But she didn't react in the end, forcing a smile, "Let's talk over there."
After saying that, he glanced at Xu Ruantang and walked out of the hotel.
The tall man standing next to Cheng Dan also left with her.
Xu Ruantang touched her nose and waited until the two had walked away before returning to the banquet hall.
Ye Lan wasn't in her seat; she either went to the restroom or wasn't there.
Xu Ruantang sat for a while; there were still about ten minutes before the banquet began.
Two middle-aged women sat next to her, gossiping in hushed tones.
"Really, I saw it just now. You know, people are just different. Her daughter is like this, how come there are still people chasing after her?"
Another person patted their arm, clearly disagreeing with her point of view, "Look at you making such a fuss. He's never been married before, so why can't he go on blind dates? But I heard that he climbed up the ladder by relying on his wife back then. Well, now his son-in-law is relying on him to climb up the ladder."
"Shh, keep your voice down. His wife is a force to be reckoned with. If she hears you, she'll grab your hair and beat you up."
"Ha, that was all in the past. She wouldn't dare now. If she doesn't get married soon, who knows if her daughter will even be able to have children. She has to endure it all for the sake of her daughter who can't get married."
The more Xu Ruantang listened, the more familiar it seemed.
She had barely glanced at the two women when one of them slapped the other's thigh, "Shh, shh, they're back, they're back! Stop talking!"
Xu Ruantang followed their gaze and saw Cheng Dan, arm in arm with her mother, sitting at their table.
So it really was referring to the Cheng family.
Cheng Dan's blind date was probably witnessed by many people; gossip in the compound always spreads very quickly.
As soon as the two of them sat down, all the guests at the table fell silent, and the atmosphere instantly became awkward.
Xu Ruantang glanced at the empty seat next to her, then looked at her watch.
If Ye Lan doesn't come back soon, the banquet will start.
Fortunately, just a few minutes before the meal was to begin, Ye Lan ran back with a radiant face.
Xu Ruantang pulled out a chair for her. "Mom, where did you go?"
As soon as Ye Lan sat down, she finished the water in her glass and then said with a smile, "I ran into a former neighbor and we chatted for a bit."
Their former neighbors no longer live in the compound; they must be higher-ranking officials.
No wonder Ye Lan was so cheerful.
Xu Ruantang had no idea that things would turn out so coincidentally.
Ye Lan's neighbor knows Li's father's bodyguard, who is also Cheng Dan's blind date today.
This young man was a distant relative of Ye Lan's neighbor. He was able to be transferred to be Li's father's bodyguard through a neighbor's recommendation.
While Ye Lan was chatting with her neighbor, she happened to run into the young man who had just finished talking with Cheng Dan and was about to enter the hotel.
The young man greeted him politely.
I was about to leave, but the gossipy duo stopped me and we talked for a bit longer.
Upon learning that the young man was on a blind date with Cheng Dan, Ye Lan's neighbor said a few more words and, incidentally, revealed what Cheng's mother had done back then.
Originally, this was an old matter, a grudge from the previous generation, so the young man didn't think much of it and just gave a perfunctory smile.
But Ye Lan hadn't seen her neighbor for a long time. They had just finished talking about what Cheng Dan had done to Chen Ji, including what happened later with Lu Lei in the Air Force compound.
Ye Lan's neighbor thought to herself, "They are relatives after all. I can't just watch my child jump into a fire pit."
Right after Ye Lan left, he told her everything in detail.
The young man's face naturally darkened.
Just moments ago, the young man heard Cheng Dan say, "I'm not married because I don't want to settle and haven't met anyone I like. I think you're quite nice on this blind date."
The young man is an honest person. He doesn't really care about Cheng Dan's past, but he can't accept being deceived.
The banquet started quickly, and Li Shuhe and Shen Qingwen came out as well.
The two went from table to table toasting, but since Li Shuhe was pregnant, her cup had already been replaced with plain water.
Most of those who came today were relatives of the Li family.
After the New Year, when the banquet was held in the courtyard, Shen Qingwen's friends offended many people. The Li family relatives remembered this and deliberately made Shen Qingwen drink a lot of alcohol.
In the past, Li Shuhe would have naturally said a few words to help him smooth things over.
But today she didn't say anything, just stood to the side with a smile, watching Shen Qingwen drink one cup after another.
Shen Qingwen wasn't a very good drinker to begin with, and just after toasting at the main table, he was already feeling dizzy.
Other tables waited for a long time before starting their own meal if they couldn't get a turn.
Xu Ruantang picked up an abalone and handed it to Ye Lan, saying, "Mom, try it. I thought it was pretty good last time I had it."
The two were speaking in hushed tones when they heard Cheng's mother say from across the room, "Excuse me, this room is taken."
There was an empty seat next to her that no one had sat in. When someone tried to take it, she persuaded them to leave.
Before leaving, the man muttered to himself, "The feast has already started, where did this person come from?"
Xu Ruantang thought it was Cheng's father, but the next second, Cheng's mother moved to that position.
In this way, the empty space became the space between her and Cheng Dan.
Cheng Dan was still a little embarrassed. "Mom, don't bother with all this. Let's eat first."
Cheng's mother didn't touch her chopsticks, but craned her neck to look around, as if she was looking for someone.
After a long while, she finally fixed her gaze on Cheng Dan, raised her hand and nudged her, "Go, call her over and have her sit together."
Xu Ruantang ate while watching the commotion.
Cheng Dan blushed as she stood up and walked towards the tall figure at the banquet not far away.
Xu Ruantang also recognized that person; he was Cheng Dan's blind date today, and also Li's father's bodyguard.
Before Cheng Dan walked over, her eyes were full of determination.
Cheng's mother also held her chin high, looking quite triumphant.
The two of them are clearly not even close to getting together yet.
Ye Lan looked at Cheng Dan's affected and pretentious manner and gave another soft snort.
She always felt that Cheng's mother raised her daughter to be too pretentious, not like a daughter from a respectable family at all, and with too many ulterior motives.
Ye Lan turned to look at Xu Ruantang again and found that she was poised and had a bright look in her eyes.
I couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.
Her daughter-in-law is the best; she's beautiful, generous, honest, and intelligent.
Ye Lan liked it more and more as she looked at it, and put a lot of food into Xu Ruantang's bowl.
"Eat up, whichever one you like. Mom will buy some more later so we can take them home and eat them with your grandma."
Xu Ruantang didn't think much of it and nodded, saying, "Okay, Grandma should like this Buddha Jumps Over the Wall dish. We can't give her anything sweet."
While the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were chatting, Cheng Dan returned, pulling the chair with a creak.
Xu Ruantang then noticed that the guests at their table all had different expressions, as if they had seen some juicy gossip but couldn't say it out loud.
Cheng Dan returned alone. The young man she had a blind date with was still sitting at the same table, but he didn't even bother to come over and say hello.
Seeing that her daughter's expression was not good, Cheng's mother quickly sat back down and asked in a low voice, "Dandan, what's wrong? Why isn't he coming over? Does he have to entertain some superiors over there?"
Cheng Dan's mother was about to say something more when she was interrupted by the sharp sound of dishes clattering together.
Xu Ruantang watched helplessly as the bowls and chopsticks were thrown towards her mother-in-law.
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