Chapter 26

Unfortunately, Zhao Qijun had appeared out of nowhere to become a stumbling block.

Thinking of Zhao Qijun's nervous appearance, Shen Manyao sneered and crushed the crumbs of the Napoleon pastry in her hand. She then elegantly wiped her hands and rose to leave.

But before she could make it through the café's revolving doors, a waiter in a black suit stopped her. The delicate-featured waiter looked at Shen Manyao with pity and forced himself to say, "Miss Shen, you haven't paid the bill yet."

Shen Manyao: "..."

As Bach's car cruised steadily along, Li Rongxiu suddenly thought of something. Turning to Zhao Qijun, he asked, "Did you pay the bill when we left the café just now?"

Zhao Qijun: (⊙o⊙)?

After standing there in a daze for quite a while, Zhao Qijun stammered, "Um... shouldn't the café send the bill to the Li residence?"

Li Rongxiu was rendered speechless. Unable to bear it any longer, he gave Zhao Qijun a sharp knock on the head and blurted out, "You idiot! Who signs a bill just for having a cup of coffee?"

But no matter how angry Li Rongxiu was, by tomorrow morning, the news of his private meeting with Shen Manyao, their falling out, and his leaving without a word to make the lady pay the bill would probably be splashed across the front pages of every gossip magazine and entertainment tabloid in Wancheng.

This was... utterly humiliating!

By the time Li Rongxiu returned to the Li family home in a huff, the elders of the house and Eldest Brother Li had already learned from the highly developed internet that he had met with Shen Manyao. Before the worried Li family could ask him anything, Li Rongxiu pulled a pair of white jade bracelets from his schoolbag and handed them to Mo Wanrou. "Grandma, here are your bracelets. Returned intact."

Seeing Li Rongxiu's beaming expression, Mo Wanrou swallowed the questions already on her lips. She accepted the white jade bracelets, turning them over in her hands for a moment before asking, "Have you truly let it go this time?"

Li Rongxiu laughed helplessly and waved a hand. "It's not what you think. There was a reason I met Shen Manyao."

He then told them everything about why he had met Shen Manyao and what Shen Manyao had been plotting. When he finished, Li Rongxiu said, "What she wants most now is to marry into the Chi family without any complications. As for what she plans to do, I can't be bothered to ask. Still, I don't think she was lying about the Chi family and the Yao family becoming estranged."

The Li family all smiled at that. Li Rongyu reached out and rubbed Li Rongxiu's head, explaining, "Silly boy, what Shen Manyao told you was something everyone already knew. Only kids like you never noticed. There was nothing especially valuable in it. She fooled you again."

Li Rongxiu's face darkened. Watching everyone exchange looks and struggle not to laugh, he became increasingly embarrassed and angry. Wasn't that exactly why he hated smart people who seemed to have eighteen thousand schemes in their heads? ╭(╯^╰)╮

"I'm tired. I'm going upstairs to shower and change." Keeping a straight face, Li Rongxiu pushed away Zhuang Meiru, who had her arms around him, and went upstairs along the spiral staircase. Hearing the faint laughter from downstairs, his dissatisfaction only grew.

Meanwhile, when Shen Manyao dragged her somewhat weary body back to the South District Villa, Chi Junrui was sitting on the living room sofa waiting for her with a dark expression. Seeing him with his arms crossed and his face livid, Shen Manyao smiled. "What brings you here today? Aren't you supposed to be keeping your Miss Yao company and playing at romance?"

At her words, Chi Junrui felt a blaze of fury surge up from his chest, nearly consuming him entirely. He forcibly suppressed his anger, got to his feet, walked over to Shen Manyao, gripped her shoulders, and said in a lowered voice, "Manyao, can you stop making trouble? Haven't I told you? You're the only one I love. The only reason I went to Yao Pingting was for the family business. Haven't we already come to an understanding?"

Watching Chi Junrui gaze at her so affectionately, Shen Manyao raised a hand and pushed aside the arms restraining her before walking slowly to the sofa and sitting down. She poured herself a cup of rose tea. It had already gone cold, but with her heart burning hot, Shen Manyao still slowly drank half a cup of the cold tea before saying, "I love you too. For you, I offended the Li family, ruined my reputation, got suspended from school, and was driven out by my father. Now I'm pregnant and homeless. I can only live in the villa where we used to have our affair, like some abandoned woman, waiting day and night for you to favor me. I went from being a proud daughter of heaven to a woman despised, mocked, and condemned for being unchaste. Haven't I done enough?"

Listening to Shen Manyao's accusations, word by word, Chi Junrui's towering rage gradually faded, and he became increasingly guilty. He sat down beside her somewhat awkwardly, took her icy hand from her lap, and gently rubbed it. "I'm sorry. I know I've wronged you these past few days."

"I don't feel wronged. I only brought it upon myself." Shen Manyao sneered and shook off Chi Junrui's hand. Everyone said Shen Manyao was innocent, gentle, mild-tempered, and understanding. Back when she had stood high above everyone else, basking in glory and success, she had been more than happy to maintain that illusion. But one wrong step had led to another. Since Li Rongxiu had dragged her into the mud on the day of their engagement, making her the target of ridicule and abuse throughout Wancheng and even the Empire, Shen Manyao had had enough of being discarded and manipulated by others.

She would let everyone know that even if Shen Manyao had been set up and fallen into the mud, she could still climb out herself, rise to the top once more, and enjoy the envious, admiring gazes of everyone around her.

Naturally, Chi Junrui had no idea that the little woman beside him harbored such ambition and desire. Somewhat helpless and heartsore, he put an arm around Shen Manyao's thin shoulders, sighed deeply, and said, "Don't say such angry things anymore. It hurts me to hear them. Besides, you're pregnant now. If you stay unhappy all the time, it'll affect the baby's health. You're so kind—can you bear to make our baby unhappy with you?"

As Chi Junrui spoke, he leaned over and kissed Shen Manyao lightly on the cheek. Deliberately lowering his voice, he made it sound increasingly deep and sensual. "Let's go out for dinner tonight. We'll go to that French restaurant you love most and have your favorite pan-seared foie gras, all right?"

Shen Manyao understood at once. Yet when she looked up at Chi Junrui, she put on an expression of pure delight, her eyes sparkling as she nodded. "All right. Then wait for me to change, okay?"

Chi Junrui did not want Shen Manyao to go out with him wearing the clothes she had worn to meet Li Rongxiu either, so he smiled even more happily. "Of course. It's my honor to wait while a beauty gets dressed up."

Shen Manyao smiled sweetly. Leaning close to Chi Junrui, she lightly kissed the corner of his lips. The soft kiss was like a dragonfly touching water, separating the instant it touched, carrying a young girl's delight and shyness. It successfully stirred Chi Junrui's memories. He suddenly felt as though he were in love. Looking at Shen Manyao's still slender, graceful back, Chi Junrui took a deep breath and found himself full of anticipation for dinner.

As for whom Shen Manyao had met before, and what exactly they had discussed, neither of them brought it up, tacitly avoiding the subject.

Chapter 26

The next day was Sunday. At nine thirty in the morning, Li Rongxiu and his playboy friends arranged to meet on a yacht.

The scenery at South Bay Pier remained bright and beautiful. Blue sea and clear sky, crowds of tourists—the entire golden beach was made lively and noisy. Xin Mengmeng leaned against the railing and looked into the distance for a while before turning around with a dissatisfied pout. "Every weekend, it feels like there are so many people here. It's one thing for locals to come out and relax over the weekend, but there are more and more tour groups from other places too. It's just a stretch of sea. Why does everyone in the country insist on coming here to join the crowd?"

Zhou Ruixin and the others lounged lazily on the deck, drinking cold beverages while looking over the actors' profiles. From time to time, they cast sidelong glances to admire Xin Mengmeng's youthful, lovely figure. Hearing her clearly irritated complaint, they exchanged looks and smiled. Zhou Ruixin spoke first. "What are you so angry about? Who upset you?"

Xin Mengmeng turned back with a cold snort, sat down, and reached for a glass of cherry tomato juice. Looking at Li Rongxiu with obvious displeasure, she said, "This morning's papers were quite lively. I say, kid, haven't you learned your lesson after getting burned? It's only been a few days—why are you mixed up with Shen Manyao again? Don't forget, she's Chi Junrui's woman now, and she's carrying his child."

"...Don't get carried away just because someone gives you a friendly face."

Li Rongxiu had not expected Xin Mengmeng to vent her anger on him. He awkwardly rubbed his nose. Zhou Ruixin and the others frowned slightly at her words. Alan interjected, "Xiu, don't blame Xin Mengmeng for speaking harshly. She's worried about you. She's afraid Shen Manyao will fool you again."

Meanwhile, Zhou Ruixin hurriedly shoved Xin Mengmeng and pretended to scold her. "What's wrong with you? Can't you talk properly? Did you have to get so worked up? No wonder you've never had a boyfriend even at your age. With that temper of yours, who could stand you?"

Xin Mengmeng flew into a rage. She instinctively glanced at Li Rongxiu, then gave Zhou Ruixin a hard knock on the head and snapped, "I'm perfectly happy without a boyfriend. Do you think everyone is like you, changing girlfriends every three days? Be careful you don't catch something filthy."

Zhou Ruixin's scalp burned from Xin Mengmeng's blow, and he was annoyed too. Still, he considered himself a gentleman and would not argue with a girl. Just as he was about to get up and move away from Xin Mengmeng, Li Rongxiu grabbed him.

Li Rongxiu looked gloomily at Xin Mengmeng and Zhou Ruixin, who had started fighting among themselves, and explained, "What's going on? I'm the one involved, and I haven't even said anything yet. You two, who have nothing to do with it, are already fighting."

After a pause, before either of them could react, Li Rongxiu continued, "It's not what you think at all. Shen Manyao and I are completely impossible now. I don't want to go back to an old flame, and Shen Manyao won't give up Chi Junrui—"

"Then what did you talk about when you met yesterday?" Xin Mengmeng asked along the lines of Li Rongxiu's explanation. Zhou Ruixin snorted, turned away, and ignored Xin Mengmeng. Xin Mengmeng hesitated, but ultimately said nothing.

Seeing this, Li Rongxiu simply waved a hand, signaling Zhao Qijun to tell everyone what had happened yesterday. When he finished, Li Rongxiu sighed. "We can't understand what people like them are thinking. But I know what I'm thinking and what I want to do."

Seeing that, Alan hurriedly acted as peacemaker. He spread all the materials out in front of them and said, "All right, stop chatting. We came here today to do serious business. Let's review these materials quickly so we can choose an auspicious day and officially start filming."

The others stopped fooling around as well and focused on business.

After half a month of citywide auditions, the male and female leads and main supporting cast for the school anniversary film Above the Elite had all been finalized. The male lead would be played by Zheng Fei, a second-year student at Diwan High School. His father was Zheng Shaoting, the Empire's renowned best actor.

Though Zheng Fei could not be considered the child of a wealthy Wancheng family based on his background, he had inherited his father's handsome looks and talent for acting, making him a well-known prince charming at Diwan High School. Furthermore, he was the lead performer of the Diwan Song and Dance Troupe. Given the revised script, having Zheng Fei play the male lead was truly a perfect fit.

The female lead, meanwhile, was Yang Lin, a first-year student at Diwan Drama Academy. By conventional standards of beauty, Yang Lin, with her large but monolid eyes, was not some stunning beauty. On top of that, she was flat-chested. In Zhou Ruixin's words, "Her only advantage is that her skin is fair and smooth enough." However, the youthful, passionate energy radiating from her did suit the director's idea of Cinderella.

Of course, the main reason Yang Lin had ultimately won the opportunity was that she had received the highest number of online votes. It seemed this fresh-faced little beauty had quite an affinity with audiences and a likable presence.