"Hey, Miss Shen, so we meet again."
When the group walked over, the man whoâd shown interest in Shen Jingbin that morning when they were in the lounge spoke up first. His peach shaped eyes were filled with delight, but also carried a faint sense of playfulness about them.
Shen Jingbin glanced at him and returned his greeting with a bland âhelloâ before turning her attention to Vv who was behind Xiangpeng and the man.
"Miss Shen, Mr Zhao, will the two of you be free tonight? I was thinking of asking the two of you out to dinner."
Zhao Chengning gestured at the people behind him. "Weâve already made plans for tonight. Youâre too late."
Xiangpeng had a regretful look on his face. "I didnât know you guys were coming earlier. The office just gave me a call and told me to invite you out to eat. I told them that you didnât have the time, but they refused to believe me."
Zhao Chengning laughed. "Thereâs always time in the future if youâre the one inviting me. Donât worry about it this time."
"Thatâs true. Are you planning to go up and have a look around? Letâs go together."
Zhao Chengning nodded before leading the rest of the group inside.
As he was escorting guests with a certain level of status, Xiangpeng decided to swipe his card and use the hotelâs staff lift. The lift was huge, allowing both groups to enter without issue.
It might have been her imagination, but Shen Jingbin got the feeling that the man whoâd greeted her just now was shifting towards her. But, when she looked up at him, he wore the same harmless smile as before.
Shen Jingbinâs face darkened. Just as she was about to make a move, the person beside her tugged her and pulled the two of them apart. Seeing the beauty in front of him being snatched away, Luofeng was about to kick up a fuss when he looked up and saw a pair of black pupils staring at him, causing him to feel a chill run down his spine. Whatever he was planning to say got caught in his throat, and he couldnât bring himself to say anything.
Zhao Chengning didnât hold back against the person who was trying to make a move on his wife. Without any regard for who they were, he unreservedly criticised them. "Thereâs more than enough space in the lift, so thereâs no need for you to keep inching towards my girlfriend."
Either way, itâs not like they could be any higher up on the food chain then he was. Hmph!
The moment he said that everyone in the lift froze. Luofeng, in particular, was most affected by what heâd said.
Luofeng was a God within the cosplaying circle, and he had nearly a million followers on Weibo. This was the very first time heâd been relentlessly reprimanded by someone ever since his rise to fame. Although his actions were indeed thoughtless, he still found Zhao Chengningâs criticism rather hard to bear. However, regardless of how unhappy he felt, he didnât dare to say a word in return because he knew exactly who Zhao Chengning was. All he could was viciously glare at Zhao Chengning before quietly shifting over to the side a little.
Their circle was only so big, so theyâd all worked together before, and through their interactions, they knew just what kind of a person Luofeng was. On the surface, they wondered what was going on and acted as if they didnât know what was happening. However, on the inside, they were looking down on Luofeng.
Xiangpeng glanced between both individuals and felt a little awkward because of his position. So, he decided to remain quiet. With that, the lift fell into an awkward silence.
The lift finally arrived at its destination. The moment it opened, Luofeng was the first to rush out of it towards the lounge. A derisive look flashed by Xiangpengâs face as he glanced at Luofengâs retreating figure, but he remained silent. He told the remainder of his guests to go on ahead to the lounge to get some rest, and that heâd be over shortly. Vv wasnât on the list of guests, so he wouldnât need to attend the autograph session. But, since Yiju had always shown an interest in working with him, Xiangpeng wanted to invite him over to the lounge for a break as well. Unfortunately for him, Vv declined his invitation.
Apparently, Vv said he wasnât interested in hanging around with scum like Luofeng.
This caused Shen Jingbin to see Vv in a new light. He might look cold on the outside, but he was a rather upright individual. Suddenly, she thought back to the rumour that stated he left the cosplaying circle because he couldnât stand the way they did things, which were worse by the day. It looked like there was some truth to the story.
"Sorry about that, Miss Shen. Just because they look a little better than other people, theyâve grown a big head and have gotten used to everyone sucking up to them. They have no sense of propriety. You should stay away from people like them,â Xiangpeng said.
Shen Jingbin waved him off, indicating that it wasnât all that big of a deal. She then turned her attention to Vv, who was standing beside her and said, "Mr Vv, I know a few girls whoâre fans of yours, and theyâd like to have your autograph. Would you be alright with that?"
Vv never expected her to suddenly turn her attention to him, so he froze for a moment. He then noticed the expressions of the girls behind him who were failing spectacularly to hide their excitement. Vv silently wrinkled his eyebrows.
Seeing this, Xiangpeng tugged at Vvâs sleeve, and said, "Vv, just give them a few autographs. Look at how happy meeting you has made them."
Vv nodded. When National Treasures and the rest saw him agree, they immediately pulled out a pen and notebook from their bags and offered them up to him. Shen Jingbin spoke up again just as heâd finished signing National Treasuresâ notebook and was about hand it back to her. "I have a roommate whoâs also a fan of yours. Could you please sign one more autograph? Mm, please make it out to Huajuan."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Vvâs hand froze for a moment. It almost looked as if he found it curious how she knew about making autographs out to other people, even though she wasnât a part of the cosplaying circle. In spite of that, he still retracted the notebook and made out an autograph to Huajuan as well.
Xiangpeng looked at the time and realised that it was about time for him to organise the rest of the guests for the autograph session. He bade farewell to Shen Jingbin and walked off with Vv in tow.
The girls whoâd received an autograph stared at Vvâs retreating figure with starry-eyed infatuation. It was so bad that it ticked off some of the men in their group. Shen Jingbin kept the autograph that National Treasures had torn off for her somewhere safe before realising that Zhao Chengning was looking at her with a profound expression.
"Whatâs wrong?"
Zhao Chengning coughed. "So, you like guys like him?"
Shen Jingbin rolled her eyes and wrapped her arms around him with a smile on her face. "Huajuan is the one who likes him. I just found out about him through her. Heâs not good enough for me to âlikeâ him."
Zhao Chengning didnât say anything, seeming quite satisfied with her answer. She glanced at her arm which was hooked around his and smiled before walking towards the exhibition hall.
The members of Jade Sea Pavilion, whoâd accidentally caught sight of the husband and wife couple, suddenly felt like stabbing their eyes out.
My Guild Leaderâs torturing singles on a daily basis. What should I do?