When Old Mrs. Feng heard her granddaughter's words, she paused for a moment and asked, "How do you know that?"
Xing Siyun also realized she had misspoken. Her gaze flickered as she said, "The other day, their Third Young Master took me in to see. Um, he said something about this child not having parents and hoped I would look after him a bit."
Old Mrs. Feng exclaimed in surprise, "He was able to communicate with you? Isn't he mute?"
Xing Siyun quickly said, "He can type on his phone."
Old Mrs. Feng didn't ask any further questions and continued walking forward, holding Xing Siyun's hand.
Just then, the Mu family's car pulled up and came to a stop. The doorman walked over to greet Mu Rongfeng and his son as they got out.
"Mu General," Old Mrs. Feng immediately greeted him, then looked down with a smile and said, "This must be Mu Bai? It's been a while since I've seen you, and you've grown so tall. Children really do change day by day."
Mu Rongfeng's attention had been drawn to Li Xiaoya, who was blocking the entrance, ever since he was in the car.
At this moment, he turned to look at Old Mrs. Feng, but couldn't immediately recall who she was. He just nodded slightly with a smile.
Old Mrs. Feng's eyes flickered, and she sighed inwardly. How quickly people forget. The old man had only been away from Jin City for a few years, and now no one recognized him upon his return.
She was about to say something more when Mu Rongfeng slapped the back of his son's head and sneered, "What are you standing there for? Go on, go be the hero and save the damsel. Isn't that the girl you like?"
Mu Bai winced, his expression awkward, and muttered something under his breath.
Mu Rongfeng didn't hear clearly but could guess, "Oh, is it that you want to beat up the classmate who snitched on you to me?"
Mu Bai's face fell completely, and he stopped talking.
The other day, after Li Xiaoya left, Mu Bai had been left standing there, utterly embarrassed.
Before, he could have made excuses about being a gentleman who doesn't hit girls.
But when Li Xiaoya beat someone up right in front of him and he had no reaction at all, there was no way to explain that away...
So he had made up an excuse on the spot.
He said he liked her and that no one should bother her.
This news reached Mu Rongfeng's ears the very next day.
How could a father not understand what was really going on? He was nearly driven mad with anger.
His big boy of a son couldn't even beat a girl, and not only did he lose face once, but he also came up with these tricks.
Mu Rongfeng pushed him, saying, "Go. Since you want to play the knight in shining armor, at least act like one. Don't end up accomplishing nothing in the end! Don't make your old man look down on you!"
Old Mrs. Feng, having been ignored to this extent and not even getting the chance to introduce Xing Siyun, now saw the father and son at odds with each other and thought to smooth things over.
So she said, "Boys all care about face when they're out in public."
Mu Rongfeng coldly replied, "Face should be earned by oneself, not given by one's father."
Old Mrs. Feng's face fell slightly, but she still wanted to say something.
Mu Bai, unable to bear his father's lashing any longer, darted forward to Li Xiaoya's side.
"What are you doing blocking her?" Mu Bai put on a fierce expression.
The waiter, seeing that he had come with Mu Rongfeng, guessed his identity and bowed, saying, "Young Master Mu, we're checking invitations here."
Li Xiaoya turned her head to look at Mu Bai, her expression unchanged, and continued in a calm tone, "This one was written by Qin Sui, so it's different."
"Who is she? Why would Qin Sui write her an invitation?" The couple who had been questioning earlier frowned even more deeply.
Before the waiter could speak, Mu Bai interjected, "Her name is Li Xiaoya, and she's definitely closer to Qin Sui than you are!"
Qin Sui had already vouched for her!
The couple laughed in anger.
The man said, "I'm Qin Sui's Second Uncle."
The woman said, "I'm Qin Sui's Aunt, how could she be closer to him than us?"
Mu Bai had a lingering fear of Li Xiaoya because he had been badly beaten by her and lost face.
But he wasn't afraid of adults like these. He sneered, "No wonder you're meddling in other people's business."
"How dare you speak to us like that?" The woman frowned.
"Hey, hey, his father is right behind him," the man held her back.
Mu Bai knew his father was watching from behind and was afraid of being mocked again. He was almost dying of anxiety and quickly said, "Hurry up and let her in, or Qin Sui will deal with you later."
When Mu Bai said this, it was absolutely from personal experience.
Mu Rongfeng had also walked over by this time and hearing his son's words, the corner of his mouth twitched.
What kind of knight in shining armor was this?
He sounded more like Li Xiaoya's lapdog.
"Mu General," the waiter quickly called out.
"Let everyone in," Mu Rongfeng said with a calm authority. "What kind of image are you presenting, all crowded here like this?"
The waiter didn't say anything more and even carefully returned the invitation to Li Xiaoya.
He didn't really want to be so strict about it; he was just doing his job. Who would want to get involved in a dispute?
As they pushed open the door to enter, Old Mrs. Feng finally caught up with her granddaughter.
"This Mu General's business is growing bigger and bigger now, naturally he's become arrogant," Old Mrs. Feng lowered her voice, shaking her head as she said to Xing Siyun, "He's no longer that young upstart who came to your grandfather begging for investment, using every trick in the book to please him."
Xing Siyun said in a daze, "But he was nice to that child, he took the initiative to resolve the situation. And his son likes her?"
"Yes, what do you think that was for? It's for the Wei Family's face."
Xing Siyun nodded, "I understand, Grandmother. But why haven't we seen any adults from the Wei Family come to attend the banquet?"
Old Mrs. Feng was momentarily at a loss for words.
As they entered, it was as if they had stepped into another world.
The air was filled with the scent of perfume and the glitter of jewels, the light dazzling to the eyes.
Someone led them deeper inside.
Qin Sui wasn't the type who enjoyed socializing. He preferred to stand coldly to one side, observing everyone.
When he saw Li Xiaoya enter through the surveillance camera, he almost immediately pushed back his chair and headed downstairs.
On the way, he ran into his mother.
Mrs. Qin said, "Don't go, come with me to meet your aunts."
"You know I've never been good at saying the right things, I'd better not go and upset people," Qin Sui replied.
Mrs. Qin mumbled, "Today you're the birthday boy, anything you say will be well-received."
But she still couldn't stop her son from leaving.
Qin Sui went downstairs and walked straight up to Li Xiaoya, taking the small bag she was carrying. His usually gloomy face lit up a bit.
He asked, "Is my present inside?"
Xing Siyun, seeing this, asked, "Is this also for the Wei Family's face? Young Master Qin seems very close to her."
Old Mrs. Feng hesitated, "I suppose so?"
She wasn't very clear about what businesses the Wei Family had behind the scenes, only knowing they were formidable. But... if they were giving face to everyone, then it seemed like, perhaps, they had a bit too much face?
While the grandmother and granddaughter were still puzzling over this, Second Uncle Qin exclaimed in shock, "Qin Sui, you really know her?"
Qin Sui slowly stood up, the light fading from his face.
He nodded slightly, "Uncle, Aunt, you're here."
Second Uncle Qin's facial muscles twitched slightly as he forced an awkward smile, "Look at this, we almost had a misunderstanding. So her invitation... was really handwritten by you?"
"Yes."
"How come she got a special one? None of ours were handwritten."
Qin Sui asked, "Why should I handwrite yours?"
"Well..." Second Uncle Qin was taken aback, "We're your family... Don't tell me she's closer to you than we are?"
Qin Sui didn't respond, instead turning to greet Mu Rongfeng.
Then he put his hand on Li Xiaoya's shoulder and led her upstairs.
Second Uncle Qin was left standing there, his expression changing several times before he muttered, "Neither of the two children in that family shows any respect for their elders."
His wife lowered her voice and said with a touch of schadenfreude, "That's why Qin Sui's mother is always worried he'll turn to crime. It would be better if he actually did. The little girl is hopeless too. Maybe you, as a close relative, will have a chance to take over the company in the future."
Second Uncle Qin nodded and smiled, leading his children forward, "Come on, let's go see your uncle."
Meanwhile, as soon as they got upstairs, Qin Sui asked, "What misunderstanding happened earlier?"
He took the invitation from Li Xiaoya's hand, "Because the one I gave you was handwritten, they thought it was fake and wouldn't let you in?"
Li Xiaoya nodded.
Qin Sui, in a rare display of straightforward displeasure, looked gloomy.
His displeasure was so evident that even his eyes seemed to darken.
He said, "It seems I made a mistake. Being unique has become a problem."
Li Xiaoya took the invitation back, "Thank you for giving me something unique. I will treasure it."
In her life before this, only her mother had shown her favoritism.
Now, she was receiving more and more favoritism.
She cherished every bit of it deeply.
Qin Sui was stunned.
Then he smiled again.
So... this was the correct way to please Li Xiaoya?
Thinking about it now, the bags he had picked before were too thoughtless. Li Xiaoya selling them was their deserved fate!
The more Qin Sui thought about it, the happier he became.
It felt as if after a long time, he had finally grasped the key to unlock the treasure vault on this day.
"Come with me," Qin Sui led her to the monitoring room, grabbing the telephone handset with one hand. He turned to her and said, "Before opening the gift, let's watch something interesting."
