My sister, whom I raised, has turned evil after faking her death for three years.

"This is Young Master Gu, Gu Lei, the young master of the Gu family in Linjiang. I mentioned him to you at the banquet last time."

Cheng Xuyan stepped aside to make room for Gu Lei, gestured with his hand, and then turned to Jiang Yi and Jiang Ren, "This is my childhood friend Jiang Ren, and this is Jiang Yi, the eldest daughter of the Jiang family."

Gu Lei nodded slightly, her gaze lingering on Jiang Ren's face for a moment before settling on Jiang Yi.

Looking at her from this distance, the person in front of her was completely different from the "ignorant, arrogant, and cigarette-burning young lady of the Jiang family" she had imagined.

The person in front of her was wearing a cream-colored knitted cardigan, with long hair loosely hanging over her shoulders. When she smiled, her eyes curved into two crescent moons. Standing under the warm yellow crystal chandelier, she was so beautiful that it made her heart skip a beat.

She tried to suppress the thought, nodded slightly to Jiang Yi, and was about to say the rehearsed polite words when Jiang Yi spoke first.

She smiled and waved, her tone light and natural, saying, "Hello, Mr. Gu, I've heard so much about you."

That voice... was exactly the same as the voice she heard every night through the phone line, exactly the same as the "Welcome to the top-ranked fan to listen to the song" she heard every time she streamed.

Gu Lei's brain completely shut down in that instant. Her lips moved, and the name that had lingered in her heart for countless nights slipped out without warning: "Bao...zi?"

Jiang Yi's smile faltered for a moment.

This title, this clear, youthful voice.

Her big eyes widened suddenly as she stared in disbelief at the young man in front of her who was almost a head taller than her.

The pure black suit was impeccably tailored, the collar of the dark gray shirt was crisp and neat, and his narrow eyes were fixed on her without blinking, those eyes surging with a fervent light that she had never heard in this voice before.

"The top fan?" she asked tentatively, her voice a few decibels softer than before, as if confirming something unbelievable.

When Gu Lei heard those four words, she felt her heart pound heavily in her chest.

Her precious daughter, the one she listened to to fall asleep every night, the one who sang her song after song with a gentle voice, was actually Jiang Yi… the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, the Jiang Yi who was rumored to be uneducated, arrogant and domineering.

She stared blankly at the face in front of her, at those crescent-shaped eyes and slightly parted lips, with only one sentence echoing in her mind... She was so beautiful, more beautiful than any image she had imagined in countless nights.

Jiang Yi was also stunned.

She always thought her generous, sweet-talking, and annoying top male fan was a tall, handsome young man, after all, his voice was as clear as a mountain stream flowing over stones.

Now that I've seen it with my own eyes... it really is very tall, almost a head taller than her, with broad shoulders, long legs, and an upright posture.

  

He is indeed very handsome, with delicate features, high brow bones, and a sharp, well-defined jawline.

But when Jiang Yi looked at his long, narrow, and handsome eyes, she felt that there was something between his face and the boyish voice that had pestered her to sing on the phone, something that made it hard for her to connect them.

"Do you two know each other?" Jiang Ren leaned back in her chair, her gaze sweeping back and forth between the two of them.

Jiang Yi snapped out of her daze, glanced at the expectant expression on Gu Lei's face, swallowed back the words "online friend" that were already on the tip of her tongue, and said in a more formal way: "We know each other, we met at an event before." After she finished speaking, she turned her head to look at Gu Lei, and sure enough, the light in the other's eyes brightened a few more times.

She silently gave herself a thumbs up in her heart.

Jiang Ren simply said "oh" and didn't ask any further questions.

Cheng Xuyan didn't think much of it, but seeing that the "Young Master Gu" she had been longing for had been staring at Jiang Yi ever since he entered the room, she suddenly had a bad feeling.

Soon their table had been rearranged. Cheng Xuyan was moved to the far end, Jiang Ren sat next to him, and Gu Lei and Jiang Yi sat side by side on the other side.

Cheng Xuyan watched from across the table as Gu Lei turned slightly to the side, head down, listening to Jiang Yi with an expression of focus he had never seen before. Suddenly, he felt that his pink suit looked like a joke.

He turned to Jiang Ren and gestured a series of hand signals, his expression full of accusation. "Didn't you say this battle robe was effective? Didn't you say that taking an unconventional approach could lead to unexpected victory? What is this now? Is Xiao Yi here to cause trouble?"

Jiang Ren was also dumbfounded. He had only brought Xiao Yi to watch the show, how did they end up chatting like this?

He patted Cheng Xuyan on the shoulder helplessly and mouthed, "It's come to this."

Xiao He, standing in the corner, was completely distraught.

He watched as his boss, Mr. Gu, seamlessly transformed from someone who "explored the way in front while I provided support from behind" into a little bee flitting around Miss Jiang... She was the one who poured tea, handed her tissues, and was the first to push the dessert he had just brought to Jiang Yi.

No, Mr. Gu, didn't you just say that you should be more discreet, avoid Jiang Yi, and make an excuse to leave if things didn't go well? How come you surrendered the moment she arrived?

Gu Lei had no time to think about restraint at the moment.

Who said her son is arrogant and domineering? Doesn't he have a very good personality?

Who said her baby isn't pretty? She's clearly so beautiful and adorable.

Burning someone's butt with a cigarette butt? Even if it were true, it would still be a reward for the person who got burned, okay?

As she watched Jiang Yizheng chewing a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs with her cheeks puffed out, the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up. She reached for the plate of stir-fried shrimp with her serving chopsticks and added two more to Jiang Yizheng's bowl.

"By the way," Jiang Yi picked up her juice, took a sip, and turned to look at Gu Lei, "Didn't you say you'd ask me out after you finished dealing with things? Now that we've met, why don't we just set a time? If you're free in Ancheng these next few days, we can go sightseeing together, and you can help me look for something..."

She stopped abruptly here. She had originally wanted to say that she could also help her find Sister Su's whereabouts, but then she thought that Sister Su's return should not be known to too many people for the time being, so she changed her words, "Find out what fun things there are to do in Ancheng."

Gu Lei felt her heart skip a beat for a moment.

Her son invited her out to play, and she wanted to go; she really wanted to go.

But as she opened her mouth, she suddenly remembered that she hadn't come to Ancheng for fun.

Those partners who haven't been sorted out yet, those terms that are still waiting for her to finalize, and that trap about Jiang Ran that she painstakingly pieced together from the clues... she still has so much to do.

Now she must continue to play the role of the decisive and efficient young master of the Gu family, and cannot show any weakness in front of anyone.

"It might not be possible these next few days." She lowered her eyes, her voice filled with undisguised apology and disappointment.

Looking at the expression on her face, Jiang Yi suddenly realized that she had mentioned on the phone that she was here on business, and had even canceled the nightly bedtime routine, which showed that she was really busy.

She waved her hand with a smile: "It's okay. We know who the other person is now anyway. They can't hide forever. Let's make another appointment when you're less busy. I'll take you to eat all the delicious food in Ancheng then."

Gu Lei looked up at Bao Zi's understanding smile and felt her guilt was about to overflow.

How could her darling be so kind? It was their first formal meeting, and she hadn't even been able to give him a proper promise, yet he still smiled and said there was no rush.

"I'll definitely come to see you once I'm done with this busy period." Her voice was a few decibels lower than usual, but every word was filled with undisguised seriousness.

Jiang Yi couldn't help but laugh when she saw how serious she looked, as if she wanted to sign a written agreement. She said, "Okay, it's settled then."

But she didn't really take it seriously.

She knew how heavy the burden was on the shoulders of the eldest son of a large family like Gu Lei.

She's the kind of idle person who does nothing all day but has someone else take care of everything at home; she's not on the same wavelength as other people at all.

Gu Lei didn't know what Jiang Yi was thinking. She only saw the smile on Bao Zi's face. The smile was very light, as if she had just casually replied to a polite remark.

Her heart tightened; she felt that Baozi was probably unhappy.

She opened her mouth as if to say something to make amends, but in the end, she said nothing.

She had no other choice; this was the only way she could stay with her properly in the future.

The dinner party finally got down to business amidst Cheng Xuyan's eager anticipation and Jiang Ren's utter boredom.

Gu Lei picked up her wine glass and turned to Jiang Ren, her tone returning to its usual cool and indifferent tone. She asked if Young Master Jiang could help make a connection, as she wanted to meet Jiang Ran.

Jiang Ren put down her chopsticks, remained silent for a moment, and then shook her head: "It's not that I don't want to help you, but no one in the Jiang family can make any decisions for Jiang Ran... Not to mention you, even we have to make an appointment in advance if we want to see her, and we're not even sure we can get one."

He paused, his tone carrying an undisguised helplessness, "You must have heard something about her relationship with the Jiang family, Young Master Gu."

Gu Lei's fingers tightened unconsciously as she held the wine glass.

She knew that Jiang Ran had a cold relationship with the Jiang family, but she didn't expect it to be this cold.

In other words, the rumors about Jiang Ran starting from scratch and working hard in Linjiang are true... She really has become so estranged from the Jiang family that even her relatives have to rely on luck to see her.

Jiang Yi was eating with her head down when she heard Gu Lei mention Xiao Ran, and her ears immediately perked up.

She still had half a shrimp in her mouth, but her eyes already held a subtle wariness.

She put down her chopsticks, picked up her juice, took a sip, and casually interjected, "What do you want with Xiaoran?"

Gu Lei turned her head and looked at Baozi's obviously wary face, and her heart skipped a beat.

She didn't want to lie to her, but she also couldn't tell Baozi that she was competing with Jiang Ran for the same project and trying to figure out Jiang Ran's true intentions. How could she tell Baozi such a thing?

She carefully considered her words and answered evasively, "There are some disagreements on the same project, and I would like to know Ms. Jiang's true thoughts."

Jiang Yi stared at her for a while, but probably couldn't find anything suspicious on her face, so she lowered her head and continued eating, only saying lightly that Xiao Ran wasn't someone anyone could meet.

Gu Lei secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was good that Baozi didn't ask any further questions.

Meanwhile, Cheng Xuyan and Jiang Ren, sitting opposite each other, were exchanging silent glances.

Cheng Xuyan watched as Gu Lei's gaze never left Jiang Yi for more than three seconds from the moment she entered the room. Then, seeing the slight upturn of her lips every time she served food to Jiang Yi, and the rare hint of nervousness she showed when Jiang Yi questioned her earlier, he suddenly understood everything.

He picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp, mouthing to Jiang Ren, "It's over...it's all over."

The dinner party drew to a close amidst the lively atmosphere, everyone preoccupied with their own thoughts.

Standing at the entrance of the club, Gu Lei's tone and expression when saying goodbye to Jiang Yi were completely different from when they were at the dinner table. It was just a very ordinary "see you next time," but when she said it, it carried a hint of reluctance and solemnity, as if it would be a long time before they met again.

Cheng Xuyan stood by and watched this scene, and in his mind, he cursed himself again for being so excited in the afternoon when he changed into the pink suit.

He patted Jiang Ren on the shoulder and said, "Let's go, I'll take you home."

Jiang Ren said "oh" and added, "Don't take tonight's events too seriously."

Cheng Xuyan didn't reply, but just glanced at Jiang Yi, who was smiling and waving goodbye to Gu Lei not far away, and then silently wrote eight words in his heart: "Bringing art into the room, I regret it now."