Being teased, Gu Minxuan didn’t mind at all. He raised an eyebrow and said shamelessly, “I was born with natural beauty. Heaven was kind enough to give me a good-looking face. There’s nothing I can do about it.”
Qin Cheng, sitting across from Lin Zhou and Gu Minxuan, laughed. “You really have no shame. We say a few nice words and you take it seriously. Aren’t you afraid of making Miss Lin laugh at you?”
Lin Zhou chuckled lightly. “It’s fine. President Gu doesn’t get many chances to show off like a peacock spreading its feathers. Lawyer Qin, please be indulgent.”
She turned her head and glanced at Gu Minxuan. He was holding a cup and drinking water. His long fingers looked as if they had been carved, and as he held the cup, veins stood out on the back of his hand, exuding strength.
Those hands are quite good-looking.
Lin Zhou was a hand enthusiast. Whether male or female, as long as someone had beautiful hands, she could not help but look a few times more.
“What, Assistant Lin, are you studying my skin?” Gu Minxuan could be a bit sharp-tongued at times. He deliberately stretched his hand out in front of Lin Zhou. “Assistant Lin, I’m not peacock-showing. If you don’t believe me, I’ll lend you my hand to touch. You can check for yourself whether it’s smooth.”
Qin Cheng, who was drinking water across from them, nearly choked. Gu Minxuan was being far too blatant in flirting. He had invited Lin Zhou out today for a reason, and it wasn’t as if Gu Minxuan didn’t know that.
Under the table, Qin Cheng kicked Gu Minxuan with his foot, signaling him to restrain himself. Anything could wait, but not tonight. Tonight, he had something important to do.
Lin Zhou calmly withdrew her gaze and, as if nothing had happened, poured water into Gu Minxuan’s cup. She smiled at Qin Cheng, looking helpless. “Lawyer Qin, I finally understand why you say President Gu has no shame. Facts prove that it’s indeed true.”
Unhurried and composed, she not only defused the awkwardness but also scolded Gu Minxuan through a joke.
Qin Cheng held back his laughter. This Lin Zhou was very interesting, far more commanding than he had imagined. As expected of Chairman Feng Hexu’s chief assistant, her presence was strong and she knew exactly how to strike the right balance. Even when she scolded Gu Minxuan, she made it impossible for him to get angry.
Gu Minxuan cleared his throat lightly. “Assistant Lin, I do have a sense of dignity. At least give me some face in front of outsiders.”
The way he said it made it sound as though he and Lin Zhou were on the same side, while the classmate sitting across from them had become an outsider. In other words, Lin Zhou had been placed among his own people. It had to be said that Gu Minxuan was also very good at winning people over.
The three of them chatted and laughed, and the atmosphere was fairly pleasant.
Halfway through the meal, an uninvited guest arrived.
The moment the private room door was pushed open, Lin Zhou’s expression instantly darkened.
Chengdu was dressed in a suit, but he no longer had the high-spirited air he’d had two months ago. Dark circles lay under his eyes, even slightly swollen. Though he wasn’t yet thirty, he looked older than Gu Minxuan and Qin Cheng, who were already in their early thirties.
In just a few months, Chengdu’s changes shocked Lin Zhou.
“President Qin, something came up, so I’m late,” Chengdu said.
In truth, Qin Cheng had seen that Lin Zhou was in a good mood and sent a message telling Chengdu to come in. Chengdu had already been waiting outside for nearly an hour.
He pretended to be surprised, though not very convincingly, looking a little awkward. “Lin Zhou, you’re here too.”
Qin Cheng pretended not to know about the matter between Lin Zhou and Chengdu. “Miss Lin, so you know Lawyer Cheng from our firm.”
Lin Zhou sneered inwardly. So that was what this was about.
After returning to the country, she had never contacted Chengdu. No matter why he suddenly wanted to see her, she had no intention of meeting him before she was ready.
She hadn’t expected Chengdu to have his boss come forward to find her. Was it really that urgent?
“My fiancée,” Chengdu said, looking at Lin Zhou with some unease as he sat down opposite her, appearing timid.
Lin Zhou still had her composure. She didn’t lose her temper in front of Gu Minxuan and Qin Cheng. With a smile that didn’t reach her eyes, she looked at Chengdu. “Let me correct that. Ex-fiancée. We’ve already broken up.”
“Lin Zhou, we just had a fight. Don’t take it so seriously, okay?” Chengdu gazed at her almost pleadingly, as humble as could be.
Lin Zhou found it laughable. Back then, wasn’t it Chengdu who insisted on breaking up? How had things turned into a situation where it looked like she was the one forcing the breakup?
“So it’s a lovers’ quarrel?” Qin Cheng stepped in to smooth things over at the right moment. “It’s normal for couples to have disagreements. As the saying goes, quarrels at the head of the bed are reconciled at the foot. Just let the past be the past.”
Qin Cheng gave Gu Minxuan a look, wanting him to say a few words as well. Gu Minxuan pretended not to see it and continued drinking water. Qin Cheng could only feel helpless. Knowing that Gu Minxuan didn’t want to get involved, he couldn’t force him.
Lin Zhou immediately lost her appetite. She put down her chopsticks and smiled softly. “Lawyer Qin, do you know why Chengdu and I broke up?”
“I don’t,” Qin Cheng replied.
What he had heard from Chengdu was that Chengdu broke up because Lin Zhou cheated on him. But how could he say that out loud? Even if he knew, he had to pretend he didn’t.
“Since you don’t know, then Lawyer Qin, you really shouldn’t try to reconcile us. Chengdu and I are impossible. As for the reason, you can ask him privately why,” Lin Zhou said.
She was already being very gracious. She didn’t expose Chengdu in front of his boss, nor did she embarrass him in front of outsiders.
She couldn’t eat anymore. Pretending nothing was wrong was impossible. More than three months had passed, yet Chengdu’s infidelity was still like a knife stuck in her heart. It was fine if it wasn’t mentioned, but once brought up, the pain only grew sharper.
She stood up and said to Gu Minxuan and Qin Cheng, “President Gu, Lawyer Qin, I’m a bit tired. Please enjoy yourselves. I’ll take my leave first.”
Without waiting for their response, she picked up her bag and left the private room without looking back.
Seeing Lin Zhou leave, Chengdu hurriedly chased after her.
Gu Minxuan watched the two figures leave one after the other, then glanced coolly at Qin Cheng. “You had me join this dinner just to get them back together?”
“That wasn’t the original plan. Chengdu found out I was meeting Lin Zhou, so he begged me to bring him to see her. He knows Lin Zhou helped him a lot behind the scenes, and he deeply regrets bringing up the breakup. I thought if Chengdu could coax Lin Zhou back, wouldn’t everything be resolved?”
Gu Minxuan sneered. “You really think beautifully. If Lin Zhou were truly willing to forgive Chengdu, would she have withdrawn all the business from his hands?”
Moreover, judging by their attitudes today, Chengdu was clearly the one in the weaker position. When couples argue, the one who lowers their head and shows weakness is usually the one at fault. If his guess was right, Chengdu must have done something to betray Lin Zhou.
Gu Minxuan shook his head. “A perfectly good game of chess, and you played it into a mess. If Chengdu hadn’t shown up, Lin Zhou might have given me a face, and the business you want might have come back. You didn’t understand the situation and casually played matchmaker. Today, you’ve completely offended Lin Zhou.”
Gu Minxuan had interacted with Lin Zhou several times and found that she wasn’t someone who easily showed displeasure. Most of the time, she was extremely restrained with her emotions, unless she was pushed beyond endurance.
And what happened today showed she had already reached her limit.
“Then what should we do now?” Qin Cheng was filled with regret. After hearing Gu Minxuan’s words, he began to regret agreeing to bring Chengdu along.
At the entrance of Xifeng Garden, Chengdu grabbed Lin Zhou’s wrist and pleaded, “Lin Zhou, will you listen to my explanation, okay?”