In the spacious hall of the Chu family, Jin Xiuying sat there with a gloomy face, showing no signs of happiness.
Chu Xuanyue walked into the hall and her expression changed several times after seeing Jin Xiuying. Although this person was her biological mother, she had brought her far more pain than happiness over the years. After much hesitation, she finally walked over and said: "
Mom, I'm back."
Different from the ordinary mother-daughter relationship, when seeing her daughter who had been separated for more than twenty years, the old lady did not feel any joy after being reunited. On the contrary, a strong look of disgust flashed across her face.
Facing Chu Xuanyue's greeting, she just snorted in her nostrils, then turned her head away and kept fiddling with the rosary beads in her hand.
Qin Haodong had heard his mother mention this grandmother's ruthlessness many times before. Today he saw it with his own eyes, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.
Chu Xuanyue originally wanted Qin Haodong to take his daughter-in-law to say hello and say hello to the old lady, but seeing her attitude, she immediately gave up the idea.
Since someone has given me a cold butt, there is no need to rush to apply it with a warm face.
Seeing that the atmosphere was getting awkward, Chu Xuanli hurriedly said: "Since my little sister is back, everyone should sit down quickly. Sit down quickly."
Fortunately, due to Chu Shanhe's firm attitude, other members of the Chu family were quite enthusiastic about Chu Xuanyue, at least on the surface. After sitting down, they immediately gathered around some cousins, and they talked non-stop.
.
Chu Xuanyue and her daughters-in-law mingled with the female members of the Chu family, saying hello and chatting about home affairs. It seemed quite lively, but Qin Haodong's place was deserted. Only Chu Mingli was sitting here with him.
.
The juniors of the Chu family, headed by Chu Mingcong, were still very resistant to Qin Haodong's return. Seeing this scene, they secretly sneered in their hearts, I can't offend you, but I will ignore you. It depends on whether you are embarrassed or not.
Shameful.
Qin Haodong didn't care anymore and drank tea leisurely and ate melon seeds for dessert. In his opinion, it was best for these people to just come over and save a lot of trouble.
As time went by, more and more guests came to the Chu family to celebrate their birthdays. Chu Mingli also got up and followed Chu Xuanli to entertain the guests. Only Qin Haodong was left in front of a huge dining table.
A sneer flashed across Chu Mingcong's face, "Aren't you awesome? Aren't you good at skills? I can kill you without violence."
At this moment, the master of ceremonies at the door shouted loudly: "The head of the Han family, Han Wuji, has arrived."
Hearing this clear shout, everyone present was slightly startled. In the past, when the heads of the seven major aristocratic families celebrated their birthdays, other aristocratic families would just send a second-generation descendant to celebrate their birthdays. There were very few heads of the family.
I didn't expect Han Wuji to come in person today.
After being slightly stunned, Chu Xuanming immediately greeted him and took Han Wuji into the hall.
Surrounded by many people, Han Wuji walked into the hall and said to Chu Shanhe, who was sitting at the head table: "Master Chu, I wish you a long life."
The other party is also the head of the family, so Chu Shanhe did not dare to show off at all. He stood up and said: "Master Han, the old man is just celebrating his birthday, so I am honored to have you come personally!"
Han Wuji simply said hello and then looked around among the crowd.
Chu Xuanming hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Master Han, please take a seat at the VIP table here."
As Han Wuji is, he is definitely one of the highest-ranking congratulators, so he should sit at the VIP table.
But he didn't pay any attention to Chu Xuanming next to him. Under the gaze of many people, he strode towards the ordinary seats next to him.
Seeing Qin Haodong sitting here alone, the old and cunning man immediately saw the meaning and couldn't help but feel happy. Although Qin Haodong came to the Chu family, the relationship between them was not harmonious. This was definitely a problem for other aristocratic families.
Good news, if the Chu family has received strong support from the Tang Clan, then what else will they have to do with it.
The reason why I came to Chu Shanhe in person to congratulate Chu Shanhe on his birthday today was to get closer to Qin Haodong. It seemed that this strategy couldn't be more correct.
"Mr. Qin, old man, am I lucky enough to sit with you?"
Qin Haodong raised his head and glanced at Han Wuji. After all, this was Han Jieyu's grandfather, and the old man had always been more polite. He nodded, pointed to the seat next to him and said, "Sit down!"
Seeing that Qin Haodong agreed, Han Wuji sat next to him with a look of joy on his face.
Chu Shanhe was sitting on the main seat and couldn't help but feel annoyed when he saw all this. The descendants of the Chu family were really idiots. He had tried so hard to invite Qin Haodong, but they couldn't see the importance of this overlord of the imperial capital.
If the juniors of the Chu family gathered around Qin Haodong at this time, I am afraid that Han Wuji would not be able to drive them away, but now he would be giving others an advantage.
At this moment, Qi Guofan, the head of the Qi family, and Zhao Cangqiong, the head of the Zhao family, arrived one after another. After a simple greeting, the two old men happily ran to sit next to Qin Haodong.
It was not long before the heads of the seven major families in the imperial capital gathered together, but the other six people gathered around Qin Haodong, talking around him like stars holding the moon, while Qin Haodong only responded to them calmly.
At this time, no matter how stupid the Chu family is, they can see that the purpose of these six major families is not to celebrate his birthday, but to please Qin Haodong.
Chu Shanhe's face was ashen. He tried his best to let Chu Xuanyue and his son return in order to prove his relationship with the Tang clan to other aristocratic families.
The result is good, these old foxes have all realized that the relationship between the Chu family and the Tang Clan is not so harmonious, and all their previous efforts have been wasted.
But there was no other way. After all, it was a birthday banquet and guests were gathering. He could only endure it and wait until the birthday banquet was over to teach these ignorant juniors a lesson.
The pride on Chu Mingcong's face has disappeared. Originally, he wanted to see Qin Haodong embarrassed, but now, with the heads of the six aristocratic families surrounding him like stars holding the moon, this is not embarrassing, it is simply a kind of showing off.
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As the guests arrived, the time was almost up, and then it was time for the younger generation to present birthday gifts to the old man. The master of ceremonies loudly shouted: "Now I invite the filial sons and grandsons of the Chu family to present gifts."
According to the order of presenting gifts, the eldest son should come first. Chu Xuanli was also prepared. Holding a big red gift box in his hand, he said: "Father, today is your birthday. I wish you a happy life like the East Sea.
Shoubinan Mountain."
The family members standing nearby immediately stepped forward to take the gift box in their hands. At this moment, Chu Xuanming, who was standing next to him, said: "Brother, should we show the gift to our father in public so that the guests can see what we are doing as children?"
filial piety."
Chu Xuanli hesitated and said, "That's fine, everyone is laughing."
After saying that, he reached out and opened the gift box, and there was a jade Buddha inside.
This Jade Buddha is about 20 centimeters tall. It is made of fine mutton-fat jade and looks crystal clear. It is a good thing at first glance.
After seeing this jade Buddha, the surrounding guests immediately started talking about it.
"After all, it is still the Chu family. The gift given by their son is a jade Buddha. It is really magnificent!"
"In my opinion, this jade Buddha is worth at least several million..."
"How is it possible? Such a large mutton-fat jade Buddha costs at least tens of millions..."
Chu Shanhe also nodded with satisfaction, obviously very satisfied with his son's gift.
After the display, the family put the Jade Buddha away, and it was the turn of the second eldest child, Chu Xuanming, to present a gift. Everyone looked over with interest, wondering what gift he had prepared for the old man.
"Bring it up."
Chu Xuanli waved his hand behind him, and Chu Mingcong immediately walked up with two family members carrying a huge gift box, which seemed to be quite heavy.
Amid everyone's puzzled looks, Chu Xuanming opened the gift box and saw that there was also a jade Buddha inside. However, this jade Buddha was about 50 centimeters high. It was better than Chu Xuanli's in terms of material and size.
many.
The guests were in an uproar: "Oh my god, how much does such a big jade Buddha cost..."
"The second young master is still very generous. Not to mention the craftsmanship of this jade Buddha, just such a large piece of jade is worth over 100 million."
"This Jade Buddha is so beautiful, it is definitely a rare thing..."
Hearing everyone's praise, Chu Xuanming said proudly: "Father, knowing that you are celebrating your 80th birthday, I had people look for this piece of jade for three years before I found it. I also invited famous craftsmen to carve this jade Buddha for you as a gift."
The birthday gift means that the Buddha's light will shine on our Chu family from now on, and you will be in good health and live a long life!"
"It's rare that the second child is interested!"
Chu Shanhe's face burst into a bright smile, obviously very satisfied with this reason.
Chu Xuanli's expression turned ugly for a moment. He was just generous, but not stupid. Chu Xuanming chose the same gift as him and offered to display it in public. This was obviously to step on him.
Chu Xuanming turned his head and said proudly: "Brother, I'm really sorry, I didn't discuss it with you before. Look, our gifts actually bumped into each other."
In recent days, as Chu Xuanli's cultivation has improved, his status in the family has become higher and higher, clearly outshining him.
Today's gift was carefully planned by him. He had already found out that Chu Xuanli was preparing a jade Buddha, so he specially asked someone to make a larger one with better material. The purpose was to show Chu Xuanli in front of everyone.
Close the comparison.
Chu Xuanyue, who was standing next to him, secretly shook his head. After so many years, his second brother still likes to play tricks, even his own eldest brother.
She had just stepped on her elder brother, and she was afraid that she would be the next one. Thinking of this, she turned to look at Qin Haodong next to her: "Son, are our gifts ready?"
Qin Haodong smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, I have everything under my control and I won't embarrass you."
Sure enough, as soon as they finished speaking, Chu Xuanming turned around, looked at Chu Xuanyue with a wicked smile and said, "Little sister, it's time for you to show your filial piety."
Seeing Chu Xuanyue and Qin Haodong with nothing in their hands, he pretended to be surprised and said: "Little sister, today is my father's 80th birthday. You didn't even prepare a gift, right?"
Chu Xuanyue looked embarrassed and turned to look at Qin Haodong.
Qin Haodong gave his mother a comforting look, then took two steps forward and said to Chu Xuanming: "Do you mean that if you don't prepare a gift for the old man, you are not being filial?
Could it be that the old man values money so much and differentiates the filial piety of his children according to the size of the gifts?"
"I……"
Chu Xuanming wanted to enhance his status in the family through the jade Buddha he carefully prepared, but now he was made red-faced by Qin Haodong's words.
If he said that Qin Haodong was right, then his gift would have been in vain. If he denied Qin Haodong's statement, it would be equivalent to saying that his father was greedy for money and good things.
At this time, Jin Xiuying, who was sitting next to Chu Shanhe, snorted coldly and said: "Smart, our Chu family certainly does not distinguish filial piety by gifts, but it is also a basic etiquette to give a birthday gift to the elders on their birthday. If you don't prepare a gift, don't stand there