Chapter 378: Chapter 378

The man wore an Armani suit in dark coffee color, styled in the latest trendy European perm of male model stars, and had a Rolex gold watch on his wrist—not the brand’s top model, but enough to indicate a certain level of status.

After sweeping the room with an arrogant gaze, he chuckled softly, wrapped his arm around Zhou Xiao’s shoulder, and handed over an invitation card, "Cousin, are these all the elites of Rong City?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiao chuckled lightly and said, "Yes, taking this opportunity, I brought my cousin to meet everyone. How is it, not bad, right?"

"Not bad?" The man laughed, his smile wild and arrogant. After glancing at his fingernails, he said, "It’s alright."

Suddenly, many executives present had their expressions darken.

After all, even though Zhou Xiao was the daughter of the mayor, out of respect for Mayor Jin, a prominent figure in Rong City’s political scene, they maintained a certain level of courtesy towards Zhou Xiao.

But in business, isn’t it about assets? Moreover, Rong City is an emerging first-tier provincial capital, ranking high nationwide. Saying a banquet where all the rich people of Rong City are gathered is just alright...

How wealthy must this person be to say something so audacious?

Many people’s faces turned somber, and the man accompanying Zhou Xiao obviously noticed as well.

He curved his lips into a smile, then looked at the doorman who had been stunned all along.

The doorman came to his senses, seemingly returning from disbelief, fluttered his eyelashes, and started speaking to the invitation card, "Wel... welcome, welcome..."

The doorman couldn’t finish his sentence.

The man let out a cold laugh, yanked his invitation card, and glanced at it.

Slowly, he let go of Zhou Xiao’s shoulder with a low laugh, shifting to support the stone-carved railing with both hands, looking down from above.

He introduced himself: "I am Bai Qifan, from Beijing."

Instantly, the atmosphere in the venue froze, then transformed into another type of freezing; no one knew how it happened.

They only knew his words flowed elegantly, with every syllable distinct.

Amidst this, everyone was internally shocked into subtle movements.

Bai Qifan, a true scion of Beijing.

In his thirties, married, a legitimate second generation, ranked eighth among the ten young masters of Beijing, known by name but rarely seen in person.

He’s in business, owns substantial assets, the exact amount unknown to anyone.

This relies on the division between the North and South.

In the South, companies and businesses are mostly public, and all assets are nearly transparent.

But in the North, it’s different; it’s deeply entrenched in political and cultural circles, respecting the Confucian doctrine, adhering to the doctrine of the mean, especially in conducting business in a place like Beijing, where if assets are not publicly listed, they are mostly kept low-profile and confidential.

Therefore, the wealth is largely estimated based on rankings.

But that’s not what’s important. The important part is, over the years, though being the mayor’s daughter, Miss Zhou has frequently contended with lieutenant governor’s daughters, even acting with impunity in Rong City. To a certain extent, people within the Rong City circle could guess that behind the Zhou Family... there was backing!

But who that backing was, no one knew.

And now, witnessing them calling each other cousin.

In an instant, many people present were soul-touched and puzzled, their looks at Zhou Xiao carried a few more unnatural depths.

Because Bai Qifan’s father is a national leader...

Executives all fell into silent contemplation, eyes cast down in pensive thought.

Feeling the atmosphere of solemnity rising throughout the venue.

The cousins exchanged a glance, mocking as they scanned the entire venue.

They descended step by step along the long staircase into the center of the venue.

Such a striking presence made Gu Zixuan’s heart skip a beat inexplicably.

From among all the seats, the charity gala’s public relations quickly came forward to welcome Bai Qifan.

However, he did not take any superior seat offered.

Instead, he directly headed to one of the six tables at the front where Gu Zixuan was seated.

Pulled out an empty chair, he sat down, "Mind if I sit here?"

He was speaking to everyone at the table.

In reality, an executive whose seat was taken wasn’t pleased with such an action, but due to Bai Qifan’s status, he couldn’t say anything. All he could do was curl his lips, then politely nod, "Mr. Bai, of course, we don’t mind."

Moreover, the executive moved a bit, allowing the quick-thinking PR to promptly add a chair for Zhou Xiao to sit.

With the consent of Chen De International’s CEO, Bai Qifan naturally smirked in triumph.

His arrogance increased the displeasure among many of the wealthy present, yet they could say nothing.

After sitting down, Bai Qifan took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lowered his eyes to place one in his mouth, and lit it.

The entire process was slow and seemed to capture the silence of the whole room. Despite the nearby etiquette hostess glancing at the no smoking sign, she couldn’t help but frown slightly.

Bai Qifan ignored it, took a couple of puffs, then looked up and said, "You’re Gu Zixuan?"

His words were directed straight at Gu Zixuan.

The straightforward air of authority made everyone present suddenly feel that the atmosphere wasn’t quite right today.

They also sensed that this woman, who had recently gained notoriety in Rong City, was anything but ordinary.

Gu Zixuan didn’t want to speak to the other party at all.

She naturally understood what level of status the other party held, having grown up in a family with minor governmental influence. Especially with Zhou Xiao’s grim and mocking face across from her, coldly staring at her, she felt that saying anything today would lead to trouble.

However, not responding was even less of an option.

Although she didn’t know what exactly had happened, her intuition told her that today’s situation, whether or not it directly involved her, was certainly directed at her.

Gathering her thoughts, she said calmly, "It’s me. What do you want?"

Her composed demeanor, neither humble nor arrogant, made Bai Qifan smile. The next moment, he slammed the table with a loud "bang" and angrily cursed, "Who do you think you are, you shameless [slut]? How dare you bully my cousin’s family ?"

The crude words made the whole room gasp in shock.

Of course, they were even more shocked by what had transpired between them to make the Zhou Family bring in the Bai Family to disrupt the occasion and stand up ?

From afar, Liang Shiman let out a cold laugh.

Gu Zixuan was momentarily stunned, shocked by the other’s words. Her fingertips trembled as she said, "Mr. Bai, are your words a bit inappropriate? At the same time, I’d trouble you to clarify your accusation!"

"Clarify?" Bai Qifan laughed. Extinguishing his cigarette, he got up and spat, "Are you addicted to pretending to be innocent? Has no one told you your dad has stepped down? What makes you think you can tarnish my cousin’s reputation and mess with my uncle’s stocks, causing him to be besieged by friends and family?"

In an instant, Gu Zixuan understood something.

Even though she didn’t fully grasp the entire situation.

But the two events Bai Qifan mentioned...

She recalled a few days ago when Feng Chengjin questioned her during their investigation, asking if she had a bad relationship with Zhou Xiao?

Looking at Brother Yu’s instant flash of anger in his eyes following Bai Qifan’s accusations from a distance.

Gu Zixuan quickly pieced together what might have caused this...

But how could she explain it? What they did, how was it any different from what she did?

Gu Zixuan’s heart trembled, unable to utter a word.

Beside her, Feng Chengjin, who had just heard about the stocks issue, immediately looked at Yu Yuanshen in astonishment.

Receiving Feng Chengjin’s bewilderment, Yu Yuanshen was even more perplexed, remembering Feng Chengjin’s silence these days and wondering if Feng Chengjin didn’t actually believe it was Zhou Xiao who did it? Was this recent inaction not a form of indulgence? Orıginal content can be found at novel-fire.net

As for He Qimo, having been too overwhelmed to consider external matters for days, was now suddenly exposed to the unfolding situation. He furrowed his brows in confusion, looking at Feng Chengjin and Yu Yuanshen, completely failing to grasp their logic. What had they done to so steadfastly conclude that Zhou Xiao was responsible and how could they confront a high-ranking official’s family so brazenly, only to get caught?

The three men looked at each other in mutual confusion.

Perhaps they all had intellect, just momentarily not using it.

Or perhaps, they were all too smart, too arrogant, to the extent that none truly considered the actions of the others serious.

The three men sat in silent bewilderment.

Here, Gu Zixuan’s silent attitude only made Bai Qifan sneer even more, "Admitted it? All instigated by you to manipulate men?"

Gu Zixuan’s heart trembled; she was speechless.

After a pause, Bai Qifan grew agitated, leaned forward, and raised his hand with five fingers to grasp Gu Zixuan’s chin, saying, "Speak up!"

However, in the next instant, before Bai Qifan’s intimidating fingers could touch her.

In the air, a slender hand swiftly grabbed Bai Qifan’s wrist.

In that moment of eye contact.

The whole room gasped silently again. The Vice President of the Charity Foundation, who was speaking, profoundly considered whether to try to steer the conversation back on track.

But looking at both sides, one was the richest family in Rong City, the reclusive Feng Family, the other was the only son of a Beijing official.

In such a confrontation, nobody thought it wise to utter the first word.

Especially seeing the official’s son, Bai Qifan, whose wrist was now grasped, his eyes now holding an innate arrogance and hostility from a family of political power...

Under the lights, Feng Chengjin’s height was somewhat taller than Bai Qifan’s.

The posture of holding Bai Qifan’s wrist from above conveyed an indescribable aura.

Feng Chengjin was very composed, perhaps a quality bestowed by age, as his calm demeanor often imparted a sense of unapproachable solemnity.

Raising an eyebrow, he tightened his grip on Bai Qifan’s wrist and said word by word, "Mr. Bai, looking for someone to settle the scores, haven’t you picked the wrong person or the wrong place? Let me remind Mr. Bai that this place...is Rong City."