“I swear, I didn’t do this on purpose. Please give me a chance to make it up to you.”

Of course, Yao Ranwas in tears again.

Given Cheng Zhou’s upbringing, he was understandably appalled to have a girl on her knees in front of him, and a girl who was reaching for his trousers at that.

He hurriedly helped Yao Ranback to her feet.

“It’s all right. I do not think that you did it on purpose, so there’s no need for you to go to such lengths. Now, I’ll have to use one of the guest rooms to change into a more decent outfit. Please excuse me.”

His tone was cold, but his expression was open and gentle.

Yao Ran saw this as a good sign. Her heart thundered inside her chest at their small exchange, and her cheeks turned pink.

She raised her head and looked at Cheng Zhoucoyly through her lashes.

“How about leaving your contact information with me, Sir? We can discuss the subject of repayment for this incident. Please, I insist that I compensate you for my blunder.”

Cheng Zhou glanced atYao Tang. After a brief moment’s consideration, he nodded and handed his business card toYao Ran.

The two girls could be related, after all.

Since he couldn’t get anything out of Cheng Yan, he might as well try and ask aboutYao Tangfrom her own sister.

It was rare enough to find someone so brilliant in the field of medicine, much less a young girl. Cheng Zhoucouldn’t let the opportunity pass; he wanted to know everything aboutYao Tang.

Yao Ran couldn’t stop herself from grinning as she accepted the business card.

A murmur went around the female guests, who were now glaring at her with jealous animosity.

They were all thinking the same thing—how devious Yao Ranwas, manipulating the situation in order to obtain the Young Master Cheng’s contact details. What a fox!

Cheng Yan watched the scene unfold. He took a deep breath and shotCheng Zhoua warning gaze, silently telling the younger man to keep his nose out of this affair.

It was clear to him that Yao Ranwas no simple girl.

The past incident with Yang Ronghad been her doing, too. She had gone so far as to expose it to the public while pinning the blame on someone else. In the end, she had driven her scapegoat to transfer to another school.

The Cheng familyhad no place for someone so cunning and malicious.

Judging by Yao Ran’s personality, it wouldn’t be easy to get rid of her once she had sunk her talons into her target. If anything, all attempts just might lead to further troubles.

She was a very ambitious girl, indeed, too ambitious for her age.

Cheng Zhou sensed the weight of his gaze. He turned to Cheng Yan and smiled before following one of the servants upstairs.

At the same time, Yao Tangsignaled atQin Jingby nodding her head to the side. She would be waiting at the reception area until the commotion finally died down.

With a tacit understanding in place, Yao Tangturned on her heel and walked away from the crowd, her movements light and graceful.

Cheng Yan took this as his cue, and he discarded his wine glass to go and join her.

Qin Jing and her other friends were left there, glaring atYao Ran. Soon,Uncle Wangcame over with a couple of invitations in his hands.

When Qin Jinginspected them, she saw that they were addressed to a small, relatively well-off family.

She recalled that these people were mediating in a business partnership between the Qin family and an underground company.

Qin Jing held the invitation card up and turned toQin Rui.

“Brother, this Guo family… We entered into a transaction with them earlier this year, right? That’s why they were invited to the party?”

Qin Rui pondered for a few seconds before saying, “That’s correct. If I’m not mistaken, we’ve allowed for two guests from their family, but I don’t think I’ve seen them here tonight.”

“Since they don’t seem inclined to pay their respects, then the Guo family has no need for any invitations to any of our family gatherings in the future!” Qin Jingslammed the invitation on the table. “All existing contracts and joint proposals with them will be terminated immediately. The Qin family’s parties are not some roadside show that any crummy wretch could just gatecrash!”

An uproar arose in the crowd.

“The Young Miss Qin is really fearless and resolute!”

“Well, who can blame her? Her family is capable of doing it, anyway, so who are we to stop her? The Guo family are the ones in the wrong this time.”

“Quite true. But if they are cut off, then the Li family, the Wang family, and the Liu family will surely fight over the chance to bag a cooperation with the Qin family.”

“If I were in Miss Qin’s place, I won’t let this go at all. It’s an insult to have my invitation ignored by my supposed guests, only for them to pass it on to people I didn’t want to invite in the first place. That’s just disrespectful!”

“I don’t understand why Yao Ranand her mother are still here. How could they still have the face to linger after everything that Miss Qin said? They should be ashamed of themselves.”

“What do you expect from fake, ambitious snakes, eh? Like mother, like daughter.”