"Hey, Chengning, Weiwei and I will head off with the rest of the group first. Make sure you catch up soon." As expected of someone who's been Zhao Chengning bro for years now; he was able to detect the subtle change in Zhao Chengning's expression and knew what he was thinking. He immediately stepped forward to speak before leading the rest of the group off, giving the pair space to talk in private.
"I thought you weren't going to come, but it looks like you decided to show up in the end. I remember you disliking these kinds of events, where both shady and upright people would mix." As she spoke, the woman in red's gaze drifted over to Shen Jingbin who was standing by his side.
Zhao Chengning looked at his wifey with eyes filled with adoration and said, "She wanted to have a look at the event, so I decided to accompany her."
The woman in red's smile immediately froze. A short while later, she regained her composure and asked, "I saw the two of you on stage just now. Aren't you going to introduce me?"
Hundred Daybreaks' real name was Zhang Lu. She came from an average family and got to know Zhao Chengning in university during one of the university's social events. Since she wasn't a part of his daily interactions, she wasn't aware that Shen Jingbin was his fiancee. As for the news about the couple being together that was revealed just now, she just treated it as a sex scandal that was used to hype up the game. She knew a bit about how illustrious families with daughters liked to do things. Nowadays, didn't rich people like marrying off their daughters to raise their company's stock price?
In Zhang Lu's mind, she firmly believed that the relationship between Zhao Chengning and this flower vase definitely wasn't true love. As for their status as husband and wife in the game, well, that was definitely fake as well.
If she were going to put on an act, she'd follow through with it all the way. It looked like the daughters of wealthy families were all very cunning.
Zhao Chengning said, "This is my fiancee, Shen Jingbin. Little Jing, this is my senior from university, Zhang Lu." Zhao Chengning had a casual look in his eye, but he actually took the job of introducing them very seriously.
"Hello, Senior Sister." Shen Jingbin blinked her eyes before taking the initiative to stretch out her hand.
Zhang Lu tilted her chin upwards ever so slightly and shot a glance at Shen Jingbin's hand before she unwillingly shook it. "Oh, so you're Nutjob. I'm Hundred Daybreaks."
She didn't mind being called Nutjob by someone she was familiar with, but she'd really have been a Nutjob if she actually responded to a love rival; especially one who was clearly trying to make fun of her by referring to her as 'Nutjob'. Since that was the case, Shen Jingbin didn't bother being polite any longer. "Senior Sister, my name is Shen Jingbin, not Nutjob."
"You know that's not what I meant; why do you have to pick at what I say?" Zhang Lu said helplessly. She then looked to Zhao Chengning, as if to say, 'Look, your girlfriend can't even take a joke.'
However, Zhao Chengning acted as if he hadn't seen the look she was giving him, and said, "Senior Sister, my friends are waiting for us, so we can't stay to talk any longer. We'll be taking our leave first. Let's meet again if time permits."
"Hey, are you meeting up with the rest of the members of Jade Sea Pavilion? In that case, I'll tag along so I can meet them too. We don't normally have gatherings like this, and we don't know when the next time an event like this is going to come around. I want to meet them while I still have the chance." Zhang Lu wasn't the least bit polite and interjected immediately after Zhao Chengning spoke.
Truth be told, Zhang Lu did interact quite a bit with the members of Jade Sea Pavilion in the game. That being the case, Zhao Chengning couldn't find a reason to reject her.
When Zhao Chengning didn't reply, she turned to Shen Jingbin and said, "You don't mind if I join in on your gathering, right?"
Shen Jingbin shrugged. "Senior Sister can join us if that's what you want. I don't mind."
"Uh huh, in that case, please lead the way, Chengning."
Zhao Chengning had a bad feeling about this. He glanced at his girlfriend, but to his surprise, she didn't look the least bit unhappy about this. He couldn't figure out what she was thinking, so he didn't say anything else and just held her hand as he led the way.
Zhang Lu, who lagged behind the couple, glanced at their interlocked hands and her expression darkened.
The food had already been served by the time the three of them reached the restaurant. Everyone else was waiting for them while sipping on some water. Upon seeing the couple, they acted as if they'd met their saviour, only to find out that there was someone following behind the pair shortly after. At that moment, the lively atmosphere that had just sprouted immediately fizzled out.
As a woman who came from a wealthy family, Jiang Weiwei could immediately sense Zhang Lu's hostility and that she was scheming something. Jiang Weiwei dropped back into her seat and haughtily asked, "You're Hundred Daybreaks? Why'd you come to Jade Sea Pavilion's gathering?"
Zhang Lu froze. She probably wasn't expecting someone to just call her out like that.
"I thought that since we're quite familiar with each other in-game, I should take the opportunity to join in on your gathering and meet everyone. Oh right, you are?"
"Who I am doesn't matter. All you have to know is that you and I aren't on close terms with one another," Jiang Weiwei said as she rolled her eyes at Zhang Lu.