Chapter 60 A Huge Misunderstanding (Part 1)
The driver respectfully opened the car door, revealing a pair of gleaming Oxford shoes.
The next second, Zhuang Bieyan's tall figure appeared in everyone's sight.
He wore a well-tailored black bespoke suit, and every step he took carried a heavy sense of oppression.
"The farewell banquet for the Zhuang family?"
Someone gasped and rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
This is a big shot in Beicheng, someone you can't even invite to a regular banquet. How could he suddenly appear at their school anniversary celebration?
This segment wasn't mentioned on the program schedule.
The group looked at Zhuang Bieyan, who stood backlit at the bottom of the steps with a cold expression, not at all like the well-mannered and polite Zhuang family member in the rumors.
Several people quickly realized what was happening and wanted to take the opportunity to go over and say hello in order to build a relationship.
But Zhuang Bieyan didn't even spare a glance. He strode through the crowd and headed straight for Qu He.
He walked over to Qu He and gently tidied her wind-blown hair, his movements intimate. "Didn't I tell you to wait for me inside?"
Qu He was stunned.
She never expected Zhuang to attend the farewell banquet here, and she never expected him to publicly announce their relationship.
Zhuang Bieyan put one arm around her shoulder and coldly swept his gaze across the crowd. "Let me introduce myself. I am Zhuang Bieyan, and also Qu He's... husband."
He emphasized the last two words especially.
Wherever his gaze fell, the people who had been gossiping about Qu He just moments before turned deathly pale! Especially those who had been discussing the matter most enthusiastically lowered their heads, wishing they could disappear into the ground on the spot.
Zhuang Bieyan's gaze lingered on the man at the front. "I've heard you're not presentable enough?"
The man's legs went weak under his gaze, and he almost knelt down. "Mr. Zhuang, this is all a misunderstanding... We didn't know Qu He's husband was you..."
"Misunderstanding?" Zhuang Bieyan sneered.
No one dared to answer.
Zhuang Bieyan reached out and naturally pulled Qu He closer to his chest. "The circle in Beicheng isn't big. If you don't know the proper rules, there's no point in staying here."
Qu He was held protectively in his arms, the crisp scent of cedar lingering around her nose.
She looked up slightly and met his gaze as he looked down at her.
She saw the words "protecting one's own" in it.
Zhuang Bieyan gave Qu He a reassuring look, then looked up and glanced at the group of people who had been shouting so loudly: "From today onwards, all Zhuang family-owned businesses in Beicheng will never entertain you again."
The moment those words were spoken, those people completely lost their color.
The crowd of onlookers had already quietly retreated to the side, afraid of being implicated.
It's all over!
Are they... on the Zhuang family's blacklist?
Being blacklisted by the Zhuang family is tantamount to being expelled from the upper class of Beicheng.
This means they have no future in Beicheng, and no one dares to cooperate with them anymore.
Their lives are over!
After saying this, Zhuang Bieyan took Qu He's hand, his tone regaining some warmth: "Let's go home."
The group realized what was happening and tried to plead for them, but were stopped by the bodyguards. They could only watch helplessly as the group left, their last hope vanishing.
......
The back seat of a Maybach.
Qu He secretly glanced at the person next to her.
He leaned back in his chair, legs crossed, looking at something on his phone.
Actually, she sensed something was wrong with Zhuang Bieyan as soon as she got in the car; the air around him seemed to have dropped several degrees.
Even the driver in the front seat noticed and wisely turned down the music in the car, even lowering his breathing several degrees.
Qu He subconsciously bit her lip. Was it because she had stood up for her earlier and was forced to go public with their relationship?
Is he angry about this?
But then Qu He remembered Zhuang's farewell banquet post on WeChat Moments on the day they got their marriage certificate, and it seemed like he didn't mind making it public.
So what exactly is he angry about?
Qu He really wanted to ask him why he was angry and why he came back early, but she swallowed the words back down her throat.
She looked at Zhuang Bieyan's cold, hard profile, sighed silently, and turned to look out the window.
The neon lights outside the window rushed past.
Qu He suddenly felt a heat in her eyes, and the next second, tears welled up uncontrollably.
Oh no, I forgot to take my hangover medicine.
She has an embarrassing little problem: while others experience allergic reactions, such as vomiting or blushing, after drinking alcohol, she involuntarily sheds tears every time she drinks.
In previous years, she would take hangover cures for social occasions, but she forgot this time.
Qu He panicked and quickly raised her hand to wipe it.
Not wanting Zhuang Bieyan to see her like this, she quickly turned her head even further away, almost touching the car window, her shoulders shrugging slightly several times as she tried to hold back her tears.
The more she tried to restrain herself, the more fiercely she cried, tears streaming down her cheeks and staining her skirt with a dark color.
She didn't notice that Zhuang Bieyan was watching her out of the corner of his eye.
Seeing her wipe away her tears, seeing her shoulders trembling slightly from holding back her emotions, his heart ached with a dull pain.
She was crying.
Is it because he just made their relationship public in front of everyone, and she felt wronged?
Or... because of Qian Zhaoye?
He remembered the photo on his phone earlier.
Qu He stood in the corner of the balcony, and Qian Zhaoye leaned close to her, saying something. She kept her head down, so her expression was not visible.
Zhuang Bieyan stared at the back of Qu He's head, his knuckles gradually turning white as he gripped his phone.
He recalled the way Qu He looked standing in the crowd just now.
She would rather be pointed at and gossiped about than reveal their relationship. What was she worried about?
Is it because of Qian Zhaoye?
Or... did she not take him seriously at all?
Various speculations, like endless vines, entangled his mind more and more tightly, almost suffocating him.
He wanted to ask, but seeing her tearful back, he fell into an even colder silence.
The only sound inside the car was the air conditioning blowing out, creating a suffocating silence.
Back to Baiyu Bay.
As soon as the Maybach came to a stop, Qu He couldn't wait to get out of the car and run into the elevator.
She kept her head down and sobbed softly as the elevator went up. As soon as the doors opened, she rushed into the room without even changing her shoes.
Zhuang Bieyan stood there, his gaze fixed on her retreating figure, his heart aching as if being pricked by needles.
...Do you really not want to see him?
He gave a self-deprecating twitch, the darkness in his eyes almost overflowing.
She only met Qian Zhaoye once, and she already wants to avoid him?
He was clearly her husband, so why did Qu He's tears seem to only ever flow for others?
Zhuang Bieyan took a deep breath and loosened his tie, trying to suppress the madness that was about to break through his reason.
He walked slowly to the bedroom door, listening to the sounds inside.
She seemed to be rummaging through something, or perhaps she was still crying...
Zhuang Bieyan unconsciously clenched his fist.
Ah He...
On what grounds?
I was the one who met you first...
Even though we're so close, why... are you still so far away from me?
Zhuang Bieyan's hand froze in mid-air; in the end, he did not push the door open.
He was afraid to see the resistance in her eyes, afraid to hear her say...let's break up...
He took a deep breath, closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, all that remained in his eyes was a bottomless coldness.
He turned and walked towards the study.
Under the moonlight, only his lonely and cold silhouette remained.
......
After taking the hangover medicine, Qu He finally felt her tears stop a little.
Luckily, she ran fast, otherwise Zhuang Bieyan would have seen her in such a disheveled state.
After calming down, she walked out of the bedroom and saw Zhuang Bieyan holding a computer. He said casually, "I'm going to the study to take care of something," and then turned and left.
Watching his retreating figure, Qu He felt a strange emptiness in her heart.
She lay in bed looking at her phone after taking a shower, intending to ask Zhuang Bieyan why he was angry earlier when he came to bed. But her eyes were almost closed, and her head was throbbing with sleepiness, yet Zhuang Bieyan still hadn't returned.
She had no choice but to go to sleep first.
In the latter half of the night, Qu He was half asleep when she felt the mattress sink slightly.
Then, her back was pressed against a burning hot chest, and she was completely imprisoned. The hands wrapped around her waist were so strong that it felt like they wanted to knead her into her bones.
She instinctively struggled a few times, but he held her even tighter. "Don't move."
Hearing the familiar voice, Qu He slowly relaxed and fell asleep peacefully in his arms again.
The next morning, when Qu He woke up, the room next to her was empty.
Only the wrinkles on the sheets proved that last night's embrace wasn't a dream.
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