Chapter 38: The Lingering Ghost

Lin Ran put down her wine glass, propped her chin with both hands, and continued, “It really was my fault. I deliberately made the issue vague, thinking it was just a matter of a few hundred thousand. Fu Xingjian is so wealthy, adding a few hundred thousand to the budget should have been easy for him. But unexpectedly, he was quite clever and saw through my trick immediately.”

Fu Xingjian chuckled lightly, fully aware of himself, swirling his wine glass. The liquid inside rippled with the motion, catching the light.

Zhuo Ting was still angry. “He hurt you so badly back then, and after coming back, he neither apologized nor made up for it. I really can’t stand it.”

But it wasn’t entirely like that, Lin Ran’s gaze turned distant as she revealed her true feelings.

“I actually think it’s the opposite. He probably gave the foundation project to Xin Ruan precisely because he wanted to make up for me. And… he once drove me home twice and even left his umbrella for me. I think that’s a form of compensation.”

Lin Ran had been reflecting on it over the past few days and now believed she might have wrongly accused Fu Xingjian.

Although he had been angry with her, he never complained to Zhou Xu, nor did he take any serious punitive actions. Furthermore, when she lied about her address, he was aware of it but didn’t expose her. In short, Fu Xingjian wasn’t as terrible as she had imagined.

Zhuo Ting was shocked. “You’re actually saying something good about him?!” She grabbed Lin Ran’s shoulder. “You don’t still like that guy, do you?!”

Fu Xingjian tightened his grip on his wine glass, his gaze unintentionally drifting to Lin Ran.

“What nonsense are you talking about? How could I like him? He’s the one I hate the most in the world!”

Fu Xingjian glanced briefly at the woman who spoke, then quickly lowered his dark eyes to hide the coldness within, continuing to swirl his wine glass absentmindedly.

At some point, several young women had gathered around, blushing as they whispered to each other, staring at him, quietly discussing how effortlessly charming his nonchalant movements were.

Xu Huanran wasn’t happy. He wasn’t that bad, right? He clearly was the one who attracted the girls, but now they were all focused on Fu Xingjian. How annoying!

What made him even more frustrated was that Fu Xingjian seemed utterly uninterested and didn’t even glance at the girls.

Yao Ning laughed uncontrollably and privately messaged Xu Huanran.

“Tell me, are you angry??!”

Xu Huanran angrily replied: “So angry! So angry!”

He snatched the wine glass from Fu Xingjian’s hand and slammed it on the glass table, speaking to Fu Xingjian with jealousy, “Dude, stop turning! You’re going to spin all the young girls’ souls away!”

His voice was so loud that half of the bar turned to look.

Lin Ran and Zhuo Ting were no exception.

Fu Xingjian suppressed his anger and looked at Xu Huanran, who was unaware of the trouble he had just caused. Xu Huanran stood up with a grin, approaching the girls one by one to add them on WeChat.

Fu Xingjian let out a heavy breath. When he turned his head, Lin Ran was already nowhere to be seen.

He retracted his crossed legs. “You guys continue drinking.”

Seeing him suddenly stand up, Yao Ning instinctively asked, “Where are you going?”

Yao Qian patted her on the head. “Where else? Of course, he’s going to the bathroom.”

Yao Ning stuck out her tongue. “Alright, go ahead~”

Fu Xingjian didn’t explain. He scanned the room, finally spotting her near the entrance of the bar.

While Zhuo Ting was calling for a ride, Lin Ran leaned against the bar entrance, silently complaining.

It had been bad luck lately—everywhere she went, she kept running into Fu Xingjian’s shadow. He really was like an unshakable ghost.

She closed her eyes and thought carefully about whether she had said anything bad about Fu Xingjian earlier. After thinking for a moment, the answer was no. She remembered that Zhuo Ting had said a few bad things about him, but she had smoothed things over and even said some good things about him.

With that thought, Lin Ran relaxed and smiled slightly, thinking that her job might still be safe.

The wind outside made her head dizzy. Her previously clear thoughts were now clouded with a bit of drunkenness. When she suddenly found a wall of people in front of her, she thought it was Zhuo Ting calling a car. Without thinking, she leaned against it.