PPS Chapter 111

Chapter 111: The Banquet

Chapter 111: The Banquet

Saturday

Gu Yusen’s parents returned and hosted a banquet. Quite a few people came, including many members of the Gu family’s extended family, as well as people from the Xie family and some business partners. Some of Gu Yusen’s friends were also invited.

It was called a banquet, but mainly it was because they had been away for too long and needed to make an appearance upon their return. They had scheduled lunch with the Xie family to discuss Chu Zhaoyi’s future.

If Chu Zhaoyi were to become the Gu family’s adopted son, his name would be added to the family registry today, making him the Gu family’s proper second young master.

But now that Chu Zhaoyi’s biological parents had been found, the matter required careful consideration between both families.

Gu Yusen’s parents didn’t know much about the situation and wanted to use the opportunity of the family banquet to learn more.

If the Xie family wasn’t a good place for Chu Zhaoyi to be, even if they wanted him to return, they would stop it.

Gu Yusen found himself a decent set of clothes. Since it was just family, he didn’t dress too formally, just something clean would do.

Before he knew the relationship between the Xie family and Chu Zhaoyi, Gu Yusen’s venomous tongue would say anything.

Now, he inexplicably felt like he was meeting his parents today.

He was a little nervous.

Chu Zhaoyi, unusually, didn’t sleep in. He lay on the bed watching Gu Yusen walking back and forth, washing up and changing clothes, his mind lost in thought, his eyes following Gu Yusen.

He wanted to say something but couldn’t, finally unable to hold back.

“Brother Sanmu, where are you going?”

His tone was weak.

Normally, Chu Zhaoyi would have approached Gu Yusen, tilted his head and asked where he was going, reminded him to come back early, and then followed him to the door to say goodbye, before turning around and spending the whole day in his studio.

Gu Yusen raised his eyebrows where Chu Zhaoyi couldn’t see, a hint of a smile flashing in his eyes, as he pretended to say, “My parents are back, so I’m going over there.”

Chu Zhaoyi didn’t expect Gu Yusen to be so insensitive, and turned his face away in a huff, not wanting to talk to him.

“Such a temperamental little thing, getting angry if things don’t go your way,” Gu Yusen said helplessly, grabbing a rose from somewhere and skillfully placing it in Chu Zhaoyi’s hand.

“Does Ah Yi want to go with me? I’m inviting you,” Gu Yusen’s voice was soft with a smile. Chu Zhaoyi was like a spoiled kitten, extremely awkward.

His face wore an expression of “I don’t care, I don’t want to go, I don’t want to see Zhang Anru,” but his actions betrayed his feelings.

Someone who loved to sleep in had woken up early.

As if for the sake of saving face, he casually lingered around Gu Yusen.

He didn’t want to say it, but his meaning was clear.

“Okay then,” sure enough, Chu Zhaoyi nodded stiffly, his earlobes faintly red.

He probably knew his little thoughts had been seen through by Gu Yusen.

Gu Yusen took out clothes he had prepared for him from the closet and placed them on the bed. They weren’t a suit, but slightly more formal than what he usually wore.

As luck would have it, it was in the same color family as Gu Yusen’s clothes.

After Chu Zhaoyi got dressed, the two had breakfast and headed over.

The banquet was actually in the evening, but Gu’s parents had invited the Xie family to come over early for lunch together.

Gu Yusen and Chu Zhaoyi only needed to arrive before noon. On the way, Gu Yusen stopped the car and took Chu Zhaoyi to the mall because his mother said a bag at a store was ready for pickup.

Of course, Chu Zhaoyi didn’t get out of the car and waited obediently.

But he didn’t expect that Gu Yusen wouldn’t return alone, but with Mu Xi.

They walked side by side, Gu Yusen holding a bag, and Mu Xi also had one. They must have been bought from the same store.

Chu Zhaoyi leaned against the car window and, taking advantage of the fact that others couldn’t see him from the outside, his eyes filled with displeasure.

“Gu Ge, I was thinking of visiting Gu Furen since she is back. Are you going back too? Should we go together?” Mu Xi stood with Gu Yusen not far away, her mother and Gu Furen were friends, and the two families had a good relationship. Gu Furen always treated her like a younger generation, and their relationship was pretty good. She was invited by Gu Furen.

They were far away, and the sound didn’t carry.

But Chu Zhaoyi could read lips, and he was even more unhappy.

“You can come tonight. I have some things to deal with at home at noon, so I might neglect you,” Gu Yusen’s eyes were indifferent, his words polite, but the refusal was obvious.

Mu Xi’s expression didn’t change, and she nodded knowingly, with a smile that was just right, but faintly revealed a hint of loss. “Then I’ll visit again tonight, I won’t bother you today at noon.”

“Gu Ge, please say hello to Auntie for me.”

“This is a gift, can Gu Ge take it with you? I’ll just go empty-handed tonight, save myself a trip.”

Mu Xi had already said this much, so Gu Yusen had no reason to refuse. Mu Xi often visited the old house to see his mother, but he rarely went home, so he didn’t see her often.

Mu Xi’s relationship with his mother was alright, so it wasn’t a big problem for him to take the gift with him.

Chu Zhaoyi could only see the shape of Mu Xi’s mouth from this angle, and didn’t know what Gu Yusen was saying, but he saw the two of them say a few words, and Mu Xi handed the bag in her hand to Gu Yusen.

Gu Yusen took it and walked towards him.

Mu Xi walked in the opposite direction to get her car.

The trunk was opened, and Chu Zhaoyi poked his head out, looking at the two exquisitely wrapped bags, knowing that one of them was a gift from Mu Xi to Gu Yusen’s mother.

Gu Yusen put the two bags away and turned to get into the driver’s seat.

“Was that Mu Xi?” Chu Zhaoyi asked.

“You saw her? She’s coming tonight too,” Gu Yusen explained casually, fastening his seat belt and noticing that Chu Zhaoyi had unfastened his seat belt because he found it annoying, he leaned over to fasten it for him.

“Was she invited by Brother Sanmu?” Chu Zhaoyi felt that the answer to this question was very important.

Gu Yusen was amused, Chu Jiaojiao’s possessiveness was quite strong. He was jealous, but his face didn’t show it, maintaining his composure.

While he was amused, he certainly didn’t want Chu Jiaojiao to misunderstand.

“No, it was my mom. Their relationship is alright, so she invited her. There are a few people I invited tonight, do you remember Lu Eryin? The one who went to school with me, and a few friends you haven’t met,” Gu Yusen stepped on the gas and drove out of the underground garage, not forgetting to explain to him in detail.

“Oh,” Chu Zhaoyi nodded, he remembered.

“Is that bag a gift?” Chu Zhaoyi was referring to the bag Mu Xi had handed him.

“Yeah, a bag, girls like these things, so does my mom,” Gu Yusen just thought Chu Zhaoyi was curious.

He had happened to run into Mu Xi, who was also picking up a bag, at the store, and the two of them had said a few words and came to the garage to get their cars together.

“Then do I need to bring a gift?” Chu Zhaoyi was a grateful child and knew that he could be with Gu Yusen now thanks to the Gu’s. Seeing that others brought gifts to the banquet, his limited emotional intelligence made him aware of this issue.

“I got one for you, actually my mom doesn’t lack anything, she has her own money, and she buys whatever she wants.” Gu Yusen pointed to the things in the trunk, how could he not have thought of these things.

He didn’t need to bring a gift when he went home alone.

But Chu Jiaojiao, in his current capacity, still had to bring something, it was polite.

“What is it, the gift?” Chu Zhaoyi touched his nose, Brother Sanmu had thought of everything so carefully.

“There was a piece of jade at an auction a while ago, it looked good so I bought it,” Gu Yusen said casually, as if he had bought a broken stone.

But in reality, the value of this jade couldn’t be measured by money.

He had put a lot of effort into getting it.

He liked Chu Jiaojiao and naturally wanted Chu Jiaojiao to leave a good impression on his mother. Moreover, he was a little worried that his parents would mind that Chu Zhaoyi was a boy.

Gu Yusen wouldn’t let Chu Zhaoyi worry about such things, and naturally had to think things through.

“But that doesn’t seem like a gift I can give,” Chu Zhaoyi knew that the things weren’t cheap at all when he heard the word “auction.”

Gu Yusen paused.

He really had a problem with his brain, he had forgotten about this.

Chu Zhaoyi was a poor wretch, and he couldn’t afford to buy this jade even if he sold himself eight hundred times.

Gu Yusen was silent.

Chu Zhaoyi couldn’t help but reach out and touch Gu Yusen’s cheek.

The unreserved Chu Jiaojiao, regardless of the occasion, touched him.

“Brother Sanmu, Teacher Qin gave me two of his paintings. Your parents like Teacher Qin’s paintings, so give them that,”

Professor Qin knew about Chu Zhaoyi’s situation, and felt a bit like he was living under someone else’s roof. Although he knew that Gu Yusen wouldn’t be stingy with money.

But he wouldn’t give him too much, after all, he was just a younger brother.

He was afraid of mistreating Chu Zhaoyi, and gave him two of his paintings, constantly reminding him of the value of the two paintings.

Many people wanted to buy them back then, but he didn’t sell them.

He was thinking that Chu Zhaoyi could sell the paintings if he ran out of money, and giving him money directly would hurt his self-esteem. This was a good way Professor Qin had come up with after thinking for a long time.

And precisely because of Professor Qin’s constant reminders.

Chu Zhaoyi was able to remember that he had this thing.

He noticed at the old house that the paintings hanging in the Gu’s house were basically all by Teacher Qin. He didn’t know if Mr. Gu or Mrs. Gu liked them.

It was both catering to their preferences and valuable.

“Professor Qin is so generous?” Gu Yusen didn’t expect that Professor Qin’s paintings were really valuable, and he was generous enough to give away two.

“Yeah, yeah, he still wants to give me more later, but I don’t think they’re useful, so I don’t want them.”

Professor Qin had given him many times, things that others couldn’t ask for were delivered to Chu Zhaoyi like cheap cabbage, but he refused to accept them.

Gu Yusen didn’t think there was anything wrong with it, it was true that his mother especially liked Professor Qin’s paintings.

“Then shall we go back and get the paintings?”

“They’re in the studio at school.”

Gu Yusen understood, that’s why he hadn’t seen them at home.

So the two drove back to school and took both paintings. Gu Yusen even found a place to wrap them up.

Professor Qin gave them very simply, rolled them up and tied them with a red rope and threw them to Chu Zhaoyi.

With this delay, they didn’t arrive at the old house until eleven o’clock.

Gu Yusen saw an unfamiliar car in the garage and understood that the Xie family must have arrived.

Sure enough, when he led Chu Zhaoyi in, he saw several people in the living room.

Xie Tingyun, Zhang Anru, and Xie Yuyin were all there, along with his own father and mother. The five of them were chatting about something, and Zhang Anru and Gu Furen’s eyes were a little red.

Gu Yusen’s hands were full, and he handed the things to the servant beside him.

Chu Zhaoyi didn’t take anything, and didn’t even look up after coming in, following behind Gu Yusen like a little tail, trying to hide behind Gu Yusen’s tall figure.

Zhang Anru had been paying attention to the movement at the door, and immediately looked over when she heard someone coming. At first, she could only see Gu Yusen from her angle, and thought that Chu Zhaoyi hadn’t come, and a huge sense of loss welled up in her heart, but she could only persuade herself to be patient and take it slowly.

Gu Furen patted Zhang Anru on the shoulder and walked over herself.

“Ah Yi, long time no see, come in quickly, it’s cold at the door.” It was winter, and the wind outside was very strong.

Gu Furen’s tone was full of enthusiasm. Actually, at first, because of Chu Yu, she didn’t have much feeling for Chu Zhaoyi, she just felt a little pity for him. But her son liked this young man, and the subsequent events made her feel even more compassion.

Her tone unconsciously softened in front of Chu Zhaoyi.

“Okay,” Chu Zhaoyi nodded, and put on the slippers that Gu Yusen handed him. He didn’t even bend down, and his slippers were put on, and his own shoes were put away by Gu Yusen in the cabinet.

When had Gu Furen ever seen her son serving people like this? Her eyes were full of surprise.

Chu Zhaoyi vaguely felt that it was not good to enjoy Gu Yusen’s care as a matter of course in front of Gu Yusen’s mother. He originally wanted to put away his shoes himself.

But Gu Yusen thought he wanted to hold hands, so he reached out a hand to hold hands.

Completely disregarding his parents’ strange looks.

“Sanmu, did you get my things?” Gu Furen rolled her eyes inwardly, but still didn’t ask too much. More than what the relationship between the two was, she cared more about her bag!

What’s more, she was Gu Yusen’s mother, and how could she not understand her own child? From the beginning, his unusual attitude towards Chu Zhaoyi made her vaguely feel that it wasn’t that simple.

Recently, she heard him mention Chu Zhaoyi more and more frequently, and probably knew what was going on in her heart.

Today, Chu Zhaoyi would definitely not be added to the Gu family tree.

“This is yours, this is Mu Xi on the way, she gave it to you,” Gu Yusen ticked them off one by one.

“This is a gift from Ah Yi to you, it’s Qin Xituo’s painting,” Gu Yusen’s face was full of pride when he ticked off Chu Zhaoyi’s gift.

“!”

“Ah Yi brought me such a valuable gift!” Gu Furen liked Professor Qin’s paintings. At this time, she was a little excited, and forcibly suppressed her impulse to open it and appreciate it.

She did know that Chu Zhaoyi had become Professor Qin’s student, but she didn’t expect to enjoy this benefit.

She first led the two children into the door, and motioned for the servant to take them down and put them away carefully.

Chu Zhaoyi didn’t speak the whole time, and followed Gu Yusen to sit down on the sofa. Directly opposite them were Zhang Anru and the other two.