In June in Yan City, it is almost eight o'clock in the evening when the sky reluctantly turns dark, and the transition from blue to gray is slow and continuous.
The long road was jammed with traffic. In front of the lobby of an old hotel standing in the city center, doormen opened the car doors in an orderly and efficient manner and led the well-dressed guests into the hall.
The middle-aged man who had just got off the car straightened his clothes, held the invitation in his hand, bent his arm to let his female companion hold it, and walked in with his chin slightly raised. After walking a few steps, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he left his female companion and walked a few steps quickly: "Mr. He!"
The loud voice attracted the attention of the family of three in front. The slightly fat man turned around, saw the people behind him, stopped, and put on a standard social smile: "It turns out to be Mr. Zhang, long time no see."
"You are here to attend the He family's banquet as well, right?" Mr. Zhang shook hands with Mr. He, smiling warmly and cordially.
"Yes." Mr. He glanced at the invitation in his hand with a smile and said, "It seems that Mr. Zhang has also been invited."
"Yes." Mr. Zhang carefully put the invitation into his suit pocket, unable to hide his excitement, he said, "It's good luck to say that we just happened to have some cooperation with Tunan Group last month. I didn't expect Mr. He to still remember me. I couldn't believe it when I received the invitation."
"You said it's been a long time since the He family held such a grand banquet. The last time was when I first came to Yan City to work hard. Although I didn't have the chance to see it, I still hear people talking about the birthday banquet of the eldest son of the He family. I never thought that I would have the opportunity to step into this banquet today. It's really..."
Mr. Zhang was so excited that he couldn't hold it back and showed all his excitement in one go. He realized he had lost control almost when he was about to finish speaking and lowered his voice. It was obvious that Mr. He was not impatient. Even his wife and children beside him smiled slightly, feeling touched and a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, I was too excited just now."
"It's okay." Mr. He was still smiling. Seeing that he was still sincere despite his age, and thinking of his reputation for honesty and loyalty in the business world, he kindly said, "Today's banquet doesn't have a specific theme. After Mr. Zhang goes in, he can wait to see Mr. He. It might be a better idea to wait until Mr. He finishes speaking before chatting with him."
Mr. Zhang came to Yan City at an old age to work hard. He has been able to get to this level in five or six years, which is definitely inseparable from his high emotional intelligence. When he heard what Mr. He said, he knew there must be something behind it. Thinking of all parties speculating about the intention of the He family's banquet, he had a clue in his mind and did not ask Mr. He what he knew, but just thanked him sincerely.
Mr. He nodded and walked to the banquet hall with his wife and children. Mr. Zhang lagged behind and quietly wiped the sweat from his forehead. Another CEO behind him heard part of their conversation and caught up with him and asked, "Mr. Zhang, what were you talking about with Mr. He just now?"
Mr. Zhang knew that he was a good friend in the business world, so he leaned over to whisper a few words into his ear.
His friend's eyes widened slightly, and he couldn't hide his surprise in his low voice: "Then isn't the He family's banquet held for their eldest son?"
Mr. Zhang nodded slightly, and lowered his voice even lower than his friend's: "Probably not."
As soon as he finished speaking, he caught something out of the corner of his eye and said in a daze, "Is that the person who just came in, Secretary Zheng?"
"Who?" The friend immediately looked in the direction he said, but saw nothing. He shook his head and said, "That's impossible. Secretary Zheng has never attended these banquets."
Mr. Zhang thought about it and felt that it was true. He said, "Maybe I saw it wrong."
"What you just said..."
The two men lowered their voices and discussed in a low voice. After whispering, they exchanged glances and let their female companions hold their arms as they walked into the banquet hall.
The magnificent hall was filled with people drinking and chatting. The invitations sent out by the He family this time were quite wide-ranging, with people from all walks of life coming. People who knew each other interacted with each other, and those who didn't know each other could also chat with each other over a glass of wine and exchange business cards.
The most discussed topic was still the theme of today's banquet. In particular, the families that frequently interacted with the He family had the most people around them, both the elders and the younger generations.
Next to the dessert table, several girls surrounded the girl in the champagne-colored long dress in the middle.
"Yaya, do you know what's going on at today's banquet?"
"Yes, the last time the He family held such a big party was probably He Qianjian's twelfth birthday. What's the reason this time? To make up for He Qianjian's eighteenth birthday?"
"Many people have guessed this, and I think it's probably true."
"Although many people have guessed this, my father said that this banquet should have nothing to do with He Qianjian, so I am curious. Which previous banquet held by the He family was not related to Young Master He? Miss, please satisfy my curiosity. Is it related to your fiancé?"
Han Qiya smiled slightly, her voice soft, "It has something to do with my fiancé, but it has nothing to do with He Qianjian."
Several girls were stunned, with question marks in their heads.
Isn't He Qianjian Han Qiya's fiancé? What does it mean that he has something to do with her fiancé but nothing to do with He Qianjian?
The girls were confused, but Han Qiya didn't say anything more. She just smiled and looked in one direction.
Not far from them, the man with peach blossom eyes put down the champagne glass in his hand, raised his eyebrows and looked at the other person beside him, not hiding the gloating in his eyes at all: "Oh, the legitimate fiancée has appeared. You, the second male lead who has been chasing her for so long but has no status and doesn't even know her sexual orientation, shouldn't you give up?"
Shi Fengyue looked in the same direction as Han Qiya, not even bothering to glance at Li Nanfeng, and said coldly: "You should think about how to discuss the next cooperation with Jiang Chen."
Li Nanfeng shrugged indifferently: "Cooperation is not important. What's important is whether you can pursue him. I built my lab so quickly in the first place so that you can get close to me. After so long, he has been boiled like a frog in the boiling water. But you are so lucky that he may not even know that you are pursuing him."
Shi Fengyue then gave him a compassionate look, half-lidded his eyes, and asked with his head tilted slightly, "What do you think is the difference between you and me?"
Li Nanfeng touched his chin, pretending to think, and answered after three seconds: "One is averagely handsome and the other is extremely handsome. The averagely handsome one is a pure virgin who has never even been in a relationship, while the extremely handsome one lives up to everyone's expectations and becomes a playboy?"
Shi Fengyue raised his eyelids and answered him slowly: "The difference is that I am a human being, and you are not."
Li Nanfeng clicked his tongue and said, "You can't say I'm not a human being just because I can fall in love. You can't do that, Shi Fengyue. Not only do you not have the enterprising spirit of 'I will seek for knowledge up and down', but you also look down on a perfect contestant like me."
Shi Fengyue rolled his eyes at him, then turned to look forward again.
Li Nanfeng was dissatisfied and pressed: "Just tell me, why am I not a human being? Why am I a handsome freshman standing here? If you don't explain clearly, I will make you look at my handsome face all the time, make you ashamed, make you regret, make you..."
"Shut up."
Li Nanfeng shut up. He looked in the same direction as the suddenly chaotic crowd and saw the five members of the He family and Jiang Chen coming out.
No, Li Nanfeng corrected himself in his heart, it should include He Qianjian.
"Don't say that." He whispered in Shi Fengyue's ear, "I didn't expect Jiang Xiaochen to look so handsome in a suit. If he had been dressed like this when I first met him, I would definitely not have been able to resist chasing him with you."
Shi Fengyue glanced at him and reminded him in an indiscernible tone: "When you first met him, he was not yet an adult."
Li Nanfeng didn't care at all: "What's wrong with not being an adult? Isn't premature love prohibited? It's consensual and it's not against the law... Wait..." His expression changed, his eyes widened with disbelief. Even though he thought of this possibility, he still asked with a 99% questioning tone: "You were so depressed before, wasn't it because Jiang Xiaochen was not an adult? It can't be, you are not such a noble and great person, have I been wrong about you all these years?"
However, there was no need for Feng Yue to answer him, because his attention, like that of everyone else in the banquet hall, was attracted by the three siblings on the stage who were wearing suits and tuxedos that were obviously designed by the same designer.
Someone whispered:
"What's going on?"
"Who is that boy? Why is he wearing the same clothes as the second and third sons of the He family?"
"Yeah, where's He Qianjian?"
"He's in the back, next to Mr. He, wearing a dark blue suit. Did you see him?"
"Why is he standing there? And why is he wearing a blue suit? If you don't know, you would think those are the three siblings in front."
"You know what, that boy really looks more like a member of the He family than He Qianjian..."
As soon as the last speaker finished speaking, he was shocked by the sudden thought in his mind. He looked around and saw that the people he was chatting with had the same expression.
Several people looked at each other, and before they had time to confirm what the other party was thinking, He Yanfeng's voice spread through the microphone to every corner of the banquet hall.
He Yanfeng simply thanked the guests who came to the banquet and went straight to the point: "Today's banquet is to announce something and also to celebrate something in advance."
"About half a year ago, I suddenly found out that my eldest son was taken away by mistake with another family's child. I wanted to immediately return the two children to their original tracks, but at that time they were both in their third year of high school and were about to prepare for the college entrance examination. In order not to affect them, we decided to postpone the time."
He Yanfeng put his arm around his shoulders and announced, "This one next to me is my first child with my wife Yang Yun—Jiang Chen." After a pause, he looked at Jiang Chen and continued with a smile, "My wife and I both think this name is nice, and we are grateful for Mr. Jiang Zhuo and Ms. Yang Si's unconditional love for him over the past 18 years. So even if the rules state that he should be ranked from the thousand-character generation order and his surname and given name should be changed, after discussing it with my wife, I still think that we should keep this name that has been with him for 18 years."
The guests in the audience were all surprised for a moment, and then they came to their senses and started talking to the people around them:
"What does the He family mean by this? Do they recognize this child or not?"
"I don't think it means to welcome the child back even though the name has not been changed."
"He Qianjian is still here. One is surnamed Jiang and the other is surnamed He. Isn't this clear enough?"
Jiang Chen did not hear the discussions in the audience. His eyes widened slightly as he looked at his biological parents, whom he seemed to have never really known, and he was unable to hide the astonishment in his heart.
"dad……"
"Come over and say a few words to everyone." He Yanfeng's eyes were filled with smiles, with a hint of narrowness and ridicule, just like when he took Jiang Chen to the study room and pretended to beat and scold him before, revealing a bit of naughty childishness. He leaned close to Jiang Chen's ear and whispered, "When the banquet is over, if your grandfather raises his cane, you have to stand in front to hold it for your father."
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