Chapter 13 — My Best Friend's Older Brother Took Responsibility for Me

"Who do you think you're talking to?" A bone-chilling voice intervened.

I turned around. Li Hangzhi stood three paces away—wearing a tailored black suit without a tie, top shirt button unfastened, one hand in his pocket. Cold, noble, under the crystal chandelier light, his face was striking beyond words. Behind him stood the company's General Manager and two partners. Right—he was a major shareholder here. Today he attended the appreciation event; I hadn't known beforehand.

The entire hall fell quiet. Li Hangzhi didn't even look at Chu Yan, keeping his eyes on me. "Been waiting long?" I shook my head. "Just came over." He stepped closer, standing beside me, then turned his gaze to Chu Yan. "Who are you?" Chu Yan's face contorted completely; looking at Li Hangzhi and the group behind him, he clearly recognized the difference in status. "I... I'm Lin Wan's friend." "She doesn't have a friend like you." Li Hangzhi turned to security. "Escort him out." Two uniformed guards moved swiftly, hoisting Chu Yan out by the arms, his face beet red. At the door, he yelled back at me, "Lin Wan, you're something else!"

Li Hangzhi didn't turn back once. Security closed the doors, restoring peace. The GM smiled tactfully beside him. "Mr. Li, this way please." Li Hangzhi didn't move, looking down at me. "Frightened?" "No." "He won't appear again." He said it in the exact same tone as *I'll pick you up at twelve for lunch*—calm, firm, stating an undeniable fact.

Whispers broke out nearby. "Who is that girl? Why is Mr. Li treating her like..." "Don't know—what did he call her earlier?" Wen Ruyue stood on the edge of the crowd, holding her wine glass without drinking, witnessing everything. Not a word, but her fingers gripped the glass so tightly her knuckles turned white.

Wen Ruyue's next move came faster than expected. On Monday, Li Yingqiu called, her voice hesitating slightly. "Hi Bao, the Wen family reached out..." "What did they say, Auntie?" "Xiao Yue said she doesn't want to interfere in our family matters. But her mother called me, complaining that we arranged a blind date for three months, only for another woman to snatch him away suddenly—saying it's disrespectful." "I'm sorry Auntie—this was so sudden, if it made things hard for you..." "Not your fault," Li Yingqiu interrupted quickly. "Don't feel guilty. The Wen family just lost face; I plan to find a suitable time for both families to sit down and clarify." "Okay, I'll follow your arrangement."

Hanging up, I told Ye Zhiyi. She jumped up. "Wen Ruyue's mom called to complain to my mom?! What trick is this? A blind date candidate who hasn't even seen his official face acting like there's an engagement?!" "Her mother feels disrespected." "Disrespected by my mom—what's that got to do with you?!" The more she thought, the angrier she got. "No way—I'm telling my mom off." "Don't add fuel to the fire." "Fuel? If we don't stop it, Wen Ruyue will walk all over you!" She charged downstairs before I could stop her.

Ten minutes later, conversation drifted up between Li Yingqiu and Ye Zhiyi. "Mom, you need to distinguish clearly who your daughter-in-law is and who the outsider is." "I distinguish fine! But the Wen family has a point—we arranged a blind date first, then a surprise happened; we owe them a proper explanation." "What explanation?! Brother picked his own wife—you didn't bring betrothal gifts to her door! What right does the Wen family have to demand anything?!" "Don't yell at me. I'm trying to resolve it, not pick a fight." "Resolving it is fine, but don't let Lin Wan suffer grievances!" Li Yingqiu fell silent for a moment. "I won't. She's my daughter-in-law after all." Hearing this clearly from upstairs, my nose felt prickled.

...

Monday afternoon, Wen Ruyue appeared at the company—not looking for me, but heading straight into the GM's office for half an hour. Stepping out, passing my desk, she stopped. "Miss Lin, heard you received a major contract from a brand? Congratulations." I didn't reply. "But heard that brand is under Mr. Li's company... does that count as using the back door?" Qiu Nian at the next desk raised her head slightly; Xiao He kicked my leg under the desk. I put down my palette, looking her in the eye. "Miss Wen, the brand reviewed my portfolio before extending an invitation. If you think I used a back door, feel free to inspect my submission history—every page has a timestamp."