Chapter 341: Cocktail Party (1)

Shen Jingbin played on her own in Zhao Chengning’s room while he went to take a shower after logging out of the game.

She’d sped over to his home immediately after logging out without even eating a bite. Since his Grandfather wasn’t home, there was no need for her to feel shy around him. So, Zhao Chengning simply instructed the housekeeper to prepare some food for them.

Upon returning to his room, Zhao Chengning saw his lady quietly sprawled across his bed with her head propped up, reading a book.

The weather was still quite chilly. Shen Jingbin was wearing a light yellow down jacket with a beige turtleneck sweater underneath when she’d arrived, looking both youthful and beautiful in it. However, Zhao Chengning was afraid she’d feel cold, so he’d set the air conditioning in the room to a rather high temperature.

She was probably feeling warm by now as her jacket was cast aside and she was only wearing her turtleneck sweater. The sweater had a form-fitting design, and it vividly outlined her exquisite curves. Her long hair cascaded down the side of her face, and it gently swayed along with the motion of her body. The sight of it stirred his heart; the feeling was similar to that of a cat pawing at his heart.

“What are you reading?” He asked as he walked over and sat by her side.

Shen Jingbin flipped the book to its cover for him to see. “I just took a book at random; I don’t know what it is either. The books on your bookshelf are quite varied.”

One of the walls in Zhao Chengning’s room had been converted into a bookshelf, and its shelves were chock full of books. All of these books were mostly bought by him during his schooling days, and a majority of them were purchased because of their attractive cover designs. As for their content, he was still clueless about them.

Shen Jingbin held a book containing a collection of prose in her hands. Previously, during his schooling days, Zhao Chengning would kick up a great fuss over them and was interested in anything that was new and unknown to him. However, after he entered the workforce and became a shrewd businessman himself, his interest in these things waned.

“You like prose?” He placed his hands on her sides, and his shadow fell over her.

The two of them were extremely close to one another. His breath fanned her ear, and she could feel the heat coming from his breath. “I think it’s alright. It’s a decent read every now and then. But, I tend to get bored if I read too much of it.”

“Great minds think alike.”

“You don’t like it? Then, why’d you buy it?”

Zhao Chengning took the book away and placed it aside. “I was young and insensible at that time, and I liked contrived things.”

Shen Jingbin raised her head to look at him. The doe-eyed look that she wore caused his heart to melt in an instant. “But, I can be unreasonable at times too, will you mind?”

The affectionate gaze of lovers could really make others flush red with embarrassment. “That’s not being unreasonable, that’s being cute.”

Shen Jingbin sank back onto the bed. “You’re such a sweet talker. Who on earth did you learn it from?”

Zhao Chengning slowly leaned over her, and his voice deepened. “It comes naturally the moment I see you…”

Just as the two of them were about to get intimate again, someone suddenly knocked on the door. Zhao Chengan’s voice travelled through the door.

“Chengning, are you home?”

Zhao Chengning sighed. His brother sure knew how to make a ‘timely’ arrival. He grudgingly stood up and made for the door. “I’m here, give me a moment.”

Shen Jingbin got up to put on her jacket. Although her clothes weren’t in a state of disarray, she thought that it would be more proper for her to don it.

“I heard that sister-in-law is here, but I don’t see her…” Zhao Chengan said as he entered the room. He stopped mid-sentence when he saw Shen Jingbin seated in the room. He stared blankly at her and said, “Did I disturb the two of you?”

Zhao Chengning was following behind his brother and very much wanted to agree with a resounding ‘YES!’

However, his rationality made him hold back. “No, you didn’t. Bro, shouldn’t you be at the office right now? What’s the matter?”

Zhao Chengan exchanged a simple greeting with Shen Jingbin before he said, “I wanted to bring along a document from home, so I came back to get it. By the way, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about. There’ll be a cocktail party tonight, but I can’t make it. Dad wants you to attend it in my stead. I was afraid that you’d be busy playing your game and wouldn’t pick up your phone, so I specially came over to inform you.”

Zhao Chengning frowned. “A cocktail party?”

“Mhm. You’re just in time, sister-in-law. Are you free tonight?”

Shen Jingbin wasn’t quite used to being addressed as ‘sister-in-law’ yet, but she still meekly replied all the same. “Yes, I’m free.”

“Why don’t you accompany Chengning then? It just so happens that he’s in need of a female companion.”

Shen Jingbin looked at Zhao Chengning, and the latter gave her a helpless nod. “Sure.”

“It’ll be held at 7 pm tonight, on the twelfth level of Luofu Hotel. I’ll be off then.” Zhao Chengan said with a dismissive wave of his hand and made to leave.

“Bro, aren’t you going to eat at home? I’m sure you have some time to take a break at this...this hour.”

“I don’t have time to eat; there are still many things that need to be done. Enjoy your time while you can, because I’ll be going back to Africa soon.”

“So soon?”

“Time passes quickly for you lovebirds, but for me, each day feels like a year. I’ll be off then.”

He looked very busy, and they were disinclined to keep him any longer. After Zhao Chengan left, Zhao Chengning shrugged at his wifey. “Oh no, it looks like I’ll have to trouble you tonight.”

Shen Jingbin acted as if she was in a pickle. “What are you planning to do about this? It costs a lot for me to make an appearance.”

“I’ll give you all of my future earnings. Will that do?”

Shen Jingbin thought about it for a moment. “I’ll consider it.”

Zhao Chengning went forward and held her with a smile on his face before leading her downstairs to eat.

The two of them were suddenly faced with the task of attending a party. Zhao Chengning took time out from his afternoon to shop for a gown with Shen Jingbin. Once they were done shopping, the loving couple proceeded to the party as planned.

Those who sent invites to members of the Zhao Family typically belonged to the upper echelons of society, and a majority of the people present were familiar faces. As soon as he made his entrance, Zhao Chengning immediately became the focus of attention. Of which, a large portion of their attention was directed at the peerless beauty beside him.

Those who were unaware of Shen Jingbin’s identity thought that Young Master Zhao had merely brought an ordinary female companion, and tried to find out who she was. On the other hand, those who knew of her immediately pushed aside all other thoughts and looked at Zhao Chengning with undisguised envy.

The upper-class had made many sacrifices to attain their current status – this, above all, included marriage. However, as they witnessed Zhao Chengning appearing in front of them with a partner who possessed the perfect appearance and family background, acting all lovey-dovey with each other, they couldn’t help but feel jealous.

However, what did it matter if they were jealous? This was fate.