"Second Master, Second Madam, please come in. It’s quite hot outside today, isn’t it? I’ve prepared some ice towels for you."
She first handed the towels to Jiang Dinghai and Zhao Guangmei.
"Thank you, Aunt Yao, much appreciated."
Zhao Guangmei took the towel from Aunt Yao, wiped her face a bit, and then tossed the towel back onto the tray.
Aunt Yao maintained a servile smile throughout: "What’s there to thank? It’s my good fortune to be able to serve the Second Master and Second Madam."
Then, she busied herself bringing over the freshly squeezed orange juice.
"Young Master Feng Mian, Miss Yuqing, I’ve prepared fresh orange juice for you, it’s great for quenching thirst and beating the heat."
Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Yuqing glanced at the juice without appearing to fancy it much.
Jiang Yuqing outright refused: "I’ve been on a diet recently, I won’t have the juice."
"How about I have someone switch it for sparkling water for Miss Yuqing, then? I’ve heard it’s zero sugar, zero calories, perfect for female celebrities to drink."
Only then did Jiang Yuqing demurely say: "Thank you, Aunt Yao."
After diligently attending to Jiang Dinghai’s family inside the house, Aunt Yao then blocked Jiang Moxi’s path with a thinly veiled sneer: "Miss Xi, we’ve just mopped the floor. Your shoes are all muddy; please take them off before coming in."
Jiang Moxi glanced at her canvas shoes, which actually only had a bit of dust on them from walking too much.
When she looked at Jiang Dinghai’s family, their shoe surfaces appeared shiny, yet their soles were dusty as well.
So, after taking it all in, she simply shouldered past Aunt Yao and strode into the house.
Aunt Yao was pushed aside, dropping her pretense: "Typical country bumpkin, ugly and useless aren’t enough, doesn’t even understand the basic rules!"
Her voice wasn’t even lowered intentionally, so nearly everyone in the hall heard it.
Some were chatting, others watching TV, some playing with their phones; now they all turned to look towards this corner.
Yet upon realizing the unpleasant exchange involved Aunt Yao and Jiang Moxi, they shifted their gazes away once more.
Some pretended as if nothing happened, like Old Master Jiang, Jiang Tairan, and Old Madam Du Yuke, as well as the early arriving Jiang Guosheng and Yu Man.
The former truly didn’t care, acting as nothing had happened;
The latter felt embarrassed by Jiang Moxi, so they deliberately sought out other topics with great effort, to cover up the recent incident.
Of course, there were also those who, although feigning indifference on the surface, sported a mocking smile at the corner of their mouths.
Like the third son, Jiang Jianzhong, and his wife Xiao Qingyun, as well as the youngest, Jiang Ruxin.
They were inwardly mocking what kind of mess the eldest had birthed, truly disgraceful, which explains why they only claimed her to be adopted to outsiders.
Indeed, it was precisely because the Jiang family treated Jiang Moxi with such indifference that Aunt Yao dared be unabashedly antagonistic towards her.
However, over the four years since Jiang Moxi returned to the Jiang family, she had attended countless Jiang family banquets.
At first, she felt aggrieved by the behavior of the Jiang family,
But with the passing of time and frequent occurrences, she stopped expecting anything from them.
As for the likes of Aunt Yao, who had to look at others’ faces, she cared even less.
After all, such family gatherings were just a matter of sitting through a meal.
She did not want to waste her energy contending with such people.
And thus, due to the Jiang family’s disregard and Jiang Moxi’s indifference, the little stir caused by Aunt Yao just passed by.
Jiang Moxi entered the hall and greeted everyone.
Some nodded in response to her, while others simply ignored her completely.
Even Old Madam Du Yuke, who had specifically instructed Jiang Guosheng to invite Jiang Moxi to the birthday banquet, only coldly and indifferently responded with:
"Go sit at that table over there. Remember to use chopsticks when eating, and don’t embarrass yourself."
Jiang Moxi nodded and then went to sit at the table in the corner that Du Yuke had pointed to.
Jiang Fengmian and Jiang Yuqing, who had arrived earlier, were kept by Du Yuke’s side, with her showing them warm hospitality.
"Feng Mian, where’s Zhiqi? Didn’t I ask you to bring her over today?"
Yu Zhiqi was Jiang Fengmian’s girlfriend, who not only came from a prestigious family but also became Chi Jing’s right-hand man with great promise, thus, gaining special attention from the senior members of the Jiang Family.
Therefore, at every Jiang family event, the elders would ask Jiang Fengmian to bring her along.
"Mr. Chi gave Zhiqi a very important task to complete today, so she couldn’t come. However, she specifically asked me to bring you a birthday gift, wishing you fortune as vast as the Eastern Sea and a longevity surpassing the Southern Mountains!"
Jiang Fengmian presented a piece of fine-textured soft jade pendant to Du Yuke.
Du Yuke happily accepted the gift, thanked Jiang Fengmian on behalf of Yu Zhiqi, and reminded him to invite Yu Zhiqi over for a visit when she had time in the next few days.
After that, Du Yuke turned to Jiang Yuqing and Zhao Guangmei, asking if they had encountered anything interesting on the filming set recently.
The three of them chatted and laughed, looking very warm and harmonious.
Xiao Qingyun also hurriedly brought his daughter, Jiang Sibei, to join in, "Sibei is planning to apply for the art college next year, and Yuqing’s entrance exam score was the best in Yan City. So I’ve asked Sibei to learn from Yuqing..."
"Yuqing, some of my subjects are okay grade-wise, but I just can’t seem to improve. I really don’t know how to boost my grades."
Under the encouragement of her mother, Jiang Sibei also quickly joined the conversation.
Jiang Yuqing quite enjoyed being admired, "I’ll be free in the next few days after I finish shooting this commercial. Come find me then, and I’ll see how I can help you."
Zhao Guangmei followed up, "Right, the two sisters should help each other out. By the way, why didn’t Disheng come?"
Jiang Disheng, Jiang Sibei’s younger brother, was currently preparing for his middle school exams.
Since he had been an outstanding student from a young age, having even been interviewed by the TV station several times, he was famous in Yan City as a child prodigy.
Not only did Old Master Jiang and Old Madam Jiang favor him, but even Jiang Dinghai and Zhao Guangmei liked him very much, feeling that this child would be the most promising of the Jiang family’s generation.
When Jiang Disheng was mentioned, Xiao Qingyun was all smiles, "He had a small competition today, he should be arriving soon."
Just as he finished speaking, Jiang Disheng also just happened to enter the house.
Jiang Disheng bore a resemblance to Jiang Fengmian, but carried an even more arrogant demeanor.
As he entered the house, it was Aunt Yao who helped him carry his school bag and water bottle.
After coming in, he only slightly nodded to the people present, not even proactively greeting the birthday star, Du Yuke.
Instead, it was them who actively started asking Jiang Disheng about his studies and today’s competition.
Although Jiang Disheng answered each question, his tone remained aloof and condescending.
But Zhao Guangmei still complimented him, "Our little Disheng has won so many trophies at such a young age; he’s bound to be successful. Qingyun, you and your wife can just sit back and enjoy the fruits in the future."
"Feng Mian and Yuqing are also exceptionally talented; you and Second Master have nothing to worry about."
Younger aunt Jiang Ruxin also joined their conversation, sharing that her daughter Li Tinglu recently got the taekwondo blue belt and would be participating in Yan City’s Taekwondo competition in a few days...
They were all basking in the glory of their children, chatting joyfully.
Looking again at Jiang Moxi, who was as invisible as a ghost at the far corner table, scrolling on her phone, Yu Man’s frustration was almost tangible.
Fortunately, at that moment, Aunt Yao excitedly burst in saying, "Miss Weiwei and Young Master Fu have arrived."