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This was also why, after dating Yao Pingting for years, he had ultimately gotten together with Shen Manyao behind Yao Pingting's back.

He just hadn't expected that impulsive relationship to have such a huge impact on his life and career. Nor had he expected Yao Pingting to be such a ruthless woman who turned her back on people without hesitation. And to vent his daughter's anger, Yao Qilin had even disregarded all principles and brought those disputes into the business world, digging such a massive pit for the Chi family's shipyard.

But thinking about it calmly, since Yao Qilin had left behind so many contingencies within the Chi family's shipyard, perhaps the Yao family had harbored ill intentions from the very beginning of their partnership. They had merely used this opportunity to bring their underhanded schemes into the open.

In other words, Yao Pingting being with him in the first place had been a conspiracy—a conspiracy by the Yao family to swallow up the Chi family!

Having figured this out, Chi Junrui's resentment toward Yao Pingting and the Yao family deepened further. But the Chi family was currently struggling just to stay afloat. No matter how indignant Chi Junrui was, he could only swallow it and endure. He could only hope that after this auction, the Chi family would rise again. Then, they could settle every grudge and repay every debt.

Compared with the Yao family kicking them while they were down, the Chi family actually hated what the Li family had done even more. But that was the way of high society: even if you wanted to cut someone into a thousand pieces, you still had to maintain the pretense of a pleasant conversation. So Chi Junrui found it a little hard to handle behavior like Sun Minqiu and Xin Mengmeng's, who seemed ready to spark a fight the moment they met.

Fortunately, most of Xin Mengmeng's attention was not on Chi Junrui. After tossing out one sarcastic remark, she shifted her target. "Where's Shen Manyao? Didn't they say she was coming today too? Ever since she was suspended from school for getting pregnant out of wedlock, I haven't seen her for six or seven months. It's been so long—I rather miss her. I wonder what our school's former goddess and campus belle looks like now?"

As soon as Xin Mengmeng finished speaking, someone laughed and chimed in, "She should be even prettier, right? Don't they say motherhood is the greatest, and pregnant women are the most beautiful?"

Everyone turned around and saw two girls from Diwan High School who had been in Xin Mengmeng's class. They had often hovered around Shen Manyao in the past, fussing over her, so Li Rongxiu recognized them by sight. But he could not remember their names. He only knew that they came from two mid-tier Wancheng families. They had once been close to the Shen family, but had recently switched allegiance to the Yao family. The one who had spoken was the girl in the pink princess dress.

When she saw Li Rongxiu glance over without giving anything away, the girl in the pink princess dress assumed he liked what she had said. She smiled even more brightly. The girl beside her in the blue princess dress curled her lips disdainfully and said deliberately, "Not necessarily. I heard my mother say before that women fear looking pretty the most when they're pregnant. Because a mother only becomes prettier without losing her figure when she's carrying a girl. If she's carrying a boy, her body swells up, her face gets spots, and she becomes ugly beyond belief! But when these wealthy Wancheng families marry and have children, they naturally hope for a son in one go. It's good for both the woman and the family."

The girl in the pink princess dress blinked innocently. "Really? But Senior Shen is so pretty and has such a good temperament. I'm sure that even if she's carrying a boy, she'll know how to dress herself up."

The girl in the blue princess dress continued showing off her knowledge. "That won't do. My mother said women can't wear makeup while they're pregnant."

Standing to the side, Xin Mengmeng watched the two girls put on their little performance, one playing off the other. She could not help recalling how, before Shen Manyao's scandal, the two had surrounded Shen Manyao and styled themselves as her right and left hands. She rather despised their character, but she still analyzed the matter in all seriousness. "Is that so? No wonder Young Master Chi was crazily pursuing the Yao family's eldest daughter a few months ago. It looks like Senior Shen must be carrying a boy—"

"What are you all talking about? It sounds so lively." Just as everyone was smiling as they crowded around to mock Chi Junrui, a soft voice came from beside them. Li Rongxiu, who knew that voice well, immediately recognized its owner as Shen Manyao. He instinctively looked toward the sound. A woman seven or eight months pregnant stood there prettily. She wore a strapless white gown very similar to Yang Lin's evening dress, except the fitted waist had been altered to fall just beneath her bust. Her thick black hair was pinned up, exposing her smooth forehead and slender neck. A delicate black diamond necklace rested at her throat, making her creamy, fair skin appear even more luminous. Because of her pregnancy, Shen Manyao had abandoned her usual beloved high heels for a pair of white flat crystal-trimmed, glossy round-toed shoes. Their pointed tips appeared and disappeared beneath the white hem of her dress. This outfit lessened some of her lofty sharpness and gave her a warmer, more approachable air.

She stood quietly where she was, smiling sweetly as though a spring breeze had brushed across everyone's faces. The girlish immaturity and innocence had faded from her, replaced by the gentle charm of a mature woman. She naturally made people understand what quiet tenderness was, what noble grace was.

It was the calm serenity shaped by years of refined upbringing, the mature poise accumulated through life's trials.

Bright moonlight shone, eclipsing all the splendor of the capital.

Yang Lin, who was holding Li Rongxiu's arm, lowered the head she had held so high, feeling somewhat inferior. Before today—even ten minutes ago—she had been full of ambition to replace Shen Manyao and become Li Rongxiu's new girlfriend. Though Li Rongxiu had rejected her repeatedly, she had always been confident in her beauty and had never believed he could truly refuse something delivered right to his lips.

But after seeing Shen Manyao with her own eyes, she finally understood just how vast the gap between them was. No wonder Li Rongxiu had discarded her like a worn-out shoe. Perhaps this was what it meant that once one had seen the vast ocean, no other water could compare.

Shen Manyao's beautiful eyes shifted, her gaze flowing. Looking at the speechless crowd before her, she smiled faintly. She knew her entrance today had been a success. It had been a long time since she had stood among a crowd and enjoyed the envy and amazement in others' eyes.

Only after losing something did people know to cherish it.

Seeing Yang Lin beside Li Rongxiu looking utterly dejected, Shen Manyao casually curved her lips and greeted Li Rongxiu, "Long time no see. Is this your new girlfriend?"

Among everyone present, Li Rongxiu was the only one not dazed by Shen Manyao's radiance. In the nearly thirty years of his previous life, he had already grown accustomed to seeing Shen Manyao at her most glamorous, even more dazzling than she was now. So he did not find the current Shen Manyao particularly outstanding.

Still, his female companion looked like an eggplant wilted by frost, dazed and dispirited. As her escort, Li Rongxiu felt it made him lose face. Moreover, Chi Junrui had recovered his wits and immediately gone to Shen Manyao's side, wrapping an arm around her thick waist and fussing over her in an ostentatious manner. The smug, triumphant looks he kept shooting over as though he were the winner in life also irritated Li Rongxiu.

So he abandoned his original decision to keep a low profile and focus only on publicity rather than gossip. Smiling, he wrapped an arm around Yang Lin's slender waist and said, "Oh, this is Yang Lin. She's the female lead in the promotional film for our school's centennial celebration, Above the Elite. She was the 'lucky Cinderella' selected after a month-long open audition. She's also a contracted artist under Li Huamei Film and Television. I believe she has a promising future ahead of her."

Without waiting for Shen Manyao's response, Li Rongxiu smiled at Xin Mengmeng beside him. "Looks like our publicity still isn't enough. I thought the buzz from our last audition would shake all of Wancheng, but apparently some people still don't know about it!"

Of course, Xin Mengmeng knew that those words were aimed at Chi Junrui. But she had no intention of letting Shen Manyao off so easily either, so she replied with a smile, "How could that be? Last time, we held auditions and fundraisers. Even Brown knew our school was making a movie. How could the Chi family possibly not know? Senior Shen was simply busy taking care of her pregnancy and had no time to watch television or read the papers—though perhaps during that time, Senior Shen was too busy watching gossip about Young Master Chi and the Yao family's young lady to pay attention to us. Right?"

Shen Manyao's smile had already faded slightly when Xin Mengmeng spoke her first sentence. By the time Xin Mengmeng's final "Right?" left her mouth, Shen Manyao could barely keep the curve on her lips. She glanced at Chi Junrui without betraying anything, quietly blaming his earlier actions for putting her in such an awkward position. But who was Shen Manyao? She had anticipated these barbs and criticisms long before today. So, rather than getting angry as Xin Mengmeng wished, she merely curled her lips indifferently and said, "When I went to see the doctor, the doctor told me to avoid television and computers during pregnancy so I could raise a healthy baby. So it's true that I haven't paid much attention to the news lately. I never thought much of it when I was in school, but now that I stay home all day, I understand the benefits of being busy. So I really envy Junior Xin for being able to devote herself wholeheartedly to her career."

Xin Mengmeng listened to Shen Manyao's gentle reply, chewing over every word. She could not help feeling that Shen Manyao was mocking her for being domineering and having no men pursuing her.

They had never liked each other in the past because their personalities clashed—more accurately, Xin Mengmeng had disliked Shen Manyao. Now, seeing Shen Manyao acting like a phoenix despite having fallen into the dirt, Xin Mengmeng curled her lips disdainfully and said maliciously, "Exactly. Senior Shen has really had it hard. I heard that pregnant women are especially sensitive and vulnerable, and this is when they need company the most. Senior Shen has no family by her side, and even Chi Junrui has been urged by the Chi family to busy himself with other matters. No wonder Senior Shen has no mind for anything else. Although it's too late for anything I say now, as the person who admires you most, Senior, I still want to offer you some advice. My mother often says that men fear choosing the wrong profession, while women fear marrying the wrong man. Marriage concerns one's entire life; it cannot be handled carelessly. I think Chi Junrui truly isn't worthy of you, Senior. Never mind his family background and character—everyone knows the Chi family nearly went bankrupt. The worst part is that he knows perfectly well you're pregnant, yet he isn't in any rush to arrange the wedding. He's dragged things out until now, when your belly is so big that you won't even look good in a wedding dress. Why marry a man who doesn't know how to consider his wife?"

After that speech, Chi Junrui looked at her with eyes cold enough to kill.

Li Rongxiu felt that every move Xin Mengmeng made today drew more hate than even the most professional provocateur. Shen Manyao and Chi Junrui's faces had turned green, then white, looking utterly miserable. Seeing more and more people in the hall beginning to notice the situation, Li Rongxiu coughed lightly and smiled at Xin Mengmeng. "It's getting late. The auction is about to start. Let's go in first."

Xin Mengmeng curled her lips and shot Li Rongxiu a glare, looking rather disappointed in him. She probably thought he truly failed to grasp the essence of kicking someone while they were down and flaunting one's superiority. Then she gave a cold snort, looked at Shen Manyao and Chi Junrui, and said with a very fake smile, "The nineteenth of next month is Diwan's centennial celebration. The movie we invested in will also premiere at the ceremony. Wancheng students, as well as graduates and senior schoolmates, will all return for the premiere. Although Senior Shen is no longer a Diwan student, and Mr. Chi has no chance of receiving an invitation as a guest to the Diwan centennial ceremony, we were classmates after all. I still hope Senior Shen and Young Master Chi can attend together. It would count as... a reunion."

Hearing this, the people eavesdropping nearby immediately brightened. Their gazes instinctively swept between Li Rongxiu and Yang Lin, then Shen Manyao and Chi Junrui. Oh, this counts as throwing down the gauntlet, doesn't it? But judging by this situation, if Chi Junrui wants to compete with Li Rongxiu, he'll be utterly crushed!

Though he knew the situation was unfavorable to him, no man could tolerate a former romantic rival flaunting himself before him. Chi Junrui, always so proud, was even less able to bear it. Besides, attending the premiere at Xin Mengmeng's invitation might seem like taking a slight loss on the surface. But appearing at such an event also meant meeting more capable people. So without a second thought, Chi Junrui immediately accepted Xin Mengmeng's "invitation" and smiled at Li Rongxiu. "My wife and I will have to trouble Young Master Xiu then. Our thanks in advance."