Midway through the meal, Gu Rongqi received a phone call. He occasionally made "uh-huh" sounds into the phone, then suddenly gave her a cryptic look.

Cheng Qicai thought it was something about her, but before she could figure it out, Gu Rongqi turned his gaze to Lu Qi and finally whispered the room number.

When Cheng Qicai heard the private room number, her first thought was Gu Liji. She took out her phone and saw that he had sent her a message more than ten minutes ago, asking her where the private room number was. She hadn't taken out her phone since she entered the private room of that loud-voiced CEO Zou.

Therefore, she neither saw nor replied to the message, which might be why he called Gu Rongqi. She had already messaged Gu Liji when she saw Gu Rongqi.

Soon after, her guess was confirmed. The door to the private room was opened, and Cheng Qicai was dazzled by Gu Liji, who was dressed as flamboyantly as a peacock.

Following behind was Qin Biyu, who was dressed exquisitely and had her chin slightly raised. Although Cheng Qicai didn't like her, she had to admit that Qin Biyu was very beautiful and attracted the attention of most people on the scene as soon as she appeared.

Cheng Qicai never expected that these two would end up together.

"Brother," Gu Liji called out as he stepped forward, then turned his gaze and said in a surprised tone, "Su Ni, I didn't expect you to be here too."

Lu Qi, seeing his feigned indifference, gave him a cold snort.

Gu Liji pretended not to see it, "Seven Colors, I think there's a big gap in the middle of your seats, so let's add a seat here."

Unlike Gu Liji, Qin Biyu didn't offer a plausible excuse. Her gaze swept across the room, finally settling on the seat next to Lu Qi. She noticed Wu Jieyu next to her and frowned in displeasure.

Without any hesitation, he directly ordered the waiter to add a stool in the middle.

She knew that Lu Qi wouldn't let her sit between him and Yun Su Ni, so she could only settle for squeezing Wu Jie Yu aside on the other side.

The people in the private room were all shrewd and naturally noticed the hidden situation.

Li Bu teased, "Liji, I think you just want to sit among the beauties, but President Lu won't be happy about that."

Gu Liji's idea was to make him unhappy.

But he still politely said, "Director Li, don't talk nonsense. Su Ni is my friend, and Qi Cai is my subordinate. We all know each other. What's wrong with sitting among them?"

After saying that, he gave a wicked laugh, "But Mr. Lu has plenty of beauties who admire him, he's probably too happy to even think about it now."

The waiter added two chairs between them, making the originally spacious seven-person seat a bit cramped. Cheng Qicai moved her chair to the left, closer to Gu Rongqi, with only a fist's distance between the armrests of their chairs.

Amidst the pungent aroma of hot pot, Cheng Qicai seemed to catch a whiff of soft cedar scent, like a forest gradually melting under the warm winter sun, its cool fragrance refreshing and invigorating.

"Is it hot?" Gu Rongqi asked, looking at the beads of sweat on Cheng Qicai's nose.

"A little." Cheng Qicai took a sip of water and took off her down jacket, hanging it behind the chair.

With the addition of Gu Liji and Qin Biyu, they ordered more dishes, and Cheng Qicai also asked the waiter to bring a bowl of mango smoothie.

The refreshing aroma of mango mixed with the cool shaved ice instantly dispelled the heat throughout my body.

Cheng Qicai ate more than half of it without realizing it. She asked Gu Rongqi next to her, "Mr. Gu, would you like some shaved ice? It's quite delicious."

“No need,” Gu Rongqi frowned slightly as he saw that only half of the shaved ice remained. “Don’t eat too much. Alternating between spicy and cold foods can easily cause stomach aches.”

"No, this isn't as spicy as the chili sauce in the noodles we had last time." Cheng Qicai continued to scoop out spoonfuls and put them into her mouth.

Gu Rongqi still disagreed, saying, "Don't be greedy for coolness."

"Okay!" Cheng Qicai quickly agreed, but ate the shaved ice in her bowl clean.

Seeing Gu Rongqi's gaze fall on her empty bowl, Cheng Qicai blinked innocently at him.

She seemed to see Gu Rongqi sigh almost imperceptibly.

By the time she looked over carefully, Gu Rongqi had already raised his head, and her gaze followed his to the male and female leads.

She knew that with Gu Liji and Qin Biyu around, there would be no shortage of chaotic scenes.

The two kept asking the two of them questions, not giving the male and female protagonists a chance to speak at all.

During the meal, Lu Qi received a phone call.

Sitting next to Lu Qi, Qin Biyu naturally recognized who was calling.

“Yes, I’m with her,” Lu Qi glanced at Qin Biyu, “I understand, I’ll be back in a bit. I have friends here, so I’ll hang up now and we’ll talk when I get back.”

Seeing that Lu Qi's expression wasn't good, Yun Suni asked with concern, "What's wrong? Did your aunt call about something?"

Lu Qi ignored her and turned to Yun Suni in a low voice, saying, "My mom wants me to go home."

He paused, his expression turning even more displeased, "Let me go back with Qin Biyu."

Although Yun Su Ni was somewhat unhappy, she knew that the Lu family and the Qin family had a very good relationship and it was impossible for the two families not to interact.

She knew that Lu Qi had no feelings for Qin Biyu, but she still nodded generously: "Okay, drive carefully."

Lu Qi's expression softened: "I'll take you back first."

Gu Liji, sitting next to them, heard everything they said clearly. He said loudly, "Lu Qi, since you have something to do and need to go back, I'll give Yun Su Ni a ride back. We're all friends."

"Ha!" Lu Qi sneered.

"Su Ni, I don't know why Lu Qi is always dissatisfied with me!" Gu Liji took the opportunity to complain.

The skill of turning the tables on Cheng Qicai was truly astonishing.

Unfortunately, the male lead is labeled as a domineering CEO, which always allows the scheming and manipulative Gu Liji to get her way.

Yun Su Ni also felt that Lu Qi's attitude was bad. She kept telling Lu Qi not to treat Gu Liji that way, since they were all friends.

But Lu Qi just wouldn't believe it, firmly believing that Gu Liji liked her, which ultimately led to an unpleasant situation between the two.

But whether Gu Liji likes her or not, she knows perfectly well that they are just good friends.

Yun Su Ni was helpless about Lu Qi's distortion of the truth, but she still defended Lu Qi, saying, "No, Lu Qi is just like that."

"That might be because he has rhinitis; he's always humming and humming." Gu Liji mimicked Lu Qi's nasal tone and hummed a few times, leaving no room for smearing him.

Seeing Gu Liji still looking aggrieved, Yun Su Ni said to Lu Qi, "Lu Qi, why don't you and Miss Qin go back first, so that your aunt won't get impatient? I'll just take Liji's car back."

Hearing Yun Suni say that, Lu Qi's tone became firm, "No, I'll take you back."

Gu Liji remained silent, as if he had tacitly accepted the outcome.

Cheng Qicai, however, did not believe that Gu Liji would end like this; otherwise, his long journey here would have been in vain.

Seeing that Lu Qi had something to do, everyone ended the gathering. Most of them had drunk a little, and each called a designated driver to leave.