Chapter 63 Self-esteem

Ruan Yi was about to persuade Fu Jingchen to stay a little longer.

The entire room suddenly went dark.

A beam of light pierced the darkness and landed precisely at the top of the spiral staircase in the center of the banquet hall.

The man stood by the railing, his black tuxedo highlighting his sharp shoulders, while a silver mask covered the upper half of his face, revealing only his perfectly sculpted jawline and thin lips.

"Who is he?" Even through the mask, she could tell that he was a 9 out of 10 in her eyes.

When Fu Jingchen followed Ruan Yi's gaze, he caught a fleeting, almost undisguised look of amazement in her eyes.

"Serren Anderson, the current head of the Anderson family, holds the energy lifeline of half of Europe in his hands, and is the host of the dinner."

His words were devoid of emotion, but the hand that was resting on Ruan Yi's waist subtly tightened, and his fingertips gently pressed against her waist through the fabric.

The force wasn't heavy, but it carried a hint of warning.

He looked down at the girl, "Xiao Yi, are you mesmerized?"

Ruan Yi snapped back to reality and met the man's calm gaze. For some reason, she felt that his gaze behind the mask seemed to have darkened.

Just as Ruan Yi was about to deny it, he heard him continue.

"These kinds of people are full of scheming beneath their outward appearance."

Ruan Yi realized that Fu Jingchen disliked this Mr. Seren.

If Fu Jingchen is unhappy, then she will be happy.

Ruan Yi deliberately fixed her gaze on Seren, who was not far away, and her tone was filled with exaggerated amazement.

"Really? But he's so handsome..."

She turned her head slightly, and out of the corner of her eye, she could see the man's jawline tighten instantly.

Ruan Yi slowly withdrew her gaze from Seren and placed it on Fu Jingchen, a sly smile playing on her lips.

"Oh dear, it seems that foreign men have more obvious strengths and advantages."

She didn't explicitly state her advantages, but the meaning couldn't be clearer from the way her gaze swept over him.

The pressure around her waist tightened instantly, and the man's fingers sank into her skin through the thin fabric of her dress, his voice excessively cold.

"Yes, they do have more body hair and body odor than Asians."

Ruan Yi almost burst out laughing.

A man's pride.

Fu Jingchen has always been the "perfect child" in everyone's eyes, and he can't stand seeing others overshadow him. He must be feeling terrible now.

The girl was so cheerful on her own that she was completely unaware of it.

The man's gaze had been fixed on her face for a long time, and the calm he had shown earlier was gone, replaced by an incomprehensible heaviness and stickiness.

The host's voice carried throughout the venue through the speakers, announcing that it was time for tonight's interactive segment.

The protagonist, Seren, draws lucky gifts for the guests present.

The spotlight began to move through the crowd, and Ruan Yi had a bad feeling. She subconsciously shrank behind Fu Jingchen.

She should probably avoid this kind of situation. Maintaining a safe distance is the best policy for important figures of this caliber.

Ruan Yi had just taken a half step back into the shadows when he was locked onto by a gaze.

The gaze pierced through the crowd, precisely locking onto something, its eyes filled with scrutiny, undisguised appreciation, and the burning intensity of discovering something extraordinary.

Fu Jingchen sensed the gaze almost simultaneously, turned to the side and pulled the girl closer to him, his arms naturally forming a protective barrier.

Seren, however, walked over slowly as if he hadn't seen her.

The man walked up to Ruan Yi, bowed slightly in a standard gentlemanly manner, and gently lifted her palm with his well-defined knuckles.

Ruan Yi was a little confused by the sudden greeting, although it was probably just a polite touch.

The next second she changed her mind, a warm sensation landing on the back of her hand.

A man's gesture of kissing a hand doesn't involve kissing his own knuckles.

The soft touch wasn't a fleeting, superficial touch, but rather a deliberate, slow, and ambiguous one that sent shivers down her spine.

Ruan Yi wondered if she was just being naive, or if the person had yellow fever.

“This beautiful lady.” His voice was deep and pleasant, with a slight Nordic accent and rolled “r”.

"Let me introduce myself, Seren Anderson."

Fu Jingchen took half a step forward and subtly withdrew Ruan Yi's hand from his palm, his tone polite but distant.

"Mr. Anderson, let me introduce you to my companion, Ruan Yi."

Seren's gaze lingered on the two people's intertwined posture for a moment, and his smile deepened.

"Miss Ruan? That's a very unique name."

He turned to Ruan Yi, completely ignoring Fu Jingchen's presence, and asked, "Miss Ruan, what is your role as my companion?"

"I am Mr. Fu's assistant."

After Ruan Yi finished speaking, her expression became somewhat unnatural, and she moved back slightly.

She was just teasing Fu Jingchen with those words; she simply liked that type of foreign man.

It looks like a rotten cucumber!

A man who doesn't respect himself is like a rotten cabbage.

Seren raised an eyebrow, a knowing gleam of interest flashing in his emerald eyes, as if he had discovered a treasure worth savoring.

"So it's Assistant Ruan." The man deliberately emphasized the word "assistant," his gaze fixed on Ruan Yi's face, his admiration undisguised.

"God must have favored the East to create such exquisite beauties."

Such exaggerated praise! It's definitely yellow fever.

Ruan Yi's nasolabial folds deepened from her disdain.

Fu Jingchen picked up the wine from the waiter's tray and gently touched Seren's glass to the rim, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Mr. Anderson, you flatter me. My assistant is introverted and not used to being the center of attention."

The final note was steady, yet carried an undeniable declaration of sovereignty.

Seren chuckled softly, but didn't reply. He just looked at Ruan Yi with a very probing gaze.

Ruan Yi raised her eyes and looked at Fu Jingchen, who stood tall and had a calm expression beside her.

Looking at Seren across from him, whose smile was gentle but whose eyes seemed to hide a ferocious beast, he suddenly felt like laughing.

Does her face attract abnormal people?

I was just trying to attend a dance, how did I end up attracting flies of this caliber?

Ruan Yi moved closer to Fu Jingchen, deciding that she would not leave this safe zone no matter what tonight.

Just as Ruan Yi was afraid that Seren would force her to make a statement in some way, he simply curled the corners of his lips and slowly swept his azure eyes over her.

He clinked glasses with Fu Jingchen beside him, said something casually, then turned around and walked straight away.

Before he could even catch his breath, several elegantly made-up socialites surrounded Seren and began chatting with him with smiles on their faces.

Ruan Yi breathed a sigh of relief; it seemed she had been overthinking things.

Not far away, the man carrying a champagne tray lowered his eyes, concealing the coldness in them.

During this time he had figured out Thran's personality; he was extremely picky, and that man liked things that were different from the norm.

They are ruthless, yet always wear a respectable facade.

Just like now, even though the other party had clearly identified Ruan Yi with their eyes, they retreated with the help of others.

However, due to Fu Jingchen's presence, she was unwilling to reveal her intentions too early.

According to Ethelron's thought process, those who actively pursued him were not worthy of his attention, and the girl's resistant demeanor was particularly novel to him.

The edge of the tray trembled slightly as the man gripped it.

The anger surging in his chest almost burst out.

Especially when she thought about the disgusting look in Seren's eyes when he looked at Ruan Yi just now.

He came to the Anderson family to shed his immaturity and gain the strength to stand firm as soon as possible.

In order to get out smoothly, he went to great lengths to persuade the hospital nurses to help him keep it a secret from Fu Jingchen.

That's how he got the qualification to be a waiter at this capital banquet, but his current status is like a shackle, pinning him to the spot.

His gaze swept over Fu Jingchen's composed profile. He had just recognized that the NovaVoy president, whom he had been flattered, was his nominal older brother.

An unprecedented, intense jealousy welled up inside me.

No wonder the other party never competed with him for the inheritance of the Fu family business; it turns out they had already made a name for themselves.

This extreme jealousy, the moment it fell upon Ruan Yi, was overshadowed by a deeper emotion.

A desire more urgent than anger, more burning than jealousy.

He wanted to get to her side immediately, to shield her from all the malicious gazes, and to make sure she kept the promise she had made to him.

But he can't do it now; he can only stand in the shadows, letting that desire surge through his limbs.