Chapter 336

Shen Ci's words were nothing if not sharp, and the men at the table were all blushing with red necks.

But if you think they were blushing out of shame, you are dead wrong!

Shen Ci didn't expect these arrogant men to gain even a shred of self-reflection from a young girl's words.

They were blushing with indignation, mocked mercilessly by a young girl and unable to vent because of the occasion.

The atmosphere became awkward to the extreme; even Lu Jinzhao was tongue-tied and didn't know how to speak to ease the tension.

"Miss Shen certainly has a sharp tongue, even bringing up Wu Zetian."

Someone finally tried to speak, wanting to find a way out for these men. He gave a sheepish laugh: "Chairman Qu was just joking, why take it so seriously and get angry?"

Shen Ci looked at Chairman Qu with a calm expression. His face was uncontrollably gloomy and ugly, clearly because her words just now had rebuffed his face.

It really is true that the bigger the business, the smaller the mind.

She wasn't specifically targeting Chairman Qu alone; what she wanted to express was that everyone present was trash!

"A joke is only a joke if both parties find it funny. If only one side finds it funny and the other feels uncomfortable, it's not a joke—it's an offense!"

Shen Ci didn't care at all about Chairman Qu's increasingly ugly face and continued calmly: "And I'm not angry, just speaking my mind. As a woman, if even the Empress could be treated like that, what do I have to be angry about?"

Lu Jinzhao was already sweating profusely.

He didn't care much about the others' feelings; the only one he cared about was Miss Shen, his big investor. He had intended to bring her here today to expand her high-end connections in the new media field, but he hadn't expected such a thing to happen.

Fortunately, just as he feared things would spiral out of control, the event began.

The lights at the venue dimmed instantly, with only the stage lit up. The event host was a well-known domestic celebrity. After following the procedure, the person in charge of the organizer, "Mercedes," gave a speech for today's event.

Shen Ci listened absent-mindedly, unable to muster the slightest interest in this type of cocktail party.

She turned her head to look at Pili behind her and found that her eyes were also dull and unfocused. Although she was very beautiful, she radiated an aura that was completely out of place with the event.

Shen Ci wanted to laugh.

As her gaze shifted, it collided directly with the eyes of another person who was looking at her.

Shen Ci was slightly stunned. It's him?

The male celebrity on the plane who had mistaken her for a sasaeng fan.

Xu Junhuan had actually noticed Shen Ci long ago, but her seat was in the front, and even as a top-tier celebrity, he could only sit in the second row, so he had only seen her profile and the back of her head for a long time.

Now that they had caught each other's eyes unexpectedly, Xu Junhuan nodded as a greeting, and Shen Ci responded with a light nod.

A burst of enthusiastic applause suddenly erupted at the venue, startling Shen Ci. Only after coming back to her senses did she realize the person in charge had finished speaking.

The surroundings instantly became noisy and lively, and the dinner officially began.

Shen Ci took the opportunity to stand up and whispered to Lu Jinzhao: "I'm going to the restroom."

As she moved, the gazes of the others at the table followed her in unison. Until she had walked far away, Chairman Qu shook his head with a cold laugh, speaking in the tone of an "experienced person": "Young and overly sharp; there will come a day when she hits a wall."

Lu Jinzhao looked displeased upon hearing this: "Chairman Qu, Miss Shen is my friend. If you have any opinions about her, you can tell me, rather than deliberately provoking her on an occasion like this."

As a company boss himself, Lu Jinzhao wasn't afraid of the other party. Usually, they maintained a superficial harmony, but if someone truly crossed the line, he wouldn't play the coward.

Chairman Qu was naturally the same.

He turned his head to look at Lu Jinzhao, his expression meaningful: "Mr. Lu, this Miss Shen has invested in several projects of your company. I can understand why you care about her, but the rest of us have no business dealings with her."

"She's just a yellow-haired girl; do you expect me to give her much face?"

"Miss Shen's face is earned by herself; she doesn't need Chairman Qu to give it to her." Lu Jinzhao's temper flared, and his tone grew three points heavier: "Chairman Qu, don't take yourself too seriously, pointing fingers at everything just because you see someone young and beautiful, regardless of whether others need it or not!"

This sentence could be said to have completely trampled Chairman Qu's face underfoot.

The crowd looked slightly shocked and hurriedly tried to mediate.

"Oh my, no need for that, no need."

"It's all just talk, Mr. Lu, you've spoken too harshly!"

"That's right, let's all say one less word!"

Chairman Qu was also very surprised, not expecting Lu Jinzhao to be so disrespectful to him for the sake of such a girl.

"We've known each other for so many years; it seems you're determined to fall out with me for the sake of a little girl?" Chairman Qu questioned coldly.

Lu Jinzhao slowly stood up and said to Chairman Qu: "Miss Shen is currently the largest investor in 'Jin Xiao.' If you make her unhappy, you're smashing my rice bowl, Lu Jinzhao. Chairman Qu has provoked the wrong person!"

After saying this, Lu Jinzhao turned and left the table, while Chairman Qu sat in his seat, his face distorted with anger.

In the restroom, after Shen Ci finished washing her hands and came out, she found Lu Jinzhao waiting outside. She looked left and right with a surprised expression before saying: "Mr. Lu is waiting for me?"

Lu Jinzhao felt genuinely sorry, so he stepped forward with a guilty expression: "Miss Shen, I'm really sorry today. I didn't expect them to be so arrogant and impolite."

"When you all gather together, there are rarely women of equal status at the table, right? Especially not at my age, right?" Shen Ci asked with a smile.

Lu Jinzhao recalled that in this industry, it wasn't that there were no women with status and qualifications, but they were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, and there really wasn't anyone as young as Miss Shen.

Lu Jinzhao nodded.

Shen Ci smiled helplessly: "This has nothing to do with you. If my gender were swapped today, I would probably be praised as a 'young talent' or 'promising youth.' The words 'woman' and 'success' put together are enough to make these people's imaginations run wild. If you add 'young' to that, my 'buff' is fully stacked."

"They didn't show their true colors before because someone like me hadn't appeared. Mr. Lu, you don't need to take responsibility for such people, because in their eyes, they would rather believe in aliens and ghosts than believe that a young, successful woman truly exists!"

These words made Lu Jinzhao feel even more ashamed.

"In any case, I was the one who strongly invited Miss Shen to come today. I didn't expect to give Miss Shen such a poor experience. I am truly very sorry."

(End of this chapter)