At first, Jiang Baiwan felt that Ji Chen’s cold face would offend others. But after the banquet had started for a while, Jiang Baiwan vaguely understood—— Even if Ji Chen had a cold face, a bunch of people would still stick to him and no matter how bad Ji Chen treated them, those people would not change their attitude towards him.

“Is this the power that money brings?” Jiang Baiwan took the champagne handed to her by the waiter and couldn’t help sighing softly at Ji Chen. “Look at the way they smile at you, their mouths are almost splitting.”

Ji Chen was quite chill. “I’ve seen it a lot. There are very few people who won’t smile at me like that.”

Jiang Baiwan rolled her eyes a little as she deliberately bickers with Ji Chen. “Look, Chu Yunhan won’t also smile at you like that.”

Ji Chen raised his eyes and glanced at Chu Yunhan in the distance, and then withdrew his eyes again. “Well, very few don’t mean there isn’t. Besides, didn’t you just say it? I also suspect that there’s something wrong with that two people’s brains.”

Jiang Baiwan still wanted to say a few words to Ji Chen, but at this time the current president of the Gu family stood up on the makeshift stage, picked up the microphone and began to speak. Jiang Baiwan could only keep her mouth shut and stood beside Ji Chen listening to the speaker’s words. From time to time, she would applaud along with the crowd.

After the current president of the Gu family talked for a while, he finally got to the topic. “Let’s welcome President Ji to the stage to say a few words.”

Ji Chen signaled Jiang Baiwan to stand still, and when she nodded, Ji Chen went up. The Gu family’s president was obviously not young anymore, while Ji Chen already had an outstanding appearance. Now standing on the stage under the spotlight, Ji Chen looked extra chic, and the president of the Gu family next to him suddenly look like a local tycoon.

Holding the champagne in her hand, Jiang Baiwan looked at Ji Chen who was speaking on stage with an inexplicable sense of pride in her heart—— Such a handsome guy now has his eyes on me, this sense of achievement is really amazing.

Ji Chen stood on the stage talking while his eyes did not leave Jiang Baiwan. The two looked at each other tacitly, and smiled from time to time.

All of this fell into the eyes of Shui Lan’er who was nearby. As Shui Lan’er looked at Ji Chen on the stage, and then at Jiang Baiwan who was obviously immersed in happiness, the impulsive jealousy surged out of her heart again.

Chu Yunhan was very good, but compared to Ji Chen on stage, even Chu Yunhan paled in comparison. Shui Lan’ers heart was tormented and she could only quickly drink up the champagne in her glass in order to suppress the rising feeling of jealousy.

Jiang Baiwan didn’t notice Shui Lan’ers abnormality as she was preoccupied. After Ji Chen came down, Jiang Baiwan greeted him with a smile. She wasn’t stingy with her praise and was very frank, “You looked so handsome just now!”

“Is that so?” Ji Chen smiled back and asked her, “Then you like it?”

Jiang Baiwan’s eyes sparkled. “I super like it!”

Ji Chen still wanted to say something to Jiang Baiwan, but she was squeezed out by the people next to him that were enthusiastically proposing toast to Ji Chen. In a flash, Jiang Baiwan was pushed to the back of the crowd. Ji Chen looked at her worriedly, while Jiang Baiwan raised her eyebrows at him before raising the cup in her hand, mouthing towards him—— It’s fine, you don’t have to worry about me.

Ji Chen could only gather his energy to deal with these people. Jiang Baiwan stood behind the crowd, occasionally grabbing a piece of fruit on the table to eat, which was quite pleasant.

“Xiao Wan?” Just as Jiang Baiwan was comfortably eating fruits, someone suddenly called her from behind. Jiang Baiwan shivered and when she turned her face around, her expression was quite indescribable. “……Why are you here again?”

Shui Lan’er stood in front of Jiang Baiwan, her deer-like eyes looking timid. Hearing that Jiang Baiwan’s tone didn’t seem right, Shui Lan’er explained in a bit of a panic, “I-I just wanted to come and say hello to you, there’s no malice.”

Jiang Baiwan sighed. She looked at Shui Lan’er who was holding her right arm. “You’ve already said hello. Can you go back now?”

Shui Lan’er bit her lips. “Xiao Wan, what you did last time…… Actually, I’m not angry with you. I want us to reconcile.”

“Isn’t this a little inappropriate for the occasion?” Jiang Baiwan smiled instead. She originally had a slightly aggressive appearance.  It was fine since she doesn’t wear makeup on a regular basis, but today she was all dressed up and had on a bright red lipstick. At this moment, Jiang Baiwan had a very intimidating aura.

She added. “I don’t know exactly what you’re thinking, but Shui Lan’er, I thought I have made it very clear last time. You and I have never been friends, and I wouldn’t want to be friends with a selfish woman. I may have been bad in the past, but I do it openly, and of course, that’s not to say that what I did wasn’t wrong.”

Jiang Baiwan paused, then carried on, “I apologize to you for all the things I did wrong before. Of course, Chu Yunhan has already gotten justice for you, hasn’t he? From the moment he drove my family into bankruptcy, Shui Lan’er, you should have known that it’s impossible for me to continue to get along well with you.”

Shui Lan’er eagerly tried to say something but was cut off by Jiang Baiwan, “Enough, don’t say too much. I don’t intend to get you into trouble at today’s gathering. Don’t run into my gun on your own, otherwise……”

Jiang Baiwan didn’t finish her sentence, but just smiled at Shui Lan’er.

Shui Lan’er couldn’t help taking a step back due to Jiang Baiwan’s smile. When she realized what she was doing, her face turned pale instantly.

Jiang Baiwan shook her head and was about to turn around and walk away when she saw Chu Yunhan striding over. He immediately shielded Shui Lan’er behind him and because there were people around, he didn’t argue with Jiang Baiwan but furrowed his brows tightly. “What do you want again?”

“I should be the one saying that, right?” The innocent Jiang Baiwan felt like it was snowing in June^[1]a metaphor for a miscarriage of justice; from the Chinese play 《The Injustice to Dou E》. “Chu Yunhan, today is an important day for Ji Chen. Don’t let Shui Lan’er leave your side, okay?”

Chu Yunhan gritted his teeth, but in the end he was still afraid of Ji Chen, so he pulled Shui Lan’er away. Jiang Baiwan pressed her temples wearily—— This was simply forcing people to be a vicious female supporting character.

“What happened?” Ji Chen happened to be back at this time. “I just saw Chu Yunhan come looking for you.”

Jiang Baiwan didn’t want to say more. “It’s nothing. You also know that there’s really nothing to talk about between us.”

Ji Chen glanced at Chu Yunhan. “Don’t be afraid. If they dare do anything today, just go ahead and do what you want. I’m here.”

Jiang Baiwan chuckled twice, her eyebrows curved up, looking silly.

———

“Hey! Move your asses! Dinner is about to start!” The kitchen was full of noise, occasionally mixed with a lot of shouts. The chef was so busy that his feet weren’t even touching the ground. He was wandering around the kitchen, directing everyone’s movements. “You over there! The one making the soup! Isn’t it done yet?! “

“It’s done, Chef!” The person assigned to make the soup replied quickly and hurriedly sent it out, while the waiters also put all the prepared soup on the trays and started to go out like flowing water. Everything was fast and methodical, organized in the rush.

Gu Dongcheng was among the waiters. He was holding a tray in his hand. His current appearance was quite different from before. He was originally a good-looking man, but now he looked quite changed and his skin was also much darker. If Gu Dongcheng stood in front of Ji Ying right now, she probably wouldn’t even recognize him.

He followed silently at the end of the line, and after seeing that the people in front was some distance away, Gu Dongcheng saw the right timing and walked into the fire exit. He put the tray in his hand on the ground, took out something from his pocket, and squeezed it into one of the bowls.

Looking at the soup that had already been spiked, a distorted smile appeared on Gu Dongcheng’s face—— Jiang Baiwan, it’s all because of you that I’ve fallen to this day. Don’t you want to be inseparable with Ji Chen? You framed and insulted me at the resort hotel, so today, I will let you taste the pain and humiliation I’ve experienced!

Gu Dongcheng didn’t dare delay for too long. He quickly went out again with the tray in his hand. He had already observed that the waiters assigned in the hall serves the dishes in an orderly manner, so he specifically put the bowl of soup prepared for Jiang Baiwan in the designated place. By the time he arrived at the entrance of the hall, a bunch of waiters were already standing there.

……In his excitement, Gu Dongcheng barely suppressed his crazy heartbeat. He handed the tray in his hand to one waiter. The other person looked at Gu Dongcheng’s distorted face and couldn’t help wondering. “What’s the matter with you?”

“No, it’s nothing.” Gu Dongcheng quickly restrained his smile. “I’m just a little…… a little upset, yes, I have an upset stomach.”

The waiter scanned him again. “Go to the bathroom if you have a stomachache. That look on your face just now can scare people to death.”

Gu Dongcheng’s face turned ugly again, but this time the waiter didn’t see it, he had already gone inside the hall along with the tray. Gu Dongcheng did not leave. He quietly lay in wait outside the door, looking at the guests coming and going, his eyes full of greed.

——As long as he succeeded this time, he would be able to return to his original position and get back those things that belong to him! By then, no matter if it was Jiang Baiwan or Ji Ying, the woman who tricked him, or even Ji Chen or the Ji family, they would all be trampled under his feet!

Thinking of this, Gu Dongcheng’s eyes couldn’t help squinting, immersed in his beautiful dreams for the future. He didn’t notice that not far away, there was a man watching him while communicating with someone outside. “He should have succeeded. It’s your turn.”