Chapter 17 of 100
Chapter 17
8 min read2,045 words
This private room is named after the water's charm, with a simple and elegant style. The walls are adorned with several landscape paintings, not overly luxurious, but graceful and unique. Under the large crystal chandelier, there is a round table covered with a white tablecloth, around which six people are seated.
The first person to catch the eye is a plump, well-fed man with a smiling face.
Another is a slightly overweight middle-aged man wearing glasses, with a smile on his face, looking very steady and reliable. He is sitting in the main seat.
A woman in her late twenties, delicate and petite, with light makeup, is beaming with joy.
A middle-aged man who is a bit thin, with heavy bags under his eyes, looks somewhat listless.
The fifth person is a middle-aged man with a sullen face, the oldest of the group, and very serious.
The last person is a woman with heavy makeup, smiling broadly.
All six people stood up, and the middle-aged man with glasses, who seemed steady, stood up the fastest.
Shi Weicheng smiled and said, "Everyone knows Xiaoxin, so I won't introduce her. I would like to introduce the person next to me, Master Fang Tianfeng, who used his miraculous Daoist techniques to help me avoid a major accident and save my unborn son. He is a great benefactor to my entire family!"
The woman with light makeup walked over with a smile and said, "Don't be silly, we don't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet."
Next, Shi Weicheng introduced each person to Fang Tianfeng.
The woman with light makeup is naturally Shi Weicheng's wife.
The man with glasses holds the highest position, being the Deputy Director of the Urban Construction Committee of Yunhai City. He is very powerful here, and Shi Weicheng usually can't invite him, but he is particularly courteous to Fang Tianfeng.
The plump, well-fed man is a real estate developer with a very good temper, always smiling.
The listless, thin middle-aged man is a shareholder in Shi Weicheng's company and also runs two not-so-small restaurants.
The sullen middle-aged man is the CEO of a supervision company, who is not very warm towards Fang Tianfeng. His assistant, a woman with heavy makeup, also deliberately treats Fang Tianfeng coldly, seeing her boss's attitude, but is very热情 to the others.
These people all treated Shen Xin nicely, and Shen Xin was also friendly to them, except for being particularly courteous to Deputy Director Chai of the Urban Construction Committee.
After Shi Weicheng finished the introductions, the first thing he did was to arrange the seating. Among them, Deputy Director Chai held the highest position and should have taken the main seat, but he did not sit down, smiling and saying, "Master Fang, today's dinner is prepared for you by Weicheng. I can't take the main seat and overshadow the guest. You should sit there."
Fang Tianfeng smiled and declined, "No matter what other identities I have, I am still a young man. Everyone here is more qualified to sit in the main seat. I'll sit here. I don't have much in common with you old uncles. I prefer beautiful women like Sister Xin."
Shen Xin gave him a glare, and everyone laughed. Deputy Director Chai did not say more, nodded, and sat down with a smile.
On Fang Tianfeng's left was Shi Weicheng's wife, and on his right was Shen Xin. Shi Weicheng jokingly said that the young man had good fortune, but was scolded by his wife.
After everyone was seated, Shi Weicheng first thanked Fang Tianfeng and then told the group about what happened yesterday with Shen Xin. Everyone already knew the general story, but hearing the details from Shi Weicheng, they became increasingly surprised.
Fang Tianfeng secretly observed and found that everyone's reactions were different. The CEO of the supervision company, Cheng, had a particularly bad attitude, often sneering.
After Shi Weicheng finished talking about how Fang Tianfeng revealed that he had a child, he thanked Fang Tianfeng again.
Cheng suddenly interjected, "Mr. Shi, I'm not saying this to criticize you, but you should be cautious about such things. I suggest you hire a private detective to investigate. Someone might be secretly investigating you and then pretending to be a mystic to scam you."
Shen Xin immediately frowned, not saying anything, but Shi Weicheng's wife suddenly glared at Cheng, demanding, "What do you mean? Even I don't know if I'm pregnant, and you think a private investigation can reveal it? Are you suggesting that my child isn't Weicheng's? Or that I'm cheating with someone else?"
Cheng was speechless, his face turning red. He didn't expect Shi Weicheng's wife to think this way, truly shooting himself in the foot.
Shi Weicheng quickly calmed his wife, and when he looked at Cheng, his eyes carried a hint of hostility.
Cheng, realizing he was in the wrong, dared not speak out of turn.
After calming his wife, Shi Weicheng looked at Deputy Director Chai and said with a smile, "Director Chai, I didn't expect you to come today. It's a great honor. I only found out you were coming after I booked the private room, so I had to change to the more secluded Water Charm Hall. If I had known you would grace us with your presence, I would never have chosen such a conspicuous place."
Deputy Director Chai smiled slightly and said, "You have the honor, but I came from the underground parking lot and took the elevator up. Fortunately, I didn't run into any acquaintances, or my face would be lost."
Everyone laughed. Fang Tianfeng didn't understand what they were talking about and looked at Shen Xin with confusion.
Shen Xin whispered, "The top official in the province is cracking down on public fund dining and drinking. The atmosphere is tense."
Fang Tianfeng suddenly understood. No wonder there was a waiter guarding the door, to prevent exposure. He had seen a provincial official being exposed for excessive dining and drinking just a few days ago, and the official was taken down the next day.
Shi Weicheng immediately said, "Just for Director Chai's presence, I will punish myself with three glasses."
Deputy Director Chai did not respond to Shi Weicheng but nodded and then looked at Fang Tianfeng, asking gently, "Master Fang, do you prefer white wine, beer, or red wine?"
Fang Tianfeng immediately understood that everyone present was a "battle-hardened" drinker and said, "Just call me Xiaofang. Today we are celebrating Brother Shi's son, a happy occasion, so let's not drink too much. A little beer will do. I heard that pregnant women shouldn't smell alcohol, so it's better to drink less."
Deputy Director Chai immediately nodded and said, "Beer is good. Let's drink beer today, but not too much."
Fat Mr. Meng immediately said with a smile, "Beer is good. As a small businessman, drinking white wine every day is too harmful to my health."
The others echoed his sentiment. Unconsciously, Deputy Director Chai became the master of the private room, controlling the conversation.
Fang Tianfeng, though not deeply familiar with the political scene, could roughly understand that the position of Deputy Director of the Urban Construction Committee was equivalent to the Deputy Director of the City Police Department or the Deputy County Magistrate. The Urban Construction Committee is responsible for the city's construction and real estate, a truly powerful department, and the CEOs present needed to maintain good relations with Deputy Director Chai.
Next, the waiter brought the drinks and then the menu. Shi Weicheng hesitated for a moment, did not give the menu to Deputy Director Chai, but handed it to Fang Tianfeng, saying, "Master Fang, you choose the dishes first."
Fang Tianfeng felt everyone's eyes on him and was about to politely decline as usual, but then thought better of it, nodded, and calmly opened the menu.
The others' expressions did not change, but the atmosphere subtly shifted, and they quietly looked at Deputy Director Chai. Deputy Director Chai still smiled, seemingly unaware of the tension.
Shen Xin nodded inwardly. Fang Tianfeng, despite being young, had a unique identity. Being polite during seating was courteous, but if he kept being overly humble, he would be looked down upon.
Cheng had been thinking about how to undermine Fang Tianfeng. Seeing an opportunity, he was afraid of being ridiculed again and gave his female assistant a meaningful look.
The assistant immediately understood and said with a forced smile, "Xiaofang, you are too impolite. We don't even know if you are a master, and you, a young man, dare to take the menu. Are you ignoring Director Chai?"
Fang Tianfeng looked up and smiled, countering, "Brother Shi invited me, and he said I should choose the dishes, so I will. As for you, you are stirring up trouble without Director Chai's permission. What's your intention?"
The assistant quickly looked at Deputy Director Chai, but found that he was not even looking at her. She felt a chill and quickly shut up, then looked at Cheng.
Cheng gave her an encouraging look and placed his left hand on her thigh, patting it. The assistant felt reassured.
Her eyes fell on Fang Tianfeng's clothes, and she showed a faint sneer, feigning curiosity, "Master Fang, where did you buy your clothes? With your status, this outfit must cost at least tens of thousands, right? And what car did you drive here? Not a Bentley, I suppose?" She sounded triumphant, as if she had found a weakness in Fang Tianfeng.
Cheng gave her another encouraging look.
Fang Tianfeng did not expect her to push further and felt annoyed.
It was just a dinner among a few people, not a formal banquet, and Fang Tianfeng did not think it necessary to wear formal attire or buy expensive clothes just for a meal.
Deputy Director Chai lightly coughed, coldly glanced at Cheng and the assistant, and said, "Master Fang, please continue choosing the dishes."
Cheng and the assistant immediately shut up, not daring to cause trouble, but the triumph in their eyes was hard to hide.
Fang Tianfeng flipped through a few pages of the menu and turned to Shi Weicheng's wife, "Sister, what do you like to eat? Pregnant women come first, I'll help you choose."
Shi Weicheng's wife, a straightforward woman, immediately smiled and discussed with Fang Tianfeng, asking what dishes were good for pregnant women. In her eyes, the rules were less important than the baby in her belly.
After Fang Tianfeng chose a few dishes, he handed the menu to Deputy Director Chai, who only chose one dish and then passed it to Mr. Meng.
After the dishes were ordered, everyone started chatting. Because there was a pregnant woman present, they were very restrained, only drinking one glass and then drinking individually. Shen Xin and Shi Weicheng's wife had freshly squeezed juice, while Cheng's assistant drank normally.
Before the dishes arrived, Cheng, who had been sullen, asked sarcastically, "Master Fang, in our supervision industry, we've heard everything. Some believe in ghosts and spirits, some don't. I actually believe in them. Can you tell me when I will have a major misfortune?"
Shi Weicheng immediately showed displeasure. Today was his treat, and Cheng targeting Fang Tianfeng was also a slight to him, especially since it wasn't the first time.
Fang Tianfeng knew the man was deliberately causing trouble and didn't want to pay attention, but noticed that everyone was looking at him. He thought for a moment and used his Qi-sensing technique to look at Cheng.
Just one glance, and Fang Tianfeng's expression changed subtly.
Fat Mr. Meng asked, "Master Fang, did you find anything?"
Fang Tianfeng remained silent, continuing to observe.
Cheng's aura of wealth was slightly more than Shen Xin's but less than Shi Weicheng's. The resentment and misfortune on him were the most Fang Tianfeng had ever seen.
The green resentment aura on Cheng was as thick as a wrist. If it were sparse, it wouldn't be a big deal, but it was very dense, indicating deep harm. The gray misfortune aura was even thicker, and near it, there was a new type of aura that Fang Tianfeng had never seen before.
Dark green disaster aura!
---
(End of the page)