Mr. Yan, wake up! Your wife isn't a delicate little flower.

Yan Mingchuan finished his rice noodle roll with his head down, elegantly put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth, and asked, "Was the food good?"

"Of course it's delicious."

Cheng Xihe sent a message and put away her phone: "It wouldn't be right for you not to go to your grandfather's birthday banquet."

"It doesn't matter."

As if he had anticipated Cheng Xihe's question, Yan Mingchuan chuckled and said, "It's called a birthday banquet, but it's just an excuse to use the occasion to socialize with my connections."

Grandpa wants to retire.

Yan Mingchuan raised his hand to take a sip of tea, when a fair hand pressed down on the back of his hand.

"Your body isn't suited to drinking tea; drink plain water instead." Cheng Xihe rinsed the cup with boiling water and poured him a glass of plain water.

After staring at Cheng Xihe for a while, Yan Mingchuan picked up the glass of water, took a sip, and said, "Thank you."

"But since your grandfather is retiring, why not retire together? You just celebrated your birthday a couple of days ago..."

Who would hold banquets one after another? It's such a hassle, it looks like they're just trying to make money off you.

Seeing Cheng Xihe's suspicious look, Yan Mingchuan coughed lightly: "It's not what you think. I didn't charge any money for the banquet."

"Oh……"

She drawled out her words and blinked.

Yan Mingchuan chuckled upon seeing this: "My grandfather's birthday banquet is free; it's just a gathering of close friends."

"That's too much trouble." Cheng Xihe rested his chin on his left hand, used his right hand to poke at a beef ball with chopsticks, and was slowly chewing it.

"It's no trouble at all."

Yan Mingchuan put the empty steamer basket on the table aside and pushed the beef balls towards Cheng Xihe:

"My circle of friends is different from my grandfather's; I only invite current board members."

My grandfather's friends are all prominent figures of the older generation, many of whom are quite old and have been retired for a long time.

"Many people will probably want to attend your grandfather's birthday banquet."

Cheng Xihe finished the meatballs. "For example, Qin Jian would love to live in your house."

To put it bluntly, this kind of banquet is a way to sort out the old man's and Yan Mingchuan's connections and carry out a handover from top to bottom.

"That depends on whether you're willing or not," Yan Mingchuan shrugged.

Cheng Xihe: ?

The two chatted for a while, then Cheng Xihe looked down at herself and said, "Since tonight's banquet isn't going to be too casual, I don't need to do any styling."

"Okay, let's make it a little more formal."

Yan Mingchuan thought for a moment: "There's a shop whose clothes would suit you perfectly, a modern Chinese-style dress."

"Okay, I'll go take a look with you in a bit."

Cheng Xihe curved the corners of her lips into a smile.

After the meal, Cheng Xihe put on the modern Chinese-style dress that Yan Mingchuan had mentioned.

Wearing a moon-white cheongsam embroidered with silver bamboo, Cheng Xihe turned around in front of the full-length mirror: "Very good."

She then took a bamboo hairpin and pinned her hair up.

"Perfect."

Yan Mingchuan pulled out a brocade box from somewhere and opened it: "Try wearing this."

"What is this?"

Cheng Xihe lowered her eyes; a violet bracelet lay in the box.

"Put it on, it goes well with your outfit." Yan Mingchuan picked up the bracelet.

The translucent bracelet looks quite valuable, and since it's purple, it'll probably be even more expensive.

Cheng Xihe raised her hand to politely decline, "President Yan, isn't this inappropriate?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, it's not very valuable, don't worry." Yan Mingchuan waved the box in his hand.

After staring at the box for a while, Cheng Xihe put the bracelet on her wrist.

The cool touch made Cheng Xihe's wrist tremble slightly.

Yan Mingchuan said gently, "You don't need to worry. It will mainly be a family dinner. It's just that a few elders and family members want to meet you."

Just relax, don't be nervous.

"it is good."

After spending time together, Cheng Xihe felt that Yan Mingchuan was too gentle.

It's not what I imagined.

Perhaps it's also related to the fact that she's a doctor with miraculous hands; the two sides are in a state of peaceful cooperation.

*

Evening, at the Xiyue Hotel.

Cheng Xihe followed Yan Mingchuan to a private room.

There were only a few people in the private room.

"Those are the patriarchs of the Yan family. You will have to go through them in a bit."

This matter was originally supposed to be handled at the old house.

We only chose our own hotel as the location because everyone is working outside.

Cheng Xihe nodded: "Yes, I've got it."

Several clan leaders sat in the small living room drinking tea and chatting. The window was open, the cigarettes on the table were not lit, and the ashtrays were clean.

Looking to the side, Mu Xiaoting is sitting on Lan Qiao's lap, and she is watching cartoons with her.

Hearing the door open, Mu Xiaoting looked up: "Brother!"

Her gaze fell on Cheng Xihe beside her, her eyes widening: "Goddess Sister!"

"Fairy Godmother~" She loosened her grip slightly.

Lan Qiao looked away from the cartoon and stared at Cheng Xihe.

She called out sweetly, rushed over, and hugged Cheng Xihe's leg: "Godmother~ I'll be a good girl~".

"Mmm." Cheng Xihe reached out and patted her head with a smile.

Mu Xiaoting also ran over, pushing her brother aside, and surrounded Cheng Xihe: "Goddess, what are you doing here? And you came with my brother."

She turned her head, her gaze sweeping over Yan Mingchuan again and again, her suspicious expression making one feel helpless.

"Why are you staring at me?" Yan Mingchuan left somewhat awkwardly and went over to greet the clan leaders.

Cheng Xihe bent down and picked Lan Qiao up with one arm: "You'll find out soon enough, no rush."

"You guys keep watching."

Cheng Xihe sat down next to the two of them, keeping his eyes on the doorway to see who else might come in.

"Godmother, can I hold you while you watch cartoons?" Lan Qiao blinked her big eyes and looked at Cheng Xihe pitifully.

Cheng Xihe tilted her head: "How are you going to hold me while I look at you?"

"so!"

Lan Qiao held Cheng Xihe's arm, her gaze fixed on the tablet in Mu Xiaoting's hand.

With a smile, Cheng Xihe said helplessly, "Alright."

"Goddess, would you... with my brother...?" Even if Mu Xiaoting had a thick skin, she could still sense that something was wrong.

Cheng Xihe curled her lips into a smile: "Take a guess."

"No way..." Mu Xiaoting glanced at Yan Mingchuan: "Although my brother is handsome, talented, elegant, intelligent, and has an unparalleled appearance."

But he's not in good health right now...

The unspoken message is that she feels her brother is no longer good enough for her goddess.

"It's okay, it's not like it won't get better." Cheng Xihe gently brushed it aside, glancing around and noticing someone watching him.

The clan leaders over there were chatting with Yan Mingchuan, and I don't know what they were saying, but they kept glancing over here every now and then.

Before Mu Xiaoting could ask any more questions, Cheng Xihe changed the subject: "By the way, are you the only junior member of the Yan family here? Why is there hardly anyone else around?"

Mu Xiaoting scratched her head: "The older brothers have all gone outside to chat, and the other younger ones have gone out to play together. They'll be back in a bit."

Oh, by the way, I haven't seen Yan Chiye anywhere.

When Yan Chiye was mentioned, a flash of disgust crossed Mu Xiaoting's eyes.

Cheng Xihe became interested and asked in a low voice, "What's the deal with this Yan Chiye?"

"Let me tell you..."