“Isn’t this Young Master Zheng? You’re here quite early.” Chuan Jin maintained a polite smile as she returned to her position to greet him.
Zheng Jingyuan’s face darkened—did she think he couldn’t detect the deliberate pause in her address? Damn impostor heiress, how dare she act so arrogantly in front of Xu Anguo.
“If I didn’t come early, I might miss the show,” Zheng Jingyuan retorted provocatively. “Shen Shi’s elite circles have never witnessed a real versus fake heiress drama before. It’s fresh and exciting—who wouldn’t want to join the spectacle? You didn’t actually think the police station incident remained a secret, did you?”
His voice carried, drawing the attention of nearby guests. Someone whispered, “What is Young Master Zheng referring to? Did someone from the Xu Family end up at the police station?”
Xu Anguo’s expression stiffened with embarrassment. He didn’t want to explain the conflict between his two daughters, yet he dared not confront Zheng due to his family’s status. He forced out a vague, awkward laugh.
Unfazed, Chuan Jin replied, “I thought you were busy cleaning up your romantic messes, CEO Zheng. I didn’t realize you had the spare attention to care so much about the Xu Family. Did Bo Ya send you to scout because they heard Xuri is getting a new head? It must be you, after all, who knows best how to dedicate yourself to the cause. What a pity, though—my sister already has a boyfriend. Surely you’re not thinking of snatching someone’s girlfriend again?”
When it came to the biggest source of gossip in elite circles, Zheng Jingyuan was in a league of his own. Every elder had heard of his scandals—how dare he point fingers at others.
Chuan Jin’s sarcastic barrage made Zheng Jingyuan livid. “How dare you, Xu Chuanjin! Are you implying I’m some courtesan offering myself left and right?”
Chuan Jin laughed. “Just joking. With your looks and skills, you’re hardly fit to be a courtesan—at most, you’d be selling your—”
“Chuan Jin, that’s enough!” Xu Anguo urgently cut her off. “Young Master Zheng, please don’t mind her. She’s been at odds with her mother lately and speaks without thinking.”
Zheng Jingyuan pointed at Chuan Jin, his face stormy. “Your daughter just insulted my competence, and you call that ‘speaking without thinking’?”
“This…” Xu Anguo hesitated, caught in a dilemma.
“Enough. We all know my father doesn’t dare offend you. What’s the point of bullying him?” Chuan Jin yawned, waving a hand dismissively. “You’re just sore because I bit you that day. If you’re still mad, bite me back.”
She boldly extended her finger toward Zheng Jingyuan’s mouth. “Here, go ahead and bite.”
“Did you only bite me that day? You clearly also—”
Zheng Jingyuan abruptly stopped himself.
Being kicked to the ground was humiliating. With so many elites around, including a few rivals, he had no intention of revealing something that could become a year-long joke.
A glint of amusement shone in Chuan Jin’s eyes as she teased, “What else did I do? Are you going to bite or not, CEO Zheng? If not, I’m taking my finger back.”
Zheng Jingyuan stared at her pale, almost glowing finger, grinding his teeth. Startled, Chuan Jin snatched her hand back.
“Whoa, you actually considered it! Have some decency—we’re in public. I may not care about face, but I still have some pride.” Clutching her finger as if it had nearly been defiled, she added disdainfully, “Never mind. I can’t handle you. I’d better leave before I offend anyone further.”
After thoroughly provoking him, Chuan Jin patted her clothes casually and strode away, leaving behind a fuming Zheng Jingyuan, a sweating Xu Anguo, and a stunned audience of VIPs.
The onlookers exchanged varied thoughts, but without exception, they were all marveling at Miss Xu’s remarkable talent for verbal evisceration.
Xu Mianchuan still remembered Zheng Jingyuan’s offense that day and had been watching from the sidelines without intervening. After her younger sister finished venting and left, she even threw her a smug glance. Sharing a knowing smile, Xu Mianchuan stepped forward to handle the aftermath.
With the first battle won, Chuan Jin cheerfully headed to the dessert area to reward herself.
The incident at the entrance hadn’t affected the social scene inside at all. The banquet hall was bustling with people. After scanning the crowd for a long time, Chuan Jin finally spotted Wang Yujiang among them.
Sure enough, he was socializing everywhere.
Taking a bite of her petit four, Chuan Jin recalled the plot from the book.
She remembered that after this banquet, Wang Yujiang would covertly establish a company leveraging his connections, using his position at Changxu to funnel considerable resources to himself. Later, this company would be used to acquire significant shares of Changxu.
Seeing him skillfully networking with everyone, she guessed he already had plans to start the company at this point.
Setting down her cake, Chuan Jin picked up a glass of champagne and walked into the center of the crowd, positioning herself beside Wang Yujiang.
“Second Sister, what are you doing here?” Wang Yujiang’s expression shifted slightly.
“Watching my brother-in-law handle conversations so effortlessly, I thought I’d learn how to socialize too,” Chuan Jin said with a smile.
Wang Yujiang’s brow twitched, clearly not buying this nonsense.
Chuan Jin raised her glass to him. “Alright, alright, Dad forced me to come in. As a daughter of the Xu Family, it wouldn’t look good if I was slacking off while even you were entertaining guests. So I had no choice but to follow you around, brother-in-law.”
Wang Yujiang’s expression remained cold as he declined to clink glasses. “You’d better mean that, Second Sister.”
Chuan Jin beamed. “Of course.”
High-society banquets were essentially about displaying strength like drawn swords – those interested would schedule future discussions, while others could still make connections for potential development. It was a dance of offering and accepting opportunities, with everyone socializing to maximize their benefits.
Chuan Jin knew that a single sentence in such settings could make or break a project. She had to seize conversational openings before Wang Yujiang could speak.
After being cut off five times, Wang Yujiang could no longer tolerate it.
“Might I ask, Second Sister, what exactly do you hold against me? Why do you keep targeting me repeatedly?”
Having moved to a relatively quiet corner, Wang Yujiang laid his cards on the table.
Chuan Jin feigned innocence. “Then why does Third Sister want to drive me away?”
Wang Yujiang frowned. “That was Lulu’s decision. As her boyfriend, is it wrong for me to support her?”
“Just because she made that decision, you have to obey?” Chuan Jin found this amusing. “My presence doesn’t affect how Mom and Dad feel about Lulu at all. If you were any kind of man, you should’ve advised her against it instead of indulging her, even assisting her with personnel. Can you honestly claim there wasn’t a shred of personal motive in your actions?”
Wang Yujiang’s eyes darkened. “What personal motives could I possibly have?”
“Mom and Dad favor sons over daughters. Most of the Xu Family assets went to Xu Longchuan, leaving practically nothing for the daughters. Dividing between two daughters is better than splitting among three, don’t you think?” Chuan Jin laid bare his intentions.
Wang Yujiang defended, “Lulu isn’t that kind of person.”
“She might not be, but are you saying you aren’t? Wang Yujiang, you’ve only been in the branch company for a short time, yet you dare to take kickbacks. Your ambitions are hardly small.”
Wang Yujiang: “Is having ambition a bad thing?”
“No, but resorting to any means to achieve that ambition is.” Tapping her slender finger against her temple, Chuan Jin said, “This injury on my head ultimately traces back to you. Since you targeted me before, don’t blame me for clinging to you now.”
With words reaching this point, both sides had shed all pretense.
Wang Yujiang swirled his wine glass, his demeanor abruptly shifting as he chuckled softly, “So Second Sister is determined to follow me today?”
Chuan Jin merely smiled without responding.
Wang Yujiang suddenly let out a laugh, raised his glass, and said leisurely, “Then Second Sister better keep up. I’m not afraid of obstacles—what I fear is having no one to push me forward.”
The laugh was eerily unsettling. Chuan Jin steadied herself and clinked glasses with him.
“Then I’ll be watching closely.”
In the deserted corner, the crisp clinking sound seemed to pierce through the air. The surrounding chatter abruptly softened as both of them simultaneously turned their gaze toward the entrance.
Outside, a man and a woman stepped into the Xu Family villa. Though they entered in the most ordinary manner, the entire banquet hall fell into a brief silence.
The petite woman was unfamiliar to Chuan Jin, but the man beside her looked familiar—wasn’t he the violent maniac her sister had warned her about?
Wei Chi scanned the room as soon as he entered. Wherever his gaze landed, people instinctively averted their eyes, not one daring to meet his stare.
Chuan Jin shook her head with a tsk. Truly a violent maniac. In such a prominent circle of elite families, no one dared to confront him directly. He must have beaten down countless people behind the scenes. For her superstitious father to dare invite him, it was likely no one in the Xu Family had yet tasted his fists.
As the banquet hall gradually regained its liveliness, Chuan Jin prepared to look away. But the next moment, she watched in disbelief as Wei Chi walked straight toward her sister.
Alarm bells ringing in her head, Chuan Jin shoved her glass into Wang Yujiang’s hand and moved to intercept him.
Wang Yujiang, sensing her intention, blocked her path first and sneered, “Wasn’t Second Sister going to follow me? Where are you off to?”
“Get out of my way.”
“If Second Sister leaves, aren’t you afraid I’ll gather resources and expand my ambitions?”
Chuan Jin glanced sideways at him. “Starting some mediocre company—how fast could it possibly grow? I’ll deal with you after handling that situation over there.”
She left with those words. Wang Yujiang stared blankly for a moment before his eyes suddenly darkened.
How did Xu Chuanjin know about his plans to establish a company?
…
On the other side of the banquet hall, Xu Mianchuan initiated conversation, and Zheng Jingyuan restrained his temper accordingly. His interest in this young lady was currently peaked—he wouldn’t spoil a beauty’s mood. To earn her smile, he even proactively extended an olive branch regarding film and television collaboration.
Zheng Jingyuan was supremely confident in his methods, but then an uninvited guest arrived.
Wei Chi stood tall and broad, a full half-head taller than Zheng Jingyuan. Just standing there, a single glance from him made Young Master Zheng shudder inexplicably.
“Finished talking?” Wei Chi asked him.
The man’s gaze was fierce. Zheng Jingyuan wasn’t afraid of provoking him, but he feared being beaten. Suppressing his anger, he nodded reluctantly.
“Then it’s my turn.”
“…”
After driving Zheng Jingyuan away, Wei Chi turned to Xu Mianchuan, who had maintained her smile throughout. “Miss Xu.”
“Mr. Wei.” Xu Mianchuan hadn’t wanted to speak with Zheng Jingyuan either; Wei Chi’s arrival was timely. “About the incident last time, I wanted to thank you in person. I waited by the entrance for a while specifically, but unfortunately, you never showed, so I ended up chatting with President Zheng for a bit.”
Wei Chi lowered his gaze slightly, deliberately avoiding Xu Mianchuan’s eyes, and replied, “I was delayed on my way out. My apologies for making you wait, Miss Xu.”
“Not at all.” Xu Mianchuan smiled gently, her gaze shifting to Wei Xingya, who had already taken a seat in the rest area. “This is my first time meeting Miss Wei. I should go greet her.”
Wei Chi opened his mouth, initially intending to say that Wei Xingya disliked being disturbed, but the words changed before they left his lips: “Alright, I’ll accompany you.”
Just as the two were about to head toward the rest area, a flash of red suddenly cut diagonally across their path, rushing urgently toward Xu Mianchuan.
Chuan Jin pulled her sister aside: “Sis, there’s something urgent I need to discuss with you. Come with me for a moment.”
As Xu Mianchuan was pulled along, she stumbled slightly, and Wei Chi immediately looked over with concern.
Noticing his gaze, Chuan Jin thought to herself that this man indeed had feelings for her sister, her tone growing increasingly dismissive: “You must be President Wei, right? I’ve long heard of you. I need to borrow my sister for a while on some urgent matters. Please make yourself at home—there’s wine and desserts over there. Help yourself, do try some.”
Wei Chi sensed the defensive stare and traced it to its source.
In that brief exchange, both Miss Xu and Young Master Wei understood each other’s intentions.
Wei Chi frowned. Being guarded against like this—were they really planning to introduce Zhou Lincan to Xu Mianchuan?