Meanwhile, Li Yang placed her phone face-down in her palm, took a deep breath, and headed toward the dormitory.
After only a couple of steps, her legs felt weak.
She grabbed hold of a streetlamp and stood there for a while.
Xie Zongxu.
That Xie Zongxu.
Xie Xinhang’s Third Uncle.
A figure whose name was spoken with utmost courtesy throughout Beijing City’s business circles.
She had slept with him.
How had she dared to do that?!
Li Yang closed her eyes.
She had seen the business card that morning, but she had not dared look at the name printed on it.
She had not wanted to know who the man she slept with was.
As long as she did not know, she could pretend that nothing had happened.
But now—
Li Yang buried her face in her hands.
Now she knew.
Not only did she know, but he had cornered her in the parking lot, added her on WeChat, and told her he would contact her after deciding how to hold her accountable.
Hold her accountable.
What responsibility could she possibly bear?
She was just a student. What could he possibly make her answer for?
The more Li Yang thought about it, the more panicked she became. She pulled out her phone, intending to call Lin Qingqing, but her finger stopped as soon as she opened her contacts.
How was she supposed to explain it?
Tell her that the man she slept with was Xie Xinhang’s Third Uncle?
Lin Qingqing was indeed her best friend, but she was also Xie Xinhang’s friend.
If Lin Qingqing found out, Xie Xinhang would probably know soon enough.
Xie Zongxu was his actual Third Uncle.
She sighed.
The relationships were far too tangled.
Putting away her phone, Li Yang continued toward the dormitory.
Forget it.
She would go back first and deal with it later.
…
Old Master Xie’s eighty-eighth birthday banquet was approaching.
The entire alley was decorated with lanterns overnight. Even the stone lions crouching outside the vermilion gates had red silk ribbons tied around their necks.
Anyone who did not know better would have thought a wedding was being held there.
The old master of the Xie Family had once been a figure whose mere stomp could shake the entire city.
Although he had long since retired, his reputation remained.
Naturally, the birthday banquet was being organized on a grand scale.
Rumor had it that the guest list alone had gone through three rounds of revisions.
Who would be invited and who would not be invited involved more intricacies than the recipe for Eggplant with Shrimp in Dream of the Red Chamber.
The night before the banquet, in a luxury apartment complex in the East-West Tenth Alley area.
When Li Yang’s glacier-white Porsche 911 came to a stop in the underground parking garage, the car audio system was playing the line from The Empty Fort Strategy:
“I was originally a carefree man of Wolong Ridge.”
She turned off the engine but did not hurry out.
Facing the vanity mirror, she removed the exaggerated tassel earrings from her ears and replaced them with a pair of understated pearl studs.
Her phone was still pressed to her ear.
On the other end, Lin Qingqing was chattering loudly.
“You’re really not coming to the class reunion? Xu Huaibei is here too. He was just asking about you.”
“Why was he asking about me?”
Li Yang interrupted, her tone as plain as a glass of boiled water.
“My dad came back.”
The other side fell silent for two seconds before erupting into thunderous laughter.
“What? Didn’t Uncle Li go fishing in Sanya? How did he suddenly—”
“How would I know? I was supposed to go clubbing tonight, and now look what happened.”
Li Yang pushed open the car door. Her high heels clicked against the concrete floor of the parking garage.
“Okay, okay, I’m hanging up. We’ll talk later.”
As the elevator ascended, she glanced at her reflection in the mirrored walls once more.
Her makeup was fine.
Her outfit was fine.
The problem was—
Only twenty minutes earlier, when her aunt had called, she had personally said: “I’m studying at home and haven’t gone anywhere.”
Who could have expected Comrade Li Luqian, who had promised to return the day after tomorrow, to pull such an early-return stunt?
The moment the elevator doors opened, she knew something was wrong.
The lights in the foyer were all on.
The lights in the living room were all on.
Even the floor lamp at the end of the hallway, which was usually considered too wasteful to use, was illuminated.
The entire apartment was so brightly lit that she almost thought she had entered the wrong home.
“You’re back?”
The voice from the sofa was unhurried, yet it made her spine stiffen.
Li Luqian sat in a rosewood armchair. A purple clay teapot in front of him was still steaming.
He wore a casual navy-blue Tang suit.
A string of small-leaf red sandalwood prayer beads rested in his hand.
His face revealed neither happiness nor displeasure.
But Li Yang knew her father too well.
Whenever his expression revealed nothing at all, it was the most dangerous sign.
“Dad.”
Li Yang changed into slippers and tried to sound natural.
“Didn’t you say you’d be back the day after tomorrow? Where are Auntie and the others?”
“Your aunt is in the kitchen stewing bird’s nest soup for you.”
Li Luqian lifted his teacup and blew gently on it but did not drink.
“She said you’ve been staying up late recently and don’t look well.”
Li Yang’s heart skipped a beat, though she maintained a smile.
“Then I’ll go take a look in the kitchen first—”
“No rush.”
Li Luqian set down his teacup. The prayer beads touched the table with a soft sound.
“Tell me first. Where did you go tonight?”
“Nowhere.”
Li Yang blinked.
“I was just reading in the dormitory.”
“Oh?”
Li Luqian nodded.
“Was it History of Chinese Art or Introduction to Museology?”
Li Yang nearly choked.
Her father was setting a trap for her.
If she answered History of Chinese Art, his next question would certainly be to explain Gu Kaizhi’s theory of “transmitting ideas through imagination.”
If she answered Introduction to Museology, she would be even more doomed. He could discuss the classification of Neolithic pottery for two hours straight.
“I… was reading a novel.”
She chose the safest option available.
Li Luqian did not respond.
Instead, he pulled an invitation card from beneath the coffee table and gently pushed it toward her.
The cover was dark red, embossed with a golden “Xie” character.
At a glance, it was clearly an invitation to Old Master Xie’s birthday banquet.
Li Yang’s eyelid twitched.
“It was personally delivered by someone from the Xie Family this afternoon.”
Li Yang stared at the invitation.
Her eyelid twitched even harder.
Personally delivered by someone from the Xie Family.
She knew perfectly well where her father’s standing lay.
The Li Family was considered prominent in Hai City, but within Beijing’s elite circles, they were merely a respectable family.
For the Xie Family to send someone personally to deliver an invitation—
The significance behind it was so great that she dared not think too deeply about it.
“What did they say?”
She heard her own voice drifting slightly.
“What did they say?”
Li Luqian lifted his teacup and leisurely took a sip.
“They said they had long admired Mr. Li’s reputation and sincerely hoped he would honor Old Master’s birthday banquet with his presence. They also said—”
He paused and looked directly at his daughter.
“Chairman Xie Zongxu specifically instructed them to make sure the Eldest Miss of the Li Family attended.”
Li Yang’s heart contracted sharply.
Specifically instructed them to make sure she attended.
The scene in the parking lot resurfaced uncontrollably in her mind.
The darkness in his eyes when he had leaned toward her.
The lingering tone at the end of his promise that they would meet again.
“Do you know Xie Zongxu?”
Li Luqian’s question sounded casual.
Li Yang tightened her grip on her handbag strap but maintained her composure.
“Yes.”
At a moment like this, denying it would be useless.
Her father would investigate her entire family tree if necessary.
“How do you know him?”
“We’ve… met once.”
She tried her best to make it sound believable.
“Isn’t Xie Xinhang acquainted with Lin Qingqing? At one gathering, his Third Uncle happened to be there as well.”
Li Luqian looked at her for a long moment.
His gaze swept over her from head to toe as though seeing through everything.
Slowly, he repeated,
“You met him once, and the third son of the Xie Family specifically instructed people to invite you?”
Li Yang felt guilty inside, but outwardly she put on an innocent expression.
“How would I know? Maybe… maybe Xie Xinhang mentioned me?”
Even she did not believe that explanation.
What could Xie Xinhang possibly have said about her?
Li Luqian did not continue questioning her.
He merely pushed the invitation closer.
“You’ll attend the birthday banquet with me the day after tomorrow.”
“Dad.”
“It’s decided.”
He stood up, picked up the string of prayer beads, and headed toward the study.
After taking two steps, he stopped again.
“Oh, right. Your aunt said the bird’s nest soup is ready. Go have a bowl.”
Li Yang opened her mouth, but in the end, she did not dare say anything more.
Only after her father’s figure disappeared at the end of the hallway did she collapse onto the sofa.
Picking up the invitation, she stared at it.
The gilded “Xie” character gleamed brightly beneath the lights, making her eyes ache.
She opened the invitation.
Time: Tomorrow, 6:00 PM.
Location: Xie Family Ancestral Residence.
The signature at the bottom belonged to Old Master Xie.
Beside it, however, was a handwritten note.
Bring your daughter along.
Li Yang closed the invitation and leaned back against the sofa.
Then she shut her eyes.
She was finished.
How was she supposed to show her face there?
With the same face she had worn that night while sitting on him and “favoring” him?