Seven thirty in the evening.

Su Tianyu brought his family to the conference hall of the Gui Corporation. Gui Mengjun and Jiang Zhou were there to greet them.

In name, the reception was hosted by the Southwest Theater Command, but in reality, it was organized by the Gui family. The reason for this facade was to promote Gui Mengjun himself.

Many people were present, including representatives from the command, leaders from various associations in the Old Triangle region, and families involved in the military supplies business, totaling over a hundred people.

As Su Tianyu and his family entered the hall, Gui Mengjun immediately stepped forward to greet Su Tianyu's second uncle, "I'm sorry to have startled you, sir!"

The second uncle nodded expressionlessly at Gui Mengjun and turned to look at Jiang Zhou.

"Uncle, it was too rushed before. Let me formally introduce you. This is Mr. Jiang Zhou, the foreign affairs liaison officer of the command." Su Tianyu leaned in and added in the second uncle's ear, "His grandfather is Li Fugui!"

The second uncle's attitude toward Jiang Zhou was completely different from before. Upon hearing this, he raised his eyebrows, a look of joy on his face, and reached out his hand, saying, "Young and promising, a man of talent, it's clear you're capable of great things, and you look so spirited! The day you picked us up, I told Xiao Liu that you must be a high-ranking official...!"

Jiang Zhou was a little embarrassed by the barrage of compliments. He smiled modestly and reached out his hand, saying, "I didn't take good care of you, sir. I'm sorry."

"Don't mention it. You went to a lot of trouble!"

The group showered Jiang Zhou with praise, basically ignoring Gui Mengjun, who didn't get angry and patiently engaged in conversation with everyone.

After the pleasantries, Jiang Zhou took the initiative, "Let's sit up front."

"Okay, okay!" Su Tianyu pushed the second uncle and followed Jiang Zhou towards the sofa area at the front.

The third sister followed behind the group, ignoring Gui Mengjun, and helped her mother forward. Gui Mengjun wanted to stop her, but considering there were so many people present, he thought it would be unsightly if they started arguing, so he kept silent.

Tonight's reception was mainly a buffet, with no arranged tables. The guests were focused on networking and socializing, creating a lively atmosphere.

The Su family arrived at the sofa area near the front, and as soon as they sat down, they were surrounded by people. Everyone knew that the main characters tonight were from Dragon City, and the Southwest Command's nominal hosting of the event had certain matchmaking intentions. Naturally, everyone knew who to interact with more.

The Su family had seen their share of events in Dragon City and weren't intimidated by this kind of occasion. Whether it was Second Uncle Su, Second Aunt Su, or Gou Liu Zi, they all showed sufficient propriety and courtesy.

About half an hour later, the host came on stage and announced, "Welcome General Xiang Jingyang, Commander of the Southwest Theater Command of the Hua Zone, to this reception! Let's give him a round of applause!"

Hearing this, everyone looked towards the VIP通道 at the back and saw Xiang Jingyang walking in quickly with eight officers.

Thunderous applause erupted, and Jiang Zhou immediately hurried over, saluting and shouting, "Commander!"

Inside, all the officers from the command also stood at attention and saluted.

"Please, Commander Xiang, say a few words...!" the host announced again.

Xiang Jingyang frowned upon hearing this. Looking at the crowd staring at him expectantly, he whispered to Jiang Zhou, "What are you up to again? What do I have to say?!"

"Just give me some face, say a few words." Jiang Zhou shamelessly used Xiang Jingyang's influence: "Give my Brother Jun a boost!"

Xiang Jingyang glanced at him, reluctantly waved to the crowd, and went on stage under the protection of his guards.

In fact, under normal circumstances, Xiang Jingyang would never attend such a reception, let alone give a speech on someone else's turf during a state funeral. However, considering the complexity of the situation in the Old Triangle region and the Gui family's significant contributions to the military supplies business, he reluctantly went on stage.

Xiang Jingyang, wearing his military uniform, adjusted the microphone and said with a solemn expression, "To be honest, I feel heavy-hearted on this trip to the Old Triangle. The passing of Governor Pu is a tragedy for the entire East Asian people. He was a leader who made outstanding contributions to the prosperity and stability of the East Asian region...!"

Xiang Jingyang's position prevented him from saying anything too personal, let alone mentioning the military supplies business. His speech could only be proper and befitting of a major region.

The people below the stage didn't care what Xiang Jingyang was saying. All they knew was that the Gui family's position had been completely solidified this time. What an honor to have the commander come to speak at a reception!

The Gui family's decline in recent years might be about to change at this moment, and their status was about to rise again.

Xiang Jingyang stayed on stage for less than five minutes before leaving in a hurry. The guards and the Gui family also ordered that no one was allowed to take pictures or videos.

After leaving the stage, Xiang Jingyang came to the Su family's side, and everyone stood up.

Xiang Jingyang only had a brief conversation with the Su family, shook hands, and left in a hurry, but the influence of his appearance was already sufficient.

With the departure of the important figure, the atmosphere in the hall returned to normal.

"How is it? Is this enough weight to make you reconsider?" Jiang Zhou asked Su Tianyu with a smile.

"Director Jiang, don't say that to me...!" Su Tianyu replied with difficulty.

As the two were talking, a group of people walked in from outside, led by Fan Mingming, along with her brother and sister-in-law.

The arrival of this group didn't cause much of a stir, as many people were unaware of the inside story and didn't know that the Fan family was the driving force behind the Dong Sheng Express incident. Many people were still greeting the Fan family.

"Please, sit down!" Gui Mengjun smiled and got up to greet them.

Su Tianyu glanced at Fan Mingming, his eyes filled with obvious hatred. Others might not know what was going on, but he had been in contact with Jiang Zhou for the past two days. How could he not know who was behind it all?

Su Miaomiao looked at the injury on her father's leg and also glared fiercely at Fan Mingming.

"She dares to come?" Su Tianbei frowned and was about to get up.

"The person next to her is Fan Zhengxuan. Fan Zhengxuan's wife is from the Pu family," Jiang Zhou's assistant reminded him.

"No wonder, she came here with backing today!" Su Tianbei found it hard to suppress his emotions. "I'm going to take a look!"

Jiang Zhou immediately reached out to stop him. "Sit down, sit down. Today is Gui's show. Let's talk about our business."

At the entrance of the venue.

Seeing Gui Mengjun walking over, Fan Mingming immediately asked, "Are you okay, Mengjun? A few days ago...?"

"Mr. Fan, Miss Pu, please step aside for a moment. I have something to say to Mingming." Gui Mengjun said to the two with a smile.

The two were stunned for a moment and stepped aside, but didn't leave.

"I heard about what happened to you! I've been anxious, but when I called your family...!" Fan Mingming was well-dressed, her words filled with concern.

The reception venue was brightly lit, and the crowd was surging. Gui Mengjun walked up to Fan Mingming, smiling, and raised his arm.

"Slap!!!"

An extremely crisp slap echoed at the entrance, causing Fan Mingming to stumble back three steps. Her high heels twisted her ankle, and her styled hair instantly fell loose.

"What are you doing?!" Fan Zhengxuan shouted and reached out to grab Gui Mengjun.

Everyone in the room looked towards the entrance of the venue, stunned and at a loss.

Gui Mengjun's slap was extremely heavy. Blood streamed from Fan Mingming's nostrils as she stared at Gui Mengjun in disbelief: "You... what are you doing?"

Gui Mengjun shook off Fan Zhengxuan's arm, stepped up to Fan Mingming, and whispered in her ear, "I'll give you face because you're the Fan family's princess; if I don't give you face, I'll strip you naked in public! No one can protect you today!!"