Why haven’t you been returning my calls? Of course it’s because she didn’t want to!

After returning from the sea that day, once Shen Ting had sent Wu Mangmang home, neither of them had contacted each other again.

Actually, that wasn’t entirely accurate. At least Shen Ting had unilaterally called Wu Mangmang the next day. Wu Mangmang didn’t have the courage to decline the call, so she could only put it on silent mode.

As for returning the call, that was even more impossible.

When it came to finding boyfriends, Wu Mangmang also had principles.

You could be poor, but you had to be considerate enough.

Shen Ting’s image in Wu Mangmang’s mind had clearly been marked with a big red X.

He belonged to the category of men who could be ignored.

So at this moment, Wu Mangmang just smiled without speaking, even tightening her grip on Gu Hongdao’s arm, signaling for Shen Ting to be tactful and get lost quickly.

Don’t think having gone on one blind date gives you special privileges.

Shen Ting obviously saw Wu Mangmang’s action as well.

Today’s young women were indeed becoming more and more skilled, keeping men’s appetites thoroughly whetted.

When he had sent Wu Mangmang home that day, he had originally thought he might receive an invitation upstairs. Instead, Wu Mangmang had simply said thank you indifferently and walked away without looking back.

In Shen Ting’s world, the back-and-forth probing between men and women was a complete waste of time.

Restraint was an unnecessary cost in time.

Going straight to bed, each getting what they needed—wouldn’t that be convenient for both? He wasn’t a stingy person.

But since it was their first date after all, Shen Ting could understand as he watched Wu Mangmang’s retreating figure.

This girl could entertain herself and didn’t cling to people—he indeed had some favorable feelings. That’s why he had made that unprecedented proactive phone call the next day.

As a result, he had waited two weeks with no word from her, and when they met again, she had already hooked another wealthy man.

Her taste was just getting lower and lower.

Ning Zheng was quite surprised to hear Shen Ting ask Wu Mangmang this way. He and Shen Ting were brothers who had grown up wearing the same pants, and this was the first time he’d seen him actively question a woman about not returning his calls.

Very interesting.

Even more interesting was that Wu Mangmang seemed to have no interest in Shen Ting at all. This girl had quite good self-awareness.

Looking at Gu Hongdao again, the Gu family had indeed performed well these past two years, gradually emerging prominently. With the Wu family’s small factory, they could be considered a good match.

Wu Mangmang choosing Gu Hongdao was also wise and decisive.

It’s just that for Ning Zheng, he still hadn’t gotten to try her flavor, which had quite a bit of “what you can’t get is always the best” appeal.

Gu Hongdao was extremely surprised in his heart, not expecting that this female companion his secretary had randomly arranged for him on a mobile app would have such extensive connections, not only knowing both Ning and Shen, but apparently having deep entanglements with them.

Gu Hongdao glanced sideways at Wu Mangmang, momentarily feeling the three people’s relationship was complex, though it wasn’t incomprehensible. A graceful lady attracts gentlemen’s pursuit, after all.

“So Mr. Ning also knows Angela.” Gu Hongdao’s hand slid down to Wu Mangmang’s waist, gently embracing her slender waist as he smiled in response to Ning Zheng’s earlier question. He didn’t answer directly, but this level of intimacy, no matter how shrewd you were, you probably couldn’t guess the reason Wu Mangmang knew him.

Shen Ting didn’t receive Wu Mangmang’s answer and gradually lost patience. Why waste such good time accompanying a little girl who was playing hard to get?

After brief pleasantries, Wu Mangmang began moving among the distinguished guests with Gu Hongdao.

Tonight, Wu Mangmang bore the task assigned by Ms. Liu, working hard to imprint herself in their minds to facilitate future introductions of these important people to Ms. Liu and Boss Wu.

Thanks to Wu Mangmang’s numerous high-quality boyfriends, she could chat about basic social topics and customs of various countries at the banquet without revealing her lack of knowledge, appearing elegant in conversation and noble in temperament—a rare “socialite” with both beauty and talent. If her status were prestigious enough, those three words “socialite” could be changed to “celebrity.”

Halfway through the banquet, just as Wu Mangmang’s foreign vocabulary was nearly exhausted, someone finally introduced Lu Sui to Gu Hongdao—Lu Sui had disappeared shortly after arriving at the banquet and had only recently reappeared.

Lu Sui’s gaze lingered briefly when it swept over Wu Mangmang, but only for an instant.

Soon, Gu Hongdao and Lu Sui began chatting. From their conversation, Wu Mangmang gathered that Gu Hongdao was preparing to develop in this city—this was essentially him paying respects to the local powers.

Wu Mangmang had no interest in business content, so she focused on admiring the handsome man to distract herself from the pain her high heels were causing.

Honestly, although handsome men looked good in anything, Wu Mangmang, like most women, still found men in formal wear the most charming.

Serious, well-tailored suits, charming cufflinks that displayed good taste, crisp shirt collars, and gentlemanly bow ties all gave them an air of refined elegance, even civilized restraint.

But you clearly knew that men’s bestial nature hadn’t fully evolved yet. Under this expensive sugar coating, they were utterly “worse than beasts,” completely incompatible with civilization.

Such contradictory contrast was why formal wear was so alluring.

Wu Mangmang didn’t dare look directly into Lu Sui’s eyes, so she continued examining his wristwatch. It seemed to be the same one from last time. With Uncle Lu’s abundant wealth, he surprisingly didn’t have the hobby of being a “watch uncle”—quite rare indeed.

The fingers holding the wine glass were distinctly jointed and slender, even the fingernails were perfectly proportioned and elongated.

A pianist’s hands, truly suitable for playing melodies on a woman’s snow-white skin.

Wu Mangmang tilted her head back and sipped some wine. A twenty-five-year-old virgin—truly somewhat pathetic.

Rich theoretical knowledge, but zero practical experience. Fantasy held such great appeal, always making people imagine that sort of thing as extremely wonderful, increasingly arousing curiosity.

According to Wu Mangmang’s circle of friends, it was actually just so-so.

But without experience, you don’t have the right to speak, right?

During the ten-plus minutes Wu Mangmang and Gu Hongdao exchanged pleasantries with Lu Sui, he didn’t even cast a single peripheral glance at her. You should know that even Lu Lin, who had passed by, had lingered her gaze on Wu Mangmang’s round, perky hip line.

To display her exquisite “S” curve, Wu Mangmang had even deliberately adjusted her posture within Lu Sui’s line of sight, positioning herself sideways, but it was all for naught.

This forced Wu Mangmang to maliciously speculate that Lu Sui was gay, using this to console her bruised confidence.

However, as a wave of fragrance drifted over, goddess Dong Keke took Lu Sui’s arm, her proud curves fitting snugly against the outer side of his arm, forcing Wu Mangmang to retract her malicious speculation about homosexuality.

Dong Keke glanced at Wu Mangmang twice, then remembered why she looked so familiar.

“Oh, isn’t this the young lady who’s pregnant with your child?” Dong Keke looked up at Lu Sui with a playful expression.

Wu Mangmang, who was drinking, immediately choked on the champagne, which went down the wrong way.

This was a physiological reaction. Wu Mangmang had to beat her chest and cough, completely losing her ladylike demeanor.

For a moment, Gu Hongdao wondered if he’d gotten himself into a hot mess.

The capable Miss Angela was actually pregnant with Lu Sui’s child?

Lu Sui’s eyes swept toward Wu Mangmang’s abdomen, coolly uttering, “Didn’t I give you money to get rid of it?”

Wu Mangmang was so angry she sucked in her stomach. With such a flat abdomen, did it look like she hadn’t gotten rid of it yet?

“Mr. Lu, you’re such a joker. The first time we were together, didn’t you say you’d already had a vasectomy?” Wu Mangmang’s mouth was both quick and vicious.

After she finished speaking, her face turned pale, wishing she could bite off her own tongue. She really never learned from her mistakes—how had she started performing again?

If she caused another lawsuit this time, Boss Wu would probably swallow her alive.

Before everyone else could react, Wu Mangmang immediately laughed loudly twice, trying to cover up, then said in as calm a tone as possible, “Sorry, I was joking. Actually, Mr. Lu and I have no relationship whatsoever, and I don’t know whether he’s had a vasectomy or not.”

Wu Mangmang felt she had expressed herself quite clearly without ambiguity. If this really went to court, this statement could probably be used as evidence. Since she had publicly clarified the facts in front of everyone, it shouldn’t violate Uncle’s reputation rights.

But the three people around her fell silent simultaneously. The situation was extremely awkward. Wu Mangmang had to continue breaking the awkwardness, making conversation where there was none: “Actually, vasectomy as a protective measure is quite good. I heard it’s just tying a knot, and if you want children in the future, you can have another surgery…”

God, when Wu Mangmang realized what she was saying, she felt utterly stupid and desperately needed saving.

The one who saved Wu Mangmang was a goddess. Dong Keke laughed, “Miss Wu is really humorous, knowing so much about vasectomies too.”

Then she took Lu Sui’s arm and went to mingle elsewhere.

Wu Mangmang felt like she had died and come back to life, unable to help looking toward Lu Sui’s retreating figure, though she couldn’t discern his mood.

Uncle Lu’s half-smiling expression from earlier was inscrutable to Wu Mangmang, but the more you couldn’t read someone’s emotions, the more sinister and frightening they were.

Wu Mangmang turned to apologize to Gu Hongdao, excused herself to go to the restroom, and fled in panic.

In the restroom mirror, Wu Mangmang gently patted her own cheeks. Not being able to control this theatrical mouth of hers was truly deadly.

But tonight really wasn’t her fault. It was Lu Sui himself who had also joked, drawing her into a dramatic scenario by making fun of her abdomen.

Wu Mangmang looked down at her abdomen again. She’d been “barely scraping by” recently, and grand meals were a thing of the last century—there was no reason for her to be gaining weight, right?

Recalling how Lu Sui had also paid attention to her abdomen on the yacht, Wu Mangmang suddenly became less confident about her flat stomach and charming abdominal lines.

However, after regretting her foolishness, Wu Mangmang reflected on the earlier conversation and was quite pleasantly surprised that Uncle Lu had actually been willing to play along with her act.

Solo performances were always difficult to pull off. If someone could play opposite you, it would surely be more thrilling.

It was just a pity that Wu Mangmang had never found her Mr. Dreamy.

After calming down, Wu Mangmang determined that Lu Sui had no intention of suing her again tonight, so she cast all the earlier embarrassment out of her mind.

Anyway, she just needed to avoid seeing him in the future.

Since she was already out, there was no rush to go back. The high heels on her feet, though bought long ago, had never been worn and were somewhat uncomfortable.

Wu Mangmang left the restroom and simply leaned against the wall in the corridor to send WeChat messages.

According to the rental company’s regulations, Wu Mangmang had to send back a message every fifteen minutes to confirm she was safe.

After all, their borderline profession sometimes operated on dangerous edges.

Wu Mangmang dared to work in this field partly because she had learned some Chinese martial arts.

“What are you doing? I’ve seen you playing with your phone all evening.” Ning Zheng’s voice suddenly appeared by Wu Mangmang’s ear.

Wu Mangmang was startled and immediately straightened up, frantically putting away her phone. She wasn’t playing with her phone, okay? She was just reporting her safety on schedule.

But Ning Zheng had obviously been watching her for a long time.

To avoid future “vasectomy” incidents, Wu Mangmang had already decided to have less contact with Lu Sui’s circle. Besides, their circle was really boring and dull—they only played mahjong.

At certain moments, Wu Mangmang might have had some thoughts about trying things with Ning Zheng, but after the yacht divorce banquet, she decided to stay away from the old people’s circle.

“Why are you hiding here alone?” Ning Zheng approached Wu Mangmang, entering intimate distance.

Wu Mangmang felt somewhat uncomfortable and bent down to move aside. Just as she straightened up, she saw Lu Sui behind Ning Zheng, also coming to use the restroom.

So even the God of Wealth needed to use the restroom.

Ning Zheng looked somewhat sheepish when he saw Lu Sui. He, the great Master Ning, was actually hitting on a girl at the women’s restroom door—it was indeed somewhat undignified, especially since Wu Mangmang and Shen Ting had some unclear relationship.

Lu Sui nodded at Ning Zheng and directly pushed open the men’s restroom door.

Obviously, Mr. Lu didn’t care about other people’s private lives.

After avoiding Ning Zheng, Wu Mangmang returned to Gu Hongdao’s side to continue mingling.

Unexpectedly, Gu Hongdao was also a very attentive person, having already noticed that Wu Mangmang’s feet were somewhat uncomfortable.

So when leaving the banquet, he proactively offered to take Wu Mangmang home.

Wu Mangmang still had work afterward, and she didn’t want the client to know her address, which might lead to unnecessary entanglements.

“That’s not necessary, I’ve already called a car.” Thank goodness for ride-hailing apps.

“Then how do I pay you for tonight?” Gu Hongdao said.

Wu Mangmang clicked the service completion button on her phone. The payment was instantly calculated and would be directly deducted from Gu Hongdao’s secretary’s Alipay account—no need to worry about non-payment.

“Your secretary has already paid.” Wu Mangmang said.

Unfortunately, such a proper conversation, when overheard by a third party, made Wu Mangmang’s profession seem less than proper.

Shen Ting frowned secretly but didn’t step forward to question her.

He should have known that little girls like Wu Mangmang had questionable private lives.

But such direct transaction—was it too much a sign of declining moral standards?

Or perhaps he had been too indirect, not meeting Miss Wu’s requirements, which was why he’d been rejected?

Wu Mangmang vaguely saw Shen Ting’s figure too, but paid no attention.

Keep respectful distance, keep respectful distance.

Wu Mangmang’s ride arrived punctually. She quickly rushed back to her apartment, grabbed the bag she’d prepared earlier, and at eleven o’clock at night, excitedly headed straight to another famous love hotel.