86: classic

"You've misunderstood. Grandfather just felt that Chairman Yan was too wronged by having Madam Yan occupy his identity for over a decade, so he wanted to give Madam Yan a few words of admonishment. There was no other meaning," a young woman who had been lacking much presence on the side spoke up.

"And where did you come from, you green tea?" Yan Zhuole glanced at her impatiently.

The girl's face flushed red instantly. "I—I'm not green tea. I'm Grandfather's granddaughter, Liang Guiwan... Sister Zhuoyue, we met at the annual gala a few days ago..."

Oh, so she was just some minor starlet.

Yan Zhuole grew even more impatient and retorted directly, "Can someone of your status call me 'Sister'? I don't have a younger sister like you."

Before Liang Guiwan could defend herself further, Yan Zhuoyan's patience ran out. He spoke directly to Yan Qinghe, "Qinghe, how did you organize this annual meeting? Why are you letting just anyone in? You're even letting another master of this house be insulted on their own turf."

Receiving the signal, Yan Qinghe cooperatively called over a Waiter. "Get a few people and escort these three out."

Liang Yushan hadn't expected these juniors to dare show him such disrespect. He was so furious he couldn't speak, and he was actually escorted out by several security guards who followed the order.

Seeing the group being surrounded and sent out, Yan Zhuohua couldn't help but smile happily.

Yan Zhuoyan said irritably, "What are you smiling about?"

"It's been a long time since I've seen an old man with such 'elderly majesty' and such 'refreshingly unconventional' green tea," Yan Zhuohua wasn't angry at all. "Especially this kind of face-slapping web novel script where they try to hit the protagonist and get taught a lesson instead—it's simply classic!"

"You really dare to think of yourself as the protagonist? Why didn't you stand up for yourself just now?" Yan Zhuoyan looked at him with disdain.

"I wanted to speak, but didn't you press me back?" Yan Zhuohua said jokingly.

"...Don't you know in your heart why I pressed you back?"

Of course he knew. For a matter like questioning whether he belonged in the Yan Family, it was more appropriate for other members of the Yan Family to come forward and refute it. Otherwise, people would always think he was clinging to the Yan Family, calling him delusional or a social climber.

Although Yan Zhuohua didn't care about others' opinions and trusted his family, he was still moved by his second brother standing up for him.

"Then I should properly thank Second Brother now..."

"Shut up already, you're giving me goosebumps!"

Yan Qinghe was amused by the scene of the two bickering. As soon as he laughed, three pairs of eyes immediately landed on him.

"I'm laughing at those people named Liang just now," Yan Qinghe quickly found an excuse for himself.

Yan Zhuole took a bite of cake and rolled her eyes at him. Only a fool would believe that.

"But now that the truth is out, all sorts of monsters and demons are coming out of the woodwork," Yan Zhuole swallowed the cake in her mouth. "Even irrelevant people in the entertainment industry are flocking to gossip, let alone my group of girlfriends."

"Someone in the entertainment industry actually dares to gossip with you? Isn't your persona famously that of a cold beauty?" Yan Zhuohua poked a hole in her story.

"Didn't I... accidentally fail to act well and let the cat out of the bag!" Yan Zhuole retorted dissatisfiedly.

"Not bad at all. So when will your fans find out your true colors? I see them praising you as 'aloof' online, and it leaves me speechless," Yan Zhuoyan joined in the teasing.

"Are you two determined to pick on me today?"

"No," Yan Zhuohua denied decisively. "The lucky draw is happening on stage. The third prize is the latest model of a smartphone!"

"Are you short of one smartphone? If you're going to change the subject, at least be a bit more clever about it."

The lucky draw on stage soon ended, and the ten lucky winners happily collected their prizes.

Yan Zhuohua felt a bit bored. Leaning against Yan Qinghe, he started scrolling through his phone. The performances by the stars who had just gone on stage failed to attract his attention.

He casually opened wechat and realized that Wen Hengtang had sent him a message at some point. Yan Zhuohua checked the time; it was still far from the end. He simply whispered "going out to make a call" into Yan Qinghe's ear and stood up to head out of the venue.

Looking out through the glass curtain wall, the sky had already darkened, with dots of light scattered across the world like stars.

Yan Zhuohua leaned against a pillar and called Wen Hengtang.

"Zhuohua? Aren't you at the annual meeting?"

"It was too stuffy, so I came out for some air and to call you. You sent me a message earlier—I obviously didn't see it then, but since I've seen it now, I thought I'd ask what's up."

"It's actually nothing major. I just saw the trending searches about you and the Zhao Family a while ago, and I wanted to ask about it."

Yan Zhuohua chuckled. "Why didn't you ask sooner? It's been over ten days, and only now you remember me?"

"Wasn't I afraid you'd be busy handling things?" Wen Hengtang explained. "Besides, after the Zhao Family had their trouble, I immediately prepared to change jobs. I've been doing the handover during this time, so I really couldn't find a spare moment."

"You're changing companies?" Yan Zhuohua was surprised, then said with some guilt, "Sorry, our business with the Zhao Family wasn't something we could talk about beforehand, so I didn't tell you to let you leave early."

"It's fine. That was your private major affair. Mine was just an internship, it's no big deal," Wen Hengtang's voice sounded very relaxed.

"That's good. But I'm still sorry. When are you free? I'll treat you to dinner."

"You've asked at an unlucky time. I'm busy with the handover before the New Year, and then I have to rush back to my hometown for the Spring Festival; my family is pushing me hard. I probably won't be back until the end of the first lunar month."

Yan Zhuohua felt it was a pity. "Then it really won't work out for now."

"How about after the first lunar month? I'll be coming back then," Wen Hengtang suggested.

"Okay, call me then," Yan Zhuohua replied, then asked about the original purpose of his call, "Didn't you want to ask me something? Since we're both free now, I can satisfy your curiosity."

"That would be great," Wen Hengtang said with a smile. "I just saw that some parts of the announcement were written a bit vaguely, like 'participating in the kidnapping.' Does that mean there's another group of people?"

"Yeah, you're quite sharp," Yan Zhuohua didn't hide it from him. "How can a struggle between wealthy families involve just two families? Every single thing has complex and intertwined interests."

"Sigh, us ordinary people can't understand it. But have you found information on the other group? Aren't you afraid of alerting the enemy by releasing the news about the Zhao Family like this?"

"I'm not afraid. I'll deal with them as they come. I don't go for that 'long line to catch big fish' stuff."

"Then you really are unconventional," Wen Hengtang "praised" him.

"Stop being sarcastic."

"You caught me?" Wen Hengtang made a joke, then his voice turned serious again. "Seriously, you need to be careful. I think the people behind the scenes will definitely target you."

"I know. Thanks for the reminder. I'll definitely bring a team of bodyguards whenever I go out."

"Well, if you come to have dinner with me, you'd better not bring bodyguards. I'd be scared."

"Fine," Yan Zhuohua answered simply. "It's getting late, and it's not good for me to be away for too long, so I'll head back. Let's do dinner next time when you're free."

"Definitely."

After hanging up, Yan Zhuohua saw Yan Qinghe walking toward him from not far away.

"Why were you on the phone for so long? I thought you got lost."

Yan Qinghe's words sounded very sour.

"I'm not lost, but I did make a dinner date with someone!" Yan Zhuohua smiled brightly.

"Are you trying to annoy me on purpose?" Yan Qinghe pinched Yan Zhuohua's chin, his gaze dangerous. "You're quite bold. Are you in need of another lesson?"

"Yeah, I'm very much in need of a lesson. Do you want to try and give me one?"

Seeing that the person in front of him not only didn't restrain himself but became even more smug and arrogant, Yan Qinghe laughed out of extreme anger.

"Fine, my dear wife, remember what you just said. If you beg for mercy by even a single word tonight, I'll pay it back to you tenfold."

Yan Qinghe affectionately stroked Yan Zhuohua's face and then directly pulled him back into the venue.