Ye Qingqiu looked at Lu Qingze in surprise, as though the two words he just spoke were incredibly hard to understand.

After a moment, she blinked and smiled, saying, “I almost forgot. I need to get up early tomorrow for a scheduled appointment, so I won’t be staying with you guys. Qingze, could you give me a ride?”

Lu Qingze glanced at Ye Qingqiu, but before he could respond, Ji Lingye suddenly spoke up. “The Ye family mansion and Rong Jing Villa aren’t in the same direction. Qingqiu Jie, I’ll give you a ride instead.”

Everyone in the private room turned their attention to Ji Lingye at once.

Was Ji Lingye deliberately interrupting Ye Qingqiu?

Ji Lingye blinked innocently. “What’s wrong?” He acted as if he hadn’t noticed anything unusual about his statement.

Ye Qingqiu instinctively turned to look at Lu Qingze but saw that he had no intention of speaking. The smile on her face instantly faded. “No need, Lingye. I’ll just take a taxi home. You all continue having fun.”

With that, Ye Qingqiu turned and grabbed her bag from the sofa before walking out of the private room.

Ye Jue frowned and glared at Lu Qingze. “Qingze, what are you still standing there for? Go on. I’ll see Mo Mo off.”

Before anyone could react, Su Mo suddenly spoke up, smiling faintly. “Jue Ye, it’s fine. You stay and have fun with everyone. I’m not a child. I’ll just take a taxi. You all enjoy yourselves.”

Ye Jue furrowed his brows and reached out to stop Su Mo, but she instinctively dodged him and left the room without saying another word.

The atmosphere in the room became awkward and strange, with no one able to say exactly what was going on. Yet, everyone felt a subtle tension in the air.

“What’s going on?” Only Xuan Chen, who had been quiet, asked cluelessly, “Why is everyone so silent? Where did Qingqiu Jie go? And why did Miss Su leave too?”

Since entering the room, Lan Yu hadn’t said a word, whether Su Mo or Ye Qingqiu entered. But now, he suddenly picked up a piece of fruit from the table and stuffed it into Xuan Chen’s mouth. “What are you asking for? Just eat your melon.”

Xuan Chen: “…”

Everyone else: “…”

Ji Lingye quickly glanced at Lu Qingze and saw him looking over. He immediately understood.

“I’ll be leaving too, something’s come up at the hospital.”

Ye Jue watched Ji Lingye’s retreating figure with furrowed brows. He really couldn’t understand what was going on with Ji Lingye tonight. Wasn’t everyone usually trying to get Ye Qingqiu and Lu Qingze together?

At that moment, Bai Yifan, who had been watching the drama unfold, suddenly sneered.

“Tsk, what a good show,” he said, looking at Lu Qingze with sarcasm in his tone.

A woman with a complicated relationship with Lu Ziye, who also knew Ye Jue, was one thing, but now Ji Lingye was rushing to send her off, while Lu Qingze had blatantly made it impossible for Qingqiu Jie to back down. This woman was really something!

He chuckled lightly, his usual charming demeanor now replaced with mockery. He was truly very curious about this woman now!

Lu Qingze glanced at him but ignored the sarcasm, slowly putting on his coat.

After Ji Lingye left, he sent a message to Lu Qingze.

“My bad, I shouldn’t have said that. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to send Su Mo back safely.”

Lu Qingze’s phone vibrated. He opened the message and replied.

“Check if her hand is okay. It looked like she got burned earlier.”

Ji Lingye: …

And with that, you still claim you don’t care about her?

But Ji Lingye didn’t have time to tease Lu Qingze any longer. He glanced at his phone and quickly chased after Su Mo.

In the private room, Ye Jue was helpless, while Bai Yifan was still making sarcastic remarks.

“You really don’t understand, do you? Qingqiu’s been in love with you for so long, and now that you just met that woman today, you’re willing to send her off, but not her? All those years of Qingqiu’s feelings for you, I guess they were all wasted.”

“Not on the way.”

“Heh…” Bai Yifan sneered, then suddenly stood up from the sofa. Ye Jue, seeing this, quickly stepped forward to hold him back.

“Bai Er, what are you doing? This is between my sister and Qingze, what are you so anxious about?” Ye Jue glared at Bai Yifan.

Among friends, Ye Jue understood that some things couldn’t be forced. He’d tried to create opportunities for Ye Qingqiu, but whether or not Lu Qingze was moved was up to Ye Qingqiu. Could they really force him?

Bai Yifan forcefully shook Ye Jue off and straightened his clothes, then coldly sneered at Lu Qingze. “So you’re fine with sending that ‘Su’ woman, huh?”

Lu Qingze looked at him, his expression calm. “Do you know what kind of impact this will have?”

With that, he opened the private room door and walked out.

“…Lu Qingze!” Bai Yifan shouted. “Do you even know what that woman is?”

However, no one answered him this time.

“Enough, stop shouting.” Ye Jue rubbed his brow. He had only wanted to introduce a few trustworthy friends to Mo Mo, but he never expected things to end up like this.

“Bai Er, you really don’t need to do this. Can’t you see? Qingze is just showing his attitude tonight. He wants to make it clear to my sister that they are impossible. He’d rather send Mo Mo than her. Do you really want him to refuse any more obviously?”

Bai Yifan sneered, “Does Lu Qingze just not want to get married? Isn’t Qingqiu perfect for him? What does he actually want?”

Ye Jue took a drag from his cigarette and exhaled slowly. “Who knows? Matters of the heart can’t be forced. Stop worrying about it.”

Bai Yifan smiled. “Heh, maybe that woman just happens to be exactly his type.”

Hearing this, Ye Jue’s face immediately darkened. “Bai Er, enough is enough. If you joke like this about Mo Mo again, don’t blame me for being rude!”

Bai Yifan chuckled, finally quieting down. He poured himself a drink and sulked silently.

Ye Jue snorted coldly, but Lan Yu suddenly spoke up.

“Maybe Qingze has a white moonlight and a cinnabar mole.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Bai Yifan didn’t think much of it and laughed lightly.

But Ye Jue, hearing Lan Yu’s words, furrowed his brows slightly. After a moment, he was shocked and sat up straight.

“Do you guys think Qingze still hasn’t gotten over Nuan Nuan?”

“Nuan Nuan? Heh, no way, that was twenty years ago!” Bai Yifan scoffed.

Ye Jue frowned. “No, I think it’s very possible.”

Xuan Chen, who had been listening in confusion, finally spoke up. “Who’s Nuan Nuan? What happened twenty years ago?”

Bai Yifan chuckled. “Who else could it be? Your Qingze Ge’s fiancée.”

“Huh? Qingze Ge has a fiancée?” Xuan Chen was shocked. How had he never heard of this?

Bai Yifan sneered. “Of course he does. And it’s from the Wen family. She’s Wen Jia’s youngest uncle and Shao Ayi’s daughter, named Wen Nuan.”

The Wen family was a prestigious family, one whose influence and power even surpassed the famous Ye family.

Years ago, Wen’s grandfather and Lu’s grandfather had gone through hardships together, and their bond was incredibly strong. They had arranged a marriage between their families, but it was never completed. It dragged on until this generation and finally fell to Lu Qingze.

Back then, the engagement between the Wen and Lu families had been the envy of the entire capital.

“Wen Nuan was especially cute when she was little,” Ye Jue continued. “Although it was a family alliance, Qingze really liked little Wen Nuan.”

“Back then, Qingze was only eleven, and Nuan Nuan was three. I remember whenever she came to the Lu family, she never walked by herself. She was always carried by Qingze. Shao Ayi used to joke that if he kept carrying her like this, Nuan Nuan would forget how to walk.”

“Yes, he carried her all the time. No one else was allowed to touch her.”

“But good times didn’t last. Nuan Nuan disappeared not long after. During that period, Qingze acted like he had gone mad.”

“Yeah, he really seemed like he lost his mind. After he slowly recovered, his personality became darker and harder to read.” Lan Yu added.

Xuan Chen’s eyes widened in surprise. “Are you saying that Qingze Ge hasn’t been in a relationship all these years because he can’t forget Nuan Nuan?”

“But, wasn’t Qingze Ge only eleven back then? Eleven years old, even if he liked her, could he really like her for so many years? And…” Xuan Chen paused. “And Qingze Ge is so cold and distant. He doesn’t seem like someone who would be so infatuated.”

“Matters of the heart, who can say for sure?”