Chapter 31

Shen Sichen raised his hand and brightened the lights, leading her towards the sofa. “Don’t scare Tangtang.”

“Tangtang is here!”

“The little princess has arrived.”

Shen Chutang smiled awkwardly. “Hello.”

She vaguely remembered these people. They were probably Shen Sichen’s high school classmates. She had met them before when she went to pick him up from school.

Back then, she was young and everyone called her that. Now, it sounded awkward.

Shen Sichen pushed the fruit platter towards her. “Sit there, eat fruit, watch TV, play games, anything you want, no studying.”

“Yo, Brother Chen, why are you different? Other parents are forcing their kids to study, why aren’t you letting Tangtang study?”

Shen Sichen leaned back on the sofa, crossing his legs. “She hasn’t had a break since the holiday started. I’m afraid she’ll study herself silly.”

“No wonder Tangtang can get first place in the whole school. It seems like she’s very diligent.” Jiang Younian chimed in.

Shen Sichen was startled. “First place in the whole school? Tangtang?”

“What’s wrong!” Shen Chutang shouted at him, seeing his incredulous expression. Is this so surprising?

This made Shen Sichen even more surprised. He looked at Shen Chutang with a meaningful gaze, thinking that he should have Shi Chengyu give her some psychological counseling.

She probably studied this hard because she was afraid of her grades dropping, why put so much pressure on herself?

Shen Chutang had no idea what was going on in his head. She was holding her tablet and watching cartoons.

The others started playing. Some were playing cards, some were singing. Because Shen Chutang was there, the cigarettes and alcohol were put away.

After a while, the door to the private room was suddenly opened. A girl was standing at the door.

“Hey! Who brought the girl here? Didn’t we say no girls today?”

Shen Chutang heard the voice and looked up. A girl in a white dress was standing at the door, her expression cold and composed, as if the words weren’t directed at her.

Shen Sichen kicked the side of the sofa, saying to the girl at the door, “Come in, what are you doing standing there like a door god?”

The girl entered and closed the door. Shen Sichen pointed to Shen Chutang, “You go play with Tangtang for a while.”

Shen Chutang felt like she recognized the girl’s figure, but there were too many girls with that figure. She couldn’t remember where she had seen her. She smiled and patted the seat next to her, gesturing for her to come sit.

The little incident ended, and the playing and revelry continued.

Shen Chutang waved to her, “Hello, my name is Shen Chutang.”

“Zhou Xingyang.” She introduced herself simply.

“Xingyang? Your name is so pretty.”

A stiff smile appeared on Zhou Xingyang’s expressionless face. “Thank you.”

“Do you watch cartoons?” Shen Chutang asked her.

“Thank you, no need.”

She maintained a faint, distant attitude, but Shen Chutang was curious about her. No matter how flatly she answered, Shen Chutang could always find new questions to ask.

“Sister, how old are you? Are you still in school?”

“I’m studying at A University.”

Compared to Zhou Xingyang’s calmness, Shen Chutang was more surprised. “A University! You’re so amazing, Sister.”

Zhou Xingyang didn’t seem to feel anything. In this room full of people, the lowest level was A University. She hadn’t met Shen Sichen’s friends, but she had heard a lot about them.

The things they did abroad, in China, those things that they treated like games were considered amazing achievements by others.

“Sister, can you do this question?”

Shen Chutang’s tablet screen had changed to last year’s Olympiad math competition question.

Zhou Xingyang was slightly taken aback. She hadn’t expected someone to do math problems in a setting like this. Considering that this was the person Shen Sichen had asked her to accompany, she took the tablet and looked at it for a few seconds, then erased the wrong auxiliary line.

“Here, draw the line like this.”

“That’s right!” Shen Chutang suddenly realized. “It’s all because Second Brother insisted on bringing me here. I wouldn’t have drawn it wrong if they weren’t so noisy.”

“He’s your brother?” Zhou Xingyang unconsciously asked. After asking, she realized it was inappropriate, then suddenly remembered that she also had the last name Shen.

“Yeah, Second Brother is so annoying.” Shen Chutang was immersed in her tablet and didn’t notice the strange expression on Zhou Xingyang’s face.

Shen Chutang secretly finished the problem, then started eating fruit, watching the people she didn’t know the names of singing, or more accurately, yelling, making exaggerated expressions and movements. She watched and laughed until her eyes curved.

Except for children, Zhou Xingyang had never seen such a pure, flawless smile on anyone’s face. Her eyes were so bright and clear, it was obvious that she had been protected since she was young.

Such innocence and cuteness could only be nurtured by such a family, not lacking in money, and even less lacking in power.

She was lost in thought, but suddenly heard Shen Sichen call her, “Zhou Xingyang, go to the bar over there and ask them to send some food.”

Zhou Xingyang nodded slightly, then stood up. Shen Chutang also got up from the sofa, “Sister Xingyang, I’ll go with you!” She quickly followed her out of the door.

“Sister Xingyang, can I call you that?” Shen Chutang asked, wanting to reach out and hold her arm, but felt embarrassed. She was weak and easily tired if she didn’t hold onto something when walking.

Zhou Xingyang smiled faintly, “You can call me Xingyang.”

Actually, she wasn’t much older than Shen Chutang.

“Okay.” Shen Chutang responded with a sweet smile.

They reached the bar, Zhou Xingyang handed her the ordering tablet, “See what you want to eat?”

Shen Chutang took the tablet and looked at it. The names were all so strange, she couldn’t understand. She pointed at a drink with a name that looked slightly normal, plus two small cakes.

After returning the tablet to Zhou Xingyang, Shen Chutang looked around. She and Shen Sichen had come early, there weren’t many people, but now the place was crowded, the booths were almost all full.

“Beautiful, can I add you on WeChat?”

Zhou Xingyang turned her head and saw a man standing beside Shen Chutang, tall, thin, and fair, smiling. She was about to refuse for Shen Chutang, but heard her already waving to the man, “Sorry, I didn’t bring my phone.”

The man seemed persistent, seeing the smile on Shen Chutang’s face, he also smiled, “Then what do you want to drink, I’ll—”

His voice stopped abruptly. He suddenly froze, his expression becoming stiff, his gaze fixed on the bracelet on Shen Chutang’s wrist.

Shen Chutang still refused, “No need, we’ve already ordered.”

Zhao Xin smiled awkwardly, feeling a jolt in his heart. If he wasn’t mistaken, the sapphire bracelet on her wrist was the one that was just auctioned off recently, for almost a million. His family was in the jewelry business, he had been exposed to it since he was young, he could tell the authenticity and quality at a glance, the bracelet on her wrist was real.

He couldn’t afford to offend this person. What’s more, if the rumors were true, the person who bought this bracelet was Shi Chengyu. He couldn’t afford to offend him either.

Who would have thought that just casually looking up and seeing a girl who made his heart skip a beat was actually a big shot.

He was about to apologize and leave, but a voice came from behind.

“Tangtang.”

Shen Chutang turned her head, surprised and delighted, “Brother Chengyu? Why are you here? No, how did you know I was here?”

Shi Chengyu had already walked over and stood behind her, one hand around her shoulders, clearly in a protective stance.