Seeing that the atmosphere at the banquet had completely soured, the guests no longer dared to stay.
Wealthy and influential families all had their scandals to some extent, but it was rare to see family conflicts exposed so openly.
After tonight’s chaos, the birthday banquet was effectively ruined.
Whether out of respect for the Shen family’s remaining dignity or fear of becoming entangled in trouble, the guests began finding excuses to leave one after another.
Only a handful of Zhou Yu’s close friends remained awkwardly seated, watching her with sympathetic expressions.
Faced with the scene before her, Zhou Yu finally could not hold on any longer.
Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted.
“Mom!”
“Xiaoyu!”
Lin Shu and Lin Siwan hurriedly called for help and rushed Zhou Yu to the hospital.
By then, every guest had already left the banquet, leaving not a single person behind.
Meng Yan turned his head and looked at the untouched birthday cake.
The dark green microphone gleamed brilliantly beneath the lights.
Unexpectedly, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered something this interesting.”
…
Shen Nanyue changed into a different outfit, preparing to leave this troublesome place and spend the night at her own apartment.
The moment she reached the entrance, she saw Zhou Yushen leaning against a car nearby.
The man stood there casually with both hands in his pockets, quietly watching the moths fluttering endlessly around the streetlight.
The soft strands of his hair moved with the wind, and beneath the hazy glow of the streetlamp, his sculpted features and perfectly proportioned figure carried an added warmth, along with an almost untouchable sense of sanctity.
Perhaps noticing Shen Nanyue’s gaze, he turned his head.
His relaxed and lazy eyes landed on her, and he smiled faintly.
“You’re here.”
Straightening up, he walked over to her, his deep gaze falling on her fair face now bare of makeup.
“Come on. I’ll take you home.”
Shen Nanyue had casually changed into sportswear.
Her white jacket hung open, and her hands were tucked into her pockets, fingers lightly clenched.
Narrowing her eyes, she studied Zhou Yushen for quite a while before finally speaking.
“Mr. Zhou, your behavior right now…”
She paused, the corners of her lips curling into a teasing smile.
“You really do look like a simp.”
Zhou Yushen, despite being mocked, did not mind at all.
He merely shrugged slightly, laughter filling his eyes.
“Thank you for the compliment.”
His complete lack of embarrassment caught Shen Nanyue slightly off guard.
He actually seemed to be in a pretty good mood.
The cold night wind wrapped around the two of them before Zhou Yushen finally spoke again.
“Get in the car.”
After thinking for a moment, Shen Nanyue did not refuse and followed behind him.
But after taking only one step, a familiar yet strangely distant voice called out from behind her.
“Miss Shen.”
Meng Yan’s voice caused both of them to stop simultaneously.
Turning around, they watched as Meng Yan slowly approached.
As he passed beneath a streetlamp, his shadow stretched long across the ground, and his expression gradually disappeared into darkness.
Only when he stopped in front of them did his face become fully visible again.
He was smiling, yet the smile never reached his eyes.
His deep blue pupils reflected Shen Nanyue’s figure clearly.
“Miss Shen embarrassed me tonight, and now you think you can just walk away?”
So he had come to settle scores afterward.
Shen Nanyue had expected this long ago.
Not only was she unafraid, she even smiled calmly.
“From the moment Young Master Meng agreed to this marriage arrangement with Ms. Zhou, it was already a joke. If you want to save face, then I suggest you quickly clear up the rumors between us.”
Shen Nanyue had always spoken bluntly, never caring whether her words hurt the person on the receiving end.
After being stabbed with a verbal needle, Meng Yan was not angry at all.
Instead, he looked at Shen Nanyue with even greater interest.
Suddenly, he laughed.
The bright, carefree laughter instantly transformed his cold and aloof aura into the vibrant charm unique to a young man.
The smile at the corner of Shen Nanyue’s lips paused slightly as she narrowed her eyes and studied the man before her.
Not for any particular reason other than the intense sense of danger her instincts were warning her about.
“Miss Shen truly is interesting. For the sake of your own marriage, you personally ruined your mother’s birthday banquet, sent your mother to the hospital from anger, and turned the entire Shen family into Fengcheng’s laughingstock.”
“If people didn’t know better, they’d think Miss Shen had some deep hatred toward the Shen family.”
His words caused Shen Nanyue’s expression to darken instantly.
The hand tucked inside her pocket slowly clenched into a fist, her gaze growing colder and colder.
Yet Meng Yan continued calmly, “But I admire exactly that ruthless sense of justice. What I said earlier was sincere—I like you, Miss Shen. I hope you won’t reject me.”
Shen Nanyue stared at him coldly, just about to speak when a low chuckle sounded behind her.
The deep magnetic voice drifted into her ears along with the night breeze, gently dispersing some of the anger in her heart.
“Young Master Meng, do you want to become Nanyue’s simp too?”
Shen Nanyue: “…”
Why was everyone so obsessed with the word simp tonight?
Zhou Yushen stepped forward and stopped beside her, casually draping a hand around her waist.
To outsiders, the intimacy between them made them look exactly like a perfectly matched couple.
Meng Yan’s eyes darkened dangerously.
“Who are you?”
He knew almost everyone in elite society, yet this man was a complete stranger to him.
Most likely just some ordinary nobody trying to climb the social ladder through Shen Nanyue.
Meng Yan let out a mocking laugh.
“What a devoted simp. Trying to cling to Shen Nanyue so you can achieve overnight riches. A grown man acting like this—how impressive.”
Faced with the ridicule, Zhou Yushen did not get angry.
Instead, the smile in his eyes deepened as he calmly replied, “Thank you for the compliment.”
Shen Nanyue remained silent and did not push Zhou Yushen away.
Because although his hand only appeared to rest lightly at her waist, the force behind it was strong enough that she could not break free.
She lifted her eyes and frowned at him.
Feeling her gaze, Zhou Yushen lowered his head and smiled at her before continuing,
“Young Master Meng, if you want to be Nanyue’s simp, you’ll have to line up. I’m first in line. Wait until I fail, then you can have your turn.”
He tilted his head toward Meng Yan and added leisurely, “And besides, the first rule of being a simp is that you can’t speak badly about the person you like. With a rival like you, my chances of success suddenly seem limitless.”
Shen Nanyue lowered her head, unable to hold back her laughter.
Ignoring however furious Meng Yan might have been on the other side, Zhou Yushen wrapped an arm around Shen Nanyue and turned to get into the car.
Meng Yan watched as the limited-edition Maybach disappeared into the distance, the dangerous look in his eyes nearly overflowing.
Inside the car.
Shen Nanyue leaned against the passenger seat, turning her head slightly to look at Zhou Yushen’s face.
The entire drive, Zhou Yushen remained very quiet.
He never asked why she treated her own mother that way, nor did he ask whether her family relationships were harmonious.
As though none of it had anything to do with him.
Though, in truth, it really didn’t.
“You’ve been staring at me this whole time. Is it because I’m handsome?”
“Yes.”
Without the slightest hesitation, she answered calmly.
Zhou Yushen pressed his lips together, the corners of his mouth curving upward slightly.
Shen Nanyue turned her whole body toward him, openly and unapologetically continuing to stare.
Her gaze traced the sharp elegance of his profile, the high bridge of his nose, the deep contours of his features, and even those slightly reddened thin lips that carried an incomparable sensuality.
Even someone like Zhou Yushen—who could remain calm under overwhelming pressure—was starting to feel somewhat uncomfortable under her burning stare.
Just as he was about to say something, the woman beside him suddenly spoke.
“Zhou Yushen… do you genuinely like me?”
— The end of the Chapter–
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