On Christmas Day, Tang City's upper class circles held another banquet, but this time An Xing did not go to the banquet at all.
"Don't think I don't know. Parties like this before Christmas are all about socializing. If I went, I would definitely be talked to by all kinds of people."
An Xing sat on the sofa and refused to attend the Christmas party with his father, mother, and brother.
An Zhaoming wanted to persuade his son again.
"Although you need to socialize, don't you still have your brother? Just follow your brother and act as a mascot. If you feel bored, go eat some cake. Otherwise, do you want to stay at home alone?"
An Rong did not refute and tacitly agreed to this little tail.
The young man puffed out his chest proudly, looking very pleased with himself.
"Who said I want to stay at home alone? I want to go up the mountain with my brother Chen to see the stars!"
An Family: ...
I never expected that the little fool actually planned to go on a date on Christmas!
So in the end, the An family had to attend the Christmas party with great difficulty, clinking glasses and socializing with others in the banquet hall where people were drinking and chatting.
The little fool stayed comfortably at home, waiting for Lu Tianchen to pick him up to the mountain to watch the stars.
Damn Lu Tianchen, the thief who stole the baby is still determined to do it!
An Rong clinked glasses with Xiao Yi and Chen Bai, thinking expressionlessly.
"So, Xingzai and Lu Tianchen went to the mountain to watch the stars?"
The corner of Xiao Yi's mouth twitched, and he looked at Chen Bai, and saw the same meaningful expression in each other's eyes.
It was said that Lu Tianchen had bad intentions towards the cute Xingzai, and it turned out to be true.
He was obviously the one who was rescued by Xingzaimei, how come nothing happened to him? Xiao Yi thought sourly.
An Rong was also a little listless. Although this was not the first time that the three of them attended a banquet without An Xing, both he and the An family were still a little uncomfortable.
It’s not that I’m not used to attending banquets, but I’m not used to the whole family being together.
It turned out that he had already recognized himself as a member of the An family at some point in time, and truly regarded An Xing as his own younger brother.
An Rong was thinking about life when Chen Bai suddenly pushed his arm.
"Hey, is that your second uncle and his family? Why are they here too?"
An Rong was stunned and looked in the direction Chen Bai instructed, and saw An Zhaoyuan appear at the door of the banquet hall with Tan Xiu and An Hao.
His face instantly fell.
Not just anyone can enter this banquet. Those who receive the invitation letter must at least own a company that has good performance and is well-known in the industry. Only then can they bring their families to attend the banquet.
An Zhaoyuan was clearly driven away by An Ning Jewelry, so why was he able to attend today's banquet?
An Rong put down his wine glass and tried to go over, but was stopped by Chen Bai.
"So many people are watching you. Let me help you find out."
An Rong paused, and seeing the young man blinking his peach blossom eyes and smiling at him, he whispered:
"Thank you, Bo."
Chen Bo raised his eyebrows.
"You're welcome. We may have something to trouble you with."
An Rong and Xiao Yi stayed where they were, watching Chen Bai walk towards the others and talk to them. An Rong looked around the banquet hall and found An Zhaoming and Shen Ying. The two were talking to others and did not notice An Zhaoyuan and his family coming in.
Soon Chen Bai came back and said to An Rong and Xiao Yi:
"Your second uncle and his family represent Weiqing Jewelry."
An Rong was somewhat surprised, yet somewhat understood.
When Su Yiran stole An Xing's design, the An family suspected that Weiqing Jewelry was related to the second branch of the An family. But at that time, An Hao was hiding behind Su Yiran, and they could not find any definite evidence.
But after An Hao's fraudulent performance in An Ning Jewelry was exposed, the second branch of the An family seemed to have completely lost their scruples and no longer concealed many things. Now they even represent Wei Qing Jewelry openly to attend banquets.
An Rong narrowed his eyes, apologized to Xiao Yi and Chen Bai, and walked towards his parents.
At this time, An Zhaoyuan's family also walked up to the An couple.
"Brother, why didn't you bring Xingxing here and only brought Rongrong?"
Seeing An Zhaoyuan, An Zhaoming's face turned cold. Hearing his brother's words, he just said indifferently.
"He already has an appointment."
"What plans do you have for Christmas, little kid? Are you going out with your random friends again?"
An Zhaoyuan laughed and said.
"We can't let Xingxing learn bad things."
"Oh..." An Zhaoming smiled and said lightly, "Xingxing went out with Tianchen. Do you think Tianchen would teach Xingxing bad things?"
An Zhaoyuan's expression changed, and he realized that Lu Tianchen didn't come today either.
He was so angry that he couldn't help gritting his teeth, but he really couldn't say that Lu Tianchen was a messy person, and his face suddenly turned ugly.
The family of three, An Zhaoyuan was gagged, An Hao wanted to get back on behalf of his father, but An Rong had already walked over, stood in front of him, and looked at him coldly. Coupled with the majesty of his uncle An Zhaoming in the past, An Hao couldn't say anything.
Seeing this, Tan Xiu could only try to smooth things over.
"We all know what a good child Xingxing is. This child has always been well-behaved. Even if he goes out to play, nothing will happen. Zhaoyuan is just worried about Xingxing."
This was just to give everyone a way out. After all, today was a banquet and it was not appropriate to make a scene. But what no one expected was that after Tan Xiu finished saying this, a female voice sounded coldly.
"What could possibly happen to us, Xingxing, when we go out? Second brother, sister-in-law, as our elders, you should wish us Xingxing safe travels. I don't quite understand why you're worrying about Xingxing getting into trouble!"
An Rong paused slightly, always feeling that his mother's current state was very similar to a moment not long ago.
By the way, that time when Tan Xiu came to sow discord, Chen Ying also showed the same expression, like an enraged lioness.
Tan Xiu was also stunned, as if she didn't expect that her words would make Shen Ying angry.
Her expression was a little ugly, but she couldn't make a scene, so she could only force a smile. She could even feel the mocking eyes of others around her when they looked at her.
Seeing that he could not gain any advantage, An Zhaoyuan acted decisively, pulled the woman's hand, and quickly got away from there.
He now realized that his eldest brother's family probably already knew a lot of the things they did behind their backs, and they were very angry. They were even unwilling to pretend to be friendly and respectful to them.
Walking to a corner and sending his son away, An Zhaoyuan asked Tan Xiu:
"Have you cleaned up the mess your brother made?"
Tan Xiu's face changed, and she said, "I don't understand what you are saying."
If Tan Xiu had put on a cold face in the past, An Zhaoyuan would have given his wife some face. But now, he just said coldly:
"It's not like I don't know about your family's affairs. It was fine in the past, but things are different now. There are people waiting to catch us. If those things are exposed, you should know the consequences."
The woman's expression changed again and again, and finally she gritted her teeth and agreed.
She didn't understand when things went wrong, why now she couldn't do anything she wanted to do, and instead attracted so much suspicion.
*
An Xing didn't know what happened in the banquet hall. Not long after Uncle Li sent his parents and An Rong away, Lu Tianchen came to pick him up.
The man looked at the boy's bags and got out of the car to greet him.
"What did you take?" Lu Tianchen asked puzzledly.
"Aunt Zhang packed all kinds of snacks and clothes for me."
An Xing gave the thing to the man and felt very happy.
While Aunt Zhang was packing up, the others seemed to be worried that An Xing was not having enough to eat or wear warm clothes, so they pointed and added a lot of things, and the number grew larger and larger.
This love from family is so heavy!
Lu Tianchen put the things into the trunk and didn’t say that they were only staying in the mountains for one night, and that they had a very well-maintained B&B and would not lack food or clothing.
He rubbed the boy's head and agreed:
"Uncle An and the others are very thoughtful. They care about you very much."
An Xing blinked her eyes and felt like laughing when she saw the man flattering her in such a serious manner.
He touched the man's head with his forehead and said sweetly:
"Brother Chen, you are also very nice to me!"
The man withdrew his hand and his ears turned red.
It was getting dark, and if it got any later, the road up the mountain would be difficult to walk on, so the two stopped talking. An Xing got in the car and fastened his seat belt carefully, and Lu Tianchen got in the driver's seat.
The car slid slowly into the night.
It is winter now, the weather is dry and sunny, and because it is a holiday, there are many people on the street and the road is a bit congested. By the time the car got on the highway, it was completely dark.
Probably because of the holiday, there was a traffic jam on the highway, and a red light was on ahead. Fortunately, they were planning to stay in the mountains tonight, so as long as they arrived safely, there was no need to rush.
An Xing browsed the campus network forum for a while and found that the fan fictions he was following had not been updated, so he locked the screen out of boredom.
He looked at the traffic jam ahead. Lu Tianchen was driving just now and it was difficult to disturb him, so now was a good time to chat.
The boy said mysteriously: "Brother Chen, do you feel that Dad and brother seem to be hiding something from me recently?"
Lu Tianchen paused for a moment: "What did I hide from you?"
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking you. Please help me think about it." An Xing poked the man, "I always feel that they are a little mysterious recently. They always avoid me and talk to my mother in secret."
Lu Tianchen felt a little guilty because he was also one of the people who hid the secret from the young man.
There was clearly something wrong with An Xing and An Rong's mistaken child, and it was related to the second branch of the An family. And the couple in the second branch of the An family were definitely not innocent.
If it was true that Tan Xiu deliberately swapped the two children, then she had been monitoring An Rong for twenty years, but An Zhaoyuan was completely unaware of the behavior of his partner?
And where did An Zhaoyuan get the funds to be able to control Weiqing Jewelry behind the scenes?
Therefore, in the past half month, they have been investigating the funds of An Zhaoyuan and Tan Xiu, and are also looking for the key witness, Brother Hai.
For these things, Lu Tianchen worked closely with the An family and the Shen family and had been exchanging information. As for An Rong... maybe it was because he was being taught by An Zhaoming that he looked mysterious.
But Lu Tianchen did not tell An Xing about this. On the one hand, this little fool was shallow-minded, and if he knew about it, it would easily alert the enemy. On the other hand, they did not want the boy to know that the two children were deliberately swapped.
If it were someone else, they might feel happy at a certain moment that they were switched and enjoyed the life of a rich young master for twenty years, but they all knew An Xing - he would not be happy, only sad and angry.
This made them not know how to tell the truth, so they just kept it secret tacitly.
"Maybe it's New Year's Day soon, so I'm going to prepare a surprise for you?"
Lu Tianchen followed the slowly moving traffic in front of him and smiled at the young man.
"What about you? Are you going to prepare anything for the New Year?"
Eh, that seems to make sense.
An Xing shook his head.
After all, this is An Rong's first New Year back home, and An Rong has to take on the burden of the family, so it makes sense for him to prepare for the New Year with his father.
"You're right, I have to prepare a New Year's gift for my brother too!"
The boy instantly became motivated and clenched his fists.
Lu Tianchen: ...
No, he just made up an excuse... Never mind, let An Rong know and let them consider the New Year's gifts as well.
Putting this matter aside, An Xing continued to chat with Lu Tianchen, muttering non-stop.
The traffic flow moved slowly, and soon they passed the most congested area. It turned out that there was a car accident here, three cars collided, and the car in the middle was deformed.
Lu Tianchen's driving position was close to the accident scene. He slightly shifted his sight to take a look and frowned. The scene was a bit tragic, and bloodstains could be vaguely seen around. He drove away from here and found that there was a traffic jam ahead, so he stopped and waited.
Then he realized that An Xing seemed to have not spoken for a while. Even when he saw the accident scene, he didn't make a sound.
The man realized something was wrong, turned sideways, and his brows suddenly frowned.
The young man huddled in the passenger seat, as if he had encountered something extremely frightening. His hands tightly gripped the seat belt and his face was pale.
"Xingxing? What's wrong with you?!"
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