Her job search was also going poorly.
The only good news was that after getting her shoulder checked at the hospital, she found out there was no serious injury.
She’d been careful and taken good care of it, and finally, the doctor confirmed her shoulder was fully recovered and she could exercise normally again.
Taking advantage of Ying Yun being out, Yang Xueyi returned to the villa and, sure enough, found her pile of original edition books at the door of the conservatory.
For once, Ying Yun had done something decent, so Yang Xueyi sent him a red packet as thanks.
Fifty cents total, couldn’t give more.
[Just a little red packet to show my appreciation!]
Ying Yun didn’t accept the red packet, but immediately replied: 【Your red packet isn’t small.】
Yang Xueyi thought, has Ying Yun learned to be content with less these days?
But then Ying Yun sent another message: 【Calling it small feels like I’m making excuses for how tiny it is. It’s so small, I need a magnifying glass just to see it.】
As expected!
But soon, Ying Yun sent another strange message—
【Be less curious about certain fields, and don’t read too much of some things.】
? What is he trying to say?
But Yang Xueyi didn’t bother to analyze Ying Yun’s meaning. He was always cryptic anyway.
She had more pressing worries at the moment.
With the countdown to Mrs. Yang Meiying’s return to China and the ever-dwindling balance in her bank account, Yang Xueyi was growing more anxious by the day.
Fortunately, Qiao Qianqian, like a god of wealth, brought her a side gig—
“Xiaoxue, I’ve got a private gig as an escort interpreter. It’s not for any professional field—just accompanying a foreign boss to a charity banquet, handling some simple business interpreting. The pay is pretty good, are you interested? I’ll be there too, since I’m the event photographer.”
“The charity banquet at the hospital?”
“Yeah, the one hosted every year by Yuanyang Logistics.
I worked their event once before, and they asked me again this year because I took some good photos of their young master last time,” Qiao Qianqian said proudly.
“See, making Ying Yun look good in photos is useful after all.”
Yang Xueyi was startled.
She probed, “Will Ying Yun be there?”
“Of course! I heard that both the president of Yuanyang Logistics and his wife are flying in from overseas for the event. This year is supposed to be especially grand. Rumor has it that, while it’s officially a charity banquet, it’s also a high-end social event for picking out a future partner for Ying Yun—like an elite matchmaking party.”
“No wonder so many local business owners with single daughters are bringing them to the banquet. After all, he’s the only son of Yuanyang Logistics, and with looks like that, isn’t he the most eligible bachelor around?”
Got it.
This is a high-end matchmaking party for Ying Yun, with a bunch of dung beetles fighting over the golden ball.
Everyone else is looking forward to Ying Yun attending, but Yang Xueyi is the opposite—she’s hoping he won’t show up.
If she got spotted by him at the banquet, she’d be subjected to his cold sarcasm for sure.
But since Mrs. Yang Meiying would be returning too, and with Mr. and Mrs. Ying coming back as well, it was better to have a legitimate reason to be out working and making money than to be grounded and interrogated.
Besides, her mother would definitely approve of her working an event for Yuanyang Logistics.
Yang Xueyi didn’t hesitate any longer and immediately agreed: “I’ll take it!”
With her strong resume and Qiao Qianqian’s referral, Yang Xueyi quickly landed the interpreting gig.
As expected, even Mrs. Yang Meiying gave her approval.
But before attending the charity banquet, Yang Xueyi had never experienced such a grand upper-class event.
Mr. and Mrs. Ying had clearly spared no expense in order to arrange a matchmaking opportunity for Ying Yun.
The charity banquet was held in the grand hall of the most luxurious five-star hotel in Rong City, filled with elegantly dressed men and women, sparkling with jewels and lively conversations.
Yang Xueyi was assigned to accompany the British chairman of a long-term partner company of Yuanyang Logistics.
He was a refined, gentlemanly old man with a dry sense of humor.
She enjoyed chatting with him and was in high spirits.
It was Mr. Ying who first noticed Yang Xueyi: “Xiaoxue?”
He saw the old British gentleman beside her, immediately recognized him, and realized Yang Xueyi was probably there as an interpreter.
He quickly called over Mrs. Ying, shook hands with the old gentleman, and exchanged some polite conversation through Yang Xueyi’s interpretation.
After not seeing them for a while, Mr. and Mrs. Ying were still glowing with health and confidence.
As event hosts, they mingled with ease, especially since this banquet had special meaning for them.
They couldn’t stop smiling all night.
But despite the fact that the banquet was clearly for Ying Yun, the young master himself was nowhere to be seen in the main hall, much to Qiao Qianqian’s disappointment as she snapped photos, lamenting that the person she most wanted to photograph hadn’t shown up.
Of course, there were plenty of other girls disappointed by Ying Yun’s absence.
As Yang Xueyi made her way through the crowd, she overheard three or four girls in beaded or heavily embroidered gowns whispering:
“Why hasn’t Ying Yun shown up yet? Wasn’t there supposed to be a charity ball before the banquet, and he was supposed to open the dance?”
“I heard his opening dance partner is Lin Zixian, the youngest daughter of the Lin family. She chased after Ying Yun before and got rejected, but she shamelessly went through her mom to get the chance to be his dance partner tonight.”
“So what if she got the opening dance? After that, it’s up to Ying Yun to pick whoever he wants to dance with. I don’t believe he’ll stick with Lin Zixian all night.”
Wherever Ying Yun appeared, drama followed.
Yang Xueyi sneered to herself, then fetched a glass of red wine for the British gentleman and returned to his side to continue her work.
She watched as the old gentleman visited several potential business partners and had a few brief chats with suppliers, quickly reaching agreements for strategic cooperation.
Once all this was done, the old gentleman finally relaxed, joking that his mission for the day was complete and he could finally rest.
It was only then that Yang Xueyi learned he didn’t plan to stay for the entire banquet.
He felt the ball was for young people, and after a long journey, he was still jet-lagged.
Since his hotel room was right upstairs, he decided to go rest.
Before leaving, he raised his glass to Yang Xueyi, thanked her for her interpreting, and sincerely wished her a pleasant evening at the ball.
Yang Xueyi was grateful for his kindness, but she had no intention of staying at the banquet either.
She planned to go home and update her resume.
She hadn’t expected to run into Ying Yun on the tree-lined path outside the hall.
To be precise, she didn’t just run into Ying Yun alone—she saw him with another girl.
At the end of the path, behind a bend in the bamboo grove, the two of them stood face to face.
As Yang Xueyi walked by, she overheard the girl’s shy voice:
“Brother Yun, I’ve decided to officially confess to you this time. I’ve liked you for four years! I really like you, it’s not just a passing thing. Can we be together?”
Just her luck, Yang Xueyi had stumbled into a confession scene!
Curious, she snuck a peek and saw that the girl confessing to Ying Yun was beautiful and elegant. Instantly, she felt unbalanced.
For ten years, thanks to Ying Yun’s little tricks, she’d had nothing but bad luck in relationships and was still single.
And now this annoying guy was about to get together with someone before her?
The girl’s taste might be questionable, but she was still good-looking!
But just as Yang Xueyi was fuming inside, she heard Ying Yun’s reply.
His voice was as cold as ever, each word laced with poison, every syllable fatal: “I’ve loved the money in the bank vault for ten years. It’s not just a passing fancy, it’s sincere. My heart belongs to the money in the bank, so the money should be with me.”
Yang Xueyi was positioned just right to see the girl’s shocked expression.
It wasn’t just her—the girl was stunned too.
Was this something a human would say?
The two exchanged a few more words, but this time their voices were too low for Yang Xueyi to hear.
She did catch the girl’s last, tearful shout:
“I’m not dancing the opening dance tonight! You can go by yourself!”
With that, the girl ran off crying.
Yang Xueyi was stunned for a moment, then realized that must have been Lin Zixian, Ying Yun’s dance partner.
The tango is a dance that requires close cooperation between partners.
It’s hard to just pull someone in at the last minute and expect a flawless performance.
Now Ying Yun was in trouble.
He’d chased his dance partner away before the ball.
Let’s see how he handles this!
Following her principle of blocking Ying Yun’s path at every turn, Yang Xueyi resisted the urge to laugh and immediately took out her phone to embellish and report the incident to Mrs. Ying.
If there were a reward for reporting Ying Yun’s misdeeds, she’d be a billionaire by now!
“Yang Xueyi.”
Just as she was busily composing her report, Ying Yun’s annoying voice came from above.
Having just scared off his dance partner, his expression was sour and his tone even colder.
“Why is it you again?”
After sending her last message to Mrs. Ying, Yang Xueyi was about to make a triumphant exit.
She immediately declared, “No need for you to chase me away today, I’m leaving right now!”
But this time, as she tried to turn and leave, Ying Yun blocked her path.
His expression was still unpleasant, but his gaze was thoughtful, as if he was scheming something.
At this moment, he stood in front of Yang Xueyi and said coldly, “My dance partner is gone.”
Yeah, you know that, do you?
Yang Xueyi, acting unconcerned, began to gloat: “Why did you have to be so harsh on her just now? Don’t you know that constantly rejecting girls is a bit tasteless? Regret it now?”
Maybe surprised that Yang Xueyi had overheard, Ying Yun uncharacteristically looked a bit awkward, his eyes shifting away to the distance, his voice low: “It’s not like I haven’t rejected her properly before. But she wouldn’t give up. To see me, she took my outpatient slots, came to my clinic several times last week pretending to be a patient and took up slots meant for real patients, wasting my time.”
“If I wasn’t cold to her, she’d think she still had a chance. And because of her willfulness, a lot of patients who traveled from out of town and really needed to see a doctor couldn’t get appointments.”
Ying Yun stared at Yang Xueyi, his tone icy: “So I don’t regret it.”
“But the opening dance can’t go on without a partner.”
Ying Yun’s reason sounded reasonable, but that didn’t stop Yang Xueyi from feeling schadenfreude.
That’s right, the young master is in trouble now.
Too bad, you’re finished!
Yang Xueyi could barely hold back her laughter, until—
“You stay and be my dance partner.”
Of course Ying Yun was up to no good!
He was definitely plotting something!
Ying Yun’s handsome face was calm and cold, his voice cool and commanding: “The same dance we practiced before our high school graduation ball.”
No way!
Absolutely not!
Back then, Yang Xueyi had learned that dance, but only because she was young and naive, foolishly believing she and Ying Yun would have a good relationship in the future.
That’s why she’d forced herself to learn such an intimate dance with him!
“Ying Yun, you wish! I will never dance that dance with you again! I have my dignity. I’m not someone you can call and dismiss at will. Practicing that dance with you was a mistake!”
Yang Xueyi declared righteously: “I will never dance that kind of dance with any man except my future boyfriend. I have my principles.”
Ying Yun looked at Yang Xueyi with a cool gaze, speaking succinctly: “20,000 yuan for one dance. 10,000 upfront, the rest after.”
Twenty thousand?!
Yang Xueyi immediately betrayed her principles, choosing to yield to the power of money.
She coughed and continued earnestly: “On second thought, it’s really not a violation of my principles.”
She met Ying Yun’s calm and collected gaze and declared passionately, “In my heart, you’re no different from a mop. So it doesn’t matter. Practicing that dance before was indeed a mistake, but just like how studying requires a notebook of mistakes, reviewing past errors helps you avoid repeating them in the future.”
“Most importantly, tonight’s event means a lot to your whole family. If you end up without a dance partner, it’ll really spoil the mood.”
Yang Xueyi deftly pulled up her phone’s payment QR code.
“On a day like this, rather than spoil your mood, I’d rather let you scan my QR code.”
“Pay the ten thousand up front. Hurry up.”
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