Chapter 68.1 — Birthday Banquet

As the hours passed, Qin Jiran saw guests from a range of different fields and countries. While some of them left immediately after giving Old Master Su their gift, others left after giving their gift and having a brief chat. Only a few intended to stay for the final evening banquet.

Thus, it could be seen that the guests who arrived were divided into two categories. The ones who were staying for the evening banquet were mostly locals and business partners of the Su Company. The ones who weren’t came from the underworld business.

As Qin Jiran was introduced to guest after guest by Old Master Su, he tried his best to remember the names and identities of the people he saw. He helped the old master collect birthday gifts and also received quite a few gifts and business cards himself. Most of them were from the elderly guests.

From antiques to mansions, the gifts were so generous that just looking at them was enough to give him a headache. And due to Old Master Su’s insistence, he couldn’t reject any of the gifts.

At first, Qin Jiran had felt skeptical, wondering why these people would bring him specially prepared gifts when it was Old Master Su’s birthday banquet that they were attending. But it didn’t take long for him to realize that the old master must’ve informed them beforehand that he would be introducing his new grandson-in-law at the banquet. This display of consideration touched Qin Jiran.

Speaking of the elders, the few he recognized were all hegemonic figures. Their acknowledgment, as well as their business cards, were worth thousands of pieces of gold. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that this birthday banquet had brought Qin Jiran into a whole new world, one that was much, much more luxurious and exciting than the “normal” world.

Before the evening banquet began, the Su family convened to split up tasks and got busy again.

Su Yanyi, Qin Jiran, and Su Yanmo were put in charge of reception. When the three attractive youths of the Su family stood together, it was truly an eye-catching sight. Alas, they all seemed capable of becoming living, moving icebergs, each one wearing an expression colder than the last. Qin Jiran, at least, was trying to control his expression, striving for a handsome doorman appearance.

Nearby, Mother and Father Su watched them speechlessly.

“Say, who do you think our children takes after? With them there, we don’t even need to turn on the air conditioner.” Mother Su had a lively personality while Father Su, though taciturn, was by no means cold. So how did their children turn out so cold?

“Xiao Mo wasn’t as bad before, but he’s become colder since the issue with Wang Zhirou.” Father Su was also clueless.

“In that case, should we find Xiao Mo a girlfriend? Look, Xiao Yi changed a lot. She’s still cold, but when she looks at Jiran, a smile would appear in her eyes.” Mother Su was especially observant when it came to her children. Although they were cold, it was good that at least one of them had found happiness.

Father Su smiled gently, looked at Mother Su, and suddenly said, “When we were young, I also looked at you the same way.”

Mother Su stared at him with a slightly reddened face. Jeez, he was already over fifty years old, how could he still say such mushy words!

One after another, the rest of the guests trickled in. Among them were representatives from the other three great families, including the Qin family.

Old Master Qin was extremely ill, but fortunately, he was not comatose. Knowing that Old Master Su was holding a birthday banquet, Old Master Qin had told all three of his sons to attend. Qin Zhenyi was the first representative from one of the three great families to arrive, and when he did, he was immediately spotted by Qin Jiran.

However, he only gave his biological father a brief glance before retracting his gaze.

Su Yanyi, on the other hand, shot Qin Zhenyi a much more hostile look. Soon, all of the representatives from the Qin family arrived, and she wondered what they were thinking. There was a total of nine people split into groups of threes. Practically the whole family was present.

“I’ll go?” Su Yanmo offered. He could tell that neither his sister nor brother-in-law wanted to deal with the Qin family. However, his sister responded noncommittally.

“Who sent so many invitations to them? What a waste of food.” Still, she had no intentions of entertaining such an unwanted group.

“Mom was the one who sent out the invitations. Everyone was invited, so it would be awkward if we didn’t invite them too,” Su Yanmo explained as he stepped forward to welcome them. Su Yanyi looked at them and suddenly, her eyes brightened. She took Qin Jiran’s hand and also walked over.

The Qin family noticed them, of course. Qin Zhenyi unabashedly fixed his gaze on Qin Jiran and made no move to step forward, as though waiting for Qin Jiran to approach him first. Unfortunately for him, Qin Jiran and Su Yanyi had no intentions of doing that, which caused ugly expressions to appear on the faces of all the Qin family members.

Then suddenly, the couple walked closer. The Qin family broke out in satisfied smiles, but when the couple moved past them without stopping and greeted the guests behind them instead, those smiles turned into expressions even uglier than before.

“Uncle Bai, it’s been a while,” Su Yanyi greeted, a touch of familiarity in her cold voice.

Clearly, she had ignored the Qin family on purpose. She wasn’t the type of person to put on a fake smile and politely greet those she despised. Since they had provoked her, they should be prepared to have their faces slapped over and over again.

The “Uncle Bai” she had just greeted was the current elder of the great four family’s Bai family. The Bai family and the Su family shared a friendly relationship because they were long-time business partners. All three members of the Bai family had arrived, and they’d arrived just in time.

Bai Bolun was an astute old man. With only one glance, he was able to figure out what was going on. He played along, greeting her warmly, “Yanyi, you’ve become more beautiful since the last time we met.”

“You’re flattering me too much, Uncle Bai. Please come in, my parents have been waiting.” As she led the Bai family in, they passed by the Qin family, and she didn’t spare them a single glance. It was as if they were mere decorations.

The only son of the Bai family, Bai Qing, walked ahead of his family and arrived next to her. “Yanyi, long time no see,” he said with a tone of familiarity.

“Finally decided to return from abroad? How come?” Su Yanyi’s tone could also be considered one of familiarity. Since the Su family and Qin family were friendly with each other, she and Bai Qing had grown up together. However, when he reached adulthood, Bai Qing left overseas and rarely came back to visit.

“I heard that you got married, so I wanted to come back and take a look at the man who is able to match you.” He sounded somewhat lonely, and he subconsciously glanced at Qin Jiran. In his inquisitive gaze, there was a trace of envy.

Actually, Su Yanyi was one of the reasons behind why he decided to go abroad. He had pursued her and was rejected, leaving him with no choice but to give up. He’d known about her marriage three years ago, but at the same time, he was aware of the Su family’s traditional rule. Therefore, he’d assumed and comforted himself by thinking that she was only married because she wanted to free herself from that rule.

Then to his surprise, he learned that Su Yanyi had recently disclosed her marriage to the public. He understood Su Yanyi’s character to a certain degree and knew that he could no longer find excuses to comfort himself. Only after careful deliberation did he decide to return to China.

It was too late for him and Su Yanyi, but nonetheless, he wanted to see for himself if the woman he liked was happy, and he wanted to meet the lucky man who was able to hold her heart.

Qin Jiran met Bai Qing’s gaze and instantly, an alarm went off in his mind, and his guard shot up.

Eight big words appeared in his mind: Beware, a love rival has appeared!

VIN: Today, I went on an adventure. I stepped outside. On a weekend. For more than 5 minutes. And I’ve returned with a rhyme. 100% guarantee you will tear up.

The sky is pretty,

But my toes are frozen.

The mud is shitty,

And I need some lotion.

This rhyme is so witty,

And contains so much emotion.

Wow, I’m a genius.

Let us be intellectuals together, my dear readers.

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