After the ceremony, Ye Jie was chatting with Ming Qu in the reception area which was in the back garden of the hotel. It felt roughly like a social gathering instead of a wedding reception. Each person was engaged in striving to seek for connections.

’Social animals craving to survive in this social jungle.’

Wu Xia joined them afterward swapping her traditional red wedding dress for a beautiful white dress. Clad in a simple but elegant white gown with a slit down the knee, she looked stunning. She looped her arm with Ming Qu’s and he murmured something in her ear which caused a visible blush to appear on her fair delicate cheeks.

She hit him playfully with her clenched fists. After calming herself, she said, "Do you guys want to join the real fun?"

Both Ming Qu and Ye Jie gave her puzzled guise. "Don’t tell me you want to spend the time with the older generation." Following her gesturing towards the garden filled with people, both of them realized that there was not a single person from the younger generation.

"Where exactly is the real fun?" Ye Jie asked hiding his grim mood behind a set smile.

A mysterious smile spread on Wu Xia’s face as she dragged Ming Qu back inside the building. They passed by another wedding hall where a wedding was in process and took an elevator to the rooftop of the building. Seeing Wu Xia, the bouncer opened the passage for her to enter.

The rooftop was crowded with young people hanging around and dancing to the beats of music. Ye Jie was surely not an enthusiast of loud music as it made him feel nauseous. The rooftop was decorated with colorful lights with a dance floor specifically set up in the middle. Coupled with the DJ along with a bar section and snacks bar gave the illusion of a fancy nightclub.

"Who organized it?" The question that was bothering Ye Jie was voiced out by his best friend as Ming Qu looked at Wu Xia with a questioning look.

"Let’s just say, my brother and his friends love to party." Her reply was not direct but it made one thing understandable, the after party was orchestrated by her brother.

Wu Xia dragged Ming Qu to the dance floor leaving Ye Jie alone with his tangled ruminations. Ye Jie glanced at the bright dazzling lights and walked towards the snack table which was right beside the bar.

He picked up a set of chopsticks and placed some chicken wantons on his plate. Just when he proceeded to take some chocolate cake, his gaze fell on a figure clad in high waisted wide leg black pants with white stripes on it paired with an elegant white button-up shirt.

Her hair was left open in soft curls which fell to her mid back. It wasn’t her enticing figure that captivated him rather it was her face which held the identical poised bearing he perceived back in the wedding hall.

--------

Xu Mey trudged back to her Presidential Suite in the hotel to change out of the peach gown before joining her friends at the party. Anyone familiar with her or her friends had a misconception that they loved to party.

None of them was an admirer of parties but what they actually loved was free drinks and snacks. Drinking was her forte and eating was her He Jian and Li Qiao’ department. While Wu Wang was a certified playboy and Lin Shin was a virtuous man who merely trailed behind his friends.

She was drinking her vodka shot when the familiar gruff voice of Li Qiao sounded beside her, "Did you find any dirt?" He settled on the seat beside her and took a beer from the bartender.

She cocked her head to see the lazy smile on Li Qiao’s face. "Oh, I found the dirt, alright." With that, she passed a humorless smile to him.

"He’s really hiding something?" He Jian asked the question as he joined them with a shrimp dumpling on his plate paired with spicy ginger sauce.

Seeing her nod Wu Wang asked, "Should we be worried about it?" His playful expression was replaced with a serious one. Wu Wang was protective when it came to two people; first his sister and second his best friend.

"’Too many cooks spoil the broth’," She air quoted while drinking her vodka shot and faced all of their anticipating looks. "Let me take care of it. It’s not anything consequential."

"She’s my little girl. I own the right to protect her, exactly as I own the right to be informed," Wu Wang replied as he took a sip of his wine.

"Wang boy, ’It’s better to walk thousands of miles than to read thousands of books’. That is to say, let his past be his past. We should be wary of his present and his future with Wu Xia. He has the right to keep his past," There was not a single change in her calm expression.

’To bury your past is easy. To wear that past with pride takes courage.’

Her gentle and soft unhurried voice paired with her calm face worked like enchantment on most people. Even Lin Shen once said, "You can make a dying person believe that he’s going to live with that demeanor of yours."

But for them, it was not her reassuring countenance that put their mind at ease but rather it was herself. Her mere presence was enough to raise their spirits.

"Now, Scram! Let me drink in peace," She made a ’Shoo’ gesture and pushed them away.

All of them laughed at her childish behavior as they ruffled her pitch black hair and walked away leaving her in peace with her drink. Li Qiao and He Jian walked up to the snack table while Lin Shen found a silent corner for himself to make a goodnight call to his fiance. Wu Wang, on the other hand, wandered around in search of a night partner to take back.

Xu Mey was extremely familiar with their antics, so she left them to do whatever they desired. As she picked up yet another vodka shot, she felt a pair of eyes staring at her.

She tilted her body a little as she said, "Like what you see?" Her cherry lips were turned slightly upward giving the illusion of a smile which was definitely not a smile.magic