In the spacious hall of the Chu family, Jin Xiuying sat there with a gloomy face. She did not look happy at all.
Chu Xuanyue walked into the hall and her expression changed several times when she saw Jin Xiuying. Although this person was her biological mother, she had brought her far more pain than happiness over the years. After hesitating for a while, she finally walked over and said, "Mom, I'm back."
Different from the ordinary mother-daughter relationship, the old lady did not show any joy after seeing her daughter who she had not seen for more than 20 years. On the contrary, a strong look of disgust flashed across her face.
In the face of Chu Xuanyue's greeting, she just snorted, then turned her head and kept fiddling with the prayer beads in her hand.
Qin Haodong had heard his mother mention all kinds of ruthlessness many times before. Today, he finally saw it with his own eyes. A cold light flashed in his eyes.
Chu Xuanyue originally wanted Qin Haodong to greet the old lady with his daughter-in-law, but seeing her attitude, she immediately dispelled this idea.
Since the old lady had given them the cold shoulder, there was no need to rush to greet her.
Seeing that the atmosphere had fallen into an awkward situation, Chu Xuanli hurriedly said, "Since my little sister is back, please sit down."
Fortunately, because of Chu Shanhe's firm attitude, the other members of the Chu family were still warm to Chu Xuanyue, at least on the surface. After sitting down, some cousins immediately surrounded them and kept talking.
Chu Xuanyue and her daughters-in-law mingled with the women of the Chu family. They greeted them one after another and chatted about daily life. It was quite lively, but Qin Haodong's side was deserted. Only Chu Mingli was sitting here with him.
The younger generation of the Chu family, led by Chu Mingcong, were still very resistant to Qin Haodong's return. Seeing this scene, they secretly sneered in their hearts. "I can't afford to offend you, but I'll ignore you. Let's see if you are embarrassed or not."
Qin Haodong did not care about it anymore. He leisurely drank tea and ate dessert and melon seeds. In his opinion, it was best that these people did not come, which saved a lot of trouble.
As time went by, more and more guests came to the Chu family to congratulate them. Chu Mingli also got up and followed Chu Xuanli to entertain the guests. Only Qin Haodong was left at the huge dining table.
A sneer flashed across Chu Mingcong's face. "Aren't you awesome? Aren't you good at martial arts? Even if I don't use violence, I can still toy you to death. "
At this moment, the emcee at the door shouted, "The Han family's patriarch, Han Wuji, has arrived."
Everyone present was slightly taken aback when they heard this loud and clear shout. In the past, when the heads of the seven great clans celebrated their birthday, the other clans would only send a second generation disciple to congratulate them. It was very rare for the heads of the clans to come personally. They did not expect that Han Wuji would come personally today.
After being slightly stunned, Chu Xuanming immediately went forward and brought 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 of the table, "Patriarch Chu, I wish you a long life."
The other party was also the head of a family, so Chu Shanhe did not dare to be arrogant at all. He stood up and said, "Patriarch Han, I'm just celebrating my birthday. It's really an honor for you to come in person!"
Han Wuji only gave a simple greeting and then looked around the crowd.
Chu Xuanming quickly stepped forward and said, "Master Han, please take a seat in the VIP seat."
With Han Wuji's identity, he was definitely one of the guests with the highest status. Logically speaking, he should sit in the VIP seat.
However, he did not pay any attention to Chu Xuanming next to him. Under the gaze of many people, he strode to the ordinary seats next to him.
Seeing Qin Haodong sitting here alone, he immediately understood the meaning behind it. He could not help but feel happy. Although Qin Haodong had come to the Chu family, the relationship between them was not harmonious.
This was definitely good news for the other aristocratic families. If the Chu family had the strong support of the Tang Sect, they would not have any chance.
The reason why he came to Chu Shanhe's birthday today was to get closer to Qin Haodong. It seemed that this strategy was the right one.
"Mr. Qin, do I have the honor to sit with you?"
Qin Haodong looked up at Han Wuji. After all, he was Han Jieyu's grandfather and this old man had always been tactful. 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 happy face.
Chu Shanhe sat in the main seat and could not help but feel annoyed when he saw all this. The descendants of the Chu family were really idiots. He had tried his best to invite Qin Haodong, but they could not see the importance of this overlord of the capital.
If the juniors of the Chu family gathered around Qin Haodong at this time, Han Wuji would not be able to drive them away. But now, others had benefited from it.
At this moment, Qi Guofan, the master of the Qi family, and Zhao Cangqiong, the master of the Zhao family, arrived one after another. After a simple greeting, the two old men also ran to Qin Haodong and sat down next to him.
It didn't take long for the masters of the Seven Great Families of the capital to gather together, but the other six gathered around Qin Haodong and talked to him like stars surrounding the moon. Qin Haodong just responded indifferently.
At this time, even if the Chu family was stupid, they could see that the purpose of the six families was not to celebrate the birthday, but to please Qin Haodong.
Chu Shanhe's face was livid. He tried his best to let Chu Xuanyue and her son return in order to prove his relationship with the Tang Sect to the other aristocratic families.
As a result, these old foxes could see that the relationship between the Chu family and the Tang Sect was not so harmonious. It was simply a waste of all their previous efforts.
But there was no other way. After all, it was a birthday banquet and there were many guests. He could only endure it and wait for the end of the birthday banquet to teach these ignorant juniors a lesson.
The complacency on Chu Mingcong's face had disappeared. Originally, he wanted to see Qin Haodong embarrassed and humiliated, but now, the masters of the Six Great Families surrounded him like stars surrounding the moon. It was not a humiliation, but a kind of show off.
With the arrival of the guests, it was almost time. Next, it was time for the juniors to present birthday gifts to the old master. The emcee shouted, "Next, let's invite the filial sons and grandsons of the Chu family to present gifts."
According to the order of presenting gifts, the eldest son should go first. Chu Xuanli was also prepared. He held a big red gift box in his hand and said, "Father, today is your birthday. I wish you happiness and longevity."
The family members standing next to him immediately stepped forward and took the gift box in their hands. At this moment, Chu Xuanming, who was standing next to him, said, "Brother, should we show our gift to father in public and let the guests see our filial piety?"
Chu Xuanli hesitated for a moment and said, "Well, please excuse us."
After that, he reached out and opened the gift box. There was a jade Buddha statue inside.
The jade Buddha statue was about 20 centimeters high and was made of high-quality mutton fat jade. It looked crystal clear and it was obviously a good thing.
After seeing the jade Buddha statue, the surrounding guests immediately began to talk about it.
"It's still the Chu family after all. Their son's gift is a jade Buddha statue. It's really extraordinary!"
"In my opinion, this jade Buddha statue is worth at least millions of yuan …"
"How is it possible? Such a big mutton fat jade Buddha statue is worth at least ten million yuan …"
Chu Shanhe also nodded with satisfaction. Obviously, he was very satisfied with his son's gift.
After the display, the family members put away the jade Buddha statue. It was Chu Xuanming's turn to present his gift. Everyone looked at him with interest and did not know what gift he had prepared for the old master.
"Bring it up."
Chu Xuanli waved his hand behind him and Chu Mingcong immediately came up with a huge gift box with two family members. It looked quite heavy.
Under everyone's puzzled eyes, Chu Xuanming opened the gift box and saw that there was also a jade Buddha statue inside. However, this jade Buddha statue was about 50 centimeters high. It was much better than Chu Xuanli's in terms of material and size.
The guests burst into an uproar, "Oh my god, such a big jade Buddha statue, how much does it cost …"
"Second young master is really generous. Not to mention the craftsmanship of the jade Buddha statue, such a big piece of jade is worth more than 100 million yuan."
"This jade Buddha statue is really beautiful. It's definitely a rare thing …"
Hearing everyone's praise, Chu Xuanming said proudly, "Father, I knew that you were going to celebrate your 80th birthday, so I asked people to look for this piece of good jade for three years. I also invited famous craftsmen to carve this jade Buddha statue for you as a birthday gift. It means that our Chu family will be blessed with Buddha's light in the future and that you will be healthy and live a long life!"
"It's rare for you to be so considerate!"
A bright smile bloomed on Chu Shanhe's face. Obviously, he was extremely satisfied with this reason.
Chu Xuanli's face instantly darkened. He was just generous, but he was not stupid. Chu Xuanming chose the same gift as him and took the initiative to show it to the public. It was obvious that he wanted to trample 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 are the same."
In recent days, with the improvement of Chu Xuanli's cultivation, his status in the family was getting higher and higher. It was obvious that he was inferior to him.
Today's gift was carefully planned by him. He had already heard that Chu Xuanli had prepared a jade Buddha statue, so he specially asked someone to make a bigger one with better material. His purpose was to surpass Chu Xuanli in front of everyone.
Chu Xuanyue, who was standing next to him, secretly shook her head. After so many years, her second brother still liked to play tricks. He even did not let go of his own elder brother.
He had just trampled on his elder brother, so she was afraid that she would be the next one. Thinking of this, she turned to look at Qin Haodong next to her and said, "Son, have you prepared our gifts?"
Qin Haodong smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry. I'll handle everything. I won't let you lose face."
As expected, as soon as they finished speaking, Chu Xuanming turned around and looked at Chu Xuanyue with a sinister smile. He said, "Little sister, it's time for you to show your filial piety."
Seeing that Chu Xuanyue and Qin Haodong's hands were empty, he pretended to be surprised and said, "Little sister, today is father's 80th birthday. Don't tell me you didn't even prepare a gift?"
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 I don't prepare a gift for the old master, it means that I'm not filial?
Does the old master value money so much that he distinguishes the filial piety of his children according to the size of the gift? "
"I …"
Chu Xuanming wanted to improve his status in the family through the jade Buddha statue he had carefully prepared, but now he was blushed by Qin Haodong's words.
If he said that Qin Haodong was right, then his gift would be prepared in vain. If he denied Qin Haodong's statement, it would be tantamount to saying that his father was a greedy person.
At this time, Jin Xiuying, who was sitting next to Chu Shanhe, snorted and said, "You're so eloquent. Of course, our Chu family does not distinguish filial piety by gifts, but it's basic etiquette to send a birthday gift on the birthday of the elder. If you haven't prepared a gift, don't stand here and argue irrationally."
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