In a sense, Qi Ye was actually an idol to Zhang Wan.
He was handsome, smart, gentlemanly, wealthy, and elegant.
Most importantly, he was chaste.
Zhang Wan had seen girls throwing themselves at him, but he had never overstepped the mark.
Even Chen Chunyao, a well - known figure in China, had expressed her love for him more than once.
She remembered once when Chen Chunyao came to the UK and kept pestering Qi Ye.
Qi Ye seemed to be in a bad mood that day, so he drank with Chen Chunyao.
But no matter how they talked, the topic always circled back to Xu Tingyu.
Zhang Wan could tell that Chen Chunyao had been using Xu Tingyu's affairs as "bait" to constantly entice Qi Ye.
The two of them drank a lot of alcohol. Then Chen Chunyao began to get closer and closer to Qi Ye, almost sitting in his lap.
Qi Ye had also drunk quite a bit by then, and his eyes were glazed.
Zhang Wan and another assistant were sitting in a booth not far away, ready to step forward and take Qi Ye away at any time.
But just as Chen Chunyao got close to Qi Ye and tilted her face, ready to kiss him, Qi Ye quietly avoided her.
Because the distance was a bit far, Zhang Wan didn't know what Qi Ye said.
But she saw Chen Chunyao's expression change instantly.
Then Qi Ye got up and left without looking back.
Zhang Wan and the others quickly followed. Qi Ye also arranged for that assistant to take Chen Chunyao back to the hotel.
At first, she thought Qi Ye wasn't drunk at all.
But on the way back to his home, she found that he was really drunk.
Because he murmured Xu Tingyu's name twice in a low voice and then smiled with pursed lips.
When he was sober, he would never call Xu Tingyu in such a tender tone.
He was always self - restrained and patient.
Only when he was not sober would he not hide his true feelings.
Even in such a state of inebriation,
he would still reject the advances of a great beauty for someone who was thousands of miles away and with whom there was no possibility.
A man like him was actually keeping himself chaste for someone he couldn't have.
Later, Chen Chunyao still came back to the UK to see him.
But he never drank with her again.
After Chen Chunyao hit a wall with him several times, she once found Zhang Wan to pour out her grievances.
"I like him so much, but he treats me so coldly for someone who doesn't like him at all. I really don't know who is the fool between us two."
Zhang Wan didn't really like Chen Chunyao.
A woman who betrayed her friend for a chance to get ahead.
A person like this would also abandon Qi Ye when faced with other interests.
So when facing Chen Chunyao's complaints, she said nothing and just smiled at her politely but distantly.
But Chen Chunyao seemed not to see this as a veiled rejection. Instead, she continued talking as if she had found a kindred spirit.
"Am I not good enough for him? I have a clean private life, a harmonious family, and no messy social network."
"What about Xu Tingyu? Her father has an illegitimate child, she has a younger brother, and her mother favors sons over daughters. Most importantly, she's been married!"
"He's so cold to her, yet she loves him so desperately. Why does Qi Ye like such a stupid woman?"
...
She rambled on, scolding Qi Ye for not being able to tell good from bad and liking a fool.
But she forgot that she was the biggest fool.
As an onlooker, she could clearly see that Qi Ye and Xu Tingyu were not a good match.
Then she should have known that she and Qi Ye were the same.
But Zhang Wan wouldn't remind Chen Chunyao.
Such a stupid woman would never catch Qi Ye's eye if she wasn't Xu Tingyu's best friend.
She also looked down on her.
Chen Chunyao rambled on for a long time. After getting no response, she stopped talking.
When they met later, they were polite to each other, and never said anything "cross - the - line" again.
Because of Chen Chunyao, Zhang Wan always thought Xu Tingyu was just so - so.
After all, there's an old Chinese saying that birds of a feather flock together.
So after seeing Xu Tingyu, she had been observing her silently.
She thought that Qi Ye was wasting his life on such a person because he had been deceived.
After all, many people know how to disguise themselves; it's just a matter of the level of sophistication.
Xu Tingyu had married Qi Shifeng and could still keep Qi Ye on the hook, clearly a formidable character.
But after two days of contact, she found that she might have been wrong.
Xu Tingyu didn't seem to be the same kind of person as Chen Chunyao.
Her eyes were clear, she knew what she loved and hated, and she was adaptable.
For the sake of her child, even when she hated Qi Ye so much that she was trembling all over, she could still let him hold her hand.
Moreover, she could negotiate with Qi Ye calmly.
Although the negotiation ended in failure in the end.
But when she broke the vase and threatened Zhang Wan that she must see Qi Ye, her imposing manner was definitely not a bluff.
Zhang Wan believed that if she didn't inform Qi Ye, Xu Tingyu would really cut her own throat.
Such a woman seemed gentle and obedient on the surface, but in fact, she was fierce and unruly.
Most importantly, she was really beautiful. Even after going through all this and with pale lips, she was still dazzlingly beautiful.
She was the kind of beauty that made others fade into insignificance when she appeared.
She was indeed the type that Qi Ye would like.
It could be said that if it weren't for those things,
Zhang Wan would also think that Xu Tingyu and Qi Ye were a match made in heaven.
However, there were no ifs.
Xu Tingyu was Qi Shifeng's wife. If she were to be with Qi Ye, it would make Qi Ye a piece of trash in the eyes of the world.
Although Zhang Wan knew that Qi Ye didn't care.
But she had to care for him.
Now when she said that Qi Ye was good to Xu Tingyu, she was also testing her reaction.
As she expected, Xu Tingyu's expression was sarcastic and painful.
"Good to me? Do you think this is being good to me? I originally had my own life, a husband, and a child. He insisted on bringing me here and making me go to hell with him."
Wasn't it like going to hell?
She first married Qi Shifeng and then got involved with Qi Ye. Wouldn't that just confirm all the speculations about her from the outside world over the years?
"Everyone said that I married Qi Shifeng for power and money back then. Now, what Qi Ye is doing is just helping to confirm all of this."
"He keeps creating accidents and wants Qi Shifeng to die. If he succeeds, what do you think the outside world will think of me?"
"They will say that I killed my husband for money, using such despicable means to obtain wealth that I could never spend in a lifetime, and Qi Ye is my lover."
"But tell me, what have I done? How innocent I am!"
She stared at Zhang Wan, with tears in her eyes but more hatred.
Zhang Wan was silent for a moment and then said, "But Qi Shifeng doesn't love you. If the final outcome is that you gain wealth and love, the process and other people's criticism don't matter."
Xu Tingyu didn't even think and continued to refute.
"That's my business with Qi Shifeng. Others can't make decisions for me. Moreover, I already have money. Why should I bear the stigma?"
"Besides, I don't like Qi Ye and will never like him. I also don't think he's doing this just because he likes me."
"I'm not a three - year - old kid. I don't believe that love can have such great magic that it can make a person go crazy like this."
"I'm just an excuse for him to fight for power and turn against his brother. In the end, I'll have to bear the stigma of being a woman bringing calamity."