475 Banquet (3)
Hearing this voice, Zhen Zhu"s body was full of thorns, and she consciously entered a defensive state.
She turned around and glanced coldly at Li Zhongjin and the woman beside him.
"But I still can"t beat you in that area."
Zhen Zhu said coldly, "You keep saying that she"s your fiancée, but in the end, you immediately cleared yourself of the matter at the first sign of trouble. You framed someone else for Grandma"s poisoning and almost sent your fiancée to prison. If it weren"t for Cousin Hanyu"s wisdom, you would have succeeded."
She did not hide the mockery and disdain in her eyes. "You"re a heartless beast, no- You"re worse than one if I"m talking about people like you."
Li Zhongjin smiled and was not annoyed. He hugged the woman beside him and kissed her on the cheek tenderly.
"Baby, tell her what the truth is."
"It"s just a misunderstanding."
The young woman explained softly, "Zhongjin is already engaged to me. He has never thought of abandoning me."
"Don"t put on an act in front of the media. It"s disgusting."
Zhen Zhu said in disgust, "It"s one thing for you to fool outsiders with your little tricks, but do you really think I don"t know anything?"
At this moment, other guests came over. Li Zhongjin tactfully said something and walked away with the woman beside him.
During this time in the company, Li Zhongjin had understood Zhen Zhu"s personality quite a bit. She was shrewd and strong, especially her eloquence. She didn"t give in at all.
If he really fought with her, he wouldn"t get any benefits.
He was no longer the same as before. His status was high, and his goals were high. Naturally, he had to cherish his ""feathers". The image he had painstakingly created in front of the media could not collapse.
Moreover, with the guidance and support of the expert behind him, victory was within his grasp.
Zhen Group would be his sooner or later, and Zhen Zhu will be kicked out not long after. At that time, he won"t let her off. He would definitely make her suffer.
He gritted his teeth with hatred in his heart. He kept a smile on his face and greeted the people he knew from time to time. His face was full of joy.
Seeing Sang Qianqian, Li Zhongjin was stunned for a moment before smiling, "Cousin Sister-in-law… Oh no, I should call you Mrs. Xie now."
He glanced at her belly and gossiped. "I saw the news online. Are you really pregnant?"
Sang Qianqian did not comment. Xie Shi"an smiled faintly. "Yes, she is."
"Congratulations then."
Li Zhongjin rolled his eyes. "Mrs. Xie and President Xie are really fast."
Xie Shi"an replied calmly, "I can"t compare to President Li. President Li entered Zhen Group at lightning speed and even got a high position. I"m impressed."
Li Zhongjin looked a little embarra.s.sed. He laughed and teased, "President Xie is really good at joking."
The conversation couldn"t go on anymore, so Li Zhongjin sat down.
His seat was right next to Sang Qianqian and Xie Shi"an.
Sang Qianqian raised her head and looked at the young woman beside Li Zhongjin. It was her old acquaintance, Xu Meixi.
When the police investigated Old Lady Zhen"s poisoning incident, Li Zhongjin and Zhen Yishu did not hesitate to push all the blame to Xu Meixi. They even said that the latter had deliberately done the poisoning. It was obvious that they wanted to send her to jail.
The police worked overtime to investigate. In the end, they determined that Xu Meixi had no motives to poison Old Lady Zhen. Thus, what happened must"ve been an accident.
However, since the Zhen family was involved, the police had to be cautious and communicated with Shen Hanyu about this.
Although Xu Meixi did not intentionally hurt the old lady, she could still be held accountable for accidentally poisoning her. This also meant that as long as the Zhen family did not forgive her, Xu Meixi might not be able to escape prison.
At that time, Shen Hanyu still had Sang Qianqian grounded at home, and she even pleaded for mercy on Xu Meixi"s behalf.
Later on, Shen Hanyu went to see Xu Meixi in person. n.o.body knew what they talked about, but in the end, he convinced Old Lady Zhen not to pursue the matter any further. Xu Meixi was thus released from the police detention center unharmed.
Sang Qianqian had thought that after this incident, Xu Meixi would completely give up on Li Zhongjin and the two of them would no longer have anything to do with each other.
Not long after, the media suddenly exposed the relationship between them.
Li Zhongjin was also forced to admit her ident.i.ty because of the media"s pressure and his special ident.i.ty. He deliberately wanted to maintain his image as a good man in front of the public.
However, according to Yin Shuhui, "There are speculations that Xu Meixi hired those reporters to force the Li family to acknowledge her. If that was the case, then Meixi must be quite scheming despite being so young."
She was a little sad. "But I don"t understand. What"s so good about a person like Li Zhongjin other than having more money? Besides, a forced melon wouldn"t turn out sweet. If she insisted on staying by his side, would she be happy in the future?"
**
Sang Qianqian looked at Xu Meixi and thought about Yin Shuhui"s words thoughtfully.
Xu Meixi also turned her head to look at her. Their eyes met, and in the next moment, she turned her face away, no longer looking at Sang Qianqian.
She did not know if it was Sang Qianqian"s imagination, but Xu Meixi seemed to be looking at her with a hint of contempt.
Sang Qianqian thought for a moment and understood. She smiled self-deprecatingly. It seemed that Xu Meixi was probably the same as Zhen Zhu, misunderstanding that she was fickle.
It was not her fault. After tonight, when the news of her and Xie Shi"an holding hands at the charity banquet was reported, everyone who knew her would probably think the same way.
The guests took their seats one after another, and the charity banquet soon began.
The event was extravagant. Every celebrity who came to partic.i.p.ate donated different amounts of charity funds in various segments that they were interested in. The one who donated the most would, of course, win the applause of the audience and be in the limelight.
Xie Shi"an was not here to show off. His donation wasn"t the most, but it was still quite a lot. It was hidden among a few similar donations and did not attract any extra attention.
After the second half of the banquet, Sang Qianqian had no intention of staying any longer and left.
The night breeze carried a slight chill. She was wearing a formal dress, so most of her arms were exposed. At this moment, she only felt cold and subconsciously shivered.
Xie Shi"an considerately took off his coat and draped it over her. "Wait for me here. I"ll drive over."
She didn"t refuse. She was pregnant now, and everything was about the child in her belly. If she caught a cold and fell sick, the child would be tormented.
She stood in the dark, wrapped her clothes tightly, and waited for Xie Shi"an"s car.
The banquet was not over yet, and there weren"t many people outside. There was only the rustling of leaves and branches in the wind. Compared to the lively hall just now, she felt much more peaceful.
Behind her, a low scolding voice echoed from behind a garden corridor.
Sang Qianqian was a little surprised. She walked over quietly and peeked through the branches and leaves of a flowering tree.
She was stunned when she saw that the people on the other side were Li Zhongjin and Xu Meixi.