Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The girl’s hair was slightly wavy, a natural length that had never been permed or dyed.

Her eyes were dark and bright, like black jade set in a clear spring.

Her nose was small and delicate, her lips faintly pouty. They must feel wonderful to kiss.

Who would have thought? Song Qingyan might have terrible character, but his taste in women was excellent.

Someone immediately pulled the girl inside and seated her beside Song Qingyan. Song Qingyan’s brows drew together, and he shifted away from her as if she were some kind of virus.

The girl’s eyes reddened, but she held it in and forced out a proper smile.

Yet the disdain in everyone’s eyes was unmistakable. She was like a little lamb that had wandered into a pack of wolves, still trying her hardest to appear friendly.

The girl who had dragged her in was Li Shiyi. She had always had a crush on Song Qingyan.

She let out a soft laugh and proudly swirled the wine in her glass.

“Lin Zhi, President Song treats you so well. He even brought you out to broaden your horizons. See that? Zhao Jiayu, Sister Jiayu, this is what a real rich heiress looks like. Huh, now that I look closely, you two really do resemble each other. President Song, don’t tell me you found a stand-in modeled after Sister Jiayu?”

A look of understanding spread through the crowd.

One was the genuine article. The other was a high-grade imitation.

It was obvious who the stand-in was.

Lin Zhi’s face went pale. She was so embarrassed that tears gathered in her eyes, but she forced them wide open, terrified the tears would fall.

As for Song Qingyan, panic flickered in his eyes. His gaze stayed fixed on me, as if he was ready at any moment to explain and placate me.

Everyone began joking around, scolding Li Shiyi for talking nonsense.

Li Shiyi laughed and punished herself with three drinks.

“My fault. I got drunk before I even started drinking.”

Amid the lively noise, I coldly picked up my glass. Then I loosened my grip, and it fell to the floor with a crisp shattering sound.

Everyone froze, then turned to look at me.

I looked at Song Qingyan and said flatly, “Song Qingyan, explain. What is the meaning of this?”

Song Qingyan froze. He probably never imagined that the first thing I would say to him after returning to the country would be this.

His brows knitted slightly, and he said sincerely, “I’m sorry, Jiayu. I’ll have her leave right now.”

He immediately turned to Lin Zhi. “Get out! You have no right to be here.”

Lin Zhi’s face went deathly white. She clutched her little purse, her slender pale fingers gripping so hard the bones nearly seemed to pierce through her skin.

She was clearly furious.

But she was so obedient that she did not dare retort with a single word.

Me: “??”

What was going on?

I had clearly wanted him to explain what was going on with Li Shiyi. How did she dare mock his girlfriend so openly?

I suspected there was something between him and Li Shiyi.

Or was he blind?

Could he not see such an obvious case of using someone else’s hand to do her dirty work?

Seeing that Lin Zhi was about to leave, I spoke up. “Wait. Miss Lin is a guest I invited. No one has the right to drive her away. Song Qingyan, please explain what your relationship with Miss Lin is, why you are trying to kick out my guest, and what Li Shiyi meant when she said you found a stand-in modeled after me.”

Lin Zhi froze.

She probably had not expected a total stranger like me to stand up for her.

I had to admit, she was rather cute when she looked dazed like that.

I nodded at her, signaling for her to sit beside me.

She thought for a moment, then obediently walked over.

Song Qingyan’s expression turned cold. Storm clouds gathered in his deep eyes. For Lin Zhi, that was extremely intimidating. I could clearly feel her tense up.

But to me, what did that amount to?

Absolutely nothing.

I folded my arms and watched him at my leisure.

Seeing that he couldn’t squeeze out a single word no matter how long I waited, I started to lose patience.

I! Hate! Domineering! CEOs! Who! Act! Like! Their! Mouths! Are! Sewn! Shut!

I looked coldly at Li Shiyi. “You explain it. If you can’t make it clear, the cooperation between our families can end here.”

“How can you do that? What does this have to do with me?” Li Shiyi cried out.

“Exactly. What does it have to do with you? You’re just the loudest person at this table.” I smiled without smiling.

Li Shiyi quieted down. She stole a glance at Song Qingyan and saw that he did not seem inclined to object either, so she said lazily, “Isn’t it just the story of our Young President Song failing to get the unattainable first love in his heart, secretly finding a female college student to use as a substitute, and now that the real one is back, Young President Song still hasn’t figured out what to do with the substitute?”

“So I’m the unattainable first love?”

Li Shiyi said nothing.

Song Qingyan’s pitch-black eyes fixed on me. At last, he uttered that single word.

“Yes.”

“You like me?”

“Yes.”

I laughed, out of sheer anger.

I casually picked up a glass of wine from the table and threw it at Song Qingyan.

“Has the Song Family gone bankrupt?”

“You could go abroad on business trips, but you couldn’t come abroad to see me? Was it that you couldn’t afford a plane ticket, or that you couldn’t find the time?”

“You keep saying I’m the unattainable first love in your heart, then turn around and find a substitute. If your affection is that cheap, don’t ever tell anyone you once liked me.”

“I don’t want a man who’s been dirtied. Don’t come looking for me again.”

Wine trickled down his face. He had a handsome face, and even in such a sorry state, there was still a rather ascetic allure to him.

His expression was dark and brooding, his gaze deep. His cheeks flushed from anger, and his fingers clenched tightly as he fought to control his emotions.

So he could feel humiliated when someone insulted him after all.

Hah.

And here I thought he was born without emotions.

The others were stunned. The entire private room fell silent, countless people staring at me in shock.

In the years we had spent overseas, we had all changed.

I pulled Lin Zhi up and strode out of the private room.

Whatever chaos erupted behind me had nothing to do with me.

I drove Lin Zhi back to her school.

When Lin Zhi got out of the car, she was trembling.

I didn’t know whether it was because the wind was too cold, or because she was too nervous.

Maybe in her whole life, she had never imagined there would be a woman who dared throw wine on Song Qingyan. She had spent the entire ride in a daze.

I took off my coat and draped it over her shoulders. Then I took her phone, used her finger to unlock it, and added myself as her friend.

“I don’t know why you agreed to Song Qingyan’s demand that you play substitute, but today I threw wine all over him. He won’t dare make trouble for me, so there’s a good chance he’ll take it out on you. If he gives you trouble, remember to contact me.”

“Zhao Jiayu, why are you helping me?”

“You’re mistaken. I’m not helping you. I would have helped any girl who showed up in that kind of situation today.”

Without my coat, it was too cold. I got back into the car and quickly drove away.

Even after I had driven a long way off, I could still see Lin Zhi standing there, staring blankly in the direction I had left…