Chapter 22

"?"Gu Wan was confused. Then she heard him say seriously, "Don't drink that. I just saw a small insect fly into the glass."

Shen An: "..."

Not believing he would make such a dull joke, Gu Wan trusted him. She first smiled apologetically at Shen An, then casually replaced the orange juice with the apple juice Lu Yu handed over.

Seeing this, Shen An merely took a small sip of the red wine in his glass without saying anything.

Lu Yu couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

Oblivious to the undercurrents between the two men, Gu Wan's full attention was focused on the engagement ceremony that was about to begin.

At 7:30 in the evening, the engagement ceremony started on time.

The Zhao and Zheng families were considered quite prominent in City A. Even though it was just an engagement banquet, the arrangements were quite grand and luxurious. Not a single customary procedure was skipped. The visible exchanges of interests were enough to make one's eyes pop, not to mention the behind-the-scenes dealings.

The start of the ceremony also signaled the beginning of the alliance between the two families.

However, Gu Wan, strictly speaking, wasn't really part of this circle, so she couldn't be bothered to think too much about it. She just focused intently on watching the soon-to-be newlyweds walk onto the stage.

Although it was a business marriage, Gu Wan noticed that the expressions of the two people on stage seemed quite natural and happy. Regardless, she hoped the two of them would have a good future together, that all their dreams and thoughts would come true, and that the person before their eyes would also be the one in their hearts.

After the couple on stage exchanged engagement rings, Gu Wan joined the crowd in applauding.

What she didn't notice was that after her attention was completely drawn away, another gaze fell uncontrollably on her.

Although Gu Wan wasn't as eye-catching as the bride-to-be in her red dress tonight, in the eyes of someone who cared, it was quite a different scene.

Shen An's peripheral vision had barely touched that lavender-colored figure for two seconds when his view was suddenly blocked.

"They're starting to serve the food. What are you looking at? Your eyes aren't set on some dish, are they?" Lu Yu lowered his voice, his smile not reaching his eyes.

Indeed, some things, although not spoken aloud, still manage to sneak out through one's eyes. The lesson from Cui Shang was still fresh, and now it was finally his turn.

Shen An seemed to sigh, then fell even more silent.

The atmosphere at this table gradually began to grow oppressive.

The other guests looked at each other, but fortunately, their table was arranged quite close to the front. After the bride and groom-to-be finished toasting the sparse two or three people at the first table that was opened separately, it was immediately their turn.

Gu Wan stood up smoothly. The bride-to-be saw her and was first surprised, then smiled and said, "Long time no see, Mrs. Gu. You're even more beautiful than before."

Judging by her tone, Gu Wan should have known her before. She glanced at the woman standing next to her, paused, and replied with a smile, "Thank you for the compliment."

After losing her memory, the other party seemed much more calm and composed than before, and no longer frequently turned her head to look for Lu Yu's position.

The bride-to-be opened her mouth unconsciously, as if she wanted to say something more, but was smoothly interrupted by the person next to her.

"Mrs. Gu, you're as radiant as ever. Ling Shan can't handle alcohol well, so let me drink this toast on her behalf. Here's to you, thanking you for attending Ling Shan's engagement party." Saying this, the woman next to the bride-to-be, who was Zhong Yi, drained her glass in one go.

In such occasions, given the status of the Zhao and Zheng families, they would surely have arranged people to drink on behalf of others. However, no one expected Zhong Yi to be among these stand-ins. It seemed the two of them had a good relationship.

If it were the previous Gu Wan, she might have changed her habits to avoid causing trouble for Lu Yu. But the current Gu Wan thought, if a single glass of wine could affect the relationship between three parties, it was probably premeditated, and whether she drank or not wouldn't make a difference.

With this in mind, Gu Wan felt no embarrassment at all. She raised her apple juice and took a sip, considering it as a return toast.

Seeing this, Zhong Yi raised her eyebrows, her eyes full of curiosity.

The whole process took only a minute or two. When Lu Yu turned his head, he saw Gu Wan and Zhong Yi standing face to face.

Lu Yu, who had finally remembered who Zhong Yi was, felt his heart skip a beat. He unceremoniously shoved the glass in his hand towards Shen An, then strode over.

Shen An: "..."

Shen An twitched his lips but didn't refuse. He very timely intercepted the groom-to-be's words.

Zhong Yi looked at the still-composed Gu Wan, then at Lu Yu who had already walked up in just a few quick steps. Lu Yu was still as dazzling and unapproachable as before. Zhong Yi's eyes first became distant, then in the next second, she came back to herself, her expression becoming somewhat playful.

How familiar this current scene looked.

Only the roles had changed, and everything else had changed along with them.

Before Lu Yu could speak, Zhong Yi flashed a meaningful smile and turned to leave.

Lu Yu couldn't very well stop her from leaving, so he hurriedly turned his head, only to see Gu Wan's furrowed brows.

Lu Yu held back again and again, and finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: "...I didn't do anything, believe me!"

In fact, even Lu Yu was completely baffled.

Gu Wan came back to her senses and nodded, "Mm, I know."

Seeing her seemingly unresponsive, Lu Yu didn't know whether to be happy or disappointed.

After the bride and groom-to-be had finished toasting everyone, some time passed. A passing waiter accidentally spilled some wine on Shen An's clothes as he was sitting on the outermost side. Amidst the waiter's continuous apologies, Shen An stood up, preparing to go to the restroom to clean up a bit.

Seeing this, Lu Yu followed.

He felt it was time to have a talk with Shen An.

How had he not noticed before that this person harbored such thoughts?! If possible, what Lu Yu wanted wasn't some chat or conversation, but to directly punch Shen An in the face.

But after just two steps, Lu Yu couldn't help but hesitate. So he turned back to look in Gu Wan's direction.

Gu Wan didn't know when she had become someone people couldn't trust to be left alone.

Finally, Gu Wan had to speak up: "If you need to do something, go ahead. I'll be fine here."

Lu Yu hesitated on the spot for a moment before finally making up his mind and turning away.

Initially, the remaining people at the table couldn't help but joke in their hearts about how the mighty Mr. Lu had become such a henpecked husband, unable to be apart for even a moment. seaʀᴄh thё Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

However, after a while, they discovered that Mr. Lu's worries were not without reason.

Shortly after Lu Yu and Shen An left, they saw the radiant Mrs. Gu leisurely wipe her mouth, smile and say "I'm sorry, I have something to attend to for a moment. Please, enjoy your meal," before also standing up and leaving.

Everyone: "..."

Gu Wan wasn't heading in the same direction as Lu Yu and the others. She just found a random spot to sit down in the outdoor garden outside the banquet hall. As expected, within five minutes, Zhong Yi sat down opposite her.

Before Gu Wan could ask what she wanted, Zhong Yi first reached out to lift her chin, then suddenly leaned in close.

Gu Wan frowned but didn't dodge, considering that Zhong Yi had warned her earlier via text message.

Seeing her expression remain calm but her eyes particularly unfamiliar, as if this was the first time she had seen her, Zhong Yi's tone became strange: "You don't even remember me?"

"You didn't really lose your memory, did you?"

"Wasn't this news spread two months ago?" Gu Wan asked, confused. "What's the point of lying about something like this?"

Zhong Yi fell silent. After a long while, she slowly let out a breath: "I thought this was just a trick you were playing."

Gu Wan looked at her, and she looked back at Gu Wan.

Finally, it was Zhong Yi who gave in first: "Alright, now I believe you."

Apart from her exceptionally keen intuition, there was also a difference between genuine indifference and feigned indifference. Zhong Yi wasn't stupid; of course, she could see the distinction.

Zhong Yi's feelings towards Gu Wan were quite complex. Back in school, although she noticed Gu Wan's feelings for Lu Yu, she didn't take this little sprout seriously at all. Who would have thought that nine years later, Lu Yu would end up with her? What was even more unexpected was that Gu Wan could go to such lengths at that time.

Zhong Yi considered herself to be in love with Lu Yu, but she could never have been so reckless. Gu Wan seemed completely indifferent to others' opinions. Zhong Yi couldn't do that; she could never bring herself to lose face like that. Moreover, it was a whopping 80 million yuan. Not only could Zhong Yi not come up with that much money at the time, even if she could, she wouldn't be willing to give it away.

But she wasn't ready to admit defeat either. So at their wedding, Zhong Yi asked Gu Wan for her contact information, waiting to see her misfortune.

In the two years that followed, Gu Wan indeed met with great misfortune as Zhong Yi had anticipated. From the beginning, all Gu Wan wanted was affection, but the problem was that Lu Yu wasn't that kind of person at all. This man only had eyes for the company and work, with no room for trivial matters like love and emotion in his view.

Now it seemed there was a glimmer of hope, but unfortunately, Gu Wan couldn't remember anymore.

Thinking of this, Zhong Yi couldn't help but wonder what exactly happened during Gu Wan's car accident that made her forget so precisely without suffering major issues.

It's not that Zhong Yi harbored particularly strong malice towards Gu Wan. She was just jealous and didn't wish her well, but she never took action to make things difficult for her. However, it couldn't be said that Zhong Yi had any goodwill towards Gu Wan either.

Under these circumstances, Gu Wan thought for a moment and felt she didn't particularly mind chatting with her, so she casually mentioned it.

Learning that Gu Wan had just visited a temple before her car accident, Zhong Yi suddenly felt that she should go pray too. After all, love was such a torment, not a good thing at all. If she could get rid of it, she would have done so long ago.

However, once love takes root in the heart, it's no longer under one's control.

As the two were chatting casually without much warmth, Zhong Yi caught sight of a few familiar figures walking towards them from the corner of her eye.

Zhong Yi couldn't help but let out a cold laugh, infinitely colder than when facing Gu Wan.

Gu Wan first pondered the meaning of her cold laugh, but after a while, when the figures drew near, she understood why.

Also in their twenties, Gu Wan felt she must have known them before, otherwise their tone wouldn't have been so familiar.

The girls all came from extremely privileged backgrounds, their manners and behavior were very polite and courteous, not causing Gu Wan any discomfort. Their words even carried just the right amount of concern. Everything was so peaceful and harmonious.

After about fifteen minutes, probably feeling that they had only exchanged a few more words with Gu Wan before and weren't that familiar, plus with Zhong Yi sitting there, the group soon left one by one, just as they had come.

After they left, Zhong Yi suddenly spoke up, "Be careful, watch out or someone might steal your man."

Gu Wan could certainly see that, but...

"It's understandable. It's normal for someone like Lu Yu to be liked, especially in this circle. Men like him who are self-disciplined, generous, and personally capable are indeed rare treasures."

Gu Wan's assessment was objective and fair, her tone devoid of any dissatisfaction or jealousy. At this moment, she seemed to be stating something that was a matter of course.

Seeing this, Zhong Yi felt as if she was watching a dragon that had been fiercely guarding its treasure suddenly loosen its grip on the treasure, its gaze no longer lingering.

Zhong Yi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

"I used to think the same way."

"But now I suddenly feel it might not be the case. If it were someone else, they might not be so generous." Especially when it came to company shares, just handing them over like that. In the past, when Zhong Yi hadn't taken over her family's company, she didn't think much of it. Now that she was in that position herself, she knew just how stingy she could be.

At least for her, if she owed someone a favor, she would rather give more money than give away company shares.

Looking at Lu Yu's various behaviors before, he probably didn't even know what this meant.

Zhong Yi thought about many things, but when she looked up, she caught sight of Gu Wan, who had heard everything she said but didn't take it to heart at all. Her eyes, still exceptionally calm as she gazed at the night sky in the distance. At this moment, Zhong Yi felt sorry for a certain someone in advance.

The deeper the feelings were in the past, the more indifferent they are now.

And can something lost truly be found again?

Meanwhile, on the other side, a completely different scene was unfolding.

Shen An had just come out of the bathroom when he was immediately blocked by Lu Yu, whose first words were—

"That glass of juice, what did you mean by it?"