Chapter 4 Going to the Hongmen Banquet! Zhou Dingyu is coming too

In fact, after Zhou Dingyu left her apartment, Xu Li had a high fever and stayed in bed at home for three days.

During this period, the Xu Group received another bad news. As a large amount of payment for goods had not been received, the company had difficulty in capital turnover and owed employees a total of 10 million yuan in wages last month.

Now the whole group is in a panic, and some employees have started to submit their resignation letters.

She was in a critical situation and had a fever. Although she was not unable to get out of bed, she did not have the energy to deal with other things.

At noon on the third day, the fever subsided and the ambiguous marks on the body faded.

When she was about to go out to take care of some things, a black business car slowly stopped in front of her downstairs of the apartment building.

The driver was Uncle Chen from Zhou's house, and his attitude was quite respectful:

"Miss Xu, the old man wants to meet you and invite you to a family dinner."

This was the first time that Xu Li visited Zhou's house alone, except for the time when she accompanied her father to visit Zhou's house.

Along the way, she stared at the street scene quickly receding outside the window, her brows slightly furrowed, hiding her thoughts.

Twenty years ago, the Xu family was in the rising stage of entrepreneurship. Her father Xu Qingshan attended an overseas seminar and met the hostage-taking Mr. Zhou on the cruise ship. He helped him without saying a word.

In order to thank Xu Qingshan for saving their lives, the Zhou family promised to agree to one condition.

At that time, Xu Qingshan looked at his confused daughter and joked that it would be better for them to become in-laws.

The Zhou family kept their word, but at that time there were two boys in the Zhou family who were about the same age as Xu Li.

One is Zhou Huaian, who was trained as the heir of the Zhou family and has an upper-class academic performance and appearance.

Another one is Zhou Dingyu, the illegitimate son of the Zhou family who had just been brought back from the slums to recognize his ancestral roots.

At that time, little Xu Li blinked her eyes, her gaze fell on the delicate and fair-skinned boy Zhou Huaian, and said in a delicate voice, "I want to marry Zhou Huaian."

At this point, her engagement with Zhou Huaian was decided in such a muddled way.

It must be twenty years.

When she grew up, she thought that since Zhou Huaian did not resist the marriage proposal, they loved each other. However, over the years, Zhou Huaian was not very warm to her.

She thought it was just his personality.

But after something happened in her family, he became even colder towards her.

Even when she came to attend the Zhou family's family dinner today, it was only the Zhou family's driver who came to pick her up.

She let out a breath and collected her thoughts. When the car arrived at Zhou's garage, she noticed that Zhou Huaian's Cullinan was also there.

There were countless luxury cars in Zhou’s garage, but she still recognized it at a glance.

It's funny that although she is Zhou Huaian's fiancée, the two of them don't have many opportunities to meet.

When Zhou Huaian first picked up the car, she was clamoring for Zhou Huaian to take her for a ride. What was Zhou Huaian's answer at that time? Oh, yes.

He said expressionlessly, "I never carry women in my car."

But now, who is that woman who got out of the passenger seat of Cullinan?

Xu Li stood there, looking at the woman in the apricot dress.

I subconsciously held my breath and my whole body froze.

The woman had a pretty face, not outstanding. But when she smiled, her dimples were very attractive.

She recognized this person.

Luo Ling.

The person Zhou Huaian likes.

Three days ago, she was going to Zhou Group to find Zhou Huaian and give him a small cake she had baked herself. After calling him several times and failing to get through, she took the cake to his office.

From behind the half-open door came the shy voice of a girl.

Through the gap, she saw the girl sitting on his lap, hugging his neck affectionately and saying:

"Brother Huai'an, our tenth anniversary is coming soon. Have you prepared a gift for me?"

With just a glance, she saw the title and name on the girl's badge - "Assistant-Luo Ling".

It turns out they have been together for ten years.

It's funny that she didn't notice it at all.

That was the last straw that broke the camel's back since her father's tragic death and her mother's imprisonment.

At that moment, all her pretended strength vanished into thin air.

Zhou Huaian inside the door said to the girl lovingly, "What gift do you want?"

She threw the cupcake into the trash can.

He staggered out of Zhou Group.

I finally understood why he had always been so cold to me.

She still remembered that the reason she went to find Zhou Huaian that day was to ask Zhou Huaian to help her get in touch with his cousin Zhou Dingyu and let her participate in the project in the western suburbs.

After all, she was his nominal fiancée, and he was her nominal fiancée.

But I didn't expect that this relationship would be as thin as paper.

She had to do it by herself.

After leaving Zhou Group, she calmed down and quickly devised a beauty trap with Cai Cai. She met Zhou Dingyu at the bar and invited him home for tea.

Look, she has fallen to such a state that even when she gets drunk after a breakup, she has to have a purpose.

She didn't even have time to feel sad before she gave herself up.

Now that I think about it, there was a certain amount of revengeful element in that moment.

But she doesn't regret it.

Today, Luo Ling appeared in the Zhou family's old house in a dignified manner and got out of Zhou Huaian's car.

The meaning couldn't be clearer.

It was more like a Hongmen Banquet than a family dinner.

Is the Zhou family finally going to come clean and cancel the engagement?

Xu Li took a deep breath, and it took her a lot of effort to keep a decent expression on her face.

She smiled, and Luo Ling smiled back at her , " Are you Sister Xu Li?"

Xu Li nodded, pretending not to know him , " Who are you?"

The other party said in a crisp voice , " My name is Luo Ling, and I'm a friend of Brother Huai'an."

"It's my girlfriend." Luo Ling finished speaking, and as the driver's door of the Cullinan opened, a cold and pleasant male voice suddenly appeared.

The handsome man leaned forward, walked over, stopped beside Luo Ling, and put his arm around her shoulders very naturally.

He even ...

He even curved his lips towards Luo Ling in a doting manner, and his slender, upturned phoenix eyes slightly curved behind his gold-rimmed glasses, making him look gentle and handsome.

Luo Ling lowered her head shyly.

Xu Li could never have predicted that Zhou Huaian would deliberately admit in front of his pathetic and ridiculous "fiancée" that the woman was his girlfriend.

She froze in place as if petrified, her face instantly turning pale, almost transparent.

This is a case of not even wanting to cover up the last piece of fig leaf.

Xu Li clenched her palms, not wanting to lose her composure, but the emotions rising in her chest wiped away all the smiles on her face.

Fortunately, the housekeeper came to rescue.

The housekeeper coughed lightly , " Second Young Master, Miss Xu, Miss Luo, the old man has been waiting in the banquet hall for a long time, please go over as soon as possible."

Xu Li pursed her lips, but managed to hold back from getting angry . " Okay."

When she passed by Luo Ling, she sensitively caught the other person curling his lips as if to show protest to her.

Xu Li clenched her palms, raised her head calmly, and followed the butler's steps.

--

It was the hottest season of the year, and the elders from the second and first branches all went to the mountains to escape the heat.

Xu Li was brought to the banquet hall by the housekeeper, and saw that only Mr. Zhou was sitting in the seat of honor.

The old man was wearing a maroon short-sleeved Tang suit with a black crane spreading its wings pattern and golden ruyi cloud patterns on the buttons.

Although his hair has turned grey, he is still in good spirits. The two walnut plates in his hands are shiny and glossy, and his aura of authority makes people feel intimidated.

"Grandpa Zhou." Xu Li took the initiative to greet him.

The old man nodded , " Sit down."

Xu Li watched Zhou Huaian and Luo Ling sit down one after another, close to each other, so she chose a seat opposite them. Just as she was about to sit down, the servant stopped her with a somewhat contemptuous attitude:

"Ms. Xu, you can't sit in this position."

Xu Li was stunned and subconsciously stood up straight. The servant helped her pull out another chair below her , " Please sit here."

Suddenly, a cold command came from the other side.

"Aunt Liu, Miss Xu can't find where she should sit. You should have shown her the right seat in advance."

"Yes, Second Young Master."

When Xu Li raised her eyes, her gaze met Zhou Huaian who was sitting diagonally opposite her.

The living room is well lit, with sunlight coming in and refracting on the lenses on Zhou Huaian's nose.

There are white light spots reflected on the lens.

Makes men look more indifferent.

Xu Li knew that although he said this to the servant, it contained some implicit sarcasm towards herself.

Sarcastically accuses her of not recognizing her own position.

Xu Li suddenly clenched her palms!

Her lips were pursed into a straight line. Her upbringing could no longer suppress the emotions surging in her heart!

The old man seemed to sense that the atmosphere was not right. He knocked on the table, changed the subject, and said to the servant , " Serve the food."

After he finished speaking, he paused and looked at Xu Li kindly, "Xu girl, please sit down."

Xu Li calmed herself down. After all, she respected the old man as her elder and gave him some face.

He straightened his clothes and sat down.

She looked calm on the surface, but her fingers were digging at the corner of the tablecloth under the dining table.

Although on the night Xu Li decided to use the beauty trap on Zhou Dingyu, she had already prepared to break off the engagement with Zhou Huaian and not have a happy ending.

But this is what happened just now.

It still made her feel indescribably humiliated.

She was thinking in her heart, if they mentioned canceling the engagement next time, how should she respond in order to save the Xu family's face to the greatest extent possible.

Just as she came up with an idea, the servant had just finished serving the dishes.

The old man said , " Wait for Dingyu."

Xu Li's hands, which were holding the tablecloth, froze.

Zhou Dingyu is coming too?