Chapter 1 Arriving

Everywhere were noble ladies and young women in elegant gowns, chatting and laughing, and gentlemen engaging in conversation.

However, the banquet was still in a state of disarray, clearly yet to begin.

Lin Zinuo sighed in relief, "Finally, we're here. Good thing we weren't late."

"Mmm."

Su Mo glanced at his phone. The time was about right.

*Grumble*

At that moment, a discordant sound echoed.

Su Mo instinctively looked at Lin Zinuo, who swallowed hard, clutching her stomach and gazing at Su Mo pitifully.

"It's been a long day. I haven't eaten anything yet."

Su Mo couldn't help but smile, but he restrained himself and whispered, "The banquet hasn't started yet. Can you hold on a little longer?"

"Just a little?"

Lin Zinuo asked plaintively.

"Alright."

Su Mo considered it for a moment and replied. A little shouldn't be a problem, right?

Hearing Su Mo's words, Lin Zinuo's eyes lit up instantly, and she dragged Su Mo towards the food.

"Let's go, let's go..."

"Wow, so much good food! Let's get some giant emperor crab legs, and some caviar..."

Lin Zinuo started eating without hesitation. At banquets of this caliber, all the ingredients are top-notch, specially supplied and free from radiation contamination.

And they're all prepared by top chefs, so the taste is excellent.

Plus, Lin Zinuo was truly starving, so once she started eating, it was like a dam bursting, unstoppable.

"Ahem, that's enough."

Su Mo watched Lin Zinuo eating non-stop, finishing one thing and grabbing another.

"Those pastries over there look delicious."

"This is also pretty good."

"Ahem, really, that's enough."

"I'm starving, it's a waste not to eat it."

Lin Zinuo didn't seem to realize.

"If you keep eating, your stomach will bulge, and the dress won't hold."

Su Mo was helpless and could only keep reminding her.

Lin Zinuo rolled her eyes at Su Mo, instead picking up a plate and handing it to him.

"I'm so skinny, eating just this little bit, how could I possibly ruin the dress? You should eat something too. Anyway, nobody here knows us, and they're all busy chatting, nobody will care about us."

Su Mo wanted to refuse, but he was indeed hungry.

So he simply took the plate generously and piled pieces of golden-brown roasted lamb onto it.

No point in treating himself poorly.

The two of them started eating happily. After all, they hadn't eaten for almost a day.

Meanwhile, the people waiting at the banquet were getting impatient, and the chatter grew louder.

"What's going on? The banquet time has arrived, why hasn't it started yet?"

"I don't know. It seems like some important person hasn't arrived yet."

"Who has such a big reputation?"

"Not sure, let's wait a little longer."

.......

At the main entrance to the central venue, Cao Wen looked at the time, his brows furrowing. The guests were almost all there, and no one else seemed to be arriving.

"What's going on? Why hasn't the person arrived yet?"

"I'll contact Xiao Li and check the list of arriving guests."

Cao Yuan replied respectfully from the side.

Cao Yun asked curiously, "Father, could it be that the other party changed their mind at the last minute? Unwilling to discuss the demolition further? After all, the money we're offering is quite low."

"No, even if they weren't coming, they would have definitely said something."

Cao Wen replied with a frown, he still had faith in his own judgment.

Before long, Cao Yuan rushed over and whispered to Cao Wen, "I just contacted Xiao Li, his car had a minor accident on the road. Mr. Su Mo and his female companion got out of the car and walked over. I checked the entry records, they have already entered. I apologize, this is my mistake."

"I understand, let's go back to the banquet hall."

Cao Wen's brows relaxed slightly after hearing this. No matter what, it was good that they had arrived.

........

Back in the banquet hall, Su Mo was indulging in the delicacies when Lin Zinuo suddenly grabbed his arm nervously and pulled him towards a corner.

"Let's go, let's go..."

"What's wrong? I only grabbed one piece."

Su Mo asked, puzzled.

"Quickly, let's hide."

Lin Zinuo said anxiously.

Su Mo followed Lin Zinuo's gaze and saw a middle-aged couple dressed decently, leading a long-haired woman with delicate features and a low-cut red dress, walking towards them.

"Who are they?"

"That's my aunt Lin Yu, my uncle Zhou Cheng, and my cousin Zhou Qian."

"What a coincidence. Shouldn't we go say hello?"

"What hello? Stay away from them."

Lin Zinuo quickly dragged Su Mo to hide in a nearby corner.

"What's there to be afraid of? We're not doing anything wrong."

Su Mo was still confused.

"You don't understand, they're so annoying... If they see me here, dressed like this, who knows what they'll say. It's a nightmare, why are they even here?"

Lin Zinuo was extremely frustrated.

Su Mo was about to say something when he inadvertently glanced to the right and saw two familiar figures.

His nerves tightened instinctively, and he pulled Lin Zinuo behind a cake table.

"What's wrong? Why are you reacting so strongly?"

Lin Zinuo was taken aback. Su Mo's reaction was too much.

"Shhh, your dad and mom."

Su Mo said with a dark face. He was also having a nightmare, running into Lin Zinuo's parents. And Su Mo had the inexplicable feeling of being caught doing something wrong.

Lin Zinuo peeked out and her eyes widened. She quickly lowered her head and said nervously,

"Oh no, this is it, this is it..."

"It's okay, calm down. We'll just hide here, they shouldn't notice us."

Su Mo quickly calmed down and reassured Lin Zinuo.

At that moment, Lin He and Lin Wei walked towards Zhou Cheng.

"Sister, brother-in-law."

Lin He greeted with a smile.

"Sister, long time no see. Zhou Qian, call them aunt and uncle."

"Hello aunt, hello uncle."

Zhou Qian greeted with a smile.

"It's been a while, Zhou Qian is getting more and more beautiful."

Lin He praised with a smile.

"Daughters naturally become beautiful as they grow up, but that's nothing. Appearance is innate, the main thing is to cultivate the child's inner qualities, temperament, and mindset."

Zhou Cheng proudly praised his daughter.

"That's right."

Lin Wei didn't think anything of it and nodded in agreement.

"Let me tell you, my daughter recently successfully entered the Planning Institute, and she has many colleagues pursuing her."

Lin Yu said to Lin He smugly.

"That's a good thing."

"It is a good thing, but unfortunately, Zhou Qian is too picky, she looks down on ordinary guys. That's why I thought about bringing her to this high-society banquet, maybe she can make some more friends. By the way, what about your Lin Zinuo?"

"Her..."

Lin He didn't know what to say for a moment.

"I heard that your Zinuo is also in love? I heard she's with someone named Su. But, I heard from others that he didn't even graduate from elementary school, is that true..."

Lin Yu gossiped.

Lin Wei's face turned extremely ugly upon hearing this. Good news never goes beyond the gate, but bad news spreads far and wide.

"I say, aunt, if that's true, you have to advise your sister. Isn't she jumping into a fire pit?"

Zhou Qian chimed in, a hint of triumph flashing in her eyes. From childhood to adulthood, Lin Zinuo had always been one step ahead of her in everything. She didn't expect her to make such a big joke this time.

Hiding behind the cake table, Lin Zinuo gritted her teeth in anger as she listened to Lin Yu's words.

Su Mo didn't care. He didn't care about outsiders saying bad things about him, he actually found it quite amusing.

Lin Wei said with a livid face, "The kids have grown up, they'll handle their own affairs. I don't want to interfere, and I can't control it anyway."

It must be said that Lin Wei's composure was excellent. Although he strongly opposed Lin Zinuo's relationship with Su Mo, he didn't criticize Su Mo in front of others, he just wanted to change the subject.

Unfortunately, Zhou Cheng and Lin Yu didn't plan to let it go so easily.

The two of them acted as if they were doing it for her own good and said, "Let me tell you, this matter cannot be left alone. That child Lin Zinuo has always been too naive. You can't let her be deceived by a rogue, what if they get married? You have to break them up quickly. If you can't find a suitable partner, I can introduce her to someone. Our Zhou Qian has many excellent classmates and friends, I can introduce them to her, aren't they all better than him?"