Chapter 49: Wen Yan, Mind Your Words

Their reactions actually made Jiang Mian feel quite pleased.

Since Wen Jinghuai had such a useful name, would it not be a waste not to use it? Besides, she wasn't lying; it was indeed sent by Wen Jinghuai's people.

"When President Wen and I met, why is Young Master Wen so concerned about it?"

She smiled faintly, her eyes sweeping over Jiang Zhixuan with a look of disdain.

He was already a man with a fiancée, so why was he meddling in other people's social circles?

Sure enough, Jiang Mian's look made Jiang Zhixuan realize something instantly. Almost immediately, she lifted the hem of her dress and walked over, still wearing a smile on her face.

It was just that her expression now looked somewhat unhappy.

"A-Yan, after all, Sister is also a businesswoman. It's not strange for her to know President Wen, right?" She felt a bit angry inside, but at an event like this, she had to maintain a decent facade on the surface.

The gossip of the people around them was burning even brighter. It was rare for Wen Jinghuai to personally hand out an invitation card.

Most of them attending the old master's birthday banquet had received their invitations issued by the Wen family.

To be able to receive an invitation personally from Wen Jinghuai—their relationship apparently wasn't ordinary, at the very least making her someone valued by Wen Jinghuai.

However, most of them had heard rumors about the Jiang family, specifically that this former eldest miss of the Jiang family was currently suppressed and in quite a desolate state.

Could it be? Was she about to reach some kind of cooperation with Wen Jinghuai?

For a moment, those fellows who had been greeting and chatting with Jiang Zhouyi because of Wen Yan's connection now began to calculate in their hearts.

Wen Yan and Wen Jinghuai—they could still tell the difference in their weight.

Jiang Zhixuan shook Wen Yan's arm, trying to remind him to mind the occasion.

Because he himself shared the surname Wen, he was still somewhat reluctant to believe it afterwards.

"Jiang Mian, you'd better not be using my eldest brother's name to bluff and deceive here!" His tone carried a hint of unknown anger as he took a step forward, only to be yanked back forcefully by Jiang Zhixuan: "A-Yan!"

However, such a reminder was of no use.

Raising her eyebrows, Jiang Mian didn't care at all about his current—well, impotent rage.

Just as she was thinking of saying something, she heard a calm voice arrive, causing everyone present to instantly fall silent.

"Wen Yan, watch your words."

Wen Jinghuai was wearing a black suit, one arm half-raised in front of him as he adjusted the cufflink on his sleeve. His expression was stern and cold as he looked over, devoid of any warmth.

Jiang Zhiming stopped on the steps behind him, not walking any further. Instead, he looked down condescendingly at the farce unfolding here.

As if knowing something, the corner of Jiang Zhiming's mouth carried a trace of disdainful amusement. One hand propped against the railing, his shirt collar—unbuttoned past the top—was slightly open, looking somewhat roguish due to his posture.

Realizing that Jiang Mian's gaze was fixed on him, he nodded and smiled at Jiang Mian with exceptionally good spirits.

The crowd was driven by this sudden turn of events to look back and forth between both sides, still failing to figure out what was going on.

How did it look as though Jiang Zhiming, that unruly and untamable master of the Jiang family, also had a pretty good relationship with Jiang Mian?

The oppression brought by the gradually approaching Wen Jinghuai stemmed from Wen Yan's ingrained fear of his own eldest brother, causing the anger that had just flared up slightly to subside in an instant.

"Eldest Brother." He took a step back, subconsciously leaning against Jiang Zhixuan, and greeted him very obediently.

Jiang Zhixuan gave an awkward smile; this man wasn't someone anyone could afford to provoke, so she also followed up with a soft call.

"President Wen." Jiang Zhouyi had always wanted to establish some connection with Wen Jinghuai. With such a great opportunity, he naturally wanted Wen Jinghuai to cast a few more glances at him as well.

However, the other party didn't want to entertain him at all. His gaze swept around a circle and finally fell upon Jiang Mian.

To be honest, he had watched enough of the drama just now. Since it was time for him to appear, he naturally had to show up.

However, the fact that Jiang Mian still knew how to use his name to retort against people showed that she hadn't been bullied to the point of not knowing how to fight back.

Therefore, he curved the corners of his lips with a slightly eased mood, revealing a faint, almost friendly smile.

"Miss Jiang, the old master was just mentioning you a moment ago, asking me to bring you over."

On the other side, Jiang Zhiming, who was watching the show, sensed someone approaching his side. He turned his head and almost collided with Shen Xieyao.

"You, what are you doing?" He instinctively shrank back, as if afraid of being set up.

Shen Xieyao glanced at him and unceremoniously reached out to slap his arm: "You can watch the show, but I can't?"

Among these upper-class families in the capital, there were more or fewer intersections, and the younger generation knew each other as well.

Although they couldn't be considered extremely close, their relationship wasn't bad either; they certainly weren't the kind to have nothing to do with each other.

Jiang Zhiming and Shen Xieyao used to interact quite frequently, after all, their families lived close to each other back then.

However, having not seen each other in all these years, they had grown somewhat estranged.

Yet with this slap of hers, it felt as though they had returned to the days before everyone reached adulthood, when the bonds between youths were always much purer.

The person who got slapped curled his lips, raised a hand to brush off the spot that had just been hit, looking slightly disgusted.

"Hey, Shen Xieyao, isn't Jiang Mian your friend? Aren't you going out to help?"

"Does this require me?" She raised a hand to point downward, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

Wen Jinghuai making a move was worth three people; did she still need to go?

Besides, it was a fact that Elder Wen wanted to see Jiang Mian, and it was also a fact that Wen Jinghuai gave Jiang Mian the invitation.

Facts spoke louder than words, hence she was too lazy to wade into these muddy waters.

"True, you little nobody." As soon as his voice fell, Shen Xieyao raised her hand and pinched his arm hard.

If it weren't for the fact that this was a public place and Elder Wen's birthday banquet, he definitely would have cried out.

"You! You're hitting way too hard!" He glared at Shen Xieyao, nearly grinding his teeth to pieces.

The young lady let out a cold snort, too lazy to bother with him, and turned to head upstairs first.

She hadn't arrived very early at the banquet and hadn't yet paid her respects to the old master. Earlier, she had even been instructed by her father to make sure she paid her respects to him.

There was no helping it; human relations and worldly affairs were simply like this.

Wen Yan was left speechless for a moment, unable to figure out what business Elder Wen had with Jiang Mian.

He really wanted to ask, but upon touching Wen Jinghuai's cold, warmthless gaze, he forced the words back down.

"Miss Jiang, let's go. Don't keep the old master waiting anxiously." With that said, Wen Jinghuai had already turned around.

Jiang Mian's gaze swept over Jiang Zhixuan and Jiang Zhouyi, a smile playing at the corners of her lips as she raised her eyebrows, then turned to follow closely behind Wen Jinghuai.

Jiang Zhixuan clenched her fists in anger, yet she couldn't say a single thing.

Putting aside the fact that one couldn't casually gossip behind Elder Wen's back, even Wen Jinghuai—you couldn't utter a single half-bad word about him.

Once overheard by others and leaked to that person's ears, the consequences would be too dreadful to contemplate.

Jiang Zhouyi opened his mouth, turned to look at Jiang Zhixuan, and signaled her to come over.

She paused for a brief moment, released Wen Yan's hand, walked over to Jiang Zhouyi's side, and heard him ask in a low voice: "Go find out later what the Wen family's attitude toward her is."