Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
A party with no theme other than ‘promotion’ did not have any dress code but with Riley’s special work and media people, the results were completely different.
The men could be more casual and were not obliged to wear a suit but the women who were accustomed to working under flashlights and cameras would dress up beautifully, even if they did not wear extravagantly, if they had the opportunity too, even if they could only stay behind the scene. The two women, Cathy and Jules, who arrived early were the perfect examples.
Fortunately, the girls of Lavin’s family were already prepared for it. Even Randy and Harry had also secretly bought a splendid attire long ago, with the hope of having a little different encounter with the beautiful TV girls at the party tonight.
Only Zhang Lisheng maintained his indifferent look. With a smile plastered on his face, he sat on the sofa quietly stuffing fruit slices into his mouth as he watched his siblings hurried up the stairs. At that moment, his stepfather who had a tailored light-colored suit on and his mother who was wearing a beautiful young-looking honey-colored dress walked down from the stairs.
To the American parents who had several children living at home, every moment that they could get to temporarily be away from their family to have just some alone time would be an opportunity worthy of solemn treatment.
“Oh Jules, Cathy! Welcome to Riley’s party. Don’t worry, your Uncle Lavin and I are about to leave without disturbing the gathering of you young people.” Upon seeing the familiar guests in the living room from above, Lili immediately hurried down the stairs and said humorously.
“Oh, Aunt Lili! You look stunning tonight! It’s a good thing that you’re going for a date with Uncle Lavin or otherwise, you’ll be going to snatch the spotlight away from us tonight!” Jules and Lili had their arms around each other as they replied equally humorously.
“Aunt Lili, Dad, this is Pierre, my colleague in the press department.” After Lili greeted her two friends, Riley pointed to Pierre who was relatively unfamiliar to her family and introduced him.
“Pierre, welcome to our house.” Lili beckoned enthusiastically to Pierre while Sullo, who was next to her, looked at him coldly with a scrutinizing look as he nodded. To an old-fashioned and serious father with three beautiful daughters, it seemed understandable for him to treat the young men who came alone early in the party with such an attitude.
Pierre became strangely aware of it and shrank a little as his movements turned stiff. With a tense voice, he said, “Good evening, Mr. Lavin, Mrs. Lavin.”
“Enjoy yourself later, Pierre.” Lili quietly pulled her lover’s hand and signaled him to be gentle. When she turned around and was about to bid goodbye with the children, she caught the sight of a very lonely Zhang Lisheng sitting on the sofa eating fruit.
“Baby, be happier. There’ll be many young people the same age as you who’ll come here to party later.” She purposely walked up to the young man and kissed his forehead before saying with a smile, “There’s a suit that I purposely bought for you in my bedroom. Don’t forget to put it on.”
“Mom, I’ve entertained countless parties in Manhattan and know what should I do?” Zhang Lisheng stood up and said with a pout.
“You’ve also said that it’s just to entertain. You won’t feel any joy when you’re entertaining people.” Lili patted her son’s face as said as she stared at him, “I hope you can be happy.”
Clearly feeling the strong motherly love, Zhang Lisheng had nothing to say for a moment. He could only watch Lili left with her husband after bidding goodbye with the other children.
“Dear, oh it seems that you have a brother who is his mother’s sweetheart.” Upon seeing the young man’s dazed look, combined with the intimate conversation between the mother and child just now, Cathy blinked and whispered in Riley’s ear.
A mama’s boy was one of the most unpopular types of men among young women in western societies that advocated independence.
“Cathy, things are completely different from what you think. In fact, it has been quite a while in New York that Aunt Lili didn’t use ‘baby’ to call Lisheng. But after he disappeared for a while and finally reappeared again… Eh? Why am I telling you this? Anyway, Lisheng is, is… I don’t know how to describe but if you’re willing to try to get to know him, you’ll realize that he’s a strange man that you can never possibly imagine.” Riley could guess her friend’s thoughts so she quickly corrected her.
“I’m not interested in a mama’s boy so I think it’s better for you to give him to Jules. Didn’t she just break up with Hadley recently?” Cathy joked.
“I’m hurt and I need at least half a year of rest before I can love again.” Upon hearing the name ‘Hadley’, Jules’ eyes dimmed down at once in a flash before saying in a chuckle again.
“Alright then, ladies! Since you’re not interested in the youngest billionaire and great scientist in the United States, I’ll introduce him to other people then,” Riley said with a curl of her lips but of course, her words were naturally regarded as a joke by her friends. Cathy immediately teased and asked, “A super-rich mama’s boy scientist? That sounds like a Jew, but why does your brother have yellow skin?”
Just like this, the time quietly passed in the soft frolic teasing of the girls. When Riley saw her siblings had all changed into bright clothes and came downstairs, and the few part-time high school student waiters and college bartender she hired with a low wage, and the TV interns she caught to become her DJ by abusing her power, were already in position, she finally realized that the party was going to start soon. Hurriedly, she ran up to the second floor.
When she finally changed into a tight light blue low-cut dress and wore a jewel necklace radiating a brilliance as bright as a clear blue sky under the illumination of the light that she borrowed from Lili’s jewelry box, she returned to the living room again like a beautiful elf from the ocean. The last sunset just happened to set and the guests began to ring the bell one by one.
The ordinary wooden house became a lively social venue within a short span of 30 minutes. Cheerful dance music fluttered in the house and from time to time, there would be guests who arrived late knocking on the door.
As the earliest immigrants to migrate to the Noah World, the Lavin family managed to buy a satisfactory and spacious residence with very little money but in the end, when there were several dozens of guests cramped together in the living room, the space became inevitably crowded. Young men and women who wanted to move around could only sway to the music close to each other with joy yet constrained, which actually heated up the atmosphere even more.
“Oh, I’ve danced till I’m out of breath, Pierre. Ha — I-I need to rest for a while.” Riley who was dancing with Pierre till she was covered in sweats stopped dancing and picked up a glass of orange cocktail from the tray held by the waiter who walked around to deliver the drinks. From the corner of her eyes, she accidentally saw a black-haired figure standing and watching indifferently in an inconspicuous corner so she told her dance partner while gasping for air before walking towards the figure.
“Lisheng, why are you hiding in the corner drinking beer? Oh? It’s not beer but iced Coke? Are you addicted to carbonated drinks or something? You won’t be able to get a girlfriend like this y’know! C’mon, I’ll introduce you to some beautiful girls and you can dance with them.” The girl kept greeting as she passed through the crowds to get to the black-haired figure. She, who had become unusually high, over alcohol grabbed his wrist and said loudly.
“Riley, you’re drunk. You better find a place to sit and rest. I’ve told you long before that I don’t have the mood to get any girlfriend now.” Being dragged by Riley, Zhang Lisheng said thoughtfully, “I want to meet some influential reporters instead. Is there any at this party?”
“Famous reporter? Of course! Don’t underestimate me who’s now the assistant producer of NBC! The show ‘The Chaser’ that I’m in charge of is one of the guaranteed shows for the TV station!” Riley looked around in a slightly tipsy manner and her eyes suddenly lit up. Tilting her head, she whispered into the young man’s ears, “Look, Hanks Elton is here. He’s an ace reporter y’know.”
Turning his head to the direction where the girl was looking at, Zhang Lisheng saw a handsome young-looking white man with graceful bearing that had wrinkles at the corner of his eyes that indicated that he was actually not young, sitting on a tall chair in front of the tabletop separating the living room and the dining room that was temporarily acting as a bar counter now. He was beaming with joy as he chatted with the few young men and women who had an admiring look on their faces.
“Can you take me over and meet him, Riley?” After a few seconds of silence, Zhang Lisheng asked.
“Oh, it’s weird that you made such a request at a happy party.” Riley was stunned for a while before saying in a strange tone with an underlying meaning,” However, Hanks is usually cheerful and he has a great love for life. He loves to give compliments so he has no shortage of beauties around him all the time. Well, it’s quite a good idea for you to get to know him and be nurtured by him a little.”
Then, she directly pulled the young man’s hand and walked to the temporary bar.
“Riley! Oh beautiful Riley, smart Riley, cute Riley! I can’t believe that you’re actually such an amazing host! This party is perfect! Oh, especially this chocolate cookie, it goes really wonderful with the whiskey.” The white man was obviously talking and laughing with other people but before the two of them could get near to him, he had already raised a small plate enthusiastically and stepped in to greet them.
“That cookie is baked by my family and myself. I’m glad that you like it, Hanks.” Looking into the ace reporter’s bright eyes, Riley’s tipsiness seemed to have disappeared in an instant as she said a little nervously. “Ah, this is my brother Zhang Lisheng. He really likes your interview and hopes that he can get to know you.”
“Sure! I love making new friends the most, for a good reporter will never have too many friends.” Hanks had obviously took the young man as his admirer. Pulling a business card out of his pocket, he handed it to Zhang Lisheng. “You can call my assistant anytime if you have any clue to a news, buddy.”
“I do have a very interesting news clue to provide now, but with the condition that this series of news must be produced by Riley.” Zhang Lisheng took the business card and saw that there was only one mobile phone number written on it so he said with a frown.
“Oh? No, no, not now! I don’t work during a party unless the New White House is bombed by a steam bomb that crosses the spatial gate.” Hanks shrugged, “And NBC has its own rules. Even though Riley is amazing, she still not qualified to stand on her own. Well, if you really have any news clue, you can just call my assistant through the number stated on the business card and he’ll give you a reply if it’s valuable.”
“What a shame, you’ve missed the chance of making yourself and NBC the focus of the whole Noah World.” Zhang Lisheng also shrugged and inserted the business card back into the chest pocket of Hanks’ suit.
