Chapter 387 The Welcome Party Begins

“Perfect! Is it okay for you two to wear this outfit?” Wang Yanzhi asked.

Gu Hua turned around a little shyly, then nodded: "I can, it looks great!"

Gu Yin agreed, and so the two of them decided on their dresses and hair styling.

The men's attire is simpler, consisting of suits and tuxedos, differing only in style and color.

The old lady and her two daughters-in-law, like Wang Yanzhi, all wore cheongsams.

The banquet started promptly at 7 p.m.

The banquet was held in a castle owned by the Zhou family near the sea, a place they specifically used for hosting important parties.

It's big enough, luxurious enough, convenient enough, and quiet enough.

On the second floor, Gu Yin opened Chu Yan's chat page. The conversation ended when he sent her a message saying he was logging on, and there was no reply after that. According to the time difference, he should have arrived an hour ago. Why hadn't he shown up for so long? His phone was off, and when she contacted other members of the Chu family, they all said they hadn't seen him either. Gu Yin started to worry.

"What's wrong? Something on your mind?" Gu Qinglang and his wife, along with Gu Le and Gu Yin, were waiting upstairs. The others were already there. Seeing his daughter looking preoccupied, Gu Qinglang asked with concern.

Gu Yin sighed, "Chu Yan said he had boarded the plane a long time ago, but there's still no news. I'm a little worried about him."

Gu Qinglang was taken aback: "What about Brother Chu? No news from him either?"

Gu Yin nodded: "They said Chu Yan flew directly from the United States to Hong Kong without returning to Beijing, and that Chu's father and the others are already downstairs."

Li Mengxin asked worriedly, "Is the plane alright?"

Gu Yin shook her head; she had already checked, and the plane was fine.

Gu Le paced back and forth anxiously, thinking of something. "This can't be right. That calamity only happened in September, and it's only July now. Could it have come earlier than expected?"

Seeing Gu Le's expression, Gu Yin's face darkened even more: "001, has something happened to Chu Yan?!"

"There was a slight mishap, but it's nothing serious, you don't need to worry."

When Gu Yin asked any further questions, 001 remained silent.

There was a knock at the door, and Wang Yanzhi and Zhou Wansheng pushed the door open and came in.

"Get ready, we're going down!"

Although she didn't know the specifics yet, knowing that Chu Yan was alright finally calmed Gu Yin down.

Stepping outside, soothing music drifted from downstairs. Reaching the five-meter-wide spiral staircase, Wang Yanzhi stretched out her arm.

Gu Yin reached out and took Li Mengxin's arm. Zhou Wansheng held Gu Le's hand, with Gu Qinglang standing beside them. During the chorus of the song, the family of six walked slowly downstairs side by side.

When the people downstairs saw them coming down, they all walked towards them.

Gu Yin saw the excited members of the Gu family, Li Li and the others, as well as the Chu family, Wu Ye who had come from Myanmar, and various bigwigs who frequently appeared in financial newspapers in later years, as well as political figures from Hong Kong and S City! There were also many unfamiliar faces from abroad, which was enough to show how huge the Zhou family's influence was!

Zhou Wansheng and his family stood on the stage, gestured, the music stopped, and the crowd below quieted down.

"Today is a very happy and joyous day! Welcome everyone to join us! The theme of this party is a welcome reception! I'm sure you've all heard some of our family's private affairs! And I'm sure you're all very curious about them!"

The people below laughed and egged them on: "We're so curious! Tell us what happened!"

Zhou Wansheng gestured to calm things down, then continued with a smile, "Alright! Enough with the chit-chat! Today's banquet has two main purposes: first, to announce the safe return of my wife's biological son and his family; and second, to celebrate my granddaughter's outstanding achievement of becoming the top scorer in the national college entrance examination!"

Some people below suddenly realized, some were full of doubt, and some looked at the family on the stage with curiosity. In short, all eyes were now focused on Gu Yin's family on the stage!

Afterwards, Zhou Wansheng briefly explained how Gu Qinglang had been abandoned and then found.

Below the stage, Zhao Manni, who was sizing up Gu Qinglang, was nudged by the person next to her. She turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Even if he's a fake young master, he's still been raised for decades. Isn't that affection less than birth? If your Zhou Ming hadn't left, you would be the Zhou family's lady. Are you really willing to be replaced by some nobody country bumpkin?"

"That's right, listen to this. He said he grew up in the countryside, married a countrywoman, and had two country bumpkins. With Zhou Ming's huge company, who among them can take his place? After all these years of hard work, you're just going to give up?"

"If it were me, I would fight to the death to stay! I refuse to believe that Grandpa Zhou and his wife are so heartless!"

"And your two children, you raised them so well, they've always been the young master and young lady of the Zhou family, and now they've been kicked out of Hong Kong? Don't you feel anything about it?"

Hearing the surrounding noise and seeing their eyes soften as they looked like they were about to cause trouble, Zhao Manni chuckled and said, "What do I have to be upset about? I'm first and foremost a Miss Zhao, and only secondly a Mrs. Zhou. Since Zhou Ming isn't a member of the Zhou family, then I'll just be a Miss Zhao again. I'm rich and beautiful, and there's a whole bunch of handsome men waiting for me to patronize me. I don't have time to think about this and that. Besides, Zhou Ming himself doesn't care. What right do I, an outsider, have to object? Don't be ridiculous! Aren't handsome men good enough, or isn't money good enough? Why make things difficult for yourself?"

He shook his head after saying that.