They arrived at a very luxurious restaurant, a place Gu Jingyan used to frequent. This time, the restaurant manager personally came to greet them, unlike before.

Throughout the entire conversation, the language was respectful, even bordering on obsequious.

Wait until the manager leaves.

Gu Jingyan sneered and said, "It seems the news of my becoming general manager has spread. I've never seen him come to treat me like this before. He always just sends a waiter over. Heh, people are so snobbish."

Xiao Dingdong smiled and agreed.

Have you ever been to a place like this before?

Xiao Dingdong shook her head. Everyone here is rich and powerful. How could she possibly come to a place like this? She can't afford it, and she doesn't have the need to.

Gu Jingyan smiled.

"I knew you hadn't been here!"

It was originally a casual remark, and Gu Jingyan didn't mean anything by it.

But Xiao Dingdong's heart skipped a beat.

I wouldn't have thought much about it before, but after chatting with Chen Zhe, I suddenly wondered if Gu Jingyan's words just now meant he was looking down on me.

Probably... I'm just a country girl who came to the big city from the countryside. Did he bring me to a place like this to show off?

Gu Jingyan was very happy today, but he didn't notice Xiao Dingdong's emotions in time and continued talking to himself.

"I'll bring you to places like this more often in the future, to broaden your horizons, so you won't feel awkward when you come with me to other important occasions."

Gu Jingyan was thinking of taking Xiao Dingdong to some important gatherings in the future, and wanted her to practice in advance.

However, Xiao Dingdong's feelings after hearing these words were not like that.

Her mood somber, she gave a forced, bitter laugh, lowered her head slightly, picked up the water glass beside her, and took a sip.

"Do you drink red wine? I have a bottle here worth 180,000 yuan. I really enjoy it. Would you like some?"

Xiao Dingdong shook her head, indicating that she didn't need it.

But Gu Jingyan didn't listen to him at all.

"Let's have a drink! It'll broaden our horizons!"

He asked someone to bring over the bottle of red wine.

Then he kept explaining how to taste the wine. His intention was to teach Xiao Dingdong a lot of etiquette from high society, which is why he made so many gestures.

Xiao Dingdong appeared to be learning, but inwardly she felt some resistance because she already felt that Gu Jingyan looked down on her. If it were someone else looking down on her, she could accept it, but recently she had suffered many times more disdain than the average person.

But the fact that the person she liked looked down on her made her feel very sad.

Seeing that Xiao Dingdong wasn't paying attention, Gu Jingyan frowned slightly. "Dingdong, what's wrong? I'm teaching you so seriously, why do you seem so uninterested?"

Xiao Dingdong used sign language to indicate that she was feeling unwell.

Having spent some time with Xiao Dingdong, Gu Jingyan could understand basic sign language.

"Where do you feel unwell? Do you need to go to the hospital? I can't see anything wrong with you."

Xiao Dingdong had a rosy complexion and no cough or anything like that, so she certainly didn't look like someone who was sick.

Just as he was about to ask further questions, a voice suddenly rang out.

"Jing Yan? It really is you! What a coincidence!"

Not far away, a girl of similar age to Gu Jingyan walked up happily.

The girl's name is Lin Mengya. She is Gu Jingyan's classmate, and her family also has a deep connection with the Gu Group.

Before Gu Jingyan was injured, the two families had planned to bring them together.

At the time, the two had feelings for each other and dated for a while. They were ex-boyfriend and ex-girlfriend, and Gu Jingyan's first kiss was with her.

Everything was developing in a positive direction, but after Gu Jingyan's accident, everything changed. After Gu Jingyan's legs became crippled, Lin Mengya only came to see him once, and never saw him again.

When I heard from her again, Lin Mengya had already gone abroad to study.

The relationship between the two also came to an end.

Therefore, when Gu Jingyan saw Lin Mengya again, his feelings were extremely complicated.

He had feelings of liking, resentment, and bitterness towards Lin Mengya. He was only 17 years old at the time, the most innocent age for a young man. But Lin Mengya abandoned him and went to another country. It took him a long time to recover from this.

For several years, I would often dream of Lin Mengya. I would always wonder what Lin Mengya would look like if my leg hadn't been broken and she were still alive? What would she look like now?

Is she still as beautiful and charming with her long, flowing hair?

Gu Jingyan's gaze lingered on Lin Mengya. Lin Mengya's appearance still didn't match his memory. In his memory, Lin Mengya had long, flowing black hair.

But now Lin Mengya has short, shoulder-length hair that's been dyed, and her clothes are no longer as innocent as before; instead, they've taken a sexy route, with a very deep V-neck.

Seeing Gu Jingyan staring at her, Lin Mengya smiled slightly.

She extended her hand gracefully; "Jingyan, it's been a long time. How have you been?"

[Am I alright?]

Hearing this, Gu Jingyan felt a pang of sadness. How could he possibly be alright? Lin Mengya left without a word, having lingered in the shadow of heartbreak for several years, drifting through life in a daze. The paralysis of his legs brought him both physical pain and mental torment. How could he possibly be alright?

But men are stubborn creatures. When your ex-girlfriend, the one you once loved, asks you how you are, he will never say no, no matter what.

Gu Jingyan wanted to retort with a sarcastic remark, such as thank you for abandoning me, but I'm doing incredibly well now, having become the general manager and preparing to take on the role of CEO.

But Chen Zhe's words still echoed in his mind.

To hypocritical people, be hypocritical.

In his mind, Lin Mengya was already a hypocrite.

Whether judging from her appearance or her past behavior, the current Lin Mengya is not real at all.

Gu Jingyan smiled and shook hands with her.

"I'm fine, how are you?"

Xiao Dingdong witnessed the whole scene, and her heart suddenly clenched. Gu Jingyan had never given other women a kind look before. He had mocked and glared at all his colleagues at the club.

Why was he so nice to this woman?

What is her relationship with this woman?

Lin Mengya smiled.

"I'm doing alright. I just got back to China. I was originally planning to work abroad for a while, but my dad kept urging me to come back and help out at home. So I had no choice but to come back."

Lin Mengya deliberately acted relaxed and playful when she spoke, which is a clear sign that a woman is showing affection to a man.

Is this your girlfriend?

Lin Mengya pointed at Xiao Dingdong.

Xiao Dingdong immediately tensed up and looked at Gu Jingyan.

However, Gu Jingyan did not answer the question, but simply smiled and brushed it off.

Did you come here alone?

Gu Jingyan's lack of direct answer to the question made Lin Mengya somewhat happy.

"No, I came with my friend. She went to the restroom."

"Oh... I thought you came with your boyfriend..."

Ultimately, she was his white moonlight, and Gu Jingyan couldn't resist testing her.

Lin Mengya knew exactly what he meant.

She covered her mouth and laughed, "No, I don't have a boyfriend. By the way, if you don't mind, how about we share a table? It's been a long time since I've seen you, and I'd like to chat with you."

Xiao Dingdong wanted Gu Jingyan to refuse her. She disliked the woman in front of her and knew that Gu Jingyan treated this woman differently from other women.

Gu Jingyan didn't want to agree at first, but he knew in his heart that compared to before, he needed to change his personality and do more things that disgusted him.

"OK."

Upon hearing Gu Jingyan's agreement, Lin Mengya covered her ample chest and laughed as she spoke.

"You scared me to death! I thought you would refuse. I'm afraid you still resent me."

As she spoke, she sat down next to Gu Jingyan, very close to him.

Sitting across from her, Xiao Dingdong felt both embarrassed and uncomfortable. She subconsciously picked up the water glass next to her and drank from it.

"How could that be? That's all in the past. We were all young back then."

Gu Jingyan really wanted to tell her that he cared a lot, but he didn't want to admit that he cared a lot.

"That's good, that's good. Actually, Jingyan, I didn't want to go abroad at first, but my dad said there were better opportunities overseas. He hoped I would go and study, and then come back to help his company. I left in such a hurry that I didn't have time to say goodbye to you."

Gu Jingyan isn't stupid; he wouldn't believe such a lie at all.

No matter how late it is, there must be time to say goodbye, right?

Are you trying to fool a child?

"Oh, it's okay, I don't remember."

“Jingyan, your words suddenly make me a little sad. When you say you don’t remember, do you mean you don’t remember our relationship? Even when I was abroad, I was still thinking about you. So many times I couldn’t help but want to call you.”

Gu Jingyan's hand trembled slightly.

But he pretended nothing was wrong.

Why are you saying all this now?

Lin Mengya rested her chin on her hand, gazing at Gu Jingyan with a sudden look of deep affection in her eyes.

"Jingyan, I still like you."

These words made Gu Jingyan lose his composure. He coughed and quickly looked at Xiao Dingdong.

Xiao Dingdong suddenly stood up, gestured that she needed to go to the restroom, and then hurriedly left.

Lin Mengya was slightly taken aback.

"What's wrong with your friend? She seems unable to speak. Is she... a special needs person?"

The words "special groups" stung Gu Jingyan.

Because he was also one of the "special groups" that Lin Mengya mentioned.

He snorted coldly.

"What's it to you? Get out of my way!"

At this moment, Gu Jingyan had reverted to his former sharp-tongued self, which Lin Mengya found hard to accept.

"Jingyan, how can you talk like that? We were just having a nice chat a moment ago!"

"Who the hell was having a nice chat with you? Are you fucking crazy? You just spout nonsense right off the bat. Who do you think you are? Wearing a revealing top and sporting two lumps of fat, you think that's sexy? You make me feel terrible. What's the difference between you and those prostitutes?"

Lin Mengya's chest heaved with anger.

"Jingyan, what you said hurt me!"

Gu Jingyan gave a cold laugh.

"That's great! I was actually afraid I wouldn't be able to hurt you. Now get out of my way!"

...