Let Shen Qingling Be Thoroughly Defeated

Sheng Xia's fingers, hooked around Gu Yijin's arm, trembled slightly.

This was practically a man straight out of a novel!

Besides spending money extravagantly, one of Sheng Xia's few hobbies was reading novels.

Looking at Shen Qingling's face, she could no longer bring herself to call him ugly.

How could there be such a handsome man? For a moment just now, she had almost thought that the man she liked had stepped out of a novel.

077: "Sheng Xia's Heart-Throb Score increased by 15."

Shen Qingling said, "This young lady's heart is quite honest."

Shen Qingling found Gu Yijin's expression rather amusing.

Gu Yijin felt Sheng Xia's hand gripping his arm suddenly tighten, and cursed inwardly.

She had sworn before that she only wanted to marry him, yet now she could not even speak after seeing Shen Qingling's face.

Sure enough, women's words could not be trusted.

Suppressing his anger, Gu Yijin said, "Miss Ruan, won't you introduce the gentleman beside you?"

Sheng Xia came back to her senses. No, Gu Yijin, her fiancé, was the devoted and faithful male lead from a novel. How could she be thinking about another man?

The young woman withdrew her gaze in frustration.

Yet she could not help stealing another glance.

077: "Sheng Xia's Heart-Throb Score increased by 5."

Sheng Xia reluctantly looked away.

Fine, she had to admit that this man was truly handsome.

Honestly speaking, he was more handsome than Ajin.

But when she thought about how such a handsome man was Ruan Mingyi's escort... she refused to compliment him!

Sheng Xia straightened her chest, lifted her chin, and stubbornly said, "Forget it. He's probably just someone she called over from some club to make up the numbers. Do you think I don't know her? Who from River City's respectable upper-class families would be willing to attend a banquet with her?"

Ruan Mingyi's retort was already on the tip of her tongue, but Wen Sulan unexpectedly spoke first.

"Xiaxia, how can you say such things to someone you're meeting for the first time?"

"Auntie, I'm not talking nonsense. The men Ruan Mingyi used to call over were club gigolos. This one looks so... so seductive. He must be one too, hmph."

In truth, Sheng Xia knew very well that a man with Shen Qingling's bearing was clearly not a club model. Even Gu Yijin had been overshadowed by him.

But she hated Ruan Mingyi. She always had, ever since childhood. She hated everything associated with Ruan Mingyi.

So no matter how handsome Shen Qingling was, she would hold herself back. Even if it killed her, she would not say anything nice about him.

Shen Qingling said coldly, "Miss, we are strangers. The first thing you say upon meeting me is that I'm a gigolo. Isn't that rather lacking in manners?"

Shen Qingling had no intention of indulging her.

A spoiled, arrogant young lady like this needed to have her bad habits properly corrected.

Sheng Xia's eyes widened in disbelief. "You dare say I have no manners!?"

Biting her lip indignantly, she said, "Do you know who is hosting today's banquet? My surname is Sheng! Besides Ruan Mingyi, you're the second person in River City who dares speak to me like that. You really are a pair of—"

Wen Sulan looked at her with a displeased expression. Only then did Sheng Xia purse her lips and snort. "Forget it. I'm magnanimous enough not to argue with you."

Hearing Shen Qingling scold Sheng Xia, Ruan Mingyi felt immensely satisfied.

Out of all the men in River City, one of them had finally dared to tell the truth.

077: "Ruan Mingyi's Heart-Throb Score increased by 4."

The woman curved her lips and took Shen Qingling's arm, wearing the air of a victor. The sight sparked an inexplicable rage in Sheng Xia.

She took Gu Yijin's arm as well and snorted. "What use is being good-looking? Only talent and ability can bring a woman happiness."

Ruan Mingyi smiled. "Oh? So you admit that my man is better-looking than yours?"

Sheng Xia pursed her lips. "What do you know? Ajin has inner beauty. You're just a shallow woman who only looks at appearances."

Ruan Mingyi tossed her voluminous waves and narrowed her eyes with a faint smile. "Sorry, but I really am shallow. At first glance, I don't look at inner beauty. Only men who aren't beautiful enough on the outside bring up inner beauty."

Ruan Mingyi's words carried a pointed implication. She was clearly saying that Gu Yijin was not attractive enough.

"Someone like the man beside me only needs to appear, and everyone will be drawn in by his outward beauty."

"Later, I discovered that he not only has outward beauty, but inner beauty as well. Isn't it better to have both? Or could it be... some people only have inner beauty? It isn't that they don't pursue outward beauty too, but that they simply can't have it?"

Ruan Mingyi blinked innocently, yet a few sentences were enough to infuriate Gu Yijin.

Ruan Mingyi was only holding back because Wen Sulan was present. Otherwise, she would have gone all out.

Yet every one of her remarks was dripping with sarcasm. She appeared to be praising Shen Qingling, while actually comparing Gu Yijin unfavorably in every possible way.

Gu Yijin frowned, and his opinion of Ruan Mingyi plummeted to rock bottom.

Before this, although he thought Ruan Mingyi was always picking fights with Sheng Xia, he had secretly enjoyed seeing her put that bad-tempered young lady in her place. He had found her personality interesting, and with her beauty, he had held a fairly favorable impression of her.

But today, seeing how close she was to Shen Qingling and how openly she mocked him, he darkly hoped Shen Qingling would abandon her without mercy.

"Ruan Mingyi, what do you mean by that!?"

"I was merely praising my male companion for being handsome. As for you, you said your fiancé only has inner beauty. Are you calling him ugly?"

"Don't twist my words! That's not what I meant!"

Sheng Xia glanced at Gu Yijin's expression and only then realized that she might have hurt his pride.

Tilting her head, she said softly, "Ajin, I want to hear you play the piano."

Gu Yijin was an excellent pianist. Everyone knew that, and it was something Sheng Xia took great pride in and used to show off.

Compared to Gu Yijin himself, she seemed to prefer the glory he brought her.

Gu Yijin stroked her head and said, "Of course. If Xiaxia wants to hear me play, then I'll play for you."

He looked at Shen Qingling and asked, "Since this gentleman has earned Miss Ruan's favor, I assume he possesses some remarkable qualities besides that face of his. Could Miss Ruan let us witness this inner beauty you mentioned as well?"

Ruan Mingyi frowned in displeasure. "You mean you want him to compete with you in piano? Gu Yijin, isn't that a little too deliberate? Everyone knows the piano is what you're best at."

Gu Yijin retained that gentle yet hypocritical expression. "Miss Ruan has misunderstood. I'm merely curious. If your male companion can't play, then forget it."

Gu Yijin knew very well that Shen Qingling was better at painting. Playing the piano was not his forte, and it was hard to say whether he could even play. In any case, Gu Yijin had never seen piano listed in Shen Qingling's past records.

As it happened, this was Gu Yijin's specialty.

He wanted to force Shen Qingling onto the stage. He wanted to see whether Shen Qingling dared accept the challenge.

Seeing that neither Ruan Mingyi nor Shen Qingling spoke, Sheng Xia sneered, "What, are you afraid? Makes sense. People from places like yours probably don't know how to do this sort of thing. Ajin has won more awards in piano competitions than the man beside you has eaten meals."

Even if Sheng Xia had not mentioned it, Gu Yijin would have found all sorts of ways to lead Shen Qingling into the trap he had prepared.

The moment Gu Yijin had discovered Shen Qingling, countless ideas had sprung to mind.

He had three plans for dealing with Shen Qingling. As long as even one succeeded, Shen Qingling's reputation in high society would be nearly ruined.

Today, he would make Shen Qingling suffer a crushing defeat at the Sheng Family's banquet!