The man put his arm around her waist, his body naturally pressed against her back. She was only wearing a thin evening dress, and standing so close to him, the warmth from his body gradually seeped through the thin clothing and onto her back.
Every cell in Zhu Qianying's body seemed to be activated, closely guarding against the man behind her.
The man affectionately rested his chin on her shoulder, looking at the elderly couple on the stage with envious eyes.
"I really hope we can have parents like ours someday..."
In front of so many guests, his actions were intimate and natural. To outsiders, this was the most normal thing to do, but Zhu Qianying kept her body stiff and cooperated with him.
Since waking up in Yan Shao's arms on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhu Qianying deliberately avoided any overly intimate contact with him. He did behave himself for a while, and Zhu Qianying thought that he would maintain his gentlemanly demeanor until he couldn't stand her coldness and indifference and left.
However, she clearly underestimated Yan Shao's endurance.
After cooling down for a while, it seemed to be starting to boil again.
Or perhaps, it's simply because, on an occasion like tonight, he wants to show off his affection in front of everyone, to demonstrate that he and she are an "incredibly loving" couple, rather than just a contractual couple as rumored these past two days.
This whole thing is really baffling.
Just now, her younger sister Xiaoyu suddenly pulled her aside and said to her, "Sister, do you know that there are rumors that you and Young Master Yan are just a contract couple? You are in it for money, and Young Master Yan is in it to have an heir. Even Zizai, those people say that he was born through surrogacy and has nothing to do with you."
The fact that this rumor could reach R City means that it has already caused quite a stir in L City. However, she has been too busy these past few days to pay attention to the rumors.
The man behind her, who was always in the spotlight, obviously couldn't possibly be unaware of this, yet he hadn't mentioned it to her at all.
"Young Master Yan..."
"Hmm?!" Yan Shao finally withdrew his gaze, which was both envious and proud, from the stage, and lowered his eyes to stare at her profile.
"Have there been any rumors circulating outside these past few days?"
She didn't care what others said about her; she just didn't want Zai Zai to be hurt by these rumors.
She always explained to Zizai that he was the fruit of her and his father's love, but that she and his father later divorced because of some things.
She couldn't give Zizai a complete family before, but she hopes to give him a healthy and optimistic outlook. She doesn't want Zizai to lose faith in love, marriage, or family because of her relationship with Yan Shao.
She herself was already a victim of her parents' abnormal relationship, and she didn't want her son to repeat the same mistake. She didn't want to leave him with a dark side and pessimism that he might never be able to erase because of her.
"About what?"
The man's tone was calm; it was unclear whether he was feigning ignorance or genuinely didn't understand what she meant.
"About you and me, about Zizai," Zhu Qianying said directly.
She never backs down or runs away from matters concerning Zizai.
She is Zizai's mother. Before he had the ability to protect himself, she was always the one standing in front of him.
If she chooses to back down and run away, then it will inevitably be Zizai who gets hurt.
Yan Shao did not answer her immediately. Instead, he straightened up, and the burning heat finally left her back.
Before Zhu Qianying could react, he pulled her by the hand and led her to the two brothers from the Ji family not far away.
"Ji Yu, Ji Huan, could you please help us out? Ying'er isn't feeling well, I'll go with her to get some medicine."
In fact, even if he didn't reveal it, with Uncle Hai and the Yan family's servants, as well as Qin Xiu and Ke Kai's trusted confidants present, there was absolutely no way anything could go wrong.
However, in Yan Shao's opinion, today is a big day for his parents, so it's always better to be careful.
The Ji brothers were naturally people who could be entrusted with important tasks. They nodded and waved to him in unison, signaling him to go and take care of Zhu Qianying.
Yan Shao took Zhu Qianying's hand and led her back into the house. After looking around to make sure there were no other people around, he began to explain.
"There have indeed been some rumors circulating these past few days, but don't worry, it won't have any impact."
Yan Shao's reaction to the rumors was clearly not as strong as Zhu Qianying's.
"I don't care, I'm just worried about Zizai," Zhu Qianying said frankly.
She herself didn't care what others said about her; after all, she was already immune to those opinions.
But it's different for Zizai. He's still young and hasn't developed a sense of right and wrong yet. Hearing such rumors might make him doubt his own background and question many things.
Yan Shao was silent for a moment, as if he was thinking of a solution. After a while, he patted the back of her hand to comfort her.
"I'll handle this, don't worry."
In fact, Yan Shao was not as indifferent to the rumors as Zhu Qianying thought.
When he first heard the rumors, his reaction was similar to that of Zhu Qianying.
Immediately, Qin Xiu was ordered to investigate.
Then, the information Qin Xiu relayed back basically pointed to the Wang family in D City.
The Wang family made their fortune in the media industry and currently controls the lifeline of most of the country's print and electronic media. This rumor initially appeared on one of the Wang family's subsidiary electronic media platforms.
Although Yan Shao quickly suppressed the rumor, the power of electronic media to spread information is always astonishing. Even though the rumor, spread by a newly registered user, only appeared on the media platform for a little over half an hour, it spread rapidly at an uncontrollable speed.
The newly registered user's account has been blocked. The user is currently cooperating with the investigation at the D City Police Station. However, the impact is spreading rapidly in a way that Yan Shao could neither prevent nor predict.
Compared to Zhu Qianying's worries, Yan Shao had more concerns.
Although Zhu Qianying made it very clear that this matter would not hurt her.
But she is not invincible; how could she truly remain unharmed?
Saying you don't care is probably just a helpless response. Because when faced with harm, besides fighting and resisting, taking a calm approach is also an effective way to reduce the degree of harm.
"Is it the Zhu family? Or the Yi family?"
Even though Zhu Qianying wasn't good at playing mind games, she still understood such simple reasoning.
Seeing that he couldn't hide it any longer, Yan Shao had no choice but to answer her honestly, "It should be the Yi family."
Even though she was unwilling to admit it, Yan Shao was very clear that Yi Wei was a major obstacle between him and Zhu Qianying, so he had recently rarely mentioned Yi Wei in front of her.
"The Yi family? What methods do they use to spread their message?"
Zhu Qianying understands basic common sense.
If it were only spread by word of mouth, the speed couldn't be this fast!
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