The elite circle hosted a grand and lavish banquet.
Fu Lingchu, the head of the Fu Group, Feng Ce, the heir to the Feng family, and Du Jinghuai, the hottest Acting Emperor of the moment, were all attending this banquet.
The male leads would finally get to see Ye Yan.
To protect Ye Yan’s information, the banquet wasn’t explicitly stated to be a welcome-back party for her. Instead, it was given a sophisticated title: a donation to the Women’s Rights and Genetic Foundation—this would also make Ye Yan happier, as she was always such a kind woman.
In the original plot, this was also the first time the White Moonlight and the Substitute officially appeared in the same setting, their positions a stark contrast.
Ye Yan returned from overseas, still the center of attention, surrounded by admirers. The original owner, however, was there to deliver a cake order. She would arrive at the banquet hall, unaware and looking shabby, out of place in the high society. Numerous socialites and young masters would point at Li Jing from head to toe, humiliating her.
At this point, the original owner and the three male leads had already developed some emotional entanglement. It was expected that they would at least speak up for her—because a single word from them would stop anyone from bullying her.
But they didn’t.carpreads.pages.dev
Because Ye Yan was back, and they were all by her side.
The system was excited: “What a melodramatic plot!!!”
Li Jing adjusted her employee uniform: “The original plot is correct, but my favorability is rising faster than in the original plot.”
And it was much much faster, too.
Ye Yan’s fish had already swum off course by 70%, 70% and 47%. She believe Ye Yan would be pleasantly surprised, and then—
She would target Li Jing more, spend more money on Li Jing ^_^
Therefore, Ms. Li Jing, with a total asset value of 70 million, both movable and immovable, actively pushed the cake trolley.
Let’s go deliver this cake.
The grand and luxurious banquet hall.
The people of high society clinked glasses and laughed lightly, a scene of revelry.
Qiao Yuxin, the eldest daughter of the Qiao family, kept her eyes fixed on the second floor, her teeth gritted in anger.
That damn green tea, Ye Yan, was back?!
Wasn’t she supposed to be dying, weak and close to death? What was she doing back in the country?!
Now, brother Fu’s heart would definitely be snatched away by her in an instant. Would she still have a chance at this arranged marriage?
Qiao Yuxin was in a terrible mood, and everything in the banquet hall looked unpleasant to her—everything here was prepared for that bitch Ye Yan! What donation to what foundation, it was all a sham!
Just then, a figure caught her eye, and Qiao Yuxin’s unhappy heart suddenly found a new target.
Li Jing—that pitiful fool who still didn’t know she’s just a substitute. She actually dared to attend an event with Ye Yan present, it was hilarious.
Li Jing’s figure was thin, but as she pushed the cake trolley in, countless eyes fell upon her face—
The little white flower, meek and timid, lowered her head and walked forward, but was stopped by a pair of feet clad in sparkling diamond-studded heels.
“Oh, you’re working your way up here now?” Qiao Yuxin’s face was full of disdain.
Li Jing remained calm and collected. Today, we were all gathered here, which was convenient for her to concentrate on harvesting leeks—oh no, to advance the plot yeah.
Qiao Yuxin sneered: “Aren’t you quite pleased with yourself?”
“If it weren’t for your face, do you think brother Fu would even look at you twice?”
—Here comes here comes, the second supporting character trying to reveal the truth to her.
You see, the logic of old-fashioned novels was that before the truth is revealed, the female lead and the male leads would have countless melodramatic entanglements. For Li Jing, these were all sustainable leeks to harvest!
Qiao Yuxin was extremely annoyed just thinking about Fu Lingchu being gentle and sweet to that big bitch Ye Yan upstairs—it’s that face! It’s Li Jing’s face!
She said this while tapping Li Jing’s shoulder with her fingertips.
All the anger she had received from Ye Yan was poured onto Li Jing, who was penniless and powerless, but looked exactly like her.
All eyes in the banquet hall were focused on them. The people dressed in fine clothes looked down upon Li Jing, the delivery person from the lower class.
The little white flower lowered her head in humility.
Oh, yes, yes, yes, that’s right, supporting characters who follow the plot were good supporting characters!
The first face-to-face confrontation with the White Moonlight, everyone must participate!!
-—–
Meanwhile.
On the upper level of the banquet hall, a butler in a tuxedo stood guard at the carved door, watching the young president walk in slowly.
“Mr. Fu, you are the first to arrive.”
“Our Miss needs to rest, and she can only see one old friend at a time. Please forgive us.”
For Fu Lingchu, this was naturally good news. It meant that he was the first to see Ye Yan.
As Fu Lingchu pushed open the door and walked in, he felt a surge of intense excitement - after all, she was the one he had been longing for for so many years.
In the past, they were separated by the vast ocean, but now, only a heavy door stood between them.
As he walked in, he didn’t even dare let his leather shoes make too much noise, afraid of disturbing the person inside.
Passing the screen, Fu Lingchu finally saw Ye Yan sitting by the window, leaning against the sofa chair, covered with a thick blanket.
Her features were still as beautiful as he remembered, or rather… Fu Lingchu was already too familiar with these features. The warm light in the room and the thick blanket on her made Ye Yan look exceptionally soft, as if she could be held in the palm of his hand and cherished without any limits.
The moment their eyes met, Ye Yan almost shed tears, softly saying, “Lingchu, long time no see…”
Fu Lingchu wanted to open his mouth, but found his throat blocked, his voice also hoarse: “A’yan, long time no see.”
He finally walked closer to her, seeing every detail of her face, but suddenly noticed - there was a faint crease between Ye Yan’s eyebrows.
On this fair face, it suddenly made Fu Lingchu feel a bit jarring.
It was as if this crease shouldn’t be on this face, she should be either stubborn or intense, occasionally pretending to be cold, but never frowning sadly over the passing of spring.
“Lingchu? Lingchu?” Ye Yan called him softly.
Noticing that he was lost in thought, Ye Yan felt a surge of pride in her heart.
Longing was a good filter, and being reunited after a long separation would make people cherish each other even more. This was one of the reasons why she had been working hard outside.
Fu Lingchu snapped out of his thoughts, and the two of them chatted like old friends.
“I’m very grateful for your donation this time, you’ve been so thoughtful… I also really hope to do something for the foundation.”
The last time Du Jinghuai participated in the orphanage’s charity sale, he unknowingly gained a lot of favorability for that Li Jing. From the moment she saw Fu Lingchu, Ye Yan began to reclaim that favorability.
Fu Lingchu knew that Ye Yan was kind like that. So he helped Ye Yan get the donation form, and Ye Yan discussed with him, donating 500,000 yuan.
“I wonder if it’s enough…” Ye Yan was a little worried.
Fu Lingchu said gently, “It’s okay, you’ve already done a great job.”
Ye Yan smiled shyly. Just then, the butler suddenly knocked on the door and came in: “Miss, President Fu, young master Feng Ce is making a fuss downstairs.”
Fu Lingchu immediately narrowed his eyes, his gaze sharp.
Ye Yan’s face showed a pained and helpless expression, which made her look even softer and more pitiful.
“How come after all these years, A’ce still has this childish temper?”
It must be because he couldn’t see her, so he was making a fuss.
In fact, that was exactly Ye Yan’s intention, allowing only one person to visit at a time. This way, they knew she was here, but they still had to wait for a while to see her. This was a game of strategy between the three men. The waiting would make the anticipation soar, and Feng Ce was the one who couldn’t stand it the longest.
Ye Yan helplessly had someone open the window, but she heard Feng Ce’s furious voice coming from the banquet hall downstairs -
“I’ll see who dares to touch her?!”
The smile on Ye Yan’s lips instantly disappeared.
At this moment, Feng Ce pulled Li Jing over, standing in front of her, his face furious and cold as he looked at Qiao Yuxin.
“You’re not in the group chat? Do you think what I said is just fart?”
Qiao Yuxin was scared silly: “No, no, I didn’t…”
The people behind her who had just been mocking Li Jing all shut their mouths, not daring to offend young master Feng.
At this moment, Feng Ce didn’t even realize that Ye Yan was present, nor did he consider what would happen if Ye Yan saw this.
He just couldn’t stand seeing Li Jing being bullied anymore.
Because he knew, she was much better than everyone else here.
At that moment, a slender, white hand reached out, slowly and resolutely pushing aside Feng Ce’s hand.
Li Jing turned her head and looked at the many socialites and young masters, led by Qiao Yuxin, who all looked down on her with disdain.
“The donation gala is just a place for you to socialize.”
“You have no idea what those girls in difficult situations are truly facing. The hundreds of thousands you wealthy people throw around are just a pittance, a drop in the bucket.”
Her voice was clear and distinct, reaching the second floor, and Ye Yan’s face immediately stiffened further.
Feng Ce’s defense of her had already made Ye Yan extremely displeased, but now she was subtly insulted, and Ye Yan had never suffered such a loss.
This fake, what could she possibly come up with?
“Who’s talking?” Ye Yan covered her mouth and chuckled, pretending to tease as she looked at Fu Lingchu: “Actions speak louder than words, don’t they?”
Fu Lingchu subconsciously blocked Ye Yan’s view downwards, his voice tight: “…Yes.”
But he knew.
Li Jing could do it.
At this time, Du Jinghuai, who had just finished repairing the moon ornament, arrived late.
The moment he stepped into the banquet hall, his gaze fell on the girl in the center of the room.
She looked a little flustered, but her chin was held high.
Her skin was thin and translucent under the overhead lights, like the ornament in his hand, as if it could shatter at the slightest touch, yet it held a strength that no one else could match—
“I, I’ll donate thirty million.” she said.
The scene instantly erupted in an uproar, with expressions of various emotions.
But then they saw that the girl in tattered clothes wasn’t boasting; she really did pull out a bank card from her pocket and completed the procedures with the staff.
Feng Ce was speechless with shock. Li Jing, who only ate steamed buns to survive, had donated thirty million for other impoverished girls…
Du Jinghuai stopped in his tracks, staring deeply at her, then realized—
This amount, neither too much nor too little, was exactly the box office revenue he had split.
Li Jing hadn’t kept a single cent for herself.
On the second floor, Fu Lingchu’s hand, which was gripping the windowsill, tightened slowly.
He had thought that Li Jing, living in the house he provided, should have settled down.
But at this moment, Fu Lingchu realized that her pure soul would never submit.
She would always shine.
Ye Yan’s face was about to crack.
Not only could this fake actually extract so much money from these men, but more importantly, she never imagined that this banquet, which was supposed to be centered around her, would be completely overshadowed by Li Jing, someone who wasn’t even worthy of being on the same stage?!
Ye Yan quickly assessed the situation, then gave Fu Lingchu, whose face was tense, a gentle smile: “Indeed—money, those things, don’t matter to me at all. This lady makes a good point, I’ll donate thirty million as well.”
Fu Lingchu finally snapped out of his daze, turning around with a touch of emotion: “A’yan—”
Before he could finish, the girl downstairs spoke again.
Li Jing: “I’ll donate another house.”
The entire hall exploded.
Fu Lingchu’s lips tightened fiercely.
That was the house he had given her.
She hadn’t even thought of keeping a single penny for herself…
Tonight, the faces of all the high-society individuals present were stung by this poor girl.
And at this moment, all the male leads had the same thought.
Li Jing, she’d always been someone who treats money like dirt.
—Feng Ce’s favorability +3%
—Du Jinghuai’s favorability +3%
—Fu Lingchu’s favorability +3%
Ye Yan’s hand, hidden under the blanket, was clenched until it turned purple. She forced a gentle smile: “I’ll also… donate…”
Li Jing, with righteous indignation: Hilarious.
Donating in her name meant she could donate and still get the money back, but Ye Yan was taking a pure loss.
Precious!
Don’t get swept away by my kindness!!