Chapter 109 Birthday Banquet

"We were too reckless. We won't do it again next time. Let's eat and not ruin our friendship!"

They, as scholars, naturally knew about the incident at this restaurant, and seeing Zhou Chengyu's attitude, they decided not to provoke him further.

Song Yushu knew that Zhou Chengyu had brought friends over and left a table of food for them. There was more than enough food for the four young people. After changing the topic, the group quickly started chatting again.

"Brother Zhou, where did you buy that Rubik's Cube?"

After eating and drinking their fill, Liao Yunfei and the others didn't dare to approach Zhou Chengzhu again. They obediently went to the street, where Liao Yunfei started thinking about selling Rubik's Cubes.

"I only made one 5x5 Rubik's Cube. If you want to play with it, you can borrow it from me. If you want to sell it, you'll have to wait a while. It's hard to even buy a 4x4 Rubik's Cube now." Zhou Chengyu had no intention of buying a Rubik's Cube. If it weren't for the fact that Grandpa Liu left one for him, he wouldn't have been able to buy one at all.

"Huh? You only have one Rubik's Cube? Isn't that even rarer? It's already hard to buy a regular 4x4 Rubik's Cube. How did you manage to buy it? Tell me the truth!" Liao Yunfei wasn't so easily fooled. Even the rich kids outside could only buy 4x4 Rubik's Cubes. If Zhou Chengyu was an ordinary person, how could he possibly buy a 5x5 Rubik's Cube?

“I know Grandpa Liu, and he gave this to me. If you want me to help you buy more, forget it. We don’t have any in stock right now, but I can ask around in a while and maybe we can keep a few. We won’t have any more,” Zhou Chengyu said, not daring to be presumptuous.

"You're really something! It's already great that you could ask around for us. If we went to buy it ourselves, we wouldn't even get a chance. Good brother! From now on, we'll never stand idly by if you ever need anything!" Liao Yunfei patted Zhou Chengyu's shoulder excitedly after receiving the reply and solemnly promised.

"No need for that. Just don't let external things distract you from your studies in the future, otherwise it will be my fault," Zhou Chengyu said, still not quite believing in their self-control.

"We promise we won't play under your watchful eye. You can supervise us then, and whoever fails to do so will have to treat us to a meal!"

I agree!

"Let's do it this way!"

Song Yushu was unaware of how popular Rubik's Cubes were until he saw scholars in the restaurant watching people solving them.

At the end of the month, Master Liu brought over Song Yushu's share of the profits.

"One hundred taels? Is there really that much?" Song Yushu asked in disbelief.

"Of course we have some. We still have quite a few orders. This isn't just something kids like to play with; many students at the academy are interested in it too. One hundred taels isn't much," Old Master Liu said with considerable pride.

"I didn't expect the Rubik's Cube to have such a wide audience; it's quite an unexpected windfall," Song Yushu said, feeling a bit more financially secure with this income.

"By the way, remember to come over in five days! I'm getting on in years and didn't want to go to too much trouble, but my children insist on having a lively celebration for my 60th birthday. Just bring them over to sit with me then," said Grandpa Liu, though his joy was barely concealed.

"Don't worry, I'll take Chengzhu to join in the fun!"

Song Yushu invited the man to stay for a meal before letting Old Master Liu go home, since he was considered her benefactor and she couldn't afford to neglect him.

It was only because Old Master Liu was so honest that he was willing to give Song Yushu such a large sum of money. Otherwise, other stingy people might not have been willing to give Song Yushu such a large sum of money. Moreover, Song Yushu only contributed ideas and did not participate much in the production of the Rubik's Cube. If he did not want to give so much money, he could have used some tricks that Song Yushu might not have noticed. Therefore, Song Yushu also remembered the old man's kindness.

Song Yushu had never attended a formal banquet before. In the county, she would only have gatherings with her family and a few acquaintances. She really didn't know how banquets were conducted in the prefectural city, and she always had to prepare a gift. She didn't know much about this aspect, so she was quite worried.

Five days later, Song Yushu brought Zhou Chengzhu to the Liu family banquet.

"This must be the Lady Song that the master mentioned? Oh my, your daughter is so beautiful..."

Old Master Liu's wife, Madam Gu, was a kind old lady. She praised Song Yushu and Zhou Chengzhu repeatedly before letting them in.

"Father, really! He invites just anyone. I told him yesterday that several important people are coming. What if it turns out like a joke?"

A sharp voice rang out behind Song Yu. Song Yu looked up and saw a beautiful woman around forty years old, dressed in rich clothes, throwing a tantrum despite the old lady's advice.

Fortunately, not many people had arrived yet, and the mother and daughter's argument was not heard by others.

"Ah Yue, your father didn't want to hold this birthday banquet in the first place. You insisted on holding it because you wanted to show your filial piety to him. I thought you were sensible. Your father has been very happy these days, but you won't let him invite his friends. Aren't you just trying to make your father angry? He's already invited them. Are you going to kick them out?"

At this moment, Old Mrs. Gu no longer had the amiable demeanor she had when facing Song Yushu; she looked at the woman in front of her with utter disappointment.

"Mother! You don't understand! Father's shop has been making waves lately, and there are a lot of people who want to cooperate. If we don't take this opportunity to build connections, we won't have another chance!" Liu Yue explained impatiently.

"Your father and I don't have the time or energy to make friends with others. We're not short of money right now, so can't we just let your father have his way this once?"

Grandma Gu knew her daughter's personality well. She was originally a bit arrogant at home, but she wasn't as calculating as she is now. After marrying into a wealthy family, she rarely came back. It was rare for her to come back this time and take the initiative to offer to hold a birthday banquet for the old man. However, she was full of scheming and even used her own father's birthday banquet to make connections.

“What do you know? My husband is no longer favored by my father-in-law. All he got were a few of the worst-performing shops. If he doesn’t find a way to make money quickly, he probably won’t even remember us. Mother, please help me out! I’ve suffered so much in the Xu family all these years!”

Liu Yue had always known Old Madam Gu's weakness, and immediately changed her previous tough stance, crying even more sadly.

“I told you from the beginning that the Xu family was not a family we could afford, but you wouldn’t listen. Now look what’s happened. Aren’t you tearing the hearts out of your father and me?”

As expected, Old Mrs. Gu could no longer insist, but she wouldn't do anything to drive the guests away. In the end, she could only compromise and arrange for Old Mr. Liu's friends to sit in some corner seats.

With an apologetic expression, Old Mrs. Gu invited Song Yushu to another seat, saying that the arrangement was inappropriate and there were too few seats, so she had to make do with the mother and daughter.

The guests who arrived early were all friends of Old Master Liu, one of whom Song Yushu also knew.

"It's been a long time, does Madam Song still remember me?"

"Of course I remember. Has Uncle Shi's house been sold?"

"Sold it! Luckily I have this money, otherwise my shop would have to close down. Hahahaha..."