0019 22 Ye Family Banquet (Part 2)

22. Ye Family Banquet (Chinese)

Inside the hall, Ye Rouxin walked onto the stage and tapped her champagne glass with a spoon, attracting the guests to gather around.

"Hello everyone, tonight is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a time for family reunions. The fact that we can gather here with all of you guests means that we are probably one family."

Everyone laughed. Ye Rouxin's humorous opening drew applause. Looking down at the audience, he and Zhou Xiye exchanged a smile.

Ling Xingxi stood beside her brother, holding a wine glass. She was wearing a Givenchy haute couture gown, her hair casually piled on top of her head with a few strands falling across her forehead.

She exudes an air of aloofness and refinement.

"As expected of Minister Ye's child. Knows how to talk."

Someone nearby spoke up, and Ling Xingxi burst out laughing. She covered her mouth and whispered in Ling Xingzhi's ear, "You really have no taste of the world..."

Ling Xingzhi took a sip of wine and watched Ye Rouxin speak eloquently on stage. After a short while, he slowly said, "There is some truth to that. Nowadays, very few of the children of officials or the children of the wealthy have the courage to go on stage and give a proper speech."

Ling Xingxi nodded slightly, "You argued with your father, and now you're separated from your wife too?"

Ling Xingzhi chuckled, put down his wine glass, picked up a small piece of pastry with his fingers and put it in his mouth, then picked up a napkin to wipe it.

On stage, Ye Rouxin invited Ye Lifeng to the stage and gave a speech. Ye Rouxin walked to Zhou Xiye's side, touched her neck to her shoulder, gave her a tight grip, and then sat down next to her.

"I've brought the person."

Zhou Xiye raised an eyebrow, his gaze passing through Ye Rouxin's face to the clock behind him.

"Do you need anything later?"

Zhou Xiye shook his head, his gaze returning to Ye Rouxin's face. "It's nothing, what's wrong?"

Ye Rouxin turned her head and glanced at the clock. "Then why do you always look at the clock?"

Zhou Xiye shrugged. "I'm used to it. I don't feel safe without knowing how much time has passed."

Ye Rouxin sighed softly, "I know he's been kind to you, but I also have a score to settle with him. Last time you slept with another man, I didn't pursue it, but this time, I hope you..."

Before he could finish speaking, a waiter in a black suit bent down and whispered something in Ye Rouxin's ear. He nodded, then stood up, walked onto the stage, picked up the microphone, and began hosting the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet.

When Zhou Xiye's call came, she muted it and walked to the corridor behind the lobby to answer it.

When Ye Rouxin put down the microphone and returned to her seat, Zhou Xiye was nowhere to be seen. Before she could sit down and was about to look for him, she hadn't taken more than a few steps when she heard the guests chuckling. She turned around and saw her father, Ye Jinghuai, appear on the big screen on the stage.

Ye Jinghuai, nominally the only son of Minister Ye, accompanied his father on numerous business trips during his childhood. He attended high school and university in the United States, studying philosophy at Harvard. After returning to China, he became a public intellectual who only knew how to spout empty rhetoric. He has ridiculed Qingyun's second marriage many times. The two families were already at odds, and Ye Jinghuai's actions only fueled the flames, making them irreconcilable enemies. In short, he is quite old, active on Weibo and Douyin, inviting all sorts of people to his home for interviews—a complete playboy.

Because several live streams leaked some important secrets, the live stream room was immediately shut down. Ye Jinghuai's series of accounts disappeared from the domestic Internet overnight. Later, rumors circulated online that he was a spy, and Ye Jinghuai's identity was fabricated in a mess.

As for the leak of confidential information—it was actually unintentional, but Ye Jinghuai wasn't very bright and kept blurting things out when he spoke.

Ye Lifeng was furious and kicked him out of the country. Unexpectedly, during his time abroad, Ye Jinghuai came into contact with pro-establishment right-wing figures, learned to write books, and found his niche. He wrote about his story with a fictitious "ex-wife," publishing a book called *Secrets of the Red Walls*, which was distributed both domestically and internationally.

He even appeared on a VOA program, where he talked at length about the lives of the elite in China. Gradually, he became popular overseas, with many foreigners wanting to understand Chinese high society through him. However, his descriptions of life in China were considered too feudal, drawing criticism from many right-wing extremists.

However, he became famous, and even has a dedicated personal channel on YouTube.

At this moment, while everyone was celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, Ye Jinghuai was live-streaming.

The screen showed Ye Jinghuai's live stream.

He sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, facing a man also dressed in a suit—the famous TV host, Hu Yidao from Voice of America. The two chatted casually.

"In China, the Mid-Autumn Festival has always been a time for family to celebrate together. People always talk about 'sharing the same moon across a thousand miles,' but I think that line is too petty. I prefer Xin Qiji's 'Awaken the bright moon of the day, find me a cup of ice and snow, and let the mighty rivers flow.' The imagery and the grandeur are extraordinary."

After Ye Jinghuai finished speaking, he made a cheerful expression, which made the guests chuckle.

Hu Yidao, with his signature smile always on his lips, continued to ask, "Mr. Ye, how do people of your social class celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival? I mean, how is it different from how ordinary people celebrate it?"

Ye Jinghuai frowned. "I don't know how ordinary people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. On TV, they always show them eating mooncakes and having reunion dinners. We do the same, but maybe the food is a little better."

Hu Yidao nodded. "We celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival by having dinner with our families. You do too, right?" It was clear that he was trying to find some differences among people from privileged classes.

"Yes, so do we. It's just that sometimes we play games, recite poems, and in ancient times we would even sing poems in antiphonal style. Anyway, it's all different."

Ye Jinghuai mumbled something indiscriminately, then raised his hand to rub his nose.

The expressions of the guests in the audience varied.

Ling Xingzhi turned his head and saw a figure vaguely passing by through the crack in the ajar door, followed by a person in a police uniform. He thought for a moment, then turned to Ling Xingxi and said, "I'm going out for a bit."

Hu Yidao smiled and sighed, "Well then, Mr. Ye, let's talk about your book, 'Secrets of the Red Wall.' I heard that you wrote it based on your own experiences, especially in the description of your life with your ex-wife, which leads to a series of inside stories of the Red Wall. So, in your short marriage with your ex-wife, what do you think is the biggest personality trait of these third-generation Red Army descendants that you can summarize from her?"

Ye Jinghuai was immediately put in a difficult position. In this book, he portrayed himself as an outsider, but in reality, his relationship with his wife had always been strained, though they had never divorced. As a third-generation descendant of revolutionary leaders, how could he possibly answer this question?

The silence lasted a while before Hu Yidao chuckled and prompted, "Mr. Ye...?"

Ye Jinghuai coughed lightly, "The thing is, I think the third generation of revolutionaries are also human beings, everyone..."

"The biggest feature is: find professionals to do professional things; misplacing resources is just garbage."

A female voice came from behind them, and the two of them were startled and turned around to look.

Zhou Xiye slowly walked to the sofa and sat down, smiling as she greeted Hu Yidao, "Hello, I'm Ye Jinghuai's son's girlfriend." Then she looked at Ye Jinghuai and said, "Uncle, hello."

Ye Jinghuai frowned, his expression not very good, but because of the live broadcast, he couldn't express his dissatisfaction, so he put on a frowning but smiling expression and asked, "Why are you here?"

"I'm just interested in Uncle Ye's interview, so I came to listen," Zhou Xiye said with a sincere smile. Ye Jinghuai just snorted and turned his head away.

Hu Yidao noticed the change in Ye Jinghuai's attitude and glanced at his assistant's reminder behind the camera, "Let's move on to the next question. A viewer asked, what's your opinion on collusion between officials and businessmen—they find specific front men to do things for them?"

Ye Jinghuai licked his lips, his expression serious, as if he were truly considering the matter, "White gloves..."

Zhou Xiye couldn't help but laugh at his expression. "The color of the gloves doesn't matter. What matters is that the gloves can't be broken. Otherwise, it's like gambling. Yesterday you were a billionaire, and today you have to borrow money from the bank. If you can't pay it back, you have to run overseas to hide from your debts."

Ye Jinghuai frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Uncle Ye, don't you know why Baoshang Bank went bankrupt?" Zhou Xiye asked with a smile. "A small hole was patched up into a big hole. Taking the official route was no longer an option. There were too many bad debts and bad debts. In addition, the economy was in a downturn. The bank just filed for bankruptcy. The country is currently issuing arrest warrants for people who owe money and refuse to pay."

Hu Yidao was somewhat pleasantly surprised, thinking he could probably extort something from this strange woman. He leaned out and asked, "As an observer of the lives of the third generation of revolutionaries, how do you evaluate them?"

Zhou Xiye raised an eyebrow and answered seriously, "Normal people's lives and abnormal desires are not changed by money or power. On the contrary, they are catalysts that allow you to quickly see the beauty and ugliness of human nature."

"In this circle, has there ever been an event that made you feel both the beauty and ugliness of humanity?"

Zhou Xiye nodded. "There are many examples. For instance, Uncle Ye couldn't bear to see his wife condemned by public opinion, so he fabricated a character as his ex-wife. At the same time, he could also use bank loopholes and P2P platforms as a springboard to embezzle huge sums of money, and then use his identity to escape. From this incident, I saw a man who loved his wife but couldn't bear the legal responsibility."

Hu Yidao's smile froze. He glanced at Ye Jinghuai, then at Zhou Xiye, and murmured, "Hmm..."

For a moment, I didn't know how to continue.

"Zhou Xiye, what nonsense are you spouting!"

Zhou Xiye glanced at his watch, then turned his head, his smile gone. "Ye Jinghuai, are you going to admit on camera that your identity is fake, or are you going to take legal responsibility for your actions and those of your 'white glove'?"

Ye Jinghuai looked up at the camera and waved for them to turn it off. Just then, the door behind him opened and people in police uniforms rushed in.

The live stream was interrupted at that moment.

Zhou Xiye watched as Ye Jinghuai was taken away, and Ye Lifeng didn't even try to stop him. The police officer leading the arrest walked towards her, "Director Zhou, thank you for your cooperation."

"It's nothing, it's what I should do."

Once things had calmed down, the guests stood at the door watching the police drive away, sirens blaring. Zhou Xiye stood in the crowd and sighed softly. She didn't want to join in the commotion. She'd seen Ye Rouxin off, and disrupting what Ye Rouxin wanted to do was her goal for the night.

A red carpet was laid out in the hall, and high heels walked on it without making a sound. The curtains hung down on the carpet.

Zhou Xiye suddenly felt a bit stifled and wanted to go back to his room for a smoke.

There was only an elevator operator in the elevator. After Zhou Xiye told him her floor number, the operator smiled at her.

After getting off the elevator, Zhou Xiye walked out, and as soon as his hand touched the doorknob, someone covered his mouth and pulled him into the next room.