That voice rang in Su Yanxi’s ears once more, after five years.
When she turned around, she saw a face that was both familiar and strange.
The woman wore a purple evening gown with a high slit, one thigh exposed through the opening. She held a champagne flute high in one hand, her expression haughty and overbearing.
“I’m Zhang Liuliu, your high-school classmate. We even sat at the same desk. You have such a bad memory—you’ve forgotten all about me.”
Su Yanxi remained calm and unruffled. “I never forget those old green-tea types who go looking for trouble for no reason.”
The smile froze on Zhang Liuliu’s face.
Su Yanxi hadn’t named anyone, so Zhang Liuliu had no way to retort. If she did, she’d be admitting she was one of those old green-tea types.
Zhang Liuliu opened her mouth, then shut it again. Her clenched teeth began to ache.
The Gu Family had deep roots, but at the end of the day, Su Yanxi was only a child who’d grown up in their care, with no father or mother. Someone with her background should have been timid, insecure, and meek. Yet Su Yanxi was poised, confident, and radiant. Zhang Liuliu had always found that hard to stomach.
Zhang Liuliu had even made a point of investigating Su Yanxi’s real family background.
It was strange: even the household registration records in the public security system didn’t list the names of Su Yanxi’s biological parents. It was as if she’d sprung from a stone with no parents at all.
Her household registration listed only her grandfather, and people in their circle knew her only as the granddaughter of a comrade of Gu Yanze’s grandfather.
It was as though some invisible, immensely powerful web were protecting her personal information from being exposed.
Zhang Liuliu had hoped to uncover Su Yanxi’s family background and use it against her. To this day, she had found nothing.
Her background was mysterious enough to astonish anyone.
After a long pause, Zhang Liuliu said, “I just got back from abroad. I’ve been in the United States for the past five years.”
Her face alight with excitement, she boasted, “Su Yanxi, do you know which important person I’ve been with these past five years?”
Su Yanxi replied, “No. I’m not interested, and I don’t want to know.”
Zhang Liuliu’s mouth hung open like a wooden fish.
With no one to play along, she supplied her own response, declaring proudly, “I’ve been with Bo Jishi this whole time.”
Bo Jishi—the man Fu Linchen had punched hard enough to send to the ICU.
Bo Jishi was a notorious Beijing playboy, a shameless troublemaker who used his family’s power to run amok. He loved throwing his weight around and had bullied plenty of people.
Back when he was studying in Beijing, he had gotten a girl pregnant.
The girl had been forced.
Su Yanxi, a model student who came first in her class year after year, and Bo Jishi had belonged to two entirely different worlds. But at an upscale Beijing Circle banquet, Bo Jishi fell in love with her at first sight and immediately launched into a relentless pursuit.
At the time, Su Yanxi was in her final year of high school.
Even after repeated warnings from the Gu Family, Bo Jishi continued doing as he pleased, harassing Su Yanxi relentlessly.
He had cornered her at the school gate, on her way home, in the cafeteria, and in the classroom, saying what he thought were deeply moving lines to her face.
On the school forums and confession boards, Bo Jishi had publicly declared that Su Yanxi was his girl and warned all the men to stay away from her.
And then—
Fu Linchen punched Bo Jishi hard enough to send him to the ICU. Three of his teeth fell out, and his face swelled up like a pig’s head.
After he was discharged, the Bo Family knew they couldn’t afford to provoke the Fu Family, so they sent Bo Jishi into exile in the United States.
Su Yanxi was finally left in peace, and her studies were unaffected.
As for Zhang Liuliu, she had liked Bo Jishi since their school days. In her eyes, his shameless, lecherous behavior was just a free spirit who loved his freedom.
Some people really did like looking for boyfriends in the trash.
Seeing that Su Yanxi said nothing, Zhang Liuliu looked even more smug and overbearing.
“Life is full of surprises. Young Master Bo used to like you so much, but who could have guessed that I’d be the one with him in the end? He’s especially clingy now. If he doesn’t see me for five minutes, he misses me and calls me.”
Su Yanxi smiled faintly. “You’ve been standing in front of me for ten minutes. How come he hasn’t called you once?”
Zhang Liuliu was at a loss for words, her expression darkening.
Su Yanxi called her out to her face. “Zhang Liuliu, you’re standing here picking a fight with me for four reasons. First, you want to brag that you’ve climbed into Bo Jishi’s lap. Second, you want to prove you’re better than me. Third, you want me to envy you. And fourth, you want to warn me not to go near Bo Jishi.
“In this world, stinking fish always end up with rotten shrimp, and a battered pot with a cracked lid. Fish find fish, shrimp find shrimp, and turtles love tortoises. You’re a clunker, and you’re a perfect match for that rotten gasbag, Bo Jishi.
“I have a thing about cleanliness. I find him disgusting. I’ve never liked Bo Jishi, and I never will. You can rest easy.”
Zhang Liuliu’s face turned through every shade, like a vivid paint palette.
Su Yanxi’s self-respect, self-love, and confidence were like a mirror, exposing all of Zhang Liuliu’s ugliness, leaving nowhere to hide. By comparison, Zhang Liuliu felt like a pile of trash.
That sent her into a rage of humiliation.
She pointed furiously at Su Yanxi and raised the champagne flute in her hand. “You little—” Bitch.
A dark-gray figure stepped in front of Su Yanxi, cutting off the word “bitch” in Zhang Liuliu’s mouth.
Gu Yanze looked at Zhang Liuliu coldly, his eyes rimmed with ice.
“Say one more word, and I’ll slap you, even with all these people around. Get lost.”
Zhang Liuliu hurried away. As she passed the doorway, her ankle twisted and she stumbled toward the doorframe.
Shen Hebai had been leaning lazily against it. When he saw Zhang Liuliu fall toward him, he neatly dodged to one side with a quick, twisting sidestep.
Thump—Zhang Liuliu’s head struck the doorframe, and a large bump rose on her forehead.
She glared at Shen Hebai, blaming him for dodging instead of helping her. Her eyes were full of resentment and disgust.
Shen Hebai drawled, “What, you hate me? So what? It’s not as if being liked by you would make my life more meaningful.”
With a roguish grin, Shen Hebai glanced sideways at Liang Jihei. “Big Brother, Miss Zhang’s blaming me for not standing up for her. Why don’t you help her out?”
Liang Jihei laughed twice. “Sure. I love playing the hero and saving the damsel in distress. I don’t have any other hobbies—I just love showing off and being the center of attention. How about I grab a megaphone, run into the banquet hall, and tell everyone that Miss Zhang picked a fight with Little Sister Yanxi? I’ll make sure Fu Linchen hears all about it. It’s Young Master Fu’s big night, after all. How about we let him give Miss Zhang a proper ruling?”
Zhang Liuliu’s face went deathly pale.
Everyone in the Beijing Circle knew Fu Linchen acted without restraint. If he found out she’d picked a fight at his banquet, the entire Zhang Family would pay dearly.
Zhang Liuliu didn’t dare linger another moment. With a huge bump on her forehead, she left.
Gu Yanze turned to Su Yanxi and asked gently, “Did she hurt you?”
“No. She’s nobody important. She can’t hurt me.”
Shen Hebai said, “If Zhang Liuliu hadn’t turned up today, I’d have forgotten all about that rotten fish, Bo Jishi. Has he come back from the United States?”
“Probably not,” Liang Jihei replied. “I haven’t heard any of our friends in the circle mention him.”
Gu Yanze settled the matter. “I just checked with my contact in the United States. He’s still there.”
Thinking of how Bo Jishi had wanted Su Yanxi to be his woman, Shen Hebai couldn’t help laughing.
“That rotten fish’s brain is broken, but at least his taste is decent. He set his sights on our lovely Little Sister Yanxi. A toad wanting to marry a little frog—ugly as sin, but with an appetite for fun. Wu Dalang drinks poison and asks for a refill—he doesn’t know when he’s beaten. A man with his pants down taking on a tiger—he’s got no shame and no sense of self-preservation.”
“Bo Jishi? What kind of name is Jishi? Heh. More like chicken shit.”
Shen Hebai’s words made Su Yanxi laugh. Her lovely eyes curved into crescents.
Gu Yanze’s gaze swept over the red rose on her left ear. “Come on. Let’s not stand here. It’s getting colder. You don’t want to catch a cold.”
He took off his dark-gray suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
As he removed it, the sleeve brushed the red rose from her ear, knocking it to the floor.
Wearing Gu Yanze’s jacket, Su Yanxi walked into the banquet hall.
Gu Yanze looked at the red rose on the floor, pretended not to see it, and stepped over it.
He escorted her to Old Master Gu and Old Master Fu.
Young Master Fu was standing beside Comrade Fu. He lowered his eyes to the dark-gray suit jacket Su Yanxi was wearing, his gaze black as a fathomless abyss.
His dark eyes shifted to her left ear. He saw only her pale ear and pearl earring. The red rose he had given her was gone.
Old Master Gu asked with concern, “Yanyan, where did you go just now?”
“I was with my brothers the whole time, Grandpa. Don’t worry about me.”
When she was nine, Su Yanxi had witnessed her beloved biological grandfather die of lung cancer. Her experiences growing up had shaped her into someone sweet and considerate.
She didn’t want the people who loved her to worry, so she had grown used to dealing with all her emotions on her own and sharing only good news.
Gu Nanchu understood Su Yanxi’s nature. He looked at Gu Yanze. “Nothing bad happened just now, did it?”
Gu Yanze’s expression was solemn. “Whatever happens, I’ll handle it. You don’t need to worry.”
So something had happened. Fu Linchen caught the implication in Gu Yanze’s words, and his keen black eyes, sharp as an eagle’s, turned to Su Yanxi.
“Did someone upset my Little Princess?”