[My whole life is lived just to love you — Xi Siyuan]
"I heard your wedding date with Ning An is almost set. Are you two really getting married?"
Today was the welcome banquet for Qin Wang's childhood friend.
Ning An had been delayed downstairs asking for directions, never expecting to arrive just in time to hear them discussing her.
Through the crack in the door, Ning An looked, along with the others, at the man sitting in the central booth.
Qin Wang lounged lazily on the sofa, the liquor in his glass sloshing with his movements, casting a dreamy halo against the glass rim.
His gentle voice delivered words as cold and indifferent as his expression: "My family is pushing hard."
The childhood friend Gu Ximian let out a whistle. "What about Tang Meng, then? You two finally got back together after all this effort—are you really willing to let her go again?"
Tang Meng?
Ning An's body trembled, her grip on the door handle tightening abruptly.
Years had passed, yet hearing Qin Wang's ex-girlfriend's name from their lips still left her heart in turmoil.
Qin Wang and Tang Meng had gotten back together?
Right before he and she were about to set their wedding date?
Still clinging to a shred of desperate hope, Ning An held her breath and listened closely, praying it was just idle banter among friends, hoping Qin Wang would deny it.
The others also looked at Qin Wang one after another.
Qin Wang drank unhurriedly. "Of course."
Gu Ximian asked again, "How are you going to explain this to your parents?"
Qin Wang curled his lips with utter indifference. "They just want Ning An and me to get married and have kids sooner."
Ning An felt a buzzing in her head, as if she had been struck by a heavy blow and plunged into an icy cave. Chill rose from the soles of her feet, freezing her entire body.
She and Qin Wang were childhood sweethearts who had grown up together.
When Qin Wang suddenly proposed to her, she thought her unrequited crush had finally come true and that she could escape the fiery pit of the Xiao Family.
Never did she imagine she was merely a tool he used to appease his parents and fulfill his duty of carrying on the family line.
The boy who once cherished and cared for her was now ruthlessly using her as a shield.
"What about Ning An?"
People in their circle played hard, and having a wife and a mistress living in the same residential complex was hardly rare. Gu Ximian was unfazed. "Your grandmother treats her like her own granddaughter. Aren't you afraid Ning An will kick up a fuss when she finds out?"
"She won't."
Qin Wang's voice was certain. "An'an is very sensible. She won't do anything to put both families in a difficult position."
For years, the Xiao Family had been desperately trying to squeeze into the upper-crust social circle.
Having finally secured a matrimonial alliance with the Qin family, if their engagement were canceled, Ning An would lose her value as the adopted daughter of the Xiao Family.
Most importantly of all, Ning An loved him.
The others exchanged glances and burst into laughter.
"Ha, Wang's still the smart one."
Looking at the handsome face of Qin Wang that she had been so infatuated with, laughing heartlessly just like the others.
Ning An suddenly felt like he was a stranger, as if she had never known him at all.
Her blood ran cold, sorrow and anger intertwining as a churning wave of nausea rose to her throat.
Unconsciously, Ning An tightened her grip on the door handle, her fingers turning white, her nails digging into her flesh without her feeling a thing.
"Want to crash the party?"
A deep, pleasant voice suddenly exploded beside her ear.
At some unknown moment, a tall man had appeared behind her.
Ning An gave a start, snapping back to reality.
She slowly turned around, dazed and stunned.
The man was half a head taller than Qin Wang, with a high bridge of the nose, sword-like brows, and star-bright eyes. A pair of amber eyes were particularly striking—deep, cold, yet impossible to look away from, like a poppy.
Wasn't he the man who had stopped her downstairs to ask for directions just a moment ago?
"Need help?"
Xi Siyuan asked again. His voice rumbled with the steady, resonant resonance of a cello, like a whisper from a distant time and space.
Ning An's dark eyes flickered, tempted. "How do we crash it?"
Xi Siyuan looked at her. "However you want to crash it. You're the star of the show, I'll follow your lead."
The word "Okay" was right on the tip of her tongue when Ning An suddenly thought of the children at the orphanage.
If she crashed the party and word got back to her adoptive father, the orphanage's donations would definitely be in jeopardy.
After their engagement, the Qin family had announced funding for the orphanage.
The moment her engagement to Qin Wang ceased to exist, the Qin family would also cancel the funding.
If the new orphanage building couldn't be built, the children would have to remain in the dilapidated old building.
Qin Wang had her pegged on this exact point, which was why he was so certain she wouldn't dare make a scene.
Ning An re-examined the man before her: dressed in black shirt and black pants, hands in his pockets, casual and lazy, yet unable to conceal his noble aura. Under the dim lights, he possessed an oppressive, unangered majesty.
Gu Ximian's welcome banquet had booked the entire club, and anyone who could get in was someone of standing in the circle.
For him to say such a thing meant he wasn't afraid of offending Gu Ximian.
"I've never crashed a party, I don't know how," Ning An said evenly. "How about you demonstrate?"
Xi Siyuan curved his lips into a smile. "Alright."
He placed one hand on her shoulder, gently pushing her away from the doorway, raised his foot, and kicked the private room door open with a loud *bang*.
Having finished the demonstration, Xi Siyuan looked back at her. "Did you learn?"
Ning An: "..."
She learned.
It was just a bit hard on the feet.
The din inside the private room instantly ceased.
Several heads turned in unison like sunflowers, and then all sprang up as if their seats had caught fire.
"Xi, Xi Shaoye?"
"Good day, Xi Shaoye."
Every single one of them was as well-behaved as elementary school students shouting greetings to their teacher in class.
Qin Wang spotted Ning An immediately, his gaze landing on the hand resting on her shoulder.
"An'an."
He walked over and pulled Ning An to his side. "Why are you with President Xi..."
"Why is everyone standing?"
A sweet voice came from outside the door, cutting Qin Wang off.
Qin Wang's expression shifted, and he abruptly looked up toward the entrance.
The others in the private room looked as though they had been struck by an immobilization spell, every single one of their faces painted with a riot of colorful expressions.
Ning An felt as though she had been struck by lightning.
She had heard this voice before.
It was the voice that had come through the phone late last night when she was on a call with Qin Wang.
Yet hadn't Qin Wang said he was attending Gu Ximian's private gathering for childhood friends and that there were no outsiders?
Still refusing to give up, holding onto a final sliver of hope, Ning An turned around, her pupils instantly shrinking.
It really was Tang Meng!
Tang Meng did not recognize Ning An. Seeing everyone staring blankly at her, she asked in utter puzzlement, "Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Her tone was familiar, like someone speaking to her close friends.
Seeing Qin Wang holding Ning An's hand, Tang Meng's expression shifted slightly as she walked toward him. "Awang, who is she..."
"Busy person, you're finally here."
Gu Ximian abruptly shouted to cut Tang Meng off.
He darted over to her in a flash, as if his tail were on fire, signaling to her frantically with his eyes.
"You said you were busy yesterday and didn't reply to my messages for the longest time, I thought you weren't coming."
Eye signals were something only those closely acquainted could understand.
Gu Ximian and Tang Meng were clearly very close.
While she, even though engaged to his childhood friend Qin Wang, was still viewed in his eyes as nothing more than Qin Wang's little follower.
"I had a bit of time before my next interview, so I came over to say hello to everyone first."
Not catching his hints, Tang Meng smiled in reply and walked straight toward Qin Wang.
"Awang."
Tang Meng stood beside Qin Wang as if staking her claim, looking curiously at Ning An. "Who is she..."
Qin Wang decisively let go of Ning An, introducing them just as he had when he and Tang Meng had first started dating: "She's An'an."
Back then he introduced her as his little sister; now their relationship had changed, yet he completely avoided mentioning that she was his fiancée.
"Oh, so you're An'an."
Tang Meng came to a sudden realization. "You've gotten prettier as you've grown up, I almost didn't recognize you."
With that, she cast a playful, reproachful glance at Qin Wang. "You two brother and sister are still as close as ever."
Qin Wang glanced at her, but made no effort to correct her words.
"Awang and I are fiancé and fiancée now."
Ning An clenched her fists, meeting the astonished gazes of everyone present, and looked back at Qin Wang, demanding, "Didn't you tell Miss Tang that we are already engaged?"
At least for now, she was Qin Wang's publicly known, properly engaged fiancée through a formal ceremony.
Whereas Tang Meng was the third party who had intruded into her relationship with her fiancé, hiding away like a street rat unfit to be seen in public.