Chapter 10: Please Address Lu Hui as ‘Mrs. President’…

Lu Hui’s face was expressionless, though a storm raged in her heart.

She rejected him cleanly, “No need.”

Her tone was so serious, so bitter and cold—it didn’t sound like something said to a stranger, but more like to a sworn enemy. Weighing her words, she added, “Thank you. I already have clothes to wear.”

Did you hear that?

She has her own.

Xie Ran had once been normal—an aloof, decisive, and ruthless CEO to the core.

Lu Hui remembered how he never showed affection to anyone. This version of him was something she had never seen before.

Xie Ran now stayed close by her side, his intense and complicated gaze making her feel uncomfortable.

With his distinguished status, many people at the gathering kept sneaking glances at him. Gradually, those curious eyes shifted to the woman next to him. Lu Hui could feel the scrutiny and didn’t like it.

She moved to a quieter corner. “Mr. Xie, could you stop following me?”

“Please don’t be angry. Don’t hide from me anymore.” His eyes were locked on her, like a crocodile fixed on its prey, unwilling to let go.

They said people with sanpaku eyes were often cold and ruthless.

Lu Hui was starting to get annoyed. Pretending to have amnesia couldn’t go on forever.

Xie Ran was actually a very clever lunatic—he probably had long figured out she was faking it.

Lu Hui thought, maybe she should just ask him outright what he wanted. Was it really worth chasing her down across worlds to kill her? She was already dead—why couldn’t he let her go?

She said, “Mr. Xie, I’m not angry.”

After a pause, Xie Ran suddenly began telling a story.

“I once hurt a girl who really liked me. She was my girlfriend for a year and a half, my fiancée. I forced her to dig out her kidney to save another woman.”

Lu Hui: “……”

Xie Ran took a big step forward. “She was kind of dumb, easy to fool, good-tempered. It didn’t take much effort to coax her. I thought I’d have time to make it up to her later, but before long, she got sick and died.”

She almost died right in front of him.

Lu Hui: “……”

So what?

Was that powerful grudge of his really just so he could call her an idiot to her face?

Xie Ran watched her expression as he spoke. “It took me a long time to accept the truth.”

An eye for an eye.

In those dark, hopeless days, Xie Ran had stormed into the hospital like a madman, cold as the dead, asking the doctors to take out his organs too.

He owed her. He had to pay it back. He couldn’t let her die with regrets.

The doctors thought he was insane and refused. Xie Ran grabbed a scalpel from the operating room and stabbed it into his own chest, over and over, like a lunatic.

When they managed to save him, the first thing he said after regaining consciousness was, “Why did you bother saving me?”

The only person who could have saved him had already died—because of him.

Lu Hui was speechless. The way Xie Ran told this story sounded like some tragic, passionate love tale. It was… utterly ridiculous.

She couldn’t keep playing along. After a moment’s thought, she said, “My condolences.”

—

While Xie Ran was being surrounded by social climbers trying to flatter him, Lu Hui quietly slipped away.

She hadn’t planned to stand out tonight, but she’d ended up drawing enough attention. People weren’t blind—everyone could see how Xie Ran looked at her.

By now, it was obvious to the onlookers that something was going on between them. It seemed her beauty wasn’t entirely useless after all.

Sensing the shift, the women who knew how to read the room immediately began treating Lu Hui like a hot commodity, talking to her more intimately than sisters.

“Miss Lu, so you and Mr. Xie are quite close, then?”

“Not really.”

“But I just saw the two of you chatting so happily…”

“It’s a misunderstanding. He was actually scolding me the whole time.”

The woman paused, trying to figure out what Lu Hui was getting at. She smiled awkwardly. “Miss Lu, you’re joking, right?”

Lu Hui replied seriously, “No joke. He told me to go die.”

“……”

The woman was, after all, half a foot into the upper-class social circle. She had lowered herself to make friends with Lu Hui, but this woman just didn’t know how to talk. What did Xie Ran even see in her?

“Miss Lu, you’re so funny,” the woman forced a smile, pulling out her phone. “Since fate brought us together, how about exchanging WeChat contacts?”

Lu Hui had had a bit too much to drink and really needed to pee. She pulled out her phone. “You scan me. Hurry up.”

The socialite felt a bit insulted, but Lu Hui’s pure and innocent expression made her swallow her pride.

After scanning the code, she said, “Added you—let’s chat more in the future.”

Lu Hui was distracted. “Sorry, I need to use the restroom first.”

The woman stared at her unapproved friend request, fuming, but held back. She still hoped to use Lu Hui to get in with the Xie family.

Lu Hui dashed upstairs. There were too many rooms on the second floor, and she couldn’t find a usable restroom right away.

She was about to ask someone, determined not to die of bladder pressure.

Most of the guests were downstairs, and the hallway was practically deserted.

At the end of the long corridor, she faintly heard voices.

Wearing small heels, she walked softly over carpeted floors, soundless. A few meters ahead stood two men.

One of them leaned lazily against a doorframe, posture loose and unruly, like he didn’t have a single bone holding him up. Even from behind, he radiated a kind of arrogant swagger.

From a short distance away, Lu Hui heard a clear male voice.

The shorter man asked, “Brother Cen, what are we doing for late-night snacks? Gotta go big tonight—two grand a head, seafood feast or nothing.”

The man leaning casually against the door let out a low, amused laugh. His voice was deep and magnetic, slowly spreading like smoke. With complete disinterest, he said, “Eat your dick.”

“I already did,” the other man replied shamelessly. “Honestly? Tasted pretty bland.”

Lu Hui, having accidentally eavesdropped, seriously considered turning and walking away. What the hell kind of unholy conversation had she just walked into?

Cen Yueze let out a sound of admiration. “I underestimated you. You’re really something.”

Lu Hui silently nodded in her heart. Agreed. Truly a man who could bend and endure. Respect.

She was so focused on eavesdropping that a shocked “What the f*ck” slipped out of her mouth.

Both men turned their heads. Cen Yueze’s dark, transparent eyes locked directly onto her.

The man beside him, realizing what he’d just said in front of a stranger, muttered awkwardly, “Brother Cen, I’ll be off now.”

“Get lost.”

Now, it seemed only Lu Hui and Cen Yueze were left upstairs.

Lu Hui had planned to ask where the restroom was, but the moment she saw his “don’t mess with me” expression, she zipped her mouth shut.

Cen Yueze was the first to speak. “Who are you?”

Lu Hui replied, “An innocent passerby.”

She really couldn’t hold it much longer, but seeing this guy act like such a pain in the ass, she decided to play nice first.

She forced a laugh and said admiringly, “Your friend’s… something else. Truly remarkable.”

Cen Yueze smiled. No exaggeration—he was stunning. A delicate, pale face, eyes like blades, sharp enough to kill. He looked like a god.

“Agreed.”

Lu Hui figured now was a good time to ask for the restroom’s location, but the man cut her off.

“I just remembered who you are,” he said suddenly.

Whoa.

Lu Hui modestly said, “Well, I do have a bit of fame in the entertainment industry.”

Maybe she really had gotten too popular lately—fans recognized her everywhere. Still, she was only a mid-tier celebrity, a C-lister at best. Having some fans wasn’t strange.

It was the first time she’d run into a fan in person, so she tried to be friendly. “Want an autograph?”

Cen Yueze looked like an emotionless block of ice. His refined, proud features remained impassive as he finished his sentence: “You’re Xie Ran’s lapdog.”

Lu Hui: “?”

Lu Hui: “??”

Lu Hui: F**k your mom.

She was honestly speechless.

Lu Hui’s expression was incredibly unpleasant.

Cen Yueze still had that lazy, indifferent look on his face. But even in his casualness, he exuded the air of an arrogant young master. Every word was sharp and lethal. “That crazy woman who claimed to be Xie Ran’s fiancée.”

Lu Hui silently recited the Heart Sutra and explained, “I’m not.”

Cen Yueze: “Oh.”

Although it was just a plain, emotionless “oh”—

It still sounded f**king provocative.

Just listen to that smug tone. Did that sound like he believed her?

Faced with the choice of arguing back or going to the bathroom, Lu Hui chose the latter. She asked, “Excuse me, Mr. Cen-whose-full-name-I-don’t-know, can you tell me where the restroom is?”

Cen Yueze was very “kind”: “Behind me.”

Lu Hui lifted her foot to head that way, but a few seconds later, she stepped back, her round, dark eyes scanning the man from head to toe. She suddenly looked enlightened. “Ah, I see. So you two were in the bathroom playing Chicken Dinner.”

So that’s what you and your buddy were doing in there.

Cen Yueze, who had already taken a step forward, stiffly pulled back his foot and turned around again—

The girl, barely up to his shoulder, was staring at him with wide eyes and a face that screamed I get it all now. Adorable, but not at all threatening.

Cen Yueze let out a laugh from sheer anger, his voice like cold rain at night. He asked abruptly, “Playing what?”

Lu Hui felt uneasy under his stare.

Cen Yueze spoke coldly, “Come on, say it again.”

Lu Hui was the rebellious type. Fine, since you asked—

She went bold: “C*ck.”

Cen Yueze, one hand in his pocket, replied blankly, “All right. You’re tough.”

Lu Hui: “Flattered, flattered.”

Without a hint of sentiment or emotion, Cen Yueze turned and walked off in large strides.

To Lu Hui, this was just a random episode.

After using the restroom, she just wanted to leave this boring party.

But as soon as she got downstairs, she was unfortunately caught by Sheng Zhaoming. “I’m not giving you a ride. I’ve got something else tonight, get a cab.”

Lu Hui didn’t need his ride anyway. She pointed at her phone. “Already called one.”

She avoided him like the plague, but Sheng Zhaoming didn’t seem pleased either.

He said without a flicker of emotion, “Then go.”

Lu Hui felt no reluctance, no disappointment, no grievance. She left without looking back.

Outwardly, Sheng Zhaoming had never acknowledged her as his sister.

Now that she’d figured things out, she acted carefree and gave up trying to win favor. But strangely, that wasn’t the reaction he’d hoped for. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be feeling so uneasy.

—

The taxi driver was a chatterbox. He rambled on to Lu Hui about all sorts of historical anecdotes. Thankfully, the car radio started on time and interrupted his monologue.

“According to Zhengyang News, several unexplainable supernatural events have recently occurred in the city. Some citizens claim they saw the clouds being torn open and people flying through the sky on swords.”

“These phenomena have reportedly occurred three times already.”

“Dozens of witnesses insist they saw mythical beasts flying.”

“Our program will continue to follow and report on this story.”

The taxi driver exclaimed excitedly, “Wonder which immortal was caught transcending their tribulation!”

Lu Hui thought it was ridiculous. The whole thing sounded like a hoax show made up just to boost clicks.

People flying in the sky? That’s straight-up fantasy cultivators.

Definitely fake news.

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