Chapter 86 Chapter 86

It was just a minor incident and the incident did not escalate into another incident. The others quickly returned to chatting and laughing.

An Jiyue's clear voice seemed to automatically create a safe distance between the two of them. She firmly guarded her side of the battlefield, watching the man's every move.

To others, the seemingly impulsiveness and dispute had been resolved, but in reality, it wasn't. Just now, when An Jiyue was helping him wipe the water stains off his clothes, he lightly squeezed her hand a few times under the pretense of inspecting his clothes, and even took a half-step forward.

An Jiyue calmly handed the dry towel to the waiter, stepped back, and then said in a businesslike manner that she would compensate according to the price.

She had been in and out of many social gatherings over the years. When she attended as Anshi, she was always surrounded by people who were drinking and socializing. When she attended as a new and unknown director, she had the temperament of a hard-working worker and was not favored by wealthy people.

Today is quite unusual.

At the celebration party for "The Last Days of Lovers," not only the Huayi Interactive Entertainment team was in attendance, but also prominent guests and sponsors. An Jiyue wasn't worried about the man across from her behaving inappropriately. Instead, she simply distanced herself, making her stance clear and declining his "good intentions."

The slightly dazed man looked her up and down. Business people are still somewhat adept at judging people, and he noticed that this girl was different from the other staff members of the program.

Others would be somewhat attentive and fawning when meeting a sponsor. Even the stern-faced woman from the investment promotion team was respectful and wore a half-smile when she came to discuss cooperation. But the woman who had just spilled hot tea on him was neither humble nor arrogant. She took a half step back, chin slightly raised, and looked at him with calm and fearless eyes.

The man looked down at the woman who took a half step back, his explicit gaze resting on her chest.

An Jiyue wore a dark green dress with a shallow V-neckline today. The draped fabric flowed delicately, and the dark color accentuated her fair complexion. The swaying light only accentuated the faint shadow on her chest.

She felt the man's gaze and subconsciously wanted to cover her chest. Just as she was about to raise her hand, a small arm stretched out from behind and pressed it down.

A tall and noble figure walked out from behind her. Lu Ye lowered his eyes and glanced indifferently at the man who was slightly shorter than him.

He stopped, not blocking her behind him, but standing diagonally in front of her, forming an indestructible pillar, as motionless as a knight guarding the princess.

In a flash, An Jiyue's hand, which was about to be raised, clenched into a fist again and hung at her side.

Lu Ye didn't need to say anything. But An Jiyue suddenly figured it all out.

Her skirt is fine, her back is fine. She doesn't need to cover anything.

The problem is the person in front of me.

If she could see something else in those vulgar eyes, what she should do is not to cover her chest, but to punch him in the eye socket.

The man, who had just let out a flirtatious expression, withdrew his gaze. He clearly recognized Lu Ye, who had recently become quite famous. Building connections was certainly more important than flirting with women. He adjusted his expression and extended his hand toward Lu Ye.

"Manager Lu, I've heard a lot about you. I'm—"

Lu Ye interrupted: "Don't bother introducing me, sir. I have no interest in getting to know you."

The man's face turned pale, caught off guard, but he didn't dare to offend the person in front of him easily.

He blinked nervously: "Manager Lu, what are you doing——"

Lu Ye sneered, "Your Excellency is quite polite to me. But it's a pity that you like to have some dirty thoughts in other matters."

Lu Ye was already one of the most eye-catching figures in the arena, with many eyes following his movements. He spoke clearly, a hint of anger swirling in his tone, and showed no intention of avoiding him to save his opponent's face. Immediately, many people turned their gazes, some even converging towards this corner.

Just now, when An Jiyue accidentally bumped into someone, she attracted everyone's attention for a moment. Lu Ye pushed through the crowd without anyone noticing, and no one noticed that he was quietly standing not far behind An Jiyue.

His original intention was to check whether An Jiuyue had burned herself, but he didn't expect to witness the frivolous scene of the man who didn't know how to live or die.

Fortunately, An Jiyue immediately shook her hand away. Lu Ye, who was standing behind her, had a lump in his throat, his eyes dark and gloomy. Seeing the man's evil gaze, he even had the urge to dig out his eyes for a second.

An Jiyue also noticed the other person's gaze. As soon as she moved her fingers, Lu Ye stepped forward and pressed her wrist firmly.

She is not wrong.

Why should she cover it up?

Lu Ye glanced at the greasy, vulgar man with an indifferent expression, his pupils already burning indigo. But even so, he did not take the initiative to block her behind him.

The moment he pressed down An Jiyue's wrist, he knew she would understand. His Jiyue never evaded danger, never worried about villains, and she didn't need anyone to completely protect her.

All he had to do was stand beside her, fight the enemy together with her, and be her backup.

An Jiyue's lips curled into an icy arc. She walked straight forward, shoulders dropped and chest puffed out, taking small, standard steps, the clacking of her high heels clearly audible.

She was clearly half a head shorter than the other person, yet she forced him to take three steps back.

"You, what are you doing?" the man finally asked weakly.

An Jiyue smiled coldly, her eyes sharp as a blade: "Don't you want to see it? I don't have anything shameful to show you. Have you seen enough?"

The wet silk shirt revealed his pot-bellied waistline. The man trembled, "Sick... Absolutely sick..."

He stammered a few words, then ran away cursing.

An Jiyue stared at his receding figure, and her eyes, which had been cold for a long time, gradually regained their gentle brown glow.

Her wrists are slender and her wrist bones are distinct, but that doesn't mean she doesn't dare to punch.

Besides, she had an unwavering guard beside her. An Jiyue turned her head, looked into Lu Ye's unfathomable eyes, and smiled calmly.

They seemed to be having a silent conversation. The wariness and worry in Lu Ye's eyes reminded her, "You still have to be careful in situations like this."

An Jiyue's lively eyes were comforting him: "I'm fine, right? Don't worry."

Besides these two people, many other eyes were intertwined like a tangled mess, all expressing surprise but silently conveying the message.

Director Zhang rubbed his eyes and asked, "Am I too old to keep up with the way young people interact, or is there really something wrong between these two people?"

Tang Bian forced himself to remain calm and shook his head, "Director Zhang, you must be overthinking it. How could they possibly get back together? It's been so many years."

Director Wu looked around for help: "I also feel that the atmosphere just now was not right. From this angle, I think I saw Lu Ye holding Director An's hand. Does anyone know anything about this and can explain it to me?"

Song Yi said indifferently: "Don't look at me. Who said I have the obligation to know all the dynamics of my old classmates?"

Xu Mu panicked but firmly denied it: "Our Director An is a career-oriented person. He's been in the industry for four years and has produced two hit variety shows, surpassing his peers in terms of performance! The heroine is only focused on her career! Please don't focus on her private life, thank you!"

The screenwriters sent a signal to the outside world: "I don't know, I'm not sure, right?"

My colleague who was watching melons: "You writers, please use your imagination! Come up with some reasoning!"

The screenwriters were weak and pitiful and wavered: "Don't ask us, we don't know anything..."

The writing team excitedly communicated internally: "Holy crap! Did you see that?! This is a restrained and respectful princess knight segment. I'm giving out candy right away!"

Zhan Nianqing and Guan Haifu: "I've always said that these two wouldn't be that simple, and sure enough, they're secretly plotting something. The last time we had dinner together, they had a fight at the table, but now it seems like they've been reconciled for a long time."

Zhu Ling: "It's great to be young... and still have the mood to have a secret love affair..."

Lu Ye pulled out a decorative handkerchief, took An Jiuyue's hand, and used the small piece of cloth to carefully wipe her fingers that had just been touched. He looked so focused as if he was refining an analysis report.

After wiping, he threw the towel into the waiter's tray and dusted his hands.

An Jiyue couldn't help but chuckle: "Is this necessary?"

Lu Ye looked up seriously and gave her an unquestionable look of affirmation: "Of course."

The two smiled at each other, with warmth in their eyes and brows. The atmosphere of ease and tacit understanding was self-evident. No one would think that the two were still strangers.

Compared to the dazzling performances from the audience, the routine speeches, thank-yous, and reflections on stage seemed rather dull. It wasn't until the very end, when the host invited the male and female guest pairs to take a group photo, that the couples reluctantly parted ways and returned to their original positions.

The female guests, despite their distinct personalities, seemed surprisingly harmonious together. An Jiyue was puzzled by the reason, but editor Tang offered a hint: "It's the sparkle in their eyes."

"Light? What light?"

"The glow of love." Tang Bian looked at the guests who were immersed in happiness with envy. After looking away, he also looked at An Jiyue and winked, "If you go on stage, you will fit in well too."

An Jiyue's face flushed slightly. She was actually going to go on stage later to pose for a group photo with the director and the male guest.

This gave her a heads-up. So when it was the male guests' turn to take a group photo, An Jiyue deliberately stood in the corner. Together with the other staff members, she was half a person away from Lu Ye, her intention to avoid suspicion was blatant and deliberate.

The photographer had just pressed the shutter when a colleague suddenly shouted, "Take another one! This one's positioning isn't very good!"

An Jiyue was stunned. Before she could speak, she heard Xu Muxian rushing to defend her: "Who said that? What's wrong with it?"

An Jiyue realized that Xu Mu's question had actually tricked her. Sure enough, someone else loudly suggested:

"Director An should stand in the middle!"

There was nothing wrong with the director standing in the middle. But at this moment, Lu Ye happened to be standing in the middle.

An Jiyue had seen through the situation today. Her colleagues had all assumed that if she didn't come clean today, she would be constantly teased, both overtly and covertly.

However, she wasn't ready to reveal it yet. There were many other things that were holding her back...

An Jiyue thought of Liang Sinan's request for help, her own unsuccessful career, An Shi's life hanging by a thread, and her parents who were still unknown.

There were many figures in the audience: familiar colleagues, sponsors who were unaware of the situation, and serious leaders, all looking at her on the stage.

An Jiyue suddenly felt dizzy.

Until someone supported her from behind the waist.

Lu Ye had walked over to her from the center C position without her noticing, and stood at the very edge. He made a "please" gesture to her in a distant manner, pointed to the empty space in the middle, and motioned her to come over.

His voice was as cold as snow, so soft that only the two of them could hear it, but it held everything in: "Jiyue, don't be afraid."