Chapter 132 Zhang Family Birthday Banquet
It is clear who Zhang Ankang's "she" is referring to.
This incident once again put the discord between Zhang's mother and son at the center of public opinion.
That night, Cai Zhiyuan once again put his arm around Lu Mingming's slender waist when attending an event. When a reporter asked him why he didn't bring Zhang Yunying out, he snorted and laughed: "I used to be very idle, but now I am not so idle."
Anyone who knows a little about the relationship between the Cai family and Old Lady Zhang would know that the first investment Old Lady Zhang received after the war came from Cai Zhiyuan’s great-grandmother, Ms. Chen Xiuying, and Old Lady Zhang’s first few loans were all loaned to her by the Cai family’s Hengtong Bank.
The two families have been friends for three generations. If it weren't for the relationship with Old Madam Zhang, Cai Zhiyuan would not have been able to take such good care of Zhang Yunying.
At this time, a radio station in Hong Kong took the lead in re-editing the segment in "Focus Everyone Talk" in which Cui Jiachang once wanted to hand Cui Huishu over to Xiang Caiying for raising, and broadcast it during the rush hour. Drivers listened to this segment while sitting in their cars.
People have discovered how similar Choi Hye-soo and Jang Ankang are. Just as that audience member said, if Choi Hye-soo was raised by Xiang Caiying and was the same as she is today, then when the Choi sisters inherited the family property, would they still treat her the same way as they do now?
A man who was attracted by sex and a woman who climbed into her brother-in-law's bed during her cousin's confinement gave birth to a son who was a playboy and irresponsible. Isn't that like his father and mother? Why should we put all the responsibility on the person who raised him?
The old lady's only mistake was not letting the child born by the bastard fend for itself.
Someone called into the radio station and asked everyone a question: If it was Old Mrs. Zhang who died, what would have happened to Miss Zhang?
The listener called in and replied: "Based on what Yu Wanmei said after the verdict, Miss Zhang might not survive."
Some people combined Yu Wanmei's actions. Isn't Zhang Ankang's thinking exactly the same as Yu Wanmei and her son? Just because Old Madam Zhang raised him, he should inherit the family business earned by Old Madam Zhang?
The trend of public opinion was formed, and newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations did not hesitate to criticize and denounce Zhang Ankang.
Zhang Ankang panicked at this time and came out to express his gratitude to his mother for raising him for so many years.
Zhang Yunying even shouted from a distance, saying that she didn't know that her grandmother had paved so many roads for her.
Despite all the disturbances, Old Madam Zhang never showed up, and the eldest daughter of the Zhang family did not say anything.
Finally, Mrs. Zhang’s birthday banquet is about to begin.
Since that afternoon, many Royal Policemen have been standing on both sides of the road in front of the Hong'an Hotel. At Mrs. Zhang's birthday party, it was not a question of whether the rich people would give face or not, or whether they would attend, but that they were proud to receive her invitation.
The wealthy families in Hong Kong are divided into two factions: the old wealthy families with decades or even hundreds of years of history, and the wealthy families who became rich overnight as the population poured into Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s and the economy of Hong Kong developed rapidly.
The former mostly belong to one circle, and the latter all want to squeeze into the circle of the former.
At such banquets, reporters would squat and take pictures of the cars of the wealthy, and could also count how many people were excluded from this circle and how many were added.
Reporters hiding inside Hong'an captured the biggest change in this year's birthday banquet. In previous years, Zhang Ankang, the eldest son of the Zhang family, and his movie star wife Jin Miaoru would greet the guests at the door with smiles on their faces.
This year, it was Zhang Anle, the eldest daughter of the Zhang family, and her husband who welcomed the guests. There was no sign of Zhang Ankang's family.
However, Zhang Ankang's two elder sisters were present and helped to greet Zhang's clansmen and relatives.
“No matter how reckless Ankang is, he is still the only son of the Zhang family. How come Anle and his wife have become the guests?”
"Yeah! Where's Ankang? He's not coming to the damn birthday party?"
The second daughter of the Zhang family quickly explained: "I went to persuade Ankang, but he refused to come. I told mom, and she said she would not come. Yesterday, Ankang said he was coming again, and I told mom, and she said she didn't want to see him."
"Don't want to see him? What does that mean? Your only son won't come to your 80th birthday? That's ridiculous." The person who said this was Mrs. Zhang's brother-in-law.
He turned his head and saw his sister-in-law, who was wearing a purple cheongsam, holding hands and talking intimately with Old Madam Qiao.
Madam Zhang smiled at Qiao Junxian and said, "It's my fault for letting Junxian come here alone today."
"It's Ningning's honor. You don't know how much she is looking forward to this birthday banquet." Qiao Junxian said, "She asks Grandpa Zhou to taste the dishes every day."
"Xuan Xiong's mouth!" Old Lady Zhang looked towards the door and saw the chubby Zhou Xuanxiong appear with his daughter and son-in-law.
Mrs. Zhang said, "Look, he's here."
"You are busy, we two old sisters can talk together later." said Mrs. Qiao.
Although the old lady is already eighty years old, she still looks very young. She personally came to Zhou Xuanxiong and said, "Third brother."
"Sister Danqin."
When Mrs. Zhang heard Zhou Laosan calling her by her maiden name, her eyes suddenly became warm.
Over the years, she has been renamed Miss Zhang, then Mrs. Zhang, and finally Old Lady Zhang. It seems that no one remembers that she was once the second young lady of the Fu family who studied abroad in Guangdong City.
Only Zhou Laosan, who studied abroad with him and talked about the future of the banking industry with him, remembers it.
Old Madam Zhang reached out and pinched Zhou Xuanxiong's shiny face from eating so much: "Old Third, you are already this old, you can't eat carelessly."
"That's not..."
"You are not allowed to eat anything you want when you try the dishes for my birthday party." Old Mrs. Zhang deliberately put on a sullen face.
"My sister! This is the only hobby the third brother has in his life. In Gangcheng, you have to take care of me, Wenting has to take care of me, and even that girl Ningning has to take care of me. I tell you, if you keep bothering me, I'm going back to Yuecheng." Zhou Xuanxiong said.
Old Mrs. Zhang glared at him: "How dare you?"
"Aunt Danqin, my dad couldn't bear to leave Ningning's dishes, nor his old friends. He is so happy now." Zhou Wenting handed over the gift box, "I wish Aunt Danqin a long life and happiness as vast as the East Sea."
Mrs. Zhang took Zhou Wenting's gift box and said, "I also want to thank you for taking the trouble to send the hairy crabs from the mainland."
"Dad and Ningning said that you always remembered the crab roe soup dumplings from Yangzhou. They asked me if I could get them. Of course I would try my best to make my aunt smile." Zhou Wenting said.
When Mr. Zhou saw that Mrs. Zhang's brother-in-law had been waiting for a long time, he said, "Sister Danqin, you go ahead."
"Go ahead!"
The second son of the Zhang family called out, "Sister-in-law, why didn't Ankang come?"
"This is my birthday party, and the children make me happy. If he comes, he will be unhappy, and I will be unhappy too. It's okay if he doesn't come." Old Mrs. Zhang said with a smile.
The second oldest son of the Zhang family shook his head: "He is the only son of my eldest brother."
"Yes!" Old Mrs. Zhang looked at him, waiting for him to continue.
Even though the second son of the Zhang family felt that he was right, facing the indifferent look from his eldest sister-in-law, he did not have the same energy as when he spoke to his niece just now. He racked his brains to organize his words: "Ankang is also your only son."
Old Mrs. Zhang looked at him and laughed: "I hope so. Actually..."
"Sister-in-law, you raised him. He is the only root of the eldest house." The second son of the Zhang family advised her, "In the future, you will also be buried in the Zhang family ancestral tomb, and you will be buried with your eldest brother. Just say that you and your son are in such a mess now. How will you explain to your eldest brother when you are in the underworld? We are all gray-haired people. We must consider our fate after a hundred years. It's normal for you to be partial to Anle. But you can't confuse the inside and the outside. Married daughters and sons are different."
"Thank you for your reminder." Old Mrs. Zhang looked at the Cai family members who came in with her and said, "I have considered this aspect."
"I also hope that there will be harmony in your family. I also hope that you will be praised as a virtuous daughter-in-law all your life, instead of having your reputation gone by the wayside when you are eighty years old." The second son of the Zhang family added a few more words.
"Guests are coming." Old Madam Zhang reminded her uncle that the Cai family had arrived at the door.
With a smile on her face, Old Madam Zhang first spoke a few words to Cai Yunheng and Cai Yuntong. After the second generation of the Cai family paid their respects to her, it was Cai Zhiyuan's turn.
Cai Zhiyuan kissed the old lady's hand.
"You're naughty!" Old Madam Zhang asked him, "Zhiyuan, why didn't I see you bring a female companion today?"
Cai Zhiyuan smiled and said, "I want to wait for your instructions. Which female star should I bring out next?"
Old Mrs. Zhang laughed out loud: "I complained to your grandparents, did I cause you trouble?"
Cai Zhiyuan raised an eyebrow: "As long as you don't think I'm troublesome, that's fine."
Mrs. Zhang stopped smiling and looked at him, saying very solemnly: "This is the best birthday gift I have ever received. Zhiyuan, you are the best child!"
Cai Zhiyuan opened his arms: "Let me hug the most attractive lady."
He hugged Old Lady Zhang and whispered in her ear: "It was that girl Yue Ning who came to talk to me. During the birthday party, she talked about you with many people. We who are familiar with you all know what kind of person you are. Since we all know that you are misunderstood, why don't we do something for you? Grandma, it's never too late to untie the shackles."
Cai Zhiyuan let her go, and Old Lady Zhang asked, "Yue Ning?"
"Yes! She told me there is five-snake soup today?" Cai Zhiyuan asked with a smile.
Old Mrs. Zhang heard that the little rascal had changed the subject, so she said, "Yes, there is five-snake soup. There are also crab roe soup dumplings."
Zhang Yunxian, the granddaughter of Mrs. Zhang, looked at Cai Zhiyuan from a distance. Cai Zhiyuan said, "I'm going to look for Yunxian."
"Go ahead!"
The guests gradually arrived and the ceremony began. The daughter put a lot of thought into this birthday party and specially made a video with old photos from the 1920s. That was their first building in Gangcheng and also Tianxiang’s first store. During the Japanese occupation, Gangcheng was under military control and the family’s money was drained out by the Japanese army and exchanged for military supply coupons. At that time, their family huddled in a tenement building.
Old Mrs. Zhang watched the video and felt relieved. Those people did not appear in the film.
After the war, Tianxiang Silver Shop reopened and they moved into a single house. Tianxiang was in Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, and Manila...
Tianxiang opened stores one after another, and finally settled in his current home. His daughter said, "Thank you, Mom, for always working hard for this family."
The daughter's last sentence was also said very tactfully, giving herself the opportunity to advance or retreat.
After the video was over, the whole audience burst into applause. Old Mrs. Zhang slowly walked onto the stage and smiled at the guests.
The faces that were once familiar to her were now covered with wrinkles. The children who once walked hand in hand with her now had sons and daughters. Even the little baby she once held in her arms had grown up and became a powerful figure in Hong Kong. The naughty boy Cai Zhiyuan, holding a wine glass in his hand, looked at her with an expectant expression...
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