Chapter 161: Zeal

Rong Yan glanced around the dining table slightly behind him to the left, but did not see any familiar faces. Instead, there was a man of roughly his own age holding a towel against his nose and mouth, coughing violently and incessantly as if afflicted with some incurable disease.

Nearby, a waiter was packing up a whole roasted suckling pig.

Rong Yan withdrew his gaze with a look of distaste, narrowed his eyes, and landed them on Wen Wan.

On the other side, Xiao Mingyu caught sight of Rong Yan turning back, immediately suppressed his cough, raised his eyes, and curved his lips into a profound arc.

Rong Yan was notoriously promiscuous, and the friends around him were all cut from the same cloth.

If he remembered correctly, the ex-boyfriend who had left Rong Xian deeply battered and bruised was a close confidant of Rong Yan.

...

Outside the restaurant, in the parking lot.

An Tong and Rong Xian successively got into the car. As the door closed, An Tong turned her head and said, "Thank you, Eldest Sister."

"Why are you suddenly thanking me?"

An Tong faintly curved her lips. "You hadn't even finished your meal; you came over specifically to take me away, didn't you?"

"You noticed?" Rong Xian raised an eyebrow, looking at her with a hint of novelty. "You are quite observant."

An Tong turned her face away to look out the window. "I'm not stupid..."

If she hadn't felt much when Rong Yan first arrived, there was no way she wouldn't understand after Wen Wan's warning.

Rong Shen and Rong Yan—the relationship between these two cousins was likely far from harmonious.

As for the friends or relatives who had a good relationship with the Ninth Brother, she had already met them all.

Her parents-in-law and Eldest Sister in Zhanzhou, Su Yiting and others in Hong Kong. Apart from those, the only person from the Rong family she had met was that shrewd and snobbish old Mrs. Rong.

At this moment, Rong Xian glanced at An Tong with considerable surprise. Frankly speaking, from the very beginning, she hadn't thought her sister-in-law... was all that smart.

An Tong always gave the impression of being almost stubbornly well-behaved—a quiet, taciturn, obedient girl. It was hard to associate her with the word sharp or clever.

Rong Xian's red lips parted slightly. After a long moment, she vaguely said, "It's not as serious as you think. Number Six isn't someone who breaks the law or commits crimes; he just has a foul mouth and says unpleasant things. It's best to minimize contact with him whenever possible."

An Tong responded with a soft "mhm" and did not ask any further questions about Rong Yan.

Purely out of lack of interest.

The car interior fell silent for a while. Rong Xian grew somewhat impatient waiting, lowered the car window to peer toward the restaurant entrance, and asked casually, "How long have you known Wen Wan?"

"Not long. We truly grew familiar during that gathering in Hong Kong before the New Year."

"Then do you know she—"

Rong Xian wanted to give An Tong a warning, but the words reached the tip of her tongue and she hesitated.

To say it too bluntly would inevitably carry the suspicion of sowing discord.

While Rong Xian was still pondering how to broach the subject appropriately, An Tong took the conversation over herself. "Mm, I know."

"You know?" Rong Xian's voice rose at the end, and she turned her body with keen interest. "Come on, tell me, what do you know?"

An Tong could clearly hear this obvious attempt at fishing for information.

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips, and her eyes curved like crescent moons. "Whatever Eldest Sister wants to tell me, I should already know."

Rong Xian: "..."

Playing word games with her, were they?

Rong Xian looked at An Tong with amusement, and then dropped a bombshell: "Since that's the case, aren't you worried that her getting close to you has an ulterior motive? Perhaps she's approaching you on purpose."

"Why would she approach me?"

"Didn't you say you know?"

An Tong met Rong Xian's playful gaze directly. After a few seconds, she stated frankly, "She and the Ninth Brother have known each other for so many years without developing into lovers. Even if he has me now, the root cause doesn't lie with me. Since Wen Wan is a high-society lady, she certainly has the ability to distinguish right from wrong."

"So you really do know that Wen Wan likes Xiao Jiu!"

One could not say Rong Xian wasn't surprised. She had brought up the topic proactively, truly out of a desire to protect her own and advise An Tong to keep her guard up.

As it turned out, it had been completely unnecessary.

"I guessed it, and I verified it with the Ninth Brother." An Tong tilted her head and smiled with clear eyes. "Actually, it's only human nature for Wen Wan to like him. After all, the Ninth Brother is so exceptional..."

Rong Xian's expression faded slightly. Through An Tong's demeanor, she seemed to see her own former self.

She too had once been so fervent about matters of the heart, but as times changed and things passed, she could no longer even recall the taste and feeling of a fluttering heart.

An Tong continued, "Besides, Wen Wan's feelings haven't affected us. She invited me to dinner simply because we had a congenial chat last time. If her approaching me really did have an ulterior motive, that kind of approach wouldn't befit her status."

...

About ten minutes later, Xiao Mingyu took a circuitous route from the back door to the parking lot, carrying a food container as he climbed into the driver's seat. The moment he turned his head, he caught the two women in the back seat staring right at him.

With a curl of his lips and a sidelong glance at Rong Xian, he said pointedly, "Compared to that playboy Rong Yan, do you find me much easier on the eyes?"

Rong Xian stared expressionlessly out the window. An Tong gave a light cough, raised a hand to smooth the bangs across her forehead, and pretended not to hear.

Xiao Mingyu, having failed to draw a response: "..."

Upon returning to the villa, Rong Xian took a cigarette and headed to the small garden.

The sky was overcast and hazy. She tilted her head, exhaled a puff of white smoke, watched the mist dissipate into the air, and let out a sigh with a wry twist of her mouth.

Behind her, footsteps approached.

The woman felt a sudden weight on her shoulders as a black windbreaker settled over her.

Immediately after, the man embraced her from behind, enveloping her in his crisp, alluring scent.

"Why has your craving for cigarettes been so strong lately? Smoking too much is bad for your health."

Xiao Mingyu's voice was hoarse, thick with a heavy nasal tone.

Rong Xian glanced down at the glowing and fading cigarette butt in her hand, her voice drifting and ethereal, "My cold isn't fully better yet. What are you doing out here?"

"You've been absent-minded the whole way back from the restaurant..." Xiao Mingyu raised a hand to grip the woman's chin, forcing her to turn her head and meet his eyes. "What were you thinking about the entire way?"

He didn't like Rong Xian when she was quiet and pensive like this; it made her seem sentimental, and even more distant and aloof.

Rong Xian looked at the man's handsome profile. Overwhelmed by a sudden surge of mixed emotions, she muttered to herself, "I just can't figure out what on earth you like about me..."

If it were said he was after money, he never bowed to wealth. Not only was his tongue venomous, but his bearing was also fiercely arrogant.

If it were said his feelings ran deep, that would be an exaggerated overstatement—she didn't even believe it herself.

Xiao Mingyu didn't miss the bewilderment and hesitation in Rong Xian's expression, which looked like a sense of helplessness and utter exhaustion.

His thin lips gradually tightened, and he narrowed his eyes in probing suspicion. "Judging by that look on your face, you certainly don't look like you were thinking of me. It's more like you were reminiscing about some heartbreak."

Rong Xian's cheek stiffened, and she made a move to turn her head back to smoke.

Xiao Mingyu took a deep breath. Was he really, dammit, right on the mark?

The man applied a little pressure with his thumb against her chin. "Don't hide. Look into my eyes and answer me: yes or no?"

"It's none of your business." Her chin was pinched until it hurt, stinging her out of her depressed mood. "Let go."

"None of my business?" Xiao Mingyu laughed out of anger, snatched the cigarette from her fingertips, and brought it to his lips for a drag. "Rong Xian, if you're going to put it that way, I'll have to take you to bed and have a proper chat with you."