Other than the Chu family, a lot of friends and relatives were there for the party.
Shi Jin’s third aunt was present as well. She always had a candid personality, so the moment she arrived, she praised, “Xuexin, you are handling your duties as the host perfectly. You have done us proud as the daughter of the Shi family.”
“All I did was give her some practice.” Yu Xiuhua felt pleased by the flattery, but she said modestly, “She was able to do so well because all her elders taught her well.”
“Since she is your biological daughter, I am sure she is better,” said Third Aunt as she gestured. Everyone knew she was comparing Shi Xuexin and Shi Jin.
Seventh Aunt promptly asked, “Why isn’t Shi Jin here today?”
Yu Xiuhua took the opportunity to say, “Shi Jin is coming over with her biological parents, so they might be a little late.”
Third aunt said in astonishment, “Are her parents coming? Xiuhua, since when were they considered relatives?”
Everyone looked at Yu Xiuhua curiously.
The Shi family had already spread gossip about how awful the Li family was in high society.
Yu Xiuhua kept belittling the Li family in public.
Despite never blatantly speaking ill of the Li family, it was clear from Shi Xuexin’s reaction how pathetic the Li family was.
Although Yu Xiuhua had seen Li Juekai and Gu Qingqing a couple of times, Li Juekai’s legs were injured and he was depressed from Shi Jin’s repeated rejection, so they were always in bad shape whenever they met.
Yu Xiuhua naturally despised them. She failed to realize exactly who Li Juekai and Gu Qingqing were.
“After all, Shi Jin grew up in the Shi family. Whatever it is, we can’t leave them in the lurch,” said Yu Xiuhua as she smiled and acted generous.
She glanced at Mr and Mrs Chu.
Chu Ling and Shi Jin were childhood friends, so they were exceptionally close to each other.
After learning Shi Jin wasn’t her daughter, Yu Xiuhua was worried that Shi Jin would end up marrying into the Chu family owing to how close Shi Jin and Chu Ling were.
Fortunately, Chu Ling knew better than to do that. Shortly after Shi Xuexin returned to the Shi family, he started to take a liking to Shi Xuexin. And Shi Jin ended up embarrassing herself by repeatedly throwing herself at him.
Since Shi Jin visited the Chu family often, Mr and Mrs Chu felt bad about Shi Jin’s predicament. They did not insist that Shi Jin stay away from Chu Ling. Instead, they left it to Chu Ling to decide who he preferred to marry and claimed to respect their son’s preference.
Yu Xiuhua had invited Shi Jin’s parents over today. She wanted Mr and Mrs Chu to see what an embarrassment the Li family was for themselves. Also, she wanted to show them what lousy parents Li Juekai and Gu Qingqing were for abandoning their daughter for years. That way, Mr and Mrs Chu were bound to pick Shi Xuexin.
Third Aunt sighed, “Shi Jin is such a smart girl for refusing to leave the Shi family. Now, she has everything she could ever dream of and even her parents can get invited to this party as guests.”
She made it clear Shi Jin was using her ties with the Shi family since they were rich and powerful.
Seventh Aunt chimed in, “That’s true. If she stays here, she can get everything she wants. What’s the point of returning to the Li family? I really have to take my hat off to the Li family. They were able to let their biological daughter live outside without hesitation. They were smart to give up their daughter so that they could curry favor with the Shi family.”
All the other relatives felt the same way.
“That’s right. If Shi Jin stays with the Shi family, she can get anything she wants. She was even able to use Chu Ling for hype. Otherwise, would Shi Jin have come in second on the show?”
Sure enough, Mr and Mrs Chu looked a little annoyed.
Chu Ling stayed quiet and did not join in the conversation.
After Shi Xuexin and Chu Jia came downstairs, Shi Xuexin deliberately asked innocently, “Third Aunt, Seventh Aunt, why are you chatting so happily? What are you talking about?”
She had already overheard the conversation, but she purposely asked so as to ensure that everyone could hear it a second time.
“Xuexin, we were just talking about Shi Jin. I heard she is coming over with her parents today,” replied Third Aunt.
“Oh really? I haven’t seen them in ages, so I miss them a lot,” said Shi Xuexin gently.
In reality, Li Juekai and Gu Qingqing were not close to Shi Xuexin at all. They were too busy working and could only come home to spend a few days with her during the Chinese New Year.
Also, she despised them for being poor. She was unable to live like the other rich folk in town. They were able to bring their family to big cities on holidays and could afford to buy their children designer goods.
All her garments were handmade by an old lady who worked for Old Master Li. They were not designer goods and were not as trendy as the things that were sold in malls.
Although there was a chauffeur, the car was an old jalopy and couldn’t compare to the latest cars out there.
Even her toiletries were unbranded, so she deeply envied the other children in town who could use branded goods.
She only enjoyed the finer things in life after returning to her biological family. If she had a choice, she did not want to ever see the Li family again including Old Master Li who raised her in the countryside.
However, she knew full well she could not say such things. The moment she did, it would make her look bad.
Yu Xiuhua looked at her daughter proudly as she said, “Uh huh. You can finally get to see them today. You are so sweet for thinking about the Li family all the time. I know you really want to repay them for bringing you up.”
Despite the occasional jealousy, Yu Xiuhua mostly felt impressed by how kind Shi Xuexin was.
If Shi Xuexin was already able to show such gratitude to an impoverished family like the Li family, she was bound to be even more filial to the Shi family.
Third Aunt smiled and said, “Xuexin is such a wonderful young woman for being so filial and grateful. She is loads better than those people who refuse to even go back to their biological families.”
Seventh Aunt shook her head as she said, “Precisely. If my daughter doesn’t even think about her family, I would rather have given birth to a pound of meat.”
Shi Xuexin glanced at Mr and Mrs Chu before furtively looking at Chu Ling.
All three of them were holding their teacups, but no one knew what they were thinking.
Old Master Shi was still hospitalized so he was not at the party.
Shi Qing would get to take the main seat. The moment he came over, he heard everyone saying mean things about Shi Jin. He frowned and said, “Enough. Stop talking. Shi Jin is almost here.”
The moment he finished his sentence, the butler led Shi Jin, Li Juekai, and Gu Qingqing into the villa.
