C10 A Loss Of Face

Mu Qingzhu’s limbs were still scattered on the ground. She sat there helpless, feeling all kinds of disdainful eyes on her disgraced figure on the floor. She felt a bone-piercing pain emanating from her palm. She looked down to uncover the source of the pain and saw to her surprise warm liquid flowing freely from her hand. She guessed that a shard of the broken glass from the red wine flute had burrowed its way into the flesh of her palm. Blood from the injury smeared across every surface. It was very messy.

But she was feeling so numb that she did not feel any pain at all!

Her face grew visibly paler. She forced a smile on her face to say to the onlookers that she was alright. The neon lights that lit up the venue offered a veil that covered the painful expression on her face.

Wasn’t she asking for this? She deserved this humiliating moment!

She had put herself into other people’s business. This was something that Mu Qingqian had clearly conveyed to her. What right did she have to meddle into the future matters of another proud person? Didn’t she have all she could handle at the moment with her own stinking affairs?

Unable to contain it anymore, tears rolled down unbidden off her face. To bear the pain, she bit down heavily on her teeth. Under the watchful gaze of the surrounding Ruan family employees, Mu Qingzhu picked herself up and pretended nothing had happened.

The figure of Ruan Hanyu was seen at the entrance of the balcony. He had arrived at the banquet at some point in time. His eyes held in them a burning light that surveyed the venue with a casual air.

Everyone was closely watching the commotion being played out before them and had not noticed Ruan Hanyu’s arrival.

Only when Mu Qingzhu had walked out of the doors of the venue was Ruan Hanyu’s presence noted. As she made her way to the front, she saw Ruan Hanyu’s figure standing at the entrance.

Mu Qingzhu’s footsteps were heavy as she trudged towards him. Her red lips were pursed with a tight expression on them. Step by step, she made her way to him.

With an iron grip, Ruan Hanyu blocked her way out. His unique fragrance mixed in with the faint smell of cigar smoke filled her nostrils. The air was already heavily mixed with all kinds of strong perfume smells, but his one-of-a-kind scent still stood out as the dominant aroma to her senses.

Feeling his strong grip on her arm, Mu Qingzhu made the startling discovery that Ruan Hanyu had made it to the event that night.

Unbearably, tendrils of coldness wrapped themselves around her heart.

Did he come to witness first hand her humiliation? He must have seen for himself what had transpired just now. Perhaps it was him who had secretly instigated everything and had led Qian Anrou to come and confront her. Well, if that were so, then he got what he wanted. Due to the scene she had made, she was the talk of the party.

Feeling overwhelmed by the night’s events, Mu Qingzhu was feeling lightheaded. Her body shook uncontrollably. The weight of that day overcame her and her body felt on the verge of collapse.

“Hanyu, you’re here,” Qian Anrou greeted him. Her dark eyes held a light in them when she saw it was Ruan Hanyu. Without further notice, she made her way over to him and put her hands onto Ruan Hanyu’s arms. She will make it a point to stick close to him the entire event.

“Did I miss something? Why is everyone gathered here?” Ruan Hanyu asked in a cold voice, not without looking around first. Tonight he was wearing an expensive white t-shirt and black shorts. His Western-styled hair and slim, well-portioned body gave a classic air to his handsomeness.

“Hanyu, it’s nothing. There was merely a small quarrel between Miss Alice and her cousin Mu Qingqian just now.”

Qian Anrou peered beneath her eyelashes as she said this coyly. Seeing that Ruan Hanyu had a trace of doubt in his eyes, she gave Mu Qingqian a look, prodding her to support her claims.

Mu Qingqian upon setting eyes on the legendary and handsome Ruan Hanyu was already obsessed. Feelings of infatuation oozed from her pores and she could only be drawn even more to Ruan Hanyu’s magnetic aura.

This handsome and rich Ruan Hanyu was the stuff of fantasies and dreams of countless young girls in A City. Many dreamed of gracing his side as the woman on his arm.

Mu Qingqian did not expect to meet him here tonight and had not come prepared with what to say. It was only when Qian Anrou looked at her expectantly with a cold smile on her face that Mu Qingqian woke up from her daze considerably. Wanting to please Qian Anrou, Mu Qingqian had a charming smile on her face as she said, “Director Ruan, Director Qian brought me out here tonight for a night of fun and celebration, but my cousin wanted to put a stop to this. She even used force to try and get me to leave. I was angry and we started fighting. But don’t just have my word for it. Ask everyone around us for details on what happened.”

Inside Ruan Hanyu’s eyes was an inextinguishable light. He seemed to be taking in Mu Qingqian who was standing in front of him and looking at him with clear infatuation. His face held a surprised look on it. He studied the girl’s exquisite little face that reminded him of Mu Qingzhu's. Although they looked very similar, her eyes did not have the same intelligence and charm as that of Mu Qingzhu. Mu Qingzhu had an essence of nobility and transcendence that was only unique to her.

He raised his brows slightly. His face was mocking as he looked at Mu Qingzhu. He could not disguise the contempt he must feel for the woman from reaching his face.

If what Mu Qingqian said was true, Mu Qingzhu had cast aside her image and actually started a brawl in public. Although Mu Qingzhu had an air to her that was oftentimes unapproachable, she did not have it in her for violence.

“Is this true?” His cold eyes peered at Mu Qingzhu ruthlessly as he questioned her.

Mu Qingzhu’s face held a sad and mocking smile. Her attention momentarily turned to the wound on her palm. The broken glass embedded there created a piercing and burning hot sensation in her hand. She clenched her hands tightly into a fist, feeling the waves of pain overcome her. As she suffered, Mu Qingzhu leaned her entire body against the railing of the corridor. Her posture was that like of a fragile porcelain doll too tired to stand upright by itself.

However, there was no denying the cold expression on her face. The pain had cleared her head and she was ready for what was ahead. Her eyes met his gaze full-on and she did not say a word to dissipate the tension.

These last couple of days, her sleep had been restless and this left her exhausted. Even while dreaming, she could not escape the pain and sadness that was her life.

So when Mu Qingqian accused her, she did not have the strength to argue. Ruan Hanyu clearly did not have both sides of the story, but knowing him, he would never believe her.

She felt, especially in this instance, that it would be futile of her to go against everyone with her arguments and explanations.

Humiliation wasn’t everything. In addition, she was more pained by Mu Qingqian’s reaction to her. But she no longer cared about this. Feelings of indifference shadowed her heart. In fact, she could care less of how Ruan Hanyu thought of her now.

Clearly, Mu Qingqian was being puppeted by Qian Anrou. She remembered the complacent and mocking smile Qian Anrou had on her face when she had first gotten up. Qian Anrou was obviously the one making all the moves.

Exhaustion filled her heart. She was very tired!

The fist she made caused fresh blood to slowly drip through the gaps of her fingers. Mu Qingzhu did not seem to notice the bloody mess she was making. Her eyes were deep and bottomless and spoke of the vast coldness she must feel in her heart. No one could care less about her. It was at this moment, Ruan Hanyu looked at her with a despairingly cold and mocking expression on his face.

“Contrary to her title as the top designer in the world, she proves to be narrow-minded and her actions seem to speak of her vulgarity as a person. What a disgrace!” Ruan Hanyu’s voice was endlessly cold. Mu Qingzhu shivered against the cold winds his frosty words brought with it.