"Weiqi."

Li Weiqi turned around and smiled. "Elder Brother and Sister-in-law, you"re here."

He turned to his parents and said, "Dad, Mum, this is Qingqing"s elder brother and sister-in-law. And, these two are her nephew and niece-in-law."

"Uncle and Auntie, nice to meet you," Xu Ze hurriedly greeted.

Li Weiqi"s parents critically sized the four up. Mr Li then said, "I heard that Xu Qing"s mother was coming today, but I don"t see her?"

"Mother isn"t feeling well, so we let her stay at home and have a good rest," Xu Ze explained.

Seeing that the two elders didn"t quite like them, Liang Dahui sneered in her heart. In the future, Xu Qing will have enough to suffer.

"Mum, I just saw Uncle," Xu Qi said.

"Where?" Liang Dahui hurriedly looked in the direction that Xu Qi was pointing, and sure enough, she saw her rich brother-in-law. "Strange, why don"t I see your aunt and cousin?"

Normally, those who were married would bring their family along to these kinds of dinner parties, yet her brother-in-law was standing over there by himself.

"Qiqi, go greet your uncle and ask him about your aunt and cousin."

After Xu Qi had walked away, Liang Dahui smilingly said, "You rich people also don"t have it easy, do you? My sister also married a rich man, and I heard that she always goes to all kinds of banquets. Fortunately, she"s determined and has a strong character, so she won"t let others bully her easily. Xu Qing, on the other hand, is soft-tempered and timid. I"m really worried that she won"t be able to handle these kinds of events in the future."

Li Weiqi"s parents" expressions turned somewhat awkward.

"Auntie, thank you for your concern," a voice said from behind the group.

The group turned around to see a tall girl in a black and red off-the-shoulder dress walking slowly towards them with a slight smile on her face.

Xu Jiaojiao was much more outstanding than her own mother. After Li Weiqi"s parents had met her for the first time, they"d even privately discussed amongst themselves: If only an impeccable girl like Xu Jiaojiao was Weiqi"s girlfriend. If that was the case, they"d have approved of their relations.h.i.+p with open arms. Xu Qing had a gentle and soft personality, and apart from this, the only great attribute she possessed was her luck. She was truly lucky to have found such a powerful and influential backer as her foster father.

Liang Dahui appeared somewhat ashamed. If Xu Qing was the one who"d heard those words, she wouldn"t have felt like this, because Xu Qing definitely wouldn"t refute her. However, Xu Jiaojiao was different. She had attained her current fame at such a young age in such a short period of time. She wasn"t simple at all.

Sheng Jiaoyang glanced at Liang Dahui with a smile that wasn"t quite a smile, and unhurriedly said, "Auntie, you"re overthinking things. It"s not like mother is going to become a socialite. She won"t have to deal with those things."

Liang Dahui was left speechless.

When Li Weiqi saw his parents" expression take a turn for the better, he cast a grateful look at Sheng Jiaoyang. He wasn"t good with words, and at work, he always used the "facts speak for themselves" approach. Due to that, in the face of Liang Dahui"s provocation, or better said, Xu Qing"s family"s provocation, he was left in a predicament and didn"t know how to deal with it.

"Jiaojiao"s right. Qingqing only needs to be my wife. She doesn"t need to deal with anyone if she doesn"t like it."

Sheng Jiaoyang smiled and continued, "A precious vase doesn"t need to be packaged and doesn"t need to be used for any purpose. Its value alone makes it impossible for others to ignore its existence. On the other hand, if a cheap vase wants others to own it, it either needs to be beautifully packaged or has to have an added value. Obviously, my mother belongs to the former!"

Clap clap!

"Extremely well said!" another voice said from behind them.

When Sheng Jiaoyang turned around, she saw an elderly man and a young man standing a meter away. She knew both of them. It was Lin Yu and his grandfather, Mr Lin. The one who"d applauded and spoken earlier was the latter.

Lin Yu looked at her with a warm smile, admiration clearly visible in his eyes.

"You"re the granddaughter Wenting wants to acknowledge?" Mr Lin gently asked.

"Yes, I am. Nice to meet you, Grandfather Lin," Sheng Jiaoyang nodded and greeted generously.

"You know me?" Mr Lin asked, a little surprised.

At this moment, Lin Yu said, "Grandfather, Jiaojiao and I know each other. Moreover, Cousin Lina and her are close friends."

"Oh? Then, we must have been brought together by fate." Mr Lin sighed contently.

"Mr Lin, you"re here, too."

Hearing this familiar voice, Sheng Jiaoyang turned around to see Sheng Xun approaching with Xu Qi by his side.

Do they know each other? A trace of surprise flashed across Sheng Jiaoyang"s eyes.

"Wenting and I have known each other for decades. How could I not come to his banquet?" Mr Lin said.

Mr Lin stared at Sheng Xun and added, "You, however, did Wenting invite you?"

Sheng Xun smiled awkwardly and replied, "No, I invited myself."

Before Mr Lin could say something in response, someone insensibly chimed in.

"Brother-in-law, Xiaohui and s.h.i.+yun didn"t come with you tonight?" Liang Dahui deliberately asked, with special emphasis on the word "brother-in-law".

Sheng Jiaoyang"s eyes wandered between Liang Dahui and Sheng Xun and found this revelation quite interesting. Her stepmother turned out to be the little sister of Xu Jiaojiao"s aunt.

Sheng Xun"s expression was cold as he looked at Liang Dahui. "They aren"t qualified."

Liang Dahui"s expression turned all the more unsightly.

"It"s a good thing that you didn"t bring them. Otherwise, Wenting wouldn"t have let you in. When one makes a mistake, they can be forgiven. However, it"s unacceptable when one remains impenitent," Mr Lin earnestly advised.

"But, I"ve already lost the chance to mend our relations.h.i.+p," Sheng Xun said with a pained expression.

"That"s why one shouldn"t err in the first place, because it"s no use crying over spilt milk!"

Apart from the parties involved, only Sheng Jiaoyang understood what Mr Lin had meant by "mistake". The rest had no idea what was going on and merely saw a grown man turn red-eyed after Mr Lin had told him off with a word or two.

"It"s very lively tonight, even several old friends whom I haven"t seen for a while are here. Yu, let"s go. I"ll introduce you to them."

Lin Yu smiled at Sheng Jiaoyang and left with Mr Lin.

A glint flashed across Sheng Jiaoyang"s eyes. Every time she saw Lin Yu"s smile, she would inevitably think of another person.

"Uncle Weiqi, Grandfather asked me to come over and tell you that he"ll call you up on stage later to announce your wedding. Now, Grandfather and Grandmother Li, if you"ll excuse me," Sheng Jiaoyang said, excusing herself.

Sheng Xun didn"t take another glance at the Xu Family and walked away.

"Xu Qi, isn"t he your uncle? Why is he treating your family like this?" Zhang Aiyan asked in puzzlement.

Xu Qi was feeling ashamed, embarra.s.sed, and puzzled at the same time. He didn"t see his aunt frequently, but every time they"d met, she"d always looked blissful and she was very generous. The majority of the pocket money he"d received was from his aunt, so he"d always thought that although his uncle wasn"t very close to them, he at least treated his aunt well.

What did he mean by "They aren"t qualified"?

As for Liang Dahui, her face could no longer be described as unsightly; it was extremely gloomy. She glared at Zhang Aiyan. She felt that her future daughter-in-law was increasingly stupid. After her precious son inherited Mr Yang"s family business, the first thing she"d do would be to get rid of this idiot.

Sheng Jiaoyang was about to go back to her room to accompany the extremely nervous Xu Qing when she was intercepted midway.

"Xu Jiaojiao!"

When she looked over, she saw someone unexpected; Qi Hua. There were several youngsters standing next to said person, including an acquaintance of hers, Pan Mingyue.

Qi Hua sized her up with a scrupulous look, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "What are you doing here?"

Sheng Jiaoyang smirked as she rhetorically asked, "Why can"t I be here?"

Seeing her expression, Qi Hua felt particularly disconcerted because it reminded her of the things she"d gone through at the supermodel compet.i.tion. At that time, she"d decided to not take revenge against Xu Jiaojiao because of the latter"s filial piety. But, seeing Xu Jiaojiao"s face again with that expression and that look in her eyes, she felt that she couldn"t take it lying down any longer.

"What qualifications do you have to be here? Who brought you here?"

Sheng Jiaoyang plainly replied, "Do you have the qualifications to ask me that? Didn"t you come with someone as well?"

"How is that the same? I"m here with my parents. But, would someone from an ordinary single-parent family like you get an invitation? Tsk, which rich man did you find this time?" Qi Hua disdainfully retorted.

"You hit the nail on the head, but why should I tell you?" Sheng Jiaoyang turned around and walked away.

"Qi Hua, is Xu Jiaojiao the person who bullied you in the National Supermodel show? The way I see it, she"s really shameless!" said the girl standing next to Qi Hua.

"That"s right, she"s truly shameless! She even s-seduced my father!" Pan Mingyue angrily glared at Sheng Jiaoyang"s departing figure.

"Sure enough, there"s no one clean in the entertainment industry. Let"s make allegations against her on the internet and ask her to get lost from the entertainment industry!"

"That sl*t, I wonder how many people she"s bedded!"

Qi Hua cast a suspicious look at Pan Mingyue and asked, "How do you know that she seduced your father? Your parents are here today, so she couldn"t possibly have followed your father here."

"My dad is always asking me about her behind my mum"s back," Pan Mingyue bitterly responded.

"Your father actually asked you about her? He"s a weirdo! Isn"t he afraid that you"ll tell on him?" Everyone looked at Pan Mingyue with surprise.

"Xu Jiaojiao and I share a dorm, so my father always asks me questions like: "Did Xu Jiaojiao attend cla.s.s today? Do you know what she likes to eat? Does she hang out with you and her other cla.s.smates?" I really don"t know what my dad sees in her!" The more Pan Mingyue spoke, the more anger she felt.

"There"s no smoke without fire. There"s something fishy about your father!" Qi Hua said.

"Qi Hua, how can you speak up for Xu Jiaojiao?! My parents have always been very affectionate, and my dad isn"t a womaniser. Xu Jiaojiao came between my parents, so she"s the shameless one!" Pan Mingyue pouted and remarked discontentedly.

"Mingyue, look! Isn"t that your father? He seems to be heading towards Xu Jiaojiao."

What?! Pan Mingyue turned pale with fright as she looked over. Sure enough, she saw her father walking in the direction that Xu Jiaojiao had left earlier. She then turned around and looked for her mother. When she saw her mother happily chatting with other madams, she immediately felt that the situation was bad. Without further ado, she lifted her skirt and ran over without a care for how ladylike or unladylike she looked and grasped Pan Zihui, stopping him in his tracks.

"Dad, where are you going?"

Pan Zihui froze. He squeezed out a smile and said, "Darling, what are you doing here? I was about to go to the bathroom."

"The bathroom"s over there!" Pan Mingyue pointed her finger in the opposite direction and stared at Pan Zihui with an accusatory look on her face.

"Oh, I see. It turns out that I was going in the wrong direction." Pan Zihui hurriedly turned around.

"Wow, it looks like Uncle Pan has a guilty conscience!" Several people watching the hustle and bustle nearby were stirred as if they"d gotten a hold over something.