Changqing kicked Song Chuyi angrily. “Look at how seriously Li Shaobin is helping Ruan Yang cut her meat. As a surgeon experienced with knives, shouldn’t you be in charge of helping your wife cut the meat? Really! My treatment before and after marriage is worlds apart.”Duoyao also glared at Yan Molun unhappily. “You’re married, but I’m not even married and the treatment is already different.”

“I was chatting with Mingwei just now,” Yan Molun explained helplessly. “Isn’t it just cutting a few pieces of meat? You usually cut steak very quickly.”

“It’s not the same with mutton. This isn’t that easy to cut,” Duoyao said. “Even if it was, look at how meticulous Brother Shaobin is.”

“I’ve already told you that he’s still doing his best to curry her favor. After a while, it won’t be the case,” Yan Molun said lazily as he took a puff.

“Yangyang, ignore him. I’m different from them. I just like to help you cut meat and I’ll do it forever.” Li Shaobin looked at Ruan Yang pamperingly.

Ruan Yang glanced at him. “Let’s tone things down a little.”

“Mm, mm.” Li Shaobin nodded obediently.

Song Chuyi let out a soft cough. “Old Yan, don’t say another word. Start cutting for your girlfriend.”

Otherwise, it’d probably be hard to even sleep in bed together tonight.

Luckily he was about to further his studies in the States so he wouldn’t be part of such gatherings for some time. Otherwise, they would always be compared to Li Shaobin.

Yan Molun also picked up the knife and fork silently and started to do his work with resignation.

Zhan Mingwei blew out a mouthful of smoke leisurely and felt thankful, once again, for not bringing his wife along.

However, Duoyao and Changqing were still a little unhappy because Li Shaobin really pampered Ruan Yang too much. The moment Ruan Yang coughed, he would pour her some water immediately for fear that she would choke.

When Ruan Yang rubbed her eyes, he would ask her if she was sleepy.

What made Changqing the most envious was when they were eating Babylon shells, Li Shaobin would pick the meat out from the shells for Ruan Yang one by one and put them all in her bowl. After that, he would just suck the juice on his fingers.

Changqing exchanged glances with Duoyao once again. That’s too pampering. Can we do things over and change partners? I feel like crying.

After the meal, when they were on their way back, Changqing told Song Chuyi, “I think you should hurry to the States so I can look around again, and maybe I might find a husband who will pamper me the way Brother Shaobin pampers Ruan Yang.”

Song Chuyi looked at her expressionlessly and he said through clenched teeth, “I’ll teach you a lesson when we get back.”

——————-

At the Rong estate, after showering and brushing his teeth cleanly, Li Shaobin crawled into Ruan Yang’s embrace as she was reading in bed. “Yangyang, did I do well tonight?”

“Yes. You were superb.” Ruan Yang put her book down and held his face as she gave him a peck on his lips. “This is your reward.”

Li Shaobin was smiling so brightly that his eyes formed two crescents. Ruan Yang said, “But you should still give Song Chuyi and Molun some face.”

“They aren’t as good as me in pampering women to begin with,” Li Shaobin said with a grin. “Another peck.”

Ruan Yang didn’t give him a peck. Instead, she lowered her head and gave him a loving kiss. Because of that kiss, Li Shaobin almost couldn’t bear it.

The two of them were stuck close together under the covers, separated by just thin layers of clothing so Ruan Yang could immediately feel it. However, she didn’t say anything. She hesitated for a while and her hand, which was outside the blanket, inched down slowly.

Li Shaobin stared wide-eyed at her all of a sudden. “Yangyang…”

“Shh, don’t make a sound.” Ruan Yang closed her eyes and kissed him once again. She put the other hand on his cheek and Li Shaobin’s breathing became heavier and he slowly lost focus as he felt his bones almost melting from her lovely torture.

He only knew that at that moment, even if she were to tell him to go die, he would still agree to it. He would be willing to do anything no matter what she told him to do.

…

When Li Shaobin slept that night, he hugged Ruan Yang even tighter. The next morning, while Ruan Yang was still sound asleep, she was woken up by a wave of moist kisses.

She opened her eyes and saw Li Shaobin smiling broadly at her. “Yangyang, I already bought breakfast for you so you don’t have to work so hard to make breakfast today.”

“So nice?” Ruan Yang covered her mouth as she yawned.

“You’re good to me. Of course I have to be even better to you,” Li Shaobin said with a meek smile.

Ruan Yang was stunned. “I’m good to you…”

Li Shaobin blushed a little. “Last night, you…”

Ruan Yang’s face also heated up. She felt a little embarrassed. It was really nothing to her but he actually said she was good to him and that made her very touched. “Alright, enough of that. Go downstairs first. I’m going to wash up.”

When they were having breakfast, news of Ruan Yang visiting their teacher at Northern City’s Film and Performance school with Changqing and the others popped up on her phone. There had been no news of Ruan Yang in the entertainment industry for a very, very long time. This news came out along with news of the other three. Although there were still people defaming Ruan Yang, there were fewer of them. Most people were saying that the four of them were very good together and someone even said that the scandal of Jiang Duoyao seducing the director turned out to be false, so there might be more to Ruan Yang’s scandal too. If she didn’t have a good character, Jiang Duoyao and Changqing wouldn’t have been friends with her for so long.

Li Shaobin also saw the news on his phone. He lifted his head and said, “Yangyang, don’t worry. I’ll definitely help you clear your name. Wherever you go in the future, there will definitely be no one scolding you.”

“There’s no need for that, actually. I did make mistakes in the past and the things they say about me aren’t wrong. The occasional scoldings remind me of the mistakes I made in the past.” Ruan Yang smiled lightly. “Besides, no matter how much power you have in this world, it’s impossible to totally clear my name.”

Li Shaobin ate a dumpling and blinked without saying anything further.

…

After breakfast, Li Shaobin went to Li Hall to pass out Spring Festival red pockets to his brothers. The one he gave Hu Zhi was the thickest. “Do you know why I gave you so much this year?”

Hu Zhi understood clearly inside but he still shook his head, pretending to be unaware.

“You did pretty well this year, especially in helping me get Ruan Yang,” Li Shaobin said proudly. “Although you only came out with some ideas and it was my hard work and effort that got Ruan Yang in the end, you still get some credit. Your top priority this year is to get Ruan Yang to marry me.”

The corners of Hu Zhi’s mouth twitched. As the henchman of a triad boss, his top priority last year was to help his boss find a girlfriend, and this year, it was to get his boss married. Why did it feel like he was a matchmaker instead? However, he still answered obediently, “Alright, alright. But I thought your biggest wish this year would be to deal with the Xin family.”

“Of course, that’s very important too.” Li Shaobin raised his brows. “So, did you get anything?”

“I followed Hong Shang’s lead and investigated and I think Hong Shang really had intentions of us finding out. Xin Zhanheng actually dated this woman called Xu Biping 30 years ago. However, they broke up because of a misunderstanding, and Xin Zhanheng remarried. Xu Biping also got married. 10 years later, the two of them met each other again during an event. After that, they’ve been hanging out privately. Although they haven’t met many times, every time, Xin Zhanheng stays abroad for a few days with Xu Biping under the pretense of a business trip.”

Li Shaobin jaw dropped. “F*ck, Xin Zhanheng hooked up with a married woman.”

“Isn’t that so? I think this woman definitely has a place in Xin Zhanheng’s heart. Xu Biping is only eight years younger than Xin Zhanheng. If you were to look at her age, you could only say that she’s charming when she dolls herself up. Besides, this Xu Biping is quite capable too. She’s opened a few high-tier private clothing customization shops in Shanghai. Her husband is just a normal administrative officer. Looks-wise, he can’t compare to Xin Zhanheng. I reckon that she still pined and never forgot Xin Zhanheng after getting married, so both of them were consenting parties. Even though they each have their families, they still contacted each other secretly for years. In the past, we kept targeting the young women around Xin Zhanheng and that was why we neglected this Xu Biping.”

“It’s really like father, like son. I reckon Xin Ziao also wanted to make Ruan Yang a second Xu Biping with that same thought.” Li Shaobin snorted angrily. “Just expose this matter to Wang Yuting. A shrewd woman like her will definitely instigate something. As for me, I’ll just sit at home and watch the show happening in the Xin family and wait for the two of them to get a divorce.”

———————-

At night, Li Shaobin went to the class reunion with Song Chuyi. On the way, seeing how Li Shaobin kept humming a little tune, Song Chuyi asked, “Even if you’re doing well with Ruan Yang recently, you don’t have to be so cocky.”

“I’m cocky because of something else.” Li Shaobin told him about Xin Zhanheng.

When Song Chuyi heard that, he only frowned.

Li Shaobin said, “Why, didn’t that shock you?”

“There’s all kinds of dirty things happening in this world. What’s there to be shocked about?” Song Chuyi was calm. “You’re going to see Xin Ziao later. He’s going today too.”

“So be it. You think I’m afraid to see him?” Li Shaobin snorted haughtily.

“Teacher Wu will be there too. Don’t start quarreling out of jealousy and become an embarrassment,” Song Chuyi reminded him out of good-will.

“I don’t care to quarrel with him.” Li Shaobin snorted again. “I won’t even look him in the eye.”

Song Chuyi rolled his eyes. He didn’t believe Li Shaobin at all.

In the clubhouse, just as the two of them stepped through the door, they ran into a few of their old classmates. Everyone was invited into a suite. They had all attended the best high school in the entire city. Most of the people in their high school class came from wealthy families. Now, most of them were quite accomplished. Some of them had gone overseas to develop and they only came back once a year. Therefore, every year during the class reunion, everyone wanted to attend to expand their networks.