Chapter 216: Animosity

Lyca was clearly smart. But she was alone outside of this country. Huang Xiaoxuan's mind started thinking about Lyca's unfortunate state. Almost immediately, her mood lightened. She started smiling as she thought of how that woman must have tried to find ways to survive.

She knew that Lyca was the person who sent that bacteria to the Long Company. Though Long Yi doesn't want to confirm anything, Huang Xiaoxuan knew that Lyca must have found a way to do it. She wondered if Lyca had to sell her flesh to an influential person to be able to pull that trick towards them.

"We are here."

Long Yi's words made Huang Xiaoxuan flinched. She stared at the huge white building with columns. The huge stair a few feet away from their car immediately caught her attention. "Seems like they really spent a huge amount for this charity event." She commented as Long Yi went out of the car. She heard that Kong City was not a very rich city. Because of corruption and crimes, not many investors would invest in this city.

Huang Xiaoxuan followed Long Yi out of the car and held his hand.

"Smile," Long Yi said, a gentle smile was already plastered on his face.

"Hm,' she nodded in response as she donned a beautiful smile on her face. She held Long Yi's arms as the two started walking towards the carpeted stairs.

"Don't talk about nonsense stuff while we are out there." Long Yi said in a low tone. "I want you to just stay by my side, and if someone approaches you… start talking about bags and clothes. Even art, paintings, and classical music. You should know this stuff, right?"

"Hm," Huang Xiaoxuan nodded. She had been married to Long Yi for a couple of years now. However, the man rarely brought her to any events because she tends to get jealous easily. Every time someone beautiful approached Long Yi, Huang Xiaoxuan would start to act like a guard dog, showing her fangs to the woman.

Of course, she can only blame herself for being so insecure. She knew that Long Yi doesn't like this side of her, so she chose to work hard on this. Sadly, the changes that she wanted doesn't just happen overnight. Sometimes, her real jealous attitude would still come out and make Long Yi mad at her. 

Huang Xiaoxuan focused on the people that were already inside the hall. Long Yi immediately confirmed their invitation and brought her inside. The smile on Huang Xiaoxuan's face didn't change as she looked at the extravagantly decorated stage black and white stage. Tonight's charity had a black, cream, and gold glam Hollywood theme. The cream and gold chandeliers looked really dazzling as it complemented the elegant matte black balloons that were on the tall ceiling and the lush black and white tablescape.

"Please follow me… I will lead you to your seats." A woman wearing a black suit gave them a cordial smile before she walked ahead of them, leading them towards one of the tables on the right. 

Huang Xiaoxuan and Long Yi followed the woman. Just as they were about to reach their table they were stopped by an older gentleman. The man introduced himself as an attendant and told Long Yi to go to the second floor as someone wanted to talk to him before the event would start. Hearing this, Huang Xiaoxuan made her presence as little as possible while hoping that Long Yi would bring her to the second floor where all the elite businessmen would talk about their business and hobbies.

This would be a great opportunity for her to know some of the most important individuals in this region as well as their wives. To her surprise, Long Yi looked at her, smiling. "We should go." He said. The two then followed the man towards another carpeted stairs that would lead them to the second floor of the building. After a few minutes, they arrived in a moderately decorated hall.

This hall was obviously smaller than the previous one. Black and gold were still used to decorate the area. However, there were no chairs or tables in the floor space. The only table that she saw was the tall cocktail table in the middle of the hall where a bartender was mixing some drinks. Clearly, this hall was for people to mingle and know each other before the event would start.

A few waiters can be seen walking around with champagne and other drinks.

"Ah! Mr. Long!"

Long Yi and Huang Xiaoxuan turned towards the older man who called them.

"Mr. Ma," Long Yi immediately held his hand and shook the man's hands.

"And this should be… Mrs. Long?" Mr. Ma held his hand towards the cream dressed Huang Xiaoxuan and smiled. "I was not aware that Mr. Long's wife was this beautiful. It seems that Mr. Long is not only lucky in business." He teased. Huang Xiaoxuan opened her mouth, she was about to respond and thank the man for his compliment but immediately remembered Long Yi's warning.

In the end, Huang Xiaoxuan closed her mouth and gave a tight-lipped smile.

"Ah! Let me introduce you to some of the biggest businessmen in Kong City. Remember that man that I told you about? Mr. Rivers? Santa Rivers? He is here…. The man was currently the biggest businessman in the City. If you know that I mean." Mr. Ma whispered, his voice was loud enough for Huang Xiaoxuan to hear. 

Huang Xiaoxuan immediately looked at the group of men and women in front of them. Her gaze landed on the man wearing a white suit. Two women were in the woman's arms as he laughed at some joke from another person. 

"Mr. Rivers!"

"Mr. Ma!" The man in white smiled at Mr. Ma. "And this is?"

"Mr. Long Yi from the Long Family in Long City."

"That's a lot of Long." Santa chuckled. "Is that how you normally introduce yourself, Mr. Long?" Santa uttered. He didn't hide the animosity in his gaze, but the smile on his face seemed to suggest that he wasn't upset. This immediately made Huang Xiaoxuan wonder if they have somehow offended this man.