At that mont, the living room of Bai nghan’s ho was filled with people of all ages.
A quick glance revealed at least a dozen people.
Of course, as Bai nghan and Fang Chenyi pushed the door open and walked in, all dozen or so pairs of eyes in the living room focused on Fang Chenyi.
"You must be Chenyi. You should have just co yourself, why did you bring gifts? Co in, co in."
Seeing the middle-aged woman who ca to greet him, Fang Chenyi quickly smiled and said:
"Hello. It’s so nice to finally et you. I’ve wanted to visit for a long ti, but I’ve been swamped with things recently. I’m sorry for being late, I hope you don’t mind."
It was just like the old saying about a mother sizing up her son-in-law; the more Bai nghan’s mother looked at the dashing young man before her, the more she liked him. She took the gifts from Fang Chenyi, placed them on the coffee table, and turned to Bai nghan, saying:
"Silly child, what’s there to mind? Co and sit down. nghan, what are you just standing there for? Introduce Chenyi to everyone."
Bai nghan glanced at the large crowd in the room, then shot Fang Chenyi a helpless look. The ssage was clear: she had no idea so many people would be here either. But helpless or not, she began the introductions.
"Chenyi, this is my grandmother."
Looking at the stately, well-to-do old woman sitting in the center of the sofa, Fang Chenyi quickly and respectfully followed Bai nghan’s lead:
"Hello, Grandma."
The old woman looked Fang Chenyi up and down, repeating, "Good, good. What a handso boy! So handso!"
"This is my second uncle, my second aunt, my third uncle, and my third aunt."
Following Bai nghan’s lead, Fang Chenyi quickly greeted them:
"Hello, Second Uncle. Hello, Second Aunt. Hello, Third Uncle. Hello, Third Aunt."
The few people on the sofa all smiled and nodded after hearing him.
"See? Our nghan is so fortunate. Look at this young man, so impressive."
After they had greeted the elders, Bai nghan pointed to the person next to them and continued, "Chenyi, this is my cousin from my second uncle’s family."
After Bai nghan finished the introduction, this cousin just grunted in acknowledgnt, which counted as a greeting.
Then, before Bai nghan could speak again, the man sitting next to the cousin laughed and spoke up first. "Haha, hello there, Xiaofang. My na is Chen Xi, I’m nghan’s cousin-in-law. You look about the sa age as nghan. Are you still in college?"
Hearing Chen Xi’s words, Fang Chenyi gave a faint smile.
"Hello, cousin-in-law. I’m actually two years older than nghan. I’ve already graduated and started working."
"Oh? Graduated already? Look at you, all dressed up in a suit. You must be so kind of manager. So, where do you work?"
When he heard Fang Chenyi was working, Chen Xi imdiately pressed with the question. At his words, everyone else in the room subconsciously perked up their ears. Of course, this was the question they all wanted to know the answer to. It was just that as elders, they were too polite to be the first to ask.
Fang Chenyi hadn’t expected him to ask so directly where he worked. For a mont, he didn’t quite know how to answer. ’After all, I have quite a few businesses of my own, but where do I actually *work*? I don’t really have a specific place.’
With that in mind, Fang Chenyi answered very honestly:
"Er, haha, I don’t really work for anyone right now. I’ve partnered with so people on a few small projects, but I’m not very involved in managing them. The global environnt has been severely damaged recently, so I’ve started dedicating myself to environntal protection."
After he said this, everyone looked confused. Beside him, however, Bai nghan shot a helpless glance at the n’s clutch tucked under Fang Chenyi’s arm.
Inside that clutch was his treasured woven bag that he never went anywhere without.
"Oh? Partnered on a few small projects? Sigh. Let give you a piece of advice as soone who’s been there. You can’t just ignore your partnerships these days. After all, you never know what people are really thinking. It might be fine now while your business is small, but it won’t work once you get bigger. Also, don’t be in such a rush to get into environntal protection or whatever. That’s the kind of thing you can do after you’re making a few million a year. It’s not too late then."
After Chen Xi finished his speech, delivered with the air of an expert, his wife chid in at just the right mont:
"That’s right. What your cousin-in-law said is all for your own good. You don’t know the half of it. It’s fine when your business is small, but when he first started a company with partners, he had the sa idea as you—he didn’t pay any attention to it. But once the company grew and started earning millions a year, his two partners started playing tricks. If he hadn’t discovered it in ti, the losses would have been imasurable."
"Uh, I’ll be careful in the future. I’ll definitely be careful."
Fang Chenyi had no idea how to respond to all this. Of course, he wasn’t going to argue with this cousin and her husband whom he had just t. After all, on the surface, they seed to be concerned for his well-being.
At this mont, the grandmother, sitting in the center of the sofa, waved her hand at Fang Chenyi and Bai nghan.
"Alright, alright, let Xiaofang sit down and rest for a bit. He’s co all this way. Co on, you two, co sit here by Grandma so I can get a good look at you. A good look. Alright, you from the second and third families, it’s already past three. Get to the kitchen and start preparing dinner!"
As soon as the old woman spoke, several of the aunts stood up to go prepare dinner in the kitchen. But hearing this, Chen Xi, who was off to the side, quickly interrupted.
"No, no, Grandma! This is Xiaofang’s first visit. We should go out for a nice al tonight. I’ve already booked a private room at Zhao Fu Building in town. Haha, and as it happens, soone gave two bottles of Sky Blue yesterday. First Uncle, Third Uncle, oh, and Xiaofang, we’ll all have a good drink tonight."
The two bottles of Ocean Blue that Fang Chenyi had just brought in were sitting right there on the coffee table, yet Chen Xi was talking about drinking Sky Blue tonight. This made Bai nghan, standing next to Fang Chenyi, frown slightly.
This cousin, only a year older than her, had been overshadowed by her since childhood. Whether in looks or academics, she could never asure up to Bai nghan. Perhaps having been in Bai nghan’s shadow for too long, she had finally found a sense of superiority after getting a boyfriend who owned a company.
And as they say, birds of a feather flock together; this cousin-in-law was also quite the show-off. It wasn’t just this ti—at every previous family dinner, he had to be the center of attention.
After saying this, Chen Xi suddenly seed to rember sothing. He slapped his forehead and quickly added:
"Hey, look at , I forgot, I forgot. Xiaofang brought liquor today too! Haha, we’ll drink Xiaofang’s ’Ocean Blue’ first tonight. Two bottles won’t be enough anyway, so when we finish those, we can move on to the Sky Blue."
[To be continued...]
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