Tina Li finally sensed that something was off.
Where in the world would someone agree and even add a few extra curses when another person was badmouthing their own family?
"Your relationship with your parents isn't good, is it?" She looked the other woman up and down, unable to help but speculate.
Xia Liuyue didn't answer directly. The corner of her lips lifted slightly as she said leisurely,
"Ms. Tina Li, weren't you the one who said you'd make the Tang family go bankrupt? Yet, it's still operating perfectly fine until now."
"I think you're all talk."
Tina Li was no fool. She scrutinized her closely.
Seeing how utterly unconcerned she seemed about the Tang family's business...
Could it be she had mistaken her identity?
Spotting a familiar lady passing by, she grabbed her arm and said, "Mrs. Wang, do you know her?"
She pointed a finger.
Mrs. Wang offered Xia Liuyue a friendly, ingratiating smile.
"Miss Xia, long time no see."
Tina Li's pupils dilated in shock. "M-Miss Xia? Isn't she Tang Yinyao?"
Mrs. Wang chimed in with an apologetic smile, "How could that be? The Tang family has already fallen from grace. They wouldn't even qualify to attend Elder Zhao's banquet."
She was a clever woman and didn't say more before leaving.
Tina Li finally realized she had been played.
"You... you're not Tang Yinyao."
Xia Liuyue raised the corner of her mouth. "I never said I was."
"You..." Tina Li fumed with indignation. She raised her hand to slap her, but Zhao Yunzhou had already stepped forward swiftly, shoving her arm away.
Staggering back a few steps in her stilettos, she snapped angrily,
"You brat, where did you come from?"
Zhao Yunzhou first looked at Xia Liuyue, his face full of concern. "Beautiful sister, are you okay?"
Xia Liuyue gave a faint smile.
"Don't worry. Since when have I ever come out on the losing end?"
Only then did Zhao Yunzhou let out a long sigh of relief. "That's good." His gaze then fell on Tina Li, his voice turning cold. "You call me a brat? I've never seen such an ill-mannered guest."
"Steward, see the guest out!" With a wave of his long arm, the old steward from afar came scurrying over.
Tina Li wore a sneering expression.
"And who do you think you are? You can have the steward throw me out? Do you know my husband is an overseas Chinese from Maple Leaf Country?"
She then looked at Yan Hechuan, who had just walked over, and a look of understanding dawned on her face.
"Oh, so you're Hechuan's friend. No wonder you're both equally rude."
"Don't even know how to greet someone when you see them."
Yan Hechuan took a deep breath. He had thought that upon encountering Tina Li again, his body would tremble uncontrollably as before.
But at this moment, what surfaced in his mind was the image of Yueyue's gentle smile.
Even though he was blind and had never actually seen what Yueyue looked like, her voice, her smile were like a beam of light in the darkness.
They had rescued him from the darkest, dampest corner of his heart.
Yan Hechuan pressed his lips into a thin line and said coldly, "The ill-mannered one is probably you, Li Xiaohong."
As soon as these words were spoken,
Tina Li instantly looked like a goose grabbed by the neck, unable to make a sound.
It took her a long while to barely find her voice again.
"How dare you! What did you call me?"
Yan Hechuan repeated with stable composure, "Isn't your original name Li Xiaohong?"
This was the past Tina Li was most unwilling to face. She never expected her stepson to expose it in public now.
Her face crumpled in despair, and she retreated several steps.
Meanwhile, the old steward had already arrived before her at Zhao Yunzhou's indication, saying,
"Madam, please leave this banquet."
Unwilling to accept it, Tina Li waved towards the distance, calling, "Darling, darling, they're being too much. They actually want to kick me out."
But the crowd was too far away, and her husband didn't notice at all.
Tina Li then looked at the steward, pointing at Zhao Yunzhou.
"Why should I leave just because he says so? Steward Zhao, why don't you make this brat get out?"
Zhao Yunzhou laughed.
"Steward, tell her my name."
The old steward replied respectfully, "Young Master Yunzhou is our master's youngest son and the guest of honor at this recognition banquet. Madam, please leave now, or I will call security."
Tina Li hadn't expected to offend someone so easily.
Even more, she hadn't expected to be played for a fool by Xia Liuyue. Pointing at her, she said, "You just wait! I'll make your Xia family go bankrupt."
Xia Liuyue looked at her as if she were a clown.
Tina Li's husband did have some influence locally, but it was limited to Haishi City.
Her Xia family was a well-established, multi-generational prominent family in Jiangshi City. How could they be intimidated by a mere Li Xiaohong?
The little commotion at the banquet passed.
Before Zhao Yunzhou could even start hovering around Xia Liuyue, he saw Yan Hechuan take a few steps forward, extending his hand and waving it somewhat helplessly in the air.
His tone was pitiful and tinged with a sense of inferiority.
"Yueyue, I can't see. Could you... hold my hand?"
Zhao Yunzhou's eyes widened: "..." This green tea act.
"Of course." Xia Liuyue walked to his side with a faint smile. Just as she reached out her hand, the other person seemed to sense it.
Despite being blind, he accurately found her hand in the darkness.
Their palms met, and Yan Hechuan revealed a satisfied smile, the corners of his lips curling up slightly.
Zhao Yunzhou hurried over.
"Sister, I want to hold hands too."
Xia Liuyue glanced at him. "You can see just fine. Why are you competing with a blind man?"
Yan Hechuan secretly reveled in it, repeating, "Exactly, why are you competing with a blind man like me?"
Zhao Yunzhou: "..."
So mad! So mad! So mad!
Is being blind remarkable?
Maybe tomorrow, he should also go and... ugh, forget it! Better not be blind.
Taking advantage of Zhao Yunzhou's momentary daze, Yan Hechuan took Xia Liuyue's hand and led her forward, saying as they walked,
"Yueyue, could you take me to a quiet place? I have something I want to say to you."
Seeing the door to a lounge not far from the banquet hall was open, Xia Liuyue led him there.
Assistant Chen had already very tactfully stopped following, silently cheering his boss on in his heart: Go for it, Boss!
The two sat down on the red velvet sofa in the lounge.
Yan Hechuan was so nervous that his palms were slightly sweaty.
He spoke with solemnity and seriousness:
"Yueyue, I like you."
"I want to pursue you."
True to his character, he was rather old-fashioned, even his words were somewhat formal and literary.
Xia Liuyue smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling, and joked,
"You're blind right now. You've never seen what I look like. What if I'm really ugly?"
Yan Hechuan gripped her hand a little tighter.
"I like you because you are Yueyue. Nothing else matters."
"Whether it's appearance, background, or status, I don't care about any of it."
Xia Liuyue looked at him and said slowly, "What if, from the very beginning, my deliberate approach to you was to get revenge on Tang Yinyao, simply using you? Would you still not care?"
