Passionate Devotion

Chapter 24

Who Has the Audacity to Hurt Her?

“There’s no need for you to remind me about this. I will maintain my image at all costs. If I embarrass myself again, I’ll really commit suicide by hanging myself.”

Tong Lu wrapped her hand around her neck to prove her point. She followed Leng Yejin to the changing room and changed into a gorgeous dinner dress. Its design was simple but classy, and it made her look like a gentle and elegant woman.

By the time she exited the changing room after she got dressed, the atmosphere at the entrance was already extremely formal and lively. The president was welcoming the guests in the banquet hall. He shook hands, made small talk and took photographs with leaders from various countries.

This banquet was held to welcome the delegates of the meeting, and it was a large-scale national banquet. The main table was semicircular, with a length of around 100 feet. It faced the performance stage. There were ninety-nine more circular tables in the banquet hall, which was 10,000 square feet. The organizers went all out to make sure that the guests had a good time.

This was the first time Tong Lu attended such a banquet. She held Leng Yejin’s hand as she walked into the banquet hall, and her palms were sweating. Leng Yejin turned and glanced at her. His gaze was profound and domineering. “If you embarrass yourself again, you can sleep in the storeroom tonight.”

“No… I won’t.”

“You’re not allowed to let your gaze drift all over the place.”

“Noted.”

Tong Lu imitated Leng Yejin and walked with her head raised, ignoring the people on both sides of the red carpet as she walked into the banquet hall.

Tong Juan, who was standing among the crowd outside the banquet hall looked at the people entering the banquet hall with an envious expression. She was tremendously jealous. Shi Yang suddenly saw a figure that seemed rather familiar. Before he could take a good look, the woman had already entered the banquet hall and disappeared from his field of vision.

“Shi Yang, what are you looking at?”

“There was a woman walking into the banquet hall just now who kind of looks like your older sister.”

“That’s impossible. Only powerful people are invited to the banquet. My older sister is definitely not qualified to enter the banquet hall as she’s just a volunteer. You must have been seeing things.” There was disdain and arrogance in Tong Juan’s voice.

Shi Yang shifted his gaze away and flashed a slight smile. “It was probably a lookalike.”

In the banquet hall, Tong Lu followed Leng Yejin to a circular banquet table. He pulled the chair out for her, and his movements were elegant and domineering. ‘What a gentleman.’

After Tong Lu sat down, she stole a glance at her brother-in-law, who was sitting beside her. This man could truly capture the hearts of all the women he met. And with his strong and domineering aura, other men were definitely no match for him.

“Have you ever learned the dining etiquettes required during a national banquet? Do you know how you should be using the cutleries?” Leng Yejin glanced at her.

Tong Lu stared at the set of fancy porcelain cutleries before her. There were more than thirty of them, and she felt dizzy. This was her first time attending a national banquet, one held by the president at that. Of course she had never received training regarding this. How would she know how to use the cutleries?

She shook her head diffidently.

This was exactly what Leng Yejin had expected. He glanced at her in disdain and said in a cold and threatening tone, “Then, look at me and follow my lead. If you end up embarrassing yourself, I won’t let you off the hook!”

Tong Lu immediately straightened up, and she was fully focused as she used the cutleries before her. It was as if she was attending a professional training class.

The corners of Leng Yejin’s lips curled up a little. It was almost unnoticeable. When Tong Lu looked at him, she could only see the cold expression on his face and feel his tremendously oppressive aura. Even so, Tong Lu felt that she had lived her life with no regrets to be able to attend a national banquet and dine while watching various performances on the stage.

Before the banquet ended, she left the venue and changed into her volunteers’ uniform. She then joined the other volunteers and held up a placard guiding the delegates to the cars waiting for them. She did so for quite some time.

“Big sister, you’ve worked hard, haven’t you?” Tong Juan walked over to her as she held Shi Yang’s hand. She said arrogantly, “The firework show tonight was really good. When will your shift be over? We might be able to give you a lift, as the subway station is pretty far away.”

“There’s no need for that.”

“You don’t have to be shy. Shi Yang has bought a new Mercedes.”

Before Tong Juan could finish speaking, a fleet Rolls-Royce Phantoms stopped in front of them. Two bodyguards got out of the car and opened the door of one of the cars. One of them said respectfully to Tong Lu, “Miss Tong, please get in.”