A Romantic Showdown: Your Girlfriend Has the Exact Same Name as My Fiancée

That evening, the six of them sat down to dinner in a private room. The atmosphere was subtly quiet.

He Xi's younger sister, He Xinyi, had also joined them for dinner.

The siblings looked nothing alike, but both were exceptionally attractive.

He Xi wore a white shirt and dress pants. His short hair was neat, and his peach-blossom eyes were warm and affectionate. Throughout the meal, he kept serving Meng Yuan food. The table was filled with her favorite dishes and desserts, and everyone present could clearly see the undisguised adoration in his eyes.

He Xinyi sat beside him, her long, straight black hair falling over her shoulders. She was 173 centimeters tall, with a model's figure, and wore a custom-made rose-red dress. Her cold, world-weary face was strikingly beautiful and carried an air of aloofness. Her seductive fox eyes remained fixed on He Xi, and she stayed silent throughout.

Lu Xiaoxiao sat between Meng Yuan and Shao Enci, her gaze sweeping discreetly over He Xinyi several times.

In her previous life, she had met He Xinyi three times.

The first time was now, when six people sat down to eat together, except Shao Enci and Qiu Boye had not been there then.

The second time, He Xinyi had appeared at Peking University as Shao Enci's fiancée and asked to meet him.

The third time was when He Xinyi slept with He Xi, and Lu Xiaoxiao accompanied Meng Yuan to the hotel to catch them in the act.

Those three encounters were enough to convince her that He Xinyi's feelings for her brother had never been innocent.

Lu Xiaoxiao tilted her head close to Meng Yuan's ear and lowered her voice. "Keep an eye on He Xi's sister. The way she looks at him isn't innocent."

Hearing this, Meng Yuan looked up at He Xinyi and met her gaze.

He Xinyi curved her lips, then stood and raised the glass of red wine in her hand. Her smile was graceful and natural. "You're so pretty, sis. I'd like to toast you and my brother. May you two stay together for a long, long time."

Meng Yuan hurriedly stood and raised her glass, politely returning her smile as she clinked glasses with her. "Thank you. You're very pretty too."

Their glasses clinked softly, and the wine swirled inside.

He Xinyi tipped her head back and drained her glass. The smile on her lips remained unchanged as she sat down, but her eyes dimmed for an instant. A thin layer of chill passed through them before she quickly suppressed it.

Meng Yuan noticed nothing. She lowered her head and whispered to Lu Xiaoxiao, "I think his sister seems quite nice."

Lu Xiaoxiao pressed her lips together and said nothing, but her heart sank.

That was exactly what she feared most. Meng Yuan had been cherished in the palm of everyone's hand since childhood. She was pure-hearted and had never seen the twists and turns of the human heart.

It looked like she would have to protect her best friend's happiness.

He Xi rose from the seat of honor and was the first to raise a glass to Shao Enci and Qiu Boye.

"Enci, our families know each other, so I won't stand on ceremony with you."

Shao Enci raised his glass with a calm expression and clinked it against his out of courtesy, saying little.

Qiu Boye was good at socializing. He casually raised his glass, a roguish smile playing on his lips. "What a coincidence. I have a childhood betrothal too, and her name is exactly the same as your girlfriend's."

The moment the words left his mouth, the air at the table froze.

The smile on Meng Yuan's face froze, and He Xi's raised hand stopped in midair. He turned to look at Meng Yuan. Her face had gone pale, and her fingers tightened slightly around her wineglass.

Qiu Boye still hadn't noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere. He asked curiously, "Do you know me?"

He Xi didn't have time to answer.

Crash—

The wineglass in front of Meng Yuan suddenly fell over.

Red wine spilled down the side of the glass, quickly soaking the hem of her white dress, while shards of glass scattered across the floor.

Everyone in the private room looked at her.

Lu Xiaoxiao was the first to react. She stood, pulled out a stack of tissues, and pressed them against the hem of Meng Yuan's dress, carefully wiping it clean. Her voice was full of concern. "Are you all right? I'll go to the restroom with you and help you take care of it."

He Xi bent down and steadied her by the shoulders, his brows tightly furrowed. "Did the broken glass hurt you?"

Meng Yuan shook her head and used the back of her chair to push herself up. Looking at Lu Xiaoxiao, she said in a slightly hoarse voice, "I'll go out with Xiaoxiao to take care of my dress. Please, take your time and enjoy your meal."

The two stood and headed out. He Xi was about to follow when He Xinyi gently tugged at the hem of his shirt from behind.

"Brother, sis got her dress dirty. Let's go to the nearby mall and buy her a new one."

He Xi hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "All right."

He stood and looked at Shao Enci and Qiu Boye, a hint of apology in his polite voice. "Sorry, I need to step out for a bit. Please enjoy your meal."

"It's fine. Go ahead." Qiu Boye waved a hand, still eating with relish.

In an instant, only the two of them were left in the private room.

Shao Enci put down his chopsticks and glanced sideways at Qiu Boye, his voice cool. "You can still eat?"

"What?" Qiu Boye didn't look up.

"That Meng Yuan, the one he just confessed to, is the one your grandfather wants you to get engaged to."

Qiu Boye's movements paused for a moment. Then he began chewing with even more gusto and said unconcernedly, "Isn't that perfect? She's already dating someone. The old man can't still force me to marry her, can he? Everyone's happy."

"Are you serious?"

"You have no idea." Qiu Boye pulled out a tissue and leisurely wiped the corner of his mouth, his expression languid. "Because of this engagement, I haven't even dared get a girlfriend all these years, afraid I wouldn't be able to explain myself to the old man. Now it's great. She started dating someone herself, so I don't have to keep waiting around anymore. I'm finally free."

Shao Enci took a small sip of red wine, his voice indifferent. "What if she breaks up with him? What if your grandfather still wants you to marry her?"

Qiu Boye held his wineglass, his gaze fixed on a spot in the air. An image of Meng Yuan and He Xi embracing flashed through his mind, and his voice grew a little quieter. "I never planned to marry her. Not now, and not in the future."

His tone was firm, as though he were saying it for someone else to hear, and also for himself.

In the restroom, Lu Xiaoxiao was bent over, helping Meng Yuan wipe the wine stains from her dress.

The cool white light fell on the top of her head as she worked carefully and attentively.

Meng Yuan watched her with lowered eyes for a long moment, then suddenly said, "Xiaoxiao... do you not want me to be with He Xi?"

Lu Xiaoxiao's hand paused, then continued wiping. "Yuanyuan, if I told you I'd been reborn and had memories of my previous life, would you believe me?"

Meng Yuan took her hand, her gaze earnest. "I believe you."

Lu Xiaoxiao looked up and met her clear eyes. "Even if what I said was made up, you'd still believe me?"

"You're my best friend." A smile spread to the corners of Meng Yuan's eyes. "I'll believe anything you say."

Lu Xiaoxiao took a deep breath, her expression grave, and said in a low voice, "Yuanyuan, in my previous life, I was poisoned to death at twenty-one. I don't know what happened to you afterward, but I do know that in our junior year, on the night before you and He Xi got engaged, He Xinyi... slept with He Xi."

Meng Yuan's pupils contracted sharply. "What?"