In front of Xu Qi, besides Ye Sheng, there was also a man sitting, who appeared calm and composed, with a certain elegance.

However, his face was exactly the same as Ye Lan in her dream.

“Hey, Miss Xu, Qi Qi? What’s wrong with you?” Ye Sheng called her twice before Xu Qi snapped out of it. But the man sitting next to Ye Sheng showed no reaction to her, and even furrowed his brows slightly.

Xu Qi closed her eyes for a moment and asked Ye Sheng, “Who is this?”

Ye Sheng suddenly remembered to introduce him, and stood up in a hurry. “This is my brother, Ye Lan. Brother, this is Xu Qi.”

“Xu Qi?” The man’s voice carried a hint of doubt, as if finding the name somewhat familiar, and a palpable sense of unease made him keep frowning.

Seeing Ye Lan’s confusion, Ye Sheng leaned over and whispered something in Ye Lan’s ear. Ye Lan nodded as if understanding.

Perhaps the other’s unusual attitude wasn’t too apparent, but Xu Qi sensed that he didn’t recognize her. So, she concealed all her emotions and handed over the slightly deformed gift in her hand.

Ye Sheng smiled and asked, “What’s this?”

Xu Qi straightened her dress and looked at him squarely. “A token of apology for inadvertently wasting so much of your time.”

With that, Ye Sheng accepted the gift with a smile. “Consider it a bit of conscience on your part.”

Ye Lan, sitting next to Ye Sheng, furrowed his brows again, his eyes fixed on the gift, but he didn’t say anything.

“Please, have a seat. Don’t stand there, it doesn’t look good,” Ye Sheng joked.

“It’s all the same, all the same.” Xu Qi replied vaguely, lowered her head, and took a sip of wine.

Ye Lan’s body inexplicably tensed up the moment she sat next to him. He started to feel nervous, not knowing what to do, so he could only try to maintain a calm posture.

Although Ye Lan was supposed to be the protagonist of this banquet, he wasn’t enthusiastic about it. He would rather sit quietly on the sofa, sipping his wine, than mingle with the group of young ladies.

Ye Sheng had no choice but to take matters into his own hands to liven up the atmosphere, to avoid making the invited ladies feel awkward.

As for Ye Lan, he just nestled into the sofa, drank for a while, and then drifted off again.

“Master Ye.”

Sitting next to Ye Lan, Xu Qi called out to him. He seemed startled, but then smiled and said to her, “Why call me Master Ye? Just call me Ye Lan.”

He extended the bridge to strengthen their relationship, and Xu Qi naturally changed her address, “Ye Lan.”

“What were you thinking just now? You seemed lost in thought.” Xu Qi asked.

“Oh, I was thinking about when the banquet would end.” Ye Lan explained with a smile. His demeanor was exactly the same as the person she knew.

Xu Qi toyed with her index finger, and the red wine in her hand swayed slightly. “Do you have any plans after the banquet ends?”

She asked Ye Lan, who was momentarily taken aback, feeling inexplicably nervous. “Not really, probably just going back home.”

“I see.”

Xu Qi didn’t say anything more, and the atmosphere quieted down for a moment. Ye Lan felt a bit uneasy and shifted in his seat. Although he liked quietness, he now felt extremely uncomfortable, as if he should say something to make the other party happy.

“Hey, is it Qi Qi?”

A male voice came, and Xu Qi looked up to see someone who looked somewhat familiar. She was about to call out his name, but for a moment, she seemed to be choked up and couldn’t speak. She couldn’t remember his name.

“Why are you alone here?” the man asked her.

He raised his wine glass and walked over, bending down to clink glasses with Xu Qi.

Maintaining a smile on her face, Xu Qi tactfully avoided addressing him, “Not alone, isn’t Ye Lan here with me?”

“Ye Lan? The eldest young master of the Ye family?” The man glanced at Ye Lan, who extended his hand to greet him, but for some reason, Ye Lan felt depressed and couldn’t bring himself to feel happy.

“Bro, Lin’s sister said she wanted to meet you, so I brought her here.”

Women, there’s always one or two who are troublesome, and Ye Sheng had no choice.

Ye Lan saw Ye Sheng’s dilemma and didn’t blame him. So he stood up and said to Lin, “Miss Lin, I’m Ye Lan.”

Lin smiled elegantly and gently extended her hand, “Hello, Mr. Ye, I’m Lin.”

Xu Qi squinted at that hand, feeling extremely displeased. How dare he touch another woman’s hand? And he even held it for so long!

It wasn’t Ye Lan’s intention to hold her hand for so long, but Lin suddenly exerted force when touching Ye Lan’s fingertips, holding his hand for a while.

But soon, Ye Lan made an effort to break free.

He was a bit unhappy. This Miss Lin was too rude.

“Uh, Miss Lin, please have a seat.” Ye Sheng felt the awkwardness and lost the last trace of goodwill towards Miss Lin. It was just a matter of upbringing. He couldn’t let Miss Lin feel too embarrassed, so he came out to smooth things over.

Ye Lan’s side was already full, so Lin had to sit on the opposite sofa.

Only then did Xu Qi raise her eyes and found Lin somewhat familiar-looking, but couldn’t remember where she had seen her.

But that didn’t stop her from disliking her.

“Miss Lin, care for a drink?”

Lin held a glass of champagne and was a bit bewildered when Xu Qi spoke to her. She seemed to not know this lady, but immediately raised her glass to clink with Xu Qi once she realized.

“Who is Miss Lin’s father?” Xu Qi asked.

The other party answered proudly, “My father is the CEO of the Lin Coal Mining Company.”

Xu Qi smiled on the surface but secretly checked on her phone. It turned out she was from a nouveau riche family.

But Lin’s gaze towards Ye Lan was what really annoyed Xu Qi.

Clearly, Ye Lan wasn’t used to it either. He subconsciously moved aside, ending up next to Xu Qi, and accidentally touched her delicate white arm.

Xu Qi turned to look at him, her displeasure evident in her eyes, which made Ye Lan think she was offended. He quickly sat up straight again and apologized to her, feeling uncomfortable inside.

This kind of emotion was unprecedented, leaving him at a loss for what to do.

After sitting there for a while, Xu Qi witnessed Lin chatting with Ye Lan. Ye Lan responded to her, even taking the opportunity to touch her back!

She was furious. If it were Ah Lan, Ah Lan would never let anyone touch him like that! Ah Lan would rather be alone with her all the time, unseen by anyone else!

Deciding to go out and calm down, Xu Qi left without a word, completely unaware that after she left, Ye Lan secretly watched her for a while.

When it was certain that she had gone far, Ye Sheng whispered to Ye Lan, “Do you know who that girl was just now?”

Ye Lan frowned and patted Ye Sheng, “Mind your manners.”

Ye Sheng felt a bit wronged and replied, “Oh.”

But just as he decided to mind his manners and not speak, Ye Lan leaned over again and asked him softly, “What’s the connection between you and that girl just now?”

Hearing Ye Lan’s question, Ye Sheng felt he had caught his brother’s interest, so he happily replied, “That’s the person you were supposed to meet a few days ago. Unfortunately, she didn’t want to be with me in the end. Otherwise, you two could have been family.”

Ye Lan stiffened all over, barely managing to force a smile. So, she was supposed to be his brother’s fiancée…

This girl, whom he had a very favorable impression of at first sight, was the one his brother complained about calling off the engagement.

“Since she’s not willing, let’s just forget about it.” Ye Lan lowered his head, his expression unclear.

Ye Sheng just wanted to talk to his brother about his own affairs. At first, seeing his brother interested made him happy, but his brother’s interest didn’t last long… He quickly lost interest, sigh.

He continued to wander among the ladies, oblivious to the fact that after seeing Xu Qi chatting happily with another man, his brother silently left the banquet.

And what they both failed to notice was that after Ye Lan left the banquet, Xu Qi also bid farewell to the man she was chatting with and followed Ye Lan out of the banquet.

Ye Lan lived in a famous wealthy area, and Xu Qi happened to have a house there too, so she followed him effortlessly.

And just like that, she ended up in the same parking lot as him. When Ye Lan got out of the car, she walked up to him, and suddenly pressed him against a pillar from behind, her hands involuntarily wrapping around his waist, holding him firmly.