Yu Yuan watched as some young ladies adjusted their appearances, holding slight hopes that they would catch his attention. Even the men paid more attention to their appearances. They didn't want to fall behind too much when they were compared to Huo Wei.
Suddenly the whole hall quieted.
Huo Wei had appeared.
Yu Yuan finally saw the appearance of the famed Patriarch Huo.
She was stunned.
His entire being radiated a cold aura, but his face was stunningly beautiful. He had broad shoulders, a narrow waist, and long legs. His was like the finest jade sculpted in the hands of a divine artist, perfectly proportioned.
All of these were elegantly wrapped up in the vintage black suit he wore, but his eyes were like glaciers with no trace of humanity.
He had the presence of a demon king. At his arrival, the already large hall seemed to have grown smaller. Even Patriarch Ji, that was next to him, was suppressed. Every other person had been made a backdrop.
For a moment, no one spoke until Patriarch Ji led him away. This might be his birthday banquet, but Huo Wei carried more weight than most people knew and naturally was more important at the moment.
After he heard that Huo Wei was coming, he prepared to host him in a private room away from the rest of the banquet, leaving his sons to carry on.
As soon as the last sight of Huo Wei disappeared, the entire hall burst into loud whispers.
"Heavens!" a lady drooled. "I heard he was good-looking, but I didn't know how much until now."
"I almost couldn't breathe watching him," her friend added.
"If only he had looked at me."
A man who overheard their conversation interjected, "Stop dreaming. There has been no woman by his side since he took over the Huo family, and the ones who schemed to climb his bed all met bad endings. There are even rumors that he might be gay."
"That's a lie! How can someone as handsome be gay?" the lady protested.
"Even though the rumors can't be verified, you should be careful. He's more ruthless than he's good-looking."
Similar conversations were going on around the hall. After the initial surprise, Yu Yuan was calm. She thought Huo Wei would be the protagonist if this was a book. Like all those CEOs, he was rich, powerful, handsome, and ruthless.
She also felt the ladies who wanted to be Mrs. Huo were naive. The person she just saw was cold, and his eyes didn't seem to hold much interest in the outside world.
An ordinary woman couldn't carry a relationship with him. If any of them was unfortunate enough to marry him, she would wither like a flower and still go unnoticed. Such a man wasn't an ideal spouse, but...
Yu Yuan gazed at the glass of wine in her hand with lidded eyes, her thoughts unknown.
After the people had settled down, the banquet continued, but Yu Yuan had no interest in staying at the hall, so she wandered off to the balcony.
Surprisingly she wasn't the first person there. Su Rong stood on the balcony gazing at the flowers in the garden below. She had changed out of her former dress to another one in the same color.
Noticing she was no longer alone, she turned around and locked eyes with Yu Yuan.
"Miss Yu is here."
Yu Yuan nodded at her in greeting and moved closer to admire the exotic flowers. After a moment of silence, Su Rong spoke. "Does Miss Yu think I'm vicious?"
Yu Yuan, slightly startled, looked at Su Rong. Su Rong's facial expression was quiet like she had just asked about the weather.
Yu Yuan knew she was probably curious about what she thought, so she answered honestly.
"Miss Su recognizes herself as most important and won't allow herself to suffer the slightest grievance. I admire and respect that."
Su Ring finally smiled. She liked this person who thought like her. "Call me Su Rong. Miss Su is too formal."
Yu Yuan returned her smile, "You should call me Yu Yuan as well." Su Rong was domineering, but she was smart. It was worth making friends with smart people.
The two people who just met today quickly became friends. They chatted about a lot of topics. Yu Yuan also discovered that Su Rong had a unique hobby, gossip.
She knew which woman was cheating on her husband, how many illegitimate children some married man secretly had, who loaned jewelry to banquets claiming it was theirs etc. In their conversation, Yu Yuan learned about the so-called wealthy families.
During their conversation, Su Rong received a message. After reading it, she mentioned, "I know some younger brothers and sisters who like to have fun. They booked a private room at a club, and they are inviting me over. Do you want to come?" To prevent misunderstanding, she added, "They are just some rich second-generation kids that like to party. They know not to do anything overboard."
Yu Yuan thought about it and agreed. She didn't want to go back to the hall anyway.
When they arrived at the club, they were already having fun. They were pouring shots and pushing them to a young man. He looked exasperated, but he kept accepting them.
"Su Rong jie, come quickly. Lu Shen broke up with his girlfriend, so we are comforting him!" another young man yelled.
Comforting? More like messing with him.
"Su Rong jie, you can't laugh at my pain like them."
"Serves you right. Who asked you to be a playboy?" Su Rong mocked.
"Meet my friend Yu Yuan. Call her jie."
A cacophony of voices sounded welcoming her. This group was really enthusiastic.
Then they sat down and joined the fun. As Su Rong sat down, she noticed that one of them was missing. "Where is Du Yang?"
"He went to the bathroom. He should be back soon," a lady answered.
The door burst open as soon as she spoke, and someone quickly entered. It was Du Yang.
"You won't believe who I just saw on my way back!" he exclaimed.
His words succeeded in catching the attention of the people in the room.
Someone urged, "Who did you see, Du Yang?"
"I saw Assistant Lin."
"Ehn! That's a lie," someone refuted.
"I'm sure it was him. My dad has had meetings with Huo Wei many times so I recognize Assistant Lin."
"But if Assistant Lin is here, that means Huo Wei is too."
"Why do you think King Yama is here?"
"Probably for business. At least we know it's not for women."
Lu Shen's eyes lit up as if he remembered something.
"You know how my ex-girlfriend is a make-up artist for celebrities? I used to hear some gossip about those big celebrities from time to time. She told me a very interesting one related to Huo Wei."
Curious eyes stared at him.
"Do you all remember Feng Hua, the national goddess that's retired now?"
"You mean the young miss of the Feng family? She retired very early. A lot of her fans were heartbroken then."
"Yes," Lu Shen affirmed. "I heard she didn't retire willingly."
"Eh? Didn't she say she wanted to go back and join the family business?"
"That's a lie. She offended someone."
"You don't mean Huo Wei right? Who's stupid enough to do that?"
"She was. I heard that during an investor meeting for a blockbuster she tried to seduce him. I heard she succeeded in touching him before she was thrown out."
Su Ring snorted, "Truly courting death."
Everyone knew that Huo Wei didn't like people getting close to him.
It took a few unfortunate incidents for people to learn that. Who knew why Feng Hua suddenly thought she was special?
"Her father had to pay an arm and a leg to save her from Huo Wei. Even at that she lost the opportunity to play the female lead and had to leave the entertainment industry. The Feng family hasn't recovered till now."
That's when realization dawned on everyone. The Feng family recently lost a lot of important contracts and had been very low-key lately, but no one knew why. The Feng family must have paid a lot to suppress this matter. Who knew what sins Patriarch Feng committed in his previous life to have such a daughter?
Once again, everyone realized how powerful and ruthless Huo Wei was.
They all shuddered in fear.
Suddenly, Su Rong asked, "Yu Yuan what do you think of Huo Wei?"
She had noticed that Yu Yuan reacted differently from others when they were talking about Huo Wei.
Throughout the conversation, her reaction was different from the awe and fear of others. If anything, it looked like she had a special interest in Huo Wei.
It wasn't noticeable before as they weren't paying attention. But now, it was glaringly obvious when compared with the reaction of others.
Yu Yuan's eyes were on the glass of red wine in her hands, and the color of the wine contrasted beautifully against her pale fingers. Yu Yuan lazily raised her eyes, and her lips curved into a sensual smile. She looked like a temptress.
Her mellow voice sounded, "I think he's just to my taste."
Everyone, "...."
Huo Wei, who happened to be passing by with his assistant overhead. He paused slightly. What a daring woman, he thought.