At eight o'clock in the evening, the night was dark and the autumn rain was cool.
A charity reception is being held in the brightly lit banquet hall of a five-star hotel.
Most of the guests are celebrities, and there are also people from the entertainment and fashion circles, who are well-dressed and flashy.
Qi Xing looked at the exquisitely presented food at the snack counter and tasted it with great interest, which made him stand out from the others who were just socializing with a glass of wine in hand.
A few minutes later, someone came to say hello: "Mr. Qi, why are you here today? I thought you were not interested in this kind of occasion."
Qi Xing glanced at Yang Kaiming, one of his good friends: "You are here too."
"Do you think I want to come here?" The visitor pouted. "My father forced me to come here. He told me to come and meet more people and broaden my horizons. Please spare me."
Qi Xing looked in the direction of his gaze and saw that the old man was trying hard to greet and get close to a big shot in front of him, in return for a few indifferent nods from the other party.
"It's not interesting." Qi Xing commented objectively.
"I think so too," Yang Kaiming showed no sympathy for his father's failure, "Master Qi, are you here alone?"
Qi Xing nodded casually: "Yes."
The invitation was from his parents, but given their personalities, they had no interest in such fake social occasions, so he came by himself.
Yang Kaiming looked around and saw a little star in the crowd. He understood what was going on and teased Qi Xing: "Who is Qi Shao here for? You've chased someone all the way here?"
Qi Xing chewed the snack slowly and stared coldly at the person Yang Kaiming was talking about. The other person was following a rich lady, nodding and bowing, trying to please her, without any shyness and reserve when facing him.
"I won't chase her anymore." He put down the plate and became indifferent.
Yang Kaiming wanted to ask more questions when there was a sudden commotion at the entrance of the banquet hall. Someone unknown came and people around came to greet him.
Yang Kaiming lowered his voice: "It's the Ye family who's here."
Qi Xing slowly swallowed the last bite of snack in his mouth: "Who is it?"
"You didn't know? It's Ye Xingzhou, the new leader of the Ye family," Yang Kaiming lowered his voice even lower. "After his father passed away, the Ye family has been in constant dispute for the past few months. It was only recently that the dust settled. This person is an illegitimate child, but he is very capable. None of his brothers and uncles have ever defeated him."
As the word fell, Qi Xing saw the man walking into the banquet hall. He was tall, with strong features, a pair of silver-framed glasses on his high nose bridge, and the curve of the corners of his mouth was just right. He was gentle and elegant, and looked like a gentleman.
The big boss who had previously been indifferent to Yang Kaiming was now shaking hands and greeting him. The man who was the center of attention treated him with courtesy as a junior, which made the other party feel quite pleased.
Yang Kaiming was amazed: "This Young Master Ye seems to have a good temper and is not difficult to get along with. How did he stand out from the group of wolves and tigers in the Ye family?"
Qi Xing didn't hear what he was saying at all, his attention was completely drawn to the other person next to Ye Xingzhou.
The young man was dressed in a simple casual suit, gentle and handsome. His aura was far inferior to those around him, but his smiling face inexplicably made Qi Xing feel itchy.
"Who then?" he asked.
Yang Kaiming then noticed the person who came with Ye Xingzhou. He looked at him for a moment and said, "I remember now. He is the great painter of the Lin family. He seems to be quite famous and has held exhibitions both at home and abroad."
Qi Xing: "Lin family?"
Yang Kaiming explained: "He is also from the upper class circle of Huaicheng, but his family has declined over the years. I heard that there is only an empty shell left. However, he can come with Ye Xingzhou today, so he must have some ability."
Qi Xing smiled: "She looks good."
Yang Kaiming was stunned: "Are you talking about Ye Xingzhou?"
Qi Xing: "The one next to him."
Yang Kaiming looked at the person Qi Xing was talking about for a while. He was indeed not bad, but in his opinion, he was not as good as that Young Master Ye, and even worse than Qi Xing himself.
"Master Qi, you said you didn't want to pursue that little star anymore, but now you have a new target, right?"
Qi Xing raised his eyebrows: "What's the problem?"
Yang Kaiming quickly reminded him: "People like them who call themselves old money in Huaicheng are always arrogant and look down on upstarts like us. Young Master Qi, you'd better not go and make trouble for yourself."
"What old money? Go back a few decades and you'll see that three generations of your family were not peasants. What a joke."
Qi Xing picked up the glass of red wine and walked towards the other party.
Lin Zhinian had just finished communicating with an oil painting collector from abroad. When he turned around, he saw someone staring at him without any scruples. It was a young man with a flamboyant and gorgeous appearance. His expression paused slightly.
Qi Xing walked forward, raised his glass and said to him, "Teacher Lin, I have long admired you."
Lin Zhinian asked: "Do you know me?"
We didn’t know each other ten minutes ago, but we do now.
Qi Xing lied without blinking: "I am a fan of Teacher Lin's paintings. I have been to several of your previous exhibitions. I didn't expect to see you here tonight. What a coincidence. My name is Qi Xing, and I am very happy to have this opportunity to meet Teacher Lin."
Lin Zhinian guessed his identity almost immediately. His surname was Qi, and it was obvious that he did not come with others. He could only be from the Qi family of Ronghua Capital, which was currently the most popular family in Huaicheng.
Speaking of the Qi family, almost everyone in Huaicheng's upper class circles knows about it.
Qi Ronghua, the founder of Ronghua Capital, is a country bumpkin with only a high school education. He came to Huaicheng from another province to make a living more than a decade ago. In just over a decade, he first made his fortune in the catering industry, then got involved in hotels and real estate, and then entered the entertainment industry to make hot money. After that, he learned financial investment and also got involved in the high-tech Internet industry. It is obvious that he goes wherever he can make money, but his luck is incredibly good. He makes a lot of money in whatever he does, which makes people jealous.
Nowadays, these arrogant "old aristocrats" in the upper circles of Huaicheng, no matter how much they look down on Qi Ronghua and laugh at him for being a nouveau riche behind his back, still have to put on a smile and greet him in person.
Lin Zhinian was a little surprised. He had never met Qi Ronghua, but he had heard a lot of sarcasm about him and his family, and he really didn't have a good impression of them. Although the Young Master Qi in front of him looked frivolous, his temperament was no worse than those of his acquaintances who had received elite education since childhood.
What's more, Qi Xing's appearance was too good.
Qi Xing's red wine glass was brought to him, and Lin Zhinian clinked glasses with him calmly.
Qi Xing continued to talk about Lin Zhinian's paintings. In fact, they were all things he had just searched on his mobile phone. He talked about it freely without feeling awkward at all.
Lin Zhinian probably heard it, so he smiled back and didn't expose him.
Five minutes later, a gentle male voice interrupted them: "Zhi Nian, come over here."
They both turned around at the same time. It was Ye Xingzhou, who had just finished talking to someone a few meters away and called Lin Zhinian over.
When Ye Xingzhou's gaze passed over Qi Xing, it seemed to stop on his face for a second. Qi Xing also looked at the other person casually. The moment their eyes met, he instinctively felt the coldness in Ye Xingzhou's eyes. It was not obvious, but it could not be ignored.
This feeling made Qi Xing very unhappy. This person was clearly not a good person.
Only a fool like Yang Kaiming would think that he has a good temper and looks easy to get along with.
Ye Xingzhou withdrew his gaze, Lin Zhinian said "excuse me" to Qi Xing, and walked back to him.
Qi Xing took a sip of wine slowly, his eyes still on Lin Zhinian. Seeing how close he and Ye Xingzhou were, he seemed to understand something.
Yang Kaiming followed and listened to the whole thing, and teased Qi Xing: "I think the great painter heard it, you actually know nothing about his paintings."
Qi Xing said calmly: "So what? He still has to smile at me."
Yang Kaiming laughed: "That's true."
Ye Xingzhou took Lin Zhinian to the snack counter, and Lin Zhinian whispered to him, "The man just now said his surname was Qi, so he should be Qi Ronghua's son."
Ye Xingzhou was not interested: "If you think it's troublesome, you don't have to bother with it."
Lin Zhinian paid attention to his expression. Ye Xingzhou's face was calm when he said this, and it sounded like he was comforting him, but in fact he didn't care at all.
Soon someone else came to toast Ye Xingzhou. Ye Xingzhou picked up the plate, picked up a piece of dessert and handed it to Lin Zhinian, then started talking to him.
The people who came to toast were slightly surprised when they saw this, and each of them looked at Lin Zhinian inconspicuously.
The Lin family has been in decline for a long time. If Lin Zhinian had not come with Ye Xingzhou today, few people would care about him just because he is a well-known young oil painter. Ye Xingzhou openly showed his care for him in front of others. If Lin Zhinian was a woman, the meaning would be almost self-explanatory. People would only sigh that the Lin family was lucky and had a chance to make a comeback by marrying off their daughters, but he was a man.
He’s a man, so…it doesn’t seem like a problem?
No matter what they thought in their hearts, everyone present was a smart person, with smiles on their faces, and they even brought Lin Zhinian with them when they greeted and toasted.
Ye Xingzhou's face was as warm and gentle as usual, and he did not have much of the dominance of a superior. It seemed as if he gave people the illusion that he was still young and that his success might just be due to luck.
Lin Zhinian listened to the people around him halfheartedly praising his paintings. His eyes met the unchanged smile on Ye Xingzhou's lips. He poured the wine into his mouth and suppressed the complex emotions that were surging in his heart.
On the other side, Qi Xing slowly followed Lin Zhinian's gaze and asked Yang Kaiming: "What kind of relationship are they?"
Yang Kaiming also saw the scene just now and coughed softly: "I don't know, I haven't heard of such rumors about Ye Xingzhou, Qi Shao, not everyone is the same as you, but it's possible. Regardless of whether it is true or not, I advise you not to have any ideas about that person."
"I don't," Qi Xing smiled at Lin Zhinian's profile, which looked even softer under the bright light, "I just like him."
Yang Kaiming: "What if they really have that kind of relationship?"
Qi Xing tapped his fingers lightly on the glass and raised his voice: "So what?"
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