Thinking of Qiu Boyan's reaction when she mentioned her cousin Qi earlier, Ji Huanjin's heart stirred slightly, and she said, "I haven't met my cousin Qi yet. Why don't you tell me about him, Cousin Boyan?"

Qiu Boyan glanced at her: "He's in the men's section. If you want to know something, why don't you go ask him yourself?"

After that incident in their childhood, the two had almost completely cut off contact, so Ji Huanjin never expected her to be so stubborn.

She bit her lip, unwilling to give up, and said again, "Forget it." Her eyes dimmed as she secretly observed Qiu Boyan's expression and sighed, "Under normal circumstances, it would be fine, but now that Cousin Qi has already met Cousin Ayu, he probably can't see anyone else. With such a jewel in front of him, how can someone like me, a piece of trash, compete with her? Cousin, don't you think so?"

Although she said it that way, she was clearly referring to Qiu Boyan's situation: a young girl's affection cannot be hidden. Even if Qiu Boyan thought she had concealed it well, there were still clues in the eyes of others. Not to mention Ji Huanjin, who was always watching her.

But it was obvious that Qiu Boyan's affections wouldn't end well. Although she was beautiful and graceful, she lacked talent and was rather dull-witted, clearly not the type to be liked. Besides, there was Zhu Jiayu ahead of her. Ji Huanjin said that she was like a piece of rubble compared to a pearl in front of Zhu Jiayu, which was also a way of saying that Qiu Boyan was incomparable to her.

She deliberately tried to provoke Qiu Boyan with her words.

Seeing that Qiu Boyan remained unmoved, she couldn't help but fan the flames again: "Actually, thinking about it, I feel quite sorry for my cousin. Just imagine, Cousin Ayu is so outstanding and resourceful. Countless young talents in Heling City have their eyes on her. If she wanted to, I'm afraid the man she likes would be easily seduced by her, right?"

Qiu Boyan's grip on the teacup tightened, her knuckles turning white from the force. She closed her eyes briefly: "That's enough."

Ji Huanjin was startled, thinking that her words had finally provoked Qiu Boyan to the point of madness, and finally shut up.

To everyone's surprise, Qiu Boyan simply opened her eyes and looked at her indifferently: "Don't waste your time on me. Do you think that by instigating me like this, I would become an enemy of A-Yu? She is much better than you. Even if I do have a man I like, and he loves A-Yu and not me, I will only think that he has good taste. Ji Huanjin, I truly despise you. Even rats have skin, but people should have manners!"

She actually knew more or less about Ji Huanjin's thoughts; it was nothing more than jealousy.

My aunt and mother were once very close friends. My aunt came from an official family, but she ended up marrying into the Ji family, which were merchants. My mother, on the other hand, came from a merchant family, but she married into the Qiu family, a prominent family in Heling.

The disparity in their social status and class fueled Ji Huanjin's jealousy, something they didn't want to see. But since she was their cousin, they didn't intend to truly break ties with her, only hoping to avoid her if possible. However, they didn't expect Ji Huanjin to not only fail to restrain herself but also become even more outrageous.

Today, they even took advantage of her thoughts and made a big fuss about it.

Qiu Boyan finally reached her breaking point.

She wanted to speak, but when she saw the person behind Ji Huanjin, she suddenly shut her mouth.

Ji Huanjin, however, was unwilling to let it go so easily. She relentlessly tugged at Qiu Boyan's sleeve: "Cousin, you've finally shown your true colors! I knew it! Although you and Qiu Mingyan seem to be close to me on the surface, you actually look down on me from the bottom of your hearts. You think I'm not good enough, that I come from a business family, that I'm short-sighted, ignorant, and a disgrace to you!"

A deep sense of powerlessness welled up inside Qiu Boyan. She didn't know how Ji Huanjin had come to such a conclusion, finding it absurd yet also quite amusing.

Ji Huanjin's skill in distorting the truth was as masterful as ever.

She must have heard the footsteps behind her too.

But Qiu Boyan only felt tired and didn't want to continue this pointless argument with her. Ji Huanjin wouldn't realize where she went wrong at all; no matter what she said, it was just like talking to a brick wall, casting pearls before swine.

"My cousin from the Ji family."

Zhu Jiayu spoke up at the right moment, interrupting Ji Huanjin's agitated emotions.

Ji Huanjin turned her head, her bright face revealing an obvious sense of grievance. She glanced at Qiu Boyan in a panic, her eyes red as she murmured, "Why is Cousin Ayu here? You...you mustn't misunderstand, Cousin Boyan is very good to me..."

Zhu Jiayu smiled and nodded: "I know she's very good to you. I have something I want to talk to your cousin Bo Yan about. You don't mind letting me have her for a while, do you?"

Ji Huanjin paused, seemingly reacting to Zhu Jiayu's words.

Logically, Zhu Jiayu should have sided with her at this point, reprimanded Qiu Boyan, and then comforted her with affection.

But what is Zhu Jiayu saying now?

She wanted to get angry, but she still needed to win over Zhu Jiayu and couldn't do anything unnecessary. Zhu Jiayu was smart, and she couldn't scheme against Qiu Boyan anymore, otherwise Qiu Boyan would easily see through her. So she could only nod in agreement with Zhu Jiayu: "No... I don't mind."

"That's good." Zhu Jiayu took Qiu Boyan's hand and left the place, leaving Ji Huanjin standing there, staring blankly at their departing figures.

The two walked quite a distance before Qiu Boyan turned around and saw Ji Huanjin still standing there, at a loss for what to do. She couldn't help but sneer.

Zhu Jiayu let go of her hand and asked, "What are you so happy about?"

Qiu Boyan replied, "This is the first time she's been humiliated, so she must have been quite caught off guard, right? In the past, it was always Mingyan and me who had to suffer in silence, but now it's finally her turn, so I'm naturally happy."

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