Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Though they were all watching the spectacle, this was still a banquet setting, and the guests maintained their "dignity," not crowding together in a mass.

Luo Qianjian said he needed to pass through, and easily made his way to Luo Hefeng's side.

Seeing him return, Shen Dongyi looked as if she had found her anchor, flustered but instinctively moving closer to him. "Qianjian..."

Luo Qianjian gave Shen Dongyi a slight nod, appearing very trustworthy.

Then, Luo Qianjian turned to Luo Hefeng, feigning surprise. "Big Brother, I heard a rough account earlier, but I still find it hard to believe... Were those people mentioned really involved with you romantically?"

Luo Hefeng didn't respond.

He felt that Luo Qianjian's question was meaningless; hadn't his reaction already been a non-denial? Why emphasize it again?

Li Yuan continued to glare at Luo Hefeng, while Lin Li, hiding behind his new benefactor Manager Fang, kept his head down. Xiaowen, reeking of red wine, also gazed sorrowfully at Luo Hefeng.

Luo Hefeng felt a subtle headache, regretting not bringing his assistant tonight, who could have handled this situation.

"Alright, my apologies for the inconvenience, everyone. Please disperse; don't let my personal affairs affect tonight's banquet..." Luo Hefeng tried to put an end to the scene.

Unfortunately, Luo Qianjian, his good younger brother, wasn't willing to let his Big Brother off so easily.

Luo Qianjian exclaimed again, "Ah, I remember now, Big Brother's first love..."

The surrounding guests, wanting to give the Luo family face, though still curious, planned to follow Luo Hefeng's suggestion and disperse, knowing when enough was enough.

But then came the mention of a "first love," and from a member of the Luo family no less. So... what was another look? No harm done, right?

Luo Hefeng frowned, unsure how Luo Qianjian knew about his first love, but instinctively interrupted: "Qianjian!"

"The eyes of Xiaowen, Lin Li, and Young Master Li are quite similar." Luo Qianjian furrowed his brows, looking genuinely concerned for Luo Hefeng. "Big Brother, I've heard from Mom and Dad that you were deeply in love with your first love, and that you were hurt badly by him. But I never thought you would still remember him... Sorry, Big Brother, I jumped to conclusions, assuming it was related to your first love. But I realize now that it might not be, since I don't know much about your love life."

Luo Hefeng began to regret bringing Luo Qianjian tonight.

Knowing that Luo Qianjian's recent behavior was out of character, and that he had publicly embarrassed the Qian family at the start of the banquet, he shouldn't have given him the chance to speak.

This usually mild-mannered third brother, once he started talking, wouldn't stop until he was ready, leaving others unable to interrupt. Luo Hefeng found this odd.

"Enough, Qianjian!" Luo Hefeng's tone grew stern.

It had been years since anyone mentioned his first love. Luo Hefeng acknowledged that it was the deepest thorn in his heart, the most tender spot. He was merely annoyed before, but now he was truly angry.

Luo Qianjian nodded, seemingly acknowledging his limits. "Sorry, Big Brother, I spoke out of turn. I guess I'm not suited for these banquets after all. I plan to leave and go home. Dongyi, will you come with me, or stay a bit longer and let Big Brother take you home?"

With Luo Qianjian asking this in public, Shen Dongyi, despite her inner hesitation, could only answer, "I'll go with you."

Luo Hefeng didn't stop her.

Keeping Luo Qianjian here any longer, who knew what else he might say.

Luo Qianjian then told Xiaowen, who remained rooted to the spot, "Go clean up and change your clothes."

Xiaowen snapped back to reality, casting a hurried glance at Luo Hefeng. Seeing no reaction from him, she reluctantly nodded and left.

"What about Young Master Li? Want to step outside?" Luo Qianjian asked Li Yuan.

Li Yuan snorted, ignoring him and turned to walk away.

Seeing this, Luo Hefeng felt that despite Luo Qianjian's recent rebelliousness, he was still considerate, effectively clearing the crowd around him by leaving early.

Luo Hefeng's expression softened. "Qianjian, be careful on your way home."

Luo Qianjian smiled and nodded. "I will, Big Brother."

Then, Luo Qianjian left the banquet hall with Shen Dongyi.

The banquet hall quickly returned to "normal," with some guests jokingly addressing Luo Hefeng, "Chief Luo, your third son is a bit too candid, isn't he? He doesn't hold back on sharing what he knows."

Luo Hefeng didn't find it funny.

Chief Qian and Young Master Qian, who were initially embarrassed by Luo Qianjian's revelations, now felt relieved—after all, Third Young Master Luo didn't spare even his own family's "gossip."

...

Luo Qianjian led Shen Dongyi out of the banquet hall, and sure enough, Young Master Li, who had left earlier, was still waiting outside.

"Luo Qianjian, what's the deal with your brother's first love? Explain it to me!" Li Yuan demanded aggressively.

Luo Qianjian was puzzled. "What does it have to do with Young Master Li? You broke up with my Big Brother, yet you're still so concerned. Are you not over him? The Li family's reputation will truly be dragged through the mud by you."

"You!" Li Yuan gritted his teeth. "Bah! If Luo Hefeng dared to use me as a substitute, I couldn't care less about him! But I need to get to the bottom of this!"

"If Young Master Li wants to know, why not investigate it yourself? Asking a Luo family member like me might not be appropriate," Luo Qianjian continued walking towards his car.

Shen Dongyi silently followed behind him.

Li Yuan chased after them, still aggressive. "Since you blurted it out in public, you clearly can't keep secrets."

Luo Qianjian smiled. "Young Master Li, we're both the same. How about this? I'm curious about what happened between you and my Big Brother. Let's share our stories?"

Li Yuan pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Fine, it's all about your Big Brother anyway."

Shen Dongyi weakly interjected, "Qianjian, isn't this inappropriate..."

Li Yuan glared at her, then asked Luo Qianjian, "Is this person really just your friend, unrelated to your brother?"

Luo Qianjian chuckled. "Didn't Big Brother already explain? Oh, isn't that Xiaowen over there? Should we call him over?"

Xiaowen was a server at the banquet, but after the incident earlier, even if he washed his face, changed his clothes, and tidied up, the organizer couldn't in good conscience keep him working. They settled his wages early and let him go.

Exiting through a side door of the staff locker room, Xiaowen didn’t expect to run into Luo Qianjian and company who hadn’t left yet.

Luo Qianjian brought it up, and Li Yuan was also keen on getting to the bottom of things, so he called out to Xiaowen directly.

If it were only Li Yuan, Xiaowen wouldn’t have wanted to approach and provoke him, but seeing that Luo San Shao, Luo Hefeng’s younger brother, was also there, Xiaowen hesitated.

Watching him approach, Li Yuan said to Luo Qianjian, "Why do I feel like you’re just watching a show..."

Luo Qianjian smiled without responding.

"Hello, I apologize for taking a few minutes of your time, but would you be willing to talk to us about your past with my elder brother?" Luo Qianjian asked the apprehensive Xiaowen politely.

Seeing this, Xiaowen relaxed a bit, but he was still hesitant about Luo Qianjian's question.

Li Yuan urged impatiently, "Just get to it. Don’t you want to know what happened with Luo Hefeng’s first love? Let’s exchange information."

Naturally, Xiaowen also wanted to know: "But... alright, then... it’s been so long, I can’t remember all the details, but..."

Luo Qianjian was patient when it came to juicy gossip.

But Li Yuan wasn’t, interrupting, "Keep it simple. When did you and Luo Hefeng get together? Were you kept as a lover or did you date? How did it end?"

Before Xiaowen could express his melancholy, Li Yuan’s interrogative tone stopped him. He felt quite upset, but he really did want to know what happened with Luo Hefeng’s first love and whether he was a replacement.

So Xiaowen answered somewhat resentfully but honestly, "I was with Chief Luo around nine years ago. At the time, I had just started university, and Chief Luo hadn’t graduated yet; he was my senior."

"We... weren’t officially dating. My family was in some trouble back then, and Chief Luo sent people to help solve our problems. In return, I spent some time with him, but we couldn’t let others know about it."

"Chief Luo is rather cold and doesn’t like talking. Sometimes he’d get angry for no reason, but overall, he wasn’t hard to get along with until... around three or four months later, Chief Luo got drunk and suddenly grabbed my neck, asking if I only liked him for his money. I..."

Hearing this, Li Yuan and Shen Dongyi were both surprised.

Luo Qianjian raised an eyebrow in interest. "And then?"

"Then... I was terrified and ran from the apartment Chief Luo arranged for me back to school. After running away, I didn’t know how to return. I felt too embarrassed, and Chief Luo didn’t send anyone to look for me. He didn’t make me pay back the money and effort he spent helping my family, so... it ended by default." Xiaowen said somewhat bitterly.

Shen Dongyi, who had been silent, suddenly interjected, asking hesitantly, "That... since you graduated from the same university as Big Brother Luo, why... how did you end up being a server? I don’t mean to look down on servers, but... if given a choice, very few people would willingly take such a tough job..."

Xiaowen looked even more upset. "It’s okay, I’ve been asked this question many times over the years. Actually... it’s related to my family situation. The year I graduated, I was affected by my family’s circumstances and only received my diploma, not my degree. Later, things just got worse and worse..."

Young Master Li didn’t care about Xiaowen’s hardships, taking over to talk about his own history with Luo Hefeng.

Five years ago, when Li Yuan turned eighteen, his father took him out to socialize. Li Yuan fell head over heels for Luo Hefeng at first sight and pursued him for a while, even going to the Luo family home. Initially, Luo Hefeng was particularly repulsed by Li Yuan—

Li Yuan didn’t know the reason, but Luo Qianjian, who knew the original plot, did.

The main reason was Li Yuan’s identity. As a member of the Li family, even if he looked somewhat like the loved and hated first love and pursued him aggressively, Luo Hefeng didn’t want to invite trouble that would be hard to resolve.

But unexpectedly, Young Master Li was willing to go all out, being especially persistent. Luo Hefeng allowed himself to give in.

As for why Luo Hefeng and Li Yuan broke up, it was also because Luo Hefeng lost control after drinking and choked Li Yuan, asking why he betrayed their relationship.

However, unlike Xiaowen, Li Yuan didn’t run away scared. His infatuation blinded him to the underlying issues, assuming that Luo Hefeng loved him so much that he feared losing him.

But Luo Hefeng couldn’t accept his loss of control and told Li Yuan it was over. Not wanting to cause a scene, Luo Hefeng comforted Li Yuan a few words when breaking up. Li Yuan understood it as Luo Hefeng being afraid of hurting him again due to another loss of control, thus ending the relationship in pain.

Now, thinking about it again, Li Yuan’s expression couldn’t help but twist.

Luo Qianjian feigned surprise. "In that case, it seems I wasn’t wrong. My elder brother’s romantic history truly does have something to do with his first love. But I never expected that he would have violent tendencies. Truly..."

"Stop with the useless chatter. What’s the deal with that first love?" Li Yuan said.

Luo Qianjian sighed softly. "Actually, you already mentioned the important information. My elder brother believes that his first love betrayed him for money and abandoned their feelings. But my elder brother really loved his first love back then. Perhaps that’s why he keeps finding replacements for them."

Li Yuan was annoyed at being called a replacement, angrily asking, "Do you have a photo of his first love? I want to see how similar we are!"

Having finished eating the melon of his elder brother’s romantic history with Shen Dongyi, his future sister-in-law, Luo Qianjian had no patience for his elder brother’s exes.

He shook his head. "How would I have a photo? Alright, everything that needed to be said has been said. It’s late, let’s go. Dongyi, get in the car."

Shen Dongyi followed somewhat dazedly.

"Hey! Luo Qianjian! You didn’t say anything useful!" Li Yuan was very dissatisfied.

Luo Qianjian ignored him, instructing the driver to leave.

In the car, Luo Qianjian smiled at Shen Dongyi. "Tonight’s banquet was supposed to introduce you to the world, but I didn’t expect you to see these things about my elder brother. Truly sorry."

Shen Dongyi was still stunned. "No... no..."

"But now, thinking about it, I finally understand why my elder brother acts so unusually towards you. Your eyes are too similar to Xiaowen’s and Young Master Li’s, almost identical. Besides that, you also resemble Young Master Li in other ways. More accurately, you both resemble my elder brother’s unforgettable first love. My elder brother must be having another episode of seeking replacements. Truly disrespectful."

Luo Qianjian shook his head. "I need to tell Mom and Dad when I get home so they can pay more attention to my elder brother. After all, they were involved in the breakup between my elder brother and his first love... Dongyi, why are you spacing out? Are you shocked?"

"Dongyi, you don’t have to be afraid. Even if my elder brother has those thoughts, I won’t allow him to make a move on you. After all, you’re my classmate and friend, and you met my elder brother because of me. How could I let you fall into the same situation as Xiaowen and Young Master Li?"

Hearing this, Shen Dongyi pursed her lips, forcing a smile.

Luo Qianjian smiled even more genuinely.