Chapter 33: Three Days Before the Banquet

They hadn’t walked long before they’d lost the onlookers from earlier.

Cheng Yiyi called Steward Li and gave him their location. He arrived quickly and loaded the computer into the trunk.

He padded it with soft things to keep it from getting bumped.

Before they left, the store clerk kept thanking them profusely. That one sale meant a commission worth months of his salary.

“Miss, shall we start for home now?” Steward Li asked from the front.

Shen Anyue was eating an ice cream bar, trying to calm her restless heart with the cold.

But the culprit, Cheng Yiyi, was sitting right next to her, so Shen Anyue couldn’t even string together a whole sentence.

“Mm, let’s head home.”

Cheng Yiyi didn’t read anything into it. She just figured Shen Anyue had tired herself out from being out in the sun so long.

After all, this was a young lady who’d been pampered since childhood. A slightly weaker constitution was to be expected.

She never had to do heavy labor anyway. Delicate, soft-skinned, sweet-smelling…

Totally normal.

With idle time on the ride, Shen Anyue began teaching Cheng Yiyi the important points of banquet etiquette.

Cheng Yiyi listened for a bit, then her head started to throb.

She voiced her questions:

“Why can’t I open the door myself?”

“Why can’t I thank the waiter?”

“I get the steak. I can’t grab the whole thing and bite into it. That would be crude.”

“But why can’t I cut my salad? Why do I have to spear each piece with my fork?”

“There’s no helping it.” Shen Anyue felt just as helpless. That was how those annoying old rules went. “The clan etiquette manual says so.”

“But I’m Han Chinese.”

Shen Anyue: “…”

From the driver’s seat, Steward Li put in: “Misses, there’s no need to worry this much.”

“At the next banquet, the Shen family plays host. The only aim is to welcome Miss Cheng into the house with proper dignity. We aren’t obligated to anyone.”

“So even if you skip all those manners, it won’t matter. At most, a few small-minded people will whisper behind your backs.”

“Those bugs in the gutter aren’t worth ruining your mood.”

“So skipping the etiquette lessons entirely won’t be a problem for this banquet at all.”

“At most, we’ll have you memorize your speech. Even if you can’t memorize it, it’s fine. Just read it from the page.”

“Oh, that’s allowed?” Cheng Yiyi had never imagined such an easy way out.

“Yes. But once you’re in the Shen family, Miss Cheng will inevitably get invitations from other houses. When we are guests, knowing a little etiquette helps.”

“Then again, for the Shen family, no banquet in this world is a must. If you don’t know the etiquette, it’s fine. When an invitation comes, just decline.”

Cheng Yiyi nodded, half understanding.

Back at home, she continued learning from Shen Anyue.

Cheng Yiyi was a quick learner, and before long she had nearly mastered all the rules.

The computer system had been handled long ago, too. With Tang Xingluo’s help, there were no thorny problems.

And the machine was already loaded with games. A computer this powerful would be a shame to waste on anything but gaming.

Cheng Yiyi had never played computer games, so Shen Anyue played alongside her through much of it.

When Cheng Yiyi didn’t grasp something, Shen Anyue would come straight to her room and teach her hands-on.

And now, counting the days, only three were left before the banquet.

But before that came meeting the parents.

Cheng Yiyi and Shen Anyue waited in the living room.

Cheng Yiyi took out her phone and checked the time.

“It’s past nine already. Why hasn’t Dad shown up?”

“Maybe he got held up on the way…” Shen Anyue was tense, her eyes darting around on their own.

Shen Jingchen, lounging on the sofa, noticed his sister’s unease. “Don’t worry. Our two families have already shared everything.”

“Anyue, your birth parents are very gentle, warm-tempered people. Nothing will go wrong when they come.”

“I’ve been in contact with them a few times. I can tell they’re genuinely pleased with you.”

“Right. So stop trembling in your sister’s arms, Anyue.” Shen Xingyao crossed his legs, at ease. “By the way, bro, weren’t you supposed to be at some meeting today? Why are you back?”

“Whether I go depends on my mood. Anyue’s parents are visiting. I have to meet them either way, don’t I?”

Shen Jingchen held a senior post and had to attend constant meetings, but no one dared push him, much less hold his duties against him.

After all, the student council president seat held no real appeal to Shen Jingchen.

The principal had begged him to take it in the first place. If someone tried to take it away, it would be a slap across the principal’s face.

Compared with asking for death, that might count as taking the initiative?

“And you? Not going out to play today?” Shen Jingchen shot back offhandedly. “When are you bringing a girlfriend home? That would save Mom and Dad the nagging.”

“When would that ever happen to me?” Shen Xingyao shook his head. “Big Bro hasn’t even talked about marriage. And isn’t there you in front of me?”

“Bro, you go find one first.”

“That won’t do. I’m still in school, so I need to focus on my studies.” Shen Jingchen kept his face solemn. (Pretending.)

Shen Xingyao could tell his brother was acting again. Same excuse every single time. Probably only Mom and Dad still bought it.

“Keep dodging, then. Since Mom and Dad don’t push me, I just won’t look.” Shen Xingyao crossed his arms, admitting defeat. “When they come nagging, you two take the hit.”

“Besides, my company is on the rise. I only just fought my way into the national top ten by market value. Can’t I rest a little?”

“I have no idea where you fish out all those ideas. Maybe let Mom and Dad borrow a few.” Shen Jingchen did admire his little brother. He had taken a few hundred million from their parents and gone into business with a group of trusted friends.

Their parents helped along the way, but the credit lay mostly with Shen Xingyao himself.

So recently, while still holding absolute control, he raised the company’s market value past the hundred-billion mark.

Keep going like this, and a trillion wasn’t impossible.

Incidentally, Shen Xingyao’s company ran a social/video platform, already the undisputed number one short video platform in the country.

The app, called XingShan, belonged to the Shen family’s portfolio.

And if Shen Xingyao wanted, he could go independent at any time. But judging by his character, that probably wasn’t going to happen.

Staying under the Shen banner meant Mom, Dad, and Shen Yanci would all have to help run it for him, letting Shen Xingyao be the king of the castle, free and easy.

All he had to do was come up with the occasional novel idea and reel in the traffic.

Like getting someone to brag that he ate forty eggs a day for ten or twenty years, fleecing the gullible for clicks.

Or putting out quality content online to attract refined new users.

When he was bored, Shen Xingyao also uploaded some very curious stuff. He sucked in all kinds of users, absorbing everything like the sea does a river.

All in all, Shen Xingyao was a free-spirited thinker with solid managerial and planning skills.

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