Chapter 81 - 82 – The Forked Tongues of Velvet
Silence had never been so crowded.
The Heliantheas Dinner had begun, yet no formal speech followed. No raised glasses. Only the delicate clinking of fine silver against porcelain and the quiet hum of conversations—each one veiled, cautious, strategic.
Lin Feng sat with poise, his gaze meeting and moving from one pair of eyes to another like a practiced diplomat. Opposite him, Luo Zixuan appeared relaxed, shoulders draped over the back of his chair, his smile effortless but his gaze sharp like a scalpel.
To Lin’s right sat Guo Yuwei, wine untouched, hands neatly folded on her lap. Beside her, Luo Bingqing whispered to the server about the origin of the fish with her usual irreverent tone. On Lin’s left, Qin Yuyan’s presence was like still ink—calm, graceful, and unreadable. Li Ruoxi sat diagonally across the table, resting her chin on her fingers while observing every wordless exchange with eyes that calculated more than they expressed.
"Mr. Lin," Zixuan began, voice soft enough to sound innocent but loud enough to silence nearby chatter, "I must say, you’ve made waves. In just three months, your name has replaced several legacy heirs in circles they thought belonged to them by birthright."
Lin cut a piece of meat, chewed once, and smiled. "I didn’t know I was trespassing."
Zixuan laughed. "No, no. Not trespassing. You kicked the door in politely. That’s a rare skill."
"Doors are funny that way," Lin replied. "Sometimes they’re closed for your protection. Other times, they’re just waiting for someone to realize the lock was fake."
The smile on Zixuan’s face twitched, but didn’t falter.
Lu Tianye, seated at the head of the table, cleared his throat with theatrical softness. "I remember when Zixuan tried to break into the gold-backed property market without waiting for board clearance. Took me a week to undo the chaos."
Zixuan didn’t flinch. "And I remember how quickly you bought the dip."