Lu Zhaoran watched the couple showing off their affection with a mix of cold rage, his hand balled into a fist at his side.
In front of him, she pretended to be a saint, but as soon as she turned around, she fawned over another man.
Sitting opposite Lu Zhaoran, Lai Zhiyuan caught every shift in his expression.
She narrowed her eyes to see Yan Luoxi approaching with the elegant and noble man, then suddenly called out, “Sister, what a coincidence!”
Yan Luoxi felt sickened by her natural use of the word “sister.”
Stopping in her tracks as if she had just noticed them, Yan Luoxi feigned surprise, “Oh, it’s you.
I didn’t even notice you before; you’re really lacking presence.”
Lai Zhiyuan’s brows twitched, but she didn’t get angry, instead sizing up the man beside Yan Luoxi.
The man had a mature and inscrutable charm, wearing a custom-tailored suit whose brand was not apparent, exquisitely cut, exuding a restrained sexiness.
His wrist, revealed where Yan Luoxi held his arm, sported an understated luxurious watch that signaled his noble and extraordinary status.
This man was somebody important.
Yet, with all her connections in the entertainment industry, she had never seen him before.
He had to be the heir to a prominent family from the Imperial Capital.
Yan Luoxi had really hitched her wagon to a star this time.
“An invited meeting is not as good as a chance encounter.
If you don’t mind, let’s join the fun together,” Lai Zhiyuan said, looking at the handsome man with a statuesque figure.
She had to figure out his identity.
It had not been easy for her to incite Lu Zhaoran to blacklist Yan Luoxi, and if the latter dodged this bullet by sheer luck, she would be furious enough to vomit blood.
Yan Luoxi frowned, feeling uncomfortable at the gaze Lai Zhiyuan cast on the man.
Just as she was about to refuse, a deep and pleasant voice came from beside her, “It’s better to comply gracefully than to decline!”
Yan Luoxi was taken aback and before she could react, Li Yeqi suddenly withdrew his arm from hers and sat down next to Lai Zhiyuan.
With every movement elegant and composed, he commanded an aura that couldn’t be ignored.
She watched as Lai Zhiyuan smiled brightly with charm, feeling a painful twinge in her face. The source of this chapter is g.com.
She glared at the man, feeling unfairly slighted.
Hadn’t he agreed to come with her to put others in their place?
How could he switch sides at the last minute, making her the butt of a joke?
Li Yeqi poured water from the teapot, calmly cleaning teacups, not paying any attention to her resentful glare, and slowly asked, “Aren’t you sitting down?”
His words were obviously directed at Yan Luoxi; while she wanted to walk away in a huff, she didn’t want to give Lai Zhiyuan the satisfaction.
Since Lai Zhiyuan wanted to disgust her, she was keen to return the favor.
Yan Luoxi pulled out the chair beside Lu Zhaoran and sat down, summoning the waiter to clear away the third of the dishes that had been eaten and ordered a fresh tableful.
As the waiter took the menu and was about to leave, Lu Zhaoran suddenly called her back, “Add a serving of crystal shrimp dumplings, you used to love them, didn’t you?”
Yan Luoxi glanced at him with mixed feelings, “I used to like them, but not anymore.
Waiter, no crystal shrimp dumplings, just these.”
Unable to keep face, Lu Zhaoran picked up his teacup and took a sip, then heard Lai Zhiyuan’s coquettish voice asking, “I find the gentleman rather unfamiliar, having never seen him before.
May I know your esteemed surname?”
Li Yeqi held his teacup with fingers well-defined, placing it before Yan Luoxi, switched back her utensils, and continued his indifferent washing, saying sparingly, “Yeqi.”
“So it’s Mr.
Yeqi,” Lai Zhiyuan thought over the distinguished families in the Imperial Capital with the surname Yeqi, finding no such wealthy family.
She breathed a sigh of relief and her gaze towards Li Yeqi carried a hint of scorn.
Seeing his meticulously chosen designer clothes and extraordinary demeanor, I thought Yan Luoxi had climbed to high branches, but it turned out he was just a pretty boy who couldn’t be brought out in public.
It seems Yan Luoxi truly had no way out.
Yan Luoxi looked at the washed cups and dishes in surprise; along the coastal regions, it was customary to wash the bowls and chopsticks before eating.
She rarely condescended to such refinement, always feeling that it was too pretentious.
However, she was warmed by the man’s thoughtful gesture, and with a faint smile, she said, “Thank you!”
Li Yeqi looked up at her, his sexy thin lips tinted with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, and he said suggestively, “You should think about how you’re going to thank me later.”
Yan Luoxi inadvertently crashed into the man’s profound and deep black eyes, her heartbeat was erratic, and she hurriedly looked away.
“I heard that ‘Empress Wu’ is about to start shooting, my dear sister, you better not drag down the entire cast’s value and acting skills.”
Lai Zhiyuan’s scornful laughter was neither cold nor warm, “Thanks to sister being late that day, I got this chance.
Oh, right, the paparazzi caught you coming out of the hotel that day, neck covered in love bites.
Wonder who’s so charming that you’d give up such a rare opportunity?”
Yan Luoxi’s exquisite face gradually stiffened.
Lai Zhiyuan keenly caught the change in her expression and the cold look in Lu Zhaoran’s eyes across the table.
She couldn’t help but laugh even louder, “Looking at that photo at the time, even I blushed.
It must have been intense.
Yeqi, have you seen it?”
Yan Luoxi’s heart shrank at Lai Zhiyuan’s almost maliciously gleeful and triumphant gaze, “Lai Zhiyuan, you talk as if you’re so innocent, but the shameful things you’ve done would fill books.
Don’t make me sick.”
Lai Zhiyuan’s face changed, and just as she was about to retort, a low reprimand came from beside her: “Yuanyuan, shut up!”
Lai Zhiyuan looked up, incredulously at Lu Zhaoran, who had scolded her, and she said pitifully, “Zhaoran…”
She had been so focused on stepping on Yan Luoxi’s sore spot that she had forgotten this was also a sore spot for Lu Zhaoran.
If it weren’t for her giving the photo of Yan Luoxi coming out of the hotel to him, he wouldn’t have become enraged and sought to blacklist Yan Luoxi.
It was her fault for indulging in the satisfaction of a momentary verbal victory.
With that thought, she glared fiercely at Yan Luoxi.
Lu Zhaoran suddenly stood up, his face dark, and left without looking back.
Lai Zhiyuan panicked for a moment and hurriedly stood up to follow him out.
Watching them leave one after the other, Yan Luoxi found it easier to breathe.
She glared angrily at the man across from her, who seemed to be enjoying the drama unfolding before him.
“Why did you agree to sit down and have a meal with them?”
Li Yeqi leaned back in his chair, his gaze deep and unfathomable as he looked at her, a trace of a cold smile at the corner of his mouth.
His good mood had been ruined by her, “To remind you of your stupidity.”
Yan Luoxi suddenly widened her eyes, “You did this on purpose to embarrass me?”
“Wasn’t it you who was eager to come here and be scorned?” Li Yeqi suddenly leaned in, his long finger pinching her chin, the masculine scent of his breath bearing down, tinged with the faint smell of tobacco, forcefully and dominantly invading her breathing space.
“Ex-girlfriends and all, they’re the most annoying.”