The sickly one in F4 was the group's darling.

Zhou Jianguo's wife, Zhang Yun, had a very pleasant evening; her affair with Mrs. Zhao was purely accidental.

Mrs. Zhao is Zhao Shuo's wife. She is known in the circle for her good temper. When she was getting dessert in the tea and snack area, she was bumped by a clumsy waiter, and her small handbag fell to the ground.

Zhang Yun quickly bent down to pick it up, handed it back with both hands, and added a smile that was both attentive and not too obsequious.

Mrs. Zhao thanked her and casually asked which family she belonged to. She immediately seized the opportunity to casually mention her daughter's connection with Shen Ye, and added that she had "come with Young Master Shen" tonight.

Mrs. Zhao smiled after hearing this, but didn't ask any more questions. However, her attitude was noticeably warmer than before, and she even invited her to sit in the lounge.

Zhang Yun almost fainted from excitement after hearing just that one sentence.

Three ladies were already seated in the lounge. One was wearing a dark green cheongsam, another a pearl necklace, and the third a gray-blue short jacket. Each of them had exquisite makeup and was holding a bone china teacup. They were chatting casually about the charity auction next month.

As soon as Mrs. Zhao entered, the woman in the cheongsam smiled and waved, "Sister Zhao, I was just talking about you. Are you going to the event next month?"

"Go ahead, I've accepted all the invitations." Mrs. Zhao sat down in the main seat of the sofa and pointed to the single sofa next to her, "Sit wherever you like."

She quickly sat down, only daring to sit on half her buttocks, her back straight, her bag resting on her knees, her hands clasped together pressing down on the bag's flap, her smile stretching almost to her ears.

The woman in the cheongsam glanced at her, then smiled and asked, "This lady looks unfamiliar. Is she Sister Zhao's friend?"

"We just met at the tea and snack area," Mrs. Zhao said, taking a sip of the black tea that the waiter had just brought. "Mrs. Zhou, she came with Mr. Shen Ye from the second branch of the Shen family."

"Oh, young master Shen Ye." The woman with the pearl necklace raised an eyebrow, her tone becoming more polite. "My surname is Wang, and my husband is in the building materials business. This is Mrs. Chen, and her family is in import and export trade. That is Mrs. He, and Mr. He is in real estate development in the new district."

Zhang Yun nodded hurriedly to each lady, her smile spreading wide: "Hello Mrs. Wang, hello Mrs. Chen, hello Mrs. He. My husband, Lao Zhou, runs a small business in smart warehousing, nothing like the families of you ladies. Today is truly thanks to Young Master Shen. This is my first time attending a banquet at the Bai family's banquet. Please forgive me if I've done anything improper."

"Young Master Shen Ye." Mrs. Chen put down her teacup, a slight smile playing on her lips. "The young master of the second branch of the Shen family seems to be quite familiar with the third young master."

"That's right!" Zhang Yun immediately seized the opportunity, continuing the conversation, "Young Master Shen and our young lady Qianqian have a very good relationship. They go out together every few days. Our Qianqian has always been well-behaved since she was little. I don't know how Young Master Shen took a liking to her. Young people, you know—"

She paused deliberately halfway through her sentence, waiting for someone to respond. Unfortunately, no one did. Several ladies simultaneously picked up their teacups, some drinking tea, others looking at the bottom of their cups, and the air suddenly became quiet for a couple of seconds.

Seeing that no one responded, Zhang Yun felt that everyone was stunned by the name "Shen Ye," and felt even more that his trip tonight was worthwhile.

She secretly planned to find an opportunity to chat with Mrs. Zhao more later, and it would be best to exchange contact information so that she could join in on any of Mrs. Zhao's gatherings in the future.

Finally, Mrs. He put down her cup and said slowly, "Mrs. Zhou is very fortunate."

These words sounded like a compliment, but the tone was extremely flat. Zhang Yun couldn't tell the difference at all; she just thought the other person was genuinely envious of her. Her smugness deepened, while she still modestly said, "Not at all, it's just children's business. We parents shouldn't worry too much about it. But Young Master Shen is indeed a good child. He's good to Qianqian too. Last time, he even had a bouquet of flowers delivered to our house."

Mrs. He picked up her teacup and didn't say anything more.

Mrs. Wang was quite accommodating and casually asked, "What does Mrs. Zhou usually like to do? Let's go out for tea sometime."

Zhang Yun perked up and immediately stretched out his right hand, revealing the bracelet on his wrist that glittered under the light: "I usually enjoy studying jewelry and occasionally go to auctions. This bracelet is what I bought last month; they say it's a top-quality piece, and the design is quite unique."

She said that's what she said, but actually she gritted her teeth and spent several years' worth of living expenses to buy this bracelet, and wore it specifically to impress people tonight. As she spoke, she deliberately turned her wrist, making the bracelet flash a few times under the lights, as if she wanted to have the words "I'm rich" engraved on her forehead.

Mrs. Wang glanced at the bracelet, smiled, and nodded: "It's quite nice."

Mrs. He suddenly leaned forward, took a closer look at the bracelet, and said with a smile, "I think I saw a similar style at the North Gold Preview; it was a limited edition. Is Mrs. Zhou's bracelet also like this?"

Zhang Yun's smile froze for a moment. She had never been to Beiliujin, and she certainly couldn't afford the limited editions, but she reacted quickly, immediately pulling her hand back and waving it around a couple of times, smiling nonchalantly: "Oh, Mrs. He, you're joking. I was just taking pictures for fun, I'm not that particular. My husband, Mr. Zhou, said that women should buy what they like, regardless of the price."

"Mr. Zhou really dotes on you," Mrs. He replied with a smile, picked up her teacup, took a sip, shifted her gaze from Mrs. Zhou's face, exchanged a glance with Mrs. Chen, and neither of them said anything more.

Zhang Yun was completely unaware, still mentally evaluating her performance tonight. She had caught the conversation, made a splash, and even her jewelry had attracted attention. This Bai family banquet was definitely worthwhile for her.

Just as I was enjoying myself, my phone vibrated in my bag, buzzing quite loudly.

Several ladies turned to look at her. Mrs. Zhou quickly looked down and rummaged through her bag, forcing an embarrassed smile: "Sorry, sorry, I forgot to put it on silent." She took out her phone and saw two words on the screen: Old Zhou.

She frowned, swiped her finger, and hung up. That old Zhou, of all times, he had to call when she was chatting animatedly with the other ladies. Hadn't they already called a tow truck for the car? What other major problem could it be?

She had finally managed to get in touch with Mrs. Zhao. If she answered the phone now, what if the other end overheard Old Zhou rambling on about trivial matters? Where would she put her face then?

"It's from home," she said, putting her phone on silent and putting it back in her bag. She smiled apologetically at the ladies. "I guess it's another question about whether the car is fixed yet. They keep nagging about such a small thing."

Mrs. Chen smiled but didn't say anything. Mrs. Zhao held her teacup, the corners of her mouth curving slightly, but she didn't respond either.

Just as Zhang Yun was about to try to get closer to Mrs. Zhao again, his phone vibrated in his bag, five or six times in a row, like a death knell.

She gritted her teeth, pretending not to notice, and turned to Mrs. Zhao with an unchanged smile: "Mrs. Zhao, I'm very interested in that charity auction you just mentioned. When would you be free—"

Her phone vibrated again; this time it was a message. She glanced at the screen out of the corner of her eye. It was from Lao Zhou: "That kid is from the Bai family!" There seemed to be several more messages, but the phone screen was too small, so the preview could only show one line.

The Bai family? Which Bai family member? She was wondering whether she should find an excuse to take a look, but she didn't dare to look through her phone in front of the ladies, so she could only stiffen and endure it.

"Mrs. Zhou," Mrs. He said slowly, holding her teacup, "your phone seems to have been ringing a lot?"

"Alarm clock, it's the alarm clock," Mrs. Zhou's facial muscles twitched twice, her hand reached into her bag and felt for the power button by feel, then pressed it hard. "I forgot to turn it off, but that's not important."

She turned off her phone.

This conversation lasted for more than half an hour.

Zhang Yun listened to them talk about charity auctions, overseas property purchases, and children's education. Occasionally, she would cautiously chime in with a word or two, not daring to say too much for fear of revealing her ignorance. But she also refused to remain completely silent. Having finally squeezed into this circle, she couldn't just be a background figure.

Mrs. Zhao suddenly put down her teacup, stood up, straightened her shawl, and asked, "It's a bit stuffy in here. Come with me for a walk and get some fresh air."

Zhang Yun felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and immediately got up to open the door for Mrs. Zhao, acting as attentive as a personal secretary.

Mrs. Wang, Mrs. Chen, and Mrs. He also got up and followed, the ladies chatting and laughing as they walked toward the hall.

Mrs. Zhao was walking at the front, talking about the list of items to be auctioned next month, when she suddenly stopped and her voice also stopped.

Ahead in the passage, a young man emerged from around the corner. He wore a pale white knit sweater, his figure slender, and the light made his features appear clean and sharp, except for the tips of his ears, which inexplicably had an unnatural red tinge.

Zhang Yun had only glanced at it casually, but his gaze froze the moment he saw the face clearly.

The smile on her face seemed to be frozen in place, first stiffening, then cracking little by little, replaced by a burning anger and disbelief from the bottom of her heart.

It was him, the guy who was dressed in tattered clothes, carrying a plastic bag, and who dared to talk back to her after arguing with her on the mountain road that afternoon.

He actually dared to show up here.