Outrageous! Who said my wife is vain?!

"You absolutely must expedite my jewelry collection. I need to wear it to an awards ceremony in Italy next month, and no other jewelry matches my dress," Duan Xiaocheng instructed.

Mingxi readily agreed, "I know, I know. You said it several times in the studio, and you said it again outside. I guarantee it won't interfere with your work, and I'll let you shine on stage."

"Hahaha! Okay, I was just worried that Mr. Ming would be too busy, so I reminded you a few more times." Duan Xiaocheng teased with a smile.

Mingxi rolled her eyes at him. "Are you joking with me again?"

"What? Your Xiyun is doing so well now, isn't that what President Ming is all about?" Duan Xiaocheng looked at him with a "Don't wrong me" expression.

Then he raised his arm and put it on Mingxi's shoulder, looking like two buddies, "To thank our CEO Ming for his reliable behavior, lunch is on me today."

Mingxi glanced at him sideways and joked, "Before, Xiao Wu and the others were in a hurry for the goods, so they could only deliver three months in advance. You're even more high-ranking than VIC, so you're just going to treat me to a meal?"

Duan Xiaocheng grinned mischievously and winked at Mingxi, "I'd like to ask you to do something else, like enjoy the feeling of youth—but you don't dare, do you?"

Mingxi naturally knew what he meant by "youthful vibes," and scoffed, "Come on, let's not even talk about the fact that I'm married. My heart is only for my brother Chu. Even if I were single, I wouldn't go. They're all a bunch of ugly ducklings. I don't want to be taken advantage of by them."

"Look at what you're saying, it's not all bad stuff. There are popular domestic and international celebrities and male models, all of them are of good quality." Duan Xiaocheng couldn't admit that he had bad taste and ate poorly.

Mingxi was speechless after hearing this. "Have you forgotten that I used to work in the entertainment industry? Do you think I don't know what kind of people they are?"

"Speaking of which, I occasionally see your fans reminiscing about you online, urging you to come back to acting. They really love you deeply, haha!"

"Who told me to be the most beautiful woman in the entertainment industry, with no one to compare to me!" Mingxi proudly raised her chin, straightening her back even more.

Duan Xiaocheng smiled and shook his head, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Before meeting Mingxi, he thought he was quite confident, but after meeting Mingxi, he realized that he was no match for her.

Mingxi then feigned difficulty and sighed, "You have no idea, ever since I stopped acting, scripts have been coming my way every few days. No matter how much I turn them down, they still come to me again."

"What? If I feel there are too many scenes and I don't have enough time, I can just do a cameo. I don't have that kind of time! I'm so busy every day, with tons of things to do at the studio, and my husband and kids need me at home too! I'm just too busy!"

Listening to Mingxi's Versailles, Duan Xiaocheng slapped him speechlessly, "Stop showing off to me, let's think about what to eat, we've been wandering around for ages."

Ever since they left the studio, the two of them had been chatting and strolling around, and Duan Xiaocheng was getting a little hungry.

Mingxi said, "What do you want to eat? There are plenty of good restaurants around here, French, Italian, Japanese, Cantonese... they have everything."

"Anything is fine with me, it's up to you. I'll treat you, of course I'll do whatever you say."

"Oh! Wasn't that a joke? You came all the way to my territory to see me, and you expect me to treat you to a meal? Tell me, what kind of food do you want?"

Hearing this, Duan Xiaocheng didn't stand on ceremony. It was just a meal, and there was no need for formalities between them. He said with a smile, "Then I thank you, President Ming. Let's go eat Japanese food."

"Okay, there's a pretty good Japanese restaurant on the fifth floor. The ingredients are fresh and of high quality, which is also suitable for me to eat while I'm on a diet."

"Huh? You're still losing weight? You're perfect already."

"The wedding is just around the corner, let's give it one last push."

....

As the two chatted and laughed on their way to the Japanese restaurant, Duan Xiaocheng spotted two familiar figures and quickly tugged at Mingxi's sleeve. "Mingxi, look! Look!"

"What?" Mingxi looked in the direction of his gaze.

Oh my god! What a small world! I've run into Lin Yitao and Fu Hongyu.

Fu Hongyu raised her chin, crossed her arms in front of her chest, and wore her familiar arrogance on her face.

Lin Yitao had his arm around Fu Hongyu's waist, his head slightly lowered, and he was whispering something in her ear with a smile on his face.

To be honest, Mingxi hadn't thought Lin Yitao was that good-looking before, but now that the two of them are standing together, from a distance, Lin Yitao actually looks quite handsome.

However, this has nothing to do with him anymore. Lin Yitao is no longer a member of the Lin family and is just a stranger to him.

Mingxi glanced at them briefly and then looked away, saying nonchalantly, "What's so interesting about this? They're just two passersby. Let's get back to what we're talking about."

Duan Xiaocheng, who had originally intended to gossip about Mingxi, lost interest upon seeing her demeanor. He thought to himself, "Mingxi's 'self-restraint' is quite impressive; she didn't make any sarcastic remarks but simply ignored me."

He then smiled and said, "Yes, now even your Lin family doesn't recognize him. He's really no different from a stranger. By the way, let me tell you, last week I went to a gathering organized by Lanlan..."

Mingxi treated Lin Yitao and Fu Hongyu like strangers, like they were invisible, but the other party didn't think so.

They both saw Mingxi, especially Fu Hongyu, who now hated the Lin family because of the heavy losses they had suffered at their hands.

Just as she was about to step forward and give Mingxi a good scathing rebuke, she saw him glance at them with disdain and leave. This great "insult" infuriated Fu Hongyu.

She was about to catch up with Mingxi and "reason" with him when Lin Yitao grabbed her arm. "Little miss, what are you doing? This is a public place with so many people around."

With the internet so developed now, there are "internet celebrities" everywhere with cameras attached to their bodies. If he lets Fu Hongyu argue with Mingxi and then someone films it and posts it online, he will lose face big time.

"Let go of me! What do you mean by public place?! I'll do whatever I want!" Fu Hongyu, who was being held back, wasn't afraid of any of that and started yelling with her eyes wide open.

This immediately attracted the attention of passersby. Lin Yitao was extremely annoyed, but he still had to put on a helpless yet doting look on his face. "Yes, you're right. You can do whatever you want. I'm saying you don't need to argue with someone like him. It would lower your status and class."

While the two were struggling, Mingxi and Duan Xiaocheng had long since disappeared. Fu Hongyu was furious and, disregarding where they were or Lin Yitao's feelings, directly cursed, "It's all because of you! Your family is full of low-class relatives, they're not even human!"

"If it weren't for my dad, if it weren't for the Fu family, you'd still be that lowly manager! You better remember this: who did you get everything you have today because of? Who did you rely on? Who are you on your side? I don't need to teach you, do I?!"

Fu Hongyu's shrill voice was like a sharp sword, tearing apart all of Lin Yitao's dough.

Hearing the whispers and pointing around him, and feeling their gazes directed at him, Lin Yitao wished he could slap the disgusting woman in front of him a few times and then crawl into a hole in the ground.

"I'm talking to you! Did you hear me? Are you deaf?!"

Lin Yitao only regained some clarity when his fingernails pierced his palm. He knew he had no choice but to cling to the Fu family now; there was no other way out.

Lin Yitao gritted his teeth, forced a smile, and said gently, "Xiaoyu, don't be like this. I know how good your uncle, aunt, and you are to me, but what you said hurts me too much. I left the family that raised me because I love you."

"I'm not against you; I just don't want you to get into unnecessary conflicts with pointless people."

Although Lin Yitao had already lowered his stance considerably, Fu Hongyu was far from appeased. She snorted coldly and said with a mocking expression, "You'd better not be eating at the Fu family's expense and then thinking about going back to the Lin family."

"Of course not. If you keep misunderstanding me like this, I'll be sad. Wherever you are, I'll be there."

As he spoke, Lin Yitao took Fu Hongyu's hand, pulled her into his arms, and gently stroked her back.

Fu Hongyu was a fickle person, sometimes stern and sometimes cheerful. She was quite pleased that Lin Yitao was still coaxing her while she was throwing a tantrum. She stopped keeping a straight face and punched Lin Yitao on the back. "If you lie to me, see how I deal with you."

Hearing her say that, Lin Yitao knew he had been appeased. "My little darling, of course not. But if you misunderstand me like this again, I'll be sad too."

"Who told you to side with that Mingxi! You asked for a beating!"

"Haha! Yes, it was my fault. You're not angry anymore, are you?"

"Hmph! I'll reluctantly forgive you this time."

....

The passersby who witnessed the whole thing felt like they had encountered two lunatics when they went out today.