Chapter 2: I didn't realize at the time, this girl's mouth is so tough.

"Then what do you want to do?"

The man sized her up, seemingly calculating what she could offer him.

"Lift your head up."

Chu Zhiyi's face showed skepticism, "What are you trying to do?"

But the man had already lowered his head, as if he was about to do something.

A wave of warmth touched her ear, and before the man could act, Chu Zhiyi's body jolted and she shrank back, pushing him with her hand.

The man chuckled, "What are you dodging?"

Chu Zhiyi emerged from his embrace with her hair and clothes slightly disheveled, but she steadied herself.

"Anyway, thank you for today."

The man watched her as she straightened her hair, "Miss is so enthusiastic, I naturally have to cooperate."

Chu Zhiyi paused mid-action, her cheeks flushing red as she recalled her reckless kiss.

Making up excuses, she said, "I... I was teaching you how to kiss, since you don't have a girlfriend. With this experience, you won't have to worry about being laughed at in the future."

The man's eyes darkened, his tone becoming more dangerous, "By your logic, Miss seems quite skilled at kissing?"

Chu Zhiyi, who besides holding hands with Zhou Hen had never even hugged a strange man: "..."

"I'm engaged, what do you think!"

The man fired back at her, "Your name is Chu Zhiyi?"

Chu Zhiyi was startled, her name had been exposed by that scoundrel Zhou Hen!

The man said lazily, "I'll remember that."

Chu Zhiyi didn't dare say much more, "Who cares if you remember or not, goodbye!"

Having said that, she immediately ran off.

The man watched her leave, chuckling briefly before wiping his mouth with his fingertip, which quickly turned red.

He stared at the red mark meaningfully before slowly walking away after a while.

...

Father Chu and Mother Chu came to the Masquerade Ball upon hearing that the President of CE Corporation had attended.

They hoped to seize the opportunity to make a connection with him.

Chu Zhiyi returned to her parents, her heart still pounding.

The force of the man's kiss seemed to linger, disrupting her thoughts.

Chu Zhiyi reverted to her usual obedient self, "Mom."

"What took you so long?" Mother Chu was somewhat impatient, "Did you finish talking to Zhou Hen? What did he say?"

"He's busy with work and won't be coming back on my birthday."

Mother Chu looked at her with a bit of disappointment, "Men can't be relied upon!"

Chu Zhiyi wore a contrite expression and kept her head down in silence.

After searching for the President of CE around the ball without success, Father Chu returned with a gloomy face.

Mother Chu quickly asked, "Didn't you see Yan Jingting?"

"No," Father Chu clicked his tongue, "He's in a wheelchair. I would have noticed him the moment he came in, but after looking for so long, I didn't see him at all."

Chu Zhiyi thought to herself that someone like Yan Jingting attending this kind of Masquerade Ball would be strange.

It wasn't exactly a formal evening event.

Having seen Yan Jingting lecture at her university, Chu Zhiyi knew he was an exceptionally refined and well-mannered person, unlikely to come to such a place.

Still unwilling to waste such a good opportunity, Father Chu decided to take Chu Zhiyi to meet other people.

With her obedience and good looks, it didn't take long for Chu Zhiyi to win much praise for her father.

Father Chu's gloomy mood finally dissipated, and he became a bit happier.

When the ball ended, Chu Zhiyi made an excuse to leave.

Father Chu and Mother Chu were not particularly happy about her wandering off.

"Zhizhi, you're the Zhou family's fiancée, wandering around outside so late... If the Zhou family finds out, what will they think of us?"

"You can't even hold onto Zhou Hen's heart! And now you're messing around outside!"

Chu Zhiyi's smile stiffened, "Mom and Dad, I'm just going back to my rented place to work overtime, I won't go anywhere else. I'll call you when I get home, okay?"

Father Chu was still not happy, frowning as he scolded her, "If I find out you're trying to seduce someone else, I'll break your legs."

Chu Zhiyi forced a smile, "How dare I?"

After being reprimanded, Chu Zhiyi was finally allowed to leave their side.

An extended car stopped in a parking spot on the street.

The man in a suit walked up to the car, bent down, and said to the person inside, "President Yan, Miss Chu has left."

Yan Jingting looked up towards the street, his voice indifferent, "Let's go back."

The assistant agreed, got into the passenger seat, and told the driver to start the car.

The assistant glanced back and thought to himself that President Yan seemed to be in a very good mood today.

He must have had a lot of fun at the Masquerade Ball.

...

"I'm late, I'm late!"

"Was the hospital busy?"

"Had to do an unexpected check-up, but thankfully it was nothing serious."

Chu Zhiyi sat at her seat, looking at the menu, making casual conversation with her friend she had arranged to meet, telling Wu Yang about what happened today.

Of course, she didn't dare to tell her about kissing someone else, it was too shameful, and she couldn't bring herself to say it.

"Zhou Hen went to the Masquerade Ball to have thrilling fun with other women, he never guessed you went too, huh?"

Wu Yang swiftly changed the subject, her voice filled with secretive excitement, "By the way, are you really planning to announce to everyone on your birthday that you're going to marry Zhou Hen?"

Chu Zhiyi didn't cater to her friend's excitement, "What else?"

Wu Yang feigned pity, touching Chu Zhiyi's smooth cheek, "My poor Zhizhi, you could marry someone from a richer family than Zhou Hen's, your mom would definitely dump the Zhou family immediately."

The Zhou family's business was not small, very few in Jiang City could compete with them, and this was also why Mother Chu was insistent on making Chu Zhiyi marry Zhou Hen at all costs.

"As things stand, that's impossible for now," Chu Zhiyi said with a thin, cold smile, "Tonight, I need to go back to my rented place to sleep. My parents think I'm out seducing men."

Wu Yang's face turned green with anger, "Your parents are sick!"

"They've always been like this to you, Zhizhi, they will drag you down sooner or later!"

Wu Yang and Chu Zhiyi had been friends since childhood, and Wu Yang saw very clearly how Father Chu and Mother Chu treated her.

Chu Zhiyi was silent for a moment, then laughed lightly, "Don't worry, I won't let them control my life."

Her birthday was only a few days away, and even if she had to announce her marriage, she still needed to work.

Chu Zhiyi was about to graduate from university and was currently interning at Jiang City TV Station. She was just an intern director, following mentors that her teachers had introduced, doing a financial interview program.

Today, as soon as Chu Zhiyi arrived at the TV station, she was informed that she needed to go out and interview a successful person in the venture capital industry.

Chu Zhiyi saved the interviewee's information on her tablet, grabbed her bag and tablet, and caught up with her senior colleague, heading out to the location of this interview.

Chu Zhiyi and her senior colleague entered the café and hadn't walked far when they suddenly saw a man and a woman sitting opposite each other by the window.

The woman looked beautiful and clear-cut, while the man was even more handsome, but the only downside was that he was in a wheelchair.

When Chu Zhiyi got a clear view of the man's face, she was a bit surprised.

Wasn't that... Yan Jingting?

Was he on a date?

Curiosity rose instantly, and Chu Zhiyi felt a surge of excitement!

"The place President Lu likes is over there, please come with me," said the assistant.

The assistant led Chu Zhiyi and her senior colleague to a corner.

After taking their seats, Chu Zhiyi looked up and met Yan Jingting's gaze straight across from her.

Chu Zhiyi felt completely unsettled!

She wanted to hear gossip, but not face to face!