Chapter 68 Chapter 68
The elegant clothes, the cheerful laughter and chatter all blurred into a vortex, swirling past her eyes and ears.
An Jiyue stood there in shock, her pupils trembling, until Liang Sinan gently pulled her back to his side, and her soul fell back into her body.
She looked at her hand, which was still lightly clasped with the other person's, and pretended to be calm: "Master...Chen? It's been a long time since we last met."
Xie Ying raised her eyebrows sharply and asked pointedly, "Do you know each other?"
Shen Xingyu said in a suave manner: "We are old acquaintances. Sister An has even been a guest at my house."
Liang Sinan just rolled his eyes calmly. Seeing Xie Ying shut up in frustration, he added, "I see. Then I must have a toast with Mr. Shen."
He casually waved his hand to stop the waiter, took two glasses of golden champagne, handed them to Shen Xingyu first, then lowered his head and made eye contact with An Jiuyue before signaling the waiter to leave.
Shen Xingyu caught the clue and asked: "Sister An, don't you want to have a drink with us?"
Liang Sinan answered for her: "Yue'er won't drink this kind of champagne."
An Jiyue's expression was calm, clearly indicating her agreement. Liang Sinan's voice naturally revealed a hint of confidence, as if the woman's preferences beside him were easily within his grasp.
Shen Xingyu raised his eyebrows and deliberately exaggerated his expression of sudden enlightenment: "Oh! That's it."
They clinked their glasses, drank in one gulp, and chatted briefly about the Liang Group's equity and debt structure. Xie Ying listened, her lips pursed tightly, her hands unconsciously clenched into fists.
It would have been fine if Master Shen ignored her, but even his own son only cared about what the woman he hadn't married liked to drink, but never mentioned his mother at all.
The three of them chatted and laughed freely, as if they treated her as air, as a dispensable decoration. Putting aside other things, she was at least a member of the shareholders' meeting and an elder to them!
Xie Ying's gaze shifted to An Jiyue, who stood gracefully to the side. She'd even spoken half a sentence, discussing the Liang Group's recent stock price trends. The other two, however, listened attentively, offering detailed explanations for her confusion.
This girl from the An family is truly extraordinary, Xie Ying thought to herself, gritting her teeth.
During their last encounter, she had gained every advantage verbally, and An Jiyue had shown no mercy. Even so, Xie Ying simply assumed that the An family girl had been provoked and, after years of living away from home, had become wild, and therefore dared to strike. She probably didn't have much brains.
Unexpectedly, the An family had deep roots, and even after withdrawing from the domestic market for several years, they were still able to survive. Now that An Jiyue has returned to China, he has not only made Anshi Capital a prosperous business, but has also expanded the An family's extensive network of contacts, even being able to establish connections with the son of the Shen family.
In Xie Ying's memory, An Jiuyue was just a well-behaved and lovely little girl who had a beautiful smile since she was young and was not shy.
During those years, she was in poor health. When a group of children came to play at the Liang Mansion, they were always noisy and annoying. Only An Jiyue would politely and sensibly call her "Auntie" and would ask her, half-understandingly, "Mom said you weren't feeling well a while ago. Are you feeling better today?"
Therefore, Xie Ying at that time was willing to force a smile and give snacks to this delicate little girl.
As time passed, An Jiyue seemed to be the same generous and gentle girl, but she had a stubborn streak that had somehow grown inside her. When it came to dealing with elders, she was no longer simply polite and submissive, but instead had a clear attitude and went her own way.
Xie Ying looked at the beautiful couple in front of her, and for some reason, she felt helpless, as if she had let a wolf into the house.
Her youngest son, now an adult, had been sent abroad, hoping he would come back with a diploma. As for his future, she and Cheng Qiming had to pave the way for it.
Xie Ying was not without feelings for Liang Sinan, but she could not understand why her eldest son, who already had a huge fortune, could not leave a way out for his half-brother.
Thinking of her youngest son and Cheng Qiming's instructions, she endured it again and again, continued to force a smile, and took them to meet the next shareholder.
After greeting each other, they left. Shen Xingyu dropped his empty cup onto the waiter's tray and hurriedly hid in a corner of the banquet hall.
His composure just now disappeared, and his trembling fingers poked the small keyboard on the screen with great force, but because he was too excited, he made several wrong typings in a row.
Shen Xingyu simply raised his phone to his lips and excitedly whispered, "Holy crap! Lu Ye, guess who I met?"
There was no response from the other end for a long time. This was what he expected.
Shen Xingyu didn't mind at all and continued to spread the news: "Your beautiful lady hidden in a golden house! An's sister!"
Thousands of miles away in S City, in the empty Z Company floor, Lu Ye was sitting alone in the office.
He always keeps two phones, keeping his work and personal lives separate. With his new fund about to go on sale, he's constantly busy connecting with various people during the day. Only at night can he find time to do some strategic research.
At this moment, Lu Ye was working overtime to debug the stock selection model. The trend lines on the screen in front of him were dazzling. He looked serious and stared at the fitting of each number and each broken line.
But the two phones kept flashing, one after another.
Lu Ye rubbed his temples, glanced at his work phone, and casually replied to a few messages. He unlocked another one, and saw a red dot number next to Shen Xingyu's profile picture.
There are so many things to deal with when going on a business trip to G City... Lu Ye complained in his heart.
He casually clicked on it, intending to clear the red dot and exit. It was a picture, and Lu Ye glanced at it nonchalantly, not wanting to be frozen in time.
It was a woman's slim back, the silver skirt, and the fair and clear skin beneath the skirt, which had been deeply engraved in his mind the night before.
Lu Ye's eyes tightened, and he pressed the screen with two fingers, enlarging the photo and examining the knot tied at the back of her neck in the blurry details.
"Well, it looks safe," he said, relieved.
Lu Ye felt a strange sense of relief. Qin Jianhe had originally hoped that he and Shen Xingyu would go together, but he had been traveling frequently lately, so he declined. Compared to a thank-you banquet held in the family's name, Lu Ye felt that the strategy for the newly launched fund was far more important.
Wait, family?
Lu Ye searched for the invitation letter that he had casually clipped somewhere, and sure enough, the words "Liang Group" were written in gold-plated font.
The Liang Group is Liang Sinan's family. He opened the photo again, forcing himself to ignore the graceful figure and carefully search for clues.
Shen Xingyu's shooting angle was extremely strange. He placed An Jiyue entirely on one side of the frame, leaving a large number of insignificant figures on the other side. He went to such great lengths simply to cut out the people around An Jiyue.
Who could it be? Lu Ye pondered slowly, following An Jiyue's slightly raised gaze, and spotted a man's smooth and broad jawline in the upper right corner.
That height, that figure, and the Liang family dinner. The answer was obvious.
He dialed directly. The voice call was connected after a few seconds, and there was a little noise on the other end.
Shen Xingyu lowered his voice: "Hello? Why are you calling now?"
Lu Ye didn't say anything nonsense: "The person next to her is Liang Sinan, right?"
Shen Xingyu remained silent at the yes-or-no question. Lu Ye's fingers tapped the table slowly, patiently waiting for his answer.
Shen Xingyu took a deep breath, as if he had made up his mind, and spoke in a gentle manner.
"I'm an experienced person. Lu Ye, listen to me - first of all, you have to have a good attitude. If this one doesn't work, we can try another one. With your conditions, you can even win over the Lijiang Group's daughter. This Anshi incident was purely an accident. Second, don't make a fuss. We're all in this circle. What if something happens later..."
Lu Ye frowned, unable to bear it any longer: "Stop, what a mess? I'm asking you, are the people around her——"
"Yes." Shen Xingyu finally admitted, feeling like a cruel and ruthless judge who announced the withering of the ancient flowering tree.
Lu Ye's voice was calm: "Okay. I understand."
Shen Xingyu thought: You know? You know shit!
Lu Ye added: "I wanted to ask you to look after her. But since Liang Sinan is here, I'm afraid you won't be needed."
Shen Xingyu thought again: You really know this! This hat looks pretty comfortable on you, doesn't it?
Lu Ye finally said, "If you want to take pictures, take them well. If you have the chance, take a frontal picture as well."
Shen Xingyu questioned his life: "Is it appropriate for me to follow a girl and take photos of her in this kind of situation? I'm not a pervert! Also, what exactly is your fetish?"
After Lu Ye finished his instructions and was about to hang up, Shen Xingyu finally called him.
“Wait, what do you mean?
"An Jiyue is attending today as Liang Sinan's fiancée, do you know all this?
"Or...?"
Shen Xingyu was talking to himself when he was suddenly shocked: Could it be that Lu Ye really knew that he was the third person between An Jiuyue and Liang Sinan?
He regretted making it clear, but it was too late.
The other end of the line was completely silent. Not even the steady breathing that had just been there could be heard.
Shen Xingyu held the phone tightly to his ear, feeling uneasy. He prayed that Chief Lu, who was far away, could be as calm as he was when facing the index plunge.
After a long time, Lu Ye's voice finally came from the other end of the phone: "There must be a misunderstanding. Shen Xingyu, don't talk nonsense."
His voice suddenly narrowed, and his low voice seemed to be a warning, but his tone was firm and unquestionable.
Shen Xingyu was stunned for a few seconds, then regained consciousness.
His voice unconsciously rose: "It's not Lu Ye, I've explained the situation to you so clearly, what do you mean now——"
His voice happened to be inserted into the half second of silence, and it echoed in the banquet hall with a particularly sharp sound.
Liang Sinan naturally did not miss this inexplicable sound, especially the name in it, "Lu Ye".
He subconsciously looked down at An Jiuyue and saw her whole body tremble, and the moonlight-like hem of her skirt trembled.
Her brown eyes suddenly widened in bewilderment. An Jiyue first exchanged glances with Liang Sinan, then stared at Shen Xingyu, who was holding the phone and looking furious.
She was about to walk away regardless, but Liang Sinan held her firmly from behind.
An Jiyue didn't care about anything else and actually shook off Liang Sinan's strong hand. She walked up to Shen Xingyu with her head held high and snatched his phone without saying anything.
"Hello?"
She hurriedly took over the conversation and heard Lu Ye's heavy breathing. But in an instant, her mind went blank again.
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