Isn’t money good?

Chapter 18

The most important audience member, Ye Peiyuan, hadn’t arrived yet, so Yan Shiqiu exchanged a glance with Ji Yunnian before lowering his head to play his match-three game.

Sheng You happily ran over to Ji Yunnian, and after the two met up, they walked over to the Xu Rui with smiles and laughter, forming a small group to chat.

After the few people who had initially tried to cause trouble were scared away by Sheng You, no one else approached Yan Shiqiu. He stayed alone in the corner, enjoying the solitude and happily playing games and eating.

When Ye Peiyuan arrived, he was immersed in his game.

“What are you playing?”

Hearing someone ask him, he instinctively replied, “Match-three.”

Looking up, he saw Ye Peiyuan standing before him against the light, gazing at him affectionately.

Tsk, that look in his eyes. You’re the real movie star of this generation.

Adjusting his emotions in a second and quickly getting into character, Yan Shiqiu’s eyebrows relaxed as he broke into a big smile. “Brother Peiyuan, you’re here.”

“Did you wait long?”

Ye Peiyuan gently squeezed his hand.

Yan Shiqiu responded obediently, “No.”

Ye Peiyuan chuckled, took a rose from the vase on the table, broke off the stem, and tucked it into the pocket on his chest, saying gently, “Sorry, I had a lot of company business to handle and was busy the whole time. I didn’t have time to bring you flowers, so let this temporarily make up for it.”

Looking down at the rose on his chest, Yan Shiqiu’s mouth twitched as his mind was flooded with “What the hell.”

Too perfunctory, way too perfunctory!

This is it? Just how love-brained was the original character written to be!

Pretending to be shy, Yan Shiqiu shook his head. “It’s okay.”

Ye Peiyuan released his hand. “I still have things to do, so enjoy yourself.”

“Okay.”

Hurry up and leave, hurry up and leave.

“Oh, right.”

Ye Peiyuan suddenly leaned in closer, startling Yan Shiqiu, who instinctively shrank back.

Realizing in time, he froze and stopped moving.

“Brother Peiyuan?”

“Xiao Qiu doesn’t want to be separated from me either, right? Once today’s matter is handled well, my family won’t oppose our relationship anymore. So, don’t fail again. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to separate from you.”

After saying this, Ye Peiyuan stepped back, smiled at him gently, then turned and left.

Yan Shiqiu: “…”

Hahahahahaha, that’s exactly what I want!

Once Ye Peiyuan was far away, Yan Shiqiu immediately removed the rose from his chest, stuffed it back into the vase, then quickly walked toward the restroom.

He carefully washed his hands three times. Hearing footsteps, Yan Shiqiu looked up and saw Ji Yunnian in the mirror.

“What are you doing in here?”

Ji Yunnian was very direct. “Looking for you.”

Yan Shiqiu looked at him with a question mark face: “?”

“What did Ye Peiyuan just say to you? Your expression looked off.”

“Probably, a threat?”

Yan Shiqiu found it quite amusing. Those words should have been very effective on the love-brained original character, but unfortunately, he wasn’t the original character.

“Don’t worry, whatever he says, my decision won’t change. I won’t let you drink that glass of wine.” He turned around to face Ji Yunnian and tilted his head. “Besides, don’t you have a backup Plan B?”

With his eyebrows curved, he smiled brilliantly. “If you don’t, then I’d be flattered. I didn’t expect you to trust me so much.”

Ji Yunnian: “…”

He must have had water in his brain to follow in here out of concern.

“You’re overthinking it!” Ji Yunnian scoffed and strode away after dropping this line.

Yan Shiqiu couldn’t help but laugh, watching the irritated Ji Yunnian leave the restroom, then called out to his retreating figure: “Thank you.”

He understood Ji Yunnian’s good intentions.

Ji Yunnian’s steps paused before he continued walking.

At six o’clock, the banquet officially began.

The host Xu Rui gave a few remarks on stage, then left the remaining time for guests to mingle freely.

In the several-hundred-square-meter banquet hall, men and women with smiles on their faces moved about, their conversations mixing with the violin and piano music in the venue, weaving together a lively scene of clinking glasses and socializing.

Yan Shiqiu stayed in the corner, and since no one bothered him, he enjoyed the peace.

At this moment, several socialites passed by him. Noticing him, they proudly raised their heads and snorted at him.

Yan Shiqiu: “…”

Yan Shiqiu wasn’t annoyed in the slightest. Instead, he smiled and raised the cocktail in his hand, gesturing to them.

He was indeed handsome, especially since he had dressed up specially today. Under the bright lights of the banquet hall, his face was illuminated, making him even more strikingly beautiful.

When he smiled, he became even more dazzling and captivating.

The several girls immediately blushed and quickly walked away.

After standing in the corner for more than half an hour, Yan Shiqiu noticed that Ji Yunnian had already drunk quite a bit of alcohol, understanding that Ye Peiyuan would soon signal him to act.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, he received Ye Peiyuan’s signal from across the room.

Straightening up, Yan Shiqiu took two glasses of red wine from a passing server and walked toward Ji Yunnian.

He deliberately passed by the same people who had caused trouble for him earlier, pretending to accidentally bump into them.

—He needed to find a suitable excuse for accidentally drinking the drugged wine.

“Sorry.” He put down the wine and immediately apologized.

“You did that on purpose!” the person glared at him.

“I really didn’t.” Yan Shiqiu fought for his innocence.

Their arguing attracted everyone’s attention, but no one at the scene came to mediate. They all stood in place watching the show.

Yan Shiqiu glanced at the expressions of the onlookers from the corner of his eye, thinking, They’re treating us like performing monkeys.

Really not friendly at all.

He was sacrificing too much. After this was over, he’d have to ask Ji Yunnian for compensation for emotional damages!

“I really didn’t do it on purpose. We have no grudge against each other, I don’t even know you. Why would I deliberately bump into you?” Yan Shiqiu earnestly played the innocent victim, with his tone and expression perfectly calibrated.

“You—”

The person became furious but couldn’t say that they had deliberately spoken badly about and insulted Yan Shiqiu in front of him earlier. Their face turned bright red.

In their rage, they raised their hand to hit Yan Shiqiu but were stopped by Xu Rui. “Enough.”

“And you, don’t cause trouble at my banquet.” Xu Rui turned to look at Yan Shiqiu, speaking coldly.

“Sorry.” Yan Shiqiu lowered his head and apologized sincerely.

Xu Rui looked at him with some surprise and hummed in acknowledgment.

The drama ended, the onlookers gradually dispersed, and Yan Shiqiu quickly switched the order of the wine glasses, picked up the two glasses again, and walked to Ji Yunnian.

People nearby glanced over.

Curious and puzzled.

Yan Shiqiu curved his lips: “Let me toast you, to apologize for what happened before, and because we worked together very well on the show the other day.”

Oh, so they had worked together.

Huh?! Worked together on a show?!

Everyone was shocked, feeling like they had missed out on major gossip. But some people knew and quietly started explaining.

The speaker was a fan of Ji Yunnian and had nothing good to say about Yan Shiqiu. After hearing the explanation, everyone thought Ji Yunnian definitely wouldn’t accept and wouldn’t possibly drink with Yan Shiqiu.

Then their jaws dropped.

Not only did Ji Yunnian accept it!

He even drank it!

But the next second, their jaws dropped to the floor in even greater shock.

After Yan Shiqiu finished his wine and had just put down his glass, his body swayed, his cheeks flushed red, and he fell straight forward into Ji Yunnian’s arms.

Although he knew Yan Shiqiu would drink the drugged wine, seeing him collapse immediately after drinking was something he hadn’t anticipated. He was stunned for several seconds.

Coming to his senses, he composed himself and quickly entered the pre-determined script.

“Wake up.” He patted Yan Shiqiu’s face.

Disturbed, Yan Shiqiu made an “mm” sound from his nasal cavity, which sounded more like a moan. He continued to keep his eyes closed, his limbs soft as he leaned against Ji Yunnian.

“Drunk?”

Sheng You poked Yan Shiqiu a few times and asked.

“Seems like it.” Ji Yunnian replied with a stern face.

“I’ll go find Ye Peiyuan.” Sheng You said.

“He just left with Xu Rui.” someone told them.

Looking at Ji Yunnian, Sheng You said, “Then what should we do?”

Ji Yunnian said indifferently, “You and I will take him to a guest room together.”

“It seems that’s the only option.”

Sheng You frowned, reached out to support one of Yan Shiqiu’s arms, and together with Ji Yunnian, one on each side, they helped him out of the banquet hall.

Once in the elevator with the doors closed, Sheng You immediately asked, “How was it? Did I act well enough?”

“Not bad.” Ji Yunnian praised him.

“I think so too.” He narcissistically touched his chin, then turned his gaze to the unconscious Yan Shiqiu. “What about him? Will Ye Peiyuan come looking for him later?”

“He will, so we need to get him out of here immediately.”

“Ah? Neither you nor I can take him. Who’s going to do it?”

Ji Yunnian glanced at him. “Wen Chen.”

The elevator stopped at the underground parking garage, where Wen Chen was already waiting. Seeing Ji Yunnian and Sheng You supporting Yan Shiqiu as they approached, he got out of the car and quickly walked over.

“What happened to Shiqiu?”

“He’s drunk.”

Wen Chen smiled helplessly. “Then I’ll take him away.”

“Thank you.”

“Wait.” Calling Wen Chen back, Ji Yunnian said, “Find a doctor to check on him later. He seems to be having an allergic reaction to alcohol. His skin is abnormally red.”

Wen Chen was stunned for a moment, then nodded. “Alright.”

Watching Wen Chen’s car drive away, Sheng You hummed meaningfully while looking at Ji Yunnian. “You asked Wen Chen to find a doctor because you’re worried about Yan Shiqiu, aren’t you? You don’t dislike him anymore?”

“I just value life. We don’t know what was in that drug. If something happens, I’d feel guilty.”

“Stubborn. You two were even able to work together to deceive Ye Peiyuan.”

Sheng You changed the subject and asked, “Speaking of which, what’s really going on? What you said earlier was unclear. Now that we have time, explain it to me properly.”

Ji Yunnian didn’t hide anything from him. He organized his thoughts and explained everything from beginning to end.

“Damn, Ye Peiyuan is really despicable. Unable to win against your family through legitimate means, he resorts to such underhanded tactics.” Sheng You cursed.

After cursing for a while, he asked curiously, “So what’s up with Yan Shiqiu? Doesn’t he like Ye Peiyuan anymore?”

Ji Yunnian was silent for a moment, then shook his head. “I don’t know either.”

Sheng You pressed the elevator button, put his hands behind his head, and joked, “He didn’t fall for you, did he?”

Ji Yunnian glanced at him coldly. “What nonsense are you thinking?”

The elevator arrived and the doors opened. They walked in, and Sheng You, with a face full of smiles, bumped Ji Yunnian’s shoulder. “Seriously, if he really did fall for you, what would you do?”

Ji Yunnian knew Sheng You wouldn’t stop unless he answered, so he was direct: “I’d make him give up. I would never like him.“