"Where should I sit?"
Ryan Miller was startled and instinctively turned around, only to find Matthew Clark standing behind him without him noticing.
"Did you tiptoe over? Not a sound at all?" Ryan Miller secretly let out a sigh of relief. "What are you doing here? Can you even afford a gift?"
He suddenly thought of something, his eyes narrowing. "Don't tell me you used the money I gave you to buy a present for Evan Miller?"
Ryan Miller knew he was being unreasonable—once the money was in Matthew Clark's hands, it was up to him how to spend it—but he still felt annoyed.
"No," Matthew Clark replied. "I bought it with my own savings. A pair of couple's watches, nothing expensive."
"..." Ryan Miller frowned. "If your gift is too cheap, people will look down on you. Don't you get that? You might as well not come at all."
Matthew Clark replied casually, "Your brother will understand."
Ryan Miller sneered, "Then your relationship must be really deep."
From a distance, the old Mrs. Ji caught sight of her grandson's head of green hair. No matter how well-mannered she was, she couldn't help but furrow her brows into a deep crease.
She should have seen it coming. Ryan Miller and Evan Miller had always been at odds—how could Ryan Miller possibly attend this engagement party obediently?
Worried that Ryan Miller would show up in jeans, she had even sent someone to pick out a suit for him. She hadn't expected Ryan Miller to mess with his hair instead. To her, he just looked frivolous and lazy.
A disgrace to the Ji family.
But since he was already here, there was no point thinking about it further.
To keep things low-key, there weren't many tables at the banquet. Everyone present today was a person of status. Ryan Miller looked around and didn't recognize a single face.
This was his first time attending a Ji family banquet; before, they were always family-only, with no outsiders invited.
"Mr. Qin, this way please." The butler accompanying the old Mrs. Ji walked over and gestured to Matthew Clark, then turned to Ryan Miller. "Young Master Ji, the old madam asked you to sit at table three. She reserved a seat for you in advance."
"Got it," Ryan Miller replied, heading straight to his seat.
Seeing Ryan Miller sit down at table three, the butler breathed a sigh of relief. "Then, Mr. Qin, let me show you to your seat..."
"No need," Matthew Clark smiled. "Could you please add a seat for me at table three?"
The butler was taken aback. "Mr. Qin, your seat is at the main table..."
Ryan Miller had just sat down when he received a message from William Harris.
William Harris: "Xiao Nannan, you're so wild! My Moments is blowing up tonight because of you!!"
Ryan Miller was confused: "??"
The other party sent a screenshot of their Moments. Ryan Miller opened the image and immediately saw his own green hair.
It looked like someone had secretly snapped a photo of him just as he got out of the car—the picture was high-res and large.
"Dreaming a thousand times: This picture will get me through the night."
The comments filled the entire screen.
"Damn girl, you're bold! You dare to snap anyone—do you even know who this is?"
"Saved the pic, thanks sis!"
"Chicken coop warning."
"That face, those legs, those shoulders—I can, I will kneel until my knees are red, split my mouth wide, day and night... No, I'd even be the top for him!!"
Ryan Miller: "..."
Knees red from kneeling? Mouth split wide?? What the hell???
...Are they seriously being perverted about him?
Ryan Miller was stunned for a long moment before reacting: "Who posted that last comment? I'm going to break their head."
William Harris: "Don't, they're all just joking."
Ryan Miller: "Who took the photo? Tell them to delete it from their Moments."
William Harris: "Seems like some photographer posted it in a group with over a thousand people. It's been deleted, but that person has a lot of WeChat friends. I just checked..."
William Harris: "The photo's already on Weibo, it's even on my homepage now..."
Shit.
Ryan Miller was about to type when he suddenly felt a warmth on his ear, as if someone had pinched it.
The person's fingertips were calloused, sending a shiver down Ryan Miller's spine. He looked up abruptly.
Matthew Clark quickly let go and sat down next to him as if nothing had happened. "Why are your ears so red?"
"Who said you could touch me?" Ryan Miller quickly closed the chat window. "...Are you my shadow or something?"
Matthew Clark smiled and lowered his voice. "Isn't my job to keep you company?"
"I'm not a woman, I don't need you to keep me company," Ryan Miller said. "If I need you, I'll find you. Otherwise, don't keep hanging around me."
The younger guy's words were pretty hurtful.
Matthew Clark nodded, pretending to be wounded. "But you never look for me. Are you tired of me?"
The two of them made an odd pair—one an illegitimate child, the other bankrupt. Everyone at the table couldn't help but glance at them.
"Yeah," Ryan Miller was tired of the stares and just wanted to end the conversation. "I'm a living scumbag, got a problem with that?"
"No," Matthew Clark grinned, a dimple appearing. "I just like scumbags."
Ryan Miller: "..."
Ryan Miller: "...You don't have to try so hard. I'm not going to dock your pay or anything."
Chapter 8
Evan Miller was dressed in a white suit, a flower pinned to his pocket. His face still hadn't recovered, and even his smile looked stiff.