Chapter 72: The Private Room is Full of Old Acquaintances

Qin Shu was brought to the door of the Private Room by the manager; she pushed the door open and entered, while Su Tuantuan stood at the entrance: "I won't go in."

"Call me when the gathering is over."

Qin Shu: "Okay."

Qin Shu walked inside and saw the Private Room filled with Lu Ziqian, Gu Tingyan, Ji Yanli, Jiang Xubai, Xia Qinglian, and Chu Sheng.

In their circle, everyone who should have been there had arrived.

Jiang Xubai and Chu Sheng were conversing, and upon seeing Qin Shu enter, both were momentarily stunned.

Jiang Xubai frowned deeply: "Doesn't she never attend these kinds of gatherings?"

Chu Sheng pursed her lips and did not answer.

The two of them subconsciously looked toward Gu Tingyan; amidst the interplay of light and shadow, Gu Tingyan sat with his legs crossed, leaning against the sofa in a noble and languid manner, and lifted a finger to beckon Qin Shu with his long, slender hand.

Beside him, a seat was left empty, reserved for Qin Shu.

Qin Shu paused, acted as if she hadn't seen it, and walked toward the spot furthest from Gu Tingyan; she sat down beside Lu Ziqian.

Gu Tingyan glanced at her with a look that was not quite a smile, neither annoyed nor the least bit embarrassed.

Having not seen her for half a month, he missed Qin Shu quite a bit; this little heartless one wouldn't even spare him a glance.

Lu Ziqian was holding Lu Keke in his arms, with Xia Qinglian on his left.

This was Xia Qinglian's first time seeing Qin Shu in reality, and she did not know the relationship between her and Gu Tingyan.

Given her status, if not for Lu Ziqian, she would never have been able to sit in the same Private Room as Gu Tingyan in this lifetime.

Seeing Qin Shu sit next to Lu Ziqian, Xia Qinglian let her gaze fall upon that bright and moving face, and a sense of crisis immediately arose.

This woman was too beautiful, the kind of appearance that any man would find hard to resist.

As soon as Lu Keke saw Qin Shu sitting beside her, she hurriedly slid off her father's lap and walked to Qin Shu's side, lifting her pretty little dress.

Qin Shu looked down at her with a gentle smile on her face; Lu Keke was wearing a priceless princess dress, wearing a pure gold bracelet on her wrist, and the jade pendant on her chest was clear and dark green—it was evident that the little girl had been born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

Lu Ziqian doted on this daughter very much; that piece of jade alone could buy a villa in a prime location in Beijing.

Lu Keke clung to her stickily and smiled sweetly: "Big sister is super pretty today!"

Qin Shu touched her face and smiled, curling her lips: "You are also very pretty today, sweetheart."

She handed Lu Keke a finely packaged paper bag, which was a birthday gift she had bought for Lu Keke at the shop.

"I don't know if you'll like it, but here it is for you, sweetheart."

Lu Keke politely took the bag without opening it, a joyful smile on her face: "Since big sister gave it to me, I will definitely like it very much!"

Once upon a time, Qin Shu had also wanted a second child, to give birth to a daughter for Gu Tingyan and a younger sister for Gu Yichen; a daughter is a little cotton-padded jacket, delicate and soft.

It was just that the wish was never fulfilled later on.

Lu Ziqian chuckled, his eyes filled with a touch of doting.

He looked at Gu Tingyan, smiling from ear to ear: "Tingyan, my Keke calls you uncle, and calls Qin Shu big sister."

"Your seniority is directly several levels higher than Qin Shu's."

Gu Tingyan toyed with a cigarette between his fingertips, but because there were children present, he did not smoke.

He lifted his eyelids to look at Qin Shu, his eyes full of playful amusement.

Xia Qinglian looked at Gu Tingyan, then at Qin Shu; with a smile in her eyes, she looked at Qin Shu: "And who is this?"

Lu Ziqian said: "A friend."

Xia Qinglian was taken aback, lowered her eyes, and did not continue to ask.

Jiang Xubai looked at Qin Shu with cold eyes and gave a sarcastic smile: "How did Miss Qin come here too?"

He looked at Qin Shu with disdain: "Don't tell me you followed Tingyan here?"

Asking for a divorce from Gu Tingyan on one hand, while chasing after him and refusing to let go on the other; she certainly knew how to play the game of hard-to-get.

Qin Shu lifted her eyes calmly: "Is this shop owned by your family?"

"You're meddling quite a bit."

Jiang Xubai was stunned; he hadn't expected that someone who was always as gentle as a little rabbit would also bare her fangs to snap back at people.

Chu Sheng pressed Jiang Xubai's hand to stop him: "Xiaobai, since Miss Qin is here, we are all friends."

Lu Ziqian's voice carried a hint of displeasure, vaguely revealing a sense of pressure: "It's Keke's birthday, don't make things too awkward."

Jiang Xubai gave Qin Shu a cold look and stopped paying attention to her.

Lu Ziqian patted Lu Keke's head: "Be good, Keke, go bring the cake in."

"After eating the cake, you can go play."

Lu Keke's eyes lit up: "Okay!"

Lu Keke lifted her little dress and ran outside the door, with bodyguards following her every step of the way.

"Xiangwan."

Su Xiangwan had just finished delivering wine to the Private Room, and she was called over by a colleague; she turned around: "What's wrong?"

Chen Yu clutched her stomach in agony, grabbed her hand, and pleaded: "My stomach hurts, I need to go to the restroom; go to the top-floor Private Room and deliver the cake for me."

"The guests want it now, and I'm not feeling well, so I can't deliver it."

The top-floor Private Room was generally off-limits to waitstaff; Su Xiangwan pursed her lips: "Sister Yang said that the top floor is not a place I can go to."

The guests on the top floor were all powerful and influential dignitaries; Su Xiangwan had only recently started the job and had not yet passed her probationary period.

Chen Yu scanned Su Xiangwan up and down; she had the looks and the figure, and she was pleasing to the eye, so she wouldn't offend the customers' eyes.

She insisted: "You can do it!"

Chen Yu looked at Su Xiangwan and pleaded: "Please! Just this once!"

"It's just delivering a cake, nothing will go wrong."

Seeing that she was in pain, Su Xiangwan's heart softened and she agreed; she nodded: "Okay."

Su Xiangwan walked to the Banquet Hall, where an expensive cake was placed inside, carved with Queen Elsa from Frozen, lifelike, exquisite, and beautiful.

Su Xiangwan used Chen Yu's card to swipe the elevator and pressed the top floor; the elevator rose all the way, and when the doors opened, the first thing she saw was Lu Keke wearing a princess dress.

Lu Keke was also stunned when she saw Su Xiangwan.

"Pretty sister." Lu Keke stood obediently in place.

Seeing Lu Keke, Su Xiangwan's feet felt as if they had been frozen in place; looking at the cake in front of her, she had already guessed whose birthday it was.

Su Xiangwan's heart trembled, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the cart; looking at the exquisitely and beautifully dressed girl before her, she thought of her own child who had died.

Su Xiangwan's voice was hoarse: "Is it your birthday today?"

Lu Keke revealed a sweet smile: "Yes!"

It was actually the same birthday as her deceased child.

Su Xiangwan stared at Lu Keke's face, slightly dazed; her child was dead, yet Xia Qinglian's child had already grown this big.

She hated it so much.

But Su Xiangwan could not bring herself to hate the child in front of her.

Lu Keke stretched out her little hand: "Sister, bring the cake into this private room."

Su Xiangwan came back to her senses, opened the door to the private room, and pushed the cart containing the cake inside; the moment Su Xiangwan pushed the door open, she saw Lu Ziqian smiling and talking to Xia Qinglian, and her body instantly stiffened.

This entire private room was filled with people from her past, all the people she least wanted to see.