Stepping on the soft carpet and walking down the stairs, Qi Yan saw that there were many well-dressed important people in the hall, all of them smiling. Although there were many people there, they controlled the volume of their voice and no one spoke loudly.
Cen Baihe was worried that Qi Yan was not used to such an event, so he deliberately walked behind to stay by Qi Yan’s side, and softly explained to him who the people there were.
“The birthday boy is here.” As soon as Cen Qiusheng appeared, he was made fun of by several of his old friends. Some complimented him for being healthy and energetic, and some some complimented his children for their filial piety and success. The whole atmosphere was lively. Cen Qiusheng’s face flushed with joy.
They noticed an unfamiliar-looking young man standing among the Cen family who seemed to be close to Fifth Master Cen and was naturally curious, but they were embarrassed to ask the identity of this young man.
“Mr. Cen, who is this young man?” Old Master Yuan, who had a good relationship with Cen Qiusheng, looked at Qi Yan kindly, touched his belly and smiled, “This young man looks heavenly.”
“Heavenly? Are you not old enough to know your adjectives?” Cen Qiusheng smiled and patted Old Master Yuan’s shoulder, “Are you sure that’s the right word to describe someone?”
“You know what I mean.” Old Master Yuan was the same age as Cen Qiusheng, but he got married early, and his eldest grandson was not much younger than Cen Baihe, and he was already old enough to talk about marriage.
“This is a close friend of my youngest son, surnamed Qi.” Cen Qiusheng beckoned to Qi Yan, “Mr. Qi, this is the head of the Yuan family, Yuan Chong’an.”
“Qi…” Old Master Yuan narrowed his eyes, as if he had thought of something, and looked at Qi Yan even more kindly. Cen Qiusheng only addressed this young man as Mr. Qi, so many people wouldn’t know that he was actually a very capable master.
“Nice to meet you, Old Master Yuan.” Qi Yan bowed and shook hands with Yuan Chong’an, “Just call me Xiao Qi.”
“I’ve heard about you. I didn’t expect you to be so young,” Yuan Chong’an smiled and shook hands with Qi Yan, “You and Baihe are good friends, so don’t be so formal. Just call me Uncle Yuan.”
Yuan Cheng, who was following behind Yuan Chong’an, pursed his lips. He was clearly Qi Yan’s senior, how could he suddenly be his junior now?
Many children of the wealthy families in Capital City were not much different in age from Cen Baihe, but they were two generations his junior. It was an awkward feeling.
Qi Yan noticed Yuan Peng and Yuan Cheng who were behind Old Master Yuan, smiled but didn’t acknowledge the title.
Cen Qiusheng said, “Today is so lively, you young people should go and hang out, we old men will not join you.”
As soon as he said this, many young people said he looked very young, and some said that they would like to listen to the elders more to learn from them. Although they already wanted leave, they had to put in a few good words.
Cen Qiusheng didn’t take these young people’s words seriously, and happily let them go.
He was kind and considerate.
“Didn’t you have lunch?” Cen Baihe and Qi Yan went to the buffet, and when he saw him put some food on the plate, he did the same.
“I had a bit,” Qi Yan picked out a few clams, “You don’t have to entertain the guests?
“Everyone knows that Fifth Master Cen is not in good health,” Cen Baihe lowered his head and whispered in Qi Yan’s ear, “Who dares to chat and drink with me?”
When Qi Yan heard this, he wondered if most parents didn’t let their children play with him when he was a child because of his health and background. They were afraid of being responsible if something were to happen, so they would tell their children not to go near him.
Human beings tend to avoid trouble, which has nothing to do with one’s status. When he was a child, a classmate was sick, and the others would not play with him. One of them even said that their grandparents or parents said that this child would not live long and that they shouldn’t go near him.
No one wanted to be responsible for trouble, but how would the excluded child feel?
Qi Yan could imagine young Cen Baihe wearing a neat little suit, sitting on the stool expressionlessly, watching the other children play. Thinking of this, Qi Yan felt bad and patted Cen Baihe on the back, “It’s okay, call me when you want to hang out, I’m not afraid.”
Cen Baihe felt that the hand on his back was like a blazing fire, making his whole body warm. He opened his mouth, as if something was stuck in his throat, and it took a long time for him to make a sound of acknowledgement.
“Don’t be too emotional, this is how I treat my friends.” Qi Yan patted Cen Baihe on the shoulder again, and then put a shrimp into Cen Baihe’s bowl, “It looks fresh, try it.”
At the party, many people were secretly watching Cen Baihe. When they saw Cen Baihe and an unknown young man walking together to the buffet, they couldn’t believe their eyes. Everyone knew that Fifth Master Cen was in poor health, and he usually only ate specially prepared food that was recommended by the nutritionist. He almost never touched food like this.
This person must be bold to let Fifth Master Cen eat something like that.
There was a large field outside the hotel with many exquisite and beautiful tables and chairs prepared for the guests.
It was not unusual for a young man like Qi Yan to fill his plate with food, but it was Cen Baihe by his side that attracted people’s attention. After Qi Yan sat down on the chair, he whispered to Cen Baihe, “I think those people around me are looking at me like I’m a black bean in a bowl of lentils.”
Cen Baihe raised his eyebrows, not quite understanding the meaning of Qi Yan’s words.
“I’m too different,” Qi Yan cut a piece of meat and put it into his mouth with a silver fork. “After living for twenty-two years, I’m finally going to be famous.”
“Nonsense,” Cen Baihe was amused by his words, “When my dad introduced you, someone has already guessed your identity. You think no one would know about you after you solved the problem of Honglian Hill and Luluo Community?”
Qi Yan chuckled and lowered his head to eat quietly. He was indeed a little hungry.
Ever since he could tell people’s fortune with just his naked eye, his appetite had improved. It might be that his spiritual power had increased a lot. Or it could be that he was still growing.
A person with a height of 1.78 meters always wanted to grow to 1.8 meters.
His hair was blown by a breeze as he looked at the swimming pool not far away, remembering that more than ten years ago, his master had brought him to swim by the river.
Looking up, he saw Cen Baihe staring at his plate with a conflicted expression. He took a closer look and some shredded carrots on it. He used his chopsticks to pick the carrots out and put them on his own plate, “Carrots are good. Why don’t you like them?”
“Ah…” Cen Baihe was going to say something but seeing that Qi Yan acted so quickly, he swallowed his words. In fact, he was planning to try it, but since Qian Qian had already taken them, he gave up.
When the two were done eating, Cen Baihe wiped the corners of his mouth and took two sips of warm water, “Qian Qian, is there any problem between my third brother and his wife?”
Qi Yan didn’t expect Cen Baihe to be so observant. He noticed that his sister-in-law was too happy to hear what Qi Yan said to her. “It’s not a big problem, Third Mrs. Cen just seemed to be a little insecure. “
Cen Baihe thought for a moment,”I see.”
Although his sister-in-law came from a good family, compared to the Cen family, there was still quite a big difference. The most important thing was that it was his sister-in-law who actively pursued his brother before they started dating, so after the two got married, some people gossiped that she was trying to go after the Cen family’s assets.
But of course, the Cen family knew that she was a good person, so they did not care about the gossip. It just didn’t occur to them that she actually cared about what others said.
“My brother should be blamed for this. If he was more thoughtful, she would not have such thoughts.” Cen Baihe sighed, “I will talk to him when I go back. Thank you, Qian Qian. If it weren’t for you, there might be a deep misunderstanding between them.”
“As I already said, we are friends, don’t thank me,” Qi Yan teased, “But you are able to see things from a female’s perspective, it shows that you are a good man. The future Mrs. Cen is so lucky.”
“Mrs. Cen?” Cen Baihe frowned and said lightly, “You think too far ahead. As a Taoist priest, do you still think about having a wife and children?”
“My master and I are both ordinary people. Although our practice originates from Taoism, we are not real Taoist priests and we don’t have any restrictions.” Qi Yan looked at the plate in front of him, “Life must be so boring without love.”
“So, do you have someone you like?” Cen Baihe squinted at Qi Yan, waiting for his answer.
“I’m still young,” Qi Yan raised his eyebrows, “You, a man who is about to enter his thirties, are not in a hurry, why should I?”
Cen Baihe, who was already twenty-nine, felt like slapping Qi Yan. It’s a pity that someone interrupted their conversation which stopped him from doing so.
“Fifth Master Cen, Mr. Qi,” Ruan Youyi, who was wearing a beautiful dress, stood at the table with a smile, “Do you mind if I sit?”
Qi Yan glanced at Cen Baihe, and seeing that he didn’t respond, he got up with a smile and pulled a chair for Ruan Youyi, “Miss Ruan, please take a seat.”
Ruan Youyi glanced at the two empty plates on the table, her red lips raised slightly, “Am I disturbing the two of you?” She looked at Cen Baihe who had a cold expression on his face, and her heart felt a little bitter. Even after she took the initiative to talk to him, he didn’t even look at her, as though she was an irrelevant passerby.
“May I remove the plates for the two of you?” A waiter walked up to the three of them and bowed.
“Yes, please. Thank you.”
The waiter was not paying attention when he removed the plates and some sauce on the plate dripped on Qi Yan’s coat, which shocked the waiter. He wanted to help him wipe his coat, but he knew that it was too late.
“It’s okay,” Qi Yan smiled at the waiter, “Don’t worry about it.”
The waiter bowed to him a few more times before leaving.
“Sorry, I didn’t expect that to happen,” Cen Baihe took out his handkerchief, “I guess we’ll have to go back to clean it.”
“It’s not your fault. Are you responsible for everyone’s actions just because your family booked the venue?” Qi Yan stretched out his arm and let Cen Baihe wipe his sleeves, “Fortunately, I picked a gray coat instead of a white one.”
Cen Baihe tried wiping a few times, but it couldn’t be wiped off, so he gave up. He put away the handkerchief and laughed, “Is this fortunate?”
“Of course,” Qi Yan nodded solemnly, “Luck is relative.”
“Nonsense,” Cen Baihe shook his head and smiled, “I really don’t know how you came up with so many illogical statements.”
“It’s not illogical, it’s the crystallization of wisdom,” Qi Yan made a face and said, “I don’t usually impart it to ordinary people.”
Ruan Youyi silently watched Cen Baihe tease his friend, thinking that she knew too little about him. She didn’t know that he would tease a friend like that, or that he would gently apologize and wipe his friend’s clothes.
The Fifth Master Cen in her mind was handsome, elegant, and indifferent. She couldn’t imagine him joking around with others. But Fifth Master Cen seemed to be more lively at the moment, and that made her think that whoever was loved by him must be so lucky.
There was a female celebrity who commented that whoever was with him would not be happy because he was unwell. At that time, when she saw the comment, her whole body almost exploded with anger. Later on, she put pressure on the celebrity’s boyfriend’s family, so that she would never have the chance to marry into a wealthy family.
If she dared to make negative remarks about a stranger’s identity and health, then she should be prepared for the consequences.
“Mr. Qi, you don’t drink?” Ruan Youyi noticed that there was a glass of freshly squeezed juice in front of Qi Yan.
“I don’t like drinking. Besides, I’m driving.” Qi Yan picked up the orange juice and clinked Ruan Youyi’s glass, “Miss Ruan, I hope you don’t mind.”
“Ah, so you drove here,” Ruan Youyi took a sip of champagne. She smiled lightly, “Then it’s right not to drink.” On occasions like this, most people would end up drinking, so few people would drive themselves.
Mr. Qi, whose identity was unknown, didn’t even know this?
“Qian Qian,” Cen Baihe said in an unusually cold tone, “It’s too sunny outside, let’s go in.”
“Why don’t we ask the waiter to open the parasol?” Ruan Youyi asked with a smile.
“No need,” Cen Baihe’s eyes swept across Ruan Youyi without a trace of emotion in his eyes, “I would like to introduce Qian Qian to a few people.”
“Oh,” Ruan Youyi smiled awkwardly, “Then I won’t disturb the two of you.”
Qi Yan followed Cen Baihe to the inner hall. When he stepped on the steps, he turned back and glanced at Ruan Youyi. She was sitting alone at the table, with a perfect posture like a goddess.
“What are you looking at?” Cen Baihe stopped and looked back at him.
“Nothing.” Qi Yan retracted his gaze, shook his head, and said casually, ” Miss Ruan is so beautiful.”
Cen Baihe said blankly, “Really, I don’t see it.”
“People like you who don’t understand beauty are destined to be alone,” Qi Yan shook his head, “I won’t discuss aesthetics with you.”
Cen Baihe didn’t respond to him. After entering the inner hall with Qi Yan, he took him to meet the heads of several important families, and made it clear to everyone that they had a good relationship and it was best not to make any rude gestures.
As for those who newly joined the upper class, Cen Baihe thought that Qi Yan could handle it himself.
“Dad, Baihe and Master Qi have indeed become good buddies,” First Master Cen said emotionally as he watched his younger brother spend almost the entire time with Master Qi, “He has never gotten along with me like that since he was a child.”
“Friends are not the same as brothers,” Cen Qiusheng’s face was a little red after he drank some wine which made him look cheerful, “But seeing him like this, I feel a lot more at ease.”
“Yeah…” FIrst Master Cen looked at his younger brother with a gentle expression. He had not seen him so relaxed in a long time.
He hoped that Master Qi and Baihe would be friends for life, so that he didn’t have to worry about his brother’s health.
Qi Yan was talking to Cen Baihe when suddenly he felt eyes on him, he looked back suspiciously, and found that the waiter who had soiled his coat just now was peeking at him.
Seeing that he was looking at him, the waiter quickly left.
Qi Yan frowned, the waiter’s eyes didn’t seem to show guilt, but more like he was sizing him up.
