Chapter 154: The Capital's Number One Kept Man! (Part Two)

To Wang Jiujiu, Qin Luo was like a firefly in the summer and a giant bear in the winter. She did not need to search for him deliberately; with just a single glance, she could pick him out from any crowd.

Wang Jiujiu was wearing a bohemian-style checkered long dress, cinched at the waist with a wide, Tibetan-patterned belt. On her upper body, she wore a tight V-neck T-shirt paired with a sleek wool blazer. Having discarded her canvas shoes in favor of high heels, her figure appeared even taller and more slender.

"Teacher Qin, why are you here?" Wang Jiujiu elbowed her way straight through the crowd and ran up to Qin Luo, asking with a face full of radiant joy. She had originally expected today's banquet to be just another boring waste of time, never imagining she would run into her dearest, most adorable Teacher Qin.

"I'm just here tagging along with a friend to see the sights," Qin Luo said with a smile. What was wrong with today? Why was she bumping into so many acquaintances?

"Hello, Miss Wang. I am Qin Zongheng. Thank you for coming to my grandfather's birthday banquet," Qin Zongheng greeted Wang Jiujiu with a smile.

"Hello, Young Master Qin. I've heard so much about you," Wang Jiujiu exchanged pleasantries. Everyone in the capital addressed Qin Zongheng as the "Young Master," so she followed convention and called him the same.

"This isn't our first meeting. I still have a deep impression of Miss Wang's performance at the socialite gathering last time."

Having finally found an opportunity to strike back, Qin Zongheng naturally was not going to let it slip easily.

When Qin Luo had been bullied at the socialite gathering and Wang Jiujiu had stepped forward to argue on his behalf, even a fool could tell what kind of romantic feelings this young lady held for him.

The fact that Qin Luo could attend the socialite gathering with Wang Jiujiu meant their relationship was undoubtedly close. And now that he had hooked up with Wenren Muyue as well, it inevitably forced people to question his ulterior motives.

He didn't even have the face of a kept man, yet he wanted to eat the rice of a kept man?

"The socialite gathering?" Wang Jiujiu looked at Qin Zongheng and smiled. "I had no idea Young Master Qin was there too. You must have found me quite laughable."

"How could I find it laughable? It's rare to see a young woman who loves and hates fiercely, and has the courage to take responsibility. The man you protected was the envy of everyone that night," Qin Zongheng praised with a smile.

"You flatter me. I'm not as remarkable as the Young Master makes me out to be. I simply didn't like seeing others bully Teacher Qin," Wang Jiujiu said, feeling somewhat awkward. Just what kind of medicine was Qin Zongheng selling in his gourd?

Sitting quietly to the side, Wenren Muyue glanced at Qin Luo, still showing no inclination to speak.

Qin Zongheng made his point and stopped there; he knew that with Wenren Muyue's intelligence, it was impossible for her not to understand the underlying meaning of those words.

Explaining too much to a clever person would only breed resentment. Presumably, Wenren Muyue already had her own thoughts on the matter.

Qin Zongheng smiled and said, "Please, everyone, sit wherever you like. Later on, I will invite you all to dine."

"Thank you. Go handle your business, Young Master; you don't need to spend all your time entertaining us," Qiu Yanmei said with a smile.

After Qin Zongheng nodded in farewell and left, Qiu Yanmei turned to the others with a smile and said, "Let's sit down and chat. To be able to befriend the most dazzling figures of Yanjing's younger generation, Yanmei is deeply honored."

"Sister Yanmei, you're being too polite. They might be dazzling figures, but I'm certainly not. I'm still a student," Wang Jiujiu said with a smile. Although Qiu Yanmei had helped clear up their mess at the socialite gathering last time, Wang Jiujiu's impression of her wasn't bad. It was just that she hadn't yet figured out Qiu Yanmei's true background, so she didn't dare get too close.

In their circle, there was no such thing as a friendship born for no reason; it required a long, arduous process of testing and re-testing—far more troublesome than a romantic courtship.

"Judging by your performance that night, you were dazzling enough," Qiu Yanmei remarked. From a personal standpoint, she genuinely liked Wang Jiujiu's personality.

"Teacher Qin, did you come by yourself? Had I known, I would have asked you to come together with me," Wang Jiujiu shifted her gaze back to Qin Luo.

"No. I came with a friend," Qin Luo smiled and said.

"A friend? Which friend? Could you introduce them to me?" Wang Jiujiu asked with a smile, though the corner of her eye was already drifting toward Wenren Muyue, who was standing to the side.

Even though that woman hadn't uttered a single word, standing silently like an ice sculpture, the men present still found themselves casting glances at her face, intentionally or not.

As a woman, Wang Jiujiu had to admit that her appearance was truly stunning. Whether at first glance or after staring at her continuously for half an hour, she possessed the power to leave people breathless.

Wang Jiujiu also recognized her as the beautiful woman standing outside the classroom yesterday.

Could Teacher Qin have come with her? What kind of relationship did they share?

Out of feminine intuition, Wang Jiujiu felt a flicker of panic and nervousness when facing Wenren Muyue—a helpless sense of invincibility.

*Maybe it's just because she's too pretty,* Wang Jiujiu thought to herself.

Qin Luo gestured toward Wenren Muyue and said with a smile, "I came with her."

Wang Jiujiu nodded, took the initiative to walk over, extended a small hand, and said, "Hello, very nice to meet you. I'm Wang Jiujiu, one of Qin Luo's students."

"Wenren Muyue," Wenren Muyue reached out and shook her hand.

Wenren Muyue?

Wang Jiujiu felt a jolt of shock. The name was deeply familiar.

When it finally registered in her mind that this woman was Yanjing's widely celebrated reigning beauty, her face filled with astonishment and disbelief.

Just recently, she had been explaining this woman's breathtaking beauty and mystique to Qin Luo, and in the blink of an eye, the two of them had hooked up? How on earth did they know each other?

Wang Jiujiu looked at Qin Luo. Qin Luo naturally understood her meaning and smiled, saying, "Muyue and I have known each other for a while now."

"Oh," Wang Jiujiu nodded. Turning back with a bright, innocent smile, she looked at Wenren Muyue and said, "I guess we're friends now too, right?"

Wenren Muyue froze for a moment before giving a slight nod.

Pathetic as it was, this was the first time a woman had ever proactively told her something like "we're friends now."

Wenren Zhou curled his lip in the background, though in the end, he didn't dare voice any objection.

Qin Luo didn't mind at all if Wang Jiujiu and Wenren Muyue became friends; on the contrary, he was quite happy to see such an outcome.

The courtyard's roof had been sealed, and there were clearly fireplace-like heating units installed around the perimeter. Moreover, Qin Luo's physical constitution was different from ordinary people's, and feeling a bit warm, he pulled off the gloves he had been wearing.

"Ah. Teacher Qin, what happened to your hand?" Wang Jiujiu asked, her face full of worry when she caught sight of the gauze wrapped around Qin Luo's hand.

"It's nothing. Just accidentally sustained a minor injury," Qin Luo said with a smile. He had completely forgotten about his injured right hand. Now, trying to shove his hand back into the glove was out of the question since everyone had already seen it.

Bai Poju smiled and said, "Qin Luo played the hero to save the beauty and won her heart, while I'm left taking the blame for someone else. I suppose, barring any surprises, Muyue is definitely suspecting that I was the one behind this."

Wenren Muyue glanced at Bai Poju and said, "Indeed."

"And I honestly did think about doing it," Bai Poju admitted without reservation.

"And then?" Wenren Muyue's face remained expressionless, but her eyes were as sharp as a pair of blades capable of killing.

"However, Qin Luo appeared. So there was no need for me to do anything so foolish," Bai Poju said with a smile. "Isn't it much more interesting to watch someone snatch away the woman Qin Zongheng fancies?"

Wang Jiujiu's heart sank, followed by a total blankness in her mind. In the end, she couldn't hear anything else anyone was saying. The thing she feared most had come true.

"I need to go to the restroom." Fearing that others might notice her abnormality, Wang Jiujiu excused herself with a casual greeting and headed toward the hotel lobby.

Because she was wearing light makeup on her face, she didn't dare splash water on it. Instead, she simply placed her hands under the basin, turned the water temperature to the lowest setting, and let the bone-chilling water flowing from the faucet numb her palms.

It was biting cold, the freezing air piercing straight into her marrow.

Stimulated by the icy water, her mind gradually cleared, allowing her to think rationally once more.

No wonder he had rejected her confession; as it turned out, he already had someone in his heart.

Was she too late, or had they fallen in love too early?

And yet, the reality was right before her eyes.

"I saw it, and I heard it. I don't even have an excuse left to deceive myself with."

Wang Jiujiu forced a bitter smile at the mirror. That smile was stiff, and the muscles on her face felt as if they had been frozen solid, refusing to stretch.

*Wang Jiujiu, are you just going to admit defeat like this?*

After a long while...

When Wang Jiujiu finally stepped out of the restroom, a boy wearing a black suit, as handsome as a male lead stepping straight out of a romance drama, was waiting for her by the door.

"Wang Jiujiu. I know you," the boy said.

"Ah, Young Master Hua. I know you too," Wang Jiujiu replied. She tried her utmost to appear calm and composed, wanting to signal to others that she was perfectly fine.

Yet, facing this particular boy, she still felt a sudden, irrepressible urge to throw a tantrum.

"Haha. You can call me Wenren Zhou. Of course, the name Young Master Hua isn't bad either," Wenren Zhou said with a grin.

"What do you want with me?" Wang Jiujiu asked. Her mood was currently wretched, and she couldn't be bothered to waste breath on this brat.

"You know Qin Luo, don't you?" Wenren Zhou blinked his large eyes and asked.

"I know him," Wang Jiujiu said. Why was he asking this? Was he planning to warn her to stay away from his sister's friend in the future?

What a joke!

"I know you know him," Wenren Zhou continued. "On the surface, his profession is a teacher, but in secret, he's basically a kept man. He maintains intimate relationships with many women in Yanjing. And now, he's even trying to cozy up to my sister. What's even more disgusting is—just a moment ago, he actually wanted me to call him brother-in-law. Hmph, how could someone like him ever be worthy of my sister? No matter what, I will never let him become my brother-in-law."

"What are you getting at by telling me all this?" Wang Jiujiu crossed her arms over her chest and looked down at Wenren Zhou from a height. She couldn't help it; handsome though Wenren Zhou's features were, he actually wasn't as tall as Wang Jiujiu—at least not when she was wearing high heels, allowing her to look down on him from above.

"I hope you can steal him away," Wenren Zhou said with a smile.

"He's not worthy of your sister, so he's worthy of me?" Wang Jiujiu retorted.

"Well... don't you like him?" Wenren Zhou faltered slightly, suddenly realizing he had said the wrong thing.

"You knew I liked him, yet you still dared to come up to me and talk trash about him?"

"I—"

Wang Jiujiu took a quick step forward, grabbed Wenren Zhou by the arm, dragged him straight back into the restroom, shoved his face right up against the mirror, and demanded, "Take a good look! Just who here looks like a kept man?"