Chapter 461 Top-Tier Wealthy Family and Friends Group Arrive by Surprise!

Old Mrs. Lin was startled, tripped on the curb, and fell to the ground with a thud. She slapped her thigh and started yelling, "Police! Murder!"

People around pointed and whispered, but no one stepped forward to help. Everyone knew the Lin family was finished; throwing a tantrum now would only make them look like clowns.

"Drive." Su Yue didn't even glance at the ground.

Gu Beichen slammed the car door shut, walked around the front of the car, and jumped into the driver's seat. The engine roared, leaving Old Lady Lin with a face full of car exhaust fumes.

Instead of returning to the military compound, the car turned onto Chang'an Avenue and stopped in front of the Beijing Hotel.

"Here?" Su Yue looked at the magnificent building.

"I promised you." Gu Beichen unbuckled his seatbelt, leaned over to straighten her scarf, and said, "I'll hold a romantic wedding for you."

The entire banquet hall on the top floor was booked.

There were no outsiders, and no messy social obligations.

Only family members and a few sworn brothers who came from Hainan Island.

The crystal chandelier casts a dreamlike light.

On the long table were Su Yue's favorite squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, braised prawns, and a multi-tiered cream cake.

Zhang Huilan hugged Yunting, laughing until tears streamed down her face.

Chu Jingya and Yang Yiyi are opening champagne.

The Gu brothers were making a fuss.

"Speak! Speak!" Gu Pingan and Gu Ningjing banged their spoons on the bowl.

Gu Beichen took off his military cap and placed it on the table, poured two glasses of red wine, and handed one to Su Yue.

“I’m a rough man, I don’t know how to say nice things.” He touched Su Yue’s cup, his voice crisp. “I only know one thing. In this life, guarding the country’s borders is a responsibility, but guarding you is an instinct.”

He tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

Su Yue took a sip, the wine tasting sweet and sour on her tongue: "Commander Gu, this is quite expensive. Booking this event must have cost you ten years' worth of allowance."

“It’s worth it.” Gu Beichen pulled her over, and music started playing—a soothing slow waltz.

The two danced in the center of the dance floor.

The shadow of the Lin family, the pressure of scientific research, and the malice from the outside world were all kept out by this thick wall.

At this moment, she was simply Su Yue, and he was simply Gu Beichen.

"Are you tired?" Gu Beichen asked, feeling her weight leaning against him.

"A little," Su Yue said, resting her head on his shoulder, "but it felt great."

Outside the window, fireworks exploded in the Beijing night sky. The colorful lights reflected on the glass, intertwining with the celebrations inside.

In a corner of the banquet hall, under the shadow of heavy velvet curtains, sat an old man.

He was wearing a faded Zhongshan suit and holding an old-fashioned enamel mug in his hands.

His hair had turned completely white, and his face was etched with the lines of time.

He didn't go up to offer a toast, nor did he touch his chopsticks.

He just stared at the spinning figure in the center of the dance floor.

Those hands, like withered tree roots, trembled uncontrollably.

A single, murky tear rolled down his cheek and landed in the teacup, creating a tiny ripple.

“So alike…so alike…” the old man murmured to himself, his voice hoarse as if he were sanding sandpaper, “Xiao Wan, our granddaughter…has made something of herself.”

He took a photograph out of his inner pocket.

The black and white photo has yellowed; it shows a young woman holding a baby girl.

The woman's eyebrows and eyes were exactly the same as Su Yue's.

A waiter carrying a tray passed by and gave the incongruous old man a strange look: "Sir, are you a relative of the Gu family? The main course is served."

The old man hurriedly stuffed the photo back, wiped his face with his sleeve, and stood up shakily: "No... I just came to take a look. I'll leave after I've looked at it."

"Sir, please show me your invitation."

Although the waiter's voice was polite, he had already physically blocked the elderly man's way and even waved to the security guard in the distance.

After all, the old man's attire was really too shabby.

The faded Zhongshan suit, with frayed cuffs, and the chipped enamel mug he was holding, were completely out of place in the opulent banquet hall of the Beijing Hotel.

The old man clutched the yellowed photograph tightly, shrinking into the shadows as if afraid of being seen.

"I...I'm not going in." He waved his hand, trying to hide the photo back in his pocket, but his movements were clumsy due to his panic. "I'll just take a look at it from the doorway and then I'll leave."

"Sir, this place has been booked by Commander Gu tonight. No unauthorized personnel are allowed to linger." The waiter was a little impatient and reached out to pull the old man's arm. "Why don't you go down to the lobby and rest for a while?"

A long, slender, fair hand suddenly reached out and grabbed the waiter's wrist.

It wasn't very powerful, but it was very stable.

"Who said they are just idle people?"

Su Yue stopped dancing at some point and stood two meters away.

She released Gu Beichen's hand, straightened the hem of her cheongsam, and walked over step by step in her high heels.

The waiter was taken aback. Recognizing the man as the evening's VIP, he quickly let go, stammering, "Director Su... Director Su, this old gentleman doesn't have an invitation, and he's been staring at you the whole time. I'm afraid..."

"What are you afraid of? Are you afraid they are assassins sent by the Lin family?" Su Yue chuckled, her gaze passing over the waiter and landing on the hunched figure.

The old man stood stiffly, head bowed, unable to find his own reflection in those eyes that so closely resembled his deceased wife's.

"grandfather."

Su Yue sighed, took out a handkerchief from her bag, and handed it over. "If you don't wipe your tears soon, tomorrow's Hong Kong newspaper headlines will be 'The head of the Huo family receives a cold reception in Beijing, why is he so miserable and in tears?'"

The waiter's chin nearly hit his foot.

grandfather?

Hong Kong City…the head of the Huo family?!

That Fok Chun-wah who controls half of the port city's shipping lifeline, and whose every move sends shivers down the spines of the entire Southeast Asian economic zone?!

This old man dressed like a doorman?!

Huo Zhenhua's body jolted, and he suddenly looked up.

That aged yet still shrewd and dignified face, now adorned with two lines of clear tears, looked somewhat comical, yet also revealed a heartbreaking tenderness.

“Yueya…” Huo Zhenhua wiped his face haphazardly and hid the enamel mug behind his back. “You…you saw me a long time ago?”

"The five red characters 'Serve the People' on your enamel mug reflect light like a searchlight under the laser light; it's hard to miss them."

Su Yue stepped forward and naturally took the old man's arm. "Now that you're here, why are you hiding? Did you forget to bring a red envelope and are you afraid I'll try to extort you?"

"I brought it! I brought it!" Huo Zhenhua burst into laughter through his tears. His granddaughter's teasing made his awkwardness of being close to home lessen considerably.

He straightened his back and instantly transformed from a dejected old man back into the powerful and influential businessman he once was.

"Who dares to say that I, Fok Chun-wah, can't afford to give my granddaughter a gift?"

Huo Zhenhua carefully tucked the yellowed photo into his pocket, then clapped his hands.

The heavy, ornately carved doors of the banquet hall were pushed open from the outside.

Two rows of bodyguards dressed in black suits and white gloves filed in, each carrying a mahogany box tied with red ribbons.

There were a total of eighteen boxes.

They completely blocked the aisle of the banquet hall.

The guests who were clinking glasses stopped what they were doing and craned their necks. Even Gu Beichen's comrades, who had seen a lot in the world, stared in disbelief.