Chapter 184: A Chance Encounter

At this moment, Wen Haowen walked over with Ning Shuqian and Xia Ruya.

Walking behind Wen Haowen, Ning Shuqian and Xia Ruya were talking and laughing harmoniously, attracting the attention of everyone at the event.

It was well-known in the circle that Ning Shuqian and Xia Ruya were chummy, and now, news about her not being on good terms with the real Miss Wen was also bubbling in the circle.

Witnessing such a scene, everyone meaningfully turned their gazes towards Wen Xinya.

When Wen Haowen saw Old Mr. Wen and Wen Xinya near the exhibition area, his face changed for the worse. “Father, what brings you here? Haven’t you stopped attending events in the circle for quite some time already?”

Ning Shuqian and Xia Ruya were also slightly stunned as if not expecting them here—especially Xia Ruya’s smile, which instantly turned cautious.

Old Mr. Wen said plainly, “Bringing Xinya out for some exposure. After all, she’s the real descendant and heir of the Wen Family. With you, her father, moving out of the Wen Mansion, I, the old man, have to do the work.”

Old Mr. Wen shot a deeply meaningful glare at Xia Ruya—he didn’t see anyone from the Xia Family at the event; thus, Xia Ruya must have followed his son and Ning Shuqian over. Not bringing his own daughter when he had one; instead, bringing others’ daughter—he thought that he was standing his ground, smearing Xinya’s reputation, but did not know that the people in the circle took him as a joke.

Old Mr. Wen’s words made Xia Ruya turn pale and wanted to explain. However, it wasn’t a good situation to cut into the conversation rashly.

Wen Haowen’s face stiffened. “Ruya only wanted some exposure, I…”

The mood was quite tense. Wen Xinya happily walked over to Wen Haowen, with a hint of careful flattery in her eyes, along with a surprised and anticipatory tone. “Father, you’re here too. You’ve always been busy recently and haven’t been back to the old mansion to visit myself and Grandpa—Grandpa has been talking about you all the time.”

After all, they were in public—no matter how much Wen Haowen disliked her, he did dare not act hostile towards her on the spot to embarrass her. Instead, he only nodded mildly, with an extremely indifferent expression on his face.

The spark in Wen Xinya’s eyes dimmed instantly, but she mustered up the spirit to greet Ning Shuqian, albeit with a slightly cold tone. “Hi, Aunt Ning!”

Utterly dismissing Xia Ruya.

With a warm smile on her face, Ning Shuqian came up and pulled her hand. “Xinya, how have you been recently?”

Since she saw Wen Xinya, she had been scrutinizing her, and when she saw that she had on the full set of pigeon-blood ruby jewelry, a sense of envy and jealousy arose in her heart uncontrollably. The pigeon-blood ruby had always been the best of its kind, even rarer and more precious than diamonds—such a full set of pigeon-blood ruby was minimally 7-8 carats, worth up to billions.

She had never worn such expensive jewelry—the Old Man was indeed willing to spend on Wen Xinya.

At such an occasion, Ning Shuqian naturally wanted to express her gentle magnanimosity, showing how good this stepmother was to her, and she naturally had to keep up—thus, she stretched out her hand in return, looking at Ning Shuqian with a somewhat sharp glare. “Still the same!”

Wen Xinya’s performance pleased Ning Shuqian very much—the more Wen Xinya behaved disrespectfully towards her in front of everyone, the better it was for her. “I didn’t expect you to actually come over too—we could’ve arranged to come together.”

Wen Xinya said plainly, “I came over with Grandpa.”

Wen Xinya’s words instantly made Ning Shuqian’s expression stiffen.

Upon witnessing such circumstances, many people in the surroundings saw Ning Shuqian in a different light—after all, Old Mr. Wen was an elder, and in such a chance encounter, she should have first greeted Old Mr. Wen. However, she had first greeted her stepdaughter, which seemed too pretentious. Everyone couldn’t help but think about the rumors in the circle regarding Wen Xinya, which all seemed to be a one-sided story on Ning Shuqian’s part—Wen Xinya had never openly expressed anything.

Ning Shuqian tried to save the situation in a panic, greeting Old Mr. Wen with a radiant smile. “Father, you’re actually here too. You’ve not attended events in the circle for so long.”

Meaning that she had not expected Old Mr. Wen to come over, and so missed him at the moment.

However, her words of self-deceit were not well-received by others—at such a large scale dinner, Miss Wen must have come over with Old Mr. Wen. She couldn’t have come by herself, could she?

Old Mr. Wen cast a slight glance at her before retracting it, but he never bothered her.

Wen Haowen felt that he couldn’t maintain his reputation anymore, and said uncontrollably, “Father, so many people are watching—anyhow, you’ve got to give Shuqian some face. Your reaction doesn’t look good on me, either.”

Old Mr. Wen turned back and spoke to Wen Xinya. “Many old friends are here at the event—I’d previously introduced them to you at your homecoming party. I’ll bring you over to greet them in a while, so you guys can familiarize with each other!”

Wen Xinya naturally nodded in agreement. “Okay!”

The mood suddenly became weird—Wen Haowen didn’t dare to talk though he was furious, Ning Shuqian stood awkwardly at the side, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, at a loss for reaction, her pair of moistened eyes shining with grievance stuck onto Wen Haowen.

Xia Ruya hurriedly went forward with a sweet, graceful smile, and uttered softly. “Grandpa Wen, you’re still as tough as before.”

Upon seeing Xia Ruya, Old Mr. Wen’s smile diminished, but given that she had been raised by his side for twelve years, he couldn’t bring himself to treat her coldly. He said plainly, “Hmm!”

Previously, when Xinya had been plagued by the scandal, Xia Ruya had gone to the Wen Family every day, raising his suspicion. Afterward, he had incidentally heard Mother Wang mention that she had previously seen Xia Ruya plunge into the water herself and Xinya was not involved. Mother Wang had been with the Wen Family for many years, and he naturally could place his trust in her. Recalling how Xia Ruya had previously insisted that Xinya had pushed her into the lake, the whole family’s reprimanding and abhorrent attitude towards Xinya, as well as Xinya’s inability to defend herself then, his guard was raised towards Xia Ruya.

Although previously Grandpa had asked her to visit the Wen Family less frequently, he had never treated her this coldly, and his current unfeeling attitude made her heart extremely resentful. She forced a sour, sorrowful smile, looked at Wen Xinya beside Old Mr. Wen, and greeted her. “Xinya, long time no see. How have you been?”

Wen Xinya nodded mildly. “Fine!”

Her mild and plain response made Xia Ruya feel as if she had stuck her warm face on her cold ass. Xia Ruya looked up at her—the warm, shimmery light from the chandeliers shone all over her, making her appear outstanding, as though she was coated with a layer of gold coating, seemingly drenched with all of the world’s brilliance and attention, radiating with overweening elegance!

She realized that the light from the chandeliers was quite blinding, felt her eyes burning, and suddenly clenched her fists only to release them slowly, her fingers stiffening and relaxing bit by bit.