122 Birthday Banquet

Li Feng’er noticed me studying her face. Her fair, delicate cheeks flushed slightly as she said, “I’ve already told my adoptive mother about what happened, so we can only sleep together now.”

I thought to myself that she had already deceived her adoptive mother into believing she was carrying my child. If we slept in separate rooms after that, it would be pointless—like pulling down one’s trousers to fart.

Still, the thought of sharing a bed with her made me somewhat nervous. I could not help recalling the time I had shared a bed with Jin Yulian.

The air-conditioning kept the room warm, and the clothes she wore were not very thick, revealing her model-like figure.

When she saw me staring at her dreamily, she smiled and walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. As she prepared to slip beneath the covers, I could not help saying, “Are we really going to do this?”

Li Feng’er slowly lay down beside me and gave me a mischievous smile. “If you don’t want to, you can always remain unmoved even with a beauty in your arms.”

People are not plants or trees; how could they be without feelings? And human beings are animals, possessing instinctive desires…

It was a night of tenderness and passion. The next morning, we did not get up until after nine. I drew back the curtains and saw that the courtyard outside was blanketed in snow. I was reminded of the line: “Overnight, spring winds arrive, and a thousand trees and ten thousand trees bloom with pear blossoms.”

Li Feng’er got up even later than I did. When I walked into the corridor, I heard Aunt Shen bustling about downstairs. Seeing me come down, she smiled and said, “There was such a heavy snowfall last night. You didn’t need to get up so early today. You could have slept a little longer.”

I smiled and nodded. “Yes. Sleeping in on a snowy day is the most comfortable and reassuring thing in the world.”

“Breakfast is in the dining room,” Aunt Shen said. “It’s already gone cold. I’ll heat it up for you both.”

“Then I’ll trouble you, Aunt Shen.”

Breakfast was fairly simple. In the past, rice had been our staple here, but now that the country had opened up, even ordinary families with better means could enjoy a much more varied breakfast.

There was milk, cake, and several Western-style dishes whose names I did not know.

I ate a little breakfast, and Sister Li soon came downstairs to eat as well. After the snow, the sky cleared. When we saw Sister Li’s adoptive mother basking in the sun in the courtyard, we joined her and chatted for a while.

She laughed heartily. “Feng’er, don’t worry about this old woman. It’s Xiaofeng’s first time here. You should take him out to see the sights.”

We were only too happy to hear that, so Li Feng’er took me sightseeing around the ancient town.

The sky was clear after the snowfall, and the streets had grown lively again. Sister Li took me to visit several of the ancient town’s famous landmarks and historic sites.

Heavy snow was a rare sight in Jiangnan. Excited by the snow piled around us, we built a snowman and threw snowballs at each other. Near noon, Li Feng’er called Aunt Shen and told her not to wait for us but to eat without us.

Happy days passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, three days had gone by. By then, Sister Li and I were completely like a couple deeply in love, and seeing this, her adoptive mother was delighted.

The day of her adoptive mother’s birthday celebration arrived. I had assumed that few people would come to pay their respects to the old lady, but unexpectedly, more than twenty guests arrived.

There were both men and women among them. Even the youngest were already over forty, while most were in their sixties. Most of them arrived in luxury cars.

I saw a Rolls-Royce, two Bentleys, a stretched Lincoln, an Audi A8, a BMW 7 Series, and several Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedans. When they saw Sister Li’s adoptive mother, some addressed her as Professor, while others called her Teacher’s Wife.

Sister Li told me that her adoptive mother had once been a professor at a prestigious university and had taught countless outstanding students. It seemed the reputation was well deserved. Many of those graduates had gone on to achieve success in their careers. Some had entered business, some politics, and others education or scientific research.

I saw Ah Yun’s father, Chairman Du. He had arrived in a Rolls-Royce, but among his adoptive mother’s former students, he was not the most successful.

From what I could see, at least a third of the guests appeared no less accomplished than he was. No wonder he had never dared to do anything to Sister Li. I had never imagined that her adoptive mother possessed such an immense network of connections.

Everyone exchanged polite greetings and chatted courteously. Sister Li’s adoptive mother also introduced me to them. In front of her, they treated me with considerable politeness, though what they truly thought was another matter. After all, there was an old saying: once a person is gone, the tea grows cold.

Chairman Du was surprised to see me at Sister Li’s home, though he did not show it. Perhaps, in his eyes, I was entirely unworthy of his daughter. He had only refrained from interfering too forcefully because Ah Yun had once liked me. Now that Sister Li and I were together, he was probably secretly delighted. This way, Ah Yun could finally give up on me.

Most of Sister Li’s adoptive mother’s former students knew one another. After chatting politely for a while, everyone went to a grand hotel for the birthday banquet. The most luxurious hotel in town had long since been reserved.

According to Sister Li, her adoptive mother’s birthday banquets were hosted in turn by her former students. This year, a wealthy lady was paying for the celebration. Li Feng’er called her Sister Zhang. She looked to be in her thirties, though she was actually over fifty, and she was an elegant, beautiful woman.

In fact, these people were much like classmates holding reunions, taking turns hosting one another. In previous years, they had invited Sister Li’s adoptive mother and Sister Li; this year, I had been added to the guest list.

Our social standing was simply too different, and being thrown together made things rather awkward. Still, I was now considered Sister Li’s fiancé, and therefore a member of her adoptive mother’s family.

Since they had come to celebrate her adoptive mother’s birthday, I naturally had to take part and thank them for their kindness.

The banquet was lively, and the food and wine were exceptionally abundant. But the adoptive mother was elderly, while everyone else was a powerful figure in one field or another. They had tasted every delicacy under the sun, so the banquet was really an opportunity for them to strengthen their relationships and discuss their own affairs.

Sister Li introduced me to them, but they were all influential people, and I merely muddled through the introductions without truly remembering who was who. Naturally, they did not care who I was, either. The smiles they gave me at the banquet were only out of respect for their former teacher.

I felt like a clown at the banquet. I kept smiling along, while they seemed to assume that I was trying to curry favor with them or had some ulterior motive.

Fortunately, the banquet did not last too long. The adoptive mother used the excuse that she wanted to go home and rest, so Sister Li and I accompanied her home. Her former students remained at the banquet, chatting and discussing their various affairs.

After we returned, Sister Li advised me, “Afeng, that’s simply how realistic society is. It’s better to rely on yourself than to beg others for help. These people came to celebrate her birthday for two reasons. First, for the sake of reputation—it sounds good when they tell others that they still respect their former teacher. Second, for their own interests. They use the banquet to discuss matters that concern them.”

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122. Birthday Banquet — Free Reading.