Hearing Patriarch Zhou’s words, Zhou Lei also realized the seriousness of the matter.
This was not a party at all. This hotel was simply a prison.
He couldn’t do what he wanted to do. Also, he had to behave, being careful not to offend anyone. It made him very uncomfortable.
Nevertheless, Zhou Lei also became well-behaved.
Not only him but Zhou He was also like this. He looked quite serious as if he were working in an office.
They went up the spiral staircase to the third floor, where located a spacious square hall. There were many sofas on the sides for people to rest. The hall was splendid and luxurious, though all the people present were used to such fancy decoration.
Many people were resting here, including some 16- or 17-year-old adolescents and young men and women in their early twenties.
Apparently, many parents had brought their family members to this occasion to broaden their horizons. After all, such a grand event was rare even in Xiangjiang. To be exact, it was rare for them to participate in such an event.
“Xiao He, take your younger brother here and have a seat. You can first familiarize yourselves with the environment. Later, your mother will take you into the room to have a look. We’ll go say hello to several noble people first,” Patriarch Zhou said in a low voice before proceeding forward with his wife with a broad smile.
Privately, they were also astounded by the scene. On the right side of the entrance of the venue, there were many heavyweights standing there and talking.
Even the guests in the lounge were already so distinguished, what kind of people would be sitting inside then?
“I’m so bored.”
Watching their parents go to greet others, Zhou Lei muttered in a low voice, “I don’t want to be here anymore. I might as well go home and play games.”
“Shhh! Keep your voice down. Didn’t I tell you? You’ll have to experience this kind of event sooner or later. It won’t hurt to check it out in advance,” Zhou He replied under his breath. “Let’s go and find a quiet place to sit for a while.”
“Hey? Isn’t that Beibei over there? He’s come as well?”
Zhou Lei abruptly pointed to the right side. Wu Zhaokong and Bei Jin’nan were standing there, looking at the venue with sparkling eyes.
“It must be Wu Shanxing who brought them here. Let’s go. We sort of know each other. Let’s go over and say hello.” Zhou He was much more relaxed.
Since the other party’s status was similar to his, it was no big deal for them to sit together. However, on this occasion, they could only stay in a corner of the room.
“Young Master Wu.”
“Young Master Zhou.”
The two boys greeted each other.
“You’re here too?” Bei Jin’nan glanced at Zhou Lei.
“Since you can come, why can’t I?” Zhou Lei replied flatly.
“Let’s find a place to sit,” Zhou He suggested.
“Okay, how about we sit over there?”
Wu Zhaokong took the lead and walked to the side. he took a seat in the rest area behind the crowd. There was an ashtray on the tea table, which was also loaded with wedding candies, special snacks, and several bottles of drinks. Even though it was a rest area, the service was still provided according to the highest criteria of the hotel.
Zhou Lei wanted to eat some snacks. But seeing that no one else had touched the food, he didn’t dare to have any, either.
“Is that Young Master Wu sitting over there?” Zhou He gestured to a small group of people sitting at the rear of the hall.
There were about eight of them, all in their twenties. There were five men and one woman. A yellow-haired man in a suit was sitting on the far left, looking quiet and gentle.
“Yes, he is Wu Chengxi. I just saw him and his uncle come here, but I didn’t expect that with his status, he still can’t make it to the inner hall,” Wu Zhaokong sighed with a wistful expression.
“It shouldn’t be like this. He is a famous young master in Xiangjiang, and his family is also very powerful. With his status as the family heir, how could he not have the access to the inner hall?” Zhou He was puzzled.
“Who knows? Didn’t you see those people beside him? There are Young Master Wang, Young Master Ming, and Young Master Dong. They’re not much inferior to Young Master Wu. But none of them are allowed in, so they just sit here,” Wu Zhaokong said with emotion.
It seemed that among the young children of the rich families, few could enter the venue.
“This is really different from what we saw in the past.” Zhou He sighed softly.
In the past, no matter what kind of gathering it was, once he attended, he was treated like the moon surrounded by many stars. He was the protagonist of the whole scene. Even if in some high-end parties in the Jiansha District, he was also one of the heavyweights. But now… he was not even qualified to enter the venue.
He could only wait for his parents to find a suitable time to bring him in and take a look at the eye-opening ceremony.
“Crack!”
Suddenly, there was a very soft sound of the wrapper of a bog of snacks being ripped open.
“Huh?”
Zhou He and the others were stunned. It seemed that the noise came from the tea table they were sitting at, but they didn’t see anyone else here.
Finally, half a minute later.
“Swish!”
A small hand stretched out from under the tea table, grabbed a bag of snacks at random, and quickly withdrew.
“Some is under the table?”
Zhou He was momentarily astounded.
“Is he stealing snacks?”
He and Wu Zhaokong got up and walked over. When they saw what was happening, they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
A kid about six years old was happily chewing the snacks, and there were already six or seven empty snack bags at his feet.
“Where… where are your parents?” Wu Zhaokong asked, both amused and worried.
“Shhh, lower your voice.”
The little boy who had come out to steal snacks was none other than Chen Chuan. He was shocked when he saw the two stare at him. He quickly raised his index finger and looked around furtively. Then he got up, grabbed two handfuls of snacks, raced to the intersection of two pieces of the sofa, and lay on his stomach. However, his legs, which were protruding in the corridor, were rather conspicuous.
He had been focused on hiding his head but forgotten to conceal his feet.
Seeing this, Chen Changqing couldn’t help laughing. When the little Chen Chuan ran out, Chen Changqing’s mental power immediately followed him. His every move had been captured by Chen Changqing, who just let him steal the snacks. Because Chen Changqing understood that little boys all tended to be naughty.
It was just that he should almost be done with the snacks. There was quite a lot of spiritual beast meat among today’s delicacies.
“Mengmeng, your younger brother has run out to play. Go bring him back. You’re the only one he listens to,” Chen Changqing looked at Mengmeng and said with a smile.
“Well, okay, I’ll go and bring that naughty kid back.”
Mengmeng put down the glass of juice at once. Today, she had worn her hair into a ponytail, clad in a red, checkered coat with an eagle pattern, a pair of beige shorts, and a pair of small white shoes, which made her look very fresh and gorgeous.
Hearing Chen Changqing’s words, Mengmeng got up and hopped out happily.
At this time, in the lounge, Zhou He and Wu Zhaokong had been kind of rendered speechless.
“Whose kid is he?”
The two were a little curious. Since this kid was also here, his parents could not be ordinary people, could they?
“Don’t you feel stifled hiding there?” Bei Jin’nan ran over and asked.
“Shhh! Don’t talk! If I get caught, I can’t eat anymore. You two, get out of here quickly,” Chen Chuan hastily said in a low voice.
“Come back and sit down.”
Wu Zhaokong waved and called back Bei Jin’nan. Then, he exchanged a look with Zhou He.
“Is he here just to steal snacks?”
They both saw that question in the other’s looks. Yet, they chose not to say anything. After all, this kid was young and ignorant.
On this grand occasion, who could allow a six-year-old child to run around unattended? If he upset any great figure, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Therefore, both of them speculated that he was the child of a hotel staff who secretly ran out to have some fun.
But it was none of their business.
So, they sat down again.
But at this time, a man in a suit marched over from the side. He was about 25 to 26 years old. Right now, he was making a phone call and reporting something in a low voice, totally unaware that there was somebody’s leg beside the sofa.
“Plop!”
The man tripped over and fell forward to the ground. The juice in his right hand spilled all over his white shirt.
The man’s face darkened instantly. He quickly got to his feet. A flash of anger instantly glinted in his eyes, but he quickly stifled it.
“Ow, you stepped on me!”
Chen Chuan sat up and stared at the man in a suit.
“Uh?”
“It was you who lay there and tripped me over!”
“I gotta calm down, calm down…”
“Whose child is he? Why is he lying on the ground? Who are you guys?”
The man in a suit looked at Wu Zhaokong.
“Fizzy!”
Wu Zhaokong’s face hardened. “Are you Brother Shan?”
Hearing this, Zhou He brightened up.
Brother Shan from the Western District, the family heir of the Mofei Group, was a very powerful man. He was someone who could sit at a table as an equal with the big shots of their previous generation. His father and Liu Qingfeng were good friends. With this relationship alone, he was qualified to enter the inner hall. And he was definitely someone that they could not afford to offend.
Seeing the juice on his white shirt… The two of them felt that trouble was about to befall.
The four people sitting on the sofa quickly stood up.
“You are?” Brother Shan frowned slightly.
“I’m Wu Zhaokong.”
“I’m Zhou He from the Zhou family. We don’t know this child either. He…”
Before Zhou He could finish his words, Chen Chuan rolled his eyes and said, “Big brother, why do you say you don’t know me?”
“I…”
Zhou He and Wu Zhaokong were instantly petrified.
“Hehe,” Brother Shan sneered. Then, he said blandly, “It’s actually no big deal. But how dare you put on such an act? Well, fine. You’re Zhou He of the Zhou family and Wu Zhaokong of the Wu family. Okay, I know your faces now.”
“I’m innocent! Ahhh!”
Zhou He looked as if he had swallowed shit.
Wu Zhaokong also felt a chill down his spine. This way of getting to know them was kind of too terrifying.
“Brother Shan, listen to me.” Zhou He hurried to explain.
“Save it. I gotta go get changed. You stay here and continue to pretend that you don’t know each other.”
Brother Shan’s expression was rather frosty.
With that, he turned to leave.
At this moment, Wu Zhaokong and Zhou He both broke out in a cold sweat.
Seeing them so scared, Bei Jin’nan and Zhou Lei were a little confused. How powerful was the other party on earth?
“Little Chen Chuan, do you think I won’t be able to catch you if you hide here?”
Suddenly, a familiar, crisp voice came.
“Eh?”
“Mengmeng!”
“You’re here too?”
Bei Jin’nan and Zhou Lei both called out, their voices pleasantly surprised.
“Oh, you’re here too?”
Mengmeng was also surprised to see them. But she didn’t say hello to them. As she saw that Chen Chuan was about to run away, she quickly walked over and grabbed Chen Chuan’s back collar.
“Humph, you sneaked out to steal snacks. One, two… you ate seven bags of snacks in total. I’ll tell Aunty Feifei about this. As long as I tell her this, you won’t be able to have any snacks for half a month.”
A wicked smile reached Mengmeng’s ears.
“No, I didn’t!”
Chen Chuan retracted his little head. Then, at the sight of the dumbfounded man in a suit, he quickly pointed to him.
“Sister Mengmeng, he just stepped on my foot. He bullied me.”
He quickly changed the subject.
“Huh?”
Mengmeng glanced at the man in a suit and reckoned that she didn’t know him.
Zhou Lei, Bei Jin’nan, Zhou He, and Wu Zhaokong also followed her gaze.
They saw that Brother Shan looked flabbergasted, and the corners of his mouth were twitching.
“Gurgle…”
They clearly heard the sound of swallowing.
“He seems to be very nervous, doesn’t he?”
“But Mengmeng isn’t a monster. Why does he seem a little scared?”
The four got curious.
But what they saw next rendered them stunned and speechless.
Brother Shan made a deep bow with a bitter face. His voice was no longer as cold as it was just now. Instead, it now sounded gentle, kind, and even a little bit ingratiating.
“Eldest Lady, i-it’s my bad. I really didn’t see his legs stretching out on the floor. I…”
