Chapter 39.1 – It’s All Thanks to the Contrast With My Peers

Several years have passed, and those who used to have fun together have undergone significant changes.

Many among them have gossiped about Zhou Ziyi in secret and laughed at jokes about him, but that does not stop them from surrounding Zhou Ziyi and chatting with him.

Zhou Ziyi held a glass of wine, shuttling back and forth in front of the buffet, simultaneously dealing with everyone who came to talk to him. Whether others mentioned past events, asked about his current life, or intentionally or unintentionally brought up the sudden incident in his family years ago, Zhou Ziyi responded effortlessly. The embarrassment, gloominess, pretending to be something he’s not, or deliberate show-off that people imagined, seemed to have not appeared on this young man.

He was like the Zhou Ziyi who used to walk among the crowd, able to strike up a conversation with everyone, but those he didn’t want to get close to never received more attention from him. Yet he was not the same young man from back then; all those ill-intentioned inquiries and backstabbing were all bounced back by him in a mature and decent manner.

No way, who made the title “President’s Wife” of Hua Hao Group so useful?

Even though Zhou Ziyi is dressed as the stylish center of a male group today, he wears a wedding ring on his hand, carries sunglasses bought by Yan Xiuzhi, and has a wedding gift from the Chu family – a Patek Philippe watch. Anyone who looks at him would not think that he had a hard time at the Yan family’s.

So, someone sighed in the corner, “This Zhou Ziyi is really lucky; he can climb back up even after such a miserable fall. It seems that the Yan family really treats him well.”

But others retorted, “Who knows if he’s pretending to be okay? Yan Wenwu doesn’t even acknowledge him, how could he be at ease?”

Some even said, “Yeah, the Yan family has such a huge industry, and Yan Xiuzhi is still an only child; how could he not leave behind any descendants?”

However, regardless of whether these people were envious or jealous, the sudden appearance of Zhou Ziyi was undoubtedly the focus of tonight.

But soon, a small group of people gathered together, whispering and discussing something. Then, they looked at Zhou Ziyi with an obvious sneer on their faces.

Zhou Ziyi didn’t notice, but Tang Shirong saw it all clearly. Tang Shirong quickly ran up to Zhou Ziyi, approaching him to report quietly, “A few jerks are looking at you with gloating expressions; I suspect they’re up to something. Be careful.”

Zhou Ziyi turned his head and asked, “Up to something?”

Tang Shirong shook his head, “I didn’t hear what they said.”

“Okay,” Zhou Ziyi chuckled lightly, “I’ll adapt as circumstances change, like a flexible strategy in response to changing situations.”

Tang Shirong said, “True, after all, you still have Yan Xiuzhi backing you up; they probably won’t dare to do anything to you.”
A little while later, Zhou Ziyi and Tang Shirong finally found out what these people were up to.

“Damn…”

Zhou Ziyi glanced at the man walking into the hall and couldn’t help but curse under his breath, “…Why is it him!”

Tang Shirong was also surprised and immediately went to Zhou Ziyi’s side: “These people really want to see you embarrassed! They even brought Sheffield!”

Yes, Sheffield, who used to flirt with Zhou Ziyi, play annoying tricks, and talk nonsense, had arrived.

He was wearing a dark casual suit, his hair combed up, with a slight smirk at the corners of his mouth and eyes, showing off his charm. Compared to a few years ago, he had matured slightly, but in Zhou Ziyi’s eyes, he still looked like the annoying ghost from before.

As a married man, Zhou Ziyi didn’t want to get involved with this troublesome guy.
However, just because Zhou Ziyi didn’t go looking for trouble, it didn’t mean trouble wouldn’t find him.

“Hey, Sullivan!” ^[1]Sullivan is Zhou Ziyi nickname, it would be explained by Tang Shirong in the next chapter.(⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠).

Sheffield had only been in for five minutes, but he quickly found Zhou Ziyi standing in the corner, and approached him: “Long time no see, you’re still so charming, I’ve missed you so much!”

With that, he opened his arms as if to embrace him.
Zhou Ziyi raised an eyebrow, took two steps back directly, and said, “Long time no see, Sheffield. Sorry, I don’t really miss you.”

Sheffield was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled softly, “I know you’re married, Sullivan, but are you the kind of person who abandons friendship for love?”

Zhou Ziyi glanced at him and said lightly, “I don’t seem to have much of a friendship with you either.”

“These words are truly heartbreaking,” Sheffield smiled, then suddenly took two steps closer. “I heard that you are deeply in debt and in great difficulty… why don’t you come to me?”

Zhou Ziyi was about to be backed into a corner by further retreat, so he had to resort to a tactical lean back. “This has nothing to do with you,” he said.

“It can have something to do with me,” Sheffield chuckled softly. “Has your husband helped you pay off your debts? If not, maybe you should consider switching to me for help.”

Zhou Ziyi narrowed his eyes.

“And I don’t need you in exchange for marriage,” Sheffield said, “just as a lover, or shall we say, a joyful bed companion. How about it, isn’t that easy?”

“Not interested,” Zhou Ziyi said with a cold face. “Mind your words, Sheffield.”

“It’s nothing, Sullivan. You should be a very open-minded person, shouldn’t you?” Sheffield smiled. “I didn’t know you’d come out before, so I was just joking with you. Now, since you’re willing to marry a man for money, I can talk seriously with you.” Lowering his voice, he coaxed persuasively, “Be my lover, one million dollars a year, how about it?”

“Not interested,” Zhou Ziyi said coldly, “You are insulting me, Sheffield!”

Sheffield shrugged it off. “How is this an insult? Sullivan, you should know, many people want to be my lover…”

“Get lost, stay away from me!”
Zhou Ziyi coldly threw these words and turned away.

Everyone was paying attention to the situation between Zhou Ziyi and Sheffield. When Zhou Ziyi walked away with a cold face, everyone had a feeling of ‘just as expected.’

Many people had heard before that Sheffield had made bold remarks about Zhou Ziyi’s marriage, and now it seems that Sheffield might have had the audacity to say it to his face.

It seems that Sheffield doesn’t even care about Yan Xiuzhi.