Chapter 284: Banquet Invitation
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 City’s 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 didn’t attend any banquets and didn’t 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 family’s banquet couldn’t 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 hospital’s opening gala. It was far superior to all the previous banquets. Even the banquet when Song Shi went abroad two years ago wasn’t 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 family’s only daughter, Song Shi.
Although the Song family’s 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 didn’t 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 Xiao’s office, Yuan Shu put down the invitation. After looking at Shi Xiao, she understood what he meant.
Yuan Shu said, “This 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.”
Shi Xiao nodded, but he also thought of the pros of this matter. “But 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 everyone’s reaction and determine who the mastermind is.”
Yuan Shu said, “It seems that you also suspect that the mastermind is from a big family.”
Shi Xiao crossed his arms on his knees as he said, “Without the support of the resources of a major family, this person wouldn’t have been able to play such a big game. 1 wonder which family did so much behind the scenes without us noticing.”
Yuan Shu packed her things and was about to leave when Shi Xiao suddenly said, “There’s an important meeting at the company on the day of the banquet, so 1 can’t be there on time.”
Yuan Shu said, “That’s quite good. If the mo of us don’t appear at the same time, it can confirm the rumors that we quarreled.”
Shi Xiao frowned. “But if you go first, you’ll definitely have to face everyone’s questioning and probing gazes. I’m afraid someone will make things difficult for you. I don’t want you to suffer.”
Yuan Shu said with a smile, “These difficulties are nothing. Didn’t 1 put up with it when you went missing in Africa? Didn’t 1 attend the banquets of the other families? Now, we’re just not attending at the same time and I’m arriving a little earlier than you. What’s so difficult about that?”
Shi Xiao thought about how times had changed. At that time, he did have the intention of using Yuan Shu, so he didn’t mind pushing her to the center of attention, but it was different now. He cherished Yuan Shu and didn’t 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 Lang’s haute couture clothing shop, which was now the Down Ridge Clothes Workshop.
However, ever since Yushu Buyi’s 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 Buyi’s number of orders skyrocketed and its status rose. It became one of the top choices for wealthy families..