Zhao Jianing arrived ten minutes ago. She didn’t get off and sat quietly in the car.

This kind of gathering had always been an important place for socializing in the circle.

But she didn’t want to go in early nor did she want to greet and chat with anyone.

She hadn’t set foot here for many years but she couldn’t see any changes or differences.

It was obviously the place where she grew up but it felt very distant, probably because…… there was no nostalgia.

Many years ago, the two-year-old Wanwan was taken away for her grandfather’s birthday party and never came back.

When she found out, she came to look for her in a hurry. She searched for a long time until it was dark but couldn’t find her.

She’d been separated from them for fifteen years.

This was the last time she came to this house in her memory.

She didn’t know how she survived the first three months when her child was lost.

Now she didn’t even dare to recall carefully, otherwise her breathing would stagnate.

Families who have never lost a child would never understand the feeling. There were clues and disappointments again and again.

The pain didn’t go away with time.

But she still had her husband and son, and had their backing, so she had to be strong.

Seeing the familiar Mercedes Benz, Zhao Jianing withdrew her thoughts, opened the door and got out.

Lu Wan: “Mom.”

There were tears in the corners of the other party’s eyes, but it disappeared in the next second. Nevertheless, Lu Wan had clearly seen it just now. It was definitely not a figment of her imagination.

Zhao Jianing: “Don’t be afraid. I’m here.”

Lu Wan: “I got nothing to fear. I’ve already grown up.”

She was now eighteen years old, not two. She would never be at the mercy of others.

Zhao Jianing turned to look at Lu Bainian. “What about you?”

Lu Bainian put his hands on his back and straightened his posture. “I’m not afraid of them.”

He would do his best to protect his wife and daughter. A man’s spine cannot be bent. Besides, if there was any disagreement, everyone could talk about it.

Well, if the other party wanted to do something, then he would call the police.

Zhao Jianing smiled. That’s right. There’s nothing to be afraid of when their family was together.

“Then let’s go.”

———

When Third Lady who hadn’t been here for more than ten years came in with her husband and daughter, the guests was shocked.

Those invited today were all relatives and friends of the Zhao family, or their business partners.

A large portion of people also know a thing or two about the Zhao family.

They knew that the Third Lady wasn’t close to her parents and even resented her two older brothers.

Over the years, the relationship has become estranged.

But having said that, this Third Lady had been very popular in recent years. Several of her investment projects were flourishing and the return rate was enviable.

Speaking of it, her personal property might even be more than her father’s. The other side was someone rarely seen in the circle and everyone present had more or less heard of her.

Among other things, if there was such a capable girl in any family, they would definitely burn incense and worship Buddha. She was no worse than a man.

It’s a pity that the old couple of the Zhao family and weren’t in good terms with this daughter, and usually have very little contact with her.

So no matter how capable Third Lady Zhao was, the Zhao family couldn’t get any benefits. It was hard for people to tell about the original grudge between them. After all, every family had its own problems. But looking at it now, it was not impossible for the two sides to rebuild the old relationship.

Today, if the old master invited her himself. Maybe the Third Lady’s heart had softened? They were still family after all.

Back and forth, several groups of people who wanted to make friends with Zhao Jianing and exchanged business cards with her, but were politely declined by the other party.

“Pardon me. I have something on my mind today and cannot chat.”

What’s more, she had been deliberately avoiding people who have close contacts with the Zhao family.

The few people who returned in defeat shrugged their shoulders. This Third Lady wasn’t very friendly.

Most of the attention was on Zhao Jianing, not to mention some people recognized Lu Wan.

They knew that she was the heiress named by Lu Jinye himself.

Their attitude towards her was also very enthusiastic. They wanted to establish a good relationship in advance.

“I’m sorry, I don’t engage in small talk.” Refusal was written all over Lu Wan’s face. The expressions of the mother and daughter were the same.

Lu Wan was a person who’s not resistant to hunger. It was likely her fear of hunger from before that had given her a psychological shadow.

She would get panicked and keyed up whenever she’s hungry.

Like now, for example.

Probably because of the regularity of her meals, she hadn’t experienced it for a long time and so felt it strongly than before.

But no matter how hungry she was, she didn’t want to eat the food here.

Zhao Jincheng observed them secretly for more than ten minutes, and his brows became more and more wrinkled.

Be it that this family was too much of a scene stealer.

On Grandfather’s 80th birthday, most of the guests’ attention was on them.

That’s fine, but what’s with their attitude? They’re not even willing to be perfunctory?

Zhao Jincheng walked up to Lu Wan. He looked at her from top to bottom and said, “Why? Did you feel wronged by coming here? Don’t look depressed on such a festive day.”

Although the two were of the same generation, he was ten years older than Lu Wan and holds himself as the eldest grandson of the family, so he was naturally qualified to teach the other party a lesson.

“Do you think I really want to come? I was brought here for no reason, and I met so many odd people.”

Lu Wan rarely ridicules or treats others condescendingly, but her mood right now was very low.

She was really unhappy.

It’s eight o’clock but she hadn’t been able to eat yet.

She was so hungry that her flat chest was practically touching her back.

Moreover, she and Zhao Jincheng had an encounter before.

This person was very disagreeable, but then again, except for her mother who was a fairy, the people of the Zhao family had no eyes at all. They’re simply a bunch of lunatics.

Because of being hungry, Lu Wan’s comments were extremely big.

Zhao Jincheng: “Don’t be too complacent. When you climb high, you will fall hard once you’re out of luck.”

“I don’t quite understand what you mean, but that’s okay. I’ll go back and ask my uncle, he should know.” Lu Wan’s voice paused, then she added, “My uncle said that I will have a bright future, but it seems that you have different view. Maybe you can exchange ideas.”

Zhao Jincheng’s face became colorful. With a cold snort, he turned and left.

How could he dare exchange ideas with Lu Jinye?

Lu Wan stroked her belly which had never been so flat.

It’s so cool to be a fox pretending to be a tiger^[1]use powerful connections to intimidate people. Uncle’s awesome!

The guests who looked composed but were eavesdropping with their ears pricked up were all stunned.

“Sure enough, she’s the young miss of the Lu family. She has so much confidence!”

“So young, but so tough!”

“This aura is very similar to Lu Jinye. Indeed a family of gangsters. But this girl should have a promising future. It’s better to hold her thigh now.”

“Wow, there seems to be a big melon today.”

Although they didn’t speak, their internal monologue was extremely rich.

Zhao Jincheng left in a huff and he went to complain to his father.

Lu Wan was simply too arrogant! Relying on the backing of the Lu family, she was so unscrupulous.

Lu Wan glanced at the Zhao family father and son who were fervently talking.

No need to imagine, she’s certain that they were speaking ill of her again.

The old one was also someone she knew.

On the first day Lu Wan came home, Zhao Kui took his wife and adopted daughter to visit Lu Wan who was alone at home.

It’s a pity that his wishful thinking was all in vain. His family had nothing to do except watch Lu Wan’s live mukbang without any development happening.

They only came to two conclusions that day: Lu Wan wasn’t easy to mess with, and she can really eat!

———

At half past eight in the evening, all the guests had arrived.

Hosting this birthday party, Zhao Kui walked to the middle to speak.

“I’m grateful to everyone for attending this birthday party. I hope that when Father is 85 years old, 90 years old, 95 years old, and 100 years old, we can still gather together.”

His voice was transmitted through the microphone, instantly attracting the audiences’ attention.

Lu Wan rubbed her ears. This family was really showy. They even have a microphone.

To live to a hundred years old yet not die was simply a disaster^[2]From the Analects of Confucius; Literally: You are old, yet not dead. You are a scoundrel!; used to scold an old person who has no regard for others.

She couldn’t resist the urge to diss. After all, she was going crazy with hunger.

Zhao Kui was Zhao Yueming’s eldest son. Most of the business of Zhao’s company was in his hands.

But in fact, there was no difference. Anyway, neither of the brothers knew how to do business, so they could easily mess things up.

The Zhao family’s company was a traditional enterprise and would never hand over power to capable outsiders.

But no one in his family was smart. Zhao Yueming was pretty good when he was young, but he was now eighty years old, so he wasn’t as he used to be.

Besides, if the old man never retires, the two sons below him would also have opinions.

To be fair, most people think that if Zhao Yueming entrusts the management of his properties to a trust company, he could require them to reach the profit point every year.

It should be much better than it was now.

The attention of the crowd was hardly focused on the Zhao Family.

After all, there was nothing new.

The unsmiling Third Lady Zhao in a suit was especially attractive to people.

If the old man had handed over the power to the Third Lady, the Zhao family would have gone up several levels, and it would not be what it was now.

Wasn’t today’s matter obvious? Seeing that they were going downhill, they went to please the daughter whom they hadn’t had a good relationship with for more than ten years.

It was intolerable to discriminate against girls. Among other things, wasn’t the Third Lady countless times stronger than her two older brothers combined?

After Zhao Kui’s opening statement, there was a pause of five or six seconds before everyone realized that the other party was waiting for them to applaud.

Only then did they raise their hands one after another, and a scatter of applause sounded at the scene.

Zhao Kui had a strong view of his sister.

He was very conflicted. On the one hand, he felt that Zhao Jianing was just lucky, leaning on a big tree to go all the way smoothly in order to have her current fortune. There’s nothing to be proud of at all.

While on another hand, he also felt that the Zhao family brought her up. She was so rich but didn’t know how to repay them. This was unacceptable.

Frankly speaking, wasn’t it because her father gave her two older brothers some of her projects?

How could she hold grudges for more than ten years with just that?

She didn’t think about it at all. If it wasn’t for the careful nurturing of the Zhao family, how could she have a good life now?

Not only did she not help her family, but she even instigated Lu Jinye to make things difficult for them.

They had finally invited Third Sister over today. In front of so many people, he would like to hear what she had to say.

Zhao Kui cleared his throat. He cut to the chase and said, “Today, my third younger sister also came. I believe you are all very surprised. After all, she has a lot of work and hasn’t been back for more than ten years. She also forgot that she have parents and two older brothers. I’ll tell you something funny. What’s the difference between this and not being buried after death?”

These words were impolite. Everyone perked up in an instant. As long as it had nothing to do with them, eating melons while watching the excitement was not a big deal.

Zhao Kui looked at Zhao Jianing in the crowd, paused for a few seconds and then continued, “Actually, I’m not surprised. After all, Third Sister has been like this since she was young. Putting it nicely, it can be independence, but it can also be called ungratefulness. However, I still hope she can turn back since our parents are already old and the three of us siblings are not young anymore. Even if there have been conflicts, it was a thing of the past.”

“At the beginning, Third Sister have been blaming us because her daughter was accidently lost here. But the child has already been found, so I hope she can patch things up with her relatives in front of you all.”

The veins on Lu Wan’s forehead twitched upon hearing his words. She had never seen such a shameless person.

Good or bad, she had let the other party finish talking.

This was obviously moral kidnapping.

Why should they patch relationship with the old geezer just because he was old?

She came back, so could the previous things be dismissed as if nothing happened?

The Zhao family brought Zhao Jianing here. Other relatives and elders also made admonishment.

Zhao Kui set things in motion and they all followed.

A group of old men began to make various bewildering statements.

“That’s right. How many years has it been? Your father and older brother still think of you in their hearts.”

“You have no idea since everything is going well for you now, but when you are in a bad situation, you will know that only your family can be relied on.”

“The previous things are also in the past. After all, we are one family. As the saying goes, we are still connected by our flesh even if our bones are broken^[3]kinship is always there.”

Zhao Jianing didn’t speak but only sneered.

These old things really don’t have any shame.

Lu Wan really couldn’t listen anymore.

In any case, President Zhao would be criticized no matter what she says.

There were already many saints who have appeared out of nowhere to pardon her!

Lu Wan: “Wait a minute, I have to interrupt all of you, can I object?”

“Why is junior like you interrupting?” After a pause, Zhao Kui thought for a while and then said, “Lu Wan, suffice to say, you’ve been lost for more than ten years and only return recently. Like this, you and your mother get along very well without any barriers. Then why can’t she understand her parents and put herself in their shoes?”

Lu Wan: “How I got lost in the first place, don’t you know?”

Zhao Kui: “Let’s not talk about the past but the present. Zhao Jianing should be a qualified mother. Uncle want to ask you a question, if given another choice, would you like to be her daughter again? If you do, why can’t she understand us?”

This question was very cruel. It seems no matter how Lu Wan answered, it would be wrong.

Lu Wan hesitated for two seconds, then said, enunciating each word, “If I have a chance to choose, I certainly won’t want to.”

Zhao Kui was a little surprised that she would say no.

There was even a murmur of confusion at the scene.

Zhao Jianing, who was nervous and guilty to begin with, looked even paler.

She was very sorry for her daughter, who suffered a lot during those years when she was lost.

Every time she thought about it, it felt heart-wrenching.

Even if her Wanwan blamed her, it was deserved.

Lu Wan: “My mother is very good to me. She’s very responsible and hard-working, whether it’s taking care of her children or doing her work. So if I am given a choice, I don’t want to be her daughter. I hope she will be my daughter. I will take good care of her, will not suppress her, belittle her, and not kidnap her morally! I want to love her with all my heart like she loves me, absolutely different from you hypocritical people!”

That last sentence was resounding, and the room fell silent instantly.

Zhao Jianing covered her mouth and tried her best to control her emotions.

It turns out that Wanwan had never blamed her.

Lu Bainian hugged her shoulders. “Wife, you’ve worked hard. Our daughter is the best daughter in the world.”