Chapter 377: Chance Encounter

**Chapter 377: A Chance Encounter**

He Jingxuan scanned the men at the party, and only Di Yu seemed worth noticing.

Of course, she didn’t trust Hao Yanyan’s word alone.

When Hao Yanyan drifted off to mingle with others, leaving her behind, He Jingxuan decided to do some digging herself.

She had already expected that she didn’t get along with the other women here.

Before coming, she had assumed they were out to get her, so she was prepared. Seeing that Hao Yanyan blew her off completely, she actually felt relieved.

He Jingxuan took the chance to ask around and found out the Di family was well-connected in the capital.

They had ties in the military and also ran businesses.

They wanted for nothing.

After confirming this, He Jingxuan started edging closer to Di Yu.

"Have we met before?"

Di Yu knew full well who she was but played dumb.

She gave a faint smile. "I’m Hao Yanyan’s cousin. Just call me Jingxuan. She invited me to the party, but I don’t know anyone here."

Di Yu: "Same here. I don’t really know many people either."

He Jingxuan put on a surprised look. "Really? I just saw a bunch of girls around you."

Di Yu shrugged. "Yeah, but they all introduced themselves."

He Jingxuan: "Looks like you’re pretty popular."

Di Yu: "Could be worse."

Di Yu kept his answers guarded, never revealing much.

Once He Jingxuan decided Di Yu was an easy mark, she started working her way in.

Not far away, Hao Yanyan and Zhang Dandan whispered to each other.

"Your cousin’s playing quite the game. But it’s funny how quickly she’s biting."

Zhang Dandan held her wine glass, eyeing them coolly.

"You said Di Yu has that condition. He seems perfectly fine to me."

Hao Yanyan gave Zhang Dandan a doubtful look.

"Why rush? Who would go around spilling the beans about something like that? It’s hush-hush. Di Yu isn’t stupid enough to talk about it openly."

Zhang Dandan calmed Hao Yanyan down. "I’m on your side. Once your cousin marries into his family, she’s in for a rude awakening."

Hao Yanyan nodded. "Then I feel better."

Seeing that the two were circling each other but getting nowhere, Zhang Dandan suggested heading outside to ski.

The ski resort was nearly empty but huge, so Hao Yanyan and the others overlooked Ye Xiaoxiao at first.

The main thing was, Ye Xiaoxiao was wearing a hat and scarf—you’d have to be right in front of her to recognize her.

He Jingxuan didn’t know how to ski, so Di Yu enthusiastically took on the role of instructor.

This inevitably led to some physical contact, and both of them felt like they were getting away with something.

At that moment, Ye Xiaoxiao had just finished a run and was huffing and puffing her way uphill, lugging her snowboard.

Zhang Kaining had completely given up and was sitting in a corner chatting with a few girls.

As Ye Xiaoxiao passed by, she overheard some of their conversation.

This guy—even on a trip, he couldn’t help himself. He was pitching skincare products to these girls.

Sure, it was probably a flirting tactic, but since he was single, she cut him some slack.

Ye Xiaoxiao had originally been skiing with Qu Miao, but somehow, she’d ended up alone—Qu Miao, being more skilled, had already moved to the adjacent slope.

And so, Ye Xiaoxiao ended up running into Hao Yanyan.

Hao Yanyan’s slight good mood from seeing He Jingxuan fall into the trap vanished at the sight of Ye Xiaoxiao.

Ye Xiaoxiao found her attitude baffling—every time this female lead saw her, she had a face like thunder. What was her problem?

Besides, hadn’t Hao Yanyan just had a miscarriage? Why would she come to such a cold place?

Zhang Dandan, on the other hand, lit up when she saw Ye Xiaoxiao.

“Xiaoxiao! It’s been ages. You’ve been ghosting us—we couldn’t even get you to come out and play.”

Zhang Dandan was a social butterfly who knew full well there was no downside to being friends with Ye Xiaoxiao.

After all, she was now part of the Lu family—way out of their league.

Ye Xiaoxiao didn’t know Zhang Dandan, but since she was with Hao Yanyan, she must also be from the compound.

Why bother meeting strangers?” Ye Xiaoxiao replied bluntly.

Even hearing that, Zhang Dandan didn’t take offense. Instead, she beamed and said, “Nobody starts off as friends! We just need to hang out more.”

Ye Xiaoxiao kept walking. “No thanks.”

Hao Yanyan, however, was seething at Ye Xiaoxiao’s attitude.

As Ye Xiaoxiao turned to leave, Hao Yanyan gritted her teeth and snapped, “Feeling smug, are we? What’s so great about you? You’re just riding on your pretty face.”

Ye Xiaoxiao glanced back with a smile that could’ve melted the snow.

“That’s true. Everything else can be copied—but no one can copy this face.”

Hao Yanyan stepped forward. “I couldn’t even kick you out of the compound, but you think you’ll stay with Lu Hanchuan forever?”

She just couldn’t accept it.

Why did she have to struggle so hard in both lifetimes while Ye Xiaoxiao had it easy?

She smirked.

“Instead of worrying about others, maybe you should clean up your own mess. I wonder if Xu Jianwen knows about your miscarriage. If I remember right, your mother-in-law was dying for a grandson, wasn’t she?”

Remember Zhao Hongxia's smug face at the mall last time?

Zhao Hongxia was probably the most heartbroken over Hao Yanyan’s miscarriage.

Hao Yanyan’s eyes reddened at that.

Ye Xiaoxiao’s words cut deep.

Zhang Dandan saw things heating up and quickly pulled Hao Yanyan back.

"C’mon, let’s go over there."

Hao Yanyan wasn’t suicidal—she still had plans to stick around.

If she’d known they’d go at each other like this, she’d have kept her mouth shut.

Ye Xiaoxiao looked away and kept hiking up with her gear.

The slope tilted downward—gentler here, but still steep enough.

Hao Yanyan, eyes burning, suddenly charged at Ye Xiaoxiao to shove her.

Zhang Dandan was too slow to block her.

But Ye Xiaoxiao sidestepped her before she could land a hand.

Ye Xiaoxiao shoved her right back without hesitation.

Off-balance, Hao Yanyan tripped and tumbled down the slope.

Ye Xiaoxiao pulled her hand back, frowning.

Was she really that strong?

Zhang Dandan yelled, "Yan Yan!"

She bolted after her.

The shout didn’t bring a crowd, but skiers nearby saw the fall and rushed to help.