In a brief moment of distraction, the scene suddenly fell silent.
Everyone who had been chatting just moments before stopped talking and turned to look at the person getting out of the car, gasping in surprise one after another.
The most dumbfounded ones were the Li siblings.
They stood there in a daze, frozen as if paralyzed, unable to move.
In this place, at this event, at this time—they saw someone they never expected to see.
It felt as if they had just been struck by lightning, completely unable to believe what was in front of their eyes.
Was that Gu Zhaoping?
It had to be, right?
It had only been a few days since they last saw her—not long enough to mistake someone else for her.
But that wasn’t the point.
The point was—why was Gu Zhaoping here?
Their minds went blank.
Though they considered countless possibilities, none of them led to the conclusion that Gu Zhaoping would be in that car.
Hadn’t she taken leave?
Didn’t she say she had something to do?
If she was on leave, why was she here?
Wait a second…could she have come with Shen Yifeng?
Did he bring her along to this summit?
As absurd as that idea was, it was the only one they could come up with.
They looked at Shen Yifeng in disbelief, even wondering:
Does he still have feelings for her?
But then, a sudden realization hit them—no, that’s not right!
If she had come with Shen Yifeng, why did she just step out of the car with another young man?
That man was the young master of the La Roche family—they had seen him in the news before. He was a very distinguished figure.
Even for the sake of appearances, Gu Zhaoping shouldn’t be alone in a car with another man, especially not when attending an event hosted by Shen Yifeng.
That would be like a slap in his face!
The siblings’ expressions shifted rapidly, and without thinking, they rushed to Shen Yifeng and said,
“Yifeng-ge, what’s going on? Why did she come with someone else? Isn’t she your fiancée?!”
Shen Yifeng’s expression grew even more complex because of their words.
But the Li siblings were completely oblivious, and they kept pestering:
“Doesn’t she have any sense of boundaries? How could she do something like this?! Wait—how does she even know Valentin de La Roche? Didn’t she come with you?”
You two are the ones without boundaries.
Shen Yifeng’s face turned grim.
Originally, when he first saw Gu Zhaoping arrive with someone else, his level of displeasure was at an 8.
But after hearing what they said—it was now a 20.
His grip on the wine glass tightened, and his mind briefly went blank as he tried to figure out what was going on.
He hadn’t contacted Gu Zhaoping.
After the last time they had a huge fight, how could he possibly still invite her to this event?
He wasn’t that shameless.
But then, when he saw Valentin and the youthful glow on his face, everything suddenly clicked in Shen Yifeng’s mind.
Ah.
Right.
It must have been because of his own casual mention of the event that the young master had gotten the idea to invite someone.
He had gone to invite Gu Zhaoping to attend the party with him.
Maybe she wasn’t planning to attend at all.
But since there was now an excuse to attend as someone’s date, she accepted—and boldly came along.
Shen Yifeng couldn’t understand.
He kept asking himself—
Why would Gu Zhaoping agree so easily?
Was Valentin really her type?
Or…was part of the reason she came because she heard Shen Yifeng was hosting the party, and she wanted to spite him?
Was that possible?
Shen Yifeng didn’t even know what he was hoping for anymore.
But the Li siblings, as tactless as ever, continued reminding him—no, she hadn’t come for him.
Because Gu Zhaoping and Valentin were getting along so well, they hadn’t even looked around to acknowledge their host after getting out of the car.
“Yifeng-ge, Yifeng-ge,”
Li Xunxi called out to him several times before Shen Yifeng finally came back to his senses and the scene before him became clear again.
He stared at the two of them walking away.
Never had he felt so clearly like he’d just hoisted a rock only to drop it on his own foot.
“I mean, Gu Zhaoping…”
“Drop it,”
Shen Yifeng interrupted coldly and firmly.
Everything felt absurd.
He didn’t even understand why he’d bothered to host this event in the first place.
This whole thing felt like he was slapping himself in the face.
“She didn’t come with me. We’re not even that close.”
He didn’t want to hear the Li siblings talk anymore, nor did he have the energy to deal with them.
Shen Yifeng turned and walked away.
The Li siblings exchanged bewildered looks—what was going on?
Was Shen Yifeng admitting that he and Gu Zhaoping weren’t close at all?
That it didn’t matter who she came with?
Was their relationship really that bad?
They should’ve been glad about the distance between them, but when they thought of the man accompanying Gu Zhaoping, they couldn’t feel happy.
It all just felt absurd.
How did they even know each other?
Was the Gu family planning to cooperate with the La Roche Group?
But how could Gu Zhaoping even attend this summit?
Was she here just for fun, or did she pester Old Master Gu to let her come along to make connections?
If it were the old Gu Zhaoping, they’d never think she had the ability.
But the current Gu Zhaoping made them hesitate.
She’d even managed to force their first venture into bankruptcy.
If she was scheming something now—it seemed entirely possible.
Suddenly, they thought of another possibility—
Was Gu Zhaoping trying to get back at Shen Yifeng because of their recent relationship troubles?
Otherwise, they truly couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation for why Gu Zhaoping—engaged to someone else—would show up to Shen Yifeng’s party with such a young and strikingly handsome man.
They wanted to say more, but in the blink of an eye, Gu Zhaoping and Valentin had already disappeared.
They started to panic.
Shen Yifeng set down his wine glass and strode off to the restroom.
Standing before the bright mirror, he lowered his head to wash his hands, surprised to find he’d spilled wine without even noticing.
How could he be this rattled?
He needed some time to calm down before facing everything again.
For a fleeting moment, Shen Yifeng even questioned himself—what kind of emotion was this, causing such an intense reaction?
Did he really have feelings for Gu Zhaoping?
He pushed that thought further—
No, he didn’t think the feelings were that deep.
Even their past interactions were scarce and blurry in his memory.
With such minimal connection, how could there be deep affection?
Was it just resentment?
Or confusion?
If Gu Zhaoping had never brought up ending the engagement, had never made a fuss and just quietly drifted away—maybe Shen Yifeng wouldn’t have cared at all.
He wouldn’t have paid attention to what she did afterward.
Even if she got close to another talented young man, at most he would’ve just glanced over, sneered, and dismissed it—just like how he used to treat her indulgent lifestyle in the past.
Perhaps people are just inherently self-destructive.
The more one possesses, the less it seems to matter; the closer something is to being lost, the more one treasures it.
Maybe it was because she had scolded him too harshly.
He had never been spoken to like that by anyone—
Gu Zhaoping was the first. It’s only natural to remember days like that more vividly.
While washing his hands, Shen Yifeng was about to stop and turn to leave when he heard someone’s voice outside.
Someone was calling Valentine’s name.
Shen Yifeng’s hand paused, but he didn’t turn off the faucet.
Water continued to splash against the sink as he listened to the voices passing by.
“I didn’t expect you to actually come. So you did manage to get a date?”
“Mhm.”
Valentine’s voice carried a hint of shyness but also a quiet pride.
“This is my first time attending a gathering that requires a companion. I’m honored to have invited Miss Gu.”
“Congratulations. I’ve heard her speak before—she’s truly outstanding.”
“She’s insightful on more than just one subject,”
Valentine replied enthusiastically, though he kept his words vague and didn’t elaborate further.
“I always wondered what kind of girl you’d fall for. I didn’t expect you’d be drawn to someone so intelligent.”
Apparently remembering something, perhaps a conversation in the car with Gu Zhaoping, Valentine chuckled again.
“I feel quite lucky,” he said warmly.
Then Valentine stepped into the restroom and froze slightly when he saw Shen Yifeng standing there.
“Mr. Shen? I didn’t realize you were here.”
He added,
“Your faucet’s still running.”
Only then did Shen Yifeng snap back to reality.
He looked at the water that had been running for who knows how long and finally reached out to shut it off.
In the lavishly decorated mirror, he saw the exceptionally handsome young man before him. Shen Yifeng managed a stiff smile:
“Welcome.”
Valentine smiled back.
“This party you organized is wonderful. My companion and I especially enjoyed the desserts. Thank you for the invitation.”
Shen Yifeng kept his head down, pressing on the faucet with a forced curve to his lips.
“Mhm.”
No one knew how difficult it was for him to utter that single sound.
Luckily, Valentine was warm and considerate.
Even though they didn’t know each other previously, he courteously expressed his willingness to become better acquainted.
Light-heartedly, he said: “To be honest, this was my first time trying to ask someone to accompany me. I was very worried she’d say no, but thanks to your party, I had the perfect excuse. If I get the chance, I’d like to thank you.”
Shen Yifeng stared at the brass faucet handle for a long time, unable to take any further action.
His eyes locked onto Valentine’s reflection in the mirror.
It was as if he was going to twist the brass handle right off with sheer force.
Finally, after what felt like ages, he squeezed out a few words:
“You’re welcome.”
Had this happened under any other circumstances, he might have appreciated Valentine’s friendliness and charm.
But now, even uttering polite words was difficult.
He wished Valentine wouldn’t be so good at conversation.
Wished he wouldn’t be so polite.
Wished he wouldn’t thank him—not even a little.
Only when Valentine left did Shen Yifeng finally feel like he could breathe again.
His body relaxed, and he could finally walk out of the restroom.
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