Chapter 695: A Country Bumpkin

By the window inside the banquet hall, a group of exquisitely dressed, pretty-looking girls surrounded Li Xiao and Qiu Keying.

The Qiu family had a prominent status in Longcheng, and Qiu Keying's status among these wealthy young ladies was naturally very popular. Although it was all superficial flattery, it was very satisfying for Qiu Keying.

Today was the first time she had brought a boyfriend to such an occasion. With such a formal appearance, everyone naturally had to give her face.

So everyone started praising Li Xiao one after another.

"Keying, your boyfriend is really handsome."

"I've never seen you bring a guy to a party before. I thought you didn't want to date, turns out your standards are high."

"Keying's standards are definitely high. How many people in all of Longcheng are worthy of Keying?"

"That's right. Keying, you're also super beautiful today. Is this jewelry a limited edition? I've seen it in a magazine, I didn't expect the real thing to look even better."

Qiu Keying held Li Xiao's arm, enjoying the praise as if she were the stars surrounding the moon. With the birthday girl not around, she had become the most eye-catching person in the banquet hall.

With so many people today, it was inevitable that some would have an impression of Li Xiao.

"Li Xiao, your father is the chairman of the Li Group, right? I think we've met before."

"I have a bit of an impression of you too, but you're even more handsome now. No wonder Keying likes you."

"I think I met you at some occasion two years ago, but I haven't seen you since."

"Studied abroad? No wonder..."

Li Xiao wasn't surprised that someone recognized him; after all, the Li Group wasn't an unknown entity in Longcheng. He chatted and conversed with people calmly and composedly. Beneath his handsome appearance, he revealed a steady and introverted temperament different from the other boys present, which made Qiu Keying's heart flutter.

Until Li Xiao, while socializing, glanced over inadvertently, and that charming, cold, and beautiful figure instantly hit his eyes, causing his heart to stop abruptly.

On the sofa not far away, Gu Yunzhou was stuffing a paper ball into his palm and clenching it, then suddenly shook his arm, and a fresh flower appeared in his hand.

Shen Ci was laughing especially happily because of his little magic trick. The expression on her face and the smile radiating from her brows were so beautiful and eye-catching.

Not just Li Xiao, most of the boys present noticed Shen Ci.

And her outfit today was completely different from Qiu Keying's princess style. Li Xiao watched, fascinated; he clearly still preferred Shen Ci's style.

"How about it? Is it impressive?"

Gu Yunzhou asked proudly after performing several small magic tricks for Shen Ci in a row.

Shen Ci clapped her hands: "Impressive, much stronger than those low-level means of yours from before."

"You say that, but it's just you. Others wouldn't be able to see it even if they wanted to."

"Brother, stop pestering A-Ci. Didn't you bring your own girlfriend? Go keep her company!" Lianxing had rolled her eyes until she was tired and couldn't help but speak up to drive him away.

"No girlfriend, your brother is single right now!" He didn't forget to wink at Shen Ci as he spoke.

"So disgusting." Gu Lianxing stood up and pulled Shen Ci: "A-Ci, don't pay attention to him, let's go inside and eat something."

Shen Ci smiled helplessly and stood up. She actually quite liked watching Lianxing and Gu Yunzhou bicker.

A boy like Gu Yunzhou, who was uninhibited and had a flirtatious and fun-loving personality completely written on his face, and who also had a sense of humor, was actually very popular with girls.

"Lianxing!"

At this time, someone in the distance waved at Lianxing, clearly a friend she was familiar with.

Lianxing knew Shen Ci didn't like to chat awkwardly with strangers. Seeing this, she said to Shen Ci: "A-Ci, you go to the buffet area and wait for me first. Don't pay attention to my brother; I'll come back after saying hello."

"Okay."

Shen Ci nodded and went to the buffet area alone.

On such an occasion, almost no one would walk around the buffet area with a tray eating food. The young ladies felt it wasn't elegant or appropriate, and the young masters' attention was all on the young ladies.

So in the entire buffet area, there was only Shen Ci. She was really a bit hungry.

Holding the tray and looking at the dazzling array of fresh food, Shen Ci's appetite opened up.

"King Salmon Sashimi," she must eat!

"Crab Meat Sushi," she must eat!

"Foie Gras Nigiri," she must eat!

"..."

Compared to fake-smiling and chatting awkwardly with others, Shen Ci clearly preferred this pure land of the buffet area.

But soon, the person who ruined the atmosphere arrived.

"Heh, is this here to eat at the buffet?"

A tone of ill-intentioned sarcasm sounded from behind. Shen Ci was still holding a piece of "Cherry Mousse" and turned her head upon hearing the sound.

Shen Ci was truly too beautiful today, so much so that the moment she turned her head, Qiu Keying's eyes darkened by three points.

It was truly a beauty one had to admit.

But what was the use?

A country bumpkin!

And there were two other girls beside Qiu Keying. Clearly, they knew Qiu Keying didn't like the pretty girl in front of her, and out of flattery, the two followed Qiu Keying's words and mocked: "How did this kind of person get in?"

"Exactly, I've never seen anyone eat at an occasion like this. It's so embarrassing."

Qiu Keying sneered and said: "I said it long ago, after my dad acquires this place, we must strictly forbid such people from entering, so as not to lower the class of this place. It's truly bad luck."

The other party's provocation came suddenly, but it wasn't inexplicable. Shen Ci knew she was aiming to humiliate her as soon as she saw that the person behind her was Qiu Keying.

She slowly put down the things in her hand and then turned around.

Her brows were cold and her eyes were frozen. Facing people head-on now, her aura was clearly more oppressive than when she was seen from behind just now.

The three of them felt a sudden emptiness in their hearts, but it was only for an instant before they glared back at Shen Ci provocatively.

Shen Ci walked in front of Qiu Keying. Because she had two friends with her, the other party felt very confident in her heart, but because of her height, she had to look up slightly to look at Shen Ci.

"I really didn't expect to run into you here again today." Qiu Keying took the initiative to speak: "Which man brought you in this time? You shouldn't have many opportunities to eat such good things usually, right? Eat, no one will laugh at you, because people without knowledge are just like this."

Qiu Keying was clearly despising Shen Ci from the essence because of Li Xiao's words, feeling that she was just a vain woman with inferior means who could gain a man's favor by relying on her beauty.

Plus, Shen Ci had insulted Li Xiao with vicious words that day, so Qiu Keying's hostility toward her at this moment wasn't groundless.

And after Qiu Keying said so many nasty things, mocking Shen Ci for not being able to make it to the table and not having seen the world, and after the contempt and belittlement were all stated so straightforwardly, Shen Ci just looked at her coldly and said lightly: "Your lipstick is on your teeth!"

Qiu Keying was startled and hurriedly raised her hand to cover her mouth, but a look of shame and anger leaked out from her eyes. ===== CHAPTER 696 =====