Chapter 3967 — Hosting the Birthday Banquet
The Blossom Guardian · Page 1 of 3
"Oh, is that so? Then you can set your mind completely at ease. This young lady is an excellent judge of character—I won't be fooled by just anyone so easily." Shangguan Lan'er curled the corners of her lips as she spoke.
She had deliberately left the words vague, but what reached Xu Lingchong's ears was a meaning quite clear indeed: that this young lady had exacting standards, and there was no chance she would be taken in by some penniless newcomer like Wei Zhao.
He little realized that this was all just his own wishful thinking. In Shangguan Lan'er's heart the meaning was precisely the opposite—the "just anyone" in that sentence referred to none other than the young master Xu himself!
"That's good, that's good." Xu Lingchong was, as they say, blind to what lay right before his own eyes. Had the person across from him been anyone else, he likely would have sensed something amiss long ago; alas, the one before him was Shangguan Lan'er, and where the woman of a man's dreams is concerned, a man's wits are always in the negative. Young Master Xu was no exception.
What a fool this one is! Shangguan Lan'er was secretly laughing to herself. She was quite content to let it be—let this idiot Xu Lingchong deceive himself, then. The truth of her relationship with Wei Zhao was a secret between the two of them, and she had no intention of letting a nuisance like Xu Lingchong learn a thing about it.
"Oh, that's right, Lan'er, the higher-ups have decided to let me host and arrange your birthday banquet. If you have any ideas or requests, just tell me—whatever your wish may be, Senior Brother will do all in his power to make it come true!" Xu Lingchong said, his face alight with excitement.
To be permitted to host and arrange Shangguan Lan'er's birthday banquet meant that he had won Shangguan Tianxia's tentative approval—or at the very least, his tacit consent.
This was the first step toward becoming Shangguan Tianxia's son-in-law. To Xu Lingchong, its significance was in no way inferior to winning the post of chief senior brother of Chongtian Pavilion.
By seizing this opportunity, he could not only cement his relationship with Shangguan Lan'er but also further elevate his standing in the Sandie Pavilion. This, after all, was a grand banquet for the Pavilion's top echelon—to be its host meant direct, face-to-face dealings with every one of the Sandie Pavilion's high-ranking figures. The benefits were too obvious to require elaboration.
To his surprise, the guest of honor herself could not have been less interested. She waved a hand with cool indifference. "Do as you please. It won't be the birthday banquet this young lady wants in any case—in the end it will only turn into one of your little power-brokering affairs. This young lady has no interest."
Long ago, Shangguan Lan'er had harbored all sorts of hopes and fancies about her rare birthday banquets, but gradually she had come to realize that the reality was nothing like what she had imagined.
In the end, it was nothing but a networking gathering for the Sandie Pavilion's high officials and dignitaries, held under the name of her birthday banquet. Whether the guest of honor was present or not made not the slightest difference.
If there was anything at all she looked forward to this time, it was Wei Zhao alone. When the day came, it would likely be this young junior brother and no one else who genuinely came to celebrate her birthday.
Still a little girl at heart, after all! Xu Lingchong smiled faintly, unperturbed. Whether Shangguan Lan'er was pleased or not mattered nothing to him. The one thing that did matter was that this was a golden chance to display his abilities before every high-ranking figure in the Sandie Pavilion—and it must not be wasted.
"That Wei Zhao—shall we have him come to the banquet?" Xu Lingchong suddenly proposed.