Chapter 90 It Was Only a Joke

Although Liang Xiucheng had not been back in the country for long, he had only been abroad for less than three years, so it was impossible that no one in Yun City’s social circles would recognize him.

Huo Ting was momentarily stunned when she saw him. “Young Master Liang.”

Liang Xiucheng glanced at her indifferently and stood beside Qiao Jiu. “What’s going on?”

Before Qiao Jiu could respond, Guan Wei took up arms. “What else? A bunch of cowards who bully the weak and fear the strong. Earlier, each one of them was so timid they didn’t dare make a sound, yet now that Qiao Jiu has lost influence, they’re all rushing out to bite her. Pathetic. I don’t know what kind of parents raised them.”

Liang Xiucheng frowned, directing his question at Qiao Jiu. “What did they say?”

His stance made it clear to everyone that he was here to back Qiao Jiu.

The girls who had just been siding with Huo Ting to make things difficult for Qiao Jiu forced a smile and immediately softened their tone. “It’s nothing, we just haven’t seen each other in a long time, so we were joking around.”

“What kind of joke?” Liang Xiucheng fixed his gaze on her. “Tell me, let’s see if it’s a joke.”

His expression was hard to read, but the pressure was unmistakable.

Seeing this, Huo Ting replied calmly, “We really were just joking around between girls since we haven’t seen each other for a while.”

She looked at Qiao Jiu. “Miss Qiao, you tell him, what did we say?”

Truthfully, if you took their words seriously, there wasn't anything overtly wrong with them.

Qiao Jiu took Guan Wei by the arm. “Forget it. They're just a bunch of petty people who dare to act but not to admit it. It's beneath us to bother with them. Let's go.”

As Guan Wei walked past, she spat in Huo Ting’s direction. “Disgraceful.”

Liang Xiucheng didn’t rush to leave. He swept his gaze over the group, not saying a word of warning, his expression still collected, but it was enough to make them all shrink back.

When Liang Xiucheng finally left, one of the girls with Huo Ting snorted, “Who would have thought she’s so cunning? Just dumped by Lu Fengzhou and already latching onto another.”

Huo Ting sneered as well. “She’s only relying on Young Master Liang not knowing the inside story since he’s just come back from abroad. If he knew she’s just Lu Fengzhou’s castoff—”

“And what if he finds out?” someone suddenly interrupted.

Huo Ting slowly turned around. “If he finds out, in less than two days… Lu, Mr. Lu.”

Lu Fengzhou was standing nearby, his gaze still tracking Qiao Jiu, who hadn’t gone far, but his question was directed at Huo Ting. “Go on, why did you stop talking?”

...

Guan Wei was fuming. She slammed herself into her seat. “What a bunch of nobodies.”

Qiao Jiu took it better—mainly because she had anticipated this scene.

She brought over two glasses of juice, handing one to Guan Wei. “Alright, calm down. Strictly speaking, we didn’t lose anything.”

Guan Wei was still grinding her teeth. “If this were a different setting, I’d have slapped her already.”

Qiao Jiu glanced over at Huo Ting’s side. The crowd was moving, making it hard to see clearly, but she thought she glimpsed Lu Fengzhou. Earlier, Huo Ting had raised her voice to embarrass her, but there hadn’t been a real scene. Yet now, it looked like quite a few people had gathered.

She withdrew her gaze. “No need. Resorting to violence would just make us look bad.”

Qiao Jiu took a sip of juice, then suddenly said, “You know, since Zou Qingqing and Huo Ting are so close, Huo Ting must know about her keeping that young man. So Huo Ting...”

Guan Wei was stunned and looked at Qiao Jiu. Beside them, Liang Xiucheng smiled. “I’ll get someone to look into it for you. I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

Qiao Jiu glanced at Liang Xiucheng. “I feel like I'm corrupting you.”

Guan Wei perked up immediately. “Corrupting? We’re just delivering justice to people like them.”

She patted Liang Xiucheng on the shoulder. “Good, good. We’ll wait for your news.”

After another short delay, the banquet hall finally opened for the meal.

The group wandered over. Qiao Jiu walked beside Guan Wei. “What did Mr. Liang want to talk to you about just now?”

“Not much,” Guan Wei replied. “He just wanted to explain why he went to see Xu Yi the other day. I didn’t listen.”

She exhaled. “It used to bother me, but now I suddenly don’t care anymore.”

Qiao Jiu considered this. “I thought Xu Yi would come today, but she didn’t, so Mr. Liang probably wasn’t looking for her this morning.”

Guan Wei chuckled lightly. “It doesn’t matter. Just because he didn’t go looking for her today doesn’t mean he won’t in the future.”

They found a spot by the edge of the banquet hall and sat down.

Liang Xiucheng took a seat next to Qiao Jiu. She glanced toward the area near the stage. “There should be a section reserved for your family over there. Aren’t you going?”

Liang Xiucheng replied, “My brother’s over there. I don’t want to go.”

He lowered his voice. “Playing nice with those people just leaves me hungry.”

That was true. Her father used to come home from social events with nothing in his stomach but liquor, having barely touched any food. He would come home in the middle of the night complaining of hunger.

Later, whenever Lu Fengzhou had a dinner engagement, she would wait for him at home, worried he hadn’t eaten properly and wanting to make him a late-night snack.

But each time, she was just being sentimental—Lu Fengzhou never needed her.

Lu Fengzhou entered the banquet hall later. The moment he walked in, Qiao Jiu noticed.

Sometimes, Qiao Jiu was annoyed with herself for being so sensitive to his movements.

She watched as Lu Fengzhou walked to the front, stopping beside the elder Mr. Zhao and whispering a few words. The old man looked clearly surprised, took his arm as if to persuade him to stay. Lu Fengzhou said a few more words, gently pulled his hand back, nodded to the elder couple from the Zou family as they passed by, then turned and left.

There was no sign of Ding Mei the whole time.

Guan Wei had also noticed. “Hey, Lu Fengzhou’s leaving? He’s not staying for dinner?”

Qiao Jiu thought for a moment. “He probably has other matters to attend to.”

Guan Wei asked, “What about Ding Mei? Where did she go?”

She turned to look around, not seeing anyone, then snorted, “I never expected someone like her to have the nerve to provoke you.”

Liang Xiucheng was surprised. “What happened?”

Guan Wei, unable to contain her temper, recounted her encounters with Ding Mei.

Liang Xiucheng frowned. “She’s just a department manager. What gives her the right to speak to you like that?”

Qiao Jiu said nothing. From Ding Mei’s attitude, it was clear she harbored feelings for Lu Fengzhou and couldn’t resist stepping forward to defend him.

Ding Mei had already been at the company since her father was in charge and had worked alongside Lu Fengzhou for several years. The bond between them seemed deep.

The woman was attractive—not stunning, but calm and steady, with a quiet, slightly guilty air.

With a woman like that by his side day in and day out, there were some things Qiao Jiu simply didn’t want to think about.