CH 135 Stand In Front
TN: bonus chaptersđź’•
In June in Yan City, it was almost eight o'clock in the evening, and the sky was reluctantly darkening, the transition from blue to gray slow and stretched.
The elongated road was congested with traffic. It stood in front of the lobby of an old-fashioned hotel in the city center. The doormen opened the doors in an orderly and efficient manner, leading the well-dressed guests into the hall.
The middle-aged man who just got out of the car straightened his clothes, held the invitation card in his hand, bent his arms to be held by his female companion, and walked in with his chin slightly raised. After walking a few steps, his eyes suddenly lit up and he left his female companion behind in a few steps quickly: "CEO He!"
The loud voice caught the attention of the family of three in front. The slightly fat man turned his head, saw the person behind him, and stopped in his tracks, with a standard social smile on his face: "So it's CEO Zhang, long time no see."
"You are also here to attend the He family's banquet." CEO Zhang shook hands with CEO He, smiling warmly and familiarly.
"That's right." CEO He glanced at the invitation card in his hand with a smile, and said, "It seems that CEO Zhang has also been invited."
"Yes." CEO Zhang carefully put the invitation into the pocket of his suit, and he couldn't hide his excitement: "Speaking of which, it was quite lucky. We happened to cooperate with Tunan Group last month. I didn't expect that Mr. He still remembered me, I couldn’t believe it when I received the invitation.”
"Say, how long has it been since the He family held such a grand banquet? The last time was when I first came to Yan City. Although I didn't have the chance to see it at that time, I still hear people talking about the birthday party of the eldest son of the He family, but I didn't expect that I would have the opportunity to step into this banquet today, it's really….."
CEO Zhang was too excited to hold back. He expressed all the excitement in his heart and only then realized that he had lost his composure after he finished speaking, and his voice also lowered. But it could be seen that CEO He was not impatient. Both his wife and child smiled slightly, a little moved and a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, I was too excited just now."
"It's okay." CEO He still smiled. Seeing that he was still treating others sincerely despite his age, he thought of his honesty and loyalty in the business field, and kindly gave him a tip: "Today's banquet does not have a theme that is made known. After CEO Zhang go inside, don't rush to see Mr. He immediately, maybe it would be better to chat with Mr. He after Mr. He finished his speech."
CEO Zhang only came to Yan City at his age, and he was able to get to this level in five or six years, which was absolutely inseparable from his own high EQ. As soon as he heard CEO He's words, he knew that there must be something else going on here. Thinking that all parties were guessing about the intention of the He family's banquet, he had the bottom line in his heart, and he didn't ask CEO He what he knew, but just sincerely thanked him.
CEO He nodded and took his wife and child to the banquet hall first. CEO Zhang was a few steps behind and quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead. Another boss behind him heard part of their conversation and caught up and said, "Old Zhang, just now what were you talking about with CEO He?"
CEO Zhang saw that he was a good friend in the business circle, and he didn't hide what he learned. He leaned into his ear and whispered a few words.
The friend's eyes widened slightly, and he couldn't hide his surprise in his lowered tone: "Then the He family's banquet this time is not for their eldest son?"
CEO Zhang nodded slightly, his voice lower than that of his friend's: "It's probably not."
As soon as he finished speaking, he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye, and asked in a daze, "Is the one who just went in, Secretary Zheng?" (TN: chief official of a branch of a socialist or communist party)
"Who?" The friend immediately looked up in the direction he said, but saw nothing, shook his head and said, "Impossible, Secretary Zheng has never attended these banquets."
CEO Zhang thought about it for a while, and he thought it was indeed true, and said, "Maybe I saw wrong."
"What you said just now....."
The two lowered their voices and discussed in whispers. After whispering, they exchanged glances, let their female companions take their arms, and walked into the banquet hall.
In the bright and resplendent hall, there were clunking champagne glasses and exchanged greetings among the attendees. The range of invitations issued by the He family this time was not small. There were people from all circles. Those who were familiar with each other greeted each other, and those who didn't know each other could exchange a few words with a glass of wine and exchange business cards.
The topic that everyone discussed the most was the theme of today's banquet. Especially the few families who have frequent contacts with the He family have the most people around them. It was the same for the elders and the younger generation.
Beside the dessert table, several girls surrounded the girl in the long champagne colored dress in the middle.
"Ya Ya, do you know what today's banquet is for?"
"That's right. The last time the He family held such a big banquet seemed to be He Qianjian's twelfth birthday. What is the reason for this time? Making up for He Qianjian's eighteenth birthday?"
"A lot of people guess that way, and I think it's probably a nine out of ten possibility."
"Although there are quite a lot of people guessing like this, my dad said that this banquet should have nothing to do with He Qianjian, so I am curious. After all, which big banquet held by the He family before had nothing to do with Eldest Young Master He. Eldest Young Lady, please satisfy my curiosity, does it have anything to do with your fiancé?"
Han Qiya smiled slightly, her voice soft: "It has something to do with my fiancé, but it has nothing to do with He Qianjian."
The girls were taken aback for a moment, and they all had question marks on their foreheads.
Wasn't He Qianjian Han Qiya's fiancé? What did she mean it had a relationship with her fiancé, but had nothing to do with He Qianjian?
The girls were confused, but Han Qiya didn't say any more, just smiled and looked in one direction.
Not far from them, a man with peach blossom eyes put down the champagne glass in his hand, raised his eyebrows to look at the other person beside him, and did not hide the gloating in his eyes: "Yo, the real official fiancee has appeared, but you the supporting male lead no. 2 after chasing for so long still have no name or status, and even no idea what the other's sexuality is, shouldn't you give up?"
Shi Fengyue looked in the same direction as Han Qiya, and he didn't even bother to spare Li Nanfeng a look from the corner of his eye, and said coldly, "You should think about how to discuss the next cooperation with Jiang Chen."
Li Nanfeng shrugged with boredom: "It's not important to cooperate or anything. The important thing is whether you can pursue your love. At the beginning, my laboratory was built so quickly, wasn't it because it would make it easier for your road to love? For such a long time, the boiled frog in warm water is already cooked by now. But you, good grief, he probably still does not even know that you are even chasing him."
Only then did Shi Fengyue give him a look out of the kindness in his heart. With his eyelids half-drooped, he tilted his head slightly and asked, "What do you think is the difference between me and you?"
Li Nanfeng rubbed his chin, pretending to think, and answered after three seconds: "One is average handsome and the other is exceptionally handsome. Moreover, the average handsome dude is a pure virgin who has never even been in a relationship, and the exceptionally handsome dude lived up to expectations and became a playboy?"
Shi Fengyue rolled his eyes, and answered him unhurriedly: "The difference is that I am a human being, and you are not."
Li Nanfeng clicked his tongue: "You can't say that I'm not human just because I get laid. Shi Fengyue, this is no good. You not only don't have the heart to improve, but you even look down on me, a full scoring player."
Shi Fengyue gave him an eyeroll, then turned his eyes to look forward again.
Li Nanfeng was dissatisfied, and asked: "Just tell me, why am I, a big handsome guy, not human, and if you don't make it clear, I will make you look at my handsome face all the time, make you ashamed, make you regret, make you....."
"Shut up."
Li Nanfeng shut up. He followed the sudden commotion and looked in the same direction. He saw five members of the He family walking in, plus one Jiang Chen.
No, Li Nanfeng corrected himself in his heart, plus one He Qianjian.
"I've gotta say." He said in Shi Fengyue's ear, "I never thought that Jiang Xiao Chen would be so handsome in a formal suit. If when I saw him for the first time he was dressed like this, I also would have chased after him with you."
Shi Fengyue glanced at him, and reminded in an indistinct tone: "When you first saw him, he was still underage."
Li Nanfeng didn't care at all: "So what? Is it not allowed to fall in love early? If it's consensual then it's not against the law…..wait——" His expression changed, and his wide-open eyes were full of disbelief. Even when he thought of this possibility, he still asked with ninety-nine percent doubts: "Was it because Jiang Xiao Chen was underage that you kept silent before? No way, you are not such a noble and great person, or could I have misjudged you for so many years?"
However, before Shi Fengyue could answer him, his eyes, like everyone else in the banquet hall, were attracted by the three siblings on the stage whose formal wear were clearly made by the same designer.
Someone whispered:
"What's going on?"
"Who is that boy? Why is he wearing the same style as the second and third child of the He family?"
"Yes, where is He Qianjian?"
"He's behind, next to old Mr. He, wearing a dark blue suit, do you see him?"
"Why is he standing there, and why is he wearing a blue suit? If one doesn't know better, one may think that those three in front are siblings."
"I've gotta say, that boy really looks more like the He family than He Qianjian....."
As soon as the person who spoke at the end finished speaking, he was startled by the thought that suddenly appeared in his mind. He looked around, but saw that the people he was chatting with all had the same expressions.
Several people looked at each other, and before they had time to confirm what the other was thinking, He Yanfeng's voice spread through the microphone to every corner of the banquet hall.
He Yanfeng simply thanked the guests who came to the banquet, and got straight to the point: "Today's banquet is to announce something, and it is also to celebrate something in advance."
"About half a year ago, I suddenly found out that my eldest son had been mistakenly switched with another family's child. I wanted to let the two children return to their original track immediately, but at this time they were both in their third year of high school, and they were in the midst of preparing for the college entrance examination. In order not to affect them, we decided to postpone the time."
He Yanfeng put his arms around Jiang Chen's shoulders, and announced: "The one next to me is my first child with my wife Yang Yun——Jiang Chen." After a moment's pause, he looked to Jiang Chen at his side, and smiled before continuing: "Both my wife and I think this name sounds good, and we are also grateful to Mr. Jiang Zhuo and Ms. Yang Si for their unreserved love for him in the past eighteen years, so even if according to the rules, he should be named following the "Qian" character generation of the He family, and the surname should be changed. But after discussing it with my wife, we still think that the name that had accompanied him for eighteen years should be kept."
The guests in the hall were all surprised for a moment, and when they came back to their senses, they discussed with the people around them:
"What does the He family mean? Do they recognize this child or not?"
"The name is not even changed. I don't think it means welcoming the child back."
"He Qianjian is still here. One's surname is Jiang and the other is He. Isn't that clear enough?"
Jiang Chen didn't hear the discussions in the audience. His eyes widened slightly, looking at the biological parents who he seemed to have never really understood before, and he couldn't hide the astonishment in his heart.
"Dad….."
"Come here and have a few words with everyone." He Yanfeng's eyes overflowed with smiles, with a trace of mischief, just like the appearance he had when he was brought to the study and pretended to beat and scold him, showing a bit of naughtiness in a childish manner. He approached Jiang Chen's ear and lowered his voice, "After the banquet is over, if your grandfather raises his cane, you might have to stand in front for your father."