Qiao Jing quickened her steps, not wanting to stay in this smog-filled place any longer.
She had only taken a few steps when a man’s figure suddenly appeared in front of her, and before she could stop, she bumped right into him.
The man seemed to have purposefully approached Qiao Jing.
Just as Qiao Jing was about to push him away and apologize, she recognized the familiar scent coming from him.
The next second, a strong arm encircled her waist, pulling her into a hug.
The man’s deep voice resonated in her ear.
Lu Yingying, witnessing this scene, was stunned and looked at them incredulously.
"No... Qiao Linting, President Zhan, you—you—you—you guys?"
Loo Chao, seeing the two men hugging, displayed a disgusted expression, which he quickly concealed, especially since one of them was Zhan Qipei.
"Young Master Zhan, make sure you’re not mistaken, this is a man. Your significant other would definitely be angry if she knew."
By now, everyone in the Imperial City’s upper circle knew that Zhan Qipei was very affectionate toward someone named Qiao Jing.
He had seen Zhan Qipei and Qiao Jing attend gatherings together before, so he deliberately picked on a point that mattered to them.
This action caught the attention of some younger girls who had just come out of the restaurant.
Seeing that the pair hugging were both handsome boys, their eyes lit up immediately, and they began to chat excitedly.
"Wow! I just came out to eat and I get to feast my eyes on this?"
"You guys missed it, I heard the taller guy say in a very domineering tone, ’He’s mine.’ My heart started thumping wildly."
"Does anyone recognize this couple? I’ve never seen such handsome guys before. I’m totally shipping them."
Zhan Qipei, hearing the words "little couple," felt very pleased and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.
He had been checking the time in the car for so long and when they didn’t come out, he decided to check inside the restaurant.
As soon as he entered, he saw Lu Yingying saying she wanted to be friends with Qiao Jing and remembered how she had clung to Qiao Jing last time, which immediately darkened his mood.
So, uncontrollably, he stepped forward and pulled Qiao Jing into his arms.
Qiao Jing, rubbing her temples with a headache, struggled out of Zhan Qipei’s embrace and lowered her voice.
"Zhan Qipei, I’m now Nanqing’s boyfriend."
She could have just walked away, but this jealous man had caused a misunderstanding, making them look like a homosexual couple now.
Actually, this didn’t affect her much, because besides Zhan Qipei and Zhan Nanqing, no one else knew about her identity.
But as for Zhan Qipei and Zhan Nanqing, without saying another word, this jealous man wrapped his arm around her waist and even made a statement asserting his ownership?
This had definitely complicated the misunderstanding.
Zhan Qipei then realized the issue, gathered his long, smoky eyebrows, and reluctantly took a small step back, maintaining a bit of distance.
The girls, who enjoyed watching the drama unfold, frowned and voiced their dissatisfaction.
"Why did this couple separate? Could it be that the taller one upset his wife?"
"No way, they were hugging just now, how could they suddenly start fighting?"
"Didn’t you notice? The one with gold-rimmed glasses whispered something to the man in the suit, and then they separated. Wuu wuu wuu, my ship has broken up."
Qiao Jing glanced helplessly at the group after hearing their words.
Seeing this, the girls all began to cough in unison and quickly took off, saying as they walked:
"Cough, cough, cough, we didn’t see anything, we don’t know anything."
"I’m going to be socially dead, maybe they heard everything we said."
"Run, run, run! If we don’t run now, I’m going to dig out a Barbie Dreamhouse right here with my toes!!"
After the group had left, Qiao Jing looked at the two still dazed individuals across from her.
She hesitated for a moment, and just as she was about to tentatively speak, she saw Zhan Nanqing approaching from not far away.
As soon as Zhan Nanqing saw Lu Yingying, she frowned immediately and quickly walked over to Qiao Jing’s side.
"Lu Yingying, why is it always you? Why do you keep haunting us??"
She had just gone to the restroom, and upon returning, she faced Lu Yingying, her nemesis, standing opposite Qiao Jing again.
Her intuition told her that Lu Yingying was up to no good again!
Lu Yingying was upset upon hearing this, but because Zhan Nanqing was from the Zhan Family and Zhan Qipei was also nearby, she didn’t dare to speak rudely.
"What do you mean by haunting? I just happened to be here for dinner tonight."
Zhan Nanqing eyed Lu Yingying warily and clung to Qiao Jing’s arm.
"So why are you standing opposite my boyfriend? Are you trying to get his contact info again? Dream on!"
Loo Chao laughed out loud, but his considerations were similar to Lu Yingying’s, so he didn’t dare to speak harshly and chose his words carefully instead.
"Miss Zhan, you might not be aware, but Young Master Zhan was just seduced by your boyfriend, and they just hugged each other."
After hearing Loo Chao’s words, Zhan Nanqing hesitated and looked at Qiao Jing, then at Zhan Qipei behind her.
She suddenly had a bad feeling. What could have happened while she was away?
But how could Qiao Jing, dressed as a man, be hugging her brother?
Qiao Jing pursed her red lips, furrowed her brows, and found an excuse.
"Just now, Lu Yingying approached me. Your brother saw it and tried to pull me away but accidentally used too much force and ended up pulling me to him. He meant to say I was yours, but because he accidentally touched me, he was stunned and didn’t finish his sentence."
She could only think of this reason to hide the incident, but she wasn’t sure if it was plausible.
However, if they were determined not to believe her, she couldn’t be bothered to explain further.
Furthermore, she would no longer need to dress as a man in the future, unless something unexpected happened.
As for Zhan Qipei and Lu Yingying, they probably wouldn’t dare to gossip about Zhan Qipei recklessly.
Although Zhan Nanqing didn’t know the full story, she guessed the gist of it based on her understanding of her brother.
To avoid exposing him, she immediately picked up on Qiao Jing’s words.
"So that’s what happened. Lu Yingying, don’t blame me for being blunt, but how thick is your face? You already have a boyfriend, yet you try to seduce mine? Are you love-deprived?"
She absolutely couldn’t let Qiao Jing get exposed in front of Lu Yingying, especially since she was her arch-enemy, unlike others.
Lu Yingying was still in shock and couldn’t recover, her gaze shifting back and forth between Qiao Jing and Zhan Qipei.
"Zhan Nanqing, I just saw them hugging with my own eyes, it doesn’t look like what Qiao Linting described at all."