You're so sweet (GL) - Chapter 22.1

Qin Luo felt the voice was somewhat familiar, so she couldn’t help but narrow her eyes and quietly walked over.

“Isn’t the eldest sister also named Su? One Su family member is enough to go. It’s too cheap to have so many go,” Su Jingxun was still on the phone when he suddenly sensed something. He turned around and met Qin Luo’s half-smiling eyes, letting out a frightened yelp.

“Ah Xun? Su Jingxun, what are you messing around with over there?” A roar came from the other end of the phone.

Su Jingxun fumbled to hang up the phone, then grinned foolishly at Qin Luo, who was standing beside him with her arms crossed. “Luo Luo, long time no see. Do you like the flowers?”

After receiving those 101 roses, Qin Luo was no longer surprised by how Su Jingxun would show up. She said speechlessly, “Su Jingxun, haven’t you learned your lesson yet?”

Before, Qin Luo hadn’t actually beaten him up, but she had clearly rejected him hundreds of times. Xu Shaotian had even brought their Labrador out to scare Su Jingxun.

Every time, this guy was scared out of his wits, only to make a comeback a few days later. It was unbelievable. With this kind of boldness, there was nothing he couldn’t succeed at. Why waste it on her?

Su Jingxun’s face was full of surprise. “Don’t you understand? This is a display of my true love for you.”

Qin Luo chuckled and waved her hand dismissively. “Enough nonsense. How did you know I was here? Confess honestly, and I might spare your dog life. Otherwise, you’ll be hunted down by Brother Gou in Luocheng.”

Brother Gou was the person whose girlfriend Su Jingxun had flirted with last time. He had since put out the word that he would teach Su Jingxun a lesson and was now waiting in Luocheng to catch him.

“No, no, please don’t tell Brother Gou. I finally dared to come back to the country,” Su Jingxun’s face was full of panic. If his father hadn’t insisted he return, he would have wanted to stay abroad for a while longer, just afraid of running into that fierce Brother Gou. He was terrifying.

Of course, coming back was better; he could see Luo Luo again.

“Then stop doing all these meaningless things,” Qin Luo was also speechless. Su Jingxun was indeed a coward and would run away at the slightest threat.

Su Jingxun saw that Qin Luo was a little impatient and felt wronged. “But you never pay attention to me, and I really want to see you. Luo Luo, don’t hate me. I just love…”

“Shut up,” Qin Luo interrupted him, afraid he would go on and on about love. As if this idiot understood love.

“Oh, then I won’t say it. Just know my heart,” Su Jingxun looked at Qin Luo with a pained expression.

Qin Luo raised her eyes and met his gaze. She hadn’t noticed it before, but this time, she saw a few traces of Su Jingwan in Su Jingxun’s face. For instance, the shape of their eyes was somewhat similar, only Su Jingwan’s eyes were relatively cold, while Su Jingxun’s were more eager when looking at her.

Su family members, Qin Luo thought with a hint of helplessness.

Su Jingxun was actually quite good-looking, but he was foolish and liked to cause trouble. His handsomeness was overshadowed by his simple-mindedness. Of course, even if he wasn’t so foolish, Qin Luo wouldn’t possibly like him.

Qin Luo: “You still haven’t answered me. How did you find this place?”

When did this guy become so capable?

“Oh, the last time I heard Wang Zhijie say you came to JC, I called you, but you didn’t answer. Wang Zhijie told me to post your photo in some group chats in the JC circle, and then someone said they saw you next to my eldest sister, as her secretary or something, so I came looking for you. Luo Luo, why did you come to work as a secretary at my eldest sister’s company? If you need money, you can tell me! I’ll support you!”

“Support me, my foot! You’re just a good-for-nothing rich second generation yourself. Support me, tsk.” Qin Luo always felt the urge to hit Su Jingxun. He truly couldn’t understand other people’s thoughts, or perhaps he didn’t quite understand what it meant to be good to someone.

Even if she liked men, she probably couldn’t stand someone like him. That friend of Su Jingxun’s was quite good at giving advice. Tsk, no wonder Su Jingxun found her so quickly; it turned out it was still related to Su Jingwan.

It made sense, though. Su Jingwan was a Su family member, so it was normal for her to be famous in JC, and she and the people around her were naturally more likely to be noticed.

“But having money in my family is also one of my strengths,” Su Jingxun muttered softly, then smiled again. “Isn’t my eldest sister’s company boring? Why don’t you go to our main Su family company? You can have any position you want; I’ll ask my dad to arrange it for you.”

That’s quite a statement. Qin Ziyuan didn’t want her to join the company. Would the Su family company be easy to enter? Qin Luo slightly narrowed her eyes. “Why doesn’t your eldest sister, Su Jingwan, work at your family company?”

Su Jingxun blurted out without thinking, “My eldest sister wanted to start her own business.”

“Start a business?” Qin Luo raised an eyebrow, not expecting this answer.

Su Jingwan truly was unique. The rich second generations she encountered were either like Su Jingxun, who just coasted through life, or all-around talents, but they would eventually return to their own family businesses to help out. Very few would venture out to start their own business from scratch.

Su Jingwan’s entrepreneurship wasn’t just talk. She handled the alcohol, the projects, and was completely focused.

“Yeah, my dad said so. But it’s normal since my eldest sister has always been more capable than us. Whatever she does, she does better than us and succeeds,” Su Jingxun said.

Qin Luo was dismissive. If the rest of the Su family was similar to Su Jingxun, then it was normal for Su Jingwan to be more capable than them. But ultimately, a person like Su Jingwan would stand out anywhere.

“But Luo Luo, my eldest sister is different from you. I can give you anything you want. You don’t need to work. You just need to be happy and beautiful,” Su Jingxun said this quite seriously, but without thinking it through, as usual.

Qin Luo felt annoyed hearing this. What did he mean she was different from Su Jingwan? How were they different?

Qin Luo was slightly irritated. Although she seemed to have achieved nothing on the surface, she still had some skills, okay? Even if she wasn’t as amazing as Su Jingwan, she was good at drawing. She even had a bunch of people on Weibo calling her ‘Wife’ and many people asking her for commissions.

“Say one more piece of nonsense and I’ll call Brother Gou, do you believe me?”

“…Then I won’t say it,” Su Jingxun said, feeling wronged.

Qin Luo snorted. She remembered reading in the information Xu Shaotian investigated last time that the Su family had many brothers and no precedent for splitting the family. The brothers always worked together in the company, with the eldest serving as the chairman.

Su Jingwan’s father was Su Jingxun’s uncle. Su Jingwan and Su Jingxun were cousins, but judging by his address, their relationship seemed okay.

It was truly odd. Su Jingwan was aloof, yet Su Jingxun was like a simpleton. Genetics were truly complex and diverse.

Qin Luo was about to tell Su Jingxun to leave and stop bothering her when Su Jingxun’s phone rang.

“Hey, why is my dad calling again?” Su Jingxun didn’t want to answer the phone and hung up directly, mumbling, “I already said I’m not going, he’s so annoying.”

“Going where?” Qin Luo subconsciously asked. She suddenly remembered that when Su Jingxun answered the phone earlier, he was saying something like, ‘Can’t the eldest sister go?’ So what place was it? Did Su Jingwan go too?

“Oh, it’s Uncle Li’s birthday party. My dad keeps telling me to go, but my eldest sister and Brother Ziyuan have both gone, so why should I go?” Su Jingxun complained. He mainly found it boring. He didn’t understand the things those people talked about. There were many beautiful women there, but he couldn’t flirt with any of them. It felt tiring every time he went.

Qin Luo was taken aback. She thought Su Jingwan was going to work, but she didn’t expect Su Jingwan to go to a birthday party with Qin Ziyuan.

When Qin Ziyuan was drunk yesterday, Tiantian even said that Su Jingwan didn’t care about Qin Ziyuan and had no feelings for him. Who would have thought that the two of them would go to someone else’s birthday party hand-in-hand the next day?

Their relationship is truly profound.

Perhaps seeing Qin Luo lost in thought, Su Jingxun asked from the side, “Luo Luo, what’s wrong? Do you want to go too? If you want to go, I can take you.”

Qin Luo snapped back to reality and gave him a speechless look. “Didn’t you say you weren’t going?”

Su Jingxun: “If you’re interested, how can I not take you?”

She’s not interested at all. What was so great about attending a mere birthday party? She thought for a moment. “Isn’t the birthday party at night?”

Su Jingxun: “It starts in the evening.”

It’s in the evening, so where is Su Jingwan now? Qin Luo suppressed her curiosity and strange emotions, telling Su Jingxun to leave quickly.

Su Jingxun: “Then, Luo Luo, can I still come to see you?”

“I’m here for work, not to hang out,” Qin Luo said this without feeling guilty at all. After all, she had been working seriously lately.

Su Jingxun didn’t ask further, just said timidly, “Then when are you going out to have fun? Take me with you.”

“Why are you asking so many questions? You go and have your own fun. By the way, don’t call me to harass me again next time, got it?” Qin Luo added. Last time, he even made her miss a call.

“I’ve only called a few times.”

“You think I don’t know how many times you’ve called? This is a warning. Get a grip,” Qin Luo was actually somewhat polite to Su Jingxun. Although Su Jingxun’s constant pestering annoyed her, he was just foolish and hadn’t done anything overly excessive.

If it were any other suitor, she would have called the police long ago.

Su Jingxun: “Oh, well, okay. Then please add me back on WeChat. Can you stop blocking me?”

“I’ll say the same thing. If you don’t want to be blocked, don’t harass me unnecessarily, unless it’s an emergency,” Qin Luo said.

“I really won’t. I promise,” Su Jingxun was delighted this time.

“Fine, add me back,” Qin Luo sighed inwardly. Why do I feel that Su Jingxun is quite innocent now? Could it be that my filter for Su Jingwan has extended to other people? She didn’t know.

After sending Su Jingxun away, Qin Luo returned to her post to continue her work. With the enthusiastic help of her colleagues, she had nothing much left to do in the afternoon, so she chatted with Xu Shaotian while waiting for the workday to end.

Just then, her phone received a text message. Qin Luo opened it and saw that it was a greeting from someone named Huo Yue.

Huo Yue? Qin Luo suddenly remembered. Wasn’t this the short-haired beauty who had tried to flirt with her yesterday? Sigh. When she felt unwell yesterday, she completely forgot about this, and even forgot to chat and greet the beauty.

Qin Luo’s eyes were only on Su Jingwan at the time, and she truly forgot about this person. Oh, right, wasn’t Huo Yue’s business card taken by Su Jingwan? She wondered if she would be followed up as a potential client.

It was quite funny to think about, and she felt a little sorry for Huo Yue. Luckily, she had saved her number, so they hadn’t lost touch. Qin Luo quickly replied to the text message.

Soon, Huo Yue’s reply came.

—Yesterday was too rushed. Do I have the honor of inviting Miss Qin to dinner tonight?

Dinner, this person was quite proactive. Qin Luo thought for a moment. Xu Shaotian was definitely out partying again today, so she really didn’t have any plans after work today. Being alone would be too depressing.

Thinking about Su Jingwan and Qin Ziyuan going to a birthday party, Qin Luo felt even more depressed. They had love and career. She couldn’t possibly finish work and then have no nightlife, could she?

There were plenty of beautiful women in the world. Couldn’t she ask someone else out? Qin Luo immediately replied with an ‘OK’. After a while, Huo Yue sent her the restaurant address.

This person is really efficient, Qin Luo sighed, feeling a little lost. Dating someone like Huo Yue was effortless and worry-free, but precisely because everything was arranged by the other person, there was nothing to look forward to. It would likely be just dinner, a movie, a walk, and then maybe something more…

Better than nothing. This Huo Yue was quite to her taste.

Qin Luo originally thought this was her plan for the day, but unexpectedly, close to the end of the workday, she suddenly received a call from the Qin family’s old residence.

The housekeeper handed the phone to Old Lady Qin. Old Lady Qin’s words were simple: she wanted her to be her cousin’s female companion and attend the Li family’s birthday party together.

The Li family’s birthday party… How many times has she heard about this today?

The cousin here referred to the son of Old Lady Qin’s eldest daughter, Chen Zifei.

Hadn’t Qin Ziyuan already gone? Why call her too? Wouldn’t too many people going cheapen the event? Qin Luo had the same doubt as Su Jingxun for a moment, but she didn’t confront Old Lady Qin directly like Su Jingxun confronted his father.

Qin Luo didn’t know much about the people in the Qin family, and she had never even heard of these cousins. At this moment, she was also unable to figure out the meaning of Old Lady Qin’s arrangement. The eldest daughter’s eldest son? Her cousin? Who is this? Aren’t they two strangers?

However, she was only halfway through her refusal when Old Lady Qin directly interrupted her. “You prepare well. Just don’t embarrass the Qin family. I’ll have Zifei pick you up directly.”

After speaking, she hung up the phone. Qin Luo was speechless. What the hell? She already had a date. Why should she go to that kind of birthday party?

Moreover, others were attending as couples. Why did she have to go with her cousin?

Qin Luo originally planned to use stalling tactics until she didn’t have to go, but who would have thought that her so-called eldest cousin, Chen Zifei, would show up at her workplace. He arrived even more precisely than Su Jingxun, right at the time they were clocking off.

When Qin Luo walked out, she heard the receptionist asking Chen Zifei who he was looking for, and then gasped when she heard his answer.

Perhaps, maybe, they mistook Chen Zifei for the one who sent the flowers, Qin Luo thought expressionlessly.

She didn’t know how to greet this “bargain” cousin, but the receptionist spotted her first, and then the bargain cousin, Chen Zifei, also turned his head.

Chen Zifei didn’t look like Qin Ziyuan at all, but he was decent-looking, a handsome guy. Qin Luo preferred women, so her aesthetic for men was basically divided into pleasing to the eye and not pleasing to the eye. Chen Zifei was barely pleasing to the eye.

Chen Zifei was slightly stunned when he saw Qin Luo. He had heard that Qin Luo was pretty, but since they hadn’t seen each other for more than ten years, he really didn’t expect Qin Luo to be this beautiful. Even with light makeup, she gave people a stunning impression.

In a fleeting moment, Qin Luo put on a polite smile and said, “Cousin Zifei?”

Chen Zifei also composed himself. “Xiao Luo.”

The receptionist was probably confused too. How are they cousins? Qin Luo didn’t feel much; she was even a little irritable. She thought she could get out of it. Although Chen Zifei’s attitude was okay, she still wasn’t very enthusiastic. She sent a text message apologizing to Huo Yue, then went back to change her clothes and set off for the birthday party.

On the other side, Su Jingwan and her company had just finished their work. They were indeed out for work today, and since some of the work was related to the Qin Group, she spent most of the latter half of the day at Qin Ziyuan’s company.

“By the way, did you take me back last night?”

After finishing work, Qin Ziyuan finally brought up private matters. When he woke up this morning, he had a terrible headache. His memory only went up to drinking at the bar, and he had no impression of anything else. Only when checking his phone did he notice a call to Su Jingwan in his call history.

Who would dare use his phone to make that call? Except for that person, others probably wouldn’t dare. He didn’t expect that person to call Su Jingwan, and he wondered what had happened last night without his knowledge.

Seeing them talk about private matters, the assistants excused themselves. Su Jingwan said faintly, “Sort of, and sort of not.”

There were quite a few people who went there together at that time.

Qin Ziyuan laughed, “That answer is not like you.”

“Being such a poor drinker is not like you,” Su Jingwan also said. When she went over last night, she saw that there weren’t many empty wine bottles on the table, so she felt strange. However, Qin Ziyuan hadn’t passed out, and he looked fine, and she was also busy, so she didn’t bother to pay attention.

Qin Ziyuan was stunned, suddenly realizing something. He pursed his lips but didn’t say anything. After a while, he said, “You saw me make a fool of myself.”

He understood. He had only drunk a little, so he shouldn’t have been drunk, but he was indeed drunk, which could only mean that someone had done something.

“Was there anything funny?” Su Jingwan asked in return. She didn’t feel anything about this matter, but seeing Qin Ziyuan’s appearance today, he seemed to be aware of what had happened.

Qin Ziyuan couldn’t help but ask, “Did he… also go to the hotel?”

“Yes, he said he was going to make you hangover soup, so I left first.”

“…Wait, hangover soup? And you just left?” Qin Ziyuan looked a little excited. He thought about the warm hangover soup in the thermos cup this morning. He hadn’t wanted to drink it, thinking the taste was a little unpleasant, but later, remembering that he had work to do today, he chugged it down.

Did he cook it? Qin Ziyuan now felt both a little fortunate and a little annoyed. It’s a good thing I drank it, but why didn’t I taste it carefully when I drank it? Qin Ziyuan felt like Zhu Bajie stealing and eating the Ginseng Fruit.

Su Jingwan: “Yes, I did.”

Qin Ziyuan confirmed again, “He stayed alone?”

Su Jingwan was a little unaccustomed to such uninspired conversation. “The hotel is yours. Checking the surveillance is not difficult.”

Qin Ziyuan hummed, lowered his head to hide his expression, and didn’t ask further. “I see. Let’s prepare to leave.”

Su Jingwan: “OK.”

The Li family in JC was a powerful family, comparable to the Qin family. The person celebrating his sixtieth birthday this time was Li He, the current head of the Li family.

Li He was a friend of Qin Ziyuan’s father, so he was considered Qin Ziyuan’s elder. It was proper for them as juniors to attend the birthday celebration.

Another reason was that the Qin family’s company had been cooperating with the Li family’s company on projects, so they were also business partners. The responsibility of maintaining the good relationship between the two families naturally fell on Qin Ziyuan since he was in charge of the Qin family.

That being said, Li He was getting old, and his topics of conversation were somewhat different from those of the younger generation. Socializing was a bit tiring, and Qin Ziyuan couldn’t always play golf with Li He.

If they wanted to arrange a marriage alliance, none of the Li family’s daughters were as good as Su Jingwan, who was by Qin Ziyuan’s side. Li He also had sons, but the relationship between his sons and Qin Ziyuan was a little delicate.

Li He’s eldest son, Li Xiuqi, was about the same age as Qin Ziyuan. They both came from good families, had almost the same upbringing, and even attended similar middle schools, high schools, and universities. However, this Li Xiuqi was simply inferior to Qin Ziyuan in every way. It wasn’t that he wasn’t excellent, but Qin Ziyuan was too excellent, commonly known as “the child from someone else’s family.”

Because the Li family and the Qin family often socialized, these two ‘heirs’ were inevitably compared, and over time, the rumors that circulated became somewhat unpleasant, causing Li Xiuqi to feel wronged and frustrated. Later, when he saw Qin Ziyuan, he would turn around and leave, completely unwilling to be associated with Qin Ziyuan, let alone have any friendship.

Especially now that Qin Ziyuan was the head of the Qin family, while Li Xiuqi was still under the title of Li He’s son, anyone in his position would feel unbalanced.

Qin Ziyuan was also slow to realize that Li Xiuqi didn’t want to associate with him anymore, so he stopped forcing it. Anyway, the fact was that Li He was the one in charge of the Li family, not Li Xiuqi. If Li He were to retire later, the Li family would be the one to worry, not him.

After all, his relationship with Su Jingwan was clear. To discerning eyes, if the Qin and Su families were to join forces in the future, it was hard to say how the situation in JC would change.

Qin Ziyuan was pondering these matters. When he looked out the car window, he noticed that the Li family seemed to have invited many more guests this year, as the traffic was already backed up halfway there.

“I heard that the Li family’s illegitimate son has been found, and Mr. Li plans to announce it at the birthday party,” the assistant next to him didn’t mind Su Jingwan’s presence and reported the results of his investigation directly to Qin Ziyuan.

“Those old men sure know how to mess around,” Qin Ziyuan rubbed his forehead. All of them just caused trouble. He thought of his own father, who also had an illegitimate daughter. Even though this half-sister hadn’t caused too much of a fuss, she was still enough to cause a nuisance.

The Li family was different. Li He still hadn’t relinquished power, and Li Xiuqi’s abilities were mediocre. With seven or eight siblings and half-siblings, there was still a lot of drama to unfold.

Thinking of this, Qin Ziyuan glanced at Su Jingwan, who was looking at her phone next to him, and couldn’t help but think of the Su family. Many people said Su Jingwan was foolish for not taking advantage of the Su family’s great prospects and insisting on starting her own business independently.

However, Qin Ziyuan greatly admired Su Jingwan’s courage. Not everyone could make such a choice, especially when the opportunity to climb to the top was right in front of them.

Of course, only those who were truly in that position knew that it was lonely at the top. The network of relationships within large family groups was complicated. Every step required careful consideration and foresight. Simply maintaining the status quo already required countless efforts. On the surface, it looked glamorous, but secretly, the number of times they had to take bl00d pressure medication would gradually increase.

In any case, Qin Ziyuan personally regretted his position.

Su Jingwan wasn’t listening to Qin Ziyuan and his assistant at all. She was currently browsing Qin Luo’s Moments on her phone.

Qin Luo didn’t post frequently, but every post was interesting. It was either a sudden craving for ice cream late at night, a post about being bored while out playing, or photos of cats and dogs, saying they were cute.

Su Jingwan scrolled down and saw a post that read, ‘Tien, Happy Birthday,’ with a picture of Sailor Moon. Su Jingwan’s eyes paused. She saved the picture and zoomed in, finding a few small words next to Sailor Moon’s hair: ‘The Flower of Luocheng.’

She seemed to have seen this somewhere.

Su Jingwan thought for a moment, scrolled all the way down, and then went back to click on Qin Luo’s profile picture. She zoomed in and, sure enough, next to the ‘Angry Guqin,’ the words ‘The Flower of Luocheng’ were also written.

“‘The Flower of Luocheng,’ huh?” Su Jingwan murmured, couldn’t help but smile.

“Hmm? What are you looking at?” Qin Ziyuan was discussing some arrangements with his assistant. He noticed Su Jingwan smiling out of the corner of his eye and couldn’t resist asking.

“Nothing,” Su Jingwan composed her expression. “You’re a bit noisy.”

“…” Qin Ziyuan had a swear word in his heart that he didn’t know if he should say. Was it easy for him, a big boss and CEO, to still have to work during these gaps?

The venue they arrived at was the Li family’s estate villa in the suburbs. They finally reached the villa entrance. When the car stopped, the welcoming staff opened the car door outside, and the two of them got out one after another.

Qin Ziyuan was handsome and wealthy, and Su Jingwan was an icy beauty. The two of them stood together, a perfect match, instantly attracting everyone’s attention. They smiled in acknowledgment, and Qin Ziyuan supported Su Jingwan as they walked toward the hall.

Qin Luo and Chen Zifei had also arrived, and by a coincidence, they were right behind Su Jingwan and Qin Ziyuan. Qin Luo felt instantly jealous at the sight, but before she could feel too distressed, she noticed that her male companion for the day, Cousin Chen Zifei, had a strange expression. He seemed… even more resentful than she was, someone who loved Su Jingwan but couldn’t have her. His emotions were almost impossible to suppress, and she didn’t know if it was directed at Su Jingwan or Qin Ziyuan.

“…” Qin Luo was instantly puzzled. She had always played the ‘Luocheng script.’ Could someone tell her what the settings were in this ‘JC script’? Being so clueless all the time was really confusing.

Due to Chen Zifei’s abnormality, Qin Luo actually didn’t have time to feel sentimental. She was too curious. Her mind was filled with the grievances and grudges between these people. Chen Zifei and Qin Ziyuan were cousins. Could it be that he also loved Su Jingwan but couldn’t have her? What a complicated adult world. Qin Luo didn’t want to understand, but she couldn’t stop imagining things.

“I think I just saw Brother Ziyuan. Should we go find him?” Qin Luo could only maintain her persona as a ‘beautiful but brainless’ woman while trying to probe Chen Zifei.

Chen Zifei turned sideways, smiled softly at Qin Luo, and said, “Not yet. Let’s not disturb cousin. We should go and greet the host first.”

“Okay, I’ll listen to you, Cousin Zifei,” Qin Luo also replied softly, then felt her teeth almost sour.

Birthday parties for the wealthy were like large annual gatherings. Not only were there many handsome men and beautiful women, but most of them knew each other. Qin Luo followed Chen Zifei, stopping and walking many times. They either encountered people coming over to greet them, or Chen Zifei met some acquaintances and took the initiative to go and say hello.

Walking around, Qin Luo felt like her legs might be useless after today.

To these people, Qin Luo was undoubtedly a strange face. But a strange and beautiful face was too rare not to attract attention.

She was wearing a light purple evening dress today, with her curly hair draped over her shoulders, half-covering and half-revealing her fair, toned back, which was exposed through the cut-out. This had already attracted countless lingering glances eager to explore further.

Not to mention that this person also had a stunningly beautiful face.

“Who is this young lady?”

It was not the first time someone had asked this. Chen Zifei didn’t feel annoyed, still answering politely, “My cousin, Qin Luo.”

“Oh, Miss Qin, hello.” Everyone who heard the answer had a look of sudden realization, but whether they truly understood or not was unknown. Everyone knew that Chen Zifei’s mother was a member of the Qin family.

“Hello,” Qin Luo smiled. She, at least, understood. As soon as they heard the surname Qin, they already thought she was unusual.

Speaking of this, she was confused again. Old Lady Qin currently didn’t seem to have the intention of acknowledging her as her illegitimate daughter and bringing her back into the Qin family, but recently, she kept doing these things, as if to give her an identity. Could it be that Old Lady Qin saw her as young and beautiful and wanted to use her for some commercial marriage alliance?

If so, she would definitely make the old lady regret it. She wasn’t that easy to exploit.

Su Jingwan and Qin Ziyuan weren’t in the main hall. Qin Luo guessed they must have gone somewhere else. After all, not all of the Li family hosts had arrived, and only Li Xiuqi, the eldest son of the Li family, was currently greeting guests outside. Tsk tsk, dividing guests into different classes wasn’t very nice. Why could Su Jingwan and her party go see the birthday person first? It was really annoying.

“Xiao Luo, I’m going to the restroom. Don’t be scared. Wait for me here, okay?” Chen Zifei said softly.

“Okay, you go, cousin,” Qin Luo nodded. She thought, What’s there to be scared of? Did Chen Zifei think she was a three-year-old child? She really didn’t feel anything. Being bored next to Chen Zifei and being bored alone made no difference.

Chen Zifei left, and she didn’t actually wait for him where she was. Instead, she walked to the side to look at the desserts. She liked sweets and also liked looking at beautiful and delicate food. The Li family was indeed generous. The food here was exquisite in both appearance and presentation, and the aroma was enticing. It must taste good too.

“Miss Qin, you like sweets too?” A girl walked over and initiated a conversation with Qin Luo.

Qin Luo slightly looked up and recognized her as a girl who had greeted Chen Zifei earlier. She just didn’t understand why this person would suddenly come over and talk to her.

Most people in the JC circle had a kind of inexplicable sense of superiority. They wouldn’t be too proactive or get too close to others, afraid of losing face and status. This was also common in Luocheng, and Qin Luo had seen many examples, so she was a little ‘flattered’ at the moment.

“Hello, may I ask who you are?” Qin Luo smiled slightly.

“Look at me, I forgot to introduce myself. My surname is Qian, and my name is Qian Yunqi,” the girl said with a faint smile.

“So it’s Miss Qian. My name is Qin Luo,” Qin Luo replied. Surname Qian. There was indeed a Qian family in JC. Qin Luo wasn’t clear about the specifics. She just vaguely heard Xu Shaotian mention it.

If it was that Qian family, they shouldn’t be taking the initiative to talk to her. Just as she said, these wealthy people were all a bit self-important. Although the Qin family was richer than them, they wouldn’t necessarily seek to associate with an illegitimate daughter like her. This person didn’t seem to be from their inner circle either, so she probably wasn’t interested in her looks.

Even though she felt strange, Qin Luo didn’t show it.

“I know. You and Cousin Zifei are cousins, so you must be Brother Ziyuan’s sister, right?”

“…Yes,” Qin Luo replied. Was she here for Qin Ziyuan? Otherwise, why would she mention Qin Ziyuan as soon as she opened her mouth?

Perhaps Qin Luo’s attitude wasn’t warm enough, as Qian Yunqi quickly said,

“Miss Qin, please don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean anything by it. I just… have a similar experience to Miss Qin. I’ve only been in JC for a while, and I just want to make a friend. We might be able to become friends.”

Why are so many people trying to be friends with her lately? And, what does she mean by a similar experience? Qin Luo felt like she understood, yet she didn’t quite understand. After a few seconds, she came to her senses. Could this Miss Qian be…

Before Qin Luo could answer, Chen Zifei returned. He had been looking for Qin Luo for a while and was a little surprised to see Qin Luo and Qian Yunqi standing together. He walked over with a smile. “Xiao Luo, Miss Qian, I hope I’m not interrupting?”

“No interruption. We were just chatting casually,” Qian Yunqi said.

Chen Zifei smiled and said he would excuse himself for a moment, then led Qin Luo away. “There are too many people here, Xiao Luo. If you meet some overly familiar people, just walk away.”

Qin Luo raised an eyebrow. This was a roundabout way of talking about Miss Qian. She said, “Miss Qian said she wanted to be friends with me.”

Chen Zifei smiled and looked at Qin Luo. “She is the Qian family’s third daughter who was recently found. She might feel lonely because she doesn’t have anyone to talk to at home, but you are different. Grandma likes you, and so does everyone else in the family. Cousin does too.”

The third daughter who was recently found. This is another illegitimate daughter, isn’t it? No wonder that Qian Yunqi said they had similar experiences. Qin Luo was truly stunned, and even more so by Chen Zifei’s words.

What the heck? Are illegitimate daughters also divided into high and low status? Moreover, Old Lady Qin likes her? No way, she couldn’t handle that.

“Haha.”

Qin Luo didn’t know what else to do but laugh dryly. She couldn’t be bothered to talk too much with Chen Zifei. Just as she was thinking about whether to find a place to kill time by herself, she suddenly caught a glimpse of a slightly familiar figure flashing past the corner of the second floor.

She was slightly stunned and wondered if she had seen wrongly because not everyone could go upstairs. As far as she understood, that person shouldn’t have any connection to the Li family.

But at this moment, she wasn’t entirely sure. If it was what she thought it was, then… how much fun would the situation be?

“What’s wrong?” Chen Zifei noticed Qin Luo was lost in thought.

“Oh, nothing. Let’s go,” Qin Luo decided that she would definitely find a chance to confirm it later.

Su Jingwan and Qin Ziyuan had already come out. Qin Luo, following Chen Zifei, saw Su Jingwan wearing a deep purple qipao at a glance.

Qin Luo herself had worn qipao countless times and had seen many people wear it, but when her gaze fell on Su Jingwan, she still couldn’t stop her heart from skipping a beat. She watched Su Jingwan nod and smile, watched Su Jingwan turn around, and look over.

Su Jingwan’s eyes paused. Her focused gaze seemed to solidify into countless chains in an instant, enough to lock everything down. Qin Luo was desperately aware that her heart was uncontrollably contracting and expanding, and that she couldn’t escape.

“Why are they here?” Qin Ziyuan was first stunned when he saw Qin Luo, and then he frowned when he saw Chen Zifei next to her.

His eldest aunt married into the Chen family and gave birth to a son and a daughter. Because the Chen family’s finances had declined in recent years, his eldest aunt inevitably started setting her sights on the Qin family. Chen Zifei had just graduated, and she was already thinking of sending him into the group’s internal structure.

Of course, that was just wishful thinking. It couldn’t be done so haphazardly. But Qin Ziyuan didn’t expect them to set their sights on Qin Luo as well.

Thinking of all the messy things, Qin Ziyuan couldn’t help but get a headache.

Su Jingwan slowly withdrew her gaze and slightly curved her lips. “Isn’t it quite good? It’s a pleasant surprise.”

“Let’s say a few words to Uncle Li, and then we’ll leave,” Qin Ziyuan didn’t think this was a pleasant surprise, especially seeing Chen Zifei and Qin Luo walking toward them.

“Cousin, Miss Su,” Chen Zifei greeted them with a smile.

“Brother, Miss Su,” Qin Luo was trying hard to steady her heart. She didn’t like this at all, didn’t like losing control, especially losing control in front of Su Jingwan. But the person in front of her was Su Jingwan wearing a qipao. It was the first time she had seen it. So beautiful, so elegant.

“Hmm, a rare occasion for such a banquet. Have fun,” Qin Ziyuan said.