It was still a deep night, like a fleeting dream. In this largest gold-squandering den in C City, almost every private room was full.

In a private room on the top floor, a group of aristocratic young masters were indulging in pleasure. The lights in the room were very dim, a kind of ambiguous and hazy yellow.

There were many female companions in the room. These young masters and wealthy second-generation heirs had quite picky tastes. They looked down on the girls in the club who had been used countless times by others.

Most of them brought their own people, including actresses and young models. These women were all dressed very revealingly, exposing their fair, slender legs, and leaning against the men beside them as if they had no bones.

Some men had their arms around one woman, some had several at the same time, and there were even some who brought a few pretty and delicate young boys.

Under the eyes of everyone, nothing particularly unseemly happened, but it was a casual matter to hug, kiss a couple of times and grope a bit.

One of the men drank a couple of glasses of wine and reached out to pinch the slippery smooth leg of the woman sitting to his left. "Go, go serve Young Master Xu on the other side."

That woman had an innocent look but a sexy figure, the kind that men found most irresistible. She was a third-tier actress who had recently been promoted by the company. It was only through her relationship with this wealthy second-generation heir that she had made it to where she was today.

So when she heard her patron's words, she immediately got up obediently and sat down beside the scholarly and elegant man across from her.

She revealed a sweet smile and gently leaned over. After catching a glimpse of the man's disdainful eyes, she paused imperceptibly for a moment, then immediately maintained the smile on her face as if nothing had happened.

Xu Qing raised his glass to the man across from him with a calm expression, a friendly smile hanging on the corner of his mouth. "Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Young Master Mu."

The young master across from him was a little drunk. Hearing Xu Qing's words, he laughed and said, "As long as Young Master Xu is having a good time, that's all that matters. This welcome banquet was held for you after all. Back when you hadn't returned to China yet, my old man would praise you in front of me every day. Today I finally get to meet you in person..." He rambled on with some more flattering words.

Xu Qing was actually a little impatient. The people who came to this welcome banquet were nothing more than some wealthy second-generation heirs who only knew how to indulge in wine and women. Most of them didn't even have much say in their families.

The one currently flattering him in front of him was considered the most promising among them. He had some shares in a top entertainment company opened by his family, but that was about it.

It could be said that at this welcome banquet, not a single proper heir from C City's major families had come. This was vastly different from what he had imagined. However, he was ultimately someone extremely skilled at putting on appearances.

Naturally, he didn't show any impatience on the surface. Instead, he chatted and laughed with the young master across from him, engaging in skillful conversation so that it didn't seem awkward.

During this process, he would occasionally grope the extremely voluptuous actress beside him a few times. The others thought he was just flirting and laughed a couple of times without paying much attention.

Only that actress, pinched mercilessly by Xu Qing's forceful grip on her breasts, waist, and exposed thighs, turned pale. Her attitude changed from initial fawning and teasing to a bit of fear and timidity. However, she was mindful of Xu Qing's status and didn't dare to struggle, only able to barely maintain the smile on her face.

Who would have thought that this scholarly and kind-looking man was also someone accustomed to tormenting others?

Sitting not far from Xu Qing, the good friend who had picked him up upon his return to the country saw all of this under the dim lights. In the end, he imperceptibly furrowed his brows.

The group made merry until midnight before finally leaving with their respective companions. Xu Qing politely declined that young master's hint about taking the actress back for the night and left with his good friend.

He felt vexed. As soon as he got in the car, his expression turned gloomy.

"Put on your seatbelt," his good friend reminded him, then asked, "Taking you back to South Garden?"

Thinking of his girlfriend who should be waiting for him at home, Xu Qing's expression softened a bit. "Yes, Lanlan is still waiting for me at home."

His good friend glanced at him with a half-smile and jokingly cursed, "Look at you, with someone waiting at home, you were still happily fooling around with that actress just now."

Xu Qing revealed a contemptuous expression. "How can they be the same? That kind of goods that's been passed around who knows how many times, how can she compare to Lanlan?"

His good friend smiled faintly and didn't refute his words.

Xu Qing had just returned to China and might not be very aware of certain things. But based on the rumors he had heard, Mo Lanyu's ex-boyfriend was also known to be quite promiscuous in their circles.

Actually, ever since Xu Qing started dating Mo Lanyu, he found it very hard to understand - what was so good about that woman Mo Lanyu? Her looks were not bad, but there were plenty of women more beautiful than her. He just couldn't figure out how a woman like this could make someone like Xu Qing, a young master from a major family, lose his soul after meeting her once and keep her in his heart.

As for talent, although Xu Qing always praised Mo Lanyu in front of him, saying how gifted she was and that she was bound to achieve great things given time, up until now, that woman was just a small team leader in a company. Perhaps she even slept her way up.

In these circles, he had seen plenty of formidable career women. Compared to them, Mo Lanyu was lacking in more ways than one.

Moreover, most importantly, this woman's parents were murderers who had killed none other than the Mo family head's beloved lover.

After the current head of the Mo family took over, the Mo family's development had visibly accelerated, especially in the past few years. They had continuously made breakthroughs in several world-class technical challenges, leaving domestic IT companies of the same level far behind.

The Mo family's current status had multiplied several times compared to five years ago. It could be said that in C City now, anyone could be offended except the head of the Mo family, who absolutely could not be provoked.

Even though that Mo Qi was just a lover of the Mo family head, with the Mo family head's attitude, even the elders of his family wouldn't dare to show the slightest disrespect or ill-treatment towards this young man.

But his good friend, for some unfathomable reason, not only unapologetically started dating a woman who had a grudge with the Mo family head's precious one upon returning to develop his career, he even went crazy and took the initiative to ask the Mo family head to spare the enemy who poisoned his lover.

Truly tired of living too long.

Didn't he see that he had been given the cold shoulder by C City's aristocratic circles for so long? That was a warning.

Given the influence of the Xu family, it would have been reasonable to expect that upon his return to the country, the proper young masters of those aristocratic families would have held a welcome banquet to express their goodwill towards him, out of respect for the Xu family.

However, once rumors spread about how he had offended the head of the Mo family, those young masters all fell silent, as if they had forgotten about the existence of Xu Qing altogether, not even mentioning a word about a welcome banquet.

In the end, probably still afraid of losing face with the Xu family, they had those good-for-nothing sons who had no inheritance rights in their families hastily arrange this welcome banquet as a perfunctory gesture.

If he weren't a young man of the new era with a firm belief in science, he might have even suspected that his childhood friend had been bewitched by Mo Lanyu or something.

One could only say... love truly makes one blind.

As he dropped Xu Qing off at the villa entrance and parked the car, his good friend couldn't help but tactfully advise, "With the Mo family's current status, it's really not necessary to go against that person for the sake of a woman. Ah Qing, there are some things that you should... reconsider."

The smile on Xu Qing's face instantly faded. "I never thought that even you wouldn't be able to understand me."