Chapter 45: “I’ll Give You Five Million to Leave Qin Mohuai”

The dinner gathering took place at Tianxi Club.

No wonder the professor, who had yet to experience the harsh realities of life, eagerly organized this dinner—it turned out he was secretly wealthy!

Tianxi Club’s private rooms started at a minimum price of 2,888 yuan.

As the top social club in Xiangzhou, Tianxi Club was renowned. While the most expensive private room was capped at 9,998 yuan, just opening a couple of bottles of vintage estate wine could easily rack up a bill of hundreds of thousands for a night, making it a true money pit.

Li Zhiyuan had reserved a 2,888 yuan room, and by the time Xia Yuan arrived, she was the only one missing.

Since he wasn’t guiding graduate students but undergraduates on their thesis, there were more than ten people in attendance.

All of them were from the same school, and some were even from the same class. With Li Zhiyuan’s laid-back and easygoing demeanor, the atmosphere was lively.

As Xia Yuan walked in, the conversations stopped, and everyone’s eyes immediately turned toward her.

Was this really Xia Yuan?

How could she be even more beautiful than the campus belle?

Had the people who voted been blind?

No wonder the campus beauty contest lost—it was because they’d chosen the wrong person!

A girl from Xia Yuan’s class waved to her. “There’s a seat here.”

Xia Yuan naturally made her way over.

As she walked, she realized something was off. Everyone was dressed simply—in t-shirts and jeans or casual floral dresses.

And she…

She was wearing a floor-length mermaid gown in a soft, nude pink satin, as exquisite as haute couture. The dress didn’t quite reach the floor but skimmed her pale, slender ankles. Luxurious but understated, she looked like a pearl glowing softly in a display case, exuding a delicate, rare elegance.

When she stood next to Qin Mohuai, there was no sense of incongruity, but among her classmates and professors, she suddenly felt like she was playing a very different role. Her toes curled inward with a touch of social anxiety, feeling slightly out of place.

But beautiful people always get special treatment.

Someone asked if Xia Yuan was cold and offered to have the waiter bring her a shawl.

Another person, using communal chopsticks, placed some food on her plate, telling her she was too thin and should eat more.

Li Zhiyuan, sitting diagonally across from Xia Yuan, remembered seeing her last time in a pink, fitted qipao, paired with a string of thumb-sized pearls around her neck. She had looked like a wealthy, pampered woman—like a young wife kept by a warlor, her eyes pure despite the chaos around her.

Someone with Xia Yuan’s beauty, without enough power to protect herself, could easily become prey in the social scene, where anyone would try to pursue her.

This was Xiangzhou, a city filled with influential families. Even if you excluded the handful of elite families with real power, it was still the kind of place where you could throw a brick and likely hit a second-generation rich kid.

Last time, he had only wondered if Xia Yuan had undergone plastic surgery. In hindsight, what he should have done was remind her to keep a low profile and hide her sharp edges.

Sitting next to Xia Yuan was Wu You, a classmate of her whispered, “Did you win the lottery?”

If she remembered correctly, Xia Yuan’s family background was ordinary. She could tell from the shoes Xia Yuan usually wore—either off-brand or a pair of Converse. But now, Xia Yuan’s small high-heeled sandals perfectly matched the nude pink of her dress, without a hint of color mismatch, clearly custom-made.

Xia Yuan smiled mysteriously but didn’t deny it.

She had placed her bet on Qin Mohuai—how could that not be considered winning the lottery?

Wu You continued, “I buy lottery tickets every day too, but the most I’ve won is a few hundred yuan. How much did you win?”

Although the two were classmates, Xia Yuan and Wu You weren’t particularly close, so Xia Yuan could easily decline to answer. Instead, she responded dismissively, “Not much, just enough to buy clothes, bags, and jewelry—I’ve almost spent it all.”

Wu You believed her, thinking to herself that Xia Yuan’s outfit must have cost at least five or six figures.

Beautiful, and lucky too—how unfair the world could be!

The boy sitting to Xia Yuan’s left chimed in, “Nowadays, girls dress up for themselves, and I think that’s commendable.”

Unexpectedly, his mindset seemed progressive.

Wu You immediately exposed him, “Wang Bin, weren’t you just complaining about how much your girlfriend spends and that she doesn’t know how to manage her money?”

Xia Yuan quickly withdrew the appreciative look she had just given him.

Wang Bin launched into a lengthy explanation, but no one was listening to him anymore.

After a few bites of food, Wu You couldn’t resist gossiping, “Are you still in touch with Mu Yao? He’s the campus heartthrob, and after going abroad to study, a lot of people followed his social media. It seems like he still hasn’t gotten a girlfriend.”

Xia Yuan’s expression subtly shifted. Thankfully, she hadn’t brought Qin Mohuai tonight, or things would’ve escalated.

The name “Mu Yao” had practically become a trigger for Qin Mohuai. The mere mention of Mu Yao guaranteed a fight between them.

Xia Yuan tilted her head up, gazing at the glittering French crystal chandelier. Wu You asked her what she was looking at.

“Nothing.”

She was just thinking about Qin Mohuai, waiting for her in a private room on the top floor of Tianxi Club to take her home.

Wang Bin kept pestering Xia Yuan, trying to convince her he wasn’t a shallow guy. Seeing this, Li Zhiyuan intervened, “Xia, could you step outside for a moment? My mentor is having dinner upstairs. He’s done research on the topic you’re currently studying. I’ll introduce you.”

Xia Yuan got up and left the room with Li Zhiyuan.

Envious glances followed her until she disappeared from sight.

“Professor Li is so kind to Xia Yuan.”

“Well, her research topic aligns with the mentor’s work.”

“She’s both beautiful and talented. If I were Mu Yao, I wouldn’t have let her go abroad.”

“So, why did Mu Yao and Xia Yuan break up?”

Back in the day, Xia Yuan wore thick bangs, heavy black-framed glasses, and simple, plain clothes, hiding her true beauty.

Mu Yao, on the other hand, was the campus heartthrob at Xiangzhou University. Handsome, a poet, a basketball player, and a violinist, he even showed off some martial arts during military training. He was constantly the center of attention, and by association, Xia Yuan’s name came up often, mostly with people mocking her, calling her an ugly girl.

Xia Yuan had once asked the system why someone like Mu Yao would be interested in the “ugly” version of her.

The system had replied, “He used to frequent your mom’s small restaurant and saw pictures of you as a child when you were cute. That’s why he’s always liked you.”

Unbelievable!

So Mu Yao had been duped all along?

He had no idea that his childhood sweetheart had died from an overdose and only knew that she’d abandoned him for a rich man.

Xia Yuan commented, “I’ve seen stories like this before, the kind that tugs at your heartstrings. One even became a hit movie, and I wrote a song for it. These stories typically follow one of two paths. Either the childhood friend works hard and wins back the girl, or the girl wakes up to her mistakes, and the childhood friend triumphs over the new love interest.”

“But regardless of the outcome, Mu Yao and Xia Yuan’s story already ended, and it cost Xia Yuan her life before she even fell in love with Qin Mohuai. I just hope Mu Yao doesn’t keep holding on to the past and can find his own new beginning.”

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Li Zhiyuan’s mentor wasn’t actually at Tianxi Club. He had only called Xia Yuan out to advise her to keep a low profile.

“Sure,” Xia Yuan agreed. She had worked part-time in over a dozen different jobs and had her own set of survival rules. She didn’t need anyone’s advice.

Pretending to be obedient was just another way she protected herself.

Satisfied, Li Zhiyuan returned to the private room while Xia Yuan headed to the restroom.

When she came out, she encountered a middle-aged man in a navy blue suit.

“You’re Xia Yuan, right? I’m Ouyang Jing’s father. I want you to leave Qin Mohuai. Will five million be enough? If not, I can offer more. But I want you to leave Xiangzhou and never come back.”