Chapter One: Jiao Jiao, You Wouldn’t Want the CEO to Return to China Either, Right? (2/2)
“What’s wrong? Didn’t find a seat you like?” Zhang Xiaoyu stood up, smiling as he pressed his hand on the table. “If you want, you can come here. I saved a good spot for you—”
“No need.”
Wen Zhijiao sharply cut him off as she walked toward the nearest empty seat. As she approached, someone instinctively pulled out a chair for her while turning to her with an expectant gaze. The next second, the man was ignored. He could only watch as she indifferently accepted his gesture, plopping herself on the offered seat while casually hanging her bag and coat on the back of the chair. As she performed all these series of actions, she never bothered to spare him even a single glance. It was as if she was really treating him like a random waiter.
For a moment, the man felt a bit embarrassed.
Fortunately, no one at the gathering noticed this incident, and the lively atmosphere quickly resumed. However, despite already being present at the party, Wen Zhijiao was not left undisturbed as everyone’s gaze would still occasionally drift toward her, the topic of the conversations often steering her way. She would halfheartedly respond, already feeling regret for being there.
The person she most wanted to see didn’t even show up. She shouldn’t have replied to their messages earlier. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be forced to stay here and endure this boring meal.
Wen Zhijiao felt a twinge of regret. Fiddling with her fingers, she turned to casually glance at her phone again.
Only two minutes had passed… Nevermind. She’ll wait a little longer.
While the dishes were being served one after another, the probing questions were also becoming more direct and offensive, making it harder for her to brush them off.
“Actually, when sending out the invitations, I told everyone to bring their partners, but why didn’t Jiao Jiao bring her boyfriend?” Zhang Xiaoyu innocently asked, his eyes fixated on Wen Zhijiao.
Wen Zhijiao only picked at her food with her chopsticks as she listlessly answered, “I don’t want to.”
Zhang Xiaoyu pressed further, “Don’t want to or don’t have one?”
Wen Zhijiao wasn’t even given the opportunity to reply because the sycophantic guys around the table were so eager to flatter Zhang Xiaoyu. They immediately joined in the conversation to assist him in his motives.
“Zhang Xiaoyu, you are so rude! How could you casually poke at such a beautiful girl’s feelings like that?”
“Don’t be shy, Miss Campus Belle! This guy has liked you for so many years, and until now he’s still single. Maybe you might want to consider him? Give it a thought?”
The group of guys, unattractive to begin with, looked even more greasy and repulsive as they started to fawn over her. Some of the girls tried to change the subject, but they couldn’t compete with the guys’ persistent badgering, utterly failing to restrain them.
Holding her chopsticks, Wen Zhijiao sat silently, her black hair falling softly by her cheeks.
Then, out of nowhere, there was suddenly a clamor by the table. Someone had suddenly slapped their hands on the surface and started shouting. The noise was loud, and it grew even more unbearable with the wine glasses clinking and the table shaking from the continuous pounding. Amid the chaotic voices, there were people encouraging, people cheering, and people whispering. Occasionally, curious onlookers would peek from behind the screens, wondering who was making such a wild ruckus.
Sitting at the head of the table, Zhang Xiaoyu’s gaze burned intensely. But even though he was currently pleased, he still tried to feign irritation and unwillingness at the uproar. “Come on! Stop messing around! You’re only making people shy. You guys really are—”
“No way, boss! You two really looked good together back then. In fact, I remembered everyone in class thinking that you guys were a perfect match.” The skinny guy exclaimed the loudest as he added more fuel to the fire. “Surely, the campus belle wouldn’t turn down our dear Zhang Xiaoyu, right? Can it be that you don’t like him?”
Zhang Xiaoyu’s gaze shot toward Wen Zhijiao with a smile on his face. “Ah, really? Then I’m going to be heartbroken!”
A woman sitting nearby couldn’t stand their masquerade anymore and tried to ward them off, “You guys are going too far—”
“You two seem to be getting along quite well.” Wen Zhijiao suddenly interrupted the woman. Raising her delicate chin, she spoke in a thoughtful tone, “Look at them, they’ve been causing troubles for you for so long.”
Zhang Xiaoyu grinned. “Then, will Jiao Jiao consider me?”
“Hard to say.” Wen Zhijiao’s lips curved up slightly. “But are they really sincerely helping you? I remember back in high school that one of them even wrote me a love letter. Oh dear, who was it? I seem to have forgotten.”
Zhang Xiaoyu’s face froze, but he still tried to force out a smile. “Well, you were really popular, after all.”
Resting her face on the palm of her hand, Wen Zhijiao smiled. Her eyes were as bright as the crescent moon. Still holding a pair of chopstick with her other hand, she began to point it at people like she was playing some drinking game. Every time, it would land on a person, the faces of those she pointed at became tense. Eventually, the tip of her chopstick finally settled, landing on the skinny monkey who had been talking the most.
Wen Zhijiao smiled. “Was it you? You told me that you would treat me well. Even though your grades weren’t good, you said that you would still do your best to get into Tsinghua or Peking University for me? You also said—well, hmm—let me think about about it…”
Zhang Xiaoyu’s face grew even more stiff. Immediately turning his attention to the skinny money, he glared fiercely at him.
The skinny monkey turned pale, but he still tried to maintain the wobbly smile on his face. “Come on. That was a long time ago, and yet you’re still trying to bring up the past—”
“Oh, that’s right! You said that no matter what, no matter how many years have passed, you wouldn’t choose to forget me.”
Wen Zhijiao suddenly cut him off before continuing with an even more serious tone, “You also told me that Zhang Xiaoyu looks down on people just because he has some little money. I think you also mentioned that he doesn’t shower, wears fake shoes, and you even said—”
Bang!
A loud noise suddenly interrupted her words.
Zhang Xiaoyu couldn’t take it anymore. Consumed by rage, he couldn’t help but slam his wine glass against the table, his face livid.
The skinny monkey was also furious. “You’re insane! When did I ever say that!”
Wen Zhijiao was not fazed at all. She simply looked at Zhang Xiaoyu and continued exposing his friend more. “By the way, he also told me that you once promised to treat them, but at the last minute, you suddenly ran and abandoned them because you couldn’t afford to pay. He then scolded you for being pretent—”
Bang!
Another loud noise interrupted her.
But this time, instead of slamming another wine glass again, Zhang Xiaoyu had already grabbed the skinny monkey by the collar and started screaming at him.
“Fuck you, bastard! After everything I have done for you?! I was so good to you, but this is how you choose to repay me?!”
“It wasn’t me! I swear! I never said that! Wen Zhijiao was just making those things up! She was messing with—”
“Making it up, my ass! Fuck you! You were the only one present at that time!”
The exchange was brief, and soon the scene dissolved into a brawl. For a while, only the sound of chairs could be heard scraping against the floor while a group of people immediately jumped up from their seats to help and break the fight. At this point in time, Zhang Xiaoyu already had his arm locked around the skinny guy’s neck, dragging him. In order to prevent the brawl from further exacerbating, the group had decided to divide into two as each side then tried to pull the involved people away from each other.
Since everyone had been drinking, it was unavoidable for the tempers to flare up. Instead of the dispute dying down, their intervention only escalated the fight. Plates and dishes were being thrown around, crashing to the ground, and the quarrel was only getting more and more unbearable the longer it took.
Wen Zhijiao didn’t even bother to involve herself with the chaos. Simply preparing herself to leave, she calmly smoothed the wrinkles in her dress. Just as she stood though, the girl who had tried to help her out of the situation earlier suddenly spoke to her, “Good thing you have such a good memory! Otherwise, they might still be causing trouble for you until now.”
…She didn’t have a good memory at all. In fact, she couldn’t even remember whom she had just talked to earlier. That whole love letter story was completely made up, pieced together from bits of gossip that she had happened to hear. Anyways, since she did receive plenty of love letters before, it was possible for a wild guess to actually hit the mark.
Wen Zhijiao muttered a few perfunctory words. Finally retrieving her bag from the back of the chair, she turned to leave. But just as she was about to walk away from the scene, she heard several voices call out behind her.
“Jiao Jiao, don’t go!”
“Wen Zhijiao, come back! Maybe you could do something to break this up!”
Break it up? Why are they still trying to persuade them? They are all a bunch of bastards! They could all go to hell for all she cared!
Wen Zhijiao grew more and more irritated upon hearing all their words, so she further quickened her pace a bit more. In her haste, her steps became more unsteady, and she found herself stumbling directly into a slightly cold embrace.
Clatter!
Something dropped to the ground.
Wen Zhijiao struggled to regain her balance, only to first notice a cane lying at her feet. It was clearly made of fine materials, and it was also decorated in the most exquisite manner. A piece of emerald-green jade stone could be seen embellished on the silver handle of the staff.
That cane…
She could recognize that anywhere.
For a moment, Wen Zhijiao didn’t dare to look up. She kept her eyes lowered as she tried to retreat herself from the man. And as she did so, she caught a glimpse of the man’s hand hanging by his side, his cuff adorned with a gleaming gemstone cufflink. Soon enough, that hand slowly slithered its way to her waist like a snake, firmly locking her in place and making it impossible for her to make any further retreats.
If you like our translation for this novel and want us to release more chapters frequently, feel free to support us on either our ko-fi and paypal ❤️
