The woman addressed as An Nan turned around, saw the person coming, and slightly raised the curve of her mouth: "Young Master Xi, long time no see. I was at a dinner with colleagues and was about to leave." Her voice was clearly teasing and had a familiarity different from others.
Teased, Xi Shaoqi showed no anger. Instead, he happily stepped closer and complained to the woman in front of him: "An Nan, you're truly a busy person. I've called you so many times but no one answers."
Amid Xi Shaoqi's complaints, An Nan nonchalantly explained: "You know my job; I'm often abroad. When working, my phone needs to be off."
"Okay, I forgive you. But now you must come with me to the room and chat with me. Who knows when I will see you next time if you don't," Xi Shaoqi spoke as if afraid she might escape, tightly holding her wrist.
Facing Xi Shaoqi's proposal, An Nan hesitated: "Is it okay? I don't know your friends." An Nan guessed he was dining with friends since the fourth floor had large rooms, and if it were with elders, he wouldn't have invited her.
An Nan knew this man's identity, the renowned Third Young Master of the Xi Family in B City, a person born as a favoured child of Heaven. Naturally, his friends also held extraordinary backgrounds, exactly the kind of circle she didn't want to involve herself with.
For Xi Shaoqi, An Nan's worries were trivial: "No worries, just a few childhood friends, it's fine." As he finished speaking, he nervously watched An Nan, fearing her departure. If she left now, it would be ages until their next meeting, so keeping her here today was essential.
Think of him, Xi Shaoqi, in this B City, who wouldn't give him some face? Only this woman never treated him differently.
In his urgency, he simply tugged on her wrist with force, pulling her back towards the room he had just left.
Third Young Master Xi returned not with the wine but instead brought back an average-looking woman, immediately causing wolf-like hollering and jeering in the room: "Wow, wow, Young Master Xi, where did you pick up this beauty from?"
"Yeah, exactly, where's our wine? You didn't steal a sip, did you, Young Master Xi?"
"Wow, wow, beauty, when did you meet our Young Master Xi?"
...
The woman brought back by Third Young Master Xi might not be pretty, but everyone gave face and flattered her.
Xi Shaoqi knew these people were usually wild and playful, and it was normal that their words sometimes carried a suggestive tone, but An Nan was different; she wasn't part of this scene.
His eyes turned cold, warning the surrounding crowd. Though Xi Shaoqi usually had a cheerful disposition, when he stopped smiling, he was intimidating. After all, coming from such a family, without capability and authority, no one would believe it. His cold-eyed warning made everyone stop their antics and made them understand one thing: this woman was different for their Third Young Master Xi.
After warning everyone, Xi Shaoqi nervously explained to the person he had brought: "An Nan, don't listen to these naughty kids. Just consider their talk as nonsense."
After giving his advice, Xi Shaoqi then introduced the person beside him to the curious onlookers: "This is An Nan, my high school classmate. Haven't seen her in ages, just ran into her in the hallway, so I invited her to join us for a meal."