Chapter 107: Before the Banquet Starts (2)
She did not mind to see that the man had taken the incident to his heart. Instead, she realized that this man was different from the ambitious yet cowardly Zhao Shuncheng, much less think that he would stab people in their backs. He would at most treat her coldly and ignore her.
Duan Yarong pulled Zhao Shunrong over to sit with them. She intended to encourage Zhao Youlin and Zhao Shuncheng to interact with each other. Unfortunately, Zhao Shuncheng’s coldness had turned the atmosphere awkward.
Duan Yarong was a little embarra.s.sed. So, she targeted Joy and took him from Zhao Youlin’s arms. She said happily, “Rong, he’s Joy, Youlin’s son. Isn’t he very cute? He calls me grandma.”
Joy was a little scared of the fierce-looking man. He unwittingly buried himself into Duan Yarong’s arms.
Zhao Shunrong paused when he heard the word “Grandma.” He cast a tentative glance at Zhao Youlin once again.
When Zhao Youlin met his gaze, she instantly knew what he was thinking in his heart. His eldest uncle must have thought she was ill-intentioned and wanted to use them.
Zhao Youlin smiled and did not say anything. She just looked at him calmly.
Zhao Shunrong and Zhao Youlin locked gazes for a few seconds before he replied, feeling complicated, “Anything is fine as long as you like it.”
Duan Yarong was overjoyed and was about to say further. Suddenly, she heard the sound of footsteps coming from outside.
They looked in the direction of where the sound came from, only to see Uncle Zhao who had led Zhao Youlin over to them was back again with several servants behind him.
“Madam Zhao, Master Zhao, Mr. Zhao asked me to send something over to the eldest lady and the young master of the third generation.”
“Something?” They locked gazes with each other before they raised their heads and looked at him in unison.
Uncle Zhao moved to a corner so that they could see the things held in the servants’ hands.
When they saw those things, everyone froze, “These are…”
Although the Zhao family’s fortunes were inferior to the Nie family and Ye family and their power was not as great as the Ling family and Song family, they prevailed against the rest of them in terms of their long-standing existence and stable foundation.
This was especially so ever since the former master of the Zhao family had slowly retired from its peak period and gradually allowed the eldest son of the Zhao family, Zhao Shunrong to take over in recent years. The Zhao family had developed very rapidly and was almost on par with the four most powerful families.
It was worth mentioning that the four most powerful families, who held the financial lifeline of Zelford, would attend the former master of the Zhao family’s seventieth grand birthday.
Therefore, the upper-cla.s.s society who originally had wanted to attend the banquet but were left without invitation cards had resorted to various channels. Upon knowing the presence of the four most powerful families, they took the extra mile just to sneak into the banquet.
The only explanation was that these people wanted to be acquainted with the men from the four most powerful families so that they could get their things done easier in the future. Some even wished a Lady Luck would smile upon their daughters so that they could catch the eye of one of those young men from the great families. With that, their daughters would soar like eagles and become the madams of wealthy families.
The presence of the Mu family in Shalnork and even in Zelford was unique. Although the Mu family did not have a powerful background like the four most powerful families, many wise men in the upper-cla.s.s society believed that the Mu family’s status in Zelford was more complicated compared to the four most powerful families.
Not only did the Mu family had a complicated relations.h.i.+p with the four most powerful families, but the family had even expanded their strengths overseas. Therefore, most people knew that offending the members of the Mu family in this city or country would bring greater consequences compared to the four most powerful families.
As such, when the eldest lady of the Zhao family married Mu Tingfeng, she looked glamorous on the surface and barely counted as a good match for the Mu family. In fact, many people had described the difference between their status as heaven and earth. Zhao Youlin was seen as the one who rode on the Mu family’s coattails. She was the one who had clung to Mu Tingfeng.
As the day grew darker, the Zhao family’s villa lit up and got more crowded.
The banquet was filled with the images of the exchange of toasts, indulgence in a materialistic world, malicious intent between conversations, as well as hidden grat.i.tude and vengeance for each other.
Regardless of men and women, each and everyone of them put on the same polite yet distanced smiles at the banquet.
They hid their true forms behind their masks. All of them were wolves in sheep’s clothing. Their words were like poison coated in honey. Everything was superficial.
Mu Tingfeng sat in the pa.s.senger seat. He frowned when he saw the banquet being so crowded.
He did not know why he had even bothered to come here. Apparently, he hated such noisy parties filled with fakers.
Although the former master of the Zhao family occupied a significant status among the citizens in Shalnork, he could simply dismiss him.
However, a figure instinctively appeared in Mu Tingfeng’s mind the moment he thought of this banquet. He had instinctively came here and could not figure out why.
“President Mu, shall we…” Xia Zhetao noticed his superior had been sitting in the car for some time and did not seem to want to get out. So, he could not help but ask.
Actually, not only was Mu Tingfeng feeling complicated, but Xia Zhetao also felt hesitant.
He had been with Mu Tingfeng for many years. This was his first time following Mu Tingfeng to a banquet like this.
No one knew better than him how much hatred Mu Tingfeng had for this kind of banquet. However, today Mu Tingfeng had requested him to prepare a present and drove the car here.
‘Today is the former master of the Zhao family’s birthday. The former master of the Zhao family… Zhao family… and the former Mrs. President!’
Xia Zhetao had been thinking about it over and over again. Finally, he thought he had discovered the truth. ‘President Mu, you still have feelings for the former Mrs. President!’
Xia Zhetao broke the silence and snapped Mu Tingfeng out of a daze. His hand moved a little and said, “Mhm, let’s get out of the car.”
When Xia Zhetao got the permission, he hurriedly parked the car and got out of it. He opened the car door for Mu Tingfeng.
The moment Mu Tingfeng stepped into the Zhao family’s main residence, the guests who noticed him stopped talking and looked surprised.
Mu Tingfeng’s face was an iconic logo recognized among the upper-cla.s.s society. A majority of the people could identify him. Even if they did not, they would ask the people around them when they noticed his unique features.
When the people who did know about him were informed that he was Mu Tingfeng, their reactions were the same as the rest.
As such, a strange phenomenon happened in an originally lively and noisy banquet with all the voices of conversations being muted within an instant. All eyes were gathered on a certain man who stood at the entrance.
Mu Tingfeng felt all eyes on him. Some of them showed hints of excitement, happiness, covetousness and greed. He unwittingly frowned.
This was one of the reasons why he had hated these banquets. Whenever he was around, all eyes were glued to him.
Their gazes gave off a hint of obscenity, and he simply found it hard to turn a blind eye to them. This was especially so for the gazes from the women. Although they dared not touch him, they could not wish any harder to offer their naked selves to him on the spot.
Apparently, the glaring from the woman whom he saw in the pet store that day was far more soothing compared to how these women had looked at him.
Mu Tingfeng’s expression slightly darkened. He realized that he had instinctively thought of that woman!