While Quan Xiangru held tightly, Quan Yu held even tighter. Ning Guiwan distinctly felt pain in her left shoulder. She struggled subtly, making no outward sign, but the man's grip only tightened.
Ning Guiwan furrowed her brows. Her dress was sleeveless; the man's palm was warm and coarse. The intimacy of their skin-to-skin contact made her deeply uncomfortable.
However, Quan Yu's expression was truly frightening. Ning Guiwan didn't want to anger him, so she stopped resisting.
Shortly after, she felt the hand on her shoulder loosen slightly.
Quan Yu looked down at Ning Guiwan's submissive posture, then raised his chilling gaze to Quan Xiangru. "Your fiancée seems very sad. Aren't you going to comfort her?"
What seemed like a casual remark was clearly a warning to Quan Xiangru.
Quan Xiangru looked at Ning Guiwan. Her head was slightly bowed, her long hair cascading to one side, obscuring half her face and making her expression unreadable. However, the sight of her leaning against Quan Yu was particularly jarring.
Quan Xiangru clenched his fists. After enduring for a long moment, he forced a smile and said in a subdued tone, "Then I won't delay you, Uncle. I'll take my leave."
Quan Yu's tone was indifferent. "No need to see you out."
Quan Xiangru glanced at Ning Guiwan again; the young woman still kept her head down, refusing to meet his eyes.
Only when the sound of his departing footsteps faded did Ning Guiwan finally raise her head. She brushed her hair back from her cheek, not looking in the direction Quan Xiangru had left, but gazing up at Quan Yu. She asked with a smile, "Uncle Yu, what brings you out?" It was as if the preceding scene had never occurred.
Quan Yu quietly observed her charming yet somewhat fawning air, his expression growing even colder.
Under his gaze, Ning Guiwan struggled to maintain her smile. She could tell Quan Yu was in a foul mood but couldn't fathom why he was angry. The atmosphere grew somewhat eerie.
Ning Guiwan's back couldn't help but stiffen. She lowered her gaze to avoid the man's intensely deep stare. Her eyes inadvertently fell upon the large hand grasping her shoulder; the smooth, elegant lines of her feminine form made his hand, by contrast, appear all the more sharply defined.
"Uncle Yu..." Ning Guiwan keenly felt the impropriety of their current posture and shifted her shoulder uneasily.
This time, Quan Yu did indeed let her go.
He took a couple of steps to the side, pulled out a cigarette, and lit it. After exhaling two plumes of thin smoke, his gaze returned to Ning Guiwan.
His gaze felt almost tangible, a pressure that made Ning Guiwan's heart pound erratically.
"It's getting late. Shall we head back?" Ning Guiwan suggested, her gaze falling just below Quan Yu's chin. His slim-fit black shirt perfectly outlined his tall, well-built physique. After speaking, she waited a moment, but he didn't respond.
Ning Guiwan paused, then added, "I'll go back and get my bag. Please wait for me for a moment."
Still, Quan Yu did not respond.
Ning Guiwan offered a slight smile and turned back toward the banquet hall.
She had only taken a few steps when her wrist was suddenly grasped. The next moment, she stumbled back into Quan Yu's arms.
This time, they were face to face. Ning Guiwan could clearly feel the man's breath, tinged with the fresh scent of burning tobacco.
Ning Guiwan's heart suddenly hammered. They were so close she could see her own reflection in Quan Yu's deep brown eyes—her expression a mixture of surprise and fear.
Quan Yu wrapped one arm around her waist. His other hand, holding the cigarette, leisurely tapped ash into a nearby floor-standing ashtray. He began to speak casually, his voice exceptionally deep, "After all these years, are you still thinking about him?"
The situation was like a current partner being possessive about an ex.
Ning Guiwan pressed her hands against Quan Yu's chest, somewhat resistant to such closeness.
Yet, a calm smile touched her lips. "I don't understand what you mean."
Quan Yu looked down at her. He'd never realized this girl was so adept at feigning innocence.
The image of her in Quan Xiangru's arms flashed through his mind. Quan Yu suddenly tightened his embrace, pulling their bodies flush together. He then abruptly bent his head to kiss Ning Guiwan's lips.
Ning Guiwan startled, quickly turning her head to evade him, and blurted out, "Uncle Yu, do you want to kiss me? Like four years ago?"
Quan Yu's lips halted mere millimeters from her cheek.
His nose brushed against Ning Guiwan's cheek, his hot breath fanning across her skin with each exhalation. The air seemed to congeal, making it hard for Ning Guiwan to breathe. Panic seized her heart.
After a moment, she slowly relaxed and lifted her right hand to pinch the collar of Quan Yu's shirt. Against the pure black fabric, her fingers appeared even more translucent, like jade.
Her red lips curved into a captivatingly coy smile. "Someone could come by at any moment. Uncle Yu, are you trying to make me bear the stigma of promiscuity again, to be condemned by everyone?"
Hearing this, Quan Yu slowly released his hold on Ning Guiwan.
He silently took a couple of drags from his cigarette, then looked up at Ning Guiwan's vibrant and alluring face. It was unclear what he was thinking as he chuckled softly, "I thought you'd forgotten all about that night."
Ning Guiwan's fingers suddenly clenched fiercely.
How could she forget?
That day, her mood had been abysmal. She'd gone with her best friend to a basement bar at a club to drown her sorrows. Though young at the time, she could usually hold her liquor, but that night she drank far too much and ended up completely drunk. Someone had led her away from the club's bar; she was conscious but powerless to resist.
Fortunately, Quan Yu had also been at that club. Perhaps she had mistaken him for someone else that night, losing her composure and becoming clingy. Or perhaps it was because Quan Yu himself had also had a few drinks. The two of them had been like dry tinder meeting a spark; though no full blaze erupted, they were definitely ignited.
She remembered every detail, even the sensations.
So, when the media ambushed her at the entrance of the club's hotel the next day, she was frantic and unable to refute their insinuations. Facing Quan Xiangru's questioning, she couldn't explain.
Actually, what those people said wasn't wrong. She truly had lacked self-respect and self-love. Otherwise, how could she have become entangled with an elder she'd respected since childhood?
"I know…" Ning Guiwan gazed at the nearby window, her voice so soft she could barely hear it herself. "We were both drunk that night. You didn't mean for it to happen, and I was also at fault."
Therefore, when she saw Quan Yu again four years later, she never mentioned what happened that night.
If his behavior hadn't been so strange tonight, she might never have brought it up in her entire life.
"You have always been a respected elder to me. You were in the past, you are now, and you always will be."