ALCSRB Chapter 4

Shen Xingyan raised his head again and smiled at the woman. “So it’s Miss Lu. Long time no see. You’re looking even more stunning than before.”

His tone was smooth, like old friends reuniting.

But to Lu Jingze, it sounded annoyingly flirtatious. He knew his sister hated when others spoke to her that way.

However, Lu Jinglan accepted the compliment gracefully, smiling radiantly.

She pointed at her foolish younger brother and said, “My brother was a bit rough with Young Master Jiang earlier. I’d like to apologize on his behalf.”

She addressed Jiang Mingyi directly, and while she spoke, she subtly winked at him.

Jiang Mingyi didn’t miss the small gesture. The Lu family had always treated him kindly—except for Lu Jingze, who clearly disliked him.

He hesitated, just about to respond, when the man beside him cut in, stealing his line.

“Out of respect for Uncle Lu and Miss Lu, I’ll overlook your brother’s rudeness and lack of manners. But if we’re talking about sincerity, I believe the apology should come from the person himself.”

Shen Xingyan’s gaze landed on the grim-faced Lu Jingze, those deep black eyes flickering with a protective light that clearly said Don’t mess with my little brother.

“Don’t you agree?”

His tone was gentle, yet Lu Jingze felt an invisible pressure crash down on him like a towering mountain, so heavy it made his spine begin to bend.

He stubbornly furrowed his brows, saying nothing, his attitude clearly screaming: “I’m not apologizing, what can you do about it?”

“I used to love hearing Uncle Lu tell me stories about traditional Chinese virtues,” Shen Xingyan said while casually picking up his phone.
“One of them was about taking responsibility when you make a mistake—admit your wrongs and make amends. Should I give Uncle Lu a call and have him tell us those stories again? You could all learn something too.”

His words were light and breezy, but Jiang Mingyi didn’t immediately understand what game he was playing.

Off to the side, Lu Jinglan had already covered her mouth, chuckling softly.

Her little brother had always been stubborn; growing up, very few people could get the better of him.

Except their father—and back then, Shen Xingyan.

That was when Lu Jingze was still a child. She remembered one time when he accidentally knocked over Jiang Mingyi during play. It was just typical roughhousing between kids, but Shen Xingyan insisted that Lu Jingze apologize and even made him help Jiang Mingyi up and comfort him.

Back then, Shen Xingyan was already a tall, serious teenager, and the stern look on his face had made the eight-year-old Lu Jingze cry on the spot, drawing both families’ parents over.

Teenaged Shen Xingyan had pointed at little Jiang Mingyi, who was still sitting on the ground crying like a pitiful dumpling, and said to her father, “Uncle Lu, you’re the one who told me that making a mistake means accepting the consequences. I’m just asking him to help up the boy he knocked over and say sorry. That’s not unreasonable, is it?”

Her father had always valued etiquette and upbringing. With a solemn face, he said, “It’s not unreasonable. Lu Jingze, help him up and apologize.”

Later, her brother had gotten a severe scolding for that incident.

Ever since then, he had practically gone out of his way to avoid Shen Xingyan, afraid he’d accidentally run into him again.

Lu Jingze’s childhood memories had long since blurred, but the familiar sting of humiliation now brought everything rushing back.

Especially the terrifying face of his father—just the thought of it made him instinctively shudder for a second.

The stubbornness he’d been holding onto finally crumbled. Under the watchful, mocking eyes of the crowd, he muttered under his breath, “I’m sorry.”

Shen Xingyan tilted his head toward Jiang Mingyi, his expression puzzled. “Xiao Yi, your big brother’s getting old—I think I just heard some kind of buzzing sound. Where’s it coming from?”

At this point, Jiang Mingyi already understood what was going on. Holding back the corners of his lips from curling up, he replied, “Seems like it’s coming from over there.”

He pointed at Lu Jingze, just in time to meet the other’s resentful glare.

He immediately changed his tune and said, “Oh wait, maybe it’s just a fly over there spreading a foul smell… How annoying.”

He even waved his hand in front of his nose as if trying to get rid of the stench.

The nearby guests were amused by his blunt mockery and the look of distaste on his face, breaking into laughter.

Only Lu Jingze’s handsome face turned dark and menacing in an instant.

Bai Yumo looked up slightly, startled by Lu Jingze’s expression.

He felt a little scared.

“Lu Jingze, apologize properly,” Lu Jinglan spoke up at that moment.

After being silently scolded by his sister’s glare, Lu Jingze held back his urge to lash out and shut his eyes hard.

When he opened them again, his resentful gaze swept across everyone, finally settling on the smug and arrogant Jiang Mingyi.

With a cold tone and a volume loud enough for everyone to hear, he said, “Jiang Mingyi, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you.”

Standing there in front of everyone, he felt utterly humiliated—but at least, he still had Bai Yumo.

For Yumo’s sake, this humiliation meant nothing.

One day, he would make sure to get it all back—twice over.

Bai Yumo, however, was unaware of the storm in his heart. Instead, he was slightly annoyed that Lu Jingze was gripping his hand so tightly.

He felt uncomfortable, but afraid of upsetting Lu Jingze, he didn’t dare speak up.

“Since your apology is so sincere, our little Yi will forgive you,” Shen Xingyan said with a seemingly satisfied smile.

Jiang Mingyi, watching that “I’m magnanimous enough to let it go” expression on his face, let out a soft chuckle.

Shen Xingyan had sharp hearing and of course didn’t miss that chuckle.

He curled his lips slightly but didn’t argue with his own kid. Instead, he turned his attention to someone else who had been silent the whole time.

For the sake of the Lu family, he could let a big deal slide. But someone who dared to bully others outright—now that deserved punishment.

“Now it’s your turn.” Unlike the faint smile he’d worn when facing Lu Jingze, Shen Xingyan’s expression was now stern and cold.

“Ah?” Bai Yumo, suddenly called out, looked like a startled bunny. His wide, innocent eyes blinked up at Shen Xingyan.

But upon seeing the other’s indifferent and icy gaze, he instinctively shrank back in fear.

Lu Jingze immediately moved to shield him, looking displeased.
“I already apologized just now.”

His implication was: Why keep going after Bai Yumo?

“What’s right is right, and what’s wrong is wrong,” Shen Xingyan replied, his voice laced with a half-smile, half-sneer.

“My Shen family has carefully raised and protected our little master…” His hand rested protectively on Jiang Mingyi’s shoulder.
“How could we allow anyone to bully him casually?”

His eyes suddenly turned icy, and his voice deepened, “If he had the guts to throw red wine on Xiao Yi, then a mere apology isn’t enough to wipe that away.”

Just thinking about how stunned and helpless the boy had looked earlier, drenched in red wine, made Shen Xingyan’s gaze grow even colder.

Anyone who dares to bully someone from the Shen family is making an enemy of Shen Xingyan himself.

Back then, when he wasn’t by Jiang Mingyi’s side, he hadn’t been able to see the grievances his younger brother had suffered.

But now that he was back, he would naturally stand up for him in the name of an older brother.

Suddenly, a broad, warm hand landed on his head, gently ruffling his hair. Jiang Mingyi was startled for a second, then frowned slightly and looked at the man beside him.

Shen Xingyan seemed to sense it and lowered his gaze, giving him a reassuring look.

Jiang Mingyi: “…”

“What red wine?” Lu Jingze looked confused.

When he rushed over earlier, he had only focused on protecting Bai Yumo and hadn’t even noticed the red wine stains all over Jiang Mingyi’s clothes.

Only now, after someone pointed it out, did he realize what had happened.

He turned to Bai Yumo with a puzzled expression. “Yumo, didn’t you just say you were feeling tipsy and dizzy? Why were you drinking?”

Meeting his questioning gaze, Bai Yumo bit his lower lip and explained, “No, I just saw that everyone in the banquet hall was holding a wine glass. I thought it’d look weird if I wasn’t, so I grabbed one to blend in.”

He would never admit the real reason—that he had overheard people praising the Shen couple, saying how much they doted on Jiang Mingyi, spending millions to throw him a birthday banquet.

Others even complimented Jiang Mingyi’s beauty and noble bearing, calling him a true young master of high society.

Why was it that some people were born into everything others could never even dream of attaining?

And why did he always have to be looked down upon?

He was filled with resentment and unwillingness.

So when he saw Jiang Mingyi hurriedly reenter the banquet hall, he didn’t think twice—he grabbed a glass of red wine and purposely bumped into him.

Seeing Jiang Mingyi’s beautiful outfit ruined by red wine, and that handsome face clouded with anger and embarrassment—Bai Yumo couldn’t have been more delighted.

He wanted to mock him: Jiang Mingyi, look at you now—how ugly, like a pathetic clown being watched by the whole crowd.

“I had just lifted the glass of wine when Young Master Jiang suddenly rushed toward me. How was I supposed to expect that?”

His words clearly implied: He ran into me. I’m the victim here.

Jiang Mingyi looked at his fragile, pitiful act with utter disgust.

“Now that you mention it, Young Master Jiang did seem to be rushing back into the hall just now,” someone among the guests murmured, but was quickly hushed by those nearby.

“So according to you, it’s our Xiao Yi’s fault?”
Shen Xingyan sneered as he listened to the young man’s excuses. Then he motioned for a server to bring another glass of identical red wine.

The wine in the crystal glass filled only halfway. As it was gently swirled, the dark red liquid rippled faintly.

“With the height of this glass,” Shen Xingyan said slowly, “I’m really curious—how much force would it take to spill all the wine onto someone’s body?”

As his words landed, the crowd finally noticed: hidden beneath the dark suit jacket, the wine stains on Jiang Mingyi’s clothes had spread from his chest all the way down to the tops of his thighs.

The stark contrast between red and white created a visually striking impact. Especially since Jiang Mingyi was already stunningly beautiful, it was like a fine painting being deliberately ruined—yet instead of losing its original elegance and nobility, it somehow became even more captivating and seductive.

Shen Xingyan quickly pulled his coat over Jiang Mingyi to shield him from the many stunned and admiring gazes.

He raised his wine glass toward Bai Yumo and said in a chilling tone, “How about we repeat the experiment?”

That cold gaze made Bai Yumo drop his eyes in guilt.

When he looked up again, his eyes were already shimmering with tears.

Bai Yumo’s lips trembled as he said, “It really wasn’t me… it was Young Master Jiang who suddenly ran into me.”

Among the surrounding guests, a few young rich second-generation heirs looked at his pitiful appearance and couldn’t help feeling a bit of sympathy.

“Maybe it really was just an accident?”

“No one got hurt anyway. Isn’t the Shen family’s eldest young master being too aggressive?”

Shen Xingyan shot them a cold glance. The rich kids hadn’t expected him to hear them and instantly fell silent, shrinking back and lowering their presence.

“In that case…”

Bai Yumo didn’t understand what he meant. When he saw Shen Xingyan handing the wine glass to a server, he secretly let out a breath of relief.

But then the man’s deep voice spoke slowly and deliberately, “Lest anyone accuse the Shen family of throwing their weight around, let the surveillance footage show us what really happened.”

Everyone followed his gesture and looked in the direction he was pointing—there was a faint red light blinking above.

The banquet hall had been decorated so lavishly that no one had noticed it before. Without someone pointing it out, they would’ve thought it was just part of the ambient lighting rather than a security camera.

The moment Bai Yumo saw that hidden camera, his delicate face instantly turned pale.

Just then, a figure rushed through the crowd and squeezed into the circle.

“The footage is here! The footage is here!”

It was none other than Pie Shiqing, who had earlier witnessed Lu Jingze roughly push Jiang Mingyi.

Worried his best friend was being bullied, he had been about to step in—only to see a handsome man stand up for Jiang Mingyi.

So he changed course and went straight to the surveillance room to retrieve the footage.

Now, he mouthed to Jiang Mingyi, “Bro, I got you,” and raised his phone high for everyone to see.

“The camera angle is perfect. It clearly captures someone picking up the wine glass and splashing it onto our darling Jiang Mingyi.”

“Crystal clear—especially the brief but unmistakable look of glee on Bai Yumo’s face when he thought he’d succeeded. Short as it was, it was surprisingly vivid.”

The footage from the surveillance video was displayed in front of everyone, frame by frame, and finally froze on Bai Yumo’s unsettling smile.

No one could have imagined that this seemingly delicate and gentle boy would have such a dark side.

With the video now revealing the truth, the few rich second-generation heirs who had wanted to defend Bai Yumo quietly slipped away.

“It wasn’t me, it wasn’t on purpose,”
Bai Yumo grabbed Lu Jingze’s arm in desperation, trying to explain, “I was just startled, my hand shook, that’s all.”

Lu Jingze tried to comfort him, “I know you didn’t mean it, Yumo. It was Jiang Mingyi who suddenly rushed toward you—otherwise you wouldn’t have accidentally spilled the wine on him.”

“Yes, yes, it was just an accident,” Bai Yumo nodded frantically.

The others around them were speechless at how easily the two of them could lie through their teeth.

Jiang Mingyi suddenly tugged on Shen Xingyan’s sleeve.

Shen Xingyan looked down. “What do you want to say, Xiao Yi?”

His voice was gentle, completely different from the cold, forceful tone he used earlier with Lu Jingze and Bai Yumo.

Jiang Mingyi said, “I want Bai Yumo to compensate me for this outfit.”

His outfit was entirely handmade.

Not expensive.

Just one million.

Shen Xingyan raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Alright.”