After finishing his clinic hours, Jiang Chen drove his Knight XV, taking Su Qingqing to the hotel where the gathering was being held.

The two of them parked the car in the parking lot and walked towards the hotel entrance.

"Qing Qing," a shouting voice resounded, and the two looked up to see a woman with heavy makeup walking out of the hotel entrance.

"Li Wen'na!" Su Qingqing greeted her with a smile and walked up to her.

Su Qingqing hugged the other woman and exchanged a few pleasantries.

Li Wen'na gave Jiang Chen a glance, a hint of disdain flashing in her eyes. She turned back to Su Qingqing with a slightly disgusted tone, "Qing Qing, who is this?"

"This is my... boyfriend, Jiang Chen." Su Qingqing hesitated for a moment before turning her head to look at Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen was taken aback, but he didn't reveal the truth and extended his hand with a light laugh, "Hello, I'm Jiang Chen."

Li Wen'na didn't reach out to shake his hand, instead she gave Jiang Chen a surprised look, nodded slightly to him, and turned to hurry Su Qingqing along, "Let's go, everyone's waiting for you!"

Su Qingqing frowned slightly and turned to Jiang Chen with an apologetic look. Jiang Chen just smiled and shook his head.

The three of them entered the hotel and went to a small banquet hall on the third floor.

In the hall, four tables were almost fully occupied, with only one table still having two empty seats.

"Su Qingqing is here!"

"Wow! She's just as pretty as when she was the campus belle! Even more beautiful now!"

"Yeah, just wonder who will have the luck to pluck this flower!"

"Isn't Xu Ruozhe going to..."

"Shush, look, Su Qingqing brought a guy!"

The classmates started discussing as soon as they saw Su Qingqing, and they looked curiously at Jiang Chen.

Li Wen'na took Su Qingqing and Jiang Chen to the two empty seats at the head table. She took one seat for herself, then pointed to the other seat, "Qing Qing, sit here!"

Jiang Chen paused slightly and glanced at the people at the table. The only remaining seat was to the left of Li Wen'na and to the right of a young man in formal attire, who was currently giving him a hostile look.

Jiang Chen let out a resigned smile, it seemed his role as a shield was going to be more than just a one-time affair today.

Su Qingqing saw there was only one seat left and her brows knitted slightly, a trace of dissatisfaction appearing on her face.

After glancing at Li Wen'na, Su Qingqing turned her head and called out, "Waiter."

"Hello! How may I assist you?" The waiter came to Su Qingqing with a light laugh.

With a smile, Su Qingqing said, "Could you please add another chair?"

"Qing Qing, there's no room here, have your friend sit at another table," Li Wen'na suggested, pointing to a nearby table.

"Yes, Qing Qing, let your friend sit at another table," the formally-dressed young man said with a light laugh, "I heard your dad passed away, Qing Qing. Let me take care of you from now on."

Jiang Chen was momentarily startled and looked at the young man with surprise. Was this... taking advantage of the situation or genuinely pursuing her?

"Qing Qing, you must be having a tough time right now. Being with Xu Ruozhe could alleviate a lot of your stress," someone chimed in.

"Alleviate stress? Xu Ruozhe's family has their own company, valued at over a billion. If Qing Qing marries him, she can directly become a CEO's wife, you know?" another person added.

"Right, Qing Qing, that would be a really good thing for you, it's your good fortune," another voice agreed.

The people at the table all started to offer words of comfort.

Su Qingqing's expression changed slightly, and she directly took Jiang Chen's arm with her hand, smiling as she spoke, "Let me introduce to you all, this is my boyfriend, Jiang Chen."

"Boyfriend?!"

"Is that guy really Su Qingqing's boyfriend?!"

"No way? That guy, he..."

"He's probably not going to have an easy time today, Xu Ruozhe came prepared!"

The classmates all started to express their surprise.

Xu Ruozhe looked Jiang Chen up and down, and sarcastically said, "Su Qingqing, if you wanted a shield, you didn't need to pick someone like this, did you? Wearing nothing but street stall clothes, can he help you run your clinic well? Can he give you a good life?"

"Exactly, Qing Qing, your taste really isn't up to much! Ruozhe has liked you since school, and he's been waiting for you all these years!" Li Wen'na persuaded.

Jiang Chen slightly raised an eyebrow, pondering whether this was the right time for him to say something.

"He is my boyfriend, brought here by me. If he needs to sit at another table, then I'll move too. We're all classmates, it's all the same no matter which table we sit at!" Su Qingqing said sternly.

The classmates were taken aback for a moment, all looking towards Xu Ruozhe. Everyone at this table had already been cordially welcomed by Xu Ruozhe, who was taking advantage of this reunion—a chance, now that Su Qingqing's father had died and she was without support—to help Xu Ruozhe win over Su Qingqing.

But what none of them expected was that the appearance of Jiang Chen had thrown all their plans into disarray!

"This... Qing Qing, look, everyone here is classmates. It wouldn't be right for anyone to move to another table!" Li Wen'na reached out to pull at Su Qingqing.

Su Qingqing shook off Li Wen'na's hand and said indifferently, "It's fine, I will take Jiang Chen to another table."

Taking Jiang Chen's hand, Su Qingqing turned to head towards a table with fewer people.

"Let's just stay at this table. Li Zhiqiang, you move to another one. Aren't all your dorm mates sitting over there? You can join them!" Xu Ruozhe made a gesture to a young man and said with a light laugh.

"Right, right, right, all the guys from my dorm are over there, I'll go over!" A young man from across the vacancy stood up laughing.

Observing the seat that had emptied, Jiang Chen was somewhat amused. That spot was the farthest away from Su Qingqing's seat at this side of the table—it couldn't be more obvious!

Su Qingqing's face showed evident anger, and she was about to speak up. Jiang Chen, however, gently tugged at her and raised his hand towards the far seat, chuckling, "Qing Qing, you're all classmates, so it's all the same wherever you sit. Just go and sit there!"

Xu Ruozhe and the others initially thought that Jiang Chen was going to keep the peace and sit there himself, but they were taken aback by what they heard in the end.

Was he challenging Xu Ruozhe?!

Su Qingqing, however, was pleased. Once she sat in that spot, she would be far away from Xu Ruozhe. By doing this, Jiang Chen ensured they wouldn't have to make these classmates, who Xu Ruozhe had already won over, move seats and Su Qingqing could keep her distance from Xu Ruozhe—an ideal solution.

And now, if these classmates deliberately gave up the seat on Xu Ruozhe's other side, then Su Qingqing would have a reason to turn hostile. She could even walk out right there and then!

Jiang Chen had figured out that Su Qingqing was already upset, which is why he came up with such a plan. After all, they were all classmates, and Jiang Chen didn't want to stir up unpleasantness because of himself, even though he was there to help Su Qingqing fend off the flies. He also didn't want Su Qingqing to offend anyone too severely.

So, it was left to him to say the things that might offend others.

Ultimately, no one spoke up. Amidst a table full of people with varying expressions, Su Qingqing walked over and sat in the seat farthest from Xu Ruozhe!

Jiang Chen also smiled and sat down in the seat where Su Qingqing had been sitting.

Xu Ruozhe's expression turned completely dark as he glanced at Su Qingqing and then glared fiercely at Jiang Chen, signaling a few young people at the table with a gesture.

Understanding his signal, several nodded in agreement, their gazes filled with mockery as they looked at Jiang Chen.

Kid, you've offended Xu Ruozhe, so just wait for the bad luck to come!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.