Chapter 64
Not everyone is qualified to attend the old man's birthday banquet and offer their congratulations.
One reason is that the old man is getting on in years and his energy is not what it used to be. If all the people attending the birthday banquet were to come and pay their respects one by one, I'm afraid the old man wouldn't be able to leave his seat by this time tomorrow.
Another unavoidable unspoken rule is...
Tonight's birthday banquet was exceptionally lively, but fortunately, the old house was quite large, and special preparations were made, with several interconnected buildings in the garden brightly lit.
The older generation went to the main hall to wait for the two elders to appear.
Among the remaining buildings, which are both ancient and modern, and brightly lit, one can exchange a few pleasantries with familiar faces upon meeting them.
It's easy to see the divisions between groups within a crowd.
Those who huddled together, regardless of age or temperament, were mostly similar, and their facial expressions seemed to have been mass-produced from the same place—either bursting into hearty laughter or offering reserved, polite smiles.
People like Lianyi's friends are probably considered out of place in the current social circles of the old house.
They say they're just muddling along, but they're not muddling along enough.
If you talk about being ambitious, everyone will just laugh it off.
They can't compare to those who were pampered and spoiled to the extreme, nor can they compare to those young talents who appear elegant, intellectual, and mature today.
When Lian Yi arrived at Banhu Garden, this was the scene she saw. To her left, a group of people who looked to be no more than twenty or thirty years old, their reserved demeanor subtly revealing arrogance and confidence.
Every part of her body was exquisite.
Looking to the right, it's not that her friends are particularly outstanding.
They were all frivolous and unserious, with all sorts of things, lined up in front of a potted plant, staring at it with such serious expressions that the plant was really too flashy.
As Lian Yi walked past, she could still see some people on the left giving her a subtle, ambiguous look.
"How bored are you all, staring at my grandfather's flowers? If the old man finds out tomorrow that a leaf is missing, none of you will escape."
"Good heavens, Lian Yi, can't you at least give us a heads-up before you walk around so quietly?!"
Gu Xin almost jumped up, put her hands on her hips, and couldn't control her volume.
The sudden sound of Lian Yi's laughing voice coming from behind almost startled her so much that she instinctively swayed forward.
"Heh, you're just a coward, don't blame others." Pei Tu'an suppressed a laugh, his lips twitching. "I'm just stating the facts."
"Yeah yeah."
The other three nodded seriously as well.
Seeing the smile on Lian Yi's face turn playful, Gu Xin immediately realized what was going on, gritted her teeth and glared at Pei Tu'an, "So, you're all ganging up on me to scare me, aren't you?"
"No, there really isn't..."
Pei Tu'an couldn't possibly admit it. He tugged at his shirt and immediately focused his gaze on the potted plant in front of him that had been taken care of so well even in the dead of winter.
Watching them laugh and joke around like that, Lian Yi's smile never faded. She glanced at them and raised an eyebrow slightly, "Where's Li Xilai? Isn't she with you?"
“Xiao Lai walked that way.” Gu Xin knew what kind of occasion this was, so she could only glare at Pei Tu’an threateningly, then turn her face and gesture to the left.
As soon as she finished speaking, Lian Yi looked to her left in surprise, and Gu Xin leaned closer, speaking softly.
"Didn't I tell you last time? Xiao Lai recently started dating someone, but it's quite mysterious. We only found out today that she's actually with the second son of the third generation of the Fu family."
Gu Xin leaned against Lian Yi, her bright eyes glancing in that direction before she sighed helplessly.
"I really don't understand. Xiao Lai doesn't seem to be forced by her family, so how could she get involved with someone like the second son of the Fu family? I really can't believe it."
Lian Yi smiled and supported Gu Xin's shoulder, which seemed to lean against her without any bones, without saying a word.
But a slight gloom suddenly settled in my heart.
She knew that the "those kinds of people" Gu Xin was referring to meant a group of people with completely different pursuits from their circle.
Compared to these typical good-for-nothing rich kids, the sons of wealthy families were far more outstanding, receiving elite education, graduating from prestigious universities, having impressive resumes, and taking over their family businesses.
These two groups of people clearly couldn't get along, yet Li Xilai is now with one of them.
Li Xilai is the only daughter in her family. Even if it were a marriage alliance, it wouldn't be done so quietly and casually. So even Gu Xin was just surprised that Li Xilai had a connection with the second son of the Fu family.
"That man's name is Fu Chengyue?" Lian Yi looked at the group of people dressed in fine clothes and with elegant bearing under the bright lights, her eyes changing slightly.
It seemed less like he was asking Gu Xin and more like he was muttering to himself.
Gu Xin turned her head to look at her in confusion, blinked and nodded, "Yes, she graduated from an Ivy League school, but she didn't follow the path of law and politics that her family follows. Now she's starting her own business, and I heard that her annual revenue was tens of millions last year."
Achieving an annual revenue of tens of millions through one's own efforts, coupled with some family resources, is a completely different concept from someone like Lian Yi who can simply ask for hundreds of millions of yuan in startup capital.
In their circle, Fu Chengyue's achievements are still relatively young compared to those of higher-ups, but compared to those of lower-ups, he is someone many people look up to and are often compared to.
"...What's wrong, Xiaoyi?" Gu Xin noticed Lianyi's silence. She knew that Lianyi and Li Xilai had a good relationship, so even if she wasn't angry, she should at least be a little surprised.
Lian Yi lowered her eyes slightly. "No, I'm just... a little surprised to find out about this. I'll go find Xi Lai first. You and the others can chat here for now."
"Oh, okay." Gu Xin straightened up, but felt that something was not right.
I had a vague feeling that Lian Yi was hiding something, or at least things didn't seem as nonchalant as she made them out to be.
but……
Gu Xin suddenly remembered that Xie Ling, whom Lian Yi had specially brought to the birthday banquet, was still there as a mascot.
However, just as she was about to speak, she saw Lian Yi wave her hand, so she had no choice but to shut her mouth and walk back to her group of friends with a troubled expression.
Lian Yi remained silent for a while. At this moment, the different environments and the events unfolding before her eyes existed in a fragmented way.
The same hustle and bustle, the same singing and dancing.
The difference is that in front of the large room, all you see are a group of pampered 'successful people'. Beneath their seemingly harmonious surface, countless schemes and calculations are brewing.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hao and Lina borrowed an empty stage to vent all their emotions, attracting a crowd of students.
They could play whatever they wanted, music that wouldn't be allowed to be performed formally in an orchestra, drawing cheers that seemed to shake the heavens.
She rubbed her forehead; some things were destined to be known only to herself.
For example, Li Xilai's character is not her fiancé in the original storyline.
He was not as virtuous and successful as he appeared on the surface.
As the atmosphere-maker beside the villainous female supporting character, of course, he can't have a good fate after he clashes with the female lead.
However, Li Xilai was originally just a member of the fake rich girl's best friend group, and she didn't have many scenes in the story.
She serves purely as a mood-setting character; after the fake heiress is defeated, at most she's described as 'seeing the real heiress, she could only slink her head down and avoid her.'
But Fu Chengyue is different.
Two years later, Fu Chengyue's reputation in any circle in Yunhai City was almost comparable to that of Huo Zhiyun of the Huo family.
Instead of following the smooth path to advancement arranged by his family, he went abroad and started playing with digital currency with several alumni. After accumulating enough capital, he invested heavily. In just two years, when he reappeared in Yunhai, he was already a highly sought-after investment fund manager.
Many of the young people, who are also second-generation rich, entrusted him with large sums of money for investment and financial management.
It's fair to say that they were lining up, begging him to spend their own money.
But no one could have imagined how audacious this person was, using a large sum of money to pave the way for himself, causing everyone's money to be lost and buried in the vast amount of data.
And how much money he could stuff into his purse as a result, no one knows.
Before Fu Chengyue's deeds were exposed, he was indeed a promising and promising son-in-law in everyone's eyes. Even though he already had a fiancée, he still showed interest in the real heiress.
This was also the trigger that ultimately led to the failure of his plan, which was discovered by the real heiress.
Fu Chengyue is extremely good at disguising himself, but his private life is so chaotic that it can't even be published in the news.
Drug use, sex parties, and violent sexual behavior are just a part of his daily life.
Lian Yi walked through the group of polite, seemingly high-class and cultured people, completely ignoring their surprised reactions and their attempts to greet her. Her usually smiling eyes were now as cold as if covered with frost.
Li Xilai shouldn't be with Fu Chengyue. Lian Yi has known Li Xilai for many years and knows all too well that she could never choose Fu Chengyue.
It's the plot... which shouldn't have happened in the first place.
Thinking of this, Lian Yi closed her eyes.
She did have some suspicions, but she didn't want the truth to be what she guessed.
This direction leads to a garden with a pond. Tonight is Grandpa's birthday banquet, so the more dangerous and private areas have been specially sealed off and guarded.
However, these blockades only apply to outsiders. Guests like Li Xilai, who are friends of Lian Yi, can simply greet others in most places, except for a few buildings.
Lian Yi walked briskly, ignoring the employees' greetings, and stepped through the archway directly into the garden.
The garden is not large, but the well-trimmed flower bushes form a grove, and the pond connects to the flowing water on the other side, making a gurgling sound.
She had barely taken two steps when she heard a faint murmur of what seemed to be a prolonged argument.
Then came the man's voice, which, though lowered, still carried an air of superiority and confidence.
Until Li Xilai's muffled groan came.
Lian Yi's eyes turned completely cold. She walked quickly, bypassing a cluster of flowers in full bloom, and saw the scene of Fu Chengyue holding Li Xilai by the neck.
He then smiled, completely oblivious to the situation, and said, "I'm really different from those people. I have no interest in a young woman like you who doesn't know anything. But anyway, you're my fiancée in name only."
"Normally you can't touch me or kiss me, whatever, I don't care anyway."
Fu Chengyue lowered his head. He was smiling, but the coldness on his face made the smile look very creepy.
"But what are you pretending for in front of my friends? Didn't your mother teach you how to behave as my woman in public?"
His emotions were clearly abnormal, and his eyes even had a hint of madness.
Even the hand gripping Li Xilai's neck lost control, tightening involuntarily, and the words he spoke became increasingly incoherent and disordered.
No matter how much Li Xilai thrashed, she couldn't break free.
She gradually felt the suffocation caused by lack of oxygen. Her face flushed red as she looked to the side. Her eyes, filled with tears, no longer held their usual pride and composure. In her blurred vision, it seemed as if a figure suddenly rushed towards her.
"Hah...cough cough cough..."
Fu Chengyue, dressed in a sharp suit, was suddenly pushed to the ground. His hand lost its strength and he let go of Li Xilai. His mind was still a blur of dizziness.
He felt nothing even as his hands were rubbed raw by the bluestone slabs on the ground, leaving large cuts and bruises. He simply raised his head in a cold and angry manner.
A tall, slender boy with a cold expression stood in front of him, staring at him coldly.
Fu Chengyue had practiced Sanda (Chinese kickboxing), but at this moment, he felt dizzy and disoriented, causing his two attempts to get up to miss repeatedly. On the contrary, the boy's seemingly haphazard counterattacks repeatedly sent him back to his original position.
Lian Yi helped Li Xilai up, who had collapsed to the ground. When she saw that scene, she knew that her guess was correct.
At that moment, an unprecedented anger ignited in Lian Yi's heart almost instantly.
She can disregard the attitudes of her biological parents, whether they are sincere or not, or whether their feelings are mixed with self-interest; all that remains is a sliver of familial affection.
She can also disregard whether anyone hates or likes her.
Lian Yi knew that she was just a supporting character in all of this, a supporting character destined to lose everything in the end.
Even if it wasn't her, there would be three, four, five more, to make everything that was supposed to happen happen.
But she couldn't accept that her friend, who had clearly moved away from the plot and hadn't clashed with the female lead, was still acting out of kindness towards her...
It carries on the original fate of the first henchman of that vicious female supporting character.
"Don't speak yet..." Lian Yi supported Li Xilai, her wrist held tightly by the girl. She paused, shook her head, and said softly, "Your throat might be injured. Don't speak yet, wait until the examination is finished."
Lian Yi gently smoothed Li Xilai's disheveled hair, looking at her face, which was filled with fear and hatred and covered in tears.
The hand that was blocking Li Xilai's back quietly clenched into a fist.
She had repeatedly warned Li Xilai not to do anything more for her beyond the money-for-goods transaction.
Lian Yi was always very clear that when the time came, she and the atmosphere team around her would all be punished and settled one by one.
Over the years, friends have come and gone, but in the end, only a few people can tolerate her temper and get along with her. They aren't exactly good people, but they're not bad either.
They're just rich kids with no ambition, just wanting to live a life of leisure. They have no desire to fight for their family fortune or show off their power, and they're too lazy to get involved in any so-called exciting adventures.
Since her fate is sealed, there's no need to drag these 'useless' people down with her.
Lian Yi closed her eyes and felt Li Xilai's breath, which was moist and pattering against her clothes.
But she still didn't expect that what Li Xilai did for her would be judged by the plot as a major help to her in the future.
Li Xilai is the only daughter in her family, and her parents are exceptionally capable. She has gone from being a minor character who merely adds atmosphere to the plot to a variable who could potentially influence the future of the story.
Do they deserve to die?
"Xie Ling, don't touch him." Lian Yi's eyes were cold and devoid of any smile. Her eyebrows were slightly lowered as she whispered to the young man over there.
Xie Ling pursed her lips, still wary of any movement from the man on the ground.
The man was clearly in a very abnormal state; he was both angry and laughing, his eyes were bloodshot, and he kept mumbling something incoherently.
If he hadn't seen Lian Yi walking this way, and if he hadn't followed, this place, surrounded by layers of flowers and artificial hills, with a bustling scene outside, would have been able to hear the commotion inside...?
Xie Ling gritted her teeth, stopping herself from thinking any further.
"What can I do now?" He knew that tonight was Lianyi's grandfather's birthday banquet, and this matter was probably not suitable to be publicized.
"You can leave now." Lian Yi's tone was somewhat cold. Meeting Xie Ling's surprised gaze, she calmly said, "I will handle things here. You can leave now."
Even when Xie Ling suddenly rushed out and rescued Li Xilai, Lian Yi could only respond with this attitude.
Regardless of what kind of trash Fu Chengyue is or what he did, Xie Ling did lay a hand on him; that's a fact.
Fu Chengyue's behavior clearly indicates a problem. Among those present, Xie Ling is the only one without any background. Staying here will not benefit him and will only make him an outlet for Fu Chengyue and the Fu family's frustrations.
Xie Ling was momentarily caught off guard, and frowned. "I'm worried about him..."
"I told you, leave now, leave my house." Lian Yi looked at him calmly. "Xie Ling, don't make me say it a third time. I don't have the patience."
This was to protect him, but she had no intention of explaining.
Moreover, Lian Yi didn't want anyone to see Li Xilai in her current disheveled state.
She knew that Li Xilai had always been a very strong-willed and proud person.
Lian Yi ignored Xie Ling's expression, glanced at the boy who seemed a little stunned standing in the dim light, lowered her head and hugged Li Xilai tightly.
"You don't like him, do you?"
Lian Yi murmured, "Then I want him dead, okay?"
She could adapt to the plot and play the role of a spoiled and vicious fake heiress who is despised by everyone, foolish enough to only know how to squander money, and domineering enough to boss people around.
Lian Yi doesn't care about anything.
But she refused to accept it. She refused to accept the plot's attempt to interfere, to place her aside as an unaffected piece, and to manipulate her back into the game.
The plot seems to want to ruin Li Xilai, whether by killing her here or by using Fu Chengyue's wickedness to weaken Li Xilai's future influence in the story.
It simply thought of things indifferently and then did them.
Lian Yi received no response, but she could feel Li Xilai holding her hand and shaking it.
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