Celebrity Girl Is My Wife

Chapter 858

The atmosphere of the dinner turned out to be more awkward than the two ladies thought.

As it turned out, Rong Yi was also someone not fond of talking. He was very quiet.

That was a shared quality between him and Nan Chen.

Unfortunately, the only similarity between the two men made it even more challenging for them to get along with each other.

Ning Ran had pulled many strings to get the two of them together for a meal. Seeing that her plan was about to fail, she began to panic.

“Ahem.” Ning Ran cleared her throat and raised her glass somewhat awkwardly. “Let's raise a toast! It's a rare opportunity for all of us to gather together.”

Yet, neither Nan Chen nor Rong Yi budged. Both parties were waiting for the other person to make the first move, for neither of them wanted to drink with the other person.

To lighten the mood, Rong Rong raised her glass to play along. “That's right. It's rare that we gather together. Let's make a toast! Until now, I still remember the time Ran had stood up for me against the delinquents back in Livingsfill.”

Rong Rong was hinting to Rong Yi that Ning Ran was her friend. In other words, Rong Rong was expecting Rong Yi to save Ning Ran some face despite his hostility toward Nan Chen.

As a well-mannered man, Rong Yi caught onto Rong Rong's hint quickly and reluctantly raised his glass.

Seeing that Rong Yi had raised his glass, Nan Chen followed suit. The four of them clinked their glasses before taking a sip respectively.

However, the room fell back into a heavy silence after the toast.

Unhappy with the progression of the meeting, Ning Ran tried to turn things around. Even if she failed in the end, she could tell herself that she had at least tried.

“Mr. Rong, there are a few things I would like to say. If I say anything wrong, please forgive me,” Ning Ran said with a polite smile.

Rong Yi nodded courteously. “Go ahead, Ms. Ning. I'm not easily offended.”

Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, Ning Ran thought over her words carefully. “Firstly, I would like to express my sympathy toward the unfortunate incident that had befallen Rong Jilin. Even though he initially was the one who insulted me on Weibo, I assure you that we have nothing to do with him being beaten up by others.”

Naturally, the “we” that Ning Ran mentioned included Nan Chen and the rest of the Nan family.

Ning Ran was familiar with Nan Chen's pride. She knew that he would never lower his head in front of the Rong family over this incident. Thus, she did not even mention Nan Chen's family name in her clarification but used the word “we” instead.

It was an ingenious and cautious way to bring up the subject. Nevertheless, Nan Chen still furrowed his brows slightly.

From Nan Chen's perspective, Ning Ran's initiative to bring up the matter was the equivalent of admitting defeat.

He did not like that. There was nothing wrong in admitting defeat, but there was no need for them to do so at the moment.

Even so, Nan Chen held his tongue to save Ning Ran the humiliation. If it were anyone else, he would have probably shut them down by then.

On the other hand, Rong Yi did not respond immediately but mulled over it in silence for a brief moment. “When you said 'we,' Ms. Ning, were you including Mr. Nan as well? If that was the case, why didn't Mr. Nan say anything himself?”

At first, Nan Chen was still thinking about how he should react. He did not expect Rong Yi to call him out so soon.

The message was clear. That was an issue between the two men, or rather, the two families. Nan Chen should be dealing with the issue at hand instead of hiding behind a woman.

“Her viewpoint does not represent Nanshi Corporation or me. Therefore, I believe her 'we' did not include me,” replied Nan Chen coolly.

As expected, the situation was getting from bad to worse. Nan Chen was too domineering. It was impossible for him to remain gentle after being called out by Rong Yi. That was not his character.

Not to mention that it was Rong Jilin's fault that triggered the entire cascade of events. Moreover, the Rong family had revealed the spy that was hiding in Nanshi Corporation, causing the stock price of Nanshi Corporation to plummet.

In other words, the troubles that Nanshi Corporation was facing at the moment were all Rong Yi's doing, and the troubles were unfortunately still ongoing. They had not been solved.

Nan Chen was the CEO of Nanshi Corporation. If he were to provide an explanation under this circumstance, it would no doubt be considered as him waving the white flag. It would be as though he was saying, “I was not involved in your brother's injury. Please spare me.”

How could Nan Chen display such submissive behavior?

If the crisis faced by Nanshi Corporation had been resolved and Nan Chen was not at the losing end, perhaps he would have been calmer and made it easier for everyone.

After all, Nan Chen genuinely admired Rong Yi. Not many people would receive such high regard from Nan Chen.

The atmosphere of the dinner was getting increasingly tense. Frozen in place, Ning Ran wanted to cry out of frustration, not knowing what else to do.

It looks like some things really can't be resolved just by the desire to resolve them. Ning Ran felt extremely defeated.

“Yi, Mr. Nan, I think you two are being unfair to Ran!” All of a sudden, Rong Rong spoke up. “Ran had asked you guys here so that everyone would place harmony above everything else and clear up the misunderstanding, not for you two to banter with each other and leave the two of us to suffocate in awkwardness. Don't you think that you're putting Ran and me to shame by acting in this manner? No matter what, we come from a good place of wanting to resolve the issue. Don't you two think you guys are being inconsiderate of our efforts?”

Even though Rong Rong was young, her speech was confident and powerful. It was no wonder she was Rong Yi's favorite sibling.

“That's right. If you two want to act all high and mighty, you can do so elsewhere. I've invited everyone out for dinner out of good intentions so that you two have a chance to communicate with each other, yet you left no room for negotiation. This is disappointing!” Ning Ran chimed in.

“I apologize, Ms. Ning, but I believe the key to this discussion is still Mr. Nan. Mr. Nan, are you really not going to give any explanation for the fact that my brother has been severely injured?” Rong Yi

turned to look at Nan Chen. Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

“There's nothing to explain. You can take it however you want,” Nan Chen stated icily.

Ning Ran screamed internally. Why is it so hard for Poker Face to talk nicely? The whole thing was Ruan Anxi's doing and has nothing to do with the Nan family. Will it kill him to explain? Why couldn't he just clarify the situation?

Nan Chen, however, was singing another tune. Rong Yi has already taken his revenge on Nanshi Corporation. He has already attacked me, so why do I have to explain things to him? Since he dared to attack me, then I shall retaliate! Fight first, talk later! Since he was already convinced that I was the one behind it, what else was there to it? So what if I was behind it? Rong Jilin was the one who insulted my woman publicly. So what if I caused him to become crippled? Even though, in reality, it was Ruan Anxi's doing, just treat it as though he was doing it on my behalf. Since the Rong family has already attacked, then they should give me their best shot! Why should I beg for mercy? Furthermore, our two families have a long-standing grudge. Since we're already enemies, what's one more fight? We would still hate each other in the end. It wouldn't make any difference!

Rong Yi smiled slightly and turned to face Ning Ran before spreading out his hands in a gesture of wry resignation.

Ning Ran turned to look at Nan Chen in hopes that the latter would play nice.

To her dismay, Nan Chen pretended not to see her signal and rose to his feet instead. “Check, please!”

The waiter walked over. “Sir, our boss has mentioned that this meal is on us—”

“Are you not treating them to a meal? What's the point of a treat if you're not paying?” Nan Chen interrupted the waiter by looking pointedly at Ning Ran.

“I'll pay. I'll pay,” Ning Ran answered immediately. “It's just that we haven't even finished eating...”

“I have other things to do.”

Nan Chen's statement was not referring to only himself. He was not excusing himself from the table, but rather, he was implying that the dinner was over. He wanted Ning Ran to pay so that they could both leave.

Ning Ran was upset to see that her plan had failed in the end.

“Ms. Rong, I apologize for interrupting your meetup with Ning Ran today. I'll see to it that she invites you out some other time,” Nan Chen assured Rong Rong.

He wanted to make it clear that the hostility between him and Rong Yi was a separate matter from Rong Rong's friendship with Ning Ran. Even though Nan Chen wanted to go against the Rong family, he reassured the women that they could still be friends and not let the enmity between the two families be a hindrance to their friendship.

A trace of disappointment was written all over Rong Rong's face as well, but she forced herself to smile. “Thank you, Mr. Nan.”

Nan Chen turned and nodded curtly at Rong Yi. “We'll make a move first.” With that, he yanked Ning Ran out of the private room without turning back.