Chapter 450 – Banquet
When Zhao Hai entered the courtyard, a servant immediately came and guided him towards the place that Smith prepared. Smith’s place was very large. Inside were a lot of small courtyards intended for resting.
The servant left after leading Zhao Hai to his courtyard. Zhao Hai pushed the gate open and saw Shue. When Shue noticed who entered, he immediately announced, “The young master is back.”
When they heard Shue, Laura and the others went out. At this point, they were already wearing their home clothes, they looked very casual. Zhao Hai was surprised when he saw Megan.
Zhao Hai gave the group a greeting before entering the living room. When Megan saw that Zhao Hai had sat down, she immediately said, “Big Brother Hai, did the family embarra.s.s you?”
Zhao Hai smiled and said, “It’s alright, I’m fine, they didn’t manage to embarra.s.s me. Right, if you have time, lead me to see Grandpa Gan. I have some seafood from the s.p.a.ce, I’ll go give some to him as our gift.”
Megan nodded and said, “Right, we’ll go to Grandpa Gan later. Big Brother Hai, what did you experience in the lobby today?”
Zhao looked at Megan and knew that if she didn’t get to know what happened today, then she would be uneasy. So Zhao Hai had no choice but to tell Megan and the others about what happened earlier.
When Megan heard Zhao Hai, she said, “Third Grandfather has always been like that. In the past, he already wants me to marry. Thankfully, Father and Grandpa managed to stop him, but it was not without pressure. Third Grandfather has strong relations.h.i.+p with a lot of elders, so they pressured Father and Grandpa all the time. The reason why Grandpa didn’t oppose to our engagement that much was precisely because of this matter.”
Zhao Hai nodded, he knew that these things tend to happen in Great Clans. Because of a human’s greed, people will always want more. They would resort to doing various things in order to sate their thirst.
Then Megan said, “With Fifth Uncle being on bad terms with you, he already lost Grandpa’s favor. At this point, he should be holding a huge grudge with you. But since he doesn’t have Grandpa’s support, you don’t really need to worry.”
Zhao Hai smiled faintly, “I have nothing to worry about. With my current strength, even if the whole Rosen Empire deals with me, it would be impossible. There’s no need to worry about.”
Megan sighed and said, “I’m not worried about your safety, I’m worried that Fifth Uncle would annoy you to the point that the Calci Family would pay for it. The Calci Family wouldn’t be able to resist your attacks.”
As soon as Zhao Hai and Laura heard Megan, they couldn’t help but laugh. Megan also chuckled, but what she said wasn’t a joke. The people from the Calci Family didn’t know how strong Zhao Hai was. But Megan knew that if Zhao Hai would seriously deal with the Calci Family, then the family would certainly cease to exist.
After laughing, Laura turned her head to Zhao Hai and said, “Brother Hai, you should still prepare yourself for the following days. I think you would be invited to several banquets.”
Zhao Hai stared, then he frowned and said, “Banquets? Can I not partic.i.p.ate?”
Megan forced a smile and said, “That would be difficult, the Calci Family aren’t the only ones who would hold a banquet, other n.o.bles would do so as well. The Princes will also hold a banquet. Even if you don’t partic.i.p.ate in the other n.o.ble’s banquet as well as the Calci Family’s, would you dare decline Charlie’s invitation? Also, I think you should attend several banquets since it would benefit the Buda Clan. Establis.h.i.+ng personal connections is extremely important for the clan right now.”
Zhao Hai nodded, then he sighed. This was a nerd’s nightmare, they really didn’t want to socialize. For Zhao Hai, these banquets were surely a pain in the a.s.s.
But what Megan said was also true. For a n.o.ble, banquets were a normal occurrence, which were also the bane of Zhao Hai.
Laura looked at Zhao Hai’s appearance and smiled faintly, “Elder Brother Hai, don’t worry, if you really don’t like partic.i.p.ating on those banquets, then you can choose to not go. After all, the Buda Clan’s strength is already quite high. Even if you don’t go to those gatherings, other n.o.bles would still take the initiative to approach you.”
Megan didn’t oppose, but she still said, “With the current strength of the Buda Clan, we can surely opt not to attend those banquets. But the problem with this is that our current strength is still not clearly known to other people. We may have killed 9th rank experts in Purcell Duchy, but the majority of the continent gave most of the credit to Origin Sword Saint. If that wasn’t the case, people would have already reached out to the Buda Clan. Therefore, I think that we should attend some of the banquets.”
Zhao Hai turned his head to Laura who nodded. At its current state, the Buda Clan really did need visibility in the banquets of other n.o.bles, especially in those hosted by Great Clans. This would slowly make the Buda Clan known to the higher ranked n.o.bles, which may lead to partners.h.i.+ps in the future.
Seeing Laura agree, Zhao Hai nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll go partic.i.p.ate. But we should choose which ones to go to. I don’t want to spend all of my time attending banquets.”
Laura smiled and said, “Don’t worry, you won’t waste much time on those banquets. When G.o.d’s Grace Day pa.s.ses by, it won’t take too long for us to become busy. There’s a lot of things waiting for us back at the Beastman Prairie. Even if you want to partic.i.p.ate in a banquet, it would be impossible.”
At this time, Shue sound was heard, “Grand Duke Smith.”
Zhao Hai stared, he didn’t know what Smith came for at this time. But he still stood up and walked outside along with Laura and the others. Seeing Smith and the madam enter the courtyard, Zhao Hai immediately welcomed them inside the living room. After having sat down, Laura and the others served them some tea.
Smith took a sip of tea and looked at Zhao Hai, “Little Hai, you really performed well today. Not only did you not smear the face of your Buda Clan, you’ve made father proud as well. I’ll be having a family dinner this evening. I will be inviting eldest brother, third brother and fourth brother along. You should also come, they really want to meet you.”
Zhao Hai nodded, “Alright, I will go when the time comes.”
Smith nodded, then he sighed, “You going against Third Uncle earlier isn’t a big deal. In the past, when you are still in conflict with the family, Father went to Sky Water City to confront your engagement with Megan. But in the end, he came back to the headquarters with a positive impression of you, which made the family elders dissatisfied. Today, I want my brothers to go meet you. We brothers can now be considered to be the core of the family. If all of us were to agree with each other, the family would be able to do anything. Otherwise, the family may keep on giving you weird looks in the future.’
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, “You don’t have to worry about that, I won’t be staying here for long. After G.o.d’s Grace Day pa.s.ses, I would have to leave. But in these days, there should be no problems, I could just leave the fort for the time being.”
Smith sighed, he didn’t know what else to say. He knew that the people of the family had a general dislike for Zhao Hai because of the good he has. Almost everyone wanted to offend him, but they didn’t want to be the first since they didn’t want to suffer consequences.
Smith was afraid of this matter, although he didn’t know Zhao Hai’s true strength, he was sure that it wasn’t very weak. If those people from the family really did offend Zhao Hai, then the family would surely find themselves in a bit of trouble.
When Megan saw Smith’s expression, she couldn’t help but smile, “Father, there won’t be a problem. In the fort, Grandpa Gan will look after us. Outside, there’s no need to worry about it as well. Right, Father, can you pay attention to the banquets happening in the capital and see which ones suit the attendance of Big Brother Hai?”
Smith stared for a moment, then he immediately understood what Megan meant, he turned to Zhao Hai and sadi, “You plan to attend banquets? Considering my reputation, no n.o.ble would dare not send me an invitation.”
Zhao Hai forced a smile and said, “If I could choose, then I’d rather not attend any of them. But Uncle knows that with my Clan’s current status, we really need to make a few more connections. Therefore, I have no choice but attend those gatherings.”
Smith smiled and said, “Right, it’s as you said, not partic.i.p.ating in any of them is not good. Alright, I’ll pay attention to some n.o.bles who have good relations with our Calci Family and see which ones can provide you with benefits.”
Zhao Hai nodded and didn’t talk anymore. He knew that with the Buda Clan’s status, not many people would go and take initiative to invite him to a banquet. For Smith to seek those who are close to the Calci Family is also good, at the very least, for those people would have some sense of familiarity with him. If he went to those where he was relatively unknown, some ugly scenes may occur.
Smith looked at Zhao Hai and smiled, “Alright, let’s stop here, I’ll go back and get ready. When everything is prepared, I’ll have someone come and fetch you.” Zhao Hai nodded, then Smith, along with the Madam who was talking with Laura, left.
Looking at the departing Smith, Zhao Hai then turned his head to Megan, “Megan, what kind of persons are your eldest, second and third uncles? Are they like Juwan?”
Megan smiled and said, “They’re not, rest a.s.sured, my other uncles are really easy to get along with. Especially my third uncle, he doesn’t think of anything aside from cultivation.”