefully analyzing Fang Jinshi’s warning in her head, she came to the horrifying realization that his prediction carried a near-certain probability.
Given how fiercely protective the Fang family was of their own blood, why on earth would her uncle ever take her side? In the end, she was forced to swallow this massive wave of humiliation raw.
At this realization, she ground her teeth so hard they nearly shattered. With a vicious stamp of her foot, she spun around and marched blindly back toward the dance floor.
Watching her misstep on her towering stilettos, hobbling away in a ridiculous, limping gait, Fang Jinshi slightly narrowed his eyes. His expression remained flawlessly calm, making it entirely impossible for anyone to glimpse the raw ferocity hidden beneath the surface.
Ren Minghui rubbed his chin thoughtfully, a sudden epiphany striking him: I guess the milder the face, the more savage the execution.