Chapter 91 — The Banquet

In the thick of summer, as night was falling, heavy clouds lay over a city that still hummed with restless noise, even as the air grew stifling and hard to breathe.

When the silver-gray Rolls-Royce Phantom came to a stop before the private club, whose exterior gave little hint of its luxury, the attendant who had long been waiting at the side immediately stepped forward without expression, moving briskly to open the door with courteous precision.

On the other side, the driver opened the car door. Si Nan, dressed in a sky-blue casual suit and without a tie, looked far more approachable than usual in that fresh color.

He walked around the car, extended a gentleman’s hand, his eyes warm with a gentle smile, and waited quietly for Lin Xiaowen to get out.

Pinned to Si Nan’s chest was an exquisite sapphire brooch from JadeStone’s new summer collection, the delicate butterfly design called Endless Flutter, its faint blue radiance glimmering in the light. It belonged to the same series as the sapphire necklace around Lin Xiaowen’s neck.

Compared with Si Nan’s buoyant, triumphant expression, no matter how refined her makeup was, Lin Xiaowen could not conceal the desolation of a heart already given over to ashes.

The crystal shoes, so delicate they might have belonged to Cinderella, sat on Lin Xiaowen’s feet, making every step feel as though she were treading on knife points.

Beneath the champagne-colored gauze-and-satin evening gown that fell past her ankles, her legs looked as if they might give way and collapse at any moment.

The strapless dress revealed her elegant collarbones to perfect effect. Her long hair had been loosely pinned up, with a few unruly strands slipping down to rest against her cheeks, which were already so pale that she had deliberately added extra rouge.

The door closed softly, sliding away behind them without a sound. Lin Xiaowen closed her eyes, and with her left hand trembling, gently placed it on the arm Si Nan offered.

Only then did Si Nan turn his face with satisfaction and look at her again.

“Cheer up. Maybe this will be the last time the two of you ever meet. Wouldn’t it be better to leave everyone with a more beautiful memory? You look lovely tonight, so you should smile.”

Lin Xiaowen gave him no reply, nor did she look at him. She seemed like a dead leaf beneath this oppressive night sky, as though a single gust of wind might carry her away at any moment.

Si Nan lightly patted the hand resting on his arm and, with something like a sigh, or perhaps exhaustion, said softly, “Don’t worry. I’ll stay with you the whole time.”

There was no vulgar display of song and dance, no atmosphere thick with the fumes of wine and excess.

To Lin Xiaowen, an ordinary woman, the social world of the rich had always seemed no different from the grand pageantry of television dramas—those scenes of emperors, nobles, and powerful officials, all singing and feasting in endless splendor.

She had never expected that it would actually be like this: a place dazzling with gold and brilliance, yet everywhere touched by a clean, refined elegance.

“Xiao Nan, you’re finally here. Everyone’s been waiting for you!”

A middle-aged man in a gray suit, all smiles, had just been speaking with someone else. Seeing Si Nan and Lin Xiaowen approach from a distance, his expression changed briefly before he immediately forced on another and strode quickly toward them.

“President Yang, my apologies. I’m late.”

Si Nan’s polite but distant tone made President Yang, a man whose family had been acquainted with the Si family for generations, change expression again. But everyone here was used to the business world; some things did not need to be stated too plainly.

President Yang gave a dry laugh and said, “You’re too modest, President Si. Tonight’s reception is all about you. Whenever you arrive is when we begin. There’s no such thing as you being late.”

Si Nan rarely smiled so openly. “President Yang is the one being too polite.”

President Yang laughed heartily again, then turned to study Lin Xiaowen, whose gaze was somewhat vacant and who showed little expression, and asked in feigned admiration, “This young lady seems to be someone I’ve never seen President Si bring out before. May I ask which family’s daughter she is?”

This question was not meant to embarrass them; it was born more of puzzlement and curiosity.

His own daughter had her eye on Si Nan. He had originally thought they might win the aid of the old master of the Si family and forge a marriage alliance.

For the already precarious Yang Group, that would have been the best possible solution to an urgent crisis.

But not only had Si Nan shown no intention of joining the Yang family by marriage, he had even deliberately leaked scandalous material about the Yang family’s daughter to the media. That incident had made things even worse for the Yangs, to the point that the young miss had lost even the right to settle for a second choice among the sons of other wealthy families or officials. It had left father and daughter alike deeply troubled.

“The Si family’s.”

Si Nan’s simple introduction betrayed nothing, yet those three words alone left President Yang stunned.

The Si family?

Everyone in business knew that the collateral branches of the Si family were few, and there was certainly no girl of this age among them. Otherwise, who knew how many juniors of similar standing would already have gone to the ancestral home in Hong Kong to propose marriage to the old master of the Si family?

Looking again at the slightly different look of pleasure on Si Nan’s face, it was not hard to tell that this woman was more like Si Nan’s new flame. Yet this supposed new flame wore an air of gloom, and for a moment even President Yang, seasoned in business and skilled at reading people, could not make out the true relationship between the two.

“Oh, Miss Si, hello, hello… a pleasure to meet you for the first time… Hm, it seems our Yang family and the Si family are old acquaintances, and yet I had no idea the Si family had such an outstanding young lady, both in bearing and appearance…”

“Not knowing is hardly strange,” Si Nan said with a faint smile. As if proclaiming ownership, he drew Lin Xiaowen closer at the waist and added, “Xiaowen is not a daughter of the Si family. Better call her Mrs. Si.”

President Yang was utterly dumbfounded.

Only then did Lin Xiaowen react. She turned to look at Si Nan.

And Si Nan was still smiling as he looked back at her and said, “Xiaowen is rather shy and seldom goes out, so I took this chance to bring her along and let her meet everyone. That way, the next time we meet, there won’t be any awkward misunderstandings, right?”

Their smiles were gentle, their eyes locked.

One was shocked and furious; the other was full of tenderness.

“Oh… oh… I see!”

President Yang let out a laugh and said, “Look at me, this old brain of mine. I was just thinking I couldn’t remember the Si family ever having such a young lady! I thought I must be growing muddled and misremembering. So she turns out to be your worthy younger brother’s… haha, really now!”

Lin Xiaowen was flustered and anxious. Just as she struggled free from Si Nan’s arm around her waist and was about to speak, she heard him say, “Oh? Is that the young master of the Mu family over there? President Yang, there’s no need to keep me company. Don’t neglect your guests. I’ll have a rest with Xiaowen for a moment. You’d do better to go and receive the honored visitor.”

Si Nan’s face showed a trace of faint mockery as his gaze shifted past President Yang to the young man who had just come in.

The Mu family, though nowhere near comparable to the Si family, was still a name that carried weight in Shanghai’s business circles.

Si Nan had already heard that the Yang family’s young miss had recently been “fishing,” and the Mu family’s youngest son seemed to be one of her targets. So this was his “kind” reminder to President Yang not to slight someone who might yet save the company by serving as a suitable match.

President Yang did not need to turn around; from Si Nan’s expression alone he knew exactly whom he meant. But unable to flare up, he could only keep smiling and play along.

“Then please make yourselves comfortable, President Si. I’ll excuse myself for a moment and return once most of the guests have arrived. As for tonight’s first dance, I’ll still have to rely on President Si to honor us with it…”

Si Nan smiled faintly, neither confirming nor denying it.

President Yang nodded in farewell, then turned and hurried away.