Chapter 140 – Estranged (4)

Old Chen’s birthday banquet was held in his courtyard. The decorations were as splendid as ever, so even if one said that it was packed with gold and silver, it wasn’t an exaggeration. The walls inside the house were covered with eye-catching, ancient paintings. With just a glance, one could see that the value was extraordinary. Additionally, there were antique vases in every corner, making the composition exceptionally dazzling.

Although those in the business world didn’t really like Old Chen’s interior design since it resembled that of a local tycoon, most of the guests who stepped into the Chen family’s residence couldn’t help but stare at those antiques with curiosity. The rare antiques were a sight to behold.

If this were some other collectors’ residence, they surely wouldn’t take out such exquisite antiques for others to appreciate, let alone put them in such obvious spots in the living room.

The banquet would begin in about half an hour, so not many people had arrived yet. Most of them had grabbed a glass of red wine as they wandered around the living room, admiring the antiques and paintings.

Lan Jinyao changed into her evening dress at home, and as she stared at her slender figure in the mirror, she nodded with satisfaction.

She was wearing a black evening dress that was floor-length and backless, which accentuated her perfect curves and illuminated her white-jade skin. The only thing she was unsatisfied with was the fact that she was too thin! Chen Meimei was initially very tall, but since she’d recently lost weight, she appeared much taller now.

Lan Jinyao turned in front of the mirror and then straightened her back. At least she still had some meat in the right places so that the evening dress could be held up and looked alright.

Fu Bainian had already changed into a suit and was waiting for her outside. The moment he saw her come out, the trace of a shimmer flashed through his eyes before quickly disappearing and returning to calmness once again. Of course, Lan Jinyao didn’t miss the look in his eyes, so she looked at him with a charming smile and softly asked, “Do I look nice?”

Fu Bainian nodded and indifferently replied, “Mhm!”

Lan Jinyao was initially still smiling, but when she remembered the fact that Yin Yun could use Fu Bainian’s secondary card to buy clothes, while her card was frozen, she felt furious.

Soon after, she walked out of the fitting room, and Fu Bainian glanced at her from top to bottom before nodding with satisfaction. He then proceeded to head to the counter and pay for the dress.

When they left the store, Lan Jinyao faintly heard murmuring behind her.

“Didn’t they say she wasn’t favoured anymore? From how things look, that doesn’t seem to be the case?”

“How can you tell from the surface? They’re public figures, so of course, they’ve got to pay attention to their image!”

“That’s right, but we’ve offended her before, so I’m afraid that our sales will be impacted in the future. Don’t you think so?

“Don’t worry…”

Lan Jinyao ignored the whispers and asked, “My dress was fine, so why did you want me to change into another one all of a sudden?”

In the next second, Fu Bainian threw the bag containing the other evening dress into the trash can.

“You want a reason? Then, I’ll tell you: One reason is because there’s too much exposure, and the other is because…that man bought it for you.”

Upon hearing this, Lan Jinyao’s lips curled up slightly, yet she still retorted, “But, I paid Jiang Cheng back afterwards.”

“That still won’t do! Just wear this, it looks good on you.”