These words struck like a thunderbolt, disturbing far more than just one person.
How come he arranged his identity so clearly?
Meng Jiuyi's breath hitched, and when she looked up, she could only see the man's chin.
"Boy friend?"
Tan Yuchen repeated these words slowly and deliberately, then chuckled softly.
"How come I don't know such a person?"
If Meng Jiuyi were to look back, she would surely find that, unlike his tone, the man's profile in the sunlight was noticeably cold, even carrying a hint of ferocity.
"As the older cousin, you can't possibly know everything, can you?"
Holding someone in his arms, Xu Yanzhi didn't stop walking.
A group of men, unable to stay indoors any longer, gathered on the balcony to watch the spectacle.
What's going on?
Why did Old Xu go carrying someone?
The baseball cap covered most of her face, and with her head bowed low, only the smooth lines of her chin could be seen from afar.
But their first impression was still that she was excessively beautiful.
Where did this Barbie doll come from?
There was no one left inside; everyone was huddled on the balcony. When they saw Xu Yanzhi carrying the person up, they coughed repeatedly with great seriousness.
That affected voice landed on Meng Jiuyi's head, and one could only imagine how he would be scrutinized later. The more he thought about it, the more disgusted he became.
"Put me down right now."
He responded with silence.
Meng Jiuyi lowered her voice and warned fiercely, "Xu Yanzhi!"
Xu Yanzhi lowered his eyes, looking at her with amusement as she tugged at his shirt, as if she wanted to disappear into the ground.
"Don't worry, most of them are people you know."
Not everyone knew her. As soon as he stepped onto the stairs, Cen Dong exclaimed, "Holy crap!"
"Miss Meng... Miss Meng, it's you?"
Cen Dong had forgotten what Meng's name was, but that didn't stop him from being utterly astonished.
"Aren't you being too polite? You came to visit without even saying a word."
Meng Jiuyi was even more embarrassed than him, not knowing what expression to make, while Xu Yanzhi had already carried him into the house.
Not everyone attended the previous banquets, and since the Meng family wasn't a prominent family in Kyushu, everyone looked at each other, wondering who it was.
Unable to get an answer, he decided to go inside and ask, determined not to let him off the hook today.
The last time Cen Dong saw Meng Jiuyi was at the Orange Garden. At that time, he saw Tan Yuchen and her in the back garden and they even exchanged a few jokes.
So when Tan Yuchen went up the steps, he asked in bewilderment, "Your cousin is quite resourceful, how come she and Chairman Xu got together so quietly—"
Before he could finish speaking, the rest of his words caught in his throat.
Tan Yuchen glanced at him coldly, his expression unchanged, but Cen Dong suddenly felt a chill on his arm.
Having long been familiar with his unpredictable temperament, Cen Dong sensed that something was clearly wrong with this guy.
Everything was fine just now?
"Chairman Xu, what's going on with you? Confess and you'll be treated leniently or severely."
Zhou Bo gestured with his eyes, "Miss Meng, don't let his dignified appearance fool you, he's a complete scumbag. He was just eyeing that mysterious hair tie lady right in front of us. You'd better watch out."
These people all knew Xu Yanzhi to some extent and knew that he wasn't the type to treat romantic relationships as a game. He had just said he was pursuing someone, so how could he possibly be hugging another girl in the blink of an eye?
Unless it's just a coincidence.
"What hair tie lady?" Meng Jiuyi, who was mentioned, looked completely bewildered.
Xu Yanzhi placed her in the corner of the sofa, creating a private and safe space for her.
The man summoned a waiter, took a dark gray suit from the wardrobe, and draped it over her shoulders. He gave Zhou Bo a warning look, his eyes still smiling.
"Stop trying to sow discord. Haven't you ever considered that you're all alone?" The whistling grew even louder; they were just waiting for Xu Yanzhi to walk right into their trap.
Xu Yanzhi looked at Meng Jiuyi and said in a low voice, "When you were sick last time, you accidentally put the hair tie in my pocket."
Last time…
A single sentence can always evoke certain memories. As Meng Jiuyi thought of something, his gaze immediately fell on the sofa.
I dared not ask or respond.
"What were you whispering about, Mr. Xu? Why are you making Miss Meng so embarrassed?"
Meng Jiuyi: "..." Why are these men so gossipy?
Xu Yanzhi narrowed his eyes and said, "Don't bully her."
His warning merely diverted the attention, and the excitement didn't diminish in the slightest.
"Tan San, I heard from Dongzi that Miss Meng is your cousin. You're not a very good cousin, you didn't know before us."
Tan Yuchen leaned back lazily on the sofa, his expression even more indifferent than the water on the table.
He didn't say a word, and was unusually quiet from the moment he came in, not participating in any gossip, not even uttering a single word.
It seems that not long ago, it was someone else who learned that Xu Yanzhi had someone he loved, and it was this person who jokingly started the conflict.
Someone belatedly gestured to the side, and a waiter immediately stepped forward, squatted down in front of Meng Jiuyi, and poured him wine.
Before even touching the glass, Xu Yanzhi asked, "She doesn't like red wine. Do you have any sweet drinks?"
"Yes, yes, yes! With Chairman Xu's words, even if we didn't have them, we would still buy them for Miss Meng ourselves."
"Stop calling me Miss Meng, start calling me Sister-in-law."
Meng Jiuyi was extremely embarrassed. He gently held her fingers, and she tried to pull them back but couldn't. Instead, he took the opportunity to slip his fingers between hers.
Tan Yuchen sat opposite them, the smoke from his fingertips blurring his features.
He coldly lifted his eyelids, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man's large hand completely envelop hers. She gently moved her fingers, but he quickly grabbed them back.
It was like a fireball being thrown into cold water, causing boiling bubbles to hiss and burst forth instantly.
He stared intently, his dark pupils as deep as a still pool.
"Chairman Xu, won't you introduce him?"
Meng Jiuyi froze for a moment, then looked up at the man. His black, tousled hair fell across his forehead, obscuring the emotions in his eyes, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
Others are also waiting for him to give an explanation.
Xu Yanzhi smiled helplessly and solemnly introduced the person in his arms to them.
"No need to call her sister-in-law, she has a name, Meng Jiuyi."
"Is that all?" The others were itching to get to the bottom of it.
Xu Yanzhi said, "Don't ask about other things. If you scare people away, will you compensate me?"
The jeers immediately became even louder.
Most of the people around him were unfamiliar faces, and he recognized some but couldn't recall their names. After being introduced by Xu Yanzhi, Meng Jiuyi exchanged glances and nodded to him.
"Gao Jingchen, my junior brother, is also Chinese, but he is currently unemployed."
As Meng Jiuyi gently sized him up, Gao Jingchen was also looking at her. Compared to her polite and aloof demeanor, he wanted to scrutinize her face thoroughly, and his peach blossom eyes suddenly seemed frivolous.
"Miss Meng, haven't I seen you somewhere before?"
Laughter erupted from one side to the other.
"Young Master Gao, your way of responding is so outdated."
no!
Gao Jingchen swore he had seen her somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where.
Where is his photographic memory?
Xu Yanzhi whispered in her ear, "Ignore him."
Meng Jiuyi's eyelashes fluttered, and she softly hummed in agreement. She had indeed met this person many years ago.
The subsequent introduction almost turned into a barrage of interrogations, as if they wanted to dig out every single detail about them.
"Did Chairman Xu and Miss Meng meet in England?"
Xu Yanzhi had lived abroad since childhood, and when he heard that the two had met in college, he naturally assumed they were Cambridge alumni.
Xu Yanzhi smiled faintly and said, "I spent half a year back at Zhihua University for research projects."
So you met in the country?
Who pursued whom?
This is a very simple problem.
Before Meng Jiuyi could answer, Xu Yanzhi spoke up in a gentle and refined manner.
"Didn't I just give you the answer? I've been pursuing her for a long time."
It's hard to imagine what it would be like for a high-and-mighty guy to pursue someone. How many girls took the initiative for him during those years abroad? But Xu Yanzhi was incredibly steady from beginning to end.
Could it be that he's now lustful at first sight?
The wine had been served for the third time, yet the atmosphere remained even more lively.
He introduced unfamiliar or unknown faces, so he naturally skipped Tan Yuchen.
The man slightly lifted his eyelids, casting an ambiguous glance his way.
"Why is it jumping around when it's my turn? Am I a ghost?"
Xu Yanzhi looked back at him and said with a faint smile, "Do you need an introduction?"
"must."
Tan Yuchen was still playing with the can in his hand, smoke billowing out from his thin lips in a powerful, drifting motion.
"A scholar should be viewed with new eyes after three days of separation."
Meng Jiuyi felt there was something ambiguous about his words, so she glanced at him discreetly.
Zhou Bo stepped in to defuse the situation, saying, "Miss Meng, you must know this bastard. He's just like that, so don't mind him."
Meng Jiuyi nodded slightly, as politely as if he had met an unfamiliar distant relative, but he still had to give a basic greeting.
"cousin."
"cousin."
Tan Yuchen casually chewed on these words, a slight twitch at the corner of his lips.
"They kept it a secret pretty well."
Although she was speaking to Xu Yanzhi, her eyes remained fixed on Meng Jiuyi the entire time, without wavering or wavering.
The gaze fixed on her head was so intense that she couldn't help but look up.
The man's eyes were dark and gloomy, an impenetrable veil enveloping her, revealing an obvious somberness.
It felt as if iron chains were wrapped around Meng Jiuyi's neck, making it difficult to breathe.
She nervously dodged away, but after half a second she realized she had no reason to be nervous and glared back defiantly.
Doing things for him doesn't mean selling to him, nor does it mean owning his property.
"Yes, Chairman Xu, I remember you were the one who saved Miss Meng at the banquet at the villa before, right? Could it be that you started having feelings for her back then?"
Xu Yanzhi smiled, which was taken as an admission of this statement.
"I was wondering why that old 'talking about promotion' brought Chairman Xu here."
Tan Yuchen propped his forehead with his fingers and slowly said, "So it turns out that Chairman Xu's real intention was not what it seemed. This kid is still crying and howling at home every day. If he knew about this, I wonder if he would immediately grab a knife and chop Chairman Xu up."
Xu Yanzhi sensed a hint of aggression in his words and assumed he was speaking up for Tan Sheng.
"Whether I'm there or not, your brother is under so much pressure, there's no way things will turn out well."
These two are speaking in encrypted language.
What does this have to do with the talks?
"That makes sense."
Tan Yuchen smiled knowingly: "It's always the case that those involved are confused while bystanders see things clearly. But Chairman Xu, you should be careful, because you might end up following in his footsteps one day."
---
good evening
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