Chapter 69: Is Courtesy Necessary in the Presence of Fools?

Dragged forcefully into the garden of the private restaurant, Nan Zhi shook off the man gripping her wrist the instant she found her footing.

The man wore a blue pinstripe suit, tall and strikingly handsome, his demeanor aloof and indifferent. He fixed his deep brown eyes on Nan Zhi, their cold gleam sharp as a blade.

Nan Zhi rubbed her wrist, withdrew her gaze from his face, and curled her lips into a faint, cool smile. “Fu Shaoxiu, you’re now Nan Yao’s fiancé. If someone sees you pulling and tugging at your ex-fiancée like this, it wouldn’t look good, would it?”

Fu Shaoxiu’s brows knitted together as he scrutinized Nan Zhi.

This was the first time he had observed her up close since her return to the country.

The youthful naiveté she once wore was gone. Her makeup was light, her features a blend of innocence and allure. Gone were the wild arrogance and flamboyance of four years ago; now there was a quiet elegance about her, so changed she seemed almost a different person.

Especially in that dress that accentuated her figure, her skin as flawless and pale as a peeled egg, delicate to the point of seeming dew-kissed. The air of refined upbringing that emanated from her made Fu Shaoxiu almost doubt his own recognition.

How could she have changed so much?

The Nan Zhi of old favored heavy makeup, smoked, drank, skipped classes, and fought—nothing more than a spoiled heiress. Even her father, Nan Weiye, had once lamented that his daughter was a lost cause.

Yet despite all that, suitors pursued her relentlessly. It had taken him two years to win her over.

But in the end? She was fickle and shameless, betraying him without a second thought.

He had never understood why she agreed to his pursuit in the first place, when she’d never seemed to care for him. And once they were together, she wouldn’t even let him touch her. Only two days ago, when Nan Yao handed him something, did he finally understand.

Fu Shaoxiu clenched his fists, fighting to control his temper. He glared at Nan Zhi with undisguised hatred. “Do you think I want to be entangled with you? Tell me honestly, are you strapped for cash right now?”

Nan Zhi laughed coldly. “And what does it matter to you if I am?”

“If you need money, for old time’s sake, I can lend you some. But have some self-respect. Even if you were used up and discarded four years ago, you’re still a daughter of the Nan family. Yet you’ve sunk so low as to let some old man keep you—have you no shame at all?”

“I know those old men like girls who look young, pure, and a little seductive like you do now. But don’t you find it disgusting? If your father found out, he’d break your legs!”

Kept by an old man?

Nan Zhi could easily guess that Nan Yao must have seen her getting into Mu Sihan’s sports car and assumed that anyone who could afford a Lykan Hypersport must be some decrepit, lecherous old man.

“Ever since you got together with Nan Yao, you seem to be walking further and further down the path of idiocy,” Nan Zhi said carelessly, her lips quirking up.

Fu Shaoxiu was incensed to the extreme by her words.

“I thought your appearance had changed and your manners improved, but you’re just the same as before.”

Nan Zhi lifted her fair, delicate face and laughed lightly. “Does one need manners in front of an idiot?”

Fu Shaoxiu gritted his teeth and nodded. “No wonder you studied broadcasting—you have a sharp tongue! I’m not here to argue with you today. I want to know—did you put a word in your sugar daddy’s ear?”

Nan Zhi arched her brow, knowing he wasn’t finished, and simply waited in silence.