Chapter Thirty: The Family Banquet

After parking the car, Shen Ye put the gifts he had brought into a bag and carried them into the house.

He had assumed that at this hour, both his father and mother would still be at the seaside cottage shop by Silver Beach.

But when he opened the door, he found his father and mother standing together in the living room, perfectly aligned. Even his younger sister, Shen Xiaoyun, was there.

Shen Xiaoyun was, as always, in the school uniform of No. 1 Middle School in County N.

His father usually dressed casually, but today he wore a black suit.

His mother did not often wear makeup, yet today she had even put on a faint touch of it.

The three people inside the house were also startled to see Shen Ye.

"Why are you all at home?"

"Why are you back?"

At this, his father, Shen Jiaping, said sternly, "You didn't come back because your shop in Yangcheng couldn't keep going, did you? Still, it's fine. The shop at Silver Beach is doing well enough to support the whole family."

Shen Ye only felt dark lines appearing across his forehead. "What are you thinking, Father? My shop in Yangcheng is doing just fine. I'm still making more than a hundred thousand a month in net profit. I just felt a bit tired lately, so I closed the shop for a few days and took a break. I even brought you all gifts."

"Father, I got you a watch. A Longines."

"Mother, a Gucci bag for you."

"Little sister, I got you a watch too. After you finish the college entrance exam, I'll get you a laptop."

Shen Ye took out the gifts and handed them out one by one.

"Long live my big brother!" Shen Xiaoyun took the exquisite watch, with its ruby-red dial and leather strap. "This watch is really pretty. Thanks, big brother."

"How much was the Longines?" Shen Jiaping asked as he accepted the watch.

"About ten thousand, I think. I don't remember the exact price. I bought two at the time and just swiped my card," Shen Ye said.

"Longines generally runs around six or seven thousand. If you're spending ten thousand on a Longines, you might as well add another ten thousand and get me an Omega. That would look more impressive when worn out," Shen Jiaping said.

"Our son buys you a watch, and you still pick at it? If you have the ability, earn the money yourself and buy one on your own," Lin Mei said bluntly, scolding Shen Jiaping.

"I know how to produce a son, don't I? In Water Gate Alley, with so many relocated households and old neighbors, who doesn't know I know how to have sons? In my whole life, the greatest thing I've ever done is give birth to a son like this," Shen Jiaping said smugly.

"You're really getting carried away now," Lin Mei said helplessly. She also knew her husband's nature was beyond curing, and turned to Shen Ye. "You, don't always waste money. These things are very expensive. You need to save more, so you'll have money to marry in the future. Besides, you're developing in Yangcheng now. Housing prices there are murderous. You really must save more."

She naturally did not know anything about a Gucci bag.

But knowing Shen Ye's temperament, if he would buy his father a watch for ten thousand, then this bag could not have been cheap either.

"Don't worry, Mom. I'll earn enough for a house," Shen Ye said. He did not want to argue with Lin Mei about marriage and risk being urged to get married, so he changed the subject directly. "By the way, where are you all going? And why is Father in a suit?"

"We're going to a family banquet," Shen Jiaping said. "The four brothers, plus your aunts. Except for your third uncle Shen Weiping's family, everyone else will be going. The banquet is at the International Hotel. We were just about to leave. Since you're back, come along."

The International Hotel was a newly opened hotel in County N.

Its name sounded grand and upscale.

The decor inside was also quite nice.

People in County N cared a lot about appearances, and when they booked banquets and such, they liked to choose the big hotels.

"Sure," Shen Ye said with a nod. "I drove here anyway, so you don't need to take a taxi."

County N was only a small county town after all; it wasn't very large.

In a short while, they arrived at the International Hotel.

The entrance to the hotel looked decent enough, but on the building was a conspicuous sign for foot baths on the fourth floor, and Shen Ye's eye couldn't help twitching. If you're going to call yourself the International Hotel, at least keep a little restraint. Must you be so ostentatious?

...

The family went into Listening to the Moon Pavilion.

The private room was nicely decorated and held three tables in all.

There were five branches of the Shen family present.

Shen Jiaping's branch was the smallest, since neither Shen Ye nor Shen Xiaoyun was married, making only four people in total.

The other branches were larger.

By the time they arrived at the private room, there were already quite a few people inside.

His eldest uncle, Shen Baoping, and his wife, Lin E.

His fourth uncle, Shen Guoping, and fourth aunt Mao Xiaoyue. In the past, Fourth Uncle Shen Guoping had also been a state-owned enterprise worker; after the mass layoffs, he opened a restaurant of his own. Business was neither especially good nor especially bad, just enough to get by.

Fourth Uncle's son, Shen Xiong, had not studied much and, at a young age, wanted to run with the underworld. He truly did so for several years. Later, however, he found that being involved with gangs was useless, so in the end he came back, learned tile-laying, and now took on all kinds of home renovation jobs. Life was going fairly well for him. He had married a wife named Song Yan, who was delicate in appearance, and they had one son and one daughter.

Shen Xiong was four years older than Shen Ye, and when they were children they got along fairly well. But later their relationship became ordinary, neither close nor distant.

His eldest aunt, Shen Xiaohong, worked at the County N Library, a rather obscure institution. A few years ago she divorced her husband and now lived alone. She had given birth to a daughter, originally named Ye Xiaoyue, but since she followed Shen Xiaoyun, her name was changed to Shen Xiaoyue. She was about the same age as Shen Ye and was now in her senior year of college, not yet graduated. She was already worrying about what job to take after graduation.

Second Aunt Shen Xiaofen and Second Uncle-in-law Yang Changuo both worked in factories and lived an ordinary life. They had a son and a daughter. One was in the third year of high school, the other was studying at a university in another city, and neither had come.

When Shen Jiaping's family entered, especially when Shen Ye came in, the people present all smiled.

Among so many members of the Shen family, most had once believed that Shen Ye was no good at studying and would probably amount to little in the future. They had never expected such an astonishing reversal. Rumor had it that the shop at Silver Beach brought in five or six thousand a month, and that Shen Ye had even opened a branch in Yangcheng. The shop in Yangcheng would probably earn even more.

Because of Shen Ye alone, Shen Jiaping's family had risen.

"Xiao Ye is back?"

"I got bored running the shop in Yangcheng, so I closed it for a few days and came back to relax," Shen Ye said with a smile.

"Xiao Ye, you've made a fortune recently."

"Not at all, just earning a living," Shen Ye replied with a grin, explaining a few words.

Eldest Aunt Shen Xiaohong teased him. "Xiao Ye, when my Xiaoyue graduates and can't find a job, let her go work as a server for you. I hear the wages for your servers are pretty good."

Of course, this was only a joke.

Shen Xiaohong still hoped her daughter would land a white-collar job at a big company, and did not truly want her to become a server.

"If Cousin Xiaoyue wants to come, she's absolutely welcome. But Xiaoyue's university is much better than mine. There are probably plenty of good companies fighting to hire her," Shen Ye said with a laugh.

Shen Xiaoyue smiled. "No matter how good a company is, it can't compare to the income you make from your shop now. I really envy you for having such a skill."

Shen Ye sat down and chatted idly with his relatives for a while, then noticed that his eldest uncle Shen Baoping and eldest aunt Lin E both looked deeply depressed, as though something had soured their mood. Curious, he lowered his voice and asked Shen Jiaping beside him, "Father, why do Uncle and Aunt seem so unhappy?"

Shen Jiaping tossed a peanut into his mouth and said quietly, "This has something to do with Wen Xiuting."

"With Sister Xiuting?" Shen Ye was stunned.

It should have been updated long ago, but in the middle of the night my cherry-red mechanical keyboard with blue switches actually had a key break, and I could not type a single word no matter what I did. I struggled with it for ages, and in the end I had no choice but to switch to my son's keyboard. Only at a little past one in the morning did I finally finish the update.

Also, let me explain: the earlier chapters were about taking down the Thunderbolt King, and these few chapters will be a bit more relaxed.

And also, I want recommendation votes! Everyone, throw them my way. Three updates tomorrow as well! And without the embarrassment of a broken keyboard, they will be posted a little earlier.