"No thanks, sorry."
Lily Zhong shook her head, her expression turning a bit cold.
After hearing that Evan Lin would be coming back today, she drove straight over from her company.
Ever since Evan last handled the Youth-Preserving Beauty Pill issue brought by Victor Li from the Hong Kong Li family here in Seacrest, Lily hadn’t seen him in person.
At that time, Evan made it clear to the outside world that she and Angel Epoch were connected, which indirectly helped Lily fend off a lot of potential business rivals and massively eased her pressure.
But Lily herself still couldn’t be sure if Evan was angry or not.
She wasn’t worried he’d be mad about her messing up the business and almost letting Seacrest’s Beauty Pill lose its market share. What she feared was that Evan would blame her for not coming to him first when trouble hit, instead trying to solve it herself—and if he hadn’t shown up in time, she might not even be alive now.
Today Lily didn’t bring any bodyguards—she just showed up alone, keeping it simple and waiting for Evan’s return.
She didn’t expect to run into some clingy guy sticking to her like glue.
While she’d been standing here, a few men had tried to hit on her, but after Lily turned them down, they usually left disappointed. None of them went overboard or tried to pester her endlessly.
But the guy in front of her, Ryan Wu, was way too full of himself. To be fair, he had the credentials—his looks and his job easily outclassed most people his age.
Lily didn’t care about any of that.
"Giving someone else a chance is also giving yourself a chance."
Ryan still wore a faint smile on his face.
A few flight attendants walking with him stepped forward. All of them were pretty and had good figures—otherwise they wouldn’t have made it as flight attendants.
"Miss, Captain Wu really is a great guy. He wants to get to know you, and I think you should give him a chance," one woman said with a big smile.
"Yeah, Captain Wu’s nice, good-looking, and has a great job. Plus, you probably don’t know—his dad’s a major shareholder at NewStar Airlines," another flight attendant chimed in.
NewStar Airlines was a private airline company worth over fifty billion yuan. It wasn’t huge in the industry, but with Ryan’s dad as a major shareholder, Ryan was definitely a super-rich second generation.
"Money’s nothing—it’s just a small thing."
Standing off to the side, Ryan smiled faintly, glancing approvingly at the two flight attendants. But he still sounded pretty modest: "That’s all my dad’s money, not really mine. I prefer to earn my own way."
Ryan had planned to ride the momentum and show off his family background while the flight attendants explained his status, hoping to impress the woman in front of him.
But he noticed that while the flight attendants talked up his identity, the woman’s eyes stayed calm—no excitement, no surprise, just indifference.
She kept glancing toward the arrival gate, making it clear that being a rich second-gen wasn’t enough to win her over.
So Ryan quickly spoke up, not denying his rich background but also trying to come across as hardworking and diligent.
The more Lily acted unimpressed by his rich second-generation status, the more it fired up his urge to win her over.
"Who you are and what you do has nothing to do with me."
Lily took a deep breath, looked Ryan in the eye, and said seriously, "I’m waiting for my friend. You might be impressive, but in his eyes, all the things you’re proud of don’t mean a thing."
"I don’t want him to show up and misunderstand anything because of you, and I don’t want you to get dragged into trouble you can’t handle."
"So please, right now, immediately, disappear from my sight."
Lily just regretted not bringing bodyguards today—if she had, she’d have had them clear him out already.
She said she was worried Evan might misunderstand, but honestly that was nonsense—Lily knew Evan wouldn’t get the wrong idea. She just didn’t want to waste time with irrelevant people right before seeing him.
"Oh, now I’m really curious."
Ryan listened, still smiling, but he was secretly annoyed. Acting stubborn, he said, "I want to see just what kind of friend you’re waiting for."
"I’m not some big shot, but my family isn’t short on money. The way you talk, you make me sound like I’m useless."
Ryan smiled and simply stood next to Lily.
The flight attendants grinned and stayed put too, waiting to see some drama.
"Captain looks pretty handsome when he’s angry."
"Haven’t seen Captain mad in ages. This woman really doesn’t get it—she probably has no clue about his family’s power."
The group joked and laughed, watching Ryan, their eyes full of meaning.
All the flight attendants were thinking about how to land Ryan and climb the social ladder.
At the same time, they found Lily’s attitude confusing and a bit contemptuous.
They just thought Lily was pretending to be aloof.
Sure, she was pretty, but her clothes weren’t any recognizable big brand—she probably wasn’t rich at all.
She acted tough, but wasn’t she just trying to get Ryan interested?
The flight attendants pursed their lips, thinking this woman must be really scheming.
As everyone waited quietly.
Ryan stood there, still wondering how to strike up a conversation with Lily. Whatever he said, she didn’t seem interested.
Just as he was thinking.
Suddenly, Ryan’s eyes lit up. He saw a middle-aged man walking by nearby, carrying a briefcase.
The man moved quickly, handling paperwork as he walked, exuding a strong presence.
He was accompanied by two people.
One was a female secretary helping with his things, the other a woman about Ryan’s age.
"Uncle Chen!"
He called out loudly.
Hearing the shout, the man paused, turned his head, saw Ryan, and walked over.
"Oh, it’s you, Ryan. Just finished a flight?"
The man strode over and, with a glance, also noticed Lily standing there.