Chapter 2175

At noon, in the banquet hall of the Wen family's old residence, the light from the crystal chandelier fell on the Champagne Tower, scattering brilliant shards.

Wen Jin leaned against the floor-to-ceiling window, holding a highball glass between his fingers, his gaze behind the silver-rimmed lenses wandering casually over the crowd.

He wore a well-tailored black suit today, his tie neatly knotted below his collar, giving him a refined yet restrained air—like the Wen family's gentle, harmless Second Young Master, except when he slowly adjusted his cufflinks, the emerald on his wrist glowed with a faint light, like a snake temporarily sheathing its fangs.

Soon after, the three members of the Jin family appeared in the banquet hall, and the true colors returned to Wen Jin's sight; he looked over, his gaze behind the lenses settling on Jin Chen.

Jin Chen stood on the other side, holding an untouched glass of champagne.

Jin Zhang and Jin Tong stood at his side, the father and son chatting and laughing with several business elites.

"What are you doing standing here?" Jin Tong swirled the glass in his hand, his tone tinged with mockery. "At this kind of event, you surely don't have anyone to talk to, do you?"

Jin Chen: "No need for you to worry."

Jin Tong snorted, leaned in and whispered lowly: "I'm old friends with Wen Third Young Master; want me to introduce you?"

His words were six parts boast, four parts mockery, with no genuine intention to recommend.

Jin Chen finally gave him a proper look, his gaze sweeping over with even more sarcasm: "Are you sure Wen Third Young Master is willing to acknowledge you as a friend?"

Jin Tong's face stiffened, about to flare up, but Jin Zhang stopped him: "Enough, today is the Wen family's banquet; don't make a fool of yourself."

At that moment, laughter came from the other side of the banquet hall.

Well-dressed young masters surrounded Wen Jin, their tone tinged with frivolity.

"Wen Second Young Master, I heard you've been teaching at school lately? Quite the leisurely life—don't you need to worry about the Wen family's businesses?"

"Yeah, the Third Young Master is thriving, and the Eldest Young Master is the Chief Executive Officer of the conglomerate—needless to say—how come you have no movement at all?"

Wen Jin held his wine glass, the gaze behind his lenses still refined and gentle, the corner of his mouth even bearing a faint smile.

"You're all right, I really have no talent; I can only teach students to pass the time."

Seeing he showed no anger, the three grew even more brazen, one even patting his shoulder.

"Wen Second Young Master, want me to introduce you to a few projects? Though they can't compare to Wen Third Young Master's, they're still better than being a schoolteacher, right?"

Jin Chen's gaze fell on Wen Jin, seeing him still smiling faintly in response, he lowered his eyes and took a sip of champagne.

However, Wen Jin's gaze swept through the crowd and landed straight on Jin Chen, the look behind his lenses carrying a hint of teasing, as if probing.

Jin Chen felt his gaze, but after a brief eye contact he deliberately looked away, even turning his side to present his back to Wen Jin, refusing to meet his eyes directly.

This fit Wen Jin's reminder from last night: pretend we don't know each other, for everyone's benefit.

But putting on this act, nobody would believe he wasn't angry.

Wen Jin gradually realized what Jin Chen had understood the night before—what exactly he had understood.

It turned out he was unhappy and sulking with him.

Wen Jin laughed out loud, increasingly feeling that beneath the false splendor outside the lenses, that hint of true color was vivid to the point of being deadly.

Seeing Wen Jin not respond, their aim of currying favor with Wen Third Young Master by attending to him would fail; the young masters felt a bit embarrassed, were about to back off, but then saw Wen Third Young Master together with the CEO of the Third Consortium, Gu Xi, approaching, and hurried over again to flatter.

They flattered Wen Third Young Master from head to toe, and also flattered Gu Xi.

On the surface, Gu Xi was originally destined to be opposed to Wen Jin.

When their gazes met, Gu Xi's palm faintly ached, the hand hanging at his side involuntarily clenching into a fist.

Wen Third Young Master noticed this, glanced at Gu Xi with alertness and suspicion.

He had felt these past two years that Wen Jin was becoming increasingly unfathomable, yet no matter how he investigated, the result was that Wen Jin posed no threat; now thirty years old, he remained in everyone's mouth the "disabled" Second Young Master fortunate to be born into the Wen family.

Without his glasses he can't distinguish any colors, and occasionally goes blind— isn't that just being disabled?

Gu Xi knew he had been accidentally injured, but why did seeing Wen Jin provoke an irrepressible fear in him?

Wen Third Young Master frowned, still trying to figure out the reason, when he saw Wen Jin step forward, the corner of his mouth holding a gentle smile.

Gu Xi instinctively stepped back half a pace, quickly reacted, and stiffened his body to hear Wen Jin say.

"I heard Gu CEO was recently stabbed through the hand; it seems making too many enemies in the business world really isn't a good thing."

Gu Xi: "……"

Gu Xi could only play along with him, still needing to keep a suitably sharp retort: "Yes, thank you for your concern, Second Young Master; it's not like your university teaching job, which is practically the safest place."

Wen Jin curled his lip: "Not necessarily."

He raised his eyebrows with implied meaning, almost instantly making Gu Xi think of Wu You, who should have accompanied him tonight, his complexion worsening.

Wen Jin left it at that, clinked glasses with the complexion‑filled Wen Third Young Master, then strode straight through the crowd and left.

Exactly the direction Jin Chen had just left in, though no one noticed, nor would anyone connect the two.

In the banquet hall garden that afternoon, sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled light and shadow.

Jin Chen sat on the bench, his gaze somewhat wandering as he looked into the distance.

There were hardly any people here; it was quiet enough that only the rustle of wind through leaves remained.

Wen Jin walked over from afar, his steps light and unhurried, as if afraid of disturbing something.

The vivid colors, after correction by the lenses, even appeared somewhat distorted; Wen Jin only wanted to see the true beauty, so he walked up behind Jin Chen, raised his hand to take off his glasses, casually hung them on his shirt collar, and fixed his gaze on Jin Chen.

Wen Jin stepped before him, lowered his head and drooped his eyes; the pupils, uncorrected by the lenses, were slightly out of focus.

He raised his hand, fingertips lightly brushing Jin Chen's cheek, indulgent and teasing.

"Are you really angry?"

Jin Chen lifted his eyes to him, his eyes holding some dissatisfaction, yet his tone remained calm: "Wasn't it you who said we should pretend not to know each other?"

Wen Jin gave a light laugh, carrying a hint of coaxing: "This is for your safety; won't you obey, still throwing a tantrum at me?"

Jin Chen said nothing, merely suddenly reached out and pulled Wen Jin into his embrace.

Wen Jin, caught off guard, fell onto his lap, the distance between them instantly closing.

Jin Chen's gaze stared straight into Wen Jin's eyes, as if trying to see through those somewhat gray, misty pupils into his heart.

Wen Jin froze, then reacted, the smile at the corner of his mouth deepening.

"Do you know the secret of my eyes?"

Jin Chen responded, "Mm."

Wen Jin's gaze suddenly turned sharp, like a thorned rose, dangerous and extremely tempting.

He slightly narrowed his eyes, with a hint of probing: "Are you trying to pity me?"

Jin Chen lightly brushed past Wen Jin's eye corner; the warmth of his fingertips passed through the skin, reaching his heart.

His voice was very soft: "You are very strong; you don't need my sympathy and pity."

Wen Jin's heart shuddered violently for a moment, as if struck by something.

He looked at Jin Chen, the sharpness in his eyes gradually being replaced by soft emotion.

He couldn't help but admit that every word and every action of Jin Chen seemed tailor-made for him, perfectly matching his heart's desire.

Wen Jin softly sighed, "How are you so... in tune with my heart's desire?"

【Detected Villain Blackening Value -1, total 98!】