Chapter 54: All is Well
On the day of the banquet, Rongzhen took A Cui to the place where the Zhao family held the birthday party.
It was a large hotel located on a busy commercial street, next door to the British and French Concessions, so its economic security was impeccable.
The Zhao family has been doing business for generations and has accumulated considerable wealth. They booked the entire hotel for the day to welcome the many guests who came to the banquet.
When Rongzhen and the others arrived in a rickshaw, the hotel entrance was already crowded with people coming and going, and it was very lively. The cars carrying the guests alone were enough to block the road in front of the hotel.
Some less experienced people were stunned when they saw it. They probably never imagined that there were so many cars in Shanghai. It was rare to see one on the street, but now there were so many that they blocked an entire street.
Rongzhen had seen this kind of scene many times in later life, so it was not surprising. He asked the rickshaw driver to stop by the roadside and decided to walk through the congested road.
A Cui got off the car right after her, still holding her bag, but she was much quieter than before.
This was a sudden change that happened to her after she recovered from her illness. Rongzhen once asked her what was wrong, but A Cui always said that it was nothing, and made excuses that she had just recovered from a serious illness and her body had not yet recovered.
Rongzhen tried to reduce her work as much as possible after that. For example, she had not planned to bring her here this time, but she came along because she was worried about the young lady's safety.
The two carefully made their way through the crowded traffic and crowds, only to be stopped by a waiter at the hotel entrance. "Hello, guests, please show us your invitation."
A Cui immediately took out the bright red and gold-embossed invitation from her bag and handed it to Rong Zhen, who handed it to the waiter for inspection.
"Welcome, Miss Xu." The waiter looked at the invitation and let her in.
Just as Rongzhen was about to go in, there was a sudden commotion from the people queuing behind her, and then the crowd automatically split open a path in the middle leading directly to the entrance.
Tap tap tap, the regular and somewhat familiar sound of military boots tapping the ground hit everyone's heart, getting closer and closer.
Ah Cui leaned closer to Rong Zhen, her voice trembling slightly: "Miss..."
Rongzhen thought she was scared and patted her hand to comfort her, "Don't be afraid, it's okay."
After saying that, he looked up and met the gaze of the man who stood out from the crowd. He was stunned. He didn't expect that it was an acquaintance.
The man looked over very keenly and noticed her at the same time. He paused as he passed by and nodded slightly in greeting.
Rong Zhen curled the corners of her lips in response, and in the blink of an eye, the other party had already stepped into the hotel door and was greeted by the head of the Zhao family himself.
The crowd exploded after he entered, and everyone was talking about why someone from the Special Intelligence Agency came here, and why it was this cold-blooded and ruthless madman who killed people without blinking an eye.
Before they could discuss it any further, several more Fuso ladies came over. Everyone immediately held their breath, made way for them, and only breathed a sigh of relief after they all went in. They hesitated whether they should still attend the Hongmen Banquet.
I thought I was just here to support the birthday party of Zhao's son, but I didn't expect that there would be people from the Special Intelligence Bureau and the Fuso Lady. I knew at a glance that this party would not be simple. Anyone who dared to attend it might have to be prepared to be implicated.
But since ancient times, interests have always been a motivating factor for people, and the benefits that the Zhao family banquet might bring to them made everyone unwilling to give up, so they were all hesitant.
Rongzhen was also hesitating whether to go in, and then classmate Zhao appeared and took her in.
Student Zhao said enthusiastically, "Student Xu, come with me quickly. Everyone in our club is here, and you're the only one left."
"Sorry, there was a traffic jam outside and I was delayed at the door for a while." Rong Zhen responded and followed her into the banquet hall.
At this point, she couldn't refuse just because she wanted to. Any opportunistic move was accompanied by huge risks, and any risk also came with benefits. She wanted to get what she wanted from Zhao's circle, so she couldn't back down at this moment.
Ah Cui followed behind silently and reservedly. Zhao noticed her and asked curiously, "Aren't you usually a lively study partner? Why are you so quiet today? Are you still sick?"
It was not friendly to bring a sick person to the host's birthday party. Rongzhen immediately explained that she had just recovered from a serious illness and was just not in good spirits.
"She's been like this for the past two days. She came here because she was worried about my safety on the road. Do you think there's a quiet place for her to rest?"
Such a large banquet certainly brought more than just Rong Zhen and her entourage. Classmate Zhao immediately asked someone to take A Cui to the reception room in the side hall.
Ah Cui was reluctant to leave Rong Zhen, "Miss, Auntie Pang asked me to stay close to you and ensure your safety."
Zhao admired her loyalty, but found her words amusing. "Don't worry, my family paid a lot of money. Didn't you see all the security outside? I don't think even a mosquito can fly in. What danger can there be here?"
Rongzhen thought of the man she met at the door and several Fuso executives. Although she didn't agree with Zhao's words, she comforted A Cui and said, "Go eat something with them first, and then come back to see me later."
She could see that classmate Zhao wanted to take her to meet up with other members, but didn't want to take A Cui with him.
Although they have all received education in new ideas and believe that they are more open-minded than others, some deep-rooted master-servant class concepts still subtly influence them.
Just like herself, if the Xu family was not a family of scholars with a reputation for elegance and nobility, and if she was not engaged in elegant things, even if she wrote well, she would probably not be favored by those young ladies.
The Zhao family is a class of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. No matter how rich they are, they are still merchants. That is why Zhao can be so humble in front of Rong Zhen and is willing to interact with her on an equal footing.
This doesn't work for A Cui. Even if Zhao may not have done it on purpose, she can't be very approachable.
This is not their fault, it is the fault of the times.
A Cui followed the waiter to the side hall, looking back every three steps, while Rong Zhen was taken to a private room on the second floor by classmate Zhao, where all the people from Jinxiu Society were.
The president immediately waved to them when he saw them, "You two are finally here. Come and see, the Special Intelligence Director and Fuso Taijun are facing off."
There are two large windows on the wall facing the downstairs in the box, so you can look down and see everything happening in the banquet hall below, with an excellent view.
Rongzhen followed classmate Zhao to the window and followed the president's instructions to look at the center of the banquet.
There seemed to be a vacuum there. The guests avoided it, but were also quietly watching the developments from the surroundings.
The director of the Special Affairs Department and several ladies who had just appeared at the hotel entrance were facing each other. The head of the Zhao family tried his best to mediate between the two parties, but in the end, no one knew what he said, and the sparks of friction that had been generated could not be ignited.
A few people were disappointed by this, but most of the guests relaxed a little.
Seeing the conflict resolved, Zhao patted his chest and said with relief: "It's a good thing there was no quarrel, otherwise I'm afraid this birthday party would not be able to end."
"Why did your family invite high-level Japanese people here?" Someone in the president's family works in the government and is not ignorant. He recognized the identities of the Japanese visitors at a glance.
Rongzhen didn't understand either, so she looked away and looked at classmate Zhao.
Zhao showed a hint of helplessness and said with a wry smile, "We didn't invite them. They came uninvited, and it's obvious they have bad intentions."
In addition, it is not just the Japanese who are like this. The newly appointed director of the Special Intelligence Bureau came to show up here as soon as he recovered from his injury. His family probably hasn't figured out what his intention is yet.
There is a wolf on the left and a tiger on the right. Maybe this birthday party shouldn't exist.
A member who knew something about the Zhao family pondered, "Given how much your family values your precious brother, it's impossible not to hold a birthday party. However, it's also possible that your father wants to do something with this party."
For example, he could use this opportunity to win over more backers and opportunities, so as to avoid being hunted down and devoured by the Fusang dogs that were targeting the Zhao family.
"Well, I hope so." Student Zhao's smile disappeared, and worry welled up on his brow.
Seeing the atmosphere gradually becoming heavy, Rong Zhen appropriately changed the subject: "That Director of the Special Intelligence Bureau, I remember he was seriously injured and hospitalized a while ago?"
Everyone else was very surprised that she knew this inside information. After all, no matter how noble the Xu family was, they were only in their hometown far away in the north. There were only Rong Zhen and a few servants in Shanghai. The fact that she knew this was enough to show that she was not without support here.
The president smiled at her and explained, "You probably haven't received the latest news yet. That person has been promoted while he was in the hospital recovering from his injuries. His injuries aren't as serious as initially disclosed. There might be other calculations involved."
They didn't know what happened in the process, they only looked at the cause and effect. In the end, the one who benefited was this person, and his planning was definitely involved.
Taking into consideration this person's behavior, the members were quite secretive about him and quickly changed the subject of discussion after talking for a few words.
Since many of the city's celebrities and dignitaries attended the banquet, the topic of their club's talk in the box was all about their current affairs and gossip, which broadened Rong Zhen's horizons as she was listening.
When the banquet started, Zhao was invited by his family to go downstairs to meet the guests, and they were taken along as well.
Since they were all from the same circle, Mr. Zhao simply brought his daughter's classmates along and introduced them to familiar guests and friends.
When it was the Special Intelligence Director's turn, Zhao's father's attitude was much warmer than before, and he said in a friendly tone: "This is the new Special Intelligence Director Jiang..."
"Ahem!" The man put his fist to his lips and coughed, interrupting Father Zhao: "I heard that your daughter is studying at a new-style girls' middle school. Are these her classmates?"
Father Zhao understood the elegant meaning of the music and introduced Rong Zhen and the others to him one by one, bypassing his daughter.
The president and the others all bowed and greeted with caution, but they didn't expect that the director was very perfunctory to them and was not interested in them as they had expected.
After discovering this, the girls couldn't help but relax.
Rongzhen was the last person to be introduced. Father Zhao was not very familiar with her and only knew that she was a friend his daughter had just met.
"This..." Father Zhao hesitated slightly, turned his gaze to his daughter, and motioned her to introduce herself.
Zhao hesitated, not wanting to drag Rong Zhen, who seemed to have not yet understood the current situation, into the game, but she couldn't go against her father's instructions.
At the critical moment, Rong Zhen took the initiative to greet the bearded director in front of him: "Hello, nice to see you again."
"Well, I hope you're okay." The man's voice was as hoarse as paper rubbing against the wall. It was unclear whether it was the sequelae of the injury.
Rongzhen didn't sound as pleasant as before, but it didn't alleviate his suspicion much either.
There really aren't many people here who are as tall as him, or have shoulders as broad and legs as long as his.
Father Zhao and the others looked back and forth, and asked in surprise, "Do you two know each other?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
