Chapter 32

Chapter 32: 032 – Getting Noticed

“Weren’t you always the type who didn’t even bother remembering a woman’s name?” the Xie young lord pressed.

And then, as if something snapped into place, he remembered the moment at the hotel entrance—the car slowing for no reason, the security guard suddenly opening the gate like he’d received an order from above.

“Old Fu. Back at the door, you…”

Fu Yan Shi closed the script with a quiet finality. His eyes didn’t lift, his face calm enough to make people doubt their own senses.

“Keep talking,” he said.

How could the Xie young lord still care about gossip now? All he could see was the crack in Fu Yan Shi’s usual indifference.

“Brother Shi, don’t scare me.” He lowered his voice, suddenly serious. “That woman’s already been claimed by the Wang family. The Wang family isn’t much in our eyes, but Qiao Qing Yan’s reputation… it’s not good. If your family finds out, it’ll be chaos.”

A Lang finally caught up, alarmed enough to forget himself.

“A Shi—what does Young Master Xie mean? What happened at the door earlier… you…”

He swallowed hard. “Don’t tell me you actually fell for Qiao…”

“You can’t,” he rushed on, words tumbling out. “Forget Madam Wang for a second—just the Jin Ying Festival mess and that casting-couch scandal, she can’t clear any of it. Someone covered in stains like that—”

“Shh.”

Fu Yan Shi lifted a hand. Not angry. Not loud. Just enough to shut the room down.

A Lang bit his tongue so hard he tasted blood. Earlier, Fu Yan Shi had said there were too many reporters at the front entrance and he didn’t want to be swarmed, so he’d gone in through the back alone.

A Lang had still been responsible for another artist. Seeing the Xie young lord and Yan Di together, he’d relaxed and stepped away.

Now he regretted it so much his stomach churned.

That Qiao Qing Yan… she was like a ghost that wouldn’t go away. The more he thought about it, the more paranoid he became—half convinced she’d planned it on purpose, just to get Yan Di’s attention.

*

It had happened about 10 minutes before the banquet started.

Fu Yan Shi had never liked banquets. Tonight was just a formality—show his face, make the rounds, leave.

His frenemy wanted to see an old acquaintance, so Fu Yan Shi gave him a ride.

But as their car approached the hotel’s back entrance, a nanny van sat in the lane like a wall.

“Yan Di…” the driver muttered under his breath. “That looks like a Ju Hui artist’s van. Why are they using the back entrance?”

Fu Yan Shi heard it and looked up.

Near the gate, a girl in casual clothes stood talking to a security guard. The guard kept shaking his head, gesturing impatiently for them to leave.

Then, a minute later, a long, slim leg in glittering high heels stepped down from the nanny van.

The Xie young lord sucked in a sharp breath. “Damn. Where did this goddess come from? That’s illegal.”

He’d seen plenty of beauties, but this one was almost unfair—like someone had taken an enchantress from an art scroll and dropped her into the real world.

Slim and graceful, she moved with an effortless sway, each step deliberate, as if she already knew every eye would follow.

Fu Yan Shi watched the faint shimmer along her waist as she walked. For the first time, he understood the old line—Huan Huan, a slender Chu-palace waist.

He had the absurd thought that he could wrap his hand around it with a single grasp.

The Xie young lord’s pulse spiked so hard he swore he was one more stare away from a nosebleed.

Outside, the security guard still wouldn’t budge. Even after the beauty produced an invitation, he kept waving her and her assistant back, stubborn as stone.