Chapter 90

"Wanyi, come here, let me introduce you. This is your Uncle An's daughter, An Yue." Xu Jing enthusiastically pulled An Yue towards Xu Wanyi.

Xu Wanyi frowned. "Isn't this Li Ye's little intern? And who is Uncle An?" As she thought about it, she glared at Li Ye next to her, not understanding why she was there.

Oh! She remembered that when she was a child, her family did have a business partner surnamed An, but she didn't remember An Yue, so she had never matched the two "An"s together.

"You don't remember, right? It's normal not to remember. You were young back then, and An Yue didn't come to our house often, so you didn't see her much. But it's okay. Let me reintroduce you today. An Yue is now working at the family business. They make biopharmaceuticals, so you'll definitely have opportunities to work together in the future."

"Hello, Sister Xu!" An Yue readily complied, no longer referring to Chairman Xu as such.

She only learned a few days ago at a family banquet that the famous Chairman Xu was actually the daughter of their family's old friends. As soon as Aunt Xu heard that she had interned under Li Ye, she immediately came over and chatted intimately with her, asking about Li Ye and so on.

An Yue was no match for Xu Jing, that old fox. It wasn't long before she was tricked into revealing that she liked Li Ye. As a result, Xu Jing told her to come to today's banquet, saying that Li Ye would be there.

After An Yue stopped interning with Li Ye, she was frustrated that she had few opportunities to see Li Ye again. She was thinking about whether to persuade her family to hire Li Ye as their legal advisor when Xu Jing came up to her at the right time.

Of course she'll come!

She ran into Attorney Li just now, and she was still as polite and courteous as ever, treating her like a child. It was impossible not to be disappointed. She had thought that Attorney Li was averse to office romances, which was why she ignored her. She thought that with her own resources, no one would be so cold to her.

Just as they were about to continue their conversation with Li Ye, they saw Xu Jing and Xu Wanyi walking towards them, so they had no choice but to give up on striking up a conversation and switch to social mode.

"Hello, Ms. An, it's nice to meet you again. Welcome to the dinner party." As the saying goes, you can't hit a smiling face. She's practically an acquaintance, a family friend, and works in biopharmaceuticals. Xu Wanyi smiled brightly and said gently.

"You've met before? That's good, then there's no need for further introductions." Xu Jing didn't know that when Li Ye was working on the Le Guang Group project, An Yue had also visited Le Guang Group a few times. Although the two had never spoken, they recognized each other by their faces.

"Li Ye, it's been so many years, but you're still so youthful and energetic." It was only then that Xu Jing seemed to realize that Li Ye was still standing next to her.

Xu Wanyi stared intently at Li Ye's face, looking completely bewildered, as if waiting for an explanation.

Li Ye looked completely innocent, thinking to himself, "Didn't you ask me to come?" But when Xu Wanyi looked at him like that, he suddenly realized... he had fallen into Xu Jing's trap.

When Jiang Yu came to tell her in the afternoon that Xu Wanyi wanted her to attend the evening banquet at Yunman, Li Ye was still confused. Couldn't Xu Wanyi have just sent her a message directly if she wanted her to attend the banquet? Why go through all that trouble with Jiang Yu relaying the message?

“Attorney Li, Ms. Xu said she was too busy today, so she had her receptionist call me and asked me to tell you that she wouldn’t contact you directly, and you can just go there when the time comes.”

Hearing this, Li Ye thought it made sense. Xu Wanyi and Feng Jing were both busy, so it wasn't unreasonable to ask the front desk to notify them. So she reluctantly accepted and even arrived ten minutes early. When she arrived, she saw that only An Yue was standing at the door. The door to the conference room was tightly closed. She was so angry that she almost fell to the ground, but even at this point, she still didn't realize that something was wrong.

“Aunt Xu, you know I like to join in the fun and expand my business. Next time there’s a high-end banquet like this, just call me directly. You don’t need to have someone pass on the message to me.”

Xu Wanyi understood after listening; this was a trap set by Xu Jing for Li Ye!

She had been sitting listlessly in the conference room all day, and now she suddenly wanted to see how Li Ye would handle this delicious-looking but unpalatable feast.

"Attorney Li, Miss An, since you're both here, please take your seats. The banquet is about to begin." Xu Wanyi adopted the demeanor of a hostess.

As she expected, Xu Jing led the two directly to two chairs next to each other. Li Ye didn't say anything and calmly sat down. An Yue was naturally very happy, as this way she could have a proper talk with Attorney Li.

“Attorney Li, I’ve heard rumors in the industry that you and Chairman Xu…” Xu Shenzhao’s lengthy speech on the stage continued, and An Yue whispered to Li Ye while everyone else was not hearing clearly. She stopped halfway through her sentence.

"Forget it, it's probably just like the rumors about President Xiao, all made up by people who have nothing better to do." After a couple of seconds, she answered herself.

"No, this rumor is true. Li Ye is my girlfriend."

When Li Ye turned around, she saw that Xu Wanyi had walked up behind them at some point. She bent down and spoke to Li Ye in a low voice, but loud enough for the two of them to hear clearly.

The people sitting around had obviously heard it too, but they were all seasoned veterans. After a moment of surprise, they immediately pretended nothing had happened and kept their eyes fixed on Xu Shenzhao on the podium.

Li Ye was both delighted and alarmed. Xu Wanyi's actions were tantamount to coming out of the closet. She was certain that although the people next to her pretended to be indifferent, their ears were already straining to hear what was going on. Soon, there would be a hundred different rumors about Xu Wanyi and her.

An Yue stared in disbelief at the two people in front of her. She never expected that the usually cold-faced chairman would actually be with Li Ye, and she never expected that she would dare to speak so boldly and frankly in such a public place, disregarding gossip.

"So, Miss An, you could do whatever you wanted before, but things are different now. I hope you can maintain an appropriate distance, act appropriately, and say appropriate things in the future."

Xu Wanyi knew Xu Jing's thoughts all too well. She had to give her a heads-up beforehand to prevent the girl from being fooled into thinking she actually had some hope and doing something even more foolish. Furthermore, she absolutely wouldn't allow that scene outside Li Ye's office building that night to repeat itself.

“Wanyi, this…” Li Ye gently pulled Xu Wanyi closer to him and spoke in a voice only she could hear.

Xu Wanyi didn't say anything, but just stared at Li Ye and silently squeezed his hand. In her eyes, Li Ye saw composure, determination, and calmness.

"I understand." She shook Xu Wanyi's hand in return and said nothing more.

Just as Xu Shenzhao finished speaking, the lights went up even brighter, and enthusiastic applause erupted spontaneously.

Chairman Xu straightened up and addressed the guests at the table, saying, "It is an honor for Leguang Group for you all to attend tonight's banquet. I hope you enjoy yourselves. Now, let me toast you all."

After saying that, he downed a glass of wine.

Those who had heard the gossip, and those who hadn't, all stood up, raised their glasses, exchanged polite words, and downed their drinks in one gulp. An Yue, seemingly still in shock, mechanically followed suit and drank hers as well.

After finishing her drink and exchanging a few more pleasantries, Xu Wanyi left to continue socializing at other tables. Li Ye knew that Miss Xu was probably going to get drunk tonight.

"Attorney Li, what Chairman Xu just said... is it true?" After finishing her drink, An Yue seemed to come back to her senses and spoke with some difficulty.

"Yes, it's true. And I'm not as good a person as you think. You're so young, you'll definitely find someone better."

His words were the same as Jiang Yu's; what a great boss! An Yue didn't want to hear a thing.

"So, you're the irresponsible bastard that Aunt Xu mentioned ten years ago, the one who just left without a word and caused Chairman Xu so much pain?" An Yue suddenly remembered what Xu Jing had told her and realized what had happened.

"Ah, uh, although I said I'm not as good a person as you think, I don't seem to be this much of a jerk either."

Li Ye was somewhat embarrassed, wondering what kind of drug Xu Jing had given this young girl to slander her reputation like this.

"Attorney Li, it seems you're not as devoted as Chairman Xu thinks." After saying this, the young woman ignored her and started drinking one glass of wine after another.

Li Ye didn't care about her. An Yue had already graduated from university and was no longer his intern, nor was she someone he had invited. Adults should be responsible for their own actions, which was one of Li Ye's principles.

After a while, Xu Jing walked over for some reason and saw An Yue and Li Ye sitting far away, one eating with her head down and the other drinking loudly.

"Hey, Xiao An, why are you so busy drinking? Why aren't you chatting with Attorney Li?" It seems Xu Jing is unaware of what happened.

"Aunt Xu, I want to go home." Upon seeing Xu Jing, An Yue's pent-up grievances from the previous night poured out like water bursting its dam, and she said in a tearful voice.

"What's wrong? Who bullied you?" Xu Jing said, glaring at Li Ye as she spoke, thinking to herself, "How could I not know who bullied you?"

"Come on, Aunt Xu will take you home. We can talk about everything later. If anyone bullies you, Aunt Xu will help you get revenge!"

After saying that, he politely apologized to the others and left with An Yue.

The guests who knew the inside story had very interesting expressions; they watched the whole thing with smiles on their faces.

"Attorney Li, I've long admired your name and heard many of your stories, but seeing is believing. Tonight has truly broadened my horizons. I'd like to have a drink with you."

As soon as Xu Jing left, a woman in an elegant suit came over to offer her a toast, indicating that she knew something about Li Ye.

"I'm sorry, I made you laugh. I'll drink this one."

Knowing that nothing he said would be right at this moment, Li Ye simply drank more and talked less. Seeing that the others were also eager to try, Li Ye disregarded politeness and quickly stood up and said, "Excuse me, everyone, I have something to do, so I'll take my leave first. Please excuse me."

After saying that, she got up and left. This wasn't her place, nor was it something she wanted to be there. Expanding business also depends on the occasion. She, Li Ye, wasn't someone who would fawn over just anyone. If she had to consider everyone's feelings, she might as well just hang herself.

...

An Yue was taken directly to a guest room upstairs by Xu Jing.

"An Yue, what happened? Tell Aunt Xu."

"Aunt Xu, Li Ye is with your precious daughter, don't you really know?"

An Yue had lost count of how much she had drunk; she was completely dizzy and her speech was slurred. Although she wasn't completely drunk, she no longer tried to hide her emotions.

Xu Jing's heart skipped a beat. "Xiao An, Aunt Xu really doesn't know this. How can you be so sure?"

"Chairman Xu said it himself."

Upon hearing this, a surge of anger rushed to Xu Jing's head. Her eyes turned red, and she clenched her teeth fiercely. Even An Yue, who was somewhat drunk, was sobered up by her appearance.

"Aunt Xu, are you alright?"

Xu Jing immediately realized what was happening and quickly composed herself.

"It's alright, Xiao An. Remember what Aunt Xu told you last time? You should know now that that person is Li Ye. Your sister Wan Yi is so silly, thinking she had him wrapped around her little finger, but she hadn't at all. You've heard how much of a womanizer Li Ye is, haven't you?"

An Yue recalled the rumors circulating in the industry. Even if only a small part of them were true, Li Ye was not a good lover, much less a qualified girlfriend.

"I'll ask you one more time, do you really like Attorney Li?"

“Yes.” An Yue nodded without hesitation.

“Very good, then you listen to Aunt Xu, Li Ye will definitely go with you, like this…”