Chapter Thirty-One: Su Muci Makes a Stunning Appearance at Father Zhou's Birthday Banquet
Zhou Wangyuan frowned. "Ying'er, why do you insist on calling her over?"
“Of course it’s useful to me.”
At this point, Zhou Mengying curled the corners of her lips into a smile.
She looked at herself in the full-length mirror again, feeling an uncontrollable sense of pride.
A beggar like Su Muchi who lives in a slum probably doesn't even own a formal dress, right?
When she sees me, so bright and radiant, will she wish she could disappear into a crack in the ground?
But this time, even if she wanted to hide, it was no use.
A mocking glint flashed in Zhou Mengying's eyes: If you don't die on the rooftop, I'll make sure you live the rest of your life in my shadow.
Suddenly, a voice came from outside the door announcing, "Master, the Fu family has arrived!"
Upon hearing the words "Fu family," Zhou Wangyuan's usual obsequiousness vanished.
"Tell them to wait in the VIP room!"
...
In the main hall of the villa, Fu Leiting, chairman of the Fu Group, stood with his hands behind his back.
Fu Hengzhi stood beside him, followed by eight bodyguards.
The bodyguards were protecting a three-meter-long original ancient painting, which was extremely luxuriously framed.
The display was quite grand, attracting many guests to come forward to greet them.
"Chairman Fu! Young Master Fu! It's a pleasure to meet you!"
Fu Leiting raised his hand to politely decline the guests' toasts and flattery, and said with a smile, "Today, I, Fu, will only be presenting a painting; I will not be drinking any wine."
This attitude made everything clear to everyone, and whispers circulated nearby:
"I've long heard that Chairman Fu doesn't approve of the marriage between Mr. Fu and Ms. Zhou."
"The Fu family has been established for over a century, a top-tier and prestigious family in Jiangcheng. Compared to them, what is the Zhou family? Everyone knows that the Zhou family radio station made its fortune by skirting the edges of the law, just a nouveau riche who got rich by sheer luck."
"But the young master of the Fu family, ignoring so many daughters from prominent families in Jiangcheng, insisted on marrying Miss Zhou. Chairman Fu had no choice but to accept it!"
"Chairman Fu has always loved ancient paintings. In my opinion, he came to offer birthday wishes rather than to personally deliver this ancient painting because he felt sorry for it."
Just as everyone was whispering among themselves, the Zhou family steward walked over respectfully.
"Chairman Fu, Young Master Fu, please go to the VIP room to rest for a while. My master, mistress and young lady will be here shortly."
As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Leiting's face darkened instantly.
Fu Hengzhi, who was standing next to him, couldn't help but furrow his brows, which had been nonchalant.
The murmurs resumed: "How can the Zhou family be so ill-mannered? Chairman Fu has arrived, and they didn't even greet him personally? They sent a mere steward to deliver the message?"
"That's right. What are the statuses of the Fu family and the Zhou family? Chairman Fu coming to congratulate Zhou Wangyuan on his birthday and personally delivering a gift is already a great honor for him. How could the Zhou family be so ungrateful?"
Unable to bear such humiliation, Fu Leiting roared, "Hengzhi, forget about giving away this painting, let's go!"
Fu Hengzhi immediately stopped Chairman Fu, who was about to turn and leave, "Dad, Ying'er and the others might really be busy. Shall we go to the VIP room first?"
"Besides, I have something to discuss with Uncle Zhou today, have you forgotten?"
Fu Hengzhi lowered his voice when he said the next sentence.
Fu Leiting frowned.
How could I forget?
The cooperation between the Fu family and the Huo family of Kyoto was suddenly intercepted by the Zhou family. He was still waiting for the Zhou family to act as a go-between so that the Fu family could climb up to the Huo family of Kyoto!
Fu Leiting suppressed his anger, snorted coldly, and walked past everyone in the banquet hall toward the VIP room.
Fu Hengzhi ordered someone to hand the painting over to the steward, and then followed closely behind.
Ten minutes later, the sound of a teacup shattering came from the VIP room, accompanied by Fu Leiting's angry shout: "Go and fetch Zhou Wangyuan here!"
Fu Hengzhi walked out of the VIP room with a gloomy face after being reprimanded, his brows furrowed with anger.
The Zhou family embarrassed the Fu family in public and then made them wait in the VIP room for ten minutes without showing up. Fu Hengzhi had never experienced such cold treatment before.
Just as he was about to call Zhou Mengying, a gasp suddenly came from the main hall of the villa.
Wow! This lady's dress is so beautiful! And the necklace she's wearing looks incredibly expensive!
"With such elegant and sophisticated attire, this must be Zhou Mengying, the eldest daughter of the Zhou family!"
Fu Hengzhi looked in the direction of the sound and saw a woman in a pink dress with her back to him. Her long, thick, seaweed-like hair reached her waist, and her figure was graceful and charming.
That fleeting glance instantly dispelled his anger, and his eyes filled with intense heat.
His Ying'er always amazed him with her beauty.
Fu Heng stepped forward, gently encircling her waist from behind. He leaned down to her ear and said in a tender, indulgent tone, "Ying'er, so you're here? I was just about to call you. You must be very busy today?"
Su Muci froze as the man's arm encircled her.
Even with his back to her, she recognized his voice—it was Fu Hengzhi!
Over the past three years, she had lost count of how many times he had hugged her from behind like this, his arms around her waist, coaxing her softly, "Cici..."
But were those hugs in the past also like this, where they treated her as Zhou Mengying?
What a hypocrite! It makes her want to vomit just thinking about it!
Su Muci bit her lip secretly, her memory suddenly snapping back to reality.
The next second, she suddenly turned around and slapped the man in front of her across the face without hesitation.
"Smack—!"
The crisp sound of the slap was particularly jarring in the elegantly dressed hall.
Countless gazes surged toward them.
"What happened?"
"Isn't Miss Zhou on good terms with the young master of the Fu family? Why did she slap someone in public?"
Fu Hengzhi was stunned by the slap. He covered his face, his eyes full of astonishment, clearly not understanding what had happened.
When his gaze refocused on the person in front of him, his pupils suddenly contracted, and even his voice changed tone.
"How could it be you!"
Su Muci stood before him, wearing elegant crystal high heels, her makeup radiant, and a designer-designed pink gown that accentuated her fair and delicate skin. The exquisite pink diamond necklace around her neck was breathtakingly beautiful.
Where is this Su Muchi, who used to be trapped in a rented room, working tirelessly around the stove with her hands covered in grease and smoke, like a cheap nanny?
Su Muchi parted her red lips slightly, her voice cold: "Young Master Fu, do you see clearly now? I am not Zhou Mengying."
His words stirred up a huge wave of discussion.
The surrounding guests were whispering among themselves: "So this beautiful young lady isn't actually Miss Zhou at all!"
"Rumor has it that Young Master Fu is so infatuated with Miss Zhou that he even mistook his own fiancée?"
Upon hearing these comments, Fu Hengzhi lost face and his voice turned somber.
"Su Muci, you impersonated Ying'er and proposed to me in public before, and now you deliberately imitated Ying'er's clothes and broke into Uncle Zhou's birthday banquet. What exactly are you trying to do!"
He deliberately emphasized and stressed the words "impersonate," "proposal," and "imitation."
It instantly awakened the memories of all the guests.
The criticism that was originally directed at Fu Hengzhi has all turned to Su Muci.
"Is she the woman who proposed to Young Master Fu and tried to climb the social ladder? It's no wonder Young Master Fu might mistake her for someone else; she was just deliberately imitating Miss Zhou's clothes!"
"Didn't she stage a suicide attempt before? Now she's actually barging into the Zhou family's birthday banquet! I've seen shameless women who fawn over men, but I've never seen anyone this shameless!"
At the same time, Fu Hengzhi turned to the Zhou family steward and ordered, "This woman has come uninvited and is disrupting Uncle Zhou's birthday banquet. Why don't you throw her out?"
"Who said I came uninvited?"
Su Muci's response elicited a cold sneer from Fu Hengzhi.
"Really? Then show me your invitation!"
Fu Hengzhi didn't believe the Zhou family would invite a vicious woman who had hurt Ying'er to Uncle Zhou's birthday banquet, so he spoke with full confidence: there was absolutely no way she had an invitation.
Su Muci calmly took out her phone and skillfully connected it to the large projection screen in the lobby.
The invitation text message sent by Zhou Wangyuan was displayed openly:
Next week is my birthday party. Investors value family harmony most, so please go home. You can choose not to come, but your mother's ashes will be scattered in the cesspool.
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