Cui Ziqi's pupils contracted, and he looked in the direction of the sound, only to see a familiar figure pushing through the crowd and walking towards him.

Xia Wan?

What is she doing here?

He frowned, about to get up and ask.

Xia Wan had already walked to his side, pressing down on his shoulder with one hand to stop him from getting up. Her cold gaze swept over the woman next to her and landed on his face.

A wave of guilt, like being caught in the act of adultery, washed over Cui Ziqi. Without thinking, he jumped up and stood next to Xia Wan.

A hint of fear flickered across his expressionless face. "I can explain."

"Explain what? Sit down."

Her hand was still on Cui Ziqi's shoulder, her gaze and voice were both cool.

Cui Ziqi's words were stuck in her throat; she couldn't suppress them, nor could she spit them out.

He frowned, his eyes gradually turning crimson, and his cold gaze suddenly shot towards the woman still sitting in the booth.

The woman was frightened by his cold gaze and hurriedly got up and retreated to Cui Kai's side.

Only when the booth was empty did Cui Ziqi obediently sit down.

Xia Wan turned to look at Cui Mingrui and Cui Kai.

The two brothers look exactly alike. One of them has his hair slicked back with hair gel and is wearing a custom-made suit, looking very well-dressed.

One of them had chestnut hair, and his silver-gray suit gleamed under the colorful lights. He languidly put his arm around the beautiful woman beside him, his gaze aggressively sweeping over Xia Wan.

"So you're the woman Cui Ying mentioned, the woman Cui Ziqi is talking about?"

She's quite pretty, but unfortunately not very bright; she fell for Cui Ziqi, that lunatic.

"It's such a waste for you to be with Cui Ziqi, why don't you come with me..."

Cui Kai's eyes were filled with undisguised desire, and his hand involuntarily reached out towards Xia Wan, as if to touch her face.

Before his hand could even get close, a sudden, sharp pain surged through his veins and into his nerves, causing him to cry out in pain.

A sharp piece of glass pierced the back of his hand, almost reaching his palm.

"Young Master Kai!"

The woman next to Cui Kai immediately supported him, and when she saw the injury on his hand, she was terrified.

Blood dripped down the back of his hand, blooming into alluring flowers on the clean, dust-free ground.

Cui Mingrui's face darkened. He stepped forward to block his younger brother, then looked threateningly at the man in the booth, enunciating each word clearly: "Cui Ziqi!"

Cui Ziqi was toying with a shard of glass, about the length of a middle finger and with sharp ends, in his hand. Beside him was a broken wine bottle. His bewitching and eerie eyes held a hint of anger, and he didn't take Cui Mingrui's warning seriously at all.

His voice was deep, magnetic, and arrogant: "Try touching her."

"……madman!"

Cui Kai clutched his hand, which was still bleeding, and stared at the man in the booth as if he had seen a ghost. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead, whether from pain or fear, it was hard to tell.

Subtle glances were cast in their direction, but then looked away as if they hadn't seen anything.

Those who come here are all wealthy and powerful. It's best to pretend to be blind to what's going on, protect yourself wisely, and not gossip about the spectacle.

Cui Mingrui narrowed his eyes, his cool gaze falling on Cui Ziqi.

Cui Ziqi, who had always been submissive to the Cui family, began to show signs of resistance after returning from the cruise ship charity event.

Now, he actually dared to hurt Cui Kai right in front of him.

This madman probably thinks he has the ability to betray the Cui family, so he starts to act recklessly.

Thinking about what would happen later, Cui Mingrui couldn't help but curl a sarcastic smile. "Cui Ziqi, do you know what will happen to you if you hurt Xiao Kai?"

Xia Wan stepped aside, blocking Cui Ziqi's path, and looked up to meet Cui Mingrui's disdainful gaze.

"Choi Myung-seo, right?"

"You know me?" Cui Mingrui asked, puzzled.

A smile curved Xia Wan's lips, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.

When she saw the twins who looked somewhat similar to Cui Ziqi, she probably guessed who they were.

Cui Jiyang's older brother's twin son, and also Cui Ziqi's cousin.

The eldest, Cui Mingrui, is a deep and cunning man who is good at putting on a show, but in reality, he is dark and gloomy. Almost all the ideas for bullying Cui Ziqi since childhood were his.

The younger one, Cui Kai, is a playboy like Zheng Minghuai, a spoiled brat. Zheng Minghuai at least has a reputation for kindness and justice, but Cui Kai is a true scoundrel. He uses the power of the Cui family to play around with women and gamble. He is the one who leads the beating and scolding of Cui Ziqi, and sometimes he is even worse than Cui Ying.

Therefore, Xia Wan looked at the two of them with no friendly expression whatsoever.

"Two identical scoundrels, I don't recognize them. Wouldn't that mean I've overlooked two troublemakers?"

Her ruthless insults caused both Cui Mingrui and Cui Kai to show anger.

Cui Kai covered his hands, his face contorted with anger, and stepped forward to teach Xia Wan a lesson.

Cui Mingrui stopped him.

Xia Wan pretended not to see the anger on their faces. Her cold gaze swept over the several graceful beauties, and she slowly spoke with a disdainful air, her head slightly raised.

"Ladies, the man behind me is already taken. He gets angry easily, and when he does, he throws a tantrum, which can easily hurt people."

Xia Wan pointed to the injury on Cui Kai's hand and raised an eyebrow: "Like him, I advise you not to joke with your lives."

Her voice was soft, but she maintained a very high and mighty demeanor, as if she were the rightful empress.

Cui Ziqi, whose small frame completely blocked her view, focused his clear gaze on her slender back.

Today she wore a white midi skirt and a tight-fitting light pink off-shoulder sweater. Her slightly wavy hair was styled in a high ponytail, making her look clean and playful.

Cui Ziqi felt no anger whatsoever when he heard her openly insulting him.

A strange excitement slowly welled up from the bottom of my heart.

It's like someone is sick.

The young ladies who had been 'warned' by Xia Wan looked at the injury on Cui Kai's hand, and all lowered their heads and quietly took a step back.

Cui Kai's wound continued to bleed, but due to Cui Ziqi's resistance and Xia Wan's insults, he turned red with anger.

"No wonder Second Uncle said you and Cui Ziqi are both crazy! You're just trash that Zheng Minghuai looks down on, and you've paired up with a madman, and you actually think you're something special?"

Cui Kai gripped the sharp, pointed glass on the back of his hand and, enduring the pain, removed it directly.

Blood gushed out.

As if provoked by blood, he gripped the still-dripping glass and rushed towards Xia Wan without hesitation.

He refused to believe he couldn't kill a bitch!

He moved so fast that Cui Mingrui didn't even have time to stop him.

Xia Wan wasn't surprised, after all, Cui Kai was someone who couldn't control his temper.

She had spotted the wine bottle on the table early on, and when Cui Kai started cursing at her, she had already thought of hitting him with the bottle to strike first.

Cui Kai lunged forward, bending down to grab the wine bottle on the table.

Before his hand even touched the bottle, a long, slender hand suddenly covered his waist.