Chapter 493 - 521: The Birthday Banquet Begins (1st Update)
Chapter 493: Chapter 521: The Birthday Banquet Begins (1st Update)
The beautiful woman wasn’t shocked that her daughter had a boyfriend, but rather that her son was calling this man "brother-in-law" so seriously, almost as if it were real.
She knows her son’s personality like the back of her hand. Although Shangguan Hong usually behaves like a good boy in front of her, he’s actually a little rascal who fears nothing and has been completely spoiled by his grandfather.
Even as his mother, she’s often at her wit’s end!
Now, her son seems completely willing and even admiring.
This was something she couldn’t believe or ever expected.
"Could it be that this time Nichang’s boyfriend is different from the others?" The beautiful woman knew her daughter best. Although her daughter had many boyfriends, none of them were truly her boyfriend, and none had ever even held her hand.
Meanwhile, Shangguan Hong briefly recounted to the beautiful woman about what happened on Antique Street, especially the robbery, though he left out certain details, like the value and effects of the porcelain cup.
He planned to save that for the banquet when he would gift his grandfather.
The beautiful woman’s expression shifted several times, feeling both worried for Shangguan Hong and very grateful to Lin Xi.
"What is your name?" she asked Lin Xi at this moment.
Lin Xi first greeted the beautiful woman, then replied, "My name is Lin Xi."
The beautiful woman nodded, glanced at her phone, and showed a look of urgency on her face, "The time is about right, Hong’er, we should go in!"
But Shangguan Hong didn’t move and instead asked, "Mom, can brother-in-law come in with us to celebrate grandpa’s seventieth birthday together?"
The beautiful woman thought it was acceptable; her daughter hadn’t had a formal boyfriend at such an age, which worried her a lot and made her curious to see what was different about this young man who made her son treat him this way, so she looked at Lin Xi, "Of course, Xiaolin, would you be willing?"
Future mother-in-law asking if he was willing, Lin Xi had no choice but to happily agree and say he had long wanted to visit!
Hearing Lin Xi’s response, the beautiful woman thought to herself that this young man knew how to speak well!
Then, she took Shangguan Hong’s hand and led Lin Xi into the villa.
Lin Xi followed behind the beautiful woman and Shangguan Hong, initially looking around the villa.
The first things he saw were flower beds, lawns, fountains, and some rare trees, then he saw a large ancient villa.
Overall, this manor-style villa was much larger than the Bai family’s, with a strong historical atmosphere.
Upon entering, there were about twenty people in the living room, sitting around four large tables, all keeping silent.
"Grandpa, I’m back!" Shangguan Hong rushed towards the most prominent table as soon as he reached the door.
There was only one elderly person at the table; the others were middle-aged people.
Seeing Shangguan Hong, the elderly person was overjoyed, opening his arms to embrace Shangguan Hong,
"It’s good you’re back, it’s good you’re back!!!"
At this time, the beautiful woman and Lin Xi had also come in, and Elder Shangguan, along with the others, only then noticed there were two more people!
Everyone knew the beautiful woman, but who was the young man beside her?
Seeing many confused faces, the beautiful woman turned to the elder and began to introduce,
"Dad, let me introduce, this is..."
"He’s my brother-in-law, my sister’s boyfriend!" Shangguan Hong chimed in first, even winking at Lin Xi.
"..." Lin Xi was a bit speechless.
In an instant, he became the center of attention, almost everyone looking at him curiously, thinking to themselves,
"Which sister?"
Of course, Shangguan Hong only had one biological sister, but the second and third uncles each had two daughters, all in their twenties and single!
Moreover, most people didn’t think it was Shangguan Nishang’s boyfriend, after all, Lin Xi seemed to be eighteen or nineteen, and as far as they knew, Shangguan Nishang had been single since graduating.
But at the younger people’s table, the four girls were looking at each other with questioning expressions.
They didn’t notice that Shangguan Nishang’s face had turned a bit dark, and under the table, she was clenching her fists, wanting to beat the daylights out of this little rascal!
Did this little rascal use the two hours he was missing to find Lin Xi?
Thinking of this made her grit her teeth, as she really had no relationship with Lin Xi at all, having only met twice!
What on earth was this little rascal thinking?
Most attendees of this birthday banquet were from the Shangguan family, but there were also several sons-in-law, so the elder didn’t think much of it!
However, he did ask Shangguan Hong, "Xiaohong, which sister are you talking about?"
"My real sister, grandpa!" Shangguan Hong replied.
"Oh." The elder pondered for a moment, glanced at Shangguan Nishang, and smiled,
"Just now Nichang said to me that she would not find a boyfriend for now, but it seems she’s planning to surprise me today!"
"Haha, young man, have a seat!"
Lin Xi didn’t hesitate. Following the beautiful woman’s lead, he sat beside Shangguan Nishang.
There were already ten people at this table, with all seats filled, but the beautiful woman had a servant bring an extra chair.
Consequently, this table, especially near Shangguan Nishang, felt a bit cramped, but no one dared complain even a little.
Once seated, the timing for the birthday banquet was just perfect!
The Shangguan family’s birthday banquet was a bit unique. They would perform the birthday wishes to the elder according to the order of seniority while the servants served the dishes.
The first in line was, of course, the elder’s eldest son, Shangguan Xiong, who was also the father of Shangguan Nishang and Shangguan Hong.
He walked with the beautiful woman in front of the elder, and Shangguan Xiong began, "Wishing you happiness as vast as the East Sea and a life as enduring as the Southern Mountain!"
Following that, the beautiful woman added, "Wishing you happiness as vast as the East Sea’s endless waves, life as eternal as the Southern Mountain’s everlasting pine!"
With a hearty laugh, the elder nodded and then watched as the beautiful woman unwrapped the gift box in her hand, taking out a fountain pen, handing it to the elder, and saying,
"Dad, this was a pen used by Sun Yat-sen to draft the constitution, one that accompanied him the longest in his life!"
"Oh?" The elder took the pen, examining it intently and liking it very much, "You’ve put a lot of thought into this!"
After these two stepped aside, it was Shangguan Xiong’s brother, Shangguan Yin, who, with his wife, stepped forward to wish the elder a happy birthday.
Their gift was Qi Baishi’s painting, "Autumn Leaf & Cordyceps," which shocked most of the people present, even causing the elder to feel somewhat excited.
Qi Baishi’s paintings are extremely valuable and nearly unobtainable nowadays.
The "Autumn Leaf & Cordyceps" painting is one of his iconic pieces, bought at auction for a whopping 12 million in 2012, then disappearing from public view; unexpectedly, Shangguan Yin had acquired it!
"Wonderful, wonderful!" After receiving the painting, the elder was visibly delighted.
As he aged, his interest in famous calligraphy, paintings, and antiques had only grown stronger.
At the table, Shangguan Xiong didn’t look too pleased; although the fountain pen he gifted was also very valuable, it was somewhat overshadowed by the painting.
Shangguan Hao at the same table, the elder’s youngest son, didn’t look too pleased either.
No one expected Shangguan Yin to pull such a big move, which instantly made those who hadn’t given their gifts yet pale in comparison.
This was obviously a well-planned move!
Since the elder was getting on in years, there’s no telling how long he might live, so his second son’s mind had been working actively.
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