CH 31.1

Huai Jing’s uncle’s fiftieth grand birthday banquet was held on the top floor of the Yinzi International Hotel, and it was very lively.

Huai Jing stood outside on the balcony, looking at the bustling streets with a wine glass in his hand. As he talked with Xu Xingxing on the phone his expressions softened, and only till he saw two people walking towards him did the smile in his eyes fade away, a layer of coldness and laziness appearing instead.

“I have something to do, so I’ll hang up first.” Huai Jing said in a deep voice, then hung up the phone and put it away before smiling at the two people who had come over, and greeted them, “Second Uncle, happy birthday.”

Huai Changchao was wearing a suit, and the flattery and blessings he had received on his birthday made him look quite ruddy, with a bit of vigour in his expression. Holding a wine glass, his son, Huai Yangping stood behind him, with a smile on his face.

“Thank you.” Huai Changchao smiled first and asked, “What are you doing here? Your brother and I have been looking for you for a long time.”

“I saw you go outside, and thought you had left,” interjected Huai Yangping.

“It’s my Second Uncle’s birthday, so how can I leave earlier without eating longevity noodles?” Huai Jing replied while glancing at Huai Changchao.

[TL Note: When someone has a birthday in some Asian household, longevity noodles are always made to celebrate the birthday. It symbolises a long life of happiness.]

“What joy is there for me, an old man?” Huai Changchao smiled helplessly, and spoke his next words with emotion, “I’m old, from now on, Huai group will be handed over to you young people’s generation.”

“Hey, Second Uncle.” Huai Jing’s tone was full of disapproval, and he said with a smile, “You are wrong to say that. My father had such a short life, but you have a long life ahead of you, ah.”

Huai Changchao’s smile faded a bit after his nephew’s words and he looked at him with a frown.

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Seeing their serious expressions, Huai Jing shook his head slightly, apologetically saying, “I drank too much, so I didn’t hold back my words.”

“He is your father, and you can’t say whatever comes to your mouth even if you are drunk,” Huai Changchao replied.

With a snort, Huai Jing raised his eyes and smiled at Huai Changchao, saying, “Yes, he is not only my father, but also your brother. If his son talks about your brother like this, you will not be happy.”

After Huai Jing finished speaking, he glanced at Huai Yangping and smiled at him.

Huai Changchao expressed his helplessness after hearing Huai Jing’s words, after which a look of worry came over his face. “By the way, you don’t have a girlfriend. When will you…”

Huai Jing frowned a little, his eyes narrowed to a squint, and he interrupted, “You pressured my brother to get married even though he was single. Now that my brother has recently gotten married, you have started pushing me. You should persuade Xiaohan to get married first.”

[TL Notes: The “brother” mentioned above is Huai Jing’s Second Uncle’s eldest son.]

Xiaohan was Huai Yanghan, Huai Changchao’s second son. Hearing Huai Jing mention him, Huai Changchao’s eyes softened, so he didn’t continue talking about that topic anymore. He glanced at the banquet hall and said to Huai Jing, “A lot of people who came today belong to the board of directors, let’s go and say hello to them.”

Shaking the wine glass in his hand, Huai Jing peered at the people in the banquet hall, and said lightly, “Forget it, I have been in IO since I returned to China, and I am not familiar with them, let my brother accompany you.”

The father and son glanced at each other on seeing Huai Jing’s indifference. “Alright, but you can’t always be like this, after all, you are the one who will take over Huai’s family one day,” Huai Changchao replied with a smile.

The edges of Huai Jing’s lips curled into an icy smile, and his eyelashes drooped a little after hearing his uncle’s words.

Since Huai Jing didn’t want to enter the banquet hall, Huai Changchao didn’t invite him again. Before leaving, he said, “You drank too much today, come back to the mansion with us, so that your grandma won’t worry. “

“No.” Huai Jing refused, “I have a driver.”

“Okay.” Since everyone in the banquet hall was waiting for him, Huai Changchao entered it after he had finished speaking.

The visitors came over as soon as Huai Changchao entered the hall, and it appeared that the father and son were laughing with the crowd.

Huai Jing glanced into the banquet hall, then turned around and looked up at the starry sky. It reminded him of Xu Xingxing because the meaning of her name was “starry sky.”

……………………………….

After finishing the phone call with Huai Jing, Xu Xingxing sat down and thought about Xu Xingyuan’s engagement. Her mother had informed her over the phone that Zhou Tongtong’s family was demanding an amount of 188,000 as the bride price.

[TL Notes: A “bride price,” also known as a betrothal gift, is traditionally given by the prospective groom to the woman’s family to show his wealth and sincerity while also thanking them for rearing a daughter in a culture that has traditionally valued sons over daughters.]

Huai City was an old city with patriarchy still very much embedded into its foundations. Marrying a daughter was akin to selling a daughter. The woman’s parents would usually use the majority of the bride price they received to pay for their son’s wedding.

It had already been 100,000 yuan at the time Xu Xingxing had gotten married, and as costs had risen through time, it was now even more expensive.

The Zhou family had said that they would give these betrothal gifts to their daughter without keeping a penny for themselves. They had only two children and since their eldest son was already married, they didn’t need to keep the bride price.

‘It seems that Xu Xingyuan has really grasped onto a good family.’

As Xu Xingxing thought about it, her thoughts gradually drifted away to her previous engagement.

Wang Shunsheng’s family had borrowed money from their relatives and had also taken a loan from the bank to provide a bride price for Xu Xingxing. However, Xu Xingxing didn’t keep that money for herself, instead giving it all to Wang Shunsheng to invest in their business after their marriage. Additionally, Xu Xingxing, who was born and raised in Huaicheng, believed that after getting married, her duty was to always assist her husband. She had deep feelings for Wang Shunsheng at that time, to put it frankly, so she was thought to be submissive and humble by others.

She also felt that she was really foolish at that time.

When Xu Xingxing analysed this, she instantly realised that Huai Jing’s remark on why she wasn’t married at such a young age was not really a joke since she had in fact been married once. So why was he still making fun of her? She didn’t have any thoughts of a second marriage.

Xu Xingxing lay on the sofa, rubbed Mimi’s tiny paw, puffed up her cheeks, and muttered, “I should have said that I have been married once before, but you are older than me and haven’t been married yet. Would you mind…”