"Uncle, Aunt..."
Wen Ziqian, dressed in a small black suit, ran in, followed closely by Shen Zhengming's family.
Wen Ziqian was the son of Shen Zhengming's eldest daughter, Shen Yunxi.
Among Shen Zhengming's three daughters, only she was married; the other two were still single.
Shen Qiwen also arrived. He raised an eyebrow playfully when he saw Song Qinian, whose face remained impassive, but her hands clenched into fists.
"This must be Chi Yan's wife. After three years of marriage, we finally get to see what she looks like."
The speaker was Ju Honglan, Shen Zhengming's wife. Dressed in designer clothes, adorned with jewelry on her hands and neck, she appeared more like a wealthy socialite than Xi Ruxue, who maintained a low profile.
Song Qinian nodded as a greeting.
"She's quite pretty. But it's our old lady's big day, why aren't her parents here?"
Song Qinian's expression turned unpleasant. Her marriage to Shen Chi Yan had come about in a less-than-legitimate way.
Although the old lady had allowed Shen Chi Yan to marry her, she still harbored resentment over Liu Xiaohan's actions of drugging Shen Chi Yan. Therefore, for the past three years, the old lady had never mentioned Song Qinian's family to her.
Song Qinian, not wanting to provoke further displeasure, wouldn't go out of her way to upset the old lady.
Despite Ju Honglan's concerned smile, Song Qinian felt deeply uncomfortable.
She was doing this on purpose, wasn't she?
Ju Honglan was indeed doing it on purpose.
As the wife of the second son, she had always felt her position in the Shen family was not particularly high.
The primary reason for this was that she had given birth to three daughters and no son.
Unlike Shen Zhengcheng and Shen Zhenghao, who both had sons, and each more successful than the last.
Now that those two sons had married wives who were not daughters of prominent families, she felt she could finally vent her frustrations.
"Oh dear, are you an orphan like Zhuyin? Ah, what kind of luck do our young masters have, marrying children without parents?"
Song Qinian was starting to get angry when Shen Liubai's pleasant voice rang out.
"Of course, it's incredible luck. It's our good fortune to marry the women we love, Ah Yan and I."
Shen Liubai's underlying meaning was that Ju Honglan had married Shen Yunxi to a man she didn't love for personal gain, and even intended to have her other two daughters comply with their plans for arranged marriages.
Ju Honglan's face turned sour when Shen Liubai rebuffed her. Seeing Song Qinian, who couldn't even utter a word, she smirked, "Is that so? How come I heard Chi Yan doesn't even like her..."
"Second daughter-in-law!"
Before Ju Honglan could finish her sentence, she was coldly interrupted by the old lady.
"If you have too much free time, you can learn from your elder sister-in-law and read books or write calligraphy. You can also learn from your sister-in-law and build a career. Or, be a good wife and help Zhengming manage the household, instead of gossiping about the younger generation's lives all day."
Seeing the old lady's anger, Shen Zhengming shot a cold glare at Ju Honglan, making her face turn pale.
She immediately flashed a fawning smile at the old lady, "You're right, Mother."
Ju Honglan's actions caused Shen Zhengming's entire family to look displeased, while Shen Qiwen seemed to be enjoying the spectacle from the side.
At this moment, Ju Honglan noticed Wen Ziqian and her eyes lit up. She immediately smiled at him, "Ziqian, today is your great-grandmother's eighty-eighth birthday. Go and wish her a happy birthday."
"Okay."
Wen Ziqian obediently walked to the old lady and knelt before her. "Great-grandmother, Ziqian wishes you blessings as immense as the East Sea and a lifespan as long as the Southern Mountains. May you live for another hundred years."
Although Wen Ziqian's surname was Wen, he was the Shen family's first great-grandson. Coupled with his sweet tongue and obedient nature, the old lady doted on him.
"Ziqian, come to Great-grandmother."
"Yes, Great-grandmother."
The old lady caressed Wen Ziqian's chubby cheeks, finding him endearing. "Are you happy at kindergarten, Ziqian?"
"I'm happy, but they're all too childish. I don't like playing with them."
Seeing this, Ju Honglan immediately praised the old lady, "Mom, Ziqian is so intelligent. He can recite the Three Hundred Tang Poems and the Four Great Classical Novels from memory. He's also good at mental arithmetic; he can handle addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of four-digit numbers. You can test him with any question."
Ju Honglan's greatest pride was that Shen Yunxi had given birth to a son, which she saw as a significant advantage over Xi Ruxue and Gu Zhiyan.
She had originally intended to use Wen Ziqian to regain some confidence, but to her surprise, the old lady didn't indulge her, merely saying, "Ziqian is still young; there's no need to make him learn so much. Childhood should be for childhood activities."
Upon hearing this, Shen Liubai and Shen Chi Yan exchanged glances.
When they were children, their grandmother had not been so gentle with them.
Was this the so-called "favorite grandchild" phenomenon?
Ju Honglan's smile was barely holding on. She thought resentfully that the old lady was still treating her coldly because she hadn't given birth to a son.
In reality, the old lady had never thought that way. On the contrary, she treated the women in the family even better than the men.
However, because Ju Honglan had always yearned for a son and never had one, it had become a fixation for her.
"Oh my, Ziqian is already five years old. I wonder when our family will have another great-grandson or great-granddaughter."
As the old lady spoke, her eyes kept glancing at Shen Liubai and Shen Chi Yan, her intention quite obvious.
She wanted them to hurry up and have children.
By this time, most of the guests had arrived, and the banquet was about to begin. Everyone went downstairs.
Song Qinian was a little nervous facing such a grand occasion for the first time.
She tugged at Shen Keqin's arm, planning to stick with her the entire time.
But Shen Keqin removed her hand. "Sister-in-law, I don't want to be separated from you either, but your escort today is my brother."
With that, she gently pushed Song Qinian towards Shen Chi Yan.
Song Qinian, wearing high heels, almost stumbled but was caught by Shen Chi Yan.
Shen Chi Yan shot Shen Keqin a chilly glance, only to see her say playfully, "Brother, don't forget what Grandma just told you. Take good care of sister-in-law!"
Shen Keqin was quick to disappear. After regaining her balance, Song Qinian cautiously looked at Shen Chi Yan. Before she could speak, Shen Chi Yan extended his arm.
Song Qinian was taken aback.
"Hook arms!"
Shen Chi Yan's tone was not very pleasant, but looking at his handsome face, Song Qinian felt a flutter of happiness.
She gently hooked his arm, and they walked downstairs together.
Many distinguished guests from the business and political sectors, as well as elites from the entertainment industry and various other fields, attended the Shen family matriarch's birthday banquet.
Song Qinian and Shen Chi Yan were the last to descend. As soon as they appeared, all eyes were fixed on them.
More people were speculating about their relationship.