Yunru hopped to Jun's side, who unlike his casual wear at the library, was donned in a classy black business suit on top of a navy blue shirt, fitting to emanate the aura of a powerful CEO. His dark gaze stared at only Ai and nobody else. He noticed her fair fingers fidgeting with nervousness, and he clicked his tongue.
"Why are you nervous?" He whispered to himself. "You are gonna win," his voice held finality.
Yunru tilted his head as he watched Jun staring down. "Bro."
He caught him keenly observing Ai and wondered what was going on. First, Jun himself recommended looking out for Butterfly's drafts which he never did before. Then he became fiercely protective of her and accused MissImperfectlyFine of plagiarism. It was hard to believe that he personally got involved in this situation.
When MissImperfectlyFine's post came, and it was revealed that Butterfly and MissImperfectlyFine were the same people, he retracted all his accusations and stood by her side nevertheless, even though it was Ai's lie who started the whole mess.
Then when Yunru learned that the author was Ai, he recalled Jun telling him to find the two bullies who had troubled a woman named Zhou Ai in her middle school days.
No matter what Jun's actions were, he did everything for Ai's sake. After Shui, it was the first time that Jun thought so deeply for another woman.
Jun slowly retracted his gaze off her and looked at Yunru, who gulped for some reason.
"W-what? Why are you looking at me as if I disturbed your concentration!"
He narrowed his eyes. "Because you did."
Yunru parted his lips as if a question was at the tip of his tongue. He closed his mouth, thinking it was better not to ask.
But in the end, he finally couldn't resist. "Bro, if I ask you something, promise that you won't get mad at me."
"That depends if your question is stupid," he ruthlessly retorted.
Yunru shook his head. "It's not stupid. It's a serious one."
"What do you think of Zhou Ai?"
"Why do you care about Zhou Ai so much?"
Jun's eyelashes ever so slightly trembled. His gaze caught Yating's figure, and it didn't take even a second for the temperature to drop.
The atmosphere broke with the emcee coming on stage. "Good evening ladies and gentlemen. The Authors Summit will now begin!"
The venue roared with claps and cheers.
Jun cleared his throat. "It's beginning. We will talk about this later."
But your silence already seems to have given the answer, Bro….
Ai, who sat at one of the tables with Xing Bi, watched the emcee announce the rules of the Summit. She felt the presence of someone else looming by her side, and Ai turned her head.
She saw a young woman around her age with a ponytail and wearing a light green dress expectantly staring at her. "If you don't mind, can I sit with you? All other tables are occupied."
Xing Bi politely smiled at her. "We don't mind."
"Thank you so much," she gave a nod in appreciation and took a seat on a chair.
The emcee continued. "Thank you to all the lovely authors for participating in this Summit! As we speak, your entries have already been divided into batches and are submitted to the judges for their selection. It will be a fierce competition, and only one entry will be selected per batch. The results will be announced soon.
Until then, there will be a small segment of our top, experienced writers who are here to give a seminar. This segment will help a lot of budding writers here and who are watching the Summit live to know more about the writing world and the tips and tricks to craft the beautiful stories that you like to read so much! So without further adieu!"
On the far side of a corner where a table was partly shrouded with darkness, Nian shook his brother's arm hard. "Jin! Jin! Look! That woman is my Xing Bi. She looks so beautiful, isn't it?
I think she looks even prettier than when I saw her at the banquet," he seriously touched his chin.
Jin looked at him, annoyed. "Bro, why am I here with you again?"
"Didn't I say! I want to apologize to her. I needlessly let Uncle Jing accuse her when she wasn't at fault. If my sincerity doesn't reach her then…" his eyes sparkled, "I want you, my dearest brother, to pitch in some good words about me and save my love story!"
His mouth twitched. "I never knew you would be interested in an older woman."
"I thought I wasn't, but Xing Bi is so cool!" His black orbs glinted with certainty and resolve. "I want only her and nobody else," he squinted his gaze. "I screwed up our first meeting, but nothing after this. It will be a smooth sailing ship~ And you, my brother, will help me with that."
Jin sighed and glanced at Xing Bi again when his sharp gaze caught Ai's figure.
"What is Zhou Ai doing here?"
Nian blinked and craned his neck. Her face was hidden because of the other table between them. But his eyes widened upon recognizing her.
He gasped, recalling the crime she committed in his Bakery. "Zhou Ai! The murderer of sweets!"
"That is not important right now, Bro. What is she doing here?"
Nian tilted his head. "Xing Bi is an editor at Dream High. Wait…Noooo! Does that mean that she is a writer?" He gasped in shock. "What the fuck!? The world is so small!
Xing Bi and Zhou Ai know each other!?"
"...Seems like it," Jin gave a long and thoughtful stare. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ N()velFire.net
Is she perhaps…MissImperfectlyFine?
Nian was still in a daze.
That means my buttering machine was right before me! Why did I bring Jin when I could have asked her!
He remembered the time at his bakery and his treatment towards Ai that day.
Shit! Shit, shit, shit! Will Xing Bi kill me for that!?
Okay, everything will be fine. Everything's gonna be cool!
In the end, he forced himself to calm down from his panic mode and sighed. His question brought Jin back out of his daze. "Oh that reminds me. Yunru must be here too, right? I forgot about Sky hehe…"
Jin smacked his head. "Sky is Bro Jun's company. You shouldn't forget your own brother and his work."
"Hey I am more worried about my love story here, okay? He is already set!"
Jin paused and smiled. "Indeed. Nothing can separate Bro and Shui."