Chapter 100

The Golden Summit Hotel is located at the entrance of Yan'an East Road Tunnel in Pudong, next to Century Avenue, in the heart of Pudong's core area—the Lujiazui Financial and Trade Zone. To the east, it overlooks the bustling scenes of Pudong New Area, to the west, it offers a serene view of the Huangpu River and the city of Shanghai, to the south, it faces the Zhangyang Road Commercial and Trade Zone of Pudong, and to the north, it is adjacent to a 100,000-square-meter central green space.

The designer of the Golden Summit Tower is a famous ** design firm from New York, USA. The designer, with innovative ideas, skillfully combined the latest global architectural trends with traditional Chinese architectural styles, successfully creating a world-class, timeless masterpiece that has become a landmark of Shanghai's architectural style and a well-known symbol of the city.

The 88th floor revolving restaurant is one of the top viewing spots in Shanghai. The glass walls offer a wide view, allowing you to see the urban scenery on both sides of the Huangpu River and the magnificent views of the Yangtze River estuary. You can enjoy the indescribable beauty of the sunrise and sunset, and the ever-changing blue sky and white clouds.

Enjoying the night view here is a pleasure. The Bund, known as the "Exhibition of International Architecture," is a dazzling and beautiful sight. The lights on the elevated roads and bridges in the distance resemble colorful ribbons, competing with the stars and the moon. This scene makes Cheng Xiaoyu feel as if he is in a fairyland.

Cheng Xiaoyu held a plate with a bit of old Shanghai salted meat rice, a few pieces of vegetarian duck, some crab roe tofu, and a few pieces of braised pork. He stood there, eating heartily without any regard for the people around him. A cardboard box was placed at his feet.

Today's banquet is not only Xu Qinling's birthday but also a gathering of Shanghai's business elite, and even Shanghai's mayor, Gu Shitong, has attended. The Golden Summit Hotel naturally did not dare to be negligent, and the head chefs were called in to prepare the buffet, ensuring that every dish was meticulously crafted.

Clearly, this effort was of little use, as most people were not there to eat but to socialize, holding highball glasses and engaging in lively conversations.

There were also many people Cheng Xiaoyu's age, so he was not the only one eating at the buffet. However, most people would only take a small amount of food on their plates and eat it elegantly in small bites. No one ate as carelessly as Cheng Xiaoyu.

It's not that Cheng Xiaoyu didn't know to pay attention to his image; he simply didn't care. In his view, the purpose of making money was to live the life he wanted, not to show off his wealth or deliberately adapt to the so-called manners of high society.

For example, in his previous life, he found Western dining etiquette very pretentious, with the right hand holding the knife and the left hand holding the fork. When seated, one had to sit upright and not rest their elbows on the table. At first, he thought eating Western food was a very elegant thing, but later he realized that a person's manners and elegance had nothing to do with whether they held the fork in their right or left hand.

The most significant impact on him was when he once dined at a famous Western restaurant with a genuine tycoon. The waiter had prepared the knife and fork for him, but he asked the waiter to bring him a pair of chopsticks. The waiter was stunned, as no one had ever requested chopsticks in a Western restaurant, and he didn't know how to handle it.

Later, the restaurant manager, recognizing the tycoon from a finance magazine cover, quickly went out to buy a pair of chopsticks for him.

Cheng Xiaoyu was puzzled and asked the tycoon why he didn't care about Western dining etiquette. The tycoon replied that rules were made for ordinary people, but people like them were the rules themselves. Power and money were meant to be used freely, and if a meal couldn't make him happy, what was the point of working so hard to reach his current position?

After hearing this, Cheng Xiaoyu, who had a bit of a bourgeois tendency, stopped pretending. Nothing was more important than being comfortable in life. No matter how noble you pretended to be in front of others, it wouldn't change the fact that you were just a nobody behind their backs.

Cheng Xiaoyu was relaxed, and in fact, no one paid attention to him, a minor character. Of course, Cheng Xiaoyu didn't care about these so-called high society people who had nothing to do with his world.

Cheng Xiaoyu was enjoying his meal, but Xu Qinling was not happy at all. Gu Xuewei was hovering around her, trying to be charming. In theory, someone as excellent as Gu Xuewei shouldn't have made her dislike him, but in reality, Xu Qinling found anyone who pursued her annoying, no matter how outstanding they were.

She didn't know why. She once suspected she might be a lesbian, as she liked Su Yuxi so much, but she didn't feel any urge when they slept together. Yes, she used the word "urge." She had asked her T friend what they would do if they slept with a beautiful woman, and the T friend replied, "Whatever a man would do, I would do."

This made Xu Qinling even more confused. She only touched the other person's chest and didn't feel any further urge. This meant she wasn't a lesbian, or perhaps she hadn't fully evolved.

But she had never met a boy she liked, and she would feel annoyed whenever a boy pursued her, which made her even more conflicted.

So when Cheng Xiaoyu told her he liked the same sex, Xu Qinling immediately felt a sense of closeness towards him. This was one of the reasons why she had always been particularly close to Cheng Xiaoyu. Su Yuxi was a significant reason, but this was also very important.

Gu Xuewei was particularly fond of Xu Qinling. She had a perfect family background, a beautiful appearance, and a stunning figure. Although she was said to have a bad temper, he believed he could tame her well. A high school sophomore, he thought, would be easy to win over with a bit of effort.

However, Miss Xu had no interest in Gu Xuewei at all. She found it extremely annoying to listen to him talk, and she could only force a smile. Her father had warned her not to cause trouble, as Gu Shitong and Gu Xuewei were the main guests of the banquet.

Her birthday was just an excuse. Her actual birthday was next week, but it was moved to today to fit the schedules of these important people.

Thinking about this, Xu Qinling felt even more annoyed. She didn't know what Gu Xuewei was saying in her ear.

At this moment, Xu Jiacheng and Gu Shitong walked over with smiles on their faces.

Xu Qinling obediently greeted, "Uncle Gu, hello."

Gu Xuewei also smiled and said, "Uncle Xu, it's been a long time. You look younger and more handsome than my father."

Xu Jiacheng, though in his fifties, was well-maintained, looking dignified and authoritative, in the prime of his life.

Gu Shitong was Gu Xueren's uncle, the second son of the current Premier. Even with just the identity of Shanghai's mayor, Xu Jiacheng wouldn't have taken him so seriously. If they could become in-laws, it would be a great thing. Although Xu Qinling was only 17, the future was unpredictable, but with the combined strength of both families, many things would fall into place, especially since Gu Xuewei seemed to be very fond of Xu Qinling.

Gu Shitong was also very satisfied with Xu Qinling, but his satisfaction mainly came from Xu Jiacheng.

Xu Jiacheng affectionately patted Gu Xuewei's shoulder and said, "Xiaowei, you should spend more time with Qinling. Our door is always open to you. She has a wild personality, so you can teach her some literary and refined qualities. See if you can make her more gentle."

Gu Xuewei smiled shyly and said, "Uncle Xu, I think you're wrong. I think Qinling is already very gentle. She didn't say much when I was talking to her, but I like her personality."

Xu Jiacheng and Gu Shitong laughed, looking at the young couple as if they were future in-laws. Gu Shitong looked at Xu Qinling and said, "We won't disturb your conversation. Qinling, you should visit our house more often. Auntie is always there even if I'm not."

Xu Qinling forced a smile, feeling like a commodity being priced, and didn't want to pretend anymore. When Xu Jiacheng and Gu Shitong turned away, she said to Gu Xuewei, "I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well. I need to excuse myself."

Gu Xuewei, thinking she was really unwell, asked with concern, "What's wrong? Do you need medicine?"

Xu Qinling cursed him a thousand times in her heart. He should be the one to take medicine! Your whole family should take medicine! But she forced a smile and said, "I've been feeling nauseous and vomiting a lot lately. I don't know why!"

Gu Xuewei felt as if he had been struck by lightning. Xu Qinling didn't seem like that kind of girl! He hesitated and said, "Is it your stomach?"

Xu Qinling pretended to frown and hold her chest, "I don't think so. I've been craving sour food lately."

Gu Xuewei could only let her walk away, feeling a mix of emotions. Though he didn't believe her, this was clearly an indirect indication that she wasn't interested in him, which was a significant blow to the always-smooth-sailing Gu Xuewei.

Xu Qinling, fearing that Gu Xuewei would continue to bother her, quickly walked to the center of the hall, searching for Cheng Xiaoyu. When she saw him eating heartily at the buffet, she couldn't help but smile. In this crowd of pretentious and artificial people, there was still one who was genuine, which made her feel warm.

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