CHAPTER 57: CHAPTER 57: ALL FOR NOTHING

The appearance of Shen Jue and Rong Qingqing caused a small commotion.

However, the couple themselves maintained an air of nonchalance as they walked inside.

In her red dress, Qingqing’s every step seemed to make the hem of her skirt bloom like a flower.

Everyone wanted to find traces of resentment from being abandoned on Rong Qingqing’s face, signs of sorrow brought by time, yet no one could find any.

The confident beauty smiled brilliantly, able to elegantly and beautifully face every scrutinizing gaze.

Liao Yamei stood beside her husband, looking a little lost, and turned to whisper to him, "Do you feel that Rong Qingqing has changed a lot this time back?"

Shen Gaizhuo didn’t care about Rong Qingqing at all; when they entered, he merely glanced at her.

If Rong Qingqing hadn’t dressed so dazzlingly to capture his attention today, Shen Gaizhuo wouldn’t even have spared her a second look.

All his attention was focused on Shen Jue, who appeared unusual tonight, making him unable to help but wonder about Shen Jue’s true intentions in appearing.

After all, tonight he invited everyone the Shen Family could muster, making it a networking social banquet.

In such an important setting, Shen Jue suddenly appeared.

Shen Gaizhuo turned and instructed his assistant beside him, "Find a couple more people to keep an eye on Shen Jue and the assistant next to him."

Liao Yamei heard this but didn’t say much, as her husband seemed uninterested in continuing the conversation, so she turned to speak with her mother-in-law.

"Mom, don’t you think Rong Qingqing has changed a lot?" Liao Yamei repeated, seemingly quite obsessed with this question.

Old Madam Shen sneered, "I never thought very highly of her before, always going along with whatever others said, without a single independent thought. Her parents were not very capable, and she had the sort of personality anyone could easily push around, soft and pliable."

"If you put it nicely, you’d call her obedient; if not, she’s just useless. She hasn’t provided the slightest help to our family’s Xingwei in his career, just a pretty face, that’s all." Liao Yamei was rather disdainful.

"The only downside of Rong Jiaojiao compared to Rong Qingqing is her background; an illegitimate child is hardly as respectable as a legitimate girl from the Rong Family." Liao Yamei agreed to the engagement between Shen Xingwei and Rong Qingqing initially only because of the Rong Family behind Rong Qingqing.

Among the Rong Family’s three children, aside from Rong Ming, their son, Rong Qingqing is the legitimate daughter, although before the discovery of Rong Jiaojiao as the illegitimate daughter, Rong Qingqing was the eldest granddaughter of the Rong Family, dearly loved by Mr. Rong.

When Rong Qingqing was born, Mr. Rong would hold her every day without fail, indicating his fondness for his granddaughter.

When Rong Qingqing and Shen Xingwei got engaged, Mr. Rong was very generous with the dowry, which was one thing Liao Yamei was satisfied about with Rong Qingqing.

In contrast, even though Rong Jiaojiao and Shen Xingwei are formally engaged, Mr. Rong hasn’t expressed any particular stance.

Anyone with a clear eye can tell that Rong Jiaojiao doesn’t quite win Mr. Rong’s favor; even though the two families exchanged marriage partners, while Mr. Rong ultimately didn’t oppose, deep down, he did not regard Rong Jiaojiao highly.

Old Madam Shen nodded in agreement with her daughter-in-law’s words.

"What a pity about the shares that Rong Qingqing is holding; it would have been good if they belonged to Rong Jiaojiao." Liao Yamei felt quite indignant, "My father favors Qingqing, and so does Mr. Rong; all the favoritism goes to Rong Qingqing."