Chapter 92: Qi Zhengqing’s Fury

There was still more than an hour before the wedding was set to begin, yet the hall was already filled to capacity. Men in tailored suits, women in elegant dresses, many conversing in small groups. The topics on their lips were deals worth hundreds of millions—even billions. At a glance, it looked less like a wedding and more like a lavish cocktail party.

Everyone’s face was lit with smiles, save for Shen Xian, who sat alone in a shadowy corner. But he was accustomed to solitude. The more crowded and boisterous the place, the less he wanted to speak. He felt as though he were ill, as if he were constantly plummeting, desperately hoping that someone would catch him with gentle hands. The arrival of Zhou Wan and Qingqing had, for a fleeting moment, caught him—suspended his fall, if only briefly.

He didn’t know if this was merely an illusion, or if it was simply the truth. In matters of the heart, the cost of making a mistake was now unbearably high for him. He often felt irreparably shattered, and those who loved him had to painstakingly gather his pieces, one by one. Loving him was no easy feat. He wished that someone might come along—someone who would delightedly collect his scattered fragments, giggling with joy, saying, “This piece is mine, that one too, and when he’s whole, he’ll be mine as well.”

At this thought, sorrow clouded his eyes.

Then he saw Zhou Wan enter through the main doors, alone to his surprise—neither Ning Cai nor Qingqing was with her. Zhou Wan’s gaze swept the crowd. With so many guests and Shen Xian hidden in the dimmest corner, she failed to notice him. Disappointment flickered in her eyes.

Yet Zhou Wan’s entrance caused quite a stir. Many guests rose to greet her. Though she was just a singer—her profession hardly esteemed by the titans of capital present—no one could forget the power her father wielded. Not only was her father formidable, but so were many of the men who pursued her.

Take Qi Zhengqing, for example. His desire for her was well-known, both within and outside their circles.

Zhou Wan merely nodded coolly and walked toward the backstage area. She was dressed formally, but not in a gown—just a simple, elegant black suit. For an occasion like this, anything too flamboyant would have stolen the bride’s spotlight.

More guests continued to arrive.

Qi Zhengqing was fashionably late. The moment he appeared, he drew the attention of all the major players in the room, who hurried to greet him with handshakes. As the favored son of the Qi family in the capital, his family dominated many fields: mining, new energy, media, luxury malls, cinema chains, and more.

Though Qi Zhengqing liked to indulge in pleasure, his business acumen was razor-sharp. Since graduation, he’d hardly ever suffered a loss. He was bold and generous—a man who could invest hundreds of millions, even over a billion, without so much as a blink.

“Young Master Qi!”

“Good day, Young Master Qi!”

“Young Lord Qi!”

The greetings came thick with deference and flattery. Chen Feng also stepped forward to shake his hand. Chen Feng was wealthy in his own right, but compared to someone like Qi Zhengqing, he was in an entirely different league. Liu Ruyun greeted him with poised grace as well.

Qi Zhengqing responded to Chen Feng’s obsequious words with a casual nod, then asked, “Has Zhou Wan arrived?”

“She’s here—she went backstage,” someone replied.

Qi Zhengqing nodded. “Alright, you all take your seats. I’ll go find Zhou Wan.”

Liu Ruyun was inwardly envious. What was it about Zhou Wan that so bewitched the scion of the Qi family?

Backstage, Zhou Wan was texting Shen Xian: “Will you come today, or not?”

Shen Xian replied, “I’m already here, but honestly, I don’t see the point. I might leave soon.”

“Qingqing and Ning Cai took her out to play. She probably won’t be at the wedding, though I’m not sure,” Zhou Wan responded, her fingers flying across the screen. “When it’s over, let’s have dinner together.”

“Sounds good,” Shen Xian answered.

Staring at her phone, Zhou Wan wondered what they might eat later. Qi Zhengqing had already slipped in behind her and immediately saw who she was chatting with. The profile picture was a man’s, and she was sending long, thoughtful messages. Previously, before she blocked him, Zhou Wan would only ever reply to Qi Zhengqing with one or two words: “Mm,” “No,” “Got it,” “Okay,” and the like.

He’d never seen her type out such long responses to anyone.

There was only one explanation: Zhou Wan had a deep fondness for this man.

An uneasy, gnawing feeling overtook Qi Zhengqing. Men are possessive by nature, and with his status and power, his possessiveness was even more intense.

He had pursued Zhou Wan for so long that, by now, even he couldn’t distinguish whether what he felt was possessiveness or true love. Either way, at this moment, he was furious.

Zhou Wan hadn’t yet noticed him standing behind her.

She continued typing to Shen Xian: “It’s lively today. I’m backstage, and I don’t know anyone around me. Seeing someone else’s wedding, I suddenly feel like I want to fall in love and get married too.”

She hesitated, reconsidering her words, and didn’t send the message right away.

Qi Zhengqing’s eyes almost blazed with jealousy. Zhou Wan was actively sharing her life with Shen Xian. When a woman takes the initiative to share her feelings with a man, it means she cares for him—perhaps even loves him.

As the saying goes, “A valley without an echo isn’t worth a leap, and it’s impolite to keep knocking on a door that won't open.” But Zhou Wan and this man were engaged in a mutual exchange.

Qi Zhengqing looked again at the chat window and saw the contact name: Shen Xian.

He knew Zhou Wan was staying at Shen Xian’s house—he’d even visited himself. But according to the information Chen Rumeng had given him, Zhou Wan and Shen Xian were not close; she was staying there only because of Ning Cai’s harebrained idea.

But now, it was clear that wasn’t true at all. Zhou Wan obviously liked Shen Xian.

Just as Zhou Wan was about to hit send, Qi Zhengqing snatched the phone from behind her. “You like Shen Xian?”

Caught off guard, Zhou Wan stared at him in shock. Realizing what had happened, she sprang to her feet and snapped, “Qi Zhengqing, what are you doing?”

Qi Zhengqing scrolled through her messages with Shen Xian. Zhou Wan, livid, grabbed her phone back. “Qi Zhengqing, who do you think you are? What gives you the right to invade my privacy?”

In that moment, Qi Zhengqing became utterly repulsive to Zhou Wan. Regardless of his status, even the closest friends wouldn’t snatch someone’s phone to read their messages. Even among well-mannered married couples, no one would barge into their partner’s phone like that.

Qi Zhengqing wasn’t even a friend to her—what right did he have to look at her phone? What gave him the confidence to do so?

“Answer me: do you like Shen Xian?” Qi Zhengqing’s gaze was icy.

Zhou Wan’s expression turned cold as well. “So what if I do? So what if I don’t? Do you really think you have any say over my life? What right do you have to interfere? Who do you think you are?”

Qi Zhengqing nodded. “Fine. I can’t do anything to you, but as for crippling or destroying Shen Xian, that’s as easy for me as eating or drinking. I’ll make sure he’s left with nowhere to stand in Nanzhou.”