49: praying mantis

The Zhao family had already come forward to greet them, and Old Master Zhao was smiling with a very kind and benevolent expression.

"Yan Family boy! Long time no see, you're the head of the family now. You've changed so much." Zhao Mingting patted Yan Qinghe on the shoulder, then turned to Yan Zhuohua and said, "Third Young Master Yan! I haven't seen you in a long time either. You've changed so much, I almost didn't recognize you."

"Old Master Zhao, it's been a long time. Your health seems to have improved a lot. My uncle even asked me to send his regards to you," Yan Qinghe made up a lie with a straight face.

"Oh! Jingcheng! I heard he retired and spends his days fishing and raising flowers. He's living a much more pleasant life than me, with nothing to worry about."

"Uncle has wanted to rest for a long time. Now that he's gotten his wish, he is naturally very leisurely."

"..."

The two exchanged pleasantries for a few moments before finally stopping at Su Mo's reminder.

"Dad, it's time to let the guests inside."

Zhao Mingting patted his forehead. "Ah, these old bones of mine, my mind isn't clear anymore. Come, come, Zhong Kai, A-Mo, hurry and lead these two inside."

Yan Zhuohua and Yan Qinghe followed them to a sofa near the front.

The banquet was held in the form of a ball. The center area was cleared, with buffet tables on both sides, and several rows of seats further out.

Waiters moved nimbly through the crowd, serving champagne to those who had already begun socializing.

Yan Zhuohua watched with interest as Old Master Zhao gave instructions to a Waiter serving wine. He turned to Yan Qinghe and asked, "Do you know what the most common and highly successful tactic used at banquets is?"

Yan Qinghe shook his head blankly. He had been confused all day, feeling that Yan Zhuohua was planning something but unable to guess what it was. He could only act like a robot following orders.

Yan Zhuohua's gaze as he looked at him was somewhat tender. He smiled faintly, tapped the glass in Yan Qinghe's hand, and then gradually leaned closer to him. In public, the two were intimately close as Yan Zhuohua's voice sounded in Yan Qinghe's ear: "Be a good boy in a moment, and trust me, okay?"

Yan Qinghe's ears turned red almost instantly.

"Mm, I naturally trust you..."

Yan Qinghe's dazed appearance made Yan Zhuohua laugh. He gave Yan Qinghe's ear a meaningful look, then turned away and chuckled to himself.

"Your ears are red. Why don't you go to the restroom and wash your face?"

"I'll go right now!" Yan Qinghe stood up with a "whoosh" and hurried toward the restroom, his retreating figure practically screaming panic.

By the time Yan Qinghe washed his face and returned to his seat, the banquet had just begun.

The process was very cliché, with several elders taking turns to speak on stage as if they were the protagonists of the birthday banquet. When it was finally the actual protagonist's turn to take the stage, the schedule only left him one line: "Thank you all for coming to my birthday banquet. I now declare the ball open."

The main event of the banquet finally began.

After Zhao Zixing and his younger sister Zhao Zijing performed the opening dance, the atmosphere on site became lively. Everyone took the opportunity of dancing to exchange various pieces of news. People were coming and going throughout the hall, making it look almost crowded.

Yan Zhuohua had no intention of going over to dance. He and Yan Qinghe remained in their seats, tasting the delicacies.

It had to be said that today's desserts were very much to Yan Zhuohua's taste. He lowered his head to eat a small cake, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Zhao Zhongkai and a Waiter were approaching them from two different directions.

"Qinghe."

Yan Qinghe looked up and stared at him in confusion.

"Remember the question I just asked you?"

"You said the tactics at banquets..."

*Thud—*

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry sir, I didn't do it on purpose!"

The Waiter frantically pulled a tissue from his pocket and vigorously wiped the stain on Yan Qinghe's clothes.

Obviously, a whole glass of wine poured over him couldn't be cleaned up just by wiping with a tissue; the wine had even soaked through to the white shirt underneath.

Yan Zhuohua frowned as he looked at the tie Yan Qinghe had gotten wet; it was a gift he had given him. What a miscalculation—he had forgotten about this tie, what a pity. However, for the plan to go smoothly, losing a tie was nothing. He would give him a better one later.

Before Yan Qinghe could say anything, Zhao Zhongkai had already walked over and spoke up: "How could you be so careless? Our guests' clothes are all custom-made. How can you afford to compensate him?"

"I'm sorry sir, I really didn't do it on purpose. There were too many people, and I was bumped and couldn't stand steady..."

"You're still making excuses! How come everyone else is fine, but you're the one who caused trouble?"

"Stop!" Yan Qinghe couldn't stand their constant clamoring in his ear and frowned to stop them. This tie was a gift from Zhuohua; he had specifically worn it today to show it off. He hadn't expected it to get stained with wine, and he didn't know if it could still be washed out.

Upon hearing Yan Qinghe's voice, Zhao Zhongkai immediately stopped criticizing the Waiter and turned to Yan Qinghe instead: "Nephew Yan, I'm truly sorry. The Waiters trained by our hotel are indeed inadequate. I will definitely give you an explanation! However, you really can't wear these clothes anymore. We have other entertainment activities later, so why don't you go change first? Zixing has a spare set of clothes in the lounge upstairs. They haven't been worn and are also high-end formal wear. You two are of similar build, so it should suffice."

Yan Qinghe instinctively wanted to refuse this routine that would inevitably lead to trouble, but then he saw the look Yan Zhuohua was giving him.

"Go ahead," Yan Zhuohua said. "These clothes are sticky and uncomfortable to wear. It's better to change."

"Madam Yan is right! It's more important to change your clothes first!"

Yan Qinghe remembered that his wife had told him he must be obedient today. Seeing that Yan Zhuohua's words were all urging him to change, he could only reluctantly follow the Waiter away.

Zhao Zhongkai had originally thought he would have to find a reason to keep Yan Zhuohua behind so he couldn't follow, but he hadn't expected Yan Zhuohua to have no intention of getting up at all and even cooperatively persuaded Yan Qinghe to change. He felt something was off, but thinking that everything was going according to plan, he felt relieved again.

"Zhuohua, I have something to attend to over there, so I'll head over first. Don't worry, I'll definitely take full responsibility for this outfit!"

Zhao Zhongkai was anxious to leave to confirm the progress of the next step. He thought that since the person had already gone far, even if Yan Zhuohua followed now, he wouldn't be able to find them, so he left quite decisively.

"Alright." Yan Zhuohua was also very cooperative.

However, as soon as Zhao Zhongkai turned around, Yan Zhuohua picked up his phone and sent a message to Yan Qinghe, then got up and headed in the direction Yan Qinghe had just left.

He looked down at his phone from time to time, where a small blue dot on the screen was constantly moving.

Walking to the elevator, Yan Zhuohua looked at the message Yan Qinghe had replied with on his phone and directly pressed the button for the sixth floor.

This is interesting. Did they lure him away without even considering that people still carry phones?