Lily lifted an eyebrow at Jiang Ruo before she smiled. She wondered if the woman had something against her. She then eyed the old man, who seemed to agree with Jiang Ruo’s words. Lily and Zhou Jingren already introduce themselves to the old man right after arriving where he immediately asked them to drink some wine for being late.
As someone who still values traditional Chinese tradition, drinking some wine if you are late should be normal in this household. “Alright,” she said as Zhou Jingren rose from his seat and held his hand so she could hold him.
This action might be simple, but this earned a lot of envious stares from women at the party. After all, they were all human. A gentleman is not something unique, but a good looking gentleman is different. This is just how the world works.
Zhou Jingren is not only handsome, but he is also successful and wealthy. Aside from this, he seemed to treat his wife really well too. Isn’t he just the perfect man?
For some reason, this action made some men of the Yu Family irritated. How could they allow someone to outshine everyone? Isn’t this the Yu Family’s party? They were supposed to be the center of attention. Not some rich man who attended the party for the first time. Of course, most people were also logical enough to think that this was not the couple’s fault.
Are they supposed to attend a party wearing garbage bags just so they won’t outshine everyone? Various opinions laced everyone’s mind, yet not one of them said a thing. For them, envious gazes and jealousy are only normal. It is a part of everyone. In the end, the people who will succumb to these will lose and would become everyone’s laughingstock.
Everyone eyed Lily, and Zhou Jingren as they walked towards the old man. Their jade-like skin and godly appearance were enough to attract everyone’s attention. Moreover, this was the first time that the couple attended an event that involves mostly traditional families from China.
“Ahhh… This is the heir to the Zhou Family’s empire.” Old Man Yu stated to another wizened man next to him. “And his wife is the owner of Facci Group from Europe. I believe I am very lucky to witness such a union. And I am even luckier to have them attend my humble birthday party.” He let a burst of croaky laughter before falling into a series of cough.
“Aiyo… Old Man Yu… you are getting older and older. You should take care of yourself properly.” The old man sitting next to him laugh. He then turned to look at the couple approaching them. “I heard that they only received an invitation two days ago?” he lowered his voice. But it was enough for everyone around the table to hear.
The meaning of his words was obvious. Everyone here has prepared for their gifts for months! How could Lily and Zhou Jingren have the time to do that? The two were not familiar with the way everything in this party works as this was their first time attending such event. It should be safe to assume that they will not give any outstanding gift today.
But isn’t that too embarrassing? Some older people who attended the party immediately got the old man’s point and silently nodded their heads. No one would actually blame them if they did not give something of value. However, it will surely give a poor taste to everyone else.
As someone who just moved to this neighborhood, this may even cause some problems for the young couple as some people here will surely look down on them.
To these people, reputation is everything. They would not hesitate to use their lives to guard their reputation. Losing their reputation is akin to losing their lives. How could they live without it?
Everyone could only shake their heads inwardly. Poor couple. They haven’t even started living in this neighborhood and everyone else will already think of them as lower than everyone else.
“We receive the invitation two days ago.” Lily’s voice was soft as she approached the old man. “And we are very busy arranging furniture. So please forgive us for not taking a lot of time to think about our gifts.” She then held her hand and presented a small velvet box that perfectly fits her hand.
“Jewelry?” One guest whispered. “As expected… it is nothing special. I believe, they were not aware that this event was like a competition. Poor youngsters.”
Lily then looked at everyone on the table before she opened the box, revealing a watch that glittered under the lighting. “This is the only thing that I could find. It is a custom-made watch from GC Jewels that was sold three years ago. They only made three of these watches. One is owned by the king in UAE and one is owned by one of the previous presidents in the US. And the last one fell into my hands.” She laughed.
Her voice was gentle and sweet, yet it was enough for everyone to hear. “This is not the most expensive watch in the world but my good friend, Fernando, the head designer and heir of GC Jewels personally handcrafted this. When I saw this particular piece, I immediately liked it and asked him if I could buy it. As I said… We didn’t really take a lot of time to decide about this matter as we are very busy.”
Lily looked at the speechless old man as her gaze trailed towards Jiang Ruo who was sitting a few seats away from the old man. “I believe that this watch is timeless and therefore very fitting for someone like Patriarch Yu. I can only hope that this is enough apology for being late.” She gave the older woman a meaningful smile.
Everyone in the old man’s table turned speechless at Lily’s words. They eyed the watch that was made of diamonds and various other stones as they felt their throat ached.
…..
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