Xu Zifan went back to his room and made a few phone calls, arranging to have dinner with his friends first, and then go to an entertainment club. He also told them that he was bringing his younger sister, and asked them to bring their older and younger sisters as well, and to find a respectable place, not those shady escorts.
The playboys groaned in despair, but they were quite interested in Xu Zifan's precious little princess. So what if she brought her girlfriends? At worst, they could just send the girl home early and continue their revelry.
Xu Zifan took a shower, went into the dressing room, and picked out a rather flashy outfit that perfectly accentuated his great physique. With his hair dried, he looked every bit the top idol.
He smirked at himself in the mirror, revealing a wicked smile that exuded irresistible charm.
No wonder the original owner attracted the attention of so many young ladies from noble families. It was precisely because so many young ladies liked him, and escorts were vying to get close to him, that the original owner became indifferent to all women. It wasn't until Wang Yalin, the only sister he truly loved, became an outsider and they unexpectedly had a relationship that his emotional defenses were broken.
The original owner of this body always avoided those young ladies from noble families like the plague, fearing that getting too close to anyone would lead to being forced into marriage by her family. But Xu Zifan wasn't afraid. He was now a well-known good-for-nothing playboy in the circle. People of high status looked down on him, and the Xu family, whose status wasn't high enough, didn't even look at him.
The women were well aware of this; at most, they'd flirt a little and joke around before the wedding, but they wouldn't go out of their way to force him into marriage. And once he demonstrated his abilities, who would be able to pressure him into marriage then?
Xu Zifan put on an expensive watch and wore an imperial green jade pendant around his neck. This pendant was personally opened by the original owner's grandfather. Because it was the first time imperial green jade had been found in a rough stone, it was of extraordinary significance, so a small piece was kept to be made into jewelry as a family heirloom.
The original owner grew up with his grandparents. His grandfather passed away when he was ten, leaving this pendant to him before his death. The original owner was afraid of losing it and never wore it, but Xu Zifan decided to wear it from now on. It represented his status in the Xu family and the inheritance he received from his grandfather.
After getting dressed, Xu Zifan knocked on Xu Mengyao's door. Xiao Qing walked over from the balcony in the corridor and smiled, "Young Master, is there anything I can do for Miss?"
Just then, Xu Mengyao opened the door, and Xu Zifan said, "Yaoyao, I've made plans to have dinner with some friends. Come with me, and I'll introduce you to their sisters. You can ask them to hang out with girls in the future."
Xu Mengyao nodded obediently, "Okay, brother, wait for me a moment."
"Let Xiaoqing help you get dressed. We'll go to a restaurant and then a club; they're all respectable places."
Xiao Qing replied, "I understand, young master, don't worry."
While Xiao Qing was helping Xu Mengyao choose clothes and jewelry, Xu Zifan went to tell Li Xiulan. The original owner went out to play every day, which was no big deal. When Li Xiulan heard that he was taking his sister out, and not to any disreputable places, she was naturally even happier and told him to take his sister out more often in the future.
Xu Zifan easily obtained the elders' approval and also took the opportunity to complain, recounting the Wang family's plan to sell their daughter and Xu Mengyao's health issues. He also expressed his dissatisfaction with Wang Yalin's deskmate. As the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together; Wang Yalin deliberately rolled downstairs, and her deskmate bullied Xu Mengyao at school. No wonder the two could be friends.
At this point, Wang Yalin had failed to gain the trust of the Xu family time and again, making them completely believe in her. Therefore, Li Xiulan completely trusted Xu Zifan and was extremely dissatisfied with the troublemaking Wang Yalin, and even more so with the Wang family. Seeing how protective Xu Zifan was of his sister, her heart also turned crooked, and she declared that she would make it up to Xu Mengyao.
Xu Zifan had basically secured all his allies and felt quite relaxed as he went to find Xu Mengyao to go out. Xiao Qing had a good eye; Xu Mengyao's outfit was perfect for the occasion, which surprised him a little. He gave Xiao Qing a thumbs up and praised her, "Great job! Take good care of Yaoyao from now on, and I'll give you a bonus."
Xiao Qing wasn't excited; she maintained her smile and bowed slightly, saying, "Thank you, young master. I hope you both have a pleasant evening."
Xu Zifan and Xu Mengyao left decisively. When Wang Yalin guessed that Feng Xiangjun had finished scolding people and came out with red eyes to smooth things over, she found that they had already gone out to have fun.
Not only that, at dinner time, Li Xiulan had the servants deliver the food to her room. Feng Xiangjun was busy talking to Xu Zhenhua about the children and stayed in her room the whole time. Wang Yalin was left alone in the hall. When the servants respectfully but distantly called her "Miss Lin", she felt like an outsider!
Wang Yalin sat on the sofa for a while, but unable to bear the maids' furtive glances, she slunk back to her room. Of course, she hadn't eaten; she was "heartbroken," how could she eat without someone urging her to?
Xu Zifan and his sister arrived last. The restaurant was already packed with sixteen people, making a total of eighteen with them. Six of them were Xu Zifan's friends, and the rest were his sisters, cousins, and other female relatives—all of whom were respectful but not arrogant, and of considerable status.
Seeing this, Xu Zifan smiled, picked up his wine glass and raised it, "I'm late, so I'll punish myself with a drink."
"Three cups! Three cups are the minimum to make it right, Brother Fan!"
"Go away, I came here to protect my sister. What if you bully her if I get drunk?" Xu Zifan downed his drink in one gulp, then put his arm around Xu Mengyao and introduced the group of people, "This is my sister, Xu Mengyao. Everyone, please call her Mengyao. She's from my family..."
As you all know, I'm making this official statement today: I only recognize this one sister. She's new to Yanjing and not used to it yet, so please look after her as a friend of mine and make sure she doesn't suffer any mistreatment.
"Absolutely! Don't worry, Brother Fan, your sister is my sister too. I'll take care of everything for her from now on! Come on, let's have a drink!"
"Don't scare your little sister on our first meeting. Don't be afraid, little sister. We'll all be your brothers from now on. Just let us know if you need anything."
"Little sister, do you drink red or white wine? If you get bored in the future, come and play with us. There are so many sisters here."
Xu Zifan waved his hand and pressed Xu Mengyao down to sit. "You all need to control yourselves. My sister doesn't drink, and she doesn't even know how. Be a gentleman in front of my sister, act like a young master, instead of acting like hooligans and making so much noise that the sisters don't even have a chance to speak."
These words amused the ladies, and one of the oldest sisters moved to sit next to Xu Mengyao. "Mengyao, my name is Wen Dongyun, you can call me Sister Yun. These guys are used to making a ruckus, so if you're not used to it, just ignore them and play with us. We can go shopping, get a spa treatment, and go to fashion week abroad together another day."
Xu Zifan let go of her hand and sat down next to Xu Mengyao. "If I can't take care of you later, you can stay with Sister Yun."
Xu Mengyao understood that this meant Wen Dongyun was someone she could befriend. She tried her best not to appear timid, smiling slightly, "Okay, thank you so much, Sister Yun. I don't know much about Yanjing yet. If you don't mind, feel free to contact me anytime."
"Of course not. Let's add each other on WeChat, and I'll introduce you to these people. You all run into each other at banquets and such, so it's good to get to know each other first and then hang out together in the future."
Wen Dongyun and the others all knew that Xu Zifan had invited them to help Xu Mengyao integrate into the circle and asked them to help guide her, so they were naturally very willing. These people who came either had a bit of a crush on Xu Zifan, and even if they couldn't be together, they would be happy to get a little closer; or their families were slightly less powerful than the four great families, but they had cooperation with the Xu family and were willing to help.
When Xu Zifan's friends invited people over, they were all well-intentioned. They didn't bring any of the jealous or resentful sisters. Instead, they brought these people over, which made Xu Mengyao feel at ease and quickly relax, chatting with them.
When the brothers saw Xu Zifan protecting his sister like a mother hen, they all looked at him with new eyes.
One person asked, "Brother Fan, what's going on with you? When did you become a nanny?"
Another person said, "Brother Fan, you're not going to bring your sister out to play all the time from now on, are you? What about us? We still want to go out and have some fun, you know what I mean."
Xu Zifan served Xu Mengyao a few bites of her favorite dishes and casually said with a smile, "What do you know? My sister has suffered for seventeen years, of course I have to make it up to her. I have to be a good older brother from now on, I'll be busy with a lot of things and won't have much time to go out and have fun. But I'll come to see you guys whenever I have time, don't worry, we're brothers for life."
"Brother Fan, this doesn't sound reassuring. You're not going back to inherit the family business, are you? What happened to our promise to eat, drink, and have fun together?"
Xu Zifan shrugged. "Well, there's nothing I can do. I can't keep making this old man work himself to death, and then I get scolded every day when I get home. It's just work, what's the big deal? I'll hang out with you guys after get off work."
"Are you serious, Fan-ge? You're really going to work for Xu's?"
Xu Zifan nodded. "The old man just gave me a few tasks, so I've been a bit busy lately. I'll have more free time once I get the hang of it. Come on, let's drink. Why are we talking about such unpleasant things? I'm here today to introduce my sister. Just remember her and help me protect her."
The brothers readily agreed. They had been friends with the original owner for many years, and their character and temperament were above average. Xu Zifan's request was something they all took to heart. The ladies nearby also overheard their conversation and gained a clearer understanding of Xu Mengyao's position in the Xu family. They were also curious about what would happen to Wang Yalin, but none of those present were close to her, so no one brought it up.
However, their silence didn't mean no one brought it up. Qi Xiangheng, the original owner's best friend, hadn't spoken until Xu Zifan and the others finished their conversation, at which point he looked at Xu Zifan and asked, "How is Yalin?"
When Xu Mengyao heard someone mention Wang Yalin, she subconsciously looked over and saw a gentle and refined man. He wasn't as dazzling as Xu Zifan, but he gave off a very warm feeling.
Xu Zifan raised an eyebrow and said casually, "Great! My mom loves Yalin so much, how could she not be good?"
Qi Xiangheng vaguely sensed something was off about Xu Zifan's words. He frowned slightly and asked, "Zifan, what did you mean when you said you only recognize this one sister? What happened between you and Yalin?"
Xu Zifan stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "Wang Yalin and I... will have nothing to do with each other from now on."