Chapter 273: 103 Banquet, Ren Family Members Dumbfounded (Second Update)_1
 

Both of them thought that the person descending the stairs would be Jiang He.

They were both aware of Jiang He’s existence; wherever Jiang Fulai went, he would take him along.

Not until a section of a gradually blue-tinged snow-colored skirt hem appeared at the turn of the wooden staircase.

The hem was embroidered with folding plum blossoms.

It spread layer by layer with her steps.

Instinctively, the two of them looked up to see a girl, her ink-black hair held up by a wooden hairpin, her face lazily stunning. Chen Jingyu recognized her as the girl from last time.

Why is it her?

And she’s coming down from upstairs?

Chen Jingyu was shocked.

It was only then that Jiang Fulai turned to look at Bai Lian and saw that her usual follower wasn’t there. He then said, “I thought you had forgotten to come down because you were teaching him how to paint.”

Bai Lian slowly looked up, “…?”

Ming Dongheng was also somewhat stunned.

Bai Lian quickened her pace. Since Jiang Fulai and Ming Dongheng did not introduce the other two people, she remained silent as well.

She just walked up to them and whispered in a low voice, “I haven’t.”

Jiang Fulai lazily looked down at her.

He didn’t believe her.

The two continued to walk outside.

After a while, he asked again, “Does he really paint better than me?”

Bai Lian kept a straight face, “Not better than you, you are a realist. Would you like to appreciate your cat again?”

She reached back into her pocket for her phone.

Young Master Jiang had nothing to say and expressionlessly prevented her from flipping through the photos.

For the first time, he felt the term “realist” carried a mocking undertone.

“…”

The sound of a car engine starting could be heard from outside.

Three people were still standing in the hall as if being punished.

By now, they had probably realized, so…

Was Young Master Jiang waiting for someone?????

The world began to take on a fantastical feel.

Ming Dongheng had seen much turmoil, and he was quick to regain his composure.

The other two, however, were quite disheveled, especially Chen Jingyu, who had seen Bai Lian before; even Old Master Chen wouldn’t dare make him wait.

Ming Dongheng didn’t bother with Chen Jingyu but called out twice to Yu Hongyi, “Ms. Yu, Ms. Yu?”

Yu Hongyi came back to her senses in a daze, and looked back at Ming Dongheng, “Mr. Ming, just now that was…”

“That was Miss Bai,” Ming Dongheng replied coldly, giving only a name.

As for anything else, he said no more.

Bai?

Yu Hongyi’s mind searched for the surname, but she couldn’t come up with anything.

“Do you have any other business?” Ming Dongheng inquired.

“No,” Yu Hongyi responded, shaking her head as she looked outside.

Without Jiang Fulai present, they did not linger.

After stepping out the door, Yu Hongyi then asked Chen Jingyu, “Do you know who that Miss Bai is?”

“Yes,” Chen Jingyu replied complexly. The chief had told him, “A student from Xiangcheng No.1 Middle School, reportedly very difficult to get into Jiangjing University.”

Yu Hongyi nodded, “I see…”

**

Meanwhile.

Jiang Fulai took Bai Lian to find Xu En.

They would also attend a dinner at Ji Shaojun’s place in the evening, and Chief Chen would need to stay overnight at Ji Shaojun’s place to rally more popularity.

After Xu En’s press conference concluded, he held a banquet in the Wanhe Building’s banquet hall.

The banquet had not yet started.

The banquet hall was already filled with people.

Leaders from various industries were crowding around Xu En, greeting him.

Ren Qian and Chen Gang could hardly get a word in.

Naturally, they couldn’t lose face by squeezing in with a crowd of people.

Only when the people in front had left, were the two able to approach Xu En and say some polite words, “Mr. Xu, congratulations.”

Their attitude towards Xu En was more respectful than ever.

“Mr. Ren, President Chen,” Xu En nodded politely at the two, with a manner that was mere formality.

Then he went to greet the next person, “Chief Liu, I knew you would come…”

To Xu En, the administrators of Xiangcheng seemed insignificant at present.

Ren Wanxuan observed the official known as Chief Liu, recognizing him as a Beicheng figure frequent in the news, and also as Xiangcheng’s direct superior.

She opened her mouth, quite shocked.

She knew Xiangcheng was about to be developed, but she hadn’t expected it to attract so much attention.

Even that Director Liu from Beicheng has come?

“This President Xu is now not so easy to approach,” Chen Gang narrowed his eyes, gazing at Xu En talking with Director Liu, and just from that brief contact he knew Xu En was a wily old fox.

He had no intention of introducing anyone else to Ren Qian and Chen Gang.

Ren Qian wasn’t surprised by this, he shifted his gaze, “He got the demolition order directly from the people of Backter Street, even without our involvement, we really underestimated him.”

Previously, when Xu En wanted to meet Mr. Lu, Ren Qian and the others didn’t get involved. Now that Xu En had gotten the demolition order on his own, everyone in Xiangcheng was shocked by his tactics.

It seemed like the policies were particularly lenient towards Xu En.

“Many high-ranking officials from Jiangjing and Beicheng have come today,” Ren Qian instructed the two juniors, “Both of you pay attention to moderation, from beginning to end today you must not act impulsively.”

Ren Wanxuan and Chen Zhu looked at each other.

Both saw the shock in the depths of each other’s eyes.

They were both used to seeing others grovel before Ren Qian and Chen Gang, but now the situation had nearly reversed.

They were not accustomed to this.

**

Across from Wanhe Building, Bai Lian sat in the passenger seat.

While pondering the melody, she made a call to Xu En.

The assistant didn’t care that Xu En was talking with the director, and directly handed the phone to him.

Xu En saw it was Bai Lian and hurriedly answered, “Alian.”

Across from him, Director Liu was very surprised.

He watched Xu En, pondering who was on the other end of the conversation.

Xu En stepped to the side and talked to Bai Lian for a few moments, still inviting her to the dinner. The other party didn’t plan to stay for long, after all, Bai Lian would rather solve more problems.

“Alright then,” Xu En said helplessly, “I’ll come down to find you, and have someone prepare some pastries for you.”

On the phone, Bai Lian thought for a while, “Don’t come down, I will bring it to the elevator entrance, just have someone wait for me there.”

The call ended.

Bai Lian spoke briefly with Jiang Fulai and went up to deliver the drawing to Xu En.

Wanhe Building was a private restaurant, not very tall, and the top floor was a large banquet hall.

Bai Lian stepped into the elevator and pressed for the top floor.

As the elevator doors opened, she saw two greeters standing at the entrance to the grand banquet hall. People entering handed invitations to the greeters.

Bai Lian stood at the edge of the elevator door, not blocking the way or going in.

She was bowing her head, texting Xu En.

Inside the banquet hall.

Glasses clinked.

Ren Wanxuan followed Chen Zhu with a glass in her hand. They didn’t know what to say, just there to see the world, now speaking with a classmate from class eight.

“Young Master Chen, who are all these people?” The person from class eight whispered, looking at the strangers passing by, “It’s my first time seeing my dad with such a smile, and that person was simply dismissive of him.”

Chen Zhu looked at the people in the hall, “Mostly from Beicheng and Jiangjing, they all came for President Xu.”

The classmate from class eight was amazed, out of the entire class eight, only he, Ren Wanxuan, and Chen Zhu were present, indicating the exclusiveness of today’s banquet.

He held a wine glass, his gaze shifting as if he saw a figure outside, “Is… Isn’t that Bai Lian?”

He was astonished.

Hearing a name in this place that he shouldn’t have heard.

Ren Wanxuan and Chen Zhu were both very surprised.

“Where?” Ren Wanxuan looked up.

The three of them didn’t recognize anyone here other than their own elders, and the pressure and exclusivity kept them on the outskirts, so they had been talking off to the side all this time. The elevator area actually had a blind spot.

But the classmate from class eight, who didn’t quite fit in with the banquet hall and stood in a secluded spot, could see Bai Lian, who was standing by the elevator, through the glass window from this corner.

Bai Lian’s face was half-obscured by the huge potted plant by the elevator, but her visage was notably striking.

He recognized her at a glance, “There.”

He pointed down.

“Wasn’t she not coming?” Ren Wanxuan tilted her head, finally seeing the person, and sneered.

Chen Zhu thought more deeply, he frowned and stood up, “Let’s go have a look, there are many people here.”

Ren Qian was even concerned that the well-mannered Ren Wanxuan and Chen Zhu might accidentally offend someone, not to mention Bai Lian with her temper…

Ren Wanxuan also felt annoyed, “I’ll go talk to Grandpa.”

She stood up to find Ren Qian and spoke to him.

Ren Qian smiled, apologizing to the person he was talking to, and followed Ren Wanxuan outside, “Didn’t you say she wasn’t coming?”

“Who knows,” Ren Wanxuan said sarcastically.

She didn’t feel inclined to mention the Ji Family’s people.

Chen Zhu didn’t speak; honestly, he didn’t know why Bai Lian would be here either.

Ren Wanxuan stood at the entrance of the banquet hall, not wanting to be seen by others, and subtly pointed to Bai Lian, dressed in clothes designed by Ji Heng, “There, you speak to her; I don’t want to.”

The greeters at the door kept glancing towards Bai Lian.

Ren Wanxuan didn’t want to approach Bai Lian under such scrutiny.

Chen Zhu glanced at Ren Qian, then over to where Bai Lian was, and then stepped forward, “Maybe…”

He hadn’t finished speaking.

A figure beside him, seemingly in a rush, passed by and peered out at the entrance of the banquet hall, spotting the person by the elevator and heading directly towards her.

“Alian, have you been waiting long?” Xu En, carrying an elegant wooden box, spoke to Bai Lian from afar. He was smiling, his voice detectably gentle, “I’m late; your mother said your grandfather likes pine nut cakes, so I waited for a fresh pot of pine nut cakes to finish baking.”