Chapter 39 — All for Nothing

Yang Ce smiled with utter contempt. It seemed that the tiny, pitiful bit of goodwill toward Zhou Yanning he had just built up had vanished in an instant, leaving no trace behind.

Seeing the look in Yang Juehuan's eyes and on his face, Zhou Yanning's heart sank, and the corner of her mouth twitched faintly. She knew something of the feud between Yang Ce and Wang Lin—not in any great detail, but enough to know that Yang Ce had no patience whatsoever for Wang Lin.

Now, what would Yang Ce think, seeing her sitting here with Wang Lin? Especially since Wang Lin was one of her suitors—would Yang Ce assume she had already thrown in her lot with the enemy's camp?

"What's wrong, Jiajia?" Wang Lin was ready to burst with joy. Zhou Yanning's face, the face he had dreamed of for so long, was about to be his. How could he not be happy?

So even as he ate, Wang Lin kept his eyes fixed on Zhou Yanning's lovely face, and when he saw her expression suddenly freeze, he could not help but feel puzzled.

But Zhou Yanning had no mind to spare for Wang Lin now. She could hardly draw the line between them fast enough—how could she possibly go on talking to him?

Seeing that Zhou Yanning said nothing, Wang Lin raised his head in confusion and followed her gaze. The moment he looked, a surge of inexplicable fury rushed up in his chest.

Yang Ce—it was Yang Ce! The person Zhou Yanning was looking at was Yang Ce. Yet his own father and Zhou Yanning's mother were both present, so he could not lose his temper on the spot and was forced to swallow it down.

How could he be so unlucky? How was it that every single time he ran into Yang Cenbin, that jinx? His luck was truly rotten to the core. Still, Wang Lin knew that even if he wanted to do something about Yang Ce, it was hardly possible—his little tricks and petty schemes meant nothing at all in the other man's eyes.

"What's with you two? What are you looking up at?" Wang Pu raised his head and saw that both his son and Zhou Yanning were staring at something behind him, so he asked, puzzled.

"Yang Ce—he's eating here too," Wang Lin said in a low voice. But the grinding, teeth-clenched tone made his resentment plain to anyone. "Oh?" Wang Pu was taken aback for a moment, then said, "Never mind him. Let's just eat our own meal."

"How can we just ignore him? He's a classmate after all, isn't he?" Mother Zhou spoke up, saying slowly, "Zhitao, take Jiajia and your classmate over to say hello. When you two have your happy occasion, you'll have to tell your old classmates, won't you?"

How could Wang Lin fail to understand what Mother Zhou meant? This was clearly her way of giving him face—of letting him announce to Yang Ce that Zhou Yanning was his.

Ha! Before, Wang Lin had never dared to face Yang Ce so openly, but now that Zhou Yanning's own mother had spoken up for him, what did he have to fear? Here was a chance to stand tall and proud before Yang Ce—why would he not seize it?

So he stood up and said to Zhou Yanning, "Jiajia, come on, let's go over and say hello."

Zhou Yanning had been worrying that she had no chance to explain things to Yan, and now that such an opportunity had presented itself, how could she let it slip? So she too rose and followed Wang Lin toward Yang Juehuan's table.

Wang Lin was beside himself with triumph—one might well say he was strutting like a conqueror. The contest between himself and Yan had finally been decided. And so, like a warrior returning in glory, he walked up to stand before Yang Juehuan.

"Ha, if it isn't Yang Ce! What a coincidence!" Wang Lin said, still smiling brightly, though his tone carried a faint savor of grievance repaid.

Yang Ce paid it no mind and glanced up at Wang Lin. "It is quite a coincidence. Here for a meal?"

"That's right. I'm here with my girlfriend—and my dad, and my future mother-in-law," Wang Lin said smugly.

Yang Jiyan frowned. Zhou Yanning had already become this fellow's girlfriend? And he had even brought his mother-in-law along? Yang Ce cast a glance that way and indeed saw that the woman at that table was the very one who had come looking for him that day.

Still, Yang Jiyan was somewhat puzzled. Zhou Yanning had seemed to be on very bad terms with Wang Lin before—how had they suddenly become boyfriend and girlfriend? Something was strange here. Could it be that the two of them had conspired to play some trick and do him harm?

Yang Moyi was rather baffled.

"Why are you telling me all this?" He could not make sense of it, and so Yang Shuoxuan grew irritable.

"Ha, I'm just letting you know—you've got Chen Shutang now, so stop setting your sights on Zhou Yanning. She's my girlfriend now." Wang Lin had already won Zhou Yanning, so naturally there was no need to keep playing the good man in front of Yan. Though he could not beat Yang Ce in a fight, he still wanted to disgust him.

That was why he had deliberately said things like "you've got Chen Shutang now, so stop setting your sights on Zhou Yanning"—to sow discord between Chen Shutang and Yan, and to make a little trouble for Yang Ce.

Sure enough, after hearing Wang Lin's words, Chen Shutang's expression shifted. As for whether Yang Ce had designs on Zhou Yanning—that was hard to say. Last time, Yang Ce had kissed Zhou Yanning deeply, after all. If Yang Ce had felt something in that kiss, it was not beyond belief that he might want to win Zhou Yanning for himself. But just then, Chen Shutang dismissed the thought. Had someone else said it, she might well have believed it—but the one saying it now was Wang Lin.

If she could believe a word Wang Lin said, the sun would rise in the west! Chen Shutang had resolved never to trust anything Wang Lin said again. This fellow was full of nonsense—he was surely trying to take the opportunity to sow discord between her and Yan.

Having thought it through, Chen Shutang let it go, and watched Wang Lin coldly as he put on his little performance.

"Oh, all right. Are you done?" Yang Ce saw that Wang Lin was no longer even pretending to be polite, and knew the fellow was ready to tear off his mask. And small wonder—before, Wang Lin had kept on good terms with him because of Chen Shutang; later, it was because of Zhou Yanning. Now that Zhou Yanning had become his girlfriend, there was no longer any clash of interests between them, and so no need to keep up a false friendship with him.

At that thought, Yang Shuoxuan decided he had no intention of playing along any longer. In the beginning, he had kept on good terms with this fellow out of fear that the man might take revenge on him, and that an outright falling-out would be greatly to his disadvantage. But things were different now—Yang Ce was not afraid of him in the least. And not just him: his old man, Wang Pu—if Yang Ce wanted to put the fear of God into him, he would.

So Yang Ce waved his hand impatiently. "If you're done, you can go. Standing in front of me, you put me off my food."

"You son of a—" Wang Lin was about to curse, but hesitated and swallowed it down. Cursing Yang Puqi would gain him nothing; it would only give Zhou Yanning's mother a bad impression. And if it came to blows, he was no match for Yang Juehuan. So Wang Lin could only force out a cold snort and turn to pull Zhou Yanning away.

He tugged at Zhou Yanning twice, only to find her utterly unresponsive, standing there dumbly and staring at Yang Ce. Irritated, he called out, "Jiajia, what are you looking at? We're leaving."

"Ah?" Zhou Yanning gave a start and finally came back to herself. She said to Wang Lin, "You go on ahead. I have something to say to Yang Yanzhou."

"Say what?" Hearing this, Wang Lin felt he had been utterly humiliated. "What do you and Yan have to talk about? Hurry back—your aunt is waiting over there."

"Don't pull at me. There's nothing between us." Zhou Yanning shook off Wang Lin's hand in displeasure.