Chapter 32 Everyone's Loss
In Zhou Liang's plan, he was to take Liu Shang to another table, separating him from Jiang Ruolin.
However, to his surprise, Liu Shang didn't panic upon suddenly arriving at such a grand occasion, nor was he at Zhou Liang's mercy. Instead, he simply smiled, declined to follow, and stood his ground to wait a few seconds for Jiang Ruolin, who was right behind him.
When Jiang Ruolin finished warning Tan Feng and hurried in to see Liu Shang waiting there, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Afterward, Jiang Ruolin smiled and took Liu Shang's hand, and together they walked over to a table of people Jiang Ruolin knew well and trusted.
"Ruolin, you're finally here!"
"Yeah, we were all waiting for you!"
"Hey, is this the legendary boyfriend?"
"Haha, Ruolin, aren't you going to introduce us?"
The table was mostly girls; besides Liu Shang, there were only two other boys, both of whom were relatively quiet.
Amidst everyone's playful hooting, Jiang Ruolin generously pushed Liu Shang a small step forward. "Alright, let me introduce you. This is my boyfriend, Liu Shang."
At first, everyone was just joking around, but after Jiang Ruolin's introduction, openly announcing that this was her boyfriend, the table erupted in exclamations and chaos.
No one could believe it. The rumors were true. Jiang Ruolin, the pearl of the school, a campus belle, had actually found such an ordinary, unremarkable, and unknown boyfriend.
Never mind the people on Tan Feng's side; even as Jiang Ruolin's best friends, they were not very optimistic about her choice.
Therefore, most of the people sitting there just gave Liu Shang a polite smile before surrounding Jiang Ruolin and chatting with her.
Liu Shang didn't care at all about their behavior. He just sat there quietly, enjoying this unique form of supreme treatment.
Perhaps because she was worried that Liu Shang wouldn't adapt to this kind of occasion, Jiang Ruolin, who was surrounded by everyone and had no chance to chat with him, quietly slipped her hand into his.
But the good times didn't last long. The two girls sitting not too far from Liu Shang, out of kindness, took the initiative to start a conversation with him.
That one conversation was all it took. They were soon captivated by the interesting topics Liu Shang brought up.
Coupled with his chatting style—outwardly calm as a lake, but inwardly humorous and very stylish—the two girls were amused and laughing from time to to time.
Soon, several others nearby were also drawn in and joined the chat. The whole area was brought to life by Liu Shang.
Jiang Ruolin, who had still been faintly worried that Liu Shang would be nervous and bored, couldn't help but curse in her heart: *This guy is more popular with girls than I imagined!*
At the same time, she patted his palm mischievously.
Seeing the change in the atmosphere on their side, Zhou Liang, who had been watching from not far away, couldn't help but frown. He then walked to the front of the hall, officially kicking off the prelude to this smokeless war.
"Good evening, dear students and friends!"
"As the host of tonight's banquet, I'll make this quick..."
"...In short, our theme and core principle tonight is for everyone to have a good time!"
"So, let's have dinner now!"
It had to be said that this Zhou Liang was quite talented. Under his direction, the atmosphere at the scene became more and more enthusiastic.
Especially when he announced that dinner would be served, the crowd laughed, cheered, and applauded.
"Hehe, besides serving the food, I have another piece of good news to share with everyone."
"It was originally planned that our party tonight would follow the AA system, but our group leader, Tan Feng, has said that tonight's dinner will be paid for by him. He hopes everyone has a wonderful time."
"Now, let's give Tan Feng a warm round of applause!"
Not surprisingly, the atmosphere of the banquet became even more heated, and many people shouted, intentionally or unintentionally: "Young Master Feng is mighty!"
"Brother Feng is bold and domineering!"
And at that same moment, the two well-mannered but slightly effeminate male students at Jiang Ruolin and Liu Shang's table suddenly became active, beginning their coordinated performance.
"Tan Feng is worthy of being our group leader. He's so handsome."
"Yeah, judging by the level of this place tonight, this must cost several thousand yuan!"
"Tsk tsk, exactly. Men should be like this: young and rich. That's how they get girls to like them."
"That's right. Compared to those mediocre poor boys, a man of talent like Brother Feng is worth entrusting your life to."
Perhaps because they had rehearsed it so many times, or perhaps because they were nervous, the emotional delivery of these two was a bit over the top, so much so that everyone at the table got a layer of goosebumps.
Besides feeling sick, Jiang Ruolin frowned imperceptibly. The thing she had been worried about was finally starting.
On the other side, Liu Shang laughed secretly in his heart. *It seems these two are the specially arranged hype men.*
Therefore, feigning innocence, he looked at the two of them with amusement.
"Could you two please keep your voices down? If Tan Feng hears you two being so... affectionate, and wanting to entrust your lives to him, I bet he'll be so terribly embarrassed that he'll take back his offer to pay for everyone."
"And that would be everyone's loss!"
Since Liu Shang had already blended in with everyone at the table, their initial skepticism toward him had long since disappeared.
His words were perfectly clear, with no filter, and everyone heard them.
As a result, after hearing his wicked but hilarious and witty remark, the two girls who were drinking juice at the table burst out laughing.
The others were better, but not by much. One moment they were disgusted by these two guys, and the next they heard Liu Shang's incredibly witty words. So, everyone immediately burst into laughter.
Even Jiang Ruolin, who had been quickly trying to think of a counter-strategy, couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Then, while laughing, she rested her head on Liu Shang's arm and playfully hit him twice.
Seeing them like this, the two young men, who were already nervous and had poor psychological fortitude, were instantly humiliated.
Furious, they slammed the table and shot to their feet. Then, under everyone's surprised eyes, one of them struck a pose, extending a hand with an effeminate flourish. "You people! I hate you!"
After speaking, the two of them turned in a huff and stormed off.
This time, everyone at the table laughed even harder, and the laughter was even louder. Some of the girls laughed so hard their stomachs hurt.
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