The entire table raised their wine gla.s.ses, ready to down their drinks. Qiao Anhao, who sat beside Xu Jiamu, reached out and took gla.s.s from his hands in exchange for a cup of water. She then politely explained to the table full of people, "Brother Jiamu still can't drink alcohol yet. "
a.s.suming that Xu Jiamu had only just finished his cosmetic surgery, everybody didn't force him to drink.
Qiao Anxia teased Qiao Anhao with a bright smile, "Qiao Qiao, you sure are protective of Jiamu."
Xu Jiamu smiled wordlessly, and downed his cup of water with everyone.
The harsh alcohol ran down Lu Jinnian's throat with a hint of raw bitterness.
Xu Jiamu's dishes tasted superb. Everyone around the table a.s.sumed Xu Jiamu and Qiao Anhao were husband and wife, so they couldn't help but start teasing. "Xiao Qiao, you're so lucky to be able to eat young master Xu's exotic dishes everyday."
After one person started the teasing, others started to chime in as well. "That being said... Jiamu, your wedding ceremony back then with Xiao Qiao was far too sloppy. You didn't even invite some of us here. Now that your face has recovered, isn't it about time that you hold a bigger wedding ceremony?"
"Yeah, Jiamu. You didn't even have a wedding ceremony. Did you do right by Xiao Qiao, did you do right by us?"
Even though Xu Jiamu and Qiao Anhao knew that the ceremony they were crying about would never come true, the two of them agreed to not let it slip in the slightest before they got the divorce finalized. To do this, Xu Jiamu even played along with everyone, smiling and saying, "Definitely, I'll definitely make up for the wedding ceremony to Qiao Qiao."
From start to end, Qiao Anhao kept a gentle smile and didn't say a word. When Xu Jiamu said those words, she couldn’t help but glance over at Lu Jinnian from the corner of her eyes. His expression was cold and distant as usual as he silently drank his wine, as though the conversations at the table had nothing to do with him.
Qiao Anhao couldn't help but tightly clutch her chopsticks. Though she said she wouldn't love him again, whilst others were egging her on with another guy, it still pained her heart to see him so nonchalant.
"Not only make up for the wedding ceremony, make up for the proposal! Xiao Qiao, let me tell you... If young master Xu doesn't propose, by all means, don't agree to anything!"
"They're already married, what can't she agree to?!"
"She can't agree to have kids!"
"Yeah yeah yeah, don't agree to have kids!"
"Xiao Qiao, when he proposes, remember to call upon us. We'll help you see if he's sincere enough. Until then, you mustn't give young master Xu a child."
Give him a child... Qiao Anhao and Xu Jiamu's child... Lu Jinnian instantly thought about his own unborn child who was killed in the belly... His hand couldn't help but grip harder onto his wine gla.s.s.
He couldn't hear what was so funny about what they just said, but everyone around the table laughed cheerfully. His eyes calmly waited for everyone to change the topic, then when no one noticed, his eyes silently fell on Qiao Anhao. She had her head down, quietly chewing on a piece of chicken thigh that Xu Jiamu had picked up for her with his chopsticks.
Lu Jinnian only looked for five seconds before looking away. Then he raised his head and downed another gla.s.s of wine, stood up, and left for the living room.