Chapter 21: Staring at His Wife

During dinner, the graduation reunion was filled with reminiscing about the fleeting time and lamenting the end of their journey together. The thought of going their separate ways and entering society made many girls’ eyes well up with tears.

Lu Zhiyuan was a master of social interactions, even his way of speaking at the dinner table was exceptionally smooth and effortless. His words often evoked nostalgia and admiration, making everyone feel touched.

Everyone was captivated, their eyes shining with emotion, except for Zhuang Jianxi. She remained unmoved, her expression indifferent as she silently ate and drank tea. It was as if she wasn’t there for the reunion, just to have a meal.

Halfway through the meal, Zhuang Jianxi’s phone vibrated on her left hand. She glanced at the message that popped up, her expression unchanged, but her eyes dimmed slightly.

She didn’t reply immediately. Instead, she calmly finished her meal, wiped her lips with a napkin, and then leisurely picked up her phone.

At this moment, Qiu Yixun was finishing his day’s work. His car slowly drove out of the gate of the Qiu Group.

Dressed in a suit, he sat in the back seat, his long fingers playing with his phone. After learning from Butler Song that Zhuang Jianxi hadn’t returned home, he couldn’t help but send her a message.

When Zhuang Jianxi was staying at the villa these past few days, he usually wouldn’t disturb her. He would only ask a question or two if she came home late.

“Where are you?”

He sent the message, but it took ten minutes before he received a reply.

Zhuang Jianxi, “Fu Hua Hotel, graduation reunion.”

Qiu Yixun rubbed his phone, almost instantly replying, “Are you done? I’ll pick you up?”

Several minutes later, he received her cold reply, “No need.”

Qiu Yixun frowned. It was almost eight o’clock now, and he had set a curfew of nine o’clock. Did she even care?

Knowing she wouldn’t listen, Qiu Yixun directly instructed the driver to turn around and head towards the Fu Hua Hotel.

He couldn’t stand the thought of all those people at the graduation reunion staring at his wife.

Besides, Zhuang Jianxi might have secretly been drinking, which was a bigger problem. He couldn’t ignore it.

In the brightly lit hall, the atmosphere of the reunion reached its peak.

On the second floor, there was a private room where the music academy students were gathering. They were playing music and singing, and the sound could be faintly heard on the first floor.

Someone suggested having a ‘competition’ for the art students as well, and everyone enthusiastically agreed.

Zhuang Jianxi had planned to leave after finishing her meal, but she couldn’t resist Lu Zhiyuan’s persuasion. He said that since everyone was here, it would be rare to get together again, so she should stay and have some fun.

A classmate had specifically prepared for this event, giving everyone a piece of paper and a pen.

Then, they projected a photo onto the screen in the hall. The competition was to see who could reproduce the photo most accurately.

The photo was of a person, to be precise, a passerby that Zhao classmate had taken a photo of after asking for permission.

The photo was only displayed for a minute before being removed. Everyone had ten minutes to draw the portrait based on their memory, which tested their memory and drawing skills.

For a moment, the lively chatter in the hall was replaced by the sound of pencils scratching on paper, creating an eerie silence.

It was supposed to be a friendly competition, but everyone was determined to draw, afraid that their years of practice would be overshadowed.

Seven minutes later, Zhuang Qianqian was the first to put down her pen. She closed the paper, her expression confident and smug, which shocked many people with her speed.

Zhao classmate didn’t participate and acted as the judge. He walked over, glanced at the drawing, and exclaimed, “My god! As expected of the talented artist, you finished so quickly!”

Then, others followed suit, putting down their pens one after another. Some were still frowning, racking their brains to recall the person’s appearance in the photo. Others, who had poor memories, ended up drawing a distorted mess, purely for laughs.

Zhuang Jianxi lowered her head, her expression calm. Her fingers traced the paper with her pen, silent and focused.

Lu Zhiyuan and Zhao classmate, who were both leading the activity, didn’t participate in the drawing. Lu Zhiyuan sat quietly to the side, his gaze unconsciously drifting to Zhuang Jianxi’s quiet profile, slightly lost in thought.

Zhuang Qianqian noticed this and snorted. She said how amazing she was, but she couldn’t even finish on time?

After all, what great skills did Zhuang Jianxi have? Wasn’t she just relying on her face and body to win over so many people?

Just then, a black Maybach slowly stopped at the entrance of the Fu Hua Grand Hotel, and the window rolled down.

From a distance of less than fifty meters, if anyone noticed, they could vaguely see that handsome, chiseled face from afar.

When the time came, Zhao, the classmate, took charge of the scene, projecting the stranger’s photo again. Everyone eagerly displayed their finished sketches.

They looked at each other, compared their work, and various discussions and laughter filled the air.

“Damn, what did you draw? It looks nothing like the photo!”

“Oh, my memory is bad. I just finished the outline and forgot what he looked like…”

“Li, yours doesn’t look much like him either! You dare to criticize others?”

“It’s good enough if it’s five points similar. Even if it doesn’t look like him, it doesn’t mean my drawing skills are bad, right?”

“Grass, I didn’t notice it before, but your drawing is the most absurd! You turned a man into a woman!”

“Hehe, sorry, sketching portraits is really my weakness…”

“My God, how can Qianqian draw so realistically? And she did it in less than ten minutes!”

This shout immediately drew everyone’s attention back to Zhuang Qianqian.

Upon closer inspection, the person Zhuang Qianqian drew was almost eight points similar to the photo. Whether it was the features, hairstyle, expression, or even the collar, it matched the photo perfectly.

It was truly remarkable to be able to draw so realistically in such a short time.

“Amazing, I bow to your talent!”

“Yeah, truly worthy of the second sister of the Art Academy, both handsome and skilled!”

Zhuang Jianxi was the recognized school beauty, considered the first sister, and Zhuang Qianqian being able to be called the second sister was pretty good.

Zhuang Qianqian’s lips curled into a proud arc, and she waved her hand with a hint of arrogance and humility, “It’s nothing, just a casual sketch.”

“Even a casual sketch looks like a photo! You can help the police draw wanted posters in the future!”

“Exactly! It’s not that difficult.”

The classmates praised her endlessly and even joked. Zhuang Qianqian, listening to all the flattery, felt her tail about to wag.

The owner of the photo, the stranger, was a waiter at the hotel. He was working on the second floor and came down to see what was happening.

Being drawn in countless ways by these talented students from the top art academy, he felt a sense of harmless amusement and absurdity.

The stranger saw Zhuang Qianqian’s work, which was the most realistic, and felt both admiration and a strange feeling in his heart.

On the other side of the table, as soon as the time was up, Zhuang Jianxi got up and went to the restroom, and now she was back.

Lu Zhiyuan finally couldn’t hold back and looked at the drawing paper she had casually folded and placed on the table, saying, “Xiaoxi, let me see how you drew.”

Zhuang Jianxi’s fingers were still wet, and she picked up the drawing paper and handed it to him, leaving two wet fingerprints on the paper.

“Hmm, take a look.”

Lu Zhiyuan unfolded it and his breath hitched. His eyes widened slightly.

Noticing his reaction, everyone else also looked over curiously.

They didn’t know until they saw it. The moment they saw it, the reaction of everyone was like a large stone hitting a basin, splashing water everywhere, even flipping the basin over.