"Chu Xi, I’ve already made it clear to your brother," Qin Anyu said, pressing her lips together as her heart still ached at the thought of that incident from years ago.
"That’s for the best." Chu Xi stomped her foot hard and headed upstairs with Gao Qianqian.
Qin Anyu took a deep breath, clenched her fists tightly, and dared not tug at her skirt. This was the dress Yueyue had worked hard on for two days; she couldn’t ruin it. She closed her eyes, and when she reopened them, all the sorrow in her eyes was hidden, replaced by a sweet smile.
The upstairs private room was lavishly decorated.
"Meng Yanzhi, happy birthday," Qin Anyu said as she handed over the birthday gift she had prepared early on.
Meng Yanzhi’s eyes sparkled as he looked at Qin Anyu and teased, "Qin Anyu, you’ve turned from an ugly duckling to a beautiful swan."
"Cough, that’s not right, you were pretty before." Meng Yanzhi, tall and handsome, always exuded an air of superiority from growing up surrounded by wealth.
"Thank you." Qin Anyu smiled and her gaze fell on the beautiful woman next to Meng Yanzhi, who seemed different from the last time she saw him.
Meng Yanzhi cheerfully introduced her as his new girlfriend.
Qin Anyu nodded in understanding, and after chatting for a while, she was pulled aside by Zhao Rou and Cheng Ziqing, who were almost popping their eyes out, incessantly asking Qin Anyu where she bought her dress, and why she decided to change her ugly yellow hair and curly perm.
Qin Anyu had intended to recommend her own dress, so as they spoke, her words nearly elevated Tang Yue to the heavens.
"An Yu, you mean to say you got this dress made by an eighteen-year-old girl?" Zhao Rou’s face was full of disbelief.
Cheng Ziqing was equally incredulous, "An Yu, could you have been cheated? Did you naively sign the contract? And you’re even planning to open a studio for her? Are you just rich and foolish?"
Cheng Ziqing bombarded Qin Anyu with rapid-fire words.
Zhao Rou also looked at Qin Anyu with agreement and said worriedly, "An Yu, Ziqing is right, you weren’t really scammed, were you?"
Qin Anyu helplessly replied, "Rourou, Ziqing, am I really that easy to deceive?" She looked down at herself; she might not be smart, but she wasn’t stupid, right?
Zhao Rou and Cheng Ziqing exchanged glances and nodded affirmatively.
Qin Anyu covered her face with her hands, feeling utterly despondent, never imagining she’d be considered foolish by two lifelong friends.
"Xixi, today the dress Qin Anyu is wearing really looks quite nice," Gao Qianqian said enviously, as even though she didn’t like Qin Anyu, she had to admit, the dress was truly beautiful. She muttered, "No idea where she bought it."
"What’s the use of looking good?" Chu Xi said dismissively as she adjusted the shawl over her shoulders, a flash of disdain in her eyes.
"That’s true, our Xixi is the prettiest, Qin Anyu can’t even compare to a corner of Xixi’s dress," Gao Qianqian said ingratiatingly.
Chu Xi arrogantly lifted her head, her smile deepening at the corners of her mouth.
She, Chu Xi, had always been the center of attention for everyone, and seeing people at the party secretly discussing Qin Anyu, her face fell in displeasure.
In the crowd, Qin Anyu, Zhao Rou, and Cheng Ziqing stood together, Qin Anyu’s white petal dress was particularly irksome to her eyes.
The large private room was filled with ’Happy Birthday’ balloons and banners in both Chinese and English, and streamers beautifully decorated the space, adorned with bright red roses, and a several-tiered cake was wheeled in.
The birthday song was sung by a popular young star, and during the course he sang several songs. Young Master Meng and his new girlfriend were cheered on by his so-called friends, as if they were the stars of the show.
"Young Master Meng changes girlfriends faster than clothes, just yesterday I heard he was with a young star," Zhao Rou gossiped eagerly.
Cheng Ziqing pursed her lips and said, "Isn’t he always ?"
"Right." Zhao Rou whispered to the two of them, "Have you heard about what happened a few days ago?"
"What happened?" Qin Anyu asked curiously, Cheng Ziqing crossed her arms and looked around to make sure it was just the three of them before speaking, "Wasn’t it that he beat someone up at school and forced the guy to drop out?"
"What happened exactly?" Qin Anyu knew that Meng Yanzhi had always been like a little tyrant, always up to no good since childhood, but she didn’t know what happened in college.
Seeing Qin Anyu’s curiosity, after sitting for a while, the three left and chose a quiet cafe. Cheng Ziqing then talked about the incident, apparently, Meng Yanzhi had stolen someone’s girlfriend.
Well, not exactly stolen, it’s just that the girl, seeing Meng Yanzhi’s wealth, dumped her previous boyfriend and followed Meng Yanzhi, but in the end, Meng Yanzhi dumped her, and the girl attempted suicide by jumping into a river. Her boyfriend stood up for her and confronted Meng Yanzhi.
Meng Yanzhi, ever unreasonable, beat him up, forced him to drop out, and forbade him from discussing the matter.
"That girl..." Qin Anyu’s eyelids twitched, she already had a dislike for Meng Yanzhi and instinctively told herself to steer clear of him in the future.
"The girl dropped out too, but... she seems to be mentally disturbed now," Cheng Ziqing cleared her throat, the incident was a hot topic at school, yet, because of the Meng family’s influence, Meng Yanzhi continued to rule the school like a king.
"Sigh." Zhao Rou sighed and took a sip of coffee, "Some people are just born lucky."
"Your life isn’t good?" Cheng Ziqing retorted, "Your dad is the well-known President Zhao, if you don’t have a good life, who does?"
Zhao Rou playfully stuck out her tongue, saying, "You’re not bad either, honestly, Meng Yanzhi really was born under a lucky star. What do you think? Even though he’s not Mr. Meng’s biological son. I’ve met his parents once, they lack any class. You tell me, if it weren’t for Mr. Meng, how could Meng Yanzhi..."
She didn’t finish her sentence, but the implication was clear.
Without the support of Mr. Meng, Meng Yanzhi wouldn’t possibly be able to act like a tyrant.
"Alright, let’s not dwell on other people’s matters, how about this, come to my shop tomorrow?" Qin Anyu changed the subject, inviting them with a bright smile, "I tell you, once you meet Yueyue, you’re definitely going to like her."