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After some consideration, Jing Xueyan's pretty face turned pale, and she barely squeezed out a faint smile, "You all chat, Little Qiang and I are going to step outside for some air...."

In the end, Jing Xueyan had sided with Wang Xiaoqiang. Just as she was pulling her arm away from Mei Yanli to leave the villa's first-floor hall with Wang Xiaoqiang, Mei Yanli's previously affectionate face instantly revealed an annoyed expression...

"Oh, Mr. Wang, you're here too..." As Jing Xueyan and Wang Xiaoqiang were about to leave, Zhou Mingjun and his girlfriend walked in through the door.

Zhou Mingjun had always hoped his company could hitch a ride on the Holiland business aircraft carrier. Now that Zhong Ping was hosting a charity auction, he certainly had to be present. Although Zhong Ping had not shown any intention of collaborating with Hongxiang Group, attending might grant him a sliver of hope. Not attending would mean no hope at all.

Now seeing Wang Xiaoqiang, who seemed to have a special relationship with Zhong Ping, also supporting the event, Zhou Mingjun was both surprised and delighted, thinking he might be able to talk to Zhong Ping through Wang Xiaoqiang.

"Uh, Mingjun, you're here too..." Although Wang Xiaoqiang was in a bad mood, he still greeted his old friend politely.

Originally, if these two had just turned around and left, there would have been no issue, but precisely because of the delay from Wang Xiaoqiang greeting Zhou Mingjun, Mei Yanli hinted at Jing Xueyan with a warning tone, "Xueyan, think it over... aren't you going to give Li Chang any face?"

"Xueyan, didn't expect you to be so disrespectful. Everyone was having a good time, how can you just walk away like this?"

Li Chang also said, holding his status in high regard.

In his view, he was of the highest status here. If Jing Xueyan left now, he would be the one looking the worst.

Seeing Li Chang say this, Jing Xueyan felt her heart skip a beat. Her face showed extreme difficulty. Indeed, if Li Chang wanted to make things difficult for her, a simple call to the director would make her life miserable.

"Hmph... Giving you face is already a lot, don't overstep your bounds! Moreover, let me give you some advice, young man, don't always think too highly of yourself, don't take yourself too seriously, it only makes people think you are nothing!" Just as Jing Xueyan was secretly panicking, Wang Xiaoqiang, who had just greeted Zhou Mingjun, said with a cold smile.

After saying this, Wang Xiaoqiang bid Zhou Mingjun farewell and walked towards the exit, pulling Jing Xueyan's hand. As soon as Wang Xiaoqiang spoke and pulled her hand, Jing Xueyan's face turned instantly pale, her heart sinking deep down into an abyss, silently crying out, "It's all over, all of it."

Li Chang, having been "scolded" by Wang Xiaoqiang, had his expression darken immediately. Joking aside, what was his status? What was Wang Xiaoqiang's status? How dare Wang Xiaoqiang scold him when it should be the other way around?

This face, I absolutely cannot lose it!

"Stop right there, you little country bumpkin, what status do you have to lecture me, you..."

In a fit of rage, Li Chang disregarded his image, hastened his steps, and grabbed Wang Xiaoqiang's arm.

Hearing himself called a country bumpkin, Wang Xiaoqiang, who had just calmed down, could not suppress his anger from flaring up again, he turned around, swung his hand, and slapped Li Chang across the face.

Smack!

The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the hall, abruptly breaking the quiet and harmonious atmosphere. The eyes of everyone in the hall, as well as several important guests on the second floor, were all drawn to the scene.

It was a coincidence that at the second-floor railing, Li Chang's father, Deputy Mayor Li Zejiang, was chatting with Provincial Party Committee Secretary-General Xu Kunpeng. With the old mayor of River City, Wang Demin, retiring next year and the department considering the next mayor's candidate, it was a great opportunity for Li Zejiang to climb higher, an opportunity he wouldn't miss.

Fe.","posium his delighted, he was also highly flattering. Although a kind word from Xu Kunpeng couldn't guarantee his promotion, a disparaging word could definitely block his path to the mayor's office.

Subordinates meeting superiors, if not fawning and flattering, was akin to indirectly offending them. Hence, he had been following around Secretary Xu all day, who fortunately was in a good mood and chatted a bit more with Li Zejiang. Seeing that the Secretary-General seemed to favor him, Li Zejiang was exceedingly pleased, neglecting everything else to curry favor.

Yet the noise from the first-floor hall was quite disagreeable to him. Upon hearing the crisp slap, the two looked over the railing and Li Zejiang saw his precious son being slapped publicly. He thought his eyes were deceiving him. When he rubbed his eyes and looked again, it was indeed his son, and his son's girlfriend Mei Yanli was also at the scene, confirming that everything before him was real.

Seeing Wang Xiaoqiang in the first-floor hall, Xu Kunpeng was a bit surprised and blamed himself for being negligent. Had he known he was downstairs, he would have gone down to greet him. If Wang Xiaoqiang saw him above and noticed he had no intention of greeting him, wouldn't that be estranging their relationship? This immediately made him uneasy, no longer caring about who Wang Xiaoqiang had hit.

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