Tang Zhiyi's face paled, but she still managed to force a smile, refusing to let her expression crumble.
"What... what do you mean by that, Yan Nian?"
No one answered her, and the moment their eyes met, they quickly turned away.
"For a banquet to begin, the organizer needs to send out invitations at least a week in advance. Verbal invitations are not only invalid, but also disrespectful to the guests."
In the awkward moment, Sun Lu appeared beside Tang Zhiyi without her noticing and whispered an explanation to her.
"Are you feeling sorry for me or just indifferent? What's wrong? Do you need me to introduce you to a hostess?" Lan Xing suddenly perked up, acting nonchalantly, which Tang Zhiyi saw as blatant provocation.
Tang Zhiyi clenched her fists and forced a smile. She looked at Lan Xing, desperately suppressing the anger that was about to erupt.
"Lanxing, you're joking. My parents are busy with my family reunion banquet and don't have time to take care of things. They've already found something for me, but they're worried that I'm not used to it yet, so they told me not to worry."
"Really? Then we'd better hurry. Losing face in class is nothing, but losing face at a family reunion banquet would be a real laughing stock."
Lan Xing smiled innocently, while Tang Zhiyi could only force a smile through her clenched teeth.
"Thank you for your concern, Lanxing. I will be careful and not embarrass my parents at the banquet."
"By the way, you said Mr. Tang hired Ji Sheng to design your dressing room, right?"
"Of course... Of course." Tang Zhiyi's pupils contracted slightly, and she nodded with a forced smile.
"Ji Sheng, that's not very nice of you. How could you take on such a big order without even telling your childhood sweetheart?"
"What the hell!" Ji Sheng's voice came from the phone, and anyone could hear the anger in his tone.
"Is that guy surnamed Tang a bit crazy? If he were a man, I'd kick him high and low! What right does he have to order me around? And he says I'm the eldest daughter of the Tang family! Oh my, he's something else, I'm so scared. Speechless, he just spouts nonsense. If he lowers my status, are you going to compensate me? Are you going to compensate me? Can you afford to compensate me?"
Ji Sheng unleashed a torrent of abuse, leaving Tang Zhiyi's face alternating between dark and red. Her eyes were red, and tears streamed down her face, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
"Meng Wan, you stole seventeen years of my life. I didn't hold a grudge, but you've been targeting and ostracizing me all along, just because I got back the life that belonged to me!"
After saying that, she didn't wait for Meng Wan to speak, pushed past the onlookers, and ran out.
Others might not know, but Meng Wan knew it perfectly well. When the Meng family was thriving, the Tang family was just starting out. It was only in the last two years, with the Meng family declining, that the Tang family rose to prominence. Tang Zhiyi always said she stole her life, but she had never suffered any hardship. So, who really stole whose life?
With the main character gone, the farce came to an end. Lan Xing hung up on Ji Sheng directly, cutting off his attempt to explain himself in a humble tone.
"Alright, do you still want your things?" Peng Zhe asked, and everyone immediately agreed. The crowd followed Peng Zhe to the back of the classroom to claim their belongings, and the originally crowded space instantly became much more spacious.
"That guy called again. I'm going out for a bit." Lan Xing looked at the phone call from Ji Sheng, said something to Meng Wan, and then pulled out a chair and went out.
"Is Assistant Yao going to lose hair again?" Meng Wan knew that he had been busy with the merger and acquisition case recently and was unable to leave the company.
"You earn 200,000 a month, you can't leave all the work to me, can you? What happened to your hand?" He noticed it when Meng Wan raised her hand to play with his fingers. They were bluish-purple, and the wounds were starting to scab over.
He picked it up and examined it closely, his heartache clearly visible to the naked eye.
Meng Wan raised an eyebrow. Yesterday, before going to the company, she stopped by a traditional Chinese medicine shop to get her medicine applied. This morning, seeing that it was almost done, she decided to remove the gauze because it was too conspicuous. She had forgotten about it just now, and unexpectedly, Yan Nian noticed even with that brief gesture.
"I was bitten by a child."
Yan Nian frowned. "Did they bite back? If they deserve a beating, then beat them up. If they dare to say another word to you, I won't mind making their situation even worse."
Meng Wan chuckled softly and squeezed Yan Nian's fingers. Yan Nian's hands were slender and long with distinct knuckles, and the veins were faintly visible; she liked them very much.
"Don't you dare make things worse for me. Besides, I was the one who crossed the line first."
"Then let's redraw the boundary." The childish words paired with the cold tone made Meng Wan unable to resist cupping his face and pinching it. Yan Nian obediently leaned down to make it easier for her.
"By the way, I've terminated the cooperation with the Sun family." Knowing that Meng Wan was changing the subject, Yan Nian didn't call her out on it.
"Yao Qinglin reported to me that he did a good job." Meng Wan was mentored by Yan Nian, and the two were very similar in their behavior and conduct, almost like one mind.
"Are you leaving now?"
"Yes, I'm going on a business trip abroad for two days tomorrow. Could you please keep an eye on things at the hospital for me?"
"I understand. Don't worry, the old man has gone to see him, and it's good news that things haven't gotten worse."
"Um."
Both of their voices were very low, like whispers, creating a kind of protective barrier that no one could penetrate. Peng Zhe had finished sorting his things, and was about to ask what to do with a suitcase, but in the end he just pursed his lips, put it aside, and left.
"I'll go over after school tomorrow. I'll look after you for the next couple of days. You should get some rest; your dark circles are bigger than a panda's."
Yan Qing chuckled softly, his voice slightly magnetic. He licked his lips, ruffled Meng Wan's hair, and then scratched her chin.
"I'm leaving. Call me if you need anything. If anyone is being unreasonable, go ahead and deal with them. Don't make yourself suffer."
Meng Wan nodded, like a well-behaved yet proud cat. She knew that Yan Nian had come specifically to support him. Unlike the others, some in the class were future heirs, while others were marginalized figures in their families. But Yan Nian was the only one who could sit and stand with their parents.
His attitude was extremely important. He came here to tell others that even without the Tang family, the Yan family was still there to protect them. This made sense, so why was Lan Xing, who always arrived at the last minute, here unusually early today?
The feeling of being favored isn't bad.
Perhaps because of the blow she received that morning, Tang Zhiyi toned it down considerably and didn't pick on Meng Wan for the rest of the morning. When lunchtime arrived, Lan Xing dragged Meng Wan to the cafeteria.
The college has three dining halls offering food from various countries, taking into full account the tastes of exchange students from different backgrounds and countries. The school puts a lot of effort into its food, employing top chefs from around the world and changing the menu daily to encourage students to stay and eat on campus. After all, if even one student gets sick from eating there, the school will be in endless trouble.
These young masters and ladies are all incredibly precious.
"Sun Lu is pretty quick to latch onto a powerful figure."
Following Lan Xing's gaze, Meng Wan saw Tang Zhiyi and Sun Lu walking towards them hand in hand.
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