"The first request!" Sheng Jiaoyang held out her right index finger and said, "When you see me, please turn around and walk away."
Yuan Neng"s expression turned ugly. This was the first time he"d encountered such a defeat. To think that Xu Jiaojiao wanted to avoid him like the plague.
"The second request!" Sheng Jiaoyang held up another finger, her lips curling into an evil smile as she said, "It"s very simple! You just have to post something on Wechat Moments. Aren"t you and Yan Anxuan very close? You must write the following, "Yan Anxuan, I fell in love with you at first sight." Please note that you can"t leave out nor misspell a single word! Moreover, you can"t delete the post right away, you have to leave it there for at least a day."
"What the h.e.l.l?! Do you have to be so perverted?" Yuan Neng"s expression grew even more unsightly.
.
Sheng Jiaoyang faintly smiled. Her smile was a breath of fresh air, but her tone was considerably naughty. "So what? As! Long! As! I! Am! Happy!"
"Young Master Yuan, you must willingly concede defeat~" she kindly warned.
"No, your second request is too much!" Yuan Neng gnashed his teeth.
"In that case, consider it as the two final requests."
Since she"d already taken things this far, how could he possibly refuse?
Yuan Neng could only swallow bitter tears and silently bear the consequence of his actions.
"You can carry out the first request now," Sheng Jiaoyang said.
Yuan Neng glared at her as he got up and left.
Sheng Jiaoyang clapped her hands and leisurely said, "The show has ended, so let"s all scatter!"
"You"re amazing!" Zhao Lei gave her a thumbs-up.
Sheng Jiaoyang simply smiled and quietly accepted her praise.
"You know Anxuan as well?" Lin Yu curiously asked.
"We"ve met at the karaoke bar before." Back then, they"d forced her to drink a gla.s.s of whiskey with a high alcohol content. She"d only reciprocated a little bit of what she"d suffered.
Lin Yu had an understanding look on his face.
"Jiaojiao, you went too easy on him earlier. You should"ve asked him to run around naked!" Lina exclaimed.
Upon hearing this, those present blushed with embarra.s.sment.
"Forget it. If I asked him to run around naked, he"d definitely go back on his word." Sheng Jiaoyang shrugged.
Lin Yan stared at her and said, "You"re still the same as before."
Those present stared at the two famous public figures in unison.
Pan Mingyue, who"d come to join in the fun, hadn"t left yet. Seeing the two together, she was so excited that she jumped out and pointed at Lin Yan, saying, "I remember now, you"re the ex-boyfriend who begged Xu Jiaojiao to get back together with you in the bathroom!"
Lin Yan raised his head to look at Pan Mingyue. His crystal clear eyes, coupled with his good looks, made the latter blush as red as a tomato.
As soon as Pan Mingyue saw that good-looking face, she couldn"t move her eyes away. She suddenly felt that maybe she"d guessed wrong. If such a handsome ex-boyfriend came to ask for a reconciliation, how could she not be swayed? No, how would she bear to break up with such a handsome boyfriend? If it were her, she"d shamelessly stick to him like glue, no matter what!
Lina frowned at Lin Yan and then studied Sheng Jiaoyang"s expression. Seeing that the latter was relatively calm, a bad feeling crept up in her heart. She pulled Sheng Jiaoyang to one side and said, "Jiaojiao, come with me. I"d like to have a word with you alone."
They walked all the way out of the banquet hall and a little further away until they reached a deserted aisle. Lina cast a solemn look at Sheng Jiaoyang and asked, "Lin Yan"s out of his mind, and I don"t care. I just want to know your decision."
Sheng Jiaoyang laughed at herself and said, "What else can I do? I used to be willful and headstrong, but I can no longer be that willful at my age."
Lina was serious at first, but she was inexplicably amused by Sheng Jiaoyang"s remark. She giggled and raised her hands to pinch the other"s cheeks. "How can you be so shameless?! In the past, you were younger than me, not to mention now. How dare you mention your age in front of me?"
Sheng Jiaoyang couldn"t help herself and laughed after Lina had said that.
The two laughed for a while. Afterwards, Sheng Jiaoyang"s expression grew serious as she hugged Lina. She placed her chin on Lina"s shoulder and gloomily said, "Mei Niu, I never thought I would reject him."
"You did great, that"s the right thing to do."
"If he"d told me in the past that he liked me, I would have certainly been on cloud nine. But now, I"ve actually rejected him!" Sheng Jiaoyang murmured.
Lina pushed her away, looked her straight in the eye, and firmly said, "Jiaojiao, listen. You did the right thing, which proves that you"re completely over it now, and your heart is back." When she said "heart", Lina tapped on Sheng Jiaoyang"s chest, where her heart was located.
Sheng Jiaoyang remained silent for a moment before smiling, looking relieved, "So, I should be happy and celebrating right now."
"Before celebrating, you must first tell me the truth. What"s going on between Demon King Shen and you? You haven"t mentioned a word to me about the things that happened afterwards. You"re such a bad friend!"
At the mention of Shen Zhining, Sheng Jiaoyang"s mood became a little melancholic again. She sighed helplessly, "If I say that I"m still feeling perplexed, would you believe me?"
"Nope, I wouldn"t." Lina firmly shook her head.
"As a matter of fact, I still haven"t completely figured out my feelings towards him. All along, he suspected that I was harbouring bad intentions and even tried to interrogate me. But, in the end, his att.i.tude utterly changed all of a sudden. If his manner of speech and behaviour had also changed, I would"ve suspected that he was another person."
"Tell me about it!" Lina was particularly curious.
But, at that moment, they suddenly heard the sound of footsteps. They turned to look in the direction where the sound was coming from and saw that it was Lin Yu.
"It"s time for cake," Lin Yu said.
"Oh, let"s go back now. Jiaojiao, remember to tell me all about it later." Lina grabbed Sheng Jiaoyang"s hand and followed Lin Yu back.
In the banquet hall, everyone had gathered in one area. Grandfather Lin was in the middle of expressing his sentiments. As soon as he finished speaking, all the lights went out.
Sheng Jiaoyang had just walked in with Lina when the hall fell into darkness. She didn"t panic, but in the next second, a hand suddenly pulled her to the side and before she could cry out in alarm, her voice was stuck in her throat.
She was about to resist when she smelled the fragrance that belonged uniquely to a certain person.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you…" The birthday song echoed throughout the hall as more and more people sang along. The darkness enveloping the banquet hall gradually scattered when the seven-story cake with swaying candlelights was brought to the center.
Everyone"s eyes were fixed on the sole light source; the cake.
When Sheng Jiaoyang was dragged away in the darkness, Lina immediately panicked. Although the cake"s candlelight couldn"t light up the entire banquet hall, it increased the visibility around it. Lina was about to look for Sheng Jiaoyang when she saw a couple making out nearby. In that instant, she felt that her eyes were forcibly fed with PDA.
Tsk, she was saying just a moment ago that she was feeling perplexed. How is that so? They"re even kissing right now!
"Mr Lin, blow out the candles!" someone urged once the birthday song had finished.
"Alright," Grandfather Lin answered, followed by a burst of enthusiastic laughter. "I"m very happy because my whole family is here today. I want to blow out these candles with my family."
Lina cast another glance at the couple, who were still stuck together, before turning around and walking to her grandfather"s side.
The grip around Sheng Jiaoyang waist was bruising. At this moment, she felt that she could hardly breathe. She lightly punched Shen Zhining, who went wild all of a sudden, and managed to struggle free. She gasped for air and whispered, "What"s wrong with you?"
"Little liar." Shen Zhining"s warm breath tickled her ear.
Hearing this, a wave of numbness travelled from Sheng Jiaoyang"s spine to the top of her head. She grasped the clothes on his back, and said in a somewhat unresigned voice, "When did I lie to you?"
"Oh."
He wrapped his arms around her waist and moved her behind the pillar in the banquet hall. When the lights went on again, he pinned her against the pillar.
Sheng Jiaoyang squinted. After getting used to the bright lights she met his gaze head-on, and her heart skipped a beat. What"s wrong with him?
"Y-you, don"t mess around! There are so many people here…" Whenever she faced him, she"d always lose her confidence somehow. If she wanted to explain herself, then it must be because she was bullied by him when they were kids and this had left her emotionally traumatised. Mhmm, that must be it!
Shen Zhining"s lips curled up slightly. "You mean to say that it"s okay to proceed when there are fewer people?"
"…" You, rogue!
The smile on Shen Zhining"s face dissipated and he asked, "Can you tell me the truth now?"
"What are you talking about?"
"What"s the relations.h.i.+p between Lin Yan and you?"
"You"re doubting me again?!"
Shen Zhining paused. He looked at Sheng Jiaoyang, who"d looked away with a hurt expression, and said, "I"m your boyfriend. Don"t I have the right to know about your past relations.h.i.+ps?"
"I didn"t concede to that," Sheng Jiaoyang said with a pout.
He raised a hand to hook her chin, then turned her face to meet his eyes as he slowly drew closer. "You"re not planning to concede?" His expression seemed to say that if she didn"t admit to it, he"d kiss her until she conceded.
Sheng Jiaoyang immediately raised her hand and covered her mouth. She blinked at him and said in a m.u.f.fled voice, "Okay fine, I"ll concede!"
Hearing this, Shen Zhining eventually smiled.
"It"s Grandfather Lin"s birthday, so let"s go over there now, alright?" Sheng Jiaoyang probed.
Shen Zhining remained indifferent and didn"t move, his gaze fixated on her.
"W-what?"
"You almost succeeded in changing the topic. Now that you"ve admitted to it yourself, you can tell me, right? What"s going on between Lin Yan and you?"
"There"s nothing between…"
"I want to hear the truth!"
Sheng Jiaoyang pursed her lips, her eyes wandering for a while before she uttered, "I…it"s just…that…"
"Hmm?"
Sheng Jiaoyang threw caution to the wind and answered, "In the past, I fell in love with his handsome face!"
Shen Zhining stared at her in silence.
"You were the one who wanted me to say it." Sheng Jiaoyang felt a s.h.i.+ver run down her spine.
"Have you been together?"
"No," Sheng Jiaoyang affirmatively answered. It was a fact, so she was confident in her answer.
"I heard he asked you to get back together." Shen Zhining emphasized the words "get back together".
"Who did you hear that from? Pan Mingyue? She didn"t see it with her own eyes, so how can you believe her?! "
"Yuan Neng said that he saw it too."
"…" The words choked in Sheng Jiaoyang"s throat.
She then said, "No, Yuan Neng must have said that nonsense to avenge himself. There"s absolutely nothing going on between me and Lin Yan."
"There"s really nothing?"
Shen Zhining wasn"t the one who"d asked this question.
Sheng Jiaoyang turned around and saw Lin Yan.