With that, he opened the gift box right in front of everyone, took out the limited-edition bag, and showed it off.
Two girls nearby gasped. "Qian Chen! I tried to reserve one before and couldn't even get it. You actually managed to get it in advance!"
"It's a global limited edition, too! So many people want to buy it, but they can't!"
"Qian Chen, you are really too good to Wanning!"
Qian Chen looked at Chu Wanning with a rather smug expression, eagerly waiting for her to accept his gift.
Yet Chu Wanning's attitude remained cold, her expression unchanged. Indifferently, she said, "Thank you, but I don't really need it."
With that, Chu Wanning took Lin Dong's arm and sat down.
Qian Chen wasn't particularly surprised by the rejection; after all, he had been pursuing Wanning for so long that he was already used to it.
But when he saw that Chu Wanning was actually holding Lin Dong's arm, his expression changed drastically. Murderous intent flashed in his eyes, and he asked coldly, "Wanning, is this your friend?"
Several friends nearby couldn't help feeling awkward. They hurried over to Qian Chen's ear and whispered an explanation of the relationship between Lin Dong and Chu Wanning.
Upon hearing this, Qian Chen flew into a rage and rushed toward Chu Wanning in a single stride.
He opened his mouth to speak, but realizing his attitude was unseemly, he took a few deep breaths to calm his emotions, and said as evenly as possible:
"Wanning, I know you don't like me, but you didn't have to find some country bumpkin just to disgust me!"
With that, Qian Chen looked Lin Dong up and down. At a glance, he saw that Lin Dong was wearing clothes entirely devoid of design or branding, with not a single accessory on him. Aside from being rather handsome, he was utterly worthless.
While Qian Chen could maintain a shred of composure toward Chu Wanning, his attitude toward Lin Dong was extremely hostile.
"You little punk, if you don't want to die, get the hell out of here right now, and stay away from Wanning from now on!"
The only reason Lin Dong had come here was to provide cover for Chu Wanning. He had no intention of getting mixed up in other people's disputes, let alone entangling himself with Qian Chen.
Therefore, even though Qian Chen was being aggressive and overbearing, Lin Dong simply treated him with calm indifference, completely ignoring him.
It was Chu Wanning who stepped forward, laying their betrothal agreement directly on the table.
"Qian Chen, my engagement to Lin Dong today was decided by Elder! It was set many years ago!"
Qian Chen snatched up the betrothal agreement. Looking at the date and Elder's signature upon it, his mind went completely blank.
With the intricate connections among the four major families, Qian Chen naturally wouldn't dare speak ill of Elder.
Yet he refused to accept Chu Wanning's engagement no matter what.
All of his overwhelming rage could only be vented upon Lin Dong.
Qian Chen calmly placed the betrothal agreement back on the table, glared fiercely at Lin Dong, and said with condescension:
"I wondered who it was—so it's you!"
"The Lin Family!"
"Lin Dong!"
"Lin Dong, what qualifications do you have to be by Wanning's side now? What do you even have? Without the backing of a family, right now you're nothing more than a maggot in the gutter!"
"You have no ability, no capital—do you even match up to Wanning?"
"You're just hoping to ride on Wanning's coattails and live off a woman, aren't you?!"
The others also chimed in with whispers:
"I must say, Lin Dong really looks like a spineless kept man."
"Aside from looking good, he's a total nothing."
"If Wanning really marries him, it'll be a complete waste."
Hearing everyone's discussion, Lin Dong gave a faint smile and stood up unhurriedly.
He looked Qian Chen up and down, then suddenly burst out laughing.
"Ha!"
When the laughter subsided, he cast a mocking glance at the people present and said:
"Even if someone wanted to live off a woman, at least they'd have to actually be a man first."
Everyone looked bewildered, failing to grasp the meaning of Lin Dong's words.
Only Qian Chen's expression suddenly turned gloomy.
Lin Dong looked at Qian Chen and said with a smile:
"Qian Chen, why don't you tell us—do you even still count as a man?"
Qian Chen flew into a fury and roared, "If I'm not a man, are you?!"
Lin Dong smiled. "Having grown up surrounded by women, you've over-exhausted your essence and recklessly abused restorative tonics. You may be in your early twenties, but your kidneys are worse off than a seventy-year-old's."
"To put it bluntly: you simply can't perform!"
Qian Chen's emotions instantly flared into a rage. He slammed his hand hard onto the table, charged right up to Lin Dong, grabbed him by the collar, and roared: "You're the one who can't perform! How dare you slander me? If you can't produce evidence right now, I'll cripple you!"
After all, when trying to slander a man, the most effective method was to claim he was impotent.
And since this sort of thing was impossible to prove on the spot—it wasn't like he could whip it out for inspection—the rest of the people on the scene naturally assumed that Lin Dong had hit a raw nerve and was simply splashing dirty water around at random.
Everyone began to condemn Lin Dong:
"Lin Dong, this tactic of yours is too cheap!"
"Slinging mud below the belt—have you no shame?"
"Unless you can prove Qian Chen is impotent, it only shows what utterly low character you have!"
At this moment, even Chu Wanning felt rather awkward.
They belonged to elite aristocratic families, after all, and usually valued propriety. Jokes below the belt were rarely made.
Especially not baseless slanders like this.
Left with no choice, Chu Wanning tugged at Lin Dong's hand and whispered, "You shouldn't go around saying things like that without proof."
Unfazed, Lin Dong smiled faintly and said with unhurried calm:
"You want proof? I'll get it for you."
With that, Lin Dong suddenly reached out with lightning speed. Before Qian Chen could even react, he pulled two packets of medicine from the inner lining of Qian Chen's jacket and scattered them across the table in full view of everyone.
"Sildenafil?"
"Tadalafil?"
Everyone exchanged glances, well aware of what these drugs were used for.
Lin Dong smiled and explained: "Let me translate for you. This is what's commonly known as Viagra, and the other is a delay pill."
With that, he looked at Qian Chen and asked cheerfully: "If you're fully capable, what are you doing carrying Viagra around with you?"
The expression on Qian Chen's face was a masterpiece—shock, astonishment, and shame flashed across it in succession.
"You!"
"How did you know?!"
Faced with ironclad evidence, Qian Chen had no way to explain himself.
He was simply stunned: exactly how had Lin Dong found out?
Without explaining how he had discovered them, Lin Dong delivered a barbed remark: "Because you're limp."
Qian Chen was beside himself with rage.
"You!"
Yet there was nothing he could do.
After all, for a man, this was simply too humiliating. No matter what he did now, it would only look like the impotent fury of a defeated man.
The atmosphere in the entire room plunged into an awkward silence, and no one present knew what to say.
After a moment of quiet, it was Chu Wanning who first broke the deadlock.
She glanced at Qian Chen and said calmly:
"Any medical issues can be treated later. Let's not discuss these matters today."
With that, she took the documents needed for the project out of her bag.
"We came here today to hold a meeting and discuss the project. Let's talk about that first."