Ji Xi led Wen Ruan to the room on the second floor where a few girls were gathered, chatting. When the two entered, the conversation stopped and all eyes turned to Wen Ruan, as if it were expected.
Wen Ruan knew all these girls.
Sitting on the sofa, wearing a red dress, was Miss Li from the Li family. Her name was Jiao, the same person who had driven Su Lanlan out of the WeChat group.
On the left was Xia You, in a white dress, showing a shy and reserved demeanor. When Wen Ruan looked over, she nodded and blushed involuntarily.
As for the girl on the right—
If Wen Ruan recalled correctly, she was Miss Zheng from the Zheng family, named Fu. She had an egg-shaped face, with eyes that were both charming and captivating.
Wen Ruan knew these people, but she had little interaction with them. Before marrying Lin Qinghan, aside from Ji Xi, she rarely interacted with others. After marrying Lin Qinghan, her circle changed, and her interactions with them became even less frequent.
Ji Xi kicked off her high heels as soon as she entered the room and walked barefoot on the carpet. "I'm so tired," she complained. "I don’t understand why they're so keen on these things. In my opinion, it would be better to book a private room in a bar and have a drink and dance, rather than standing around here with airs and graces." Grumbling, she took Wen Ruan's hand and plopped down on the sofa opposite the three.
Feeling fatigued, she said, "You all know each other, so I won't introduce you."
Zheng Fu was the most active one. She leaned over to Wen Ruan and nodded seriously, “It seems Ji Xi was right about you.”
Although Wen Ruan had little interaction with them in the past, she trusted Ji Xi's judgment. Anyone who got along with Ji Xi couldn't be too bad. So she asked with a smile, “What did she say?”
“She said that you and Lin Qinghan voluntarily divorced and are living a very comfortable life, without any grievances,” Zheng Fu said with a smile, and then added, “We didn't believe it earlier, but now seeing you like this, we believe it. Lin Qinghan must be blind to agree to divorce you.”
Li Jiao couldn't keep a straight face upon hearing this. “Didn't you like Lin Qinghan before? Now suddenly you're willing to criticize him?”
“Bah!”
Zheng Fu sneered, “It wasn't that I liked him. I was just blindly following the trend. There are so many men in the world without a third leg. Men with two legs are everywhere.” After speaking, she patted Wen Ruan's shoulder. “Sister, I have nothing, just a lot of high-quality men that I know.”
“If you need anything, just tell me, and I’ll make sure you’re satisfied.”
Wen Ruan: ??? She couldn't help feeling that this was strange.
Ji Xi kicked at her and said, “Don't come here to cause trouble for my dear Ruan.”
Shrugging, Zheng Fu adjusted her hair. “You guys just don't know how to enjoy. Immerse yourself in a man—what's the point? The world is so big, and the ocean so vast. You should go out and see more.”
As she spoke, she assessed, “Wen Ruan, you too, Li Jiao.” Just as she turned her gaze, she was given a stern glare. She pursed her lips and turned to Xia You, shaking her head. “You, Xia You, should be excused. You're still young. I'll take you to see the world in a few years.”
Although Xia You was young, she was quite perceptive. Upon hearing this, her face became even redder.
Even Li Jiao, who had been smiling and playful, couldn't stand it and threw a pillow at her. “Just be normal.” Seeing Zheng Fu raise her hand in surrender, she turned her gaze to Wen Ruan, tilting her chin, “I didn’t like you at first.”
“Seeing you follow Lin Qinghan around, being so submissive and careful, I couldn’t help but look down on you.”
The group, who had been laughing and joking, was caught off guard by her words. Ji Xi sat up straight, holding Wen Ruan's hand, looking grim.
“But—”
Before anyone could respond, Li Jiao suddenly laughed, “But now I quite like you. Regardless of the circumstances.” She reached out to Wen Ruan. “Congratulations on your new beginning.”
Wen Ruan looked at the fair hand in front of her, then smiled and reached out, “Thank you.”
With this exchange, the tension between them dissipated. Even Xia You, who had been very shy, blushed and asked, “Wen Ruan, I, I'm your fan. Many of my classmates also like you. Can you give me an autograph later?”
Wen Ruan was a bit surprised, with an unsuspecting look on her face, but soon she smiled and said, "Of course."
"Alright, alright, enough of all this talk." Ji Xi sat cross-legged on the sofa, holding Wen Ruan's hand, and asking for her gift, "Xiaorou, where's my gift?"
Wen Ruan smiled and handed over two prepared gifts, "The red velvet box is from Nacy, she asked me to give it to you. She said she had something to do and couldn't come. The other one in sapphire blue is mine."
Ji Xi enjoyed the pleasure of opening gifts the most.
She started opening the gifts right away and upon seeing Nacy's gift, she chuckled, "The senior sister always uses the same routine every year, it's D's jewelry again. From the necklace two years ago, the bracelet last year, to the earrings this year. I wonder what she'll give me after she's finished sending all these."
Then she continued to open Wen Ruan's gift.
Li Jiao and the others had nothing to do, so they just watched Ji Xi open the gifts. When the gift box was finally opened, Zheng Fu was the first to speak up, "Hmm, this packaging looks like it's from C, but I've never seen this brooch before."
"The style doesn't resemble this season's either."
Ji Xi seemed to have a feeling, and looking at Wen Ruan in surprise, said, "Xiaorou, did you design this yourself?" She remembered Xiaorou was into design.
"What?"
Zheng Fu was surprised, "Xiaorou, you can design jewelry as well?"
The others didn't say anything, but they also looked astonished.
Wen Ruan endured their scrutiny and smiled, "A little, but..."
Before she could finish speaking, Zheng Fu pounced on her, hugging her arm and burying her head in her shoulder, "Oh, you're such a fairy, how can you be good at everything? I don't care, I want it too. You can't play favorites, you can't be a heartless woman."
Li Jiao cleared her throat and coquettishly said, "I want it too."
Xiaoyou also timidly raised her hand, "I want it too."
Although Wen Ruan was not used to being so closely approached, she didn't mind. She smiled and nodded, "Alright, but I don't have much time recently. I'll design for you when I'm free."
The others naturally had no objection.
When Ji Xi put on the brooch, someone came to the door and said the banquet was about to start, and asked them to come down.
"Sigh."
Ji Xi let out a long sigh, "Let's go."
Even if she was unhappy, she couldn't really stay up there. As they left, she specifically instructed, "Li Jiao, keep an eye on Xiaorou later." She was the protagonist of the day and had to entertain guests for sure.
"Don't worry."
Li Jiao also stood up, and said blandly, "With us here, no one dares to say anything untoward."
When they arrived downstairs, everyone had already gathered.
Ji Xi was taken by Mrs. Ji to meet the guests, while Wen Ruan and Li Jiao went towards the resting area. Along their way, they overheard some quiet chatter, "How come she's hanging out with Li Jiao and them?"
"You should be asking why Li Jiao and them are willing to hang out with her. Aren't they quite proud?"
There were various comments.
Wen Ruan ignored them and walked ahead as if nobody were there. She sat with Li Jiao and the others on the sofa for a while, then whispered, "I'm going to the restroom." Seeing Li Jiao about to get up, she smiled, "No need, I'm familiar with the Ji family, and besides, in this kind of occasion today, no one will really be so oblivious."
Li Jiao thought about it and nodded, "Alright, if you need anything, give us a call." They had exchanged phone numbers just now.
Wen Ruan nodded. She didn't ask for any guidance and went straight to the restroom. When she came out, before she could take a turn, she heard voices not far away.
"Ji Yan, are you still mad at me?"
Her steps halted. The voice and tone were too familiar.
She had intended to leave directly, but there was only one way to the hall. Wen Ruan could only stand in place, hoping they would finish soon and leave.
Around the corner.
Su Lanlan, not realizing someone else was present, had also come to the banquet today. She was dressed and made up in the same innocent manner as before. She was looking up at Ji Yan, biting her lip and her eyes were half red. "You haven't come to see me lately, I called you, but you didn’t pick up."
"Do you hate me now?"
Ji Yan frowned, his tone was very flat, "Busy, no time."
"In the past, you would never not answer my calls even if you were busy." Su Lanlan said with a hint of grievance, seeing that Ji Yan was still aloof, she didn't dare to push too hard, and continued, "I know I was wrong this time."
"I shouldn't have let my emotions rule me."
"I just felt that Xiaorou has never liked me. It was just the two of us upstairs that day. I..." She paused and continued, "But no matter what, this is my fault. It made Xiaorou get criticized, and it made you get scolded."
Seeing Ji Yan still being the same as before.
Su Lanlan was also somewhat unhappy, but she didn't dare to blame Ji Yan. Instead, she changed the subject and went on, "I know you’ve taken that variety show, and I've taken one too, we'll be able to go on a trip together soon."
"I heard that this trip will include Barcelona, your mom used to love that place when she was still around."
Hearing her mention his mother.
Ji Yan's cold expression finally showed a hint of a faint smile. Just as he was about to say something, a notification sound came from a distance. He frowned and turned in the direction of the sound. When he saw Wen Ruan, his eyebrows did not relax.
The voice didn't sound very pleasant, "What are you doing there?"
"What's wrong?"
Sulan also followed over, seeing Wensoft, her expression changed, "Wensoft, why are you standing here?" Her words were gentle, but her expression showed a slightly accusing look as if asking, "Why are you eavesdropping on people?"
Wensoft was almost amused by this.
She had originally stayed where she was to avoid interrupting their conversation, but these two seemed to never stop talking. It was so slow that even Li Jiao asked her via WeChat what was wrong. Just as she had replied to Li Jiao, these two individuals began to question her one after the other.
She placed her phone back in her handbag.
She looked at the two of them calmly and said, "I came to the restroom, is there a problem?"
Ji Yan glanced at her and did not speak further.
Wensoft also couldn't be bothered with the two of them anymore, and was about to leave. However, Sulan seemed to be in some kind of mood and suddenly grasped her wrist as she walked by, apologizing, "Wensoft, I happened to see you today, and I wanted to apologize to you as well."
"I really didn't expect things to turn out like this."
"I hope you can accept my apology. Please don't be angry, after all, we are about to participate in a variety show together."
Wensoft could accept Li Jiao's contact, but not Sulan's. So, she calmly pulled her hand out without a word and lightly touched the arm that had been touched by someone else. Then she said calmly, "You can rest assured, although I am a newcomer, I also understand professional ethics. As long as it's work, I will definitely handle it properly."
She didn't explicitly state whether or not she accepted the apology, but Sulan seemed to have unreasonably assumed that she had, and immediately smiled and said, "That's great, the three of us have known each other since childhood, and now we're in the same circle. We're going to do a variety show together, we will definitely become good friends!"
Wensoft felt that Sulan not only loved to act, but might also have some mental issues, but she couldn't be bothered to deal with her.
Anyway, she had been this way for a long time.
However--
She was somewhat surprised that Ji Yan had no reaction and even calmly accepted the title of friend. She turned to look at him, so this man, who usually carried himself so firmly in public, was willing to play second fiddle to others?
If that was indeed the case.
It truly warranted a few drops of bitter tears.
It seemed that anyone who fell in love was irrational, even Ji Yan was no exception.
Ji Yan had been in the entertainment industry for so many years, so he was very sensitive to cameras and attention. Sensing Wensoft's gaze, he turned to look at her, frowned, and somewhat displeased, asked, "What are you looking at?"
Wensoft felt no embarrassment at being caught looking, and replied in her usual tone, "Just looking around."
Upon hearing this, Ji Yan's frown deepened as he didn't know how to respond, so he just stared at Wensoft.
Sulan, watching the interaction between the two, somehow felt uncomfortable and was about to speak when a commotion was heard in the distance, starting off quietly but growing louder.
"Why is he here?"
"Who?"
"Lin Qinghan!"
"What? Doesn't he hate these kinds of banquets the most? Why did he come today?"
A group of people outside started talking, and then there was the sound of a chaotic rush of footsteps.
As the richest man in the city, Lin Qinghan was undoubtedly the person everyone wanted to meet, but he had always been reluctant to participate in these banquets. Today, however, everyone hurried towards the door, taking advantage of the rare opportunity to meet him.
Upon hearing Lin Qinghan's arrival, Sulan forgot about Wensoft and Ji Yan and hastily said, "I'll go take a look," as she rushed out, holding her skirt in hand.