The entire venue erupted into murmurs.

【What? Did I hear that right?】

【Oh my gosh, our salted fish queen is incredible!】

【She truly deserves the title ‘queen’! So our Xiao Yu being a salted fish queen is really just the mark of a true champion.】

The guests of 《Hi, My Friend》 exchanged looks of disbelief.

Ning Xiaoyu was actually the biological granddaughter of the founder of Ningface?

This development had completely blindsided everyone.

At first, Shi Chao had assumed Ning Xiaoyu was just clinging to someone powerful. But when she appeared arm in arm with Chairman Ning, he started questioning that assumption.

He had begun to speculate, but even his guesses hadn’t been this outrageous.

He had only thought Ning Xiaoyu might be some distant relative of Chairman Ning, recently reconnected and there to curry favor.

But in the end, she turned out to be the real deal— a biological granddaughter!

That was absolutely beyond belief.

Shen Yueyue looked excited and genuinely happy for Ning Xiaoyu.

But Ning Yuwei, Xu Cheng, Ling Zige, and the other guests of 《Hi, My Friend》 wore much more nuanced expressions.

They looked surprised, envious, and conflicted by turns. But none of their emotions could compare to the storm churning inside Ning Yuwei.

Her feelings were a true mess.

What was going on?

She was a Ning too.

If Ning Xiaoyu was the biological granddaughter of the Ningface founder, then so was she!

She should have been the one standing on that stage, basking in the spotlight.

But……

She still couldn’t do that.

Otherwise, it would be hard to explain things to her father’s side.

So what exactly was going on?

How had Ning Xiaoyu suddenly ended up with a blood connection to the founder of Ningface?

Just then, Old Master Ning raised his hand, signaling the guests to quiet down.

“I know everyone must be confused about how I suddenly have another granddaughter.”

At that, the other guests instinctively held their breath. There was gossip coming!

A nostalgic expression appeared on Old Master Ning’s face. “In my life, I had two sons. The eldest passed away a few years ago. As for the youngest…… we had some disagreements, so he hasn’t been by my side these past years.”

He let out a long sigh. “Maybe it’s age catching up to me, but I just want my whole family reunited. It was only after returning to the country that I managed to find my youngest son and Xiaoyu. Though we were separated for years, Xiaoyu being my biological granddaughter is an indisputable fact!”

There was a lot hidden in that sentence. Most notably— if she was his biological granddaughter, then she had the right to inherit.

Some of the elder guests who had known Old Master Ning for years started recalling the gentle, well-mannered second young master of the Ning family.

“Come to think of it, back then, I even wanted to marry my daughter off to the second young master of the Ning family.”

“Now that you mention it, I remember too. That second son really was refined and good-looking. Tons of young girls liked him.”

“His personality wasn’t like the rest of the Ning family. Most of them were tough and decisive, but him…… even though he studied finance, his true love was art.”

“People who love art are romantics deep down. That doesn’t quite align with a business-driven upbringing.”

Listening to this, Ning Yuwei almost laughed.

What did they mean?

That useless father of hers was the ‘second young master of the Ning family’ they were all reminiscing about?

So he had once been that impressive?

Then why had he let her and her mother live such bitter lives?

And now, he had been found by Chairman Ning.

Chairman Ning had even thrown this so-called ‘birthday banquet’, which was clearly a recognition banquet, to officially announce Ning Xiaoyu’s identity to the world.

All the glory was going to Ning Xiaoyu, while she and her mother were left with nothing.

After finishing his speech, Old Master Ning handed the stage over to Ning Xiaoyu. “Next, I’ll let my granddaughter Xiaoyu say a few words.”

Ning Xiaoyu honestly had little patience for these kinds of occasions.

She was used to being laid-back and had no interest in playing nice with others, nor did she enjoy these social settings.

But she knew this was her grandfather’s way of showing love.

So she reluctantly suppressed her salted-fish instincts and spoke into the mic, “I’m very happy to be standing here today. I hope everyone will guide me well in the future.”

【Our salted fish queen has straightened her spine.】

【Of course we will support you!】

【Go, Xiao Yu, go!】

Right after Ning Xiaoyu finished speaking, a six-tiered birthday cake was wheeled out by the staff.

They lit the candles for her.

As the last candle was lit, the main lights in the hall suddenly went out.

Only a few dim lights remained, just enough for everyone to see.

Onstage, the soft yellow candlelight became the brightest glow in the entire room.

Ning Xuchen led the applause and started singing Happy Birthday.

Some staff began handing out microphones in the crowd.

Shen Yueyue, quick as lightning, snatched one up.

Unfortunately, she only got one.

In the next second, she handed the mic to Lu Jingdu, gesturing for him to use it.

【???】

【!!!】

【This is hilarious. Even Xiao Yu’s friends are CP shippers.】

【CP fans really put in the work.】

【In the public eye, the movie king is now confirmed as a ‘kept man’.】

The staff had been too far from Lu Jingdu, so he hadn’t had time to grab a mic— only to have Shen Yueyue hand him one instead.

He went with the flow, turned the mic on, and began singing Happy Birthday with the music.

Instantly, his deep, magnetic voice filled the hall.

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you.”

【It sounds amazing.】

【Sounds so good.】

【Ahhh, I started singing along too.】

【Sending birthday wishes to Xiao Yu from afar!】

The cheerful melody echoed endlessly throughout the venue.

Except for a few guests who briefly opened their mouths just for show, the rest of the attendees sang the birthday song in full cooperation.

The atmosphere on-site was both warm and lively.

By the time the final line of the song came, several distinct voices were heard over the microphone.

Lu Jingdu said, “Xiao Yu, happy birthday. May all your wishes come true.”

Ning Xuchen said, “Sister, happy birthday. May you be happy every day.”

A lucky passerby who had gotten hold of the mic chimed in, “Miss Ning, happy birthday. You’re getting more and more beautiful.”

Among the chorus of well-wishes, one startled cry sounded out of place.

However, the atmosphere was so enthusiastic that no one paid it any attention.

“Weiwei, your hand is hurt.”

It was only after Xu Cheng pointed it out that Ning Yuwei realized her palm had been scratched open by sharp nails at some point.

But she didn’t seem to feel any pain.

Why?!

Why did so many people send their blessings to Ning Xiaoyu?!

All these years Zhang Xue had been married into the Shen family, and not once had anyone ever gone to such lengths to throw Ning Yuwei a birthday celebration.

Not once!

CEO Shen had been married more than once. Before he married Zhang Xue, he had already been married twice.

His wives from the first two marriages had all given birth to more than one child.

Although she was known as the second young lady of the Shen family, in truth, aside from one older sister, she also had several older and younger brothers and sisters.

With so many children in the family, there was constant fighting for affection and inheritance.

CEO Shen had no shortage of offspring.

As a stepdaughter with no blood relation to him, he treated her mildly out of respect for Zhang Xue.

But to say he treated Ning Yuwei well? That wasn’t true.

She had gone to great lengths to win the favor of this stepfather.

Yet no matter how much effort she put in, she never received any truly good treatment.

There were just too many children in the family. Even his own kids were hard for him to keep up with. How could he possibly spare time for her, a mere stepdaughter?

What’s more, the eldest brother was slowly beginning to take over power in the family.

Ning Yuwei’s presence in the house had always been weak.

She couldn’t compete with her eldest sister in emotional intelligence, nor could she compare to the youngest daughter from CEO Shen’s previous marriage in terms of being well-behaved.

In this moment, Ning Yuwei admitted that she was jealous.

She was actually jealous of Ning Xiaoyu, someone she had always looked down on!

────ρя


At that moment, Ning Xiaoyu stood like a princess in the spotlight, surrounded by everyone’s blessings.

Amid all the well-wishes, Ning Xiaoyu made a wish and blew out the candles in one breath.

Cheers erupted in support.

“Happy birthday!”

No one was so tactless as to ask what wish Ning Xiaoyu had made.

After all, if you said a wish out loud, it wouldn’t come true.

But in reality, Ning Xiaoyu hadn’t made any wish at all. She simply closed her eyes, waited for three seconds, and then opened them again.

She already felt her current life was good enough.

The salted fish queen was easily satisfied.

After the ‘wish’ was made, the lights in the hall came back on.

With Ning Xuchen’s help, Ning Xiaoyu began to cut the cake for the guests.

Lu Jingdu was the first guest to receive a slice. He took it in one hand and, with the other, presented the gift he had prepared.

It was a small box— its contents unknown.

Ning Xiaoyu thanked him as she accepted it, and Ning Xuchen took over to hold onto the gift for safekeeping.

The variety show guests who hadn’t brought gifts did not come forward for cake.

The guests at the birthday banquet arrived with male or female companions, or with their families, smiling as they came forward with gifts.

“Xiaoyu, happy birthday.”

“I hope you’re happy every day.”

Old Master Ning was tired. After Ning Xiaoyu made her wish, he sat down in a chair behind her.

Ning Xuchen took over as host to help introduce the guests.

“This is CEO Liu and Madam Liu from XX International.”

Ning Xiaoyu said, “Nice to meet you.”

“This is CEO Wang from XX Entertainment.”

“Hello.”

CEO Wang smiled and said, “Xiaoyu, I hope we get the chance to work together.”

Ning Xiaoyu replied, “Sure.”

She was introduced to many people. At first, she could remember who was who, what their names were, and what they did.

But later on, she began to feel numb.

The faces before her passed through her mind like water— forgotten as quickly as they appeared.

She maintained a faint smile and numbly repeated, “Hello.”

Socializing really was exhausting work.

There were too many guests at the banquet today. Fortunately, the six-tier cake was large enough for everyone to have a share.

Just as Ning Xiaoyu finished cutting a slice of cake and was about to hand it to the next person, a sickly sweet voice rang out beside her.

“Sister, happy birthday.”

Ning Xiaoyu: “???”

After taking the slice from Ning Xiaoyu, Ning Yuwei didn’t begin eating right away. Instead, she headed over to where Old Master Ning was sitting behind Ning Xiaoyu.

There were no cameras over there.

Nor was that area being watched by others.

Coincidentally, only a few guests still hadn’t gotten their cake. Ning Xiaoyu set down the knife and fork and casually glanced behind her.

Ning Yuwei squatted beside Old Master Ning and smiled as she said, “Grandpa, it’s me, Weiwei. I’m also a Ning.”

Old Master Ning looked down at the girl with the dazzling smile.

From her face, he vaguely saw a shadow of a young Zhang Xue.

He responded indifferently, “Well, I guess we must’ve been family a few hundred years ago.”