Chapter 145: The Gaze Part 6

Bringing Xu Yinian to the banquet was meant to let Shen Yi see, for the very first time, just how many people Xu Yinian had attracted beneath her supposedly weak and submissive exterior.

The price of provoking Shen Yi’s wrath would be the covert suppression of all suitors—including Shen Ruoshuang.

Xu Yinian’s social circle, her movements, and even her chats would be strictly controlled.

Their slightly thawed relationship would return to the freezing point of forced possession.

And if those suitors failed to hide their tracks, letting their respective family power-holders discover Xu Yinian’s existence, they would be forced out of the game entirely.

Bai Ran welcomed such a scene with open arms, quietly waiting for the day’s drama to unfold.

[Let Qin Jiashu keep her hands all over Xu Yinian at the banquet. Isn’t that what she loves to do most?]

Having sent those malicious words with calm indifference, Bai Ran waited for Shen Yi to deal with Qin Jiashu.

Jiang Ke stared at the message, a chill running through her entire body.

She couldn’t allow Xu Yinian to get close to Qin Jiayan.

…

Further toward the edge of the hall sat Jiang Rui and his wife.

From the moment Xu Yinian entered the banquet hall, their eyes had nearly popped out of their heads.

How could a country bumpkin like Xu Yinian appear at such an elite, high-society banquet?!

They didn’t even recognize Qin Jiashu at first, only learning her identity after asking those around them.

That was a member of the Qin family—a family with a media empire and connections that reached everywhere.

Seeing Xu Yinian appear with Qin Jiashu and take a seat at the center table reserved for the Qins, becoming the center of attention… the two of them, who had been relegated to the fringes after losing their daughter’s connections, felt their composure shatter.

“She’s just like her mother—restless even at such a young age. The scent of a vixen practically reeks off her. And here I thought she was so noble; turns out she only came to the Capital for university to be a gold-digger!”

“No wonder she doesn’t need to ask me for money anymore. She’s sold her soul for dirty cash!”

The more Jiang Rui cursed, the more relieved he felt. He wanted to send the photographic evidence he had just captured to Xu Yihe.

He wanted her to see exactly how far her “precious daughter” had fallen.

However, his wife, Chang Dai, still retained a shred of logic. “Are you crazy?! Have you forgotten how Jiang Ke threatened us?”

At the mention of Jiang Ke, Jiang Rui felt a phantom throb of pain in his forehead.

Chang Dai pondered for a moment before saying, “Xu Yinian definitely doesn’t want her mother to know she’s doing this kind of thing. Didn’t we want connections? We can use this to coerce her into introducing us to the Qin family.”

“Does a gold-digger like her really have that much influence?!” Jiang Rui spat.

“It’s worth a try.”

Chang Dai recalled how the eldest Qin daughter had carefully held up Xu Yinian’s dress hem earlier, acting with protective care.

As her gaze fell on Xu Yinian again, she saw the Qin family elders smiling warmly while speaking to her.

…She began to feel that their relationship wasn’t quite what Jiang Rui’s hateful cursing suggested.

So this* was the reason why!

What was going on here…?

While the girl was indeed breathtakingly beautiful, wasn’t she her sister’s girlfriend?

Even if the Qin family was open-minded enough to accept their daughter coming out, they weren’t exactly at the stage where they could calmly accept a younger sister blatantly “setting her sights” on the elder sister’s girlfriend.

Qin Jiashu’s gaze grew suspicious. “What are you two talking about?”

Recalling Xu Yinian’s sudden concern for her sister last time, she immediately jumped to the conclusion that the two of them had been doing something behind her back.

Xu Yinian felt the weight of the strange looks coming from the aunts and uncles who had just been greeting her with kindness. She felt like she was sitting on a bed of needles.

“She isn’t Qin Jiashu’s girlfriend.”

Qin Jiayan didn’t even look up as she dropped that cold remark.

Xu Yinian let out a series of coughs as if she were choking. Qin Jiashu snapped her head around, glaring at her sister—whom she had been at odds with for a long time.

The Qin parents stood there, dumbfounded, their gazes darting between the three of them.

…

Up on the stage, the ceremony continued. Shen Ruoshuang maintained a state of extreme, calculated restraint. Aside from her initial dark lapse in focus, she hadn’t lost control for a second.

However, her eyes were now filled with an endless, suppressed, and paranoid darkness.

Shen Yi had definitely recognized Xu Yinian as the person who had intruded that day.

That kind of beauty—which revealed a soul-stirring vulnerability that practically begged to be cherished—was something one would never forget after a single glance.

How could Shen Yi, a woman with a revolving door of lovers, not turn her gaze toward her?

Even though all signs suggested that Shen Yi was becoming serious about her current lover, Ruoshuang couldn’t afford even the slightest risk of Xu Yinian catching that woman’s eye.

In the next moment, she felt a crushing, oppressive aura wash over her—dark and menacing.

She looked up, only to lock eyes with her mother’s deep, glacial gaze.

As the representative of the Bai family gave their speech, Shen Yi stood high above, posing a question with an icy tone that brooked no denial.

“What are you so worried about?”

“It’s almost as if… you’re afraid of me seeing her again.”