Lin Rui said, “Her name is Fang Kena. The Fang family has been on the rise these past few years, and their family relations are simple—unlike your Xu and Song families, where the various branches are constantly scheming against each other with eight hundred tricks up their sleeves.”
“The Fang family has had a single heir for three generations. Fang Kena has an older brother, her parents are deeply in love, and she’s the little princess of the family. If she wanted the moon from the sky, her family would climb up and pluck it down for her.”
“She used to admire Song Wenzhou for quite a while, but after his car accident, she went quiet. Probably her family kept her on a tight leash.”
“Anyway, let’s just stay far away from her.”
Xu Chengyi asked, “Song Wenzhou… he’s that famous?”
Lin Rui said, “Of course. The pride of heaven, the authority of high society, someone people beg for a single audience with. What do you think?”
Xu Chengyi didn’t think much of terms like “pride of heaven.” She said boldly, “Just a good-looking fool.”
Lin Rui suddenly laughed. “You don’t know, do you? Even if he’s a fool now, there are plenty of people outside fighting tooth and nail to marry him. It’s only your family’s sisters who look down on him.”
Xu Chengyi shook her head. “If they knew how difficult his family is to deal with, they wouldn’t want to marry him either…”
As they spoke, they entered the tea ceremony classroom.
Xu Chengyi and Lin Rui had arrived early, so they picked seats at the very back and started whispering to each other just like they did in university.
Before long, the little clique from the lobby arrived as well.
Fang Kena naturally took the center seat in the classroom, basking in the teacher’s praise and the adulation of those around her.
Xu Chengyi and Lin Rui were chatting in the back when the teacher called them out.
“Learning tea ceremony is about cultivating the mind, relaxing the body, and elevating one’s aesthetic sense. This is not a chat room.”
The two of them rolled their eyes in unison. So it was fine for Fang Kena and her girlfriends to loudly gossip about bizarre scandals in their circle, but they weren’t allowed to whisper quietly?
They finally made it to noon, and Lin Rui dragged Xu Chengyi to the buffet.
The two of them had drunk their fill of tea and were starving, so they accidentally piled their plates high.
As they walked past Fang Kena’s clique with their plates, someone muttered, “Looks like they’ve never seen nice things before.”
The two let it go in one ear and out the other, choosing not to stoop to their level.
Besides their ladies’ finishing class, this estate also had a young gentlemen’s class.
The two had already found a corner to sit in, but Xu Chengyi’s delicate face was like a pearl cast into the darkness.
A pearl can never hide its luster.
Two men walked over with their plates and sat down, their gazes fixed directly on Xu Chengyi’s face.
“Never seen you before. Whose family are you from?”
Xu Chengyi swept a cold glance over them without saying a word. Instead, she raised her right hand, where the diamond ring on her ring finger caught the light and refracted a beautiful gleam.
The two men weren’t deterred in the slightest—if anything, they grew bolder, because they recognized Lin Rui.
Lin Rui’s family had only recently made their fortune; they couldn’t even reach the heels of established families like theirs. Anyone who hung around with her probably wasn’t anyone important.
“A married woman, huh.”
“The diamond’s shiny, but a bit small. Hang out with me for a few days, and I’ll buy you a bigger one.”
The two men’s tone was extremely flippant.
Lin Rui furrowed her brows. “Open your dog eyes wide and look—she’s from the Song family.”
The two men exchanged a glance and suddenly burst out laughing.
“So you’re the wife Song Wenzhou just married?”
“What’s the point of marrying a fool? A beauty like you—does he even know what to do with you…”
The next moment, the juice in Xu Chengyi’s hand splashed across the man’s face.
For a moment, time seemed to freeze.
The man wiped the juice from his face, glaring at her with deadly intensity, but he knew he was in the wrong and didn’t dare make a scene.
Xu Chengyi, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow and regarded them lazily.
This time, she silently thanked her lucky stars in her heart that she’d married well. Even if her husband was useless, his family’s power was formidable. When someone was foolish enough to provoke her, she could fire back without hesitation.
“You just wait.” The man ground his teeth, then rose and stormed off in fury.
Only when the man left did Lin Rui’s tightly clenched grip on Xu Chengyi’s hand finally relax. Her fingers trembling slightly, she gave Xu Chengyi a thumbs up. “You’re the one.”
Xu Chengyi hummed twice and went back to eating.
The onlookers around them whipped out their phones, and in no time, various gossip groups were buzzing with activity.
The buzz spread and spread until it reached Song Zhiyu’s ears. Rarely one to speak in those gossip groups, he replied with a single message: 【Well splashed.】
Instantly, everyone in those groups fell silent.
The afternoon economics class was co-ed.
Xu Chengyi saw the two men again.
The looks they gave her were filled with hatred, but she acted as if she hadn’t noticed, propping her head on her hand and dozing off.
She finally made it through to the end of class. Blinking awake in a daze, she looked up and saw a familiar-looking girl standing before her.
“Fifth Sister.”
Xu Chengyi remembered now. This was her half-sister from her father’s side, ranked sixth among the younger generation of the Xu family—Xu Xinhe.
“Looking for me?” she asked.
Xu Xinhe said, “Fifth Sister, keep a low profile. Don’t offend people, especially Daphne.”
Xu Chengyi was so sleepy her eyes were half-closed. She yawned as she replied, “Got it.”
Xu Xinhe didn’t linger and turned to leave.
Lin Rui poked Xu Chengyi. “That’s your sister?”
Xu Chengyi gave a lazy “mm” in response. “Yeah, same father.”
“Let’s go, I’m dead tired.”
“Mm.”
The two parted ways. Xu Chengyi got into the car and dozed off again.
Back at Half Moon Villa, they happened to hit dinnertime.
In the dining room, Elder Song and Ling Zhu were both there.
Seeing her arrive, Ling Zhu’s gaze swept over her twice, recalling the news someone had just delivered—that she’d been causing trouble at Peach Blossom Spring, and Song Zhiyu had stepped up to back her.
How curious.
Song Zhiyu rarely bothered to meddle in other people’s affairs.
Xu Chengyi called out “Grandpa” and walked over to sit beside Song Wenzhou.
Elder Xu’s gaze drifted over her lightly, offering a very elder-like greeting. “How were your classes?”
Xu Chengyi gave a faint smile. “Pretty good.”
“Mm.”
With that, the topic ended, and they ate in quiet.