Xu Ruowei bit her lip, looking at Ye Qingcheng pitifully, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Doctor Ye..." Xu Ruowei cried, tears streaming down her face. Her soft voice made anyone listening want to protect her.
In reality, this was Xu Ruowei's usual tactic. She understood things very clearly, but she was unsure how Ye Qingcheng would react.
"Xu Ruowei, everything you're saying now seems to be directed at An Nuan. So, the person you should be looking at and calling out to is An Nuan, not me," Ye Qingcheng said, his face dark, his eyes filled with disdain. "Miss Xu, if you have something to say, just say it directly. There's no need for such affected pretense."
"Do you know? Your current demeanor makes me extremely disgusted."
Xu Ruowei had never imagined that Ye Qingcheng would go so far for An Nuan.
She believed she was no worse than An Nuan, yet Ye Qingcheng treated them worlds apart. Why, why was that?
Xu Ruowei never thought that her usual successful tactics would fail so completely with Ye Qingcheng.
She couldn't believe something like this would happen to her.
Shen Xizhou, who had been watching An Nuan, seemed to recall something. He grabbed Xu Ruowei's hand and said with great conviction, "Ruowei, why bother begging someone like him? He's not worth you groveling like this."
"You're too kind, that's why people bully you like this."
He held Xu Ruowei close, speaking with affection.
His gaze fell on Ye Qingcheng. "Ye Qingcheng, do you think it's appropriate to speak to my fiancée like that?"
"What's inappropriate about it? Does that make you angry?" Ye Qingcheng snorted, a faint smile on his lips. "When your fiancée was bullying someone, where were you then?"
"Oh, so now you stand up when you see your fiancée isn't getting her way?"
"What, you can stand up for your fiancée, and I can't stand up for my girlfriend?"
"With me protecting her, none of you will be able to bully my fiancée so easily."
"Oh, really?" Shen Xizhou looked at Ye Qingcheng and said coldly, "My fiancée, I won't allow anyone to bully her either."
"Your girlfriend?" Shen Xizhou's lips curled into a cold smile, his eyes sinister. "You say she's your girlfriend, so she is? Ye Qingcheng, did she agree to you?"
"Xu Ruowei and I had an engagement banquet, and we will be getting married soon." He looked at Ye Qingcheng with a hint of triumph. "And you? Between you and An Nuan, your so-called girlfriend, it's just your one-sided wish. An Nuan hasn't agreed to you, has she?"
"Shen Xizhou, what nonsense are you spouting?" Ye Qingcheng's eyes blazed with anger, his voice sinister. "Whether she agreed to me or not is her business, but in my eyes, she is my girlfriend."
"Even if An Nuan doesn't admit it, it's fine," Ye Qingcheng said emotionally. "I believe that one day, she will agree to me."
"Heh, she'll agree to you?" Shen Xizhou laughed, a wild, unrestrained laugh.
"Ye Qingcheng, aren't you being too naive? With how devoted she is to me, do you really think she'll agree?"
"Oh, right. You probably don't know how dirty she is, do you?"
"Shen Xizhou, are you even a man? Always attacking An Nuan with words."
"Do you think what you're doing is appropriate?"
Ye Qingcheng scoffed. "I really wonder why An Nuan would fall for someone like you."
"Someone who is indecisive between two women."
"Heh," Shen Xizhou snorted, his eyes filled with a bloodthirsty aura. He said coldly, "Ye Qingcheng, don't forget, even so, it's An Nuan who has been pestering me, not the other way around."
"She is shameless."
Heh, so her love, in his eyes, was shameless.
An Nuan repeatedly told herself not to care about Shen Xizhou's opinion of her, because with Shen Xizhou, she would never have a good image.
Shen Xizhou always managed to hurt her deeply, leaving her bruised and battered.
She told herself she couldn't, absolutely couldn't be sad because of such things, because it wasn't worth it.
The person in front of her was familiar, yet so strange.
Ye Qingcheng looked at Shen Xizhou, his eyes filled with rage. He was about to rush forward and hit him, but An Nuan stopped him. An Nuan said softly, "Doctor Ye, please don't mind his words."
"And you, can you just pretend you didn't hear them?"
"I've heard these words so many times that I'm numb to them now."
Shen Xizhou watched the interaction between An Nuan and Ye Qingcheng, his eyes filled with anger and unwillingness. He sneered contemptuously, "Heh, Ye Qingcheng, are you that happy to pick up someone others have discarded?"
"Someone like her, she's probably seen every kind of man. Be careful not to be deceived by her."
"Shen Xizhou, shut up!" Ye Qingcheng had never imagined that a man could say such cruel and hurtful things to a woman.
How could Shen Xizhou say such things so calmly?
Didn't he ever consider how hurtful his words were?
Shen Xizhou, however, seemed oblivious to how hurtful his words were. A smug smile played on his lips. "Ye Qingcheng, what kind of woman do you want? Must it be this second-hand goods? Heh, if the Ye family knew, they would probably be in an uproar."
"An Nuan's past is quite 'eventful.' I doubt your family would accept her easily."
After delivering these heart-wrenching words, Shen Xizhou then took Xu Ruowei's hand and walked towards the center of the stage. With a deeply affectionate expression, he said, "Ruowei, tonight is your spotlight, it's our engagement banquet. We can't let these irrelevant people disturb it. Our engagement banquet will proceed as planned."
An Nuan watched as Shen Xizhou and Xu Ruowei walked past her, their fingers intertwined.
So, this was the position she held in his heart.
Heh, it was truly laughable.
An Nuan felt as if all her strength had been drained away. She gasped for air, and finally, she sank to the ground, hugging herself, burying her head between her knees. She was crying, silently crying.
She didn't want anyone to see her cry.
She hated herself for not being able to turn around and leave resolutely. She hated herself for still having a sliver of hope for Shen Xizhou, for not being able to firm her resolve and cast Shen Xizhou out of her heart.
She hated herself for still being swayed by Shen Xizhou at this moment.
She hated Shen Xizhou even more for speaking about her like this, giving her no face at all.
And she hated herself even more for still being unable to forget such a person.