Now that Zi Yi had made such a joke, Dou Xiangling suddenly felt that she was thinking of things in a complicated manner. She took back her phone and answered the call.
Dou Xiangling: “Hello, Ian.”
Ian’s voice sounded very gentlemanly. “Dou, I’ll be arriving in the capital very soon. I’m inviting you and Zi to the bar tonight, are you free?”
Dou Xiangling lowered her eyes and said, “Yes.”
Ian’s voice sounded lighter than before. “Where are the two of you? I’ll go book a restaurant first. We’ll head to the bar after dinner, okay?”
After he asked that, he said, “You and Zi can invite more people over. It’s livelier that way.”
Dou Xiangling subconsciously looked at Zi Yi.
Zi Yi had also heard him and so, she whispered to Dou Xiangling, “Why don’t we call our cousins over?”
Dou Xiangling found it weird and shook her head before she said to Ian, “It’ll just be the both of us.”
Ian did not get disappointed either. “Sure, I’ll send you the location after I make a reservation.”
“Alright.”
The restaurant Ian made a booking for was only one street away from the bar street. It was a restaurant that served authentic Chinese cuisine. When the two of them made their way inside, the restaurant was also crowded.
After they mentioned their room number, the staff brought them upstairs.
Everyone was sneaking a peek at Zi Yi. Even when Zi Yi and Dou Xiangling had walked away, they were still discussing her.
“Have you heard about Second Young Master Lu’s stay in Country Em?”
“I heard of it. Second Young Master Lu is too amazing. Without the status of the Lu Group’s President, he was still able to be designated as a royal merchant. This status is much more powerful than that of the Lu Group’s President.”
“Therefore, a capable person would still remain capable even under dire situations. However, she is so lucky.”
“Well, she’s pretty. If I ever have such a beautiful wife, I would build her a golden house and raise her inside.”
“She is also capable herself, alright?!”
Zi Yi and Dou Xiangling were taken to the second floor. When they were walking past a corridor, one of the private rooms opened and a woman came out from inside.
The moment she saw Zi Yi, her eyes narrowed slightly and she retreated back into the room in the next second.
Dou Xiangling saw that and furrowed her eyebrows as she asked Zi Yi, “Yiyi, do you know that person?”
“I don’t,” Zi Yi said casually, “She should be someone from the eight great aristocratic families.”
Dou Xiangling had the same thoughts too, but she raised her guard. She was afraid that someone would come looking for trouble again.
However, the woman who went back to the private room, patted her chest and revealed an expression as if she had gotten a fright.
The group of people inside the room teased her. “Xueli, what are you doing? Did you see a ghost?”
Qin Xueli’s expression changed and she ended up clenching her fist. “I saw Zi Yi. She’s together with Dou Xiangling from the Dou Family.”
The people in the private room suddenly went silent.
They had an extreme hatred for Zi Yi right now, but they did not dare to approach or provoke her.
However, since they had encountered her, they still felt like giving her some trouble.
“I really want to find someone to come and make things difficult for her. I feel extremely upset seeing how happily she’s living right now.”
“Me too. However, she has her bodyguards and robots protecting her. Who would dare to approach her?”
…
Everyone had the thought but lacked the means. In the end, they could only swallow their anger and continue eating.
While eating, they suddenly mentioned He Fei.
“I heard that Ah He is back. Have any of you managed to ask him out?”
Everyone shook their heads.
“Nope. His phone is always turned off. With what happened to the He Family, who would dare to go to his house to ask him out?”
“That’s right, but then again… do you think Ah He managed to earn money during his trip outside?”
“He must have made money. When he came back with Ah Ming previously, I heard that they earned hundreds of millions.”
“Wow? It’s that profitable?”
“What’s the use of making money when he didn’t even manage to see his father for the last time? Say, do you think that Ah He would be enemies with the first house in the future?”
“If I were him, I would definitely have a knot of hatred deep down inside. In particular, his Eldest Uncle only got a beating from his Grandfather. The economic power of the He Family is still in his Eldest Uncle’s hands.”
“Ah He is really pitiful.”
“Also, Ah He has returned so why hasn’t Ah Ming come back?”
“The Ouyang Family only has Ouyang Ming, this one male in his generation. Just wait and you’ll see. They would definitely go looking for Ah He to question him.”
…
When Zi Yi and Dou Xiangling were taken into the private room Ian booked, he was already waiting inside.
Ian sat at the table dressed in a formal suit and gave off the aura of a noble.
The moment he saw them entering, he stood up and pulled their chairs out for them like a gentleman and even gestured for them to take a seat.
This caused the staff member who led them in to feel as though he had walked into the wrong place.
The two of them took a seat and Ian handed them the menu. “I don’t know your tastes, so it’s best that you two order.”
Dou Xiangling said with a smile, “Ian, there’s no need to be so polite with us. Yiyi and I aren’t picky with what we eat.”
Zi Yi took the menu and nodded her head as she browsed through it. “That’s right. As long as you’re treating us to the meal.”
Ian was amused by Zi Yi’s words. “If I were to treat you to a roadside stall, would you eat the food from there too?”
“I feel that with your status, you wouldn’t do something like that.”
“…”
“Pft-”
Ian saw Dou Xiangling laughing and he smiled. He poured a cup of tea for Dou Xiangling naturally and asked, “For the art exhibition tomorrow, do you need me to do anything?”
Dou Xiangling shook her head. “No need. You can just come over directly.”
“How can I do that? I’m considered one of the three bosses of the art gallery and I can’t let the two ladies deal with everything.”
As soon as Zi Yi ordered the dishes and passed the menu back to the staff member, she said to Ian, “You can come over and receive the guests tomorrow. We are still short of manpower in that area.”
Ian: “…Alright then…”
The three of them chatted about tomorrow’s art exhibition and the dishes were soon served.
All three of them did not talk while eating and after they finished the meal, and came downstairs, Ian went to settle the bill. Zi Yi and Dou Xiangling stood by the side and waited for him.
Just then, a group of customers also finished their meal and headed toward the cashier.
They even purposely looked at Zi Yi when they walked past her.
However, Zi Yi did not even spare them a glance.
Dou Xiangling, however, checked them out and subconsciously blocked Zi Yi from their view.
Zi Yi found Dou Xiangling’s movements funny and did not shy away from them. She said, “Cousin, don’t be nervous. No one dares to do anything to me.”
Everyone’s expression changed.
This woman is so arrogant, isn’t it just because you have Second Brother supporting you from behind?!
Ian finished paying and he came over. “Let’s go. It makes sense if we head over to the bar right now.”
After the three of them left, the group of young masters and young ladies gathered together.
“They’re going to the bar, do we follow them?”
“What for? They are most likely going to Zi Yi’s bar and there’s nothing for us to do there.”
“However, I feel bad that I can’t cause trouble for her. Why don’t we head to the bar street too? We’ll patronize the bar next to hers. F*ck, I won’t visit her bar again in the future, and let’s see how long she can continue being so arrogant.”
“That’s right. As long as those from high society don’t patronize her bar, its reputation will drop and end up as a third-rate bar in the future.”
“That’s right. The charges there are so expensive, so why are we still sending her money so frequently? I would rather use that money to keep a woman than to patronize Zi Yi’s bar!”