Gu Jiayin never expected that Sheng Lanzhang would want to see her; emotionally speaking, she didn’t like him. Because he wasn’t a responsible man. Back then, the media caught him with her mother, and Gu Shaohua publicly announced the severance of sisterhood. Her mother was thrown into the public eye, enduring huge mental stress, but he never spoke a word for her. So, with some sarcasm, she retorted, "Your father wants to see me, does it mean I have to go?" She was very calm, as if discussing something irrelevant, unaffected by it. She didn’t want to meet any of the Sheng Family, including Sheng Qianchi. "He’s always been in poor health, often in a daze, sometimes dozing off for a long time. He woke up only yesterday and was very thrilled to hear you were back in Licheng City, wanting to see you." Gu Jiayin lowered her head, fiddling with her bag, then suddenly laughed aloud, "He’s excited because of me?" She turned to look at the composed man, "Am I close to him, or do we have some special relationship?" Her eyes and eyebrows were laced with sarcasm, "Oh, right, I’m the daughter of his flings’ tangled affairs." Sheng Qianchi’s thick brows knitted tighter, a sense of helplessness rising within. She had no goodwill towards the Sheng Family; it seemed she dared to challenge him with a two-month pact, knowing he couldn’t make her willingly become his woman because she was sure her heart wouldn’t move. Although he never expected her to fall in love with him, as he couldn’t return love, her hostile indifference still made him extremely uncomfortable. He needed a woman who looked pleasing and could quietly stay by him, but she, while pleasing to the eye, was not quiet. He sighed softly, "If you don’t want to go, I’ll turn him down for you." Gu Jiayin tossed out these two words lightly and walked out of the room with her bag. In the first-floor hall, a servant was waiting at the staircase, "Good morning, Miss Gu, breakfast has been prepared for you." Breakfast? She got up so early, yet a servant had prepared breakfast? The servant smiled, "Last night, Young Master Chi instructed us, saying Miss Gu would rise early today, so we should prepare in advance." Gu Jiayin was about to say she wouldn’t eat, but Sheng Qianchi’s voice came from the stairs, "There’s still time. Have breakfast before you go; I’ll handle the reporters for you." The man was in casual wear, one hand in his pocket, and looked drowsy with the laziness of just waking. Thinking that today’s competition would be physically demanding, breakfast indeed was important, so Gu Jiayin put down her bag and obediently entered the dining room. Sheng Qianchi personally set up the utensils for her and sat down next to her. Gu Jiayin lowered her head, sipping the porridge one small mouthful at a time, without speaking a word. After watching her for a while, Sheng Qianchi calmly spoke, "I’ll take you to the Wine Trade Association later." "No need. I don’t want people saying I rely on connections to advance." Sheng Qianchi silently watched the woman eating without saying another word. Actually, it’s really hard for him to get close to her, no matter if sometimes their interactions were pleasant. Gu Jiayin drove by herself to the Licheng City Wine Merchants Association. Due to arriving early and Sheng Qianchi clearing the reporters in advance, she entered the association building smoothly. This Wine Tasting Competition was sponsored by Twilight Group and organized by the Wine Trade Association, focusing mainly on wine appraisal. The competition was divided into preliminary, semi-final, and final stages. A total of 32 contestants advanced to the finals, with Gu Jiayin being the only new arrival who hadn’t gone through the preliminary and semi-final rounds. Today’s competition was split into a morning and afternoon session, consisting mainly of theoretical knowledge and practical operation sections, ultimately determining the top three, all of whom would have the opportunity to sign with Twilight. Twilight, being the leader in the wine industry, is a dream for many wine tasters to work at, so Gu Jiayin’s sudden entry into the competition caused dissatisfaction among many contestants, but due to her special status, others dared not complain and chose to collectively exclude her. However, she didn’t care; she was already used to standing out by herself. The morning was a theoretical knowledge competition, conducted in a test format. Time passed tediously but also quietly; there was little interaction between the contestants. When the test ended, it was already noon, and soon the results came out, with Gu Jiayin winning the championship in theoretical knowledge, turning criticism from the other contestants into deep admiration. Gu Jiayin ignored the gazes of others, calmly walked out of the arena; people not worth caring about, why care? In the floor lobby, she walked to the floor-to-ceiling window to look down and indeed found many reporters blocking the entrance of the association, armed with cameras in an impressive display. Those reporters were indeed dedicated to wait for her. Originally intending to go out for lunch, now realizing she couldn’t, she ordered takeout and then sat on the lounge sofas arranged in the lobby to rest. After sitting for about five minutes, a contestant who had also participated in the theoretical knowledge competition walked over and took a seat on the sofa, exuding a star-like presence despite being an as-yet unknown wine taster. Quite good-looking, with red lips, white teeth, and long flowing hair. But she seemed to have committed a major taboo; as a wine taster, in the midst of the competition, she actually wore makeup, albeit light makeup, whose fragrance would definitely affect the judgment in wine appraisal. Therefore, Gu Jiayin did not consider her an excellent wine taster. However, her memory was good; this woman’s name was Tang Miao, who achieved third place in the theoretical knowledge competition just now. Gu Jiayin even suspected if she had inside connections. But she was too lazy to meddle; anyone might have inside connections, but if they don’t bother her, she wouldn’t care. Even though she maintained an indifferent attitude of detachment, this Tang Miao seemed to carry inherent hostility, embodying a provocative posture since sitting on the sofa opposite her. Her gaze seemed to want to tear her to pieces. Gu Jiayin raised her eyes to look at the surveillance camera above, gently curling her lips in a meaningful smile. She had never seen this Tang Miao before, such hostility, surely meant she was arranged by Qin Zhennan. This woman was not here to achieve any ranking but to kick her out of this competition. If nothing goes amiss, Tang Miao would soon make provocations against her. If she couldn’t control her emotions, leading to a conflict, both their participation would undoubtedly be canceled by the association. Fresh chapters posted on novｅlfire.net Following that, the atmosphere in the small resting area turned extremely eerie. Gu Jiayin smiled deeply and charmingly, while Tang Miao was sinister and enchanting. Indeed, within half a minute of Gu Jiayin seeing through the conspiracy, Tang Miao suddenly spoke with extreme sarcasm, "Gu Jiayin, you shamelessly stole your sister’s man, then go to great lengths to serve Young Master Chi. Just don’t end up being thrown away like a rag one day and come here to take our jobs." She slanted her lips, like a poisonous poppy, "You want to be a bi—ch and still set up as a monument?"