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Chen Yang’s tone was a bit strange.

Liang Qian had known him for so long that he immediately sensed something was off. Although Chen Yang didn’t sound angry, there was a sense of danger.

He felt like he might be about to be silenced.

Chen Yang was still holding that tissue, the coral-red lipstick stain clearly visible against the white background.

It reminded him of Le Ya’s lips just now.

Liang Qian sneaked a glance at him.

After saying that, he suddenly thought it seemed unlikely — after all, Le Ya was still at the gala, how could Chen Yang have “stolen a kiss” in the blink of an eye?

It didn’t fit his personality.

Liang Qian caught himself, took a step back, and chuckled awkwardly twice, saying, “What I mean is... the lipstick on Le Ya got rubbed off by you. What if people notice?”

Chen Yang sneered coldly.

Liang Qian was just there to deliver the clothes, and now that this misunderstanding happened, he didn’t dare linger. Quickly changing the subject, he said, “I’ve already found out who that woman was — a minor celebrity, not well known at all.”

Chen Yang replied casually with a hum.

He folded the tissue neatly into a square and then casually put it into his pocket, leaving Liang Qian dumbfounded.

Liang Qian didn’t dare comment further: “Should we teach her a lesson?”

Chen Yang said, “No need.”

No point in paying attention to her; he didn’t want to waste time.

Liang Qian nodded, “Alright then.”

Chen Yang put on his suit. In the blink of an eye, he transformed from the tired look earlier to a sharp elite, attracting all eyes.

Seeing him like that, Liang Qian looked down at himself and felt grateful that Xie Qingyu hadn’t rejected him. After all, having such a handsome guy next to him was a big contrast.

Thinking about it made Liang Qian sigh. When he snapped out of it, Chen Yang had already left the lounge.

As soon as Chen Yang stepped out, he saw Le Ya not far away.

He glanced over, and Le Ya happened to look up and saw him. She gave a slight pursed-lip smile that stirred his heart.

The gala wasn’t really a big deal.

Le Ya didn’t know many people here — after all, she hadn’t been back to the country for several years. At most, she recognized one or two people, but couldn’t really start a conversation.

In contrast, Lin Qianlu, who had warned her earlier, was chatting with someone at the long table in the corner.

Lin Qianlu was very curious how Le Ya had come out unscathed.

She gossiped, “I just heard that Chen Zong went to the lounge because a minor celebrity tried to trap him, poured wine on him to make an excuse, but she was directly kicked out of the gala.”

Lin Qianlu had some girlfriends here who loved gossip, and they had vividly described the scene to her.

Le Ya exclaimed, “That scary?”

She even felt a bit sorry for Chen Yang.

Lin Qianlu picked up a nearby empty cup and made a gesture, “It’s exactly like this.”

She pretended to pour it on Le Ya.

They had all seen this trick too many times: using physical contact as a step forward, and if the man was interested, he would respond.

But Chen Yang was rather cold-blooded.

Le Ya laughed at her teasing, “Got it.”

“There are many tricks,” Lin Qianlu put down the cup, forked a small piece of dessert into her mouth, and asked, “What’s your relationship with Chen Zong anyway?”

She still didn’t know who Le Ya was.

Le Ya blinked and said, “Guess.”

Lin Qianlu thought for a moment, then blurted out, “Could you be his fiancée?”

Otherwise, how could she come out unscathed?

The more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed. Plus, when the lounge door opened just now, Chen Yang looked this way.

Of course, he wouldn’t be looking at her, so he must have been looking at Le Ya.

Lin Qianlu’s gossip nature flared up again.

While they were talking, suddenly something fell near their feet. Because of the carpet, the sound wasn’t very noticeable.

Lin Qianlu’s calf was hit; she let out a quiet yelp.

She turned around but hadn’t seen what it was, when she heard a laugh from nearby: “There are two women over there. Just have them bring it over, no need to come yourself.”

The distance wasn’t far, and the two slender backs were clearly visible.

“Hey?”

Suddenly someone called out.

Le Ya was daydreaming; hearing the voice, she turned around and saw several young men staring this way.

The tall thin one was smiling, thinking she was just an ordinary escort, and said, “Bring over the thing on the floor.”

There weren’t many people here, the lighting was dim, and a few rich young masters gathered together, looking over with interest.

Next to Le Ya was Lin Qianlu.

Lin Qianlu was actually a minor celebrity too, but barely known—an eighteenth-tier star with almost no influence. She came here accompanying a rich second-generation heir.

This heir liked to collect girlfriends; she was pretty and hadn’t been caught by him yet, so he still showed some interest.

The rich heir had just gone off to talk to someone else, leaving her alone here.

Lin Qianlu didn’t dare get into conflict with these rich kids.

She glanced down and realized there was a lighter by her foot — the thing that had hit her calf.

She thought for a moment, bent down, and picked it up, not knowing how it had dropped there.

The tall thin guy repeated, “Have the person next to you bring it over.”

He originally wanted Le Ya to do it, but since Lin Qianlu had the lighter, his tone softened a little.

The other men laughed.

Lin Qianlu looked at Le Ya and whispered, “I’ll go deliver it.”

Le Ya frowned, feeling uncomfortable hearing their words.

She took the lighter from Lin Qianlu. It was a luxury brand — well, no ordinary people came to these events.

But that didn’t mean someone could boss others around.

After all, this was Le Ya’s first time encountering this kind of thing.

She had only seen such scenes on TV dramas before, and rarely attended banquets, so she had never been involved.

She hadn’t expected it really existed.

And their attitude was infuriating — clearly asking for help but treating others with disdain.

Le Ya said, “I’ll get it myself.”

Lin Qianluo wasn’t sure whether she should listen to her, but she couldn’t deny that when Le Ya spoke like that and saw the expressions on those men’s faces, she felt a bit satisfied.

The men on the other side actually laughed after hearing Le Ya’s words.

Since they were in a corner, and the whole gala was filled with chatter, not many people were paying attention here.

Le Ya glanced at them and said, “Aren’t you coming over?”

The tall, skinny guy licked his lips, fixed his gaze on her, and smiled, “You bring it over.”

Upon hearing that, Le Ya smiled slightly.

The men opposite all thought she had given in.

They had noticed this girl early on — she was very pretty, but not in a flashy way. It was the kind of beauty that made you want to tear through the surface purity.

After playing around with flashy women for so long, they all wanted someone like her.

Although Le Ya rarely interacted with these kinds of people, she could still tell from their eyes, and it just made her feel disgusted.

Her gaze then fell on a tall wine glass filled to the brim.

Le Ya directly threw the lighter into the glass.

She definitely wouldn’t go over to hand it to them — maybe she’d bring it to Chen Yang instead.

Lin Qianluo didn’t expect Le Ya to do that. Surprised and a bit worried, she said, “They… they won’t do anything to you, right?”

Le Ya said, “No.”

She had seen that tall guy before at an auction — apparently he was the young master of a newly rising company, which was probably why he was so arrogant.

In terms of financial power, he was still no match for her family.

Although Le Ya didn’t usually measure things this way, in this situation that comparison was comforting.

The lighter sank into the wine glass.

The men opposite were stunned and their first reaction was to rush over, but Lin Qianluo quickly pulled Le Ya aside.

One man hissed quietly, “Do you know whose lighter you threw? If you go apologize now, it’s still not too late.”

Le Ya asked, “Whose?”

Lin Qianluo was too scared to say anything and trembled.

Le Ya felt like the scene was straight out of the romance novels Xie Qingyu used to read — the characters and even the lines hadn’t changed much.

She didn’t think she had done anything wrong, at most she shouldn’t have thrown the lighter into the wine. But she was just pissed off by their eyes.

Zhang Wenbo was about to speak when someone walked over.

Le Yijian asked, “What happened?”

He had seen people here talking to Le Ya and came over quickly. He knew those men and they didn’t have a good reputation.

Zhang Wenbo immediately exaggerated, “President Le, it’s nothing, just a small matter. This young lady just threw Brother Li’s lighter, and I’m scolding her.”

Le Yijian exploded, “What?”

Thinking he was backing him up, Zhang Wenbo hurriedly said to Le Ya, “Aren’t you going to apologize to Brother Li?”

Le Yijian scolded, “Apologize my ass!”

Seeing his stern face, Le Ya obediently called out, “Dad.”

Zhang Wenbo was stunned by Le Yijian’s scolding and Le Ya’s address; after a moment of confusion, he prepared to run away.

Le Yijian was quick and stopped him, “What did you just say?”

Zhang Wenbo, wanting to cry but unable to, said, “I didn’t say anything…”

He looked around and saw his friends had already left the moment things got tense — they had no intention to help him.

Le Ya said aloud, “They wanted me to bring over the lighter, so I threw it into the wine. Then he wanted to scold me.”

Le Yijian said, “You want to scold my daughter?”

Zhang Wenbo shook his head desperately.

His family was a modest wealthy one, and this time he just tagged along with others. He was just making noise on the side and didn’t dare offend the Le family.

Le Yijian’s temper was generally good, but when it came to things like this, he wasn’t easy to negotiate with. Le Ya didn’t want to say much either.

If she didn’t have money, she probably would have been bullied today.

These people deserved a lesson.

The whole corner incident didn’t attract much attention.

Later, Le Yijian was called away by an uncle, and before leaving, he reminded Le Ya she did well and must stand her ground.

Lin Qianluo watched the whole thing, her heart pounding.

She sincerely said, “Your dad treats you so well.”

Le Ya replied, “Yeah.”

“But seeing your dad like this, anyone who wants to marry you won’t have it easy,” Lin Qianluo added.

Then the topic circled back to the start.

Lin Qianluo asked, “Hey, are you really Mr. Chen’s fiancée?”

Le Ya thought for a moment and answered, “I suppose so.”

Since they weren’t officially engaged yet, it was just verbal for now. Probably after the gala, her dad would keep an eye on Chen Yang. It was impossible to be an official fiancé without preparation.

Hearing this, Lin Qianluo laughed and cried at the same time, “What do you mean ‘suppose so’? You are!”

Le Ya smiled, coy.

While they were talking, suddenly a man appeared behind them, holding a box and standing in front of her.

“Are you Miss Le Ya?” he asked.

Le Ya nodded, “That’s me.”

The man handed her the box and whispered a few words.

Lin Qianluo heard it too and looked over, surprised but somehow felt it was normal — after all, with a fiancée, Chen Yang wouldn’t give the jewelry to anyone else.

Le Ya took the box.

Opening it, it really was the jewelry set. It looked stunning in person, much more than in the videos and photos she had seen downstairs earlier.

Lin Qianluo volunteered, “Let me help you put it on.”

Le Ya hadn’t worn much today and couldn’t see Chen Yang from here but wanted him to see her, so she said, “Okay.”

Lin Qianluo had met many beauties in the entertainment circle — natural, artificial, good skin, bad skin, even the most praised celebrities — but none compared to this girl.

Looking at her made her heart flutter, and she even wanted to leave a mark on her.

Lin Qianluo felt her thoughts were weird — those were normally men’s feelings — and quickly shook her head.

She said, “President Chen is really generous.”

The necklace draped down to the collarbone, sparking imagination.

Le Ya touched it lightly, “If you take it, you have to give it back.”

She didn’t believe Chen Yang would give everything for free; at least she’d have to pay in some way, like kisses or touches.

Lin Qianluo saw her face turning redder and redder, even getting worse, and curiously asked, “Are you feeling hot?”

The room had air conditioning on; she was wearing a gown and already a bit cold. Le Ya was dressed similarly but surprisingly looked warm.

Le Ya: “...”

Maybe she was just restless.

Le Ya was too embarrassed to tell her what she was thinking about and quickly changed the subject.

They lost track of time chatting here. The gala was about to end before they realized it.

Le Yijian was left behind talking to some people.

Le Ya decided to find Chen Yang herself, planning to leave with him. She didn’t say a word but quietly followed him, then poked him.

Chen Yang turned around and lowered his eyes to look at her.

Le Ya hadn’t gotten a chance to speak when he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her slightly so her toes touched his shoes.

A burning kiss landed.

In the next moment, a flash of light flickered in the dark.