Xu Ziyan went downstairs and didn’t go to greet Ding Yao. Instead, she approached a few gossip-loving socialites. “Why aren’t you all mingling with everyone, hiding here chatting?”
The few of them laughed, “Haven’t seen each other in a while, just catching up. You haven’t been out to socialize much lately either, have you? We heard you joined the company to work with your eldest brother?”
Xu Ziyan nodded, “Yes, a post-graduation internship. My eldest brother is mentoring me. I also invested in an entertainment company, a joint venture with Ding Yao.”
Everyone in the circle knew the Fu and Ding families were sworn rivals. Hearing her mention their collaboration, they didn’t know how to respond, so they just said, “Ding Yao is here. Aren’t you going to go say hello?”
Xu Ziyan looked hesitant. “I’ll go later. Sigh, he’s fallen out with his father now, been kicked out of the Ding family. Who knows if his funds are enough, or if it’ll affect my investment.”
Seeing she seemed dissatisfied with Ding Yao and considering this Ding family gossip was truly juicy, they lowered their voices and began chatting and laughing.
“Ding Yao really can’t hold his temper. If you ask me, he should have dealt with Song Jie and Ding Jie. How could he just leave on his own?”
“Exactly, is he stupid? He’s completely offended his own father, has no way back without a proper apology. Isn’t he just handing the Ding family over to Ding Jie?”
“Ziyan, you should cut ties with him too. Find someone else to partner with. Ding Yao probably won’t make it. He’s just a pampered second-generation rich kid; how would he know how to run a company?”
“Right? To put it bluntly, isn’t he just a stray dog now? Once Ding Jie takes over power, he’ll definitely be worse off. He’d be better off taking the money and living it up abroad.”
“I even doubt Ding Yao has the brains for it. Just look at how stupid he was, betting against his dad. And to curse his father in front of so many company people, saying the company is doomed. What family would want an idiot like that as an heir?”
Xu Ziyan thought to herself: 【That’s pretty harsh, but I like it. Keep going!】
Hearing her inner thoughts, Ding Yao, gripping his wine glass, restrained himself from looking her way. Knowing she was following the plotline involving him, he was very nervous but cooperated fully. He deliberately acted dejected, walking with Yang Anni to the most secluded corner, appearing lonely and desolate as if he had truly lost power.
Sure enough, those who saw him spoke even more harshly. The system finally announced: 【Congratulations, host, for completing the plot: assisting the male lead in targeting Ding Yao, damaging Ding Yao’s reputation. Reward as usual.】
Xu Ziyan smiled and said, “Actually, after interacting with Ding Yao more, I found he’s quite loyal and reliable, and takes responsibility seriously. As for the issues with the Ding family, they really pushed him too far. He just couldn’t take it anymore, right? After all, he was spoiled growing up. If he could tolerate this, he’d be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. We might not have been able to endure it either.”
She suddenly defended Ding Yao, leaving the others speechless. They glanced at each other and murmured a few words of agreement.
Xu Ziyan clinked glasses with them. “Later, our company will be seeking investments for filming movies, TV shows, and variety shows. If you’re interested, you can invest a bit too. Let’s play together. I’ll contact you then.”
“Uh, sure.” They all agreed. After all, they could deal with that later.
After strengthening her ties with them, Xu Ziyan went over to greet Ding Yao and Yang Anni. Then she took her handsome young male companion to help entertain the guests.
Xu Ziyan was an adopted daughter of the Fu family. In the past, she always liked to show off, steal the spotlight, and was overly eager. Everyone in this circle was shrewd; who couldn’t see through it? This time, however, everyone was surprised to see Xu Ziyan standing beside Fu Yazhen. The sisters looked incredibly harmonious, occasionally chatting and sharing smiles, making it clear to anyone that they had a deep sisterly bond.
They heard Fu Yazhen had divorced and moved back home. How did her relationship with Xu Ziyan improve so suddenly? Li Yunhui was the same. When socializing, she always introduced her two daughters, praising Xu Ziyan for being smart and sensible, following Fu Qixuan at the company and learning everything quickly, her expression full of pride.
Nobody knew exactly what had happened in the Fu family, but they all clearly understood that the Fu family genuinely cared for this adopted daughter, treating her no differently from a biological child. Families interested in marriage alliances immediately started considering their options. The Fu family now had two unmarried sons and two unmarried daughters—all potential candidates.
When Ding Jie arrived with Bai Qingqing, he immediately spotted the strikingly beautiful Xu Ziyan and also noticed the tall, handsome male companion beside her. He was stunned. Who was that?
Bai Qingqing had pestered him, saying she wanted to see the world. Softening, he brought her along and had been thinking about how to explain it to Xu Ziyan. Now, his mind was filled with questions about that male companion. He walked straight over to greet Xu Ziyan and asked, “And this is…?”
Xu Ziyan linked arms with her companion, smiling brightly. “Let me introduce you. This is Yuan Bin, an artist from my company. He’s someone I plan to heavily promote next. Please support him.”
This statement was open and aboveboard. A boss bringing along an artist under them was perfectly normal. But Ding Jie felt they were too intimate. Seeing Xu Ziyan holding Yuan Bin’s arm tightly was irritating, and Yuan Bin’s gentle gaze towards Xu Ziyan made him even more uncomfortable. However, he had no right to voice any objections. At such a birthday banquet, sworn rivals like them couldn’t possibly be each other’s dates. Hadn’t he brought Bai Qingqing as his own companion?
Xu Ziyan spotted a major figure from the entertainment industry and took Yuan Bin over to greet him, asking him to look out for Yuan Bin, not giving Ding Jie another glance, nor even asking Bai Qingqing a single question.
Bai Qingqing felt deeply embarrassed. She had prepared for days, dressed meticulously, just to see Xu Ziyan’s unhappy face and get revenge for the humiliation at the flower shop last time. Instead, Xu Ziyan completely ignored her, treating her like an insignificant roadside weed—even more humiliating than last time.
She tugged at Ding Jie’s sleeve, feeling wronged. “Did my presence upset Miss Xu? Will it affect your important matters? Maybe… I should just leave.”
Ding Jie snapped back to reality and said calmly, “It’s fine. Don’t overthink it.”
Though he said that, he was also wondering: Was Xu Ziyan throwing a tantrum? Normally, Xu Ziyan couldn’t possibly not be jealous or question why he was still associating with Bai Qingqing. Now, she didn’t ask a single question and instead was vigorously promoting the man beside her. She must be deliberately trying to provoke him, wanting to see him get jealous, right?
Once most guests had arrived, Father Ding also made a grand entrance. Ding Jie couldn’t dwell on it further and walked over to stand beside his father. On such occasions, if they appeared together, others would assume Father Ding valued him.
Father Ding didn’t expose his scheming. Instead, he wanted to use this to provoke Ding Yao, hoping Ding Yao would take the initiative to return home and apologize. He only had two sons. Since neither performed well, he would give them both another chance simultaneously, to see who would be the final victor and inherit the Ding family.
However, Father Ding still admonished Ding Jie a couple of times. Ding Jie, thinking Father Ding might send him away, quickly whispered the night’s plan to him.
Father Ding was taken aback, scrutinized him for a moment, but said nothing. Since it involved using Fu Dongfeng’s first love, success or failure would be Fu Dongfeng’s romantic scandal. As long as hush money was sufficient, no one would connect it to the Ding family. He had no objections. In fact, he felt this aspect of Ding Jie resembled him—he himself had used many tactics against the Fu family in the past.
Father Ding glanced at Ding Yao again. Seeing him lounging around without coming over to greet him, his expression darkened. He simply felt Ding Yao was too infuriating and didn’t resemble him at all.
Ding Yao just rolled his eyes at them, staying by Yang Anni’s side the whole time, formally introducing her to people in this circle, letting everyone know he was serious about this relationship.
These were just minor incidents. Aside from the involved parties themselves, no one paid much attention. Instead, everyone was focused on whether Father Ding would cause trouble at the birthday banquet to make Fu Dongfeng uncomfortable.
Father Ding had been plagued by bad luck lately and originally didn’t plan to stir up trouble. Now, knowing Ding Jie had arrangements, he naturally waited to enjoy the show, maintaining a cordial demeanor while chatting with Fu Dongfeng. This put everyone at ease.
Xu Ziyan kept an eye on Qin Yuexiang and noticed the woman truly retained her charm. She couldn’t help but think with amusement: 【001, dad has good taste. His former lover is still a great beauty.】
Fu Dongfeng quickly made eye contact with Li Yunhui from across the room, smiling at her, hoping his wife wouldn’t mind. He harbored no thoughts whatsoever.
Li Yunhui was chatting with several other wives. Seeing this, they teased, “Among us, you two must be the most loving couple, right? Decades together, still so affectionate, none of those messy affairs. Truly enviable.”
Li Yunhui smiled faintly. “Not at all. Old Fu is only interested in company matters. When he was busy before, we often didn’t see him for days.”
Everyone knew she was just being modest. They all praised Fu Dongfeng for always sending her gifts even during his busiest times, already a model husband.
Xu Ziyan saw Qin Yuexiang secretly slipping something into a glass of wine and repeatedly trying to find opportunities to be alone with Fu Dongfeng, though she hadn’t succeeded yet. Her internal running commentary meant Fu Dongfeng, Li Yunhui, and Ding Yao all became aware of Qin Yuexiang’s movements, putting them on guard to avoid falling into a trap.
However, Fu Dongfeng already had a plan. Soon, the crowd dispersed again, each person mingling. Fu Dongfeng “accidentally” ran into Qin Yuexiang, accepted the glass of wine from her, and agreed to meet her in a small sitting room later. Then he walked away. Once out of Qin Yuexiang’s sight, he placed the wine glass on a waiter’s tray and entered the restroom.
Xu Ziyan thought her dad was quite vigilant. She moved to another spot to observe the room Qin Yuexiang entered from a distance. Not long after, she saw someone else go in and almost laughed out loud.
Ding Jie approached Xu Ziyan and asked quietly, “Did you help create an opportunity for them to be alone?”
Xu Ziyan pulled up a surveillance clip and showed him a short segment. “They went off alone themselves; I didn’t even have time to intervene. What? Do you have some plan?”
Ding Jie smiled with satisfaction. “You don’t need to worry about the rest. Madam Qin knows what she’s doing.”
A while later, it was time for the birthday person to give a speech, but Fu Dongfeng was nowhere to be seen. Someone inquired. Li Yunhui looked surprised, stood up, and smiled. “He might have had a bit too much to drink and went to freshen up. I’ll go find him. Please wait a moment.”
Ding Jie saw that if Li Yunhui went to search alone, even if she discovered something amiss, she wouldn’t make a scene and would try her best to cover it up. Then tonight’s drama would be for nothing. Most importantly, he was eager to prove himself and had already told Father Ding about this. If nothing happened, it would surely disappoint Father Ding.
He looked towards Xu Ziyan, wanting her to say something. To his surprise, Xu Ziyan was chatting and laughing with her male companion while eating, completely oblivious to the situation. He frowned, feeling very displeased. Seeing Li Yunhui was about to go upstairs, he could only speak up himself. “I think I saw Uncle Fu heading over there with a lady earlier.”
The people nearby quieted down. Seeing Fu Dongfeng go over there wasn’t an issue, but why mention he was with a lady? Could it mean what they were thinking?