Chapter 140 – Estranged (4)

Old Chen’s birthday banquet was held in his courtyard. The decorations were as splendid as ever, so even if one said that it was packed with gold and silver, it wasn’t an exaggeration. The walls inside the house were covered with eye-catching, ancient paintings. With just a glance, one could see that the value was extraordinary. Additionally, there were antique vases in every corner, making the composition exceptionally dazzling.

Although those in the business world didn’t really like Old Chen’s interior design since it resembled that of a local tycoon, most of the guests who stepped into the Chen family’s residence couldn’t help but stare at those antiques with curiosity. The rare antiques were a sight to behold.

If this were some other collectors’ residence, they surely wouldn’t take out such exquisite antiques for others to appreciate, let alone put them in such obvious spots in the living room.

The banquet would begin in about half an hour, so not many people had arrived yet. Most of them had grabbed a glass of red wine as they wandered around the living room, admiring the antiques and paintings.

Lan Jinyao changed into her evening dress at home, and as she stared at her slender figure in the mirror, she nodded with satisfaction.

She was wearing a black evening dress that was floor-length and backless, which accentuated her perfect curves and illuminated her white-jade skin. The only thing she was unsatisfied with was the fact that she was too thin! Chen Meimei was initially very tall, but since she’d recently lost weight, she appeared much taller now.

Lan Jinyao turned in front of the mirror and then straightened her back. At least she still had some meat in the right places so that the evening dress could be held up and looked alright.

Fu Bainian had already changed into a suit and was waiting for her outside. The moment he saw her come out, the trace of a shimmer flashed through his eyes before quickly disappearing and returning to calmness once again. Of course, Lan Jinyao didn’t miss the look in his eyes, so she looked at him with a charming smile and softly asked, “Do I look nice?”

Fu Bainian nodded and indifferently replied, “Mhm!”

Lan Jinyao was initially still smiling, but when she remembered the fact that Yin Yun could use Fu Bainian’s secondary card to buy clothes, while her card was frozen, she felt furious. What if she hadn’t run into Jiang Cheng at the clothing store? Wouldn’t she have made the headlines again? Since Fu Bainian had entered her life, that kind of embarrassing headline seemed to have appeared more than once already! No matter if it was being stood up on her wedding day or those kinds of extramarital affair scandals; all of them were related to Fu Bainian.

Thinking up to here, Lan Jinyao felt her mood worsen for no reason. It was just like when she was staying alone at home these days; she’d always lose her temper for no reason, and occasionally, it was because of a small matter.

Lan Jinyao clenched her fists, trying to calm her inner anger.

She loved this man dearly; she couldn’t push him away.

“In half an hour or so, the banquet will start. Would you mind coming with me to get my hair done?”

Lan Jinyao asked tactfully, but Fu Bainian answered her decisively, “Let’s go!”

Lan Jinyao wore high heels, so she happened to be the same height as Fu Bainian. She looked down and stared at her ring finger; the diamonds were shining under the bright light, reflecting a colourful lustre, like the most brilliant stars in the sky. Then, she looked up and stared at Fu Bainian’s ring finger; the ring was still there.

She smiled. Even though Fu Bainian’s recent scandals were unceasing, he never took off the wedding ring, which was a testimony to their vows.

She’d been in the entertainment industry for a long time, and she’d seen many of these things happen in the past. When such scandals happened, those men usually wouldn’t wear their wedding rings.

After getting in the car, neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere turned somewhat weird.

After a while, Lan Jinyao suddenly asked, “Fu Bainian, do you know which hairdresser I want to go to?”

She’d always called him by his first and last name, while in the presence of others, she’d call him a bit more intimately. But, she’d never felt that there was anything wrong with this.

“The one you used to go to?” Fu Bainian blurted this out without any thought, and after saying that, he froze for a few seconds. He then tightly pursed his lips, as if determined not to speak any more.

The corners of Lan Jinyao’s mouth slowly lifted upon hearing this.

It turned out that he still remembers where her favourite hairdresser was located. This thought made her happy again.

The car proceeded at a regular speed, but Lan Jinyao soon discovered that Fu Bainian wasn’t going the correct way at all. Even if it was a detour, this way was unnecessary.

“You claim to remember?” This clearly wasn’t the way, yet he dared to lie through his teeth.

Fu Bainian turned to look at her and indifferently replied, “Of course, I remember. Mrs Fu, please don’t doubt my memory, but you have to go somewhere with me before we go to the hairdresser.”

Where? Wasn’t it already too late now?

Lan Jinyao glanced at the time on her phone screen. Although she had a lot of questions in her mind, she didn’t retort and let Fu Bainian drive towards a business district.

This was where all the luxurious stores selling top clothing brands were.

“Why did you bring me here? We have to go to the birthday banquet; not shop for clothes.”

Hearing this, Fu Bainian’s expression darkened. Tonight was the first time, after such a long time, that he’d held her hand again. Yet, he’d actually brought her to a clothing store. When Lan Jinyao realised that this was the same clothing store as the one from last time, her mood instantly changed and she wasn’t happy at all.

In the store, Fu Bainian walked around a few times, looking at all the evening dresses available. After a while, he finally decided on a black dress that appeared slightly more conservative than the one she had on. Then, as if giving out an order, he said, “We don’t have much time left, so quickly change into this one.”

Lan Jinyao was a little reluctant at first, but she was the one who’d asked him for a favour after all, so she quickly went into the fitting room and changed into the other dress. When she was done, she stared at herself in the mirror; the dress was unexpectedly a perfect fit for her. But, wasn’t it a bit too tight?

Soon after, she walked out of the fitting room, and Fu Bainian glanced at her from top to bottom before nodding with satisfaction. He then proceeded to head to the counter and pay for the dress.

When they left the store, Lan Jinyao faintly heard murmuring behind her.

“Didn’t they say she wasn’t favoured anymore? From how things look, that doesn’t seem to be the case?”

“How can you tell from the surface? They’re public figures, so of course, they’ve got to pay attention to their image!”

“That’s right, but we’ve offended her before, so I’m afraid that our sales will be impacted in the future. Don’t you think so?

“Don’t worry…”

Lan Jinyao ignored the whispers and asked, “My dress was fine, so why did you want me to change into another one all of a sudden?”

In the next second, Fu Bainian threw the bag containing the other evening dress into the trash can.

“You want a reason? Then, I’ll tell you: One reason is because there’s too much exposure, and the other is because…that man bought it for you.”

Upon hearing this, Lan Jinyao’s lips curled up slightly, yet she still retorted, “But, I paid Jiang Cheng back afterwards.”

“That still won’t do! Just wear this, it looks good on you.”