Chapter 6: Behave Yourself

Jian Ruo Ci had been busy all day without eating, her stomach ached with hunger. She arrived at the banquet hall, thinking that she wouldn’t run into Pei Yan Zhou at this time. She headed towards the dessert area in the center of the banquet hall, planning to grab some sweets to line her stomach.

The table was laden with various desserts and drinks. On the right side, tall glasses were arranged in a pyramid shape, five tiers high.

She glanced at the desserts on the table and was surprised to find lychee-flavored ones. Usually, desserts at banquets were comprehensive, but lychee flavor was rare.

Lychee was her favorite flavor. The corners of her lips curved into a faint smile. Eating her favorite dessert was probably the happiest thing in her day.

As she picked up a dessert and a glass of orange juice and turned to leave, she was blocked by a figure.

Jian Ruo Ci looked up. When she saw who it was, the curve of her lips fell, her gaze fixed on the other woman’s delicate and confident face for a few seconds before she spoke calmly, “Something?”

Jian Ying smiled sweetly and reached out to take her arm, the one holding the dessert. “Sister.”

Jian Ruo Ci dodged without a trace, her eyes indifferent, her face devoid of any expression. She said, “Our relationship doesn’t seem close enough for that. If you have something to say, please speak.”

“Nothing much, just wanted to chat with you casually.” Jian Ying laughed innocently. Only Jian Ruo Ci knew how much calculation was hidden behind that simple smile.

She continued, “Sister, Dad wants to marry me off to Jing Che Group’s CEO, Pei Yan Zhou. I just wanted to ask you, how can I attract his attention?”

Jian Ruo Ci pursed her lips slightly, the strangeness in her eyes fleeting. She smiled, “I think you should ask your mother about that. She might have a way.”

Jian Ying’s face turned ugly for a moment before returning to normal. How could she not hear the veiled sarcasm in Jian Ruo Ci’s words, implying that her mother had used her means to reach her current position.

Jian Ying said, “Sister, I’ve never had a boyfriend, and I keep my distance from men. You’ve had boyfriends, and you’ve been around a lot of men. I think you understand better how to attract a man’s attention.”

How could Jian Ruo Ci not hear the veiled sarcasm again? She sneered, “I have nothing to tell you. And, at least I don’t play the third party.”

Jian Ruo Ci didn’t want to waste any more words with her and strode away.

Jian Ying’s eyes narrowed, and she pushed Jian Ruo Ci forcefully without a trace.

Jian Ruo Ci was careless. She thought that in such a crowded place, the other woman would restrain herself. But she forgot, nature is hard to change, and a dark mind won’t be restrained by the occasion.

She was wearing high heels and twisted her ankle. A sharp pain shot through her ankle, and she stumbled backward, bumping into the pyramid of tall glasses. In an instant, hundreds of tall glasses crashed to the floor, shattering into pieces, making a crisp sound. The wine splashed everywhere on the floor.

All eyes in the banquet hall turned towards them.

But some people’s vicious hearts wouldn’t stop there.

“Sister!” Jian Ying exclaimed, reaching out to pull her. To outsiders, they looked like sisters who cared deeply for each other, but they didn’t know that she wasn’t pulling her, but pushing her again.

Jian Ruo Ci fell towards the shards of glass on the floor, crashing heavily onto them. She was wearing a fishtail skirt, and half of her back was exposed, covered in shards of glass soaked in wine, piercing her skin.

She gasped, her delicate brows furrowed.

The guests at the banquet gathered around, but no one stepped forward.

Jian Ruo Ci’s face was pale with pain. She gritted her teeth, enduring the pain in her back as she stood up from the floor.

Jian Ying stepped forward, looking remorseful, her eyes filled with tears. “Sister, it’s all my fault for not holding onto you.”

Jian Ruo Ci had grown accustomed to this hypocritical face over the years. She couldn’t do anything about it. If she exposed Jian Ying’s true face today, then in the future, she and Jian Xu would be worse off than dead, a thousand times worse than now. She could only grit her teeth and endure it.

One day, Jian Xu would become strong enough to no longer be used as a tool to threaten her. At that time, she would repay her for the debt she owed now, a thousandfold.

Liang Jin Yu, arm in arm with Jian Sen Ran, walked through the crowd towards them.

Jian Sen Ran glanced at Jian Ruo Ci, covered in wine stains and with a glaring patch of blood on her white fishtail skirt, his face full of disgust.

Jian Ruo Ci saw the disgust on Jian Sen Ran’s face clearly and mocked him with a slight curl of her lips. So disgusted? Why did he marry her then? Why did he marry her if he didn’t love her?

Jian Sen Ran put on a worried and concerned expression, approaching Jian Ruo Ci. “Ruo Ci, what happened? You’re covered in blood.”

Jian Ruo Ci’s eyes were filled with undisguised sarcasm. “You don’t know what happened?”

She didn’t answer Jian Sen Ran, and Liang Jin Yu also stepped forward to feign concern.

Jian Sen Ran said in a low voice, only audible to her, “Don’t make a scene. Just get out of here.”

He wanted her to play the role of a harmonious family, but now he was disgusted by her and told her to leave. It was truly laughable.

She was covered in wounds, her father was indifferent, only caring about his own face.

Her hand clenched at her side, the pain in her back made her face pale, and a thin layer of sweat beaded on her forehead. She forced herself to stand straight, bypassing Jian Sen Ran and heading towards the hotel entrance.

Jian Ying’s eyes were full of triumph and satisfaction. Since childhood, she had enjoyed seeing Jian Ruo Ci in this pathetic state. The more pathetic she was, the more excited she became.

Jian Sen Ran apologized to the guests. “My daughter is reckless. She accidentally fell and broke the glasses, disturbing everyone’s enjoyment. I apologize for this.”

The guests all waved their hands dismissively. After all, in the upper circles, the Jian family had status and power, and many people couldn’t even curry favor with them.

Jian Ruo Ci felt a pang of sadness in her heart. She had only taken two steps when the pain became unbearable, and she had to steady herself by holding onto a nearby table.

She looked up again, and that familiar figure was weaving through the crowd, his gaze fixed on her, his aura cold and sharp.

For some reason, she didn’t want him to see her in this pathetic state, so she lowered her head.

Jian Sen Ran saw Pei Yan Zhou and went forward with a smile.

Pei Yan Zhou didn’t give him a glance, passing him by and going to Jian Ruo Ci’s side. He took off his suit jacket and draped it over her.

Jian Ruo Ci was startled. She looked at the suit jacket, still warm from his body, and her gaze fell on Pei Yan Zhou’s face in front of her. She opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed it back down.

“Thank you.”

At first, everyone in the venue thought that Jian Ruo Ci had made a scene on Pei Yan Zhou’s territory, and he was just offering a friendly gesture of comfort.

Until Pei Yan Zhou picked Jian Ruo Ci up horizontally, everyone in the venue was shocked, and they all began to speculate about the relationship between the Jian family’s eldest daughter and the newly listed CEO.

Jian Sen Ran and Liang Jin Yu frowned, Jian Ying’s hands clenched tightly at her side, her eyes fixed on Jian Ruo Ci.

Even Song Xu Chen and Su Jing Xuan, who were watching the drama from the crowd, were shocked and jealous.

Jian Ruo Ci panicked. “Pei Yan Zhou, put me down!”

Pei Yan Zhou lowered his eyes, his voice calm. “Didn’t you say you didn’t know me?”

Jian Ruo Ci struggled. “Where are you taking me?”

She wasn’t used to this kind of intimacy. She struggled a few times, pulling at the wound on her back, causing her to frown in pain.

“Behave yourself.” Pei Yan Zhou’s thin lips parted, his tone cold. “To the hospital.”

Perhaps it was the pain, or perhaps it was the oppressive feeling coming from him, but she didn’t speak anymore.

Jian Ying stood there, stunned. She remembered the look Pei Yan Zhou had given her before leaving, and her heart inexplicably felt uneasy.