Chapter 359: Sowing Dissension
Zhang Lu made a conscious decision to sit beside Zhao Chengning and began inserting herself into everyone's conversation. Everyone present wasn't an idiot though. They could more or less guess what she was thinking, even if she didn't say anything. Shen Jingbin's expression was unreadable when they glanced over at her, so they decided to clam up and discontinue conversation with Zhang Lu. The atmosphere subsequently became a little awkward.
Zhang Lu, who probably had an inkling of what was happening, no longer tried to force herself into conversations with others and tried to strike up a conversation with Shen Jingbin instead.
"You're Miss Shen, I take it? You're from B City, right? Are you still studying?"
The chopsticks Shen Jingbin was using to pick up food from the dishes suddenly froze, and she turned to look at Zhang Lu. "I'm from A City."
Zhang Lu went, "Ohhhh." and continued. "So, you're from A City. That's quite a distance from B City. It's at least a few hours away. That being said, I'm curious as to how you and Zhao Chengning got to know one another. Did you really meet each other in-game, and further your relationship from there?"
The implied meaning was that Zhang Lu was calling the couple's online relationship into question. Zhao Chengning's face immediately darkened, and he coldly said, "Senior, please mind what you say."
Zhang Lu paused for a moment before sticking out her tongue in a cutesy manner. "Oh, you're so fierce today, Chengning… Hey, Miss Shen, now you've seen it for yourself, right? He's so fierce."
F*ck!
Everyone present couldn't help but curse inwardly. They hadn't thought much of it when reading similar situations in trashy romance novels, but seeing it in person was unbearable.
In spite of that, Shen Jingbin remained as cool as a cucumber. While slowly turning her gaze away from Zhang Lu and grabbing some food for Zhao Chengning with her chopsticks, she said, "I don't think it's that bad. He's never been fierce towards me before," After saying that, she looked at Zhao Chengning, flashed him a gentle smile, and the couple locked eyes. In that instant, the entire room was filled with the stench of star-struck lovers.
Shen Jingbin kneaded Zhao Chengning's arm in a placating manner and made eye contact with Zhang Lu, taking in the entire view of the latter inwardly curling her lips.
Haha, trying to sow discord between the two of us with such a petty trick? Is she stupid or stupid?
"Our two families have been long time friends. We knew each other before, and we just happened to run into one another in-game. The idea that we'd met each other in-game was obviously just some marketing stunt on Yiju's part. Anyone with a brain wouldn't believe something like that."
That last comment of hers was directed to everyone present, but she was clearly making fun of Zhang Lu.
Zhang Lu pulled her face into a smile. "That's true. How could someone as beautiful as Miss Shen find romance in something like an online game? There must be many suitors going after you in real life, isn't there, Miss Shen? I wonder, where does Chengning rank amongst all the suitors that have gone after you? I'll have you know that Chengning, B City's golden bachelor, has countless women who have their minds set on him as their husband."
Shen Jingbin turned a curious eye to Zhao Chengning before breaking into a mysterious laugh. "There really isn't anyone who's chasing after me."
Everyone who heard that wore a look of disbelief. Zhang Lu's expression, in particular, was the most exaggerated. She sucked in a breath of air and covered her mouth before she said, "How can that be? Miss Shen, you…" Then, she seemed to suddenly think of something and revealed an apologetic smile. "Oh my, men these days care so much about face. Not only do the women they go after have to be beautiful, but said beauty also has to be natural. If there's even the slightest bit of 'alternation', they will kick up a huge fuss. Miss Shen, you made the right decision to stay away from those types of men. When you come to B City in the future, there's plenty of men who… wouldn't take issue with you."
Shen Jingchen couldn't listen to this any longer. To begin with, he didn't like Hundred Daybreaks all that much in-game. But now, here she was trying to make his sister look bad, and she was even making fun of his sister by implying that she'd undergone plastic surgery.
What the hell? The two of them bore a 70-80% resemblance to one another. If Zhang Lu was implying that Shen Jingbin had undergone plastic surgery, wouldn't the same apply to him as well?