Jiang Cheng laughed cheekily, “Boss, what a coincidence! I didn’t expect to run into you here.”

Yu Wanlai: ……… Did not expect it! “What brings you here?”

Jiang Cheng whispered mysteriously, leaning closer to Yu Wanlai, “I heard it’s a Bai family banquet, so I came. I wanted to see what the gentle and kind-hearted heroine described in books really looks like.”

Yu Wanlai glanced at Jiang Cheng, who seemed to be going with the flow and still managed to have fun on his own. Was he the only one struggling to survive in the cracks of this world? Still, he wasn’t entirely at ease, “Really? Not short on money? If you are, I can…”

Jiang Cheng immediately shook his head, “No need, I’m not short on money. This girl has quite a bit saved up, and I earn enough to spend on my own.”

Yu Wanlai still didn’t understand why this person, so young, wanted to end it all. “Alright then,” Yu Wanlai reluctantly let go of his worries. “How did you know the heroine would show up today?”

Jiang Cheng responded, “I don’t know.”

Yu Wanlai: ………

He picked up a glass of wine and waved it dismissively, “Forget it, forget it, you can go now.” This fool.

Holding the glass, Yu Wanlai walked towards the long table, intending to see what food was available since he didn’t have much to do. When he saw there was still steak, he couldn’t help but twitch his mouth. There were only a few tables in this hall, and yet they put this stuff here—did they want guests to stand while cutting the meat? Obviously, Bai Yi’s masterpiece!

Yu Wanlai picked two pieces of appetizers and placed them on his plate, about to eat when he heard some people gossiping nearby.

“Who is this? How did they get in? Just came in and started eating?”
“Don’t know, never seen them in the circle. Could they be someone’s little lover?”
“Seriously, all kinds of people here!”
“The world’s going downhill!”

Yu Wanlai looked around and saw that he was the only one nearby. Unbelievable, why do people have to talk about others to their face like this? “…”

But he was preparing to ignore them. However, the voices seemed to get louder.

“Hey, look at how he holds the glass.”
“The taste of this wine…”
“But I swear his clothes look like a super seasonal piece from BV.”
“Fake!”
“Which sugar daddy is this generous?!”
“But those legs though…”

Yu Wanlai slammed the wine glass down on the table with a thud, turned impatiently, and looked at the group.

The people were startled by his sudden movement, but after a moment, they became emboldened again. One of them, wearing a light blue suit, blurted out, “What? What are you staring at?”

Yu Wanlai smiled faintly, though his eyes showed no warmth, “I’m just seeing… how a piece of trash evaluates humans?”

The two people standing beside the blue suit froze upon seeing Yu Wanlai. They hadn’t expected this person not only had a good figure but also looked so superior. Only the guy in the blue suit was still trying to come up with a retort, “Who are you calling trash?”

Yu Wanlai sneered, “Whoever replies is the one I’m talking about.”

The other two immediately slapped their chests in unison, exhaling with relief, “Phew,” glad it wasn’t about them. They promised never to gossip about others again.

The blue-suited man, not knowing how to retort, turned to look at his two friends, “I’m not saying anything, but didn’t you two talk earlier? He didn’t mention you, right? Got tongue-tied?”

The man in the red suit, standing on the right, shrugged nonchalantly, “Haha, I didn’t say anything!”

“You two were the ones talking non-stop. If you’re going to say it, just say it. What are you upset about? Didn’t you start it? Really!”

The man in the red suit was speechless. How did he end up hanging out with these two? They were so dismissive, yet the other person wasn’t beneath them at all.

He couldn’t be bothered to talk to them anymore. He took a few steps forward and walked up to Yu Wanlai’s side.

Yu Wanlai: ……… Seriously, do they want to continue insulting him? Are these people so bored? Are their mouths always this chatty?

He clicked his tongue and turned to look at the newcomer, his tone full of irritation, “What do you want?”

The man in the red suit handed him a business card with a polite smile, “Don’t be in a hurry, I’m not here to settle scores. I’m not with them. My name is Gu De.”

Yu Wanlai couldn’t remember this character from the original book; maybe he was just some extra. He was thinking this when the person next to him waved his hand in front of his eyes. He snapped back to attention and looked at Gu De, still not taking the business card. “What’s up?”

Gu De smiled and patiently explained again, “I didn’t say anything about you earlier, so maybe we can get to know each other?”

Yu Wanlai: What’s wrong with this person? How can he be more familiar than me? Does he think I’m blind?

He clicked his tongue, took the business card, and stuffed it into his pocket. “Alright, we’re acquainted now. Your name is Gu De. You can leave now.”

Gu De hesitated for a moment, unsure what to say, and after a long pause, asked, “Can I know your name?”

Yu Wanlai frowned. This situation was getting strange. “Yu Wanlai.”

Gu De understood immediately, realizing this person was from the Yu family, but he also remembered that the Yu family only had one son, so maybe this was a distant relative.

Just then, after finishing his conversation, Yu Qingyue returned. He stood in the middle of the hall, searching for Yu Wanlai. After a while, he spotted him in the corner and relaxed when he saw Yu Wanlai was behaving calmly.

Yu Wanlai seemed to sense something, raised his eyes, and saw Yu Qingyue in the distance. He immediately waved happily, smiling widely.

Yu Qingyue paused for a moment, hesitating whether to approach. After all, Yu Wanlai’s smile was a bit too silly.

Seeing that Yu Wanlai had stopped, he put his wine glass down and walked toward him. Just as he got close, Yu Wanlai suddenly saw a woman in a simple white gown embrace Yu Qingyue.

Yu Wanlai froze in place, his eyes wide open, ‘Wow?!‘ Who was this bold?

He suddenly remembered that the male lead in this story only had the female lead as a partner, so… Jiang Xiaotian’s words were right after all. But looking at this scene, it didn’t seem like the delicate willow type; she didn’t appear gentle either. And their romantic relationship had already started this early?

Yu Wanlai could only turn back and return to the table, thinking it was better not to disturb them.

Gu De followed Yu Wanlai’s gaze and mistakenly thought he was looking at the woman. He sighed inwardly, thinking, ‘What a pity‘. After returning to the country for so long, he finally met someone he was interested in, but it turned out to be a straight guy. He left with a bit of regret.

On the other side, Yu Qingyue, seeing that Yu Wanlai was walking toward him, simply stopped and waited. He didn’t notice someone suddenly rushing toward him.

He was pushed back a step by the sudden force. When he focused on the person in front of him, his voice grew cold, “Bai Jian! Didn’t I tell you not to hug me so casually?”

He pulled the person off him and glanced at the spot where Yu Wanlai was, but he was no longer there.

Bai Jian wasn’t angry at being pushed away. Instead, he stepped forward and wrapped his arm around Yu Qingyue’s. “Ah, I didn’t remember, Qingyue-ge^[1]Brother! We haven’t seen each other in so long. Why are you still so distant?”

Yu Qingyue struggled to free his arm and pulled away, “You’re not a kid anymore. Don’t act like you did before. You need to learn to keep some distance from men.”

Bai Jian pouted, “You’re not anyone else. I haven’t been back for so many years, and you don’t even miss me. You must have a new lover, so you’ve forgotten about me!”

Yu Qingyue was about to speak when Bai Yi had already finished greeting the guests and came over.

He knocked Bai Jian on the head, “You! I’ve told you not to be so reckless. In public, it’s not good to be pulling on a man like that.”

Bai Jian rubbed her head, angrily taking out her phone from her small bag to check her appearance. “I told you too, don’t mess with girls’ hair! What if you ruin my style?!”

“Besides, you’re my brother, and he’s my brother. If I can hug you, why can’t I hug him? What’s wrong with that? If anyone dares to talk nonsense, I’ll knock their heads off.”

Bai Yi took a deep breath and silently repeated to himself, ‘This is my little sister, I can’t hit her, I can’t hit her!‘ He couldn’t understand. When she was little, she would cry with tears all over her face if she fell and would ask him for a soft cake to comfort her. But now, she was like this. While others were learning piano, she was learning Taekwondo. While others played golf, she was skiing, diving, and jumping from heights of over ten meters. She even liked skydiving. Bai Yi had watched a video of Bai Jian skydiving once, and seriously, his heart nearly stopped.

He sneered, “You? A girl? Look at yourself—do you even look like a girl?”

Bai Jian put down her phone, “Bro, I’m gonna call you out now. Everyone has the right to live the way they want, and things aren’t defined by gender!”

Yu Qingyue didn’t want to get involved in their usual family arguments, so he quietly stepped back a few paces, intending to distance himself from the battlefield.

…

The melody paused, and Mr. Bai took the stage to give a speech. He then announced that Bai Yi would officially take up the position of General Manager of the Bai Group’s first branch. Bai Yi also gave a speech, and that’s when the banquet officially began.

Bai Jian clapped her hands, “Wow, bro, did you see that? Eldest brother and second brother’s faces are turning green, haha!”

“It was worth all the effort I put in to rush back, what a great show.”

“Right? Isn’t it, Qingyue-ge?” She turned to look at the person beside her, but by then, there was no one there.

Bai Jian: ……

Yu Wanlai returned to the table, grabbed some snacks, and quietly sat in a corner to eat. The estate was on a mountainside, and it had taken them two hours to drive there. They left early and hadn’t had dinner, so he was very hungry.

Yu Wanlai had unknowingly drunk three glasses of champagne that night. The drink had a light citrus fragrance, which he quite liked. He felt a little tipsy, but he was still planning to have a fourth glass.

He realized he didn’t particularly enjoy these kinds of events, and if there was another one in the future, he intended to decline.

He waved over a waiter to get another glass of wine, but when he reached out, his hand missed the glass. Frowning, he coldly asked, “What’s going on?”

Jiang Cheng placed the tray on the small table, grabbed Yu Wanlai’s arm urgently, her voice filled with anxiety. “Hey, boss, stop drinking, something happened. You need to think of a way out!”

Yu Wanlai leaned slightly back into his chair, clicking his tongue. “It’s you… You really think I can fix everything? What happened?”