Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Li Ran originally planned to ask Zhou Liu out the next day, but before she could implement her plan, she received a banquet invitation.
In the morning, this invitation was sent to all the families in A Cityâs business and political world. It was enough to show how grand this banquet was.
The host of this banquet was actually the Song family.
The Song family was a very low-profile family in A City. They didnât attend any banquets and didnât hold any banquets. The last banquet was held when Song Shi went abroad two years ago. From the time, the Song family probably held this banquet to congratulate Song Shi on her return to the country.
The Song familyâs banquet couldnât be underestimated. Other than the famous people in the business world, academics and politicians would also attend. It was enough to show how prominent the Song family was in upper society.
This was different from the banquet at the ancestral home and the hospitalâs opening gala. It was far superior to all the previous banquets. Even the banquet when Song Shi went abroad two years ago wasnât as grand as this. The last time there was such a grand banquet in A City was five years ago, when Shi Xiao officially entered the Shi Corporation.
For a moment, everyone was discussing this banquet and made all kinds of guesses. The guess reported by the media was that the Song family wanted to enter the business world and pave the way for the Song familyâs only daughter, Song Shi.
Although the Song familyâs invitation said that it would be held in three days, a banquet of a major family was no small matter, so it usually needed to be prepared many days in advance. They needed custom-made gowns, try on makeup in advance, and so on. Therefore, Li Ran didnât have time to ask Zhou Liu out for the next two days.
The invitation for the Shi family received invited everyone from the Shi family. In other words, other than Shi Xiao and Yuan Shu, Shi Lu, Shi Yi, and Shi Bin had to attend as well.
In Shi Xiaoâs office, Yuan Shu put down the invitation. After looking at Shi Xiao, she understood what he meant.
Yuan Shu said, âThis banquet is too unexpected. In the eyes of the outside world, we have a strained relationship now. If we attend it together now, we might expose ourselves.â
Shi Xiao nodded, but he also thought of the pros of this matter. âBut at the same time, this banquet is also an opportunity. We can put on a show in front of everyone and magnify our conflict. Then, we can observe everyoneâs reaction and determine who the mastermind is.â
Yuan Shu said, âIt seems that you also suspect that the mastermind is from a big family.â
Shi Xiao crossed his arms on his knees as he said, âWithout the support of the resources of a major family, this person wouldnât have been able to play such a big game. 1 wonder which family did so much behind the scenes without us noticing.â
Yuan Shu packed her things and was about to leave when Shi Xiao suddenly said, âThereâs an important meeting at the company on the day of the banquet, so 1 canât be there on time.â
Yuan Shu said, âThatâs quite good. If the mo of us donât appear at the same time, it can confirm the rumors that we quarreled.â
Shi Xiao frowned. âBut if you go first, youâll definitely have to face everyoneâs questioning and probing gazes. Iâm afraid someone will make things difficult for you. I donât want you to suffer.â
Yuan Shu said with a smile, âThese difficulties are nothing. Didnât 1 put up with it when you went missing in Africa? Didnât 1 attend the banquets of the other families? Now, weâre just not attending at the same time and Iâm arriving a little earlier than you. Whatâs so difficult about that?â
Shi Xiao thought about how times had changed. At that time, he did have the intention of using Yuan Shu, so he didnât mind pushing her to the center of attention, but it was different now. He cherished Yuan Shu and didnât want her to suffer all this alone.
For this banquet, the various families began to custom-made gowns. Usually, they would go to the Wang family or Xu Langâs haute couture clothing shop, which was now the Down Ridge Clothes Workshop.
However, ever since Yushu Buyiâs first distribution, its fame had risen drastically. In addition, after the company found Shi Lu to shoot a set of advertisements and endorse Yushu Buyi, Yushu Buyiâs number of orders skyrocketed and its status rose. It became one of the top choices for wealthy families..