Seeing that it was almost time, Su Kaiyue went to the banquet hall with Shi Yan.
The eighteenth birthday banquet for the youngest son of the Shi family was naturally a grand affair. Su Kaiyue invited everyone she could, and almost all the celebrities of Yan City attended.
The guests arrived one after another. Shi Jingguo held up his wine glass and chatted with the couple opposite him. The couple were newly emerging wealthy businessmen in Yancheng. Their foreign trade business had been booming in the past two years. Shi Jingguo wanted to get involved in this industry, so they chatted for a while.
Everyone was very respectful, after all, the Shi family held a high status in Yancheng and were listed on the Yancheng Rich List every year.
Madam Ma saw Su Kaiyue and walked over with a wine glass in her hand.
"Kaiyue, is this the youngest son you've kept hidden for so many years?"
Mrs. Ma's husband is the owner of a well-known real estate company in Yancheng. He also owns several art galleries. He met Su Kaiyue at a party, and the two hit it off immediately. They exchanged contact information and communicated frequently in private.
Madam Ma has a daughter who is also 17 years old this year and will not come of age for another six months. She is a little younger than Shi Yan.
He is a senior at an international high school across from No. 1 High School, and he is pursuing an arts entrance exam, hoping to study abroad for university.
She also had her own agenda for this banquet, hoping to bring her daughter and Su Kaiyue's youngest son together.
The Shi family is wealthy and holds a high position in Yancheng. The children from both families are considered a good match. However, Madam Ma had mentioned it to Su Kaiyue a few times before, but Su Kaiyue always avoided the topic, as if her own child was not presentable.
Upon seeing that it was Madam Ma, Su Kaiyue smiled, picked up a glass of wine from the table next to her, clinked glasses with Madam Ma, and said, "Yes, this is my youngest son, Shi Yan."
After speaking, he instructed Shi Yan, who was standing to the side, to greet Madam Ma.
Shi Yan said very politely, "Hello, Aunt Ma."
"Oh, such a good girl!"
The more Mrs. Ma looked at Shi Yan, the more she liked him. He was clean and good-looking, and seemed to be in good spirits, showing no signs of the frequent illnesses that Su Kaiyue had mentioned before.
"Kaiyue, you're not being honest either. You have such a handsome son, why didn't you bring him out for me to see sooner? Look how well-proportioned he is, and how good his complexion is. He doesn't look sickly at all like you described."
Upon hearing the words "sickly," Shi Yan knew that Madam Ma was referring to Shi Qian, and that Shi Qian should have been standing there. However, it was a pity that Shi Qian, with his useless brain, had missed such a good opportunity.
Su Kaiyue quickly changed the subject, "I'm all better now. By the way, didn't you say you wanted the two younger ones to get to know each other? Where's Xiaoting?"
"Oh right, Xiaoting came with me, but I don't know where she's off to now. I'll send her a message and ask where she is."
"I heard that Xiaoting recently passed the music association's assessment. This girl plays the piano really well. My son Xiaoyan also studies musical instruments, the violin, and he plays very well too."
"I was supposed to participate in this assessment, but I injured my hand and had to miss it."
Mrs. Ma comforted him, "It's alright, there will be another chance next year. Your child inherited your genes, how bad could he be?"
"That's true. Xiaoyan has participated in several national competitions and achieved good results each time."
"That's amazing! It's a pity I wasn't familiar with you before, otherwise I would definitely have gone to support you."
"However, my son said he wants to take the entrance exam for a school in Beijing next year. He's too lazy to travel back and forth, so I guess he'll go to Beijing to take the exam next year."
"Then your son is amazing; the headquarters' assessment is much more difficult."
Su Kaiyue and Madam Ma complimented each other, while Shi Yan stood quietly to the side, smiling along.
Soon, a girl wearing a new haute couture pink dress walked over and called out "Mom" to Mrs. Ma.
Mrs. Ma pulled her daughter over and introduced her to Su Kaiyue, "This is my daughter, Ma Wenting." Then she tugged at her daughter, "Xiaoting, say hello to Aunt Su."
Hello, Aunt Su.
"Good boy, you're really good-looking. Come here, this is my youngest son, Shi Yan. He also plays musical instruments. You two have a good chat."
After Su Kaiyue finished speaking, she pulled Madam Ma away with a smile, leaving the two young people alone.
Ma Wenting saw Shi Yan from afar. He looked handsome from behind. When she saw Shi Yan's face, she blushed unconsciously.
This is exactly the kind of look she likes. Before, when her mother told her that she would introduce her to someone her own age so that they could get along well, Ma Wenting had dismissed it with disdain.
He thought she was just some scoundrel who wanted to date him because she had a little money.
Unexpectedly, he turned out to be this kind of person. Shi Yan showed no trace of the spoiled brat aura. He was dressed in an exquisite suit, with a smile on his face, and looked very gentle.
Ma Wenting felt her heart racing.
"Hello, my name is Ma Wenting, nice to meet you."
"My name is Shi Yan."
Shi Yan greeted Ma Wenting very politely. The girl came from a good family and was very beautiful, but unfortunately, Shi Yan didn't like girls at all.
"Let's go sit over there, eat and chat."
Ma Wenting pointed to a spot ahead, gesturing for the two of them to go there.
Shi Yan nodded politely, and after the two sat down, Ma Wenting immediately launched her offensive.
Are you also a senior in high school? Do you play a musical instrument?
"Yes, violin."
"That's great."
"I'm at Yancheng International School, what about you?"
"I'm from No. 1 Middle School."
"You're a top student, and No. 1 High School is right across from ours. We can hang out sometime."
Shi Yan initially wanted to refuse, but then he thought that Ma Wenting came from a good family, and having more friends meant having more options.
"Can."
The two chatted casually for a while, and soon Shi Yan received a message from Su Kaiyue asking him to come over, as the birthday banquet was about to officially begin.
Shi Yan was extremely excited; the time had finally come for Su Kaiyue to formally introduce him to everyone.
After tonight, he will rightfully be the only young master of the Shi family.
Su Kaiyue delivered a series of touching speeches, then looked down at Shi Yan in the audience and said:
"Today's birthday party is also my youngest son's 18th birthday coming-of-age ceremony. He was sick before, so we couldn't bring him out to meet everyone. But now he's better, and we can finally let him out and about."
"Shi Yan, come up here."
Shi Yan obediently went up and stood next to Su Kaiyue.
"This is my youngest son, Shi Yan. Please take good care of him in the future."
Applause erupted from the audience. Most of the people in the audience had business dealings with the Shi family and had heard about their sick youngest son.
The group also had children of similar age, and they wanted to introduce each other and build relationships, but they were afraid that the youngest son of the Shi family would not live long, so they dared not make any rash moves.
I never expected him to have such a handsome and well-behaved appearance, with not a trace of illness.
When it was Shi Yan's turn to speak, just as he picked up the microphone, a loud voice rang out from the doorway.
"Is this Mr. Shi's banquet? This is a birthday gift, please sign for it."
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