Upon hearing that, Jiang You complained inwardly, ’He’s so repressed.’
’And here I thought he didn’t like it.’
’Turns out he just wanted me to wear it for his eyes only.’
Jiang You said nothing more.
The two of them left the mall.
The party was in a private room at a karaoke club.
The private room was very large, with amenities like a pool table, card tables, and so on.
Several people were sitting on the red leather sofas.
Jiang You’s eyelid twitched. A few of the people there were far from strangers to her.
’Counting Shen Lan beside me, the entire F4 is here!’
’The four targets my persona is supposed to like and pursue are all here.’
The moment Jiang You and Shen Lan walked in, all eyes landed on her.
Long Yu’s gaze paused on Jiang You, then slid down to her hand intertwined with Shen Lan’s. He quickly looked away, took another sip of his drink, and went back to playing cards with the others as if he had only given them a casual glance.
Gu Qing was at the pool table. His reaction was even colder. He glanced over once before looking away, then leaned over with his cue and took a shot. A sharp CRACK echoed as he instantly sank a ball.
Xi Cheng was sitting on the sofa, his right leg crossed over his left in an elegant, distinguished posture. He glanced up before lowering his head to continue with the work projected on a screen.
Everyone was dressed casually. It really was just a normal get-together.
"Brother Lan, you’re here." A young man walked over with a smile. "Come on, have a seat."
Shen Lan pulled Jiang You over and casually ordered, "Get my girlfriend a glass of peach juice."
The young man paused, stunned. He shot Jiang You a questioning look before quickly recovering. "You got it, you got it."
’Looks like this girlfriend isn’t like his previous ones.’
After Shen Lan entered, the people at the card table quickly made room. He pulled Jiang You down to sit beside him at the table.
"Why is everyone doing their own thing? Not going to play a round together?" Shen Lan glanced at Long Yu across from him.
"Weren’t we waiting for you?" Long Yu drawled, his gaze landing on Jiang You beside Shen Lan. "Got a new girlfriend?"
Shen Lan glanced at Long Yu. "Yeah. My girlfriend, Jiang You."
Long Yu acted as if he had only asked casually, with no other intention. "Oh."
Gu Qing and Xi Cheng sat down on the other two sides of the table.
Everyone else knew to make way.
Shen Lan then introduced his girlfriend to them.
"My girlfriend, Jiang You," Shen Lan said slowly. "We’ll probably pick a lucky day sometime soon and have an engagement party. You all can come show your support then."
The three of them fell silent for a moment.
"Oh," Long Yu was the first to react, his reply faint.
The other two’s reactions were just as faint.
However, the juniors from the other prominent families behind them were much more enthusiastic. "Hello, sister-in-law!"
"Hello," Jiang You replied reservedly.
The three Beastmen—one was Long Yu’s cousin, one was Shen Lan’s, and the last was Gu Qing’s.
The three Beastmen took it upon themselves to introduce themselves to her.
Long Xu, Shen Kuo, Xu Chuan—the lively sidekicks who hung around the male leads.
Jiang You gave a proud, aloof nod.
Long Yu and the others, however, did not introduce themselves.
"These three in front of me—you should already know them," Shen Lan said to Jiang You. "They’re all big shots at school."
Jiang You nodded. "I know them."
’Know them? That’s an understatement!’
None of the three said much. They didn’t bring up how Jiang You had tried to seduce them or how they’d met. They all acted uninterested, maintaining a dignified facade as they moved on to other topics.
"You went to the Pujie Empire to negotiate the trade agreement. How did it go?" Xi Cheng asked as he picked up the cards, shuffled, and started dealing.
Shen Lan took the peach juice someone handed him, stuck a straw in it, and placed it in Jiang You’s hand. Then he picked up his cards and said nonchalantly, "Those old codgers keep dragging their feet. They even want to raise tariffs over a few core technology chips..."
The four of them played cards while discussing important matters of the Empire.
Some people were still first-year students, while others already held real power in the Empire and were involved in politics.
They chatted casually, seemingly paying no attention to Jiang You.
Jiang You, for her part, also appeared completely at ease.
"Sister-in-law, want to come play at the other table with us?" the three jesters invited.
"No, thank you," Jiang You refused.
The three jesters didn’t insist.
So Jiang You just sat beside Shen Lan, sipping her drink and watching him play cards.
"I win." Long Yu slammed his cards down. He picked up his drink, took a sip, and declared with rebellious brazenness, "You all need more practice."
"You just had to show off." Shen Lan glanced at his cards and tossed them back.
The group continued to play a few more rounds.
"Qing, when are you heading to the military district?" Shen Lan casually asked Gu Qing.
"Next semester," Gu Qing replied faintly.
"That’ll be a grind," Shen Lan said, raising an eyebrow.
"The old marshal is counting on his only son to bring honor to the family," Long Yu said with a lazy laugh. "That marshal’s seat won’t be an easy one to fill."
"It is what it is." Gu Qing’s response was flat.
"I win." Xi Cheng put his cards down. His terminal chimed. He glanced at it, then set down his hand as the others looked at him.
He simply said in a calm tone, "Something’s come up at the Science Institute. I have to go."
"Tsk, Mr. Busy," Long Yu tsked.
The party ended soon after.
Shen Lan led Jiang You outside.
"That wasn’t fun at all. Don’t bring me to this kind of party next time," Jiang You said.
’Truthfully, it was a bit awkward, and I hadn’t wanted to come. After all, his brothers were all targets I’m supposed to be seducing.’
’Even though everyone maintained a polite facade and didn’t call me out, and I acted like I wasn’t embarrassed at all, I was actually dying of awkwardness inside.’
"Alright," Shen Lan smiled, taking her hand and kissing it. "From now on, I’ll spend time with just you."
He had only wanted her to make an appearance anyway, to let them know he had a girlfriend.
And perhaps he also wanted her to know that he treated her differently.
"Don’t kiss my hand." Jiang You pulled her hand back.
"But I want to." Shen Lan tugged her hand, leaning down to kiss her cheek.
"Hah, you like me that much?" Jiang You wiped her face.
"Yep. I like you a lot, baby," Shen Lan’s voice was laced with amusement.
...
Long Yu walked behind them, his eyes darkening as he watched the intimate little couple in the distance.
’That guy, Shen Lan, has never been this clingy with any of his girlfriends. It’s kind of disgusting.’
’So, is he actually serious this time?’
’The woman I’ve set my sights on is my brother’s girlfriend.’
’Ah, but so what?’
’Several brothers sharing the same little female—isn’t that perfectly normal?’
The other juniors saw it too.
"Looks like Brother Lan has really decided to settle down this time, to get serious," Long Xu mused. "I’ve never seen him so lovesick."
"Speaking of which, wasn’t he just putting on an act for that crazy woman from his family?" Xu Chuan also commented. "Is the act over?"