Chapter 53: Sun Shuai Driven to Madness by Rage

“Sun family scion, Sun Shuai, nothing but a persistent leech,” Yang Yiqiu said helplessly.

“Hey, Yiqiu, you can’t talk about me like that, can you? After all, we’ve been friends for so many years, and I’ve always supported your creative work…”

“Shut up!” Yang Yiqiu’s beautiful eyes flashed as her tone grew sharper.

Sun Shuai immediately shrank back, not daring to say another word.

Their exchange drew more attention, and a few young men from prominent families burst into exaggerated laughter.

“Sun Shuai, you’re at it again—always playing the lovesick puppy. Truly persistent, I’ll give you that!”

“Who is our handsome Sun, after all? Even if Yang the queen’s heart is cold as ice, he’ll still throw himself at her without hesitation. He’s stuck to her for three whole years!”

“Sun Shuai, you’re the only one who can get the queen to lose her temper and curse. That’s impressive!”

A barrage of taunts left Sun Shuai red-faced and thick-necked. He wanted to retort, but every word was true, so he could only grit his teeth and sulk in silence, drinking at the table.

Ye Tian’s curious gaze shifted to the next table.

One of the playboys, seeing Ye Tian’s interest, began to regale him with stories about Sun Shuai.

As it turned out, this fellow was a collateral member of the Sun family, the sort who could only serve tea and pour water at family gatherings. Such lesser branches couldn’t even touch the family’s core businesses, and usually subsisted on a modest monthly allowance, drifting between nightclubs and foot massage parlors.

But one day, after leaving a foot massage parlor, Sun Shuai happened to run into Yang Yiqiu driving by. He fell for her at first sight—and from that moment, he was hopelessly smitten.

Thus began three years of relentless pursuit, every attempt met with unyielding rejection.

“Our handsome Sun always says, a woman he still pines for even in his most lucid moments must be true love. Ha! That kills me!” The playboy laughed so hard he slapped the table.

“Laugh all you want—but you’ve never been as devoted as me!” Sun Shuai fumed, smashing his glass on the floor, which only made the others laugh harder.

Yang Yiqiu’s expression was equally sour.

She was just an artist, with no family or power to back her. So when these scions came courting, she could only turn them down as delicately as possible.

But with those shameless types who insisted on being friends and wormed their way into her life, she had no way of forcefully rejecting them.

They’d show up out of the blue, insist on sharing a meal or a drink, and generally made her life miserable.

And Sun Shuai was the most stubborn leech of them all!

He trailed after her, engineered bizarre “coincidences,” sent people to follow her, and created absurdly romantic scenes that only he found touching—he tried every trick in the book.

Because of him, she had lost her composure many times, even resorting to vulgar curses, but nothing worked.

He was simply nauseating!

After hearing these stories, Ye Tian couldn’t help but laugh. Who would have thought the mighty queen had such hidden troubles?

But perhaps Sun Shuai could be a pawn worth using. Though from a collateral branch, he might still hold some inside information.

He would find a way to pry it out of him.

With that in mind, Ye Tian refilled a glass of red wine and pushed it toward Sun Shuai. “To me, Brother Sun is a man of deep devotion—worthy of respect.”

He thought these words would draw them closer, but to Ye Tian’s surprise, Sun Shuai instantly turned hostile, grabbed the proffered wine, and flung it toward Ye Tian’s face.

Ye Tian frowned, turned his head, and dodged the incoming splash.

“What’s the meaning of this?” he demanded.

“Heh.” Sun Shuai’s face darkened as he sneered, “You think you can get chummy with me?”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice you walked in just now, arm in arm with Yiqiu.”

“You’re trying to cozy up to me just to show off, aren’t you? Let me tell you, your whole getup isn’t worth a single button on my suit!”

“You think you can squeeze into high society just by clinging to Yiqiu?”

“Keep dreaming!”

Sun Shuai was clearly tipsy—he couldn’t hold his liquor. Add to that the mockery from his peers, and his anger boiled over. He’d found a soft target in Ye Tian and laid into him with a string of harsh insults.

“Pathetic pauper, just looking at you is an eyesore!”

“Sun Shuai!”

Yang Yiqiu could stand it no longer. She rose and said, “If you keep this up, don’t force me to have you thrown out!”

At her words, Sun Shuai was instantly aggrieved. “Yiqiu, we’ve known each other for three years. Don’t you understand my sincerity?”

“My feelings for you are genuine, and I have the means to make you happy. How am I any worse than this guy who can’t even afford custom shoes and is nowhere near as good-looking as me?”

Yang Yiqiu gave a cold laugh.

“I’ve already said I don’t like you. What I despise most are those who say they love you, but every night sleep with two or more women—never the same ones twice.”

At this, Sun Shuai fell silent.

He cursed inwardly, wondering who had been blabbing about his personal life.

Even so, he showed no intention of leaving. Instead, he redirected his anger from Yang Yiqiu to Ye Tian, fixing him with a venomous glare.

“Hey, what’s your name?” he barked, seeing that Ye Tian was silent and seemed easy to bully.

“Ye Qiu,” Ye Tian replied offhandedly, making up an alias, his gaze cold as he watched Sun Shuai try to pick a fight.

“Hmph, even has the same surname as that disgraced Ye family,” Sun Shuai sneered, searching his memory.

After a moment, he confirmed that there was no notable Ye family left in the capital. He smiled in satisfaction.

This guy was nothing more than a third-rate office worker—not even worth calling a character.

But he, Sun Shuai, was a scion of not just any family, but the number one powerhouse in the capital!

This commoner couldn’t possibly compete with him.

“So, Ye Qiu, you think you can win Yiqiu’s favor with your slick talk? Just wait until the donation ceremony—I’ll show you what it means to be put in your place!”

Since this was a charity gala, every guest was expected to donate—some more, some less.

Those who gave generously and ranked among the top donors would be publicly thanked by the foundation.

Sun Shuai had come tonight well prepared.

He had abstained from topping up his card at the massage parlor for three whole months, saving up every cent of his allowance. With his years of secret savings added in, he was ready to make a splash at the donation event!

Then, surely, Yang Yiqiu would look at him with new admiration.

As for this so-called Ye Qiu…

Sun Shuai glanced over at Ye Tian, who was awkwardly trying to figure out how to taste red wine, and felt nothing but contempt.

How had a bumpkin like this even gotten into the gala? Clearly, the organizers hadn’t vetted the guest list well enough.

As for making a donation, Sun Shuai doubted he could even scrape together a hundred thousand yuan.