Chapter 196: Bring Her
Ning Li’s eyelashes fluttered gently.
In the next second, something was shoved into her palm.
She froze slightly.
Lu Huaiyu had already let go of her hand.
“I wanted to give this to you when you arrived, but you never came, so I had to come over.”
Ning Li opened her palm and saw a golden foil-wrapped spherical hazelnut praline chocolate candy.
She suppressed the slight ripples in her heart and said, “Thanks, Second Brother.”
Lu Huaiyu had never mentioned anything about hosting a party before this, so even she was stunned.
“Let’s go, Uncle Cheng and the others are waiting.”
Lu Huaiyu tightened his jacket around her as he said that.
Ning Li was already slim, so with his jacket draped over her, she looked even smaller.
It was almost winter in Yunzhou, so it was especially cold at night. It was fine to wear very light clothing in the hotel because of the heating, but it was cold when they walked outside.
Ning Li nodded and followed him out of the Jinsheng Hotel.
…
The Grand Hyatt was a bigger and more luxurious hotel that was just across the street from Jinsheng. It was also a landmark building in the whole of Yunzhou.
Just as Lu Huaiyu brought Ning Li to the entrance, someone immediately came forward to greet them. “Second Master, Ms. Ning.”
Lu Huaiyu nodded gently and looked at Ning Li again. “Are you cold?”
Ning Li shook her head.
The temperature outside was indeed low, but the two hotels were only separated by one street. It had not been a long walk, so she felt fine.
“Little Ning Li, you’re finally here!”
Cheng Xiyue walked towards them and smiled as he teased. “I was wondering what was taking Second Master Lu so long to pick you up. I thought that maybe he had abducted you.”
Lu Huaiyu gave him a sidelong glance. “Nonsense. The Ye family were having a party. Since I was there, it was only right for me to congratulate them.”
Cheng Xiyue rubbed his chin as he thought, ‘Tsk tsk… What is he even saying? If not for him, half of the Ye family’s guest list wouldn’t be here. He was even hosting the banquet right across from Jinsheng as a blatant slap to their faces. Congratulate them, my *ss…’
He was surprised that Ye Ming had not gotten a heart attack from the anger.
It was bad enough to offend Lu Huaiyu, but today, Cheng Xiyue had found out that offending Ning Li was even worse.
With the mind games Lu Huaiyu liked to play, he knew just how to torment the Ye family.
The entire Yunzhou would know about both parties today.
By then, the Ye family would become the laughing stock of the city.
Ning Li said, “Brother Xiyue, I’m sorry to have kept you guys waiting.”
Cheng Xiyue laughed and said, “I’m just kidding. You’re the star of the day, so everyone can’t wait to see you! Let’s go and show them what it’s like to be number one in the provincial physics competition!”
…
At the VIP banquet hall on the ninth floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
As Ning Li entered with Lu Huaiyu and Cheng Xiyue, she saw many familiar faces.
Besides the Cheng and the Ji families, there were also some others with considerable status and prestige in Yunzhou.
There were not many people in attendance, but all of them were extremely influential.
Lu Huaiyu walked ahead. “I’ve kept you all waiting.”
The crowd hurriedly responded.
They had all been dying to meet Second Master Lu since his arrival in Yunzhou, but had never got the chance to. Now that they had received his rare invitation, it was nothing for them to have to wait a while.
Except for Cheng Xiyue and a few others, most of the guests had not known the purpose of Lu Huaiyu’s party tonight. It was not until Lu Huaiyu had left the table and brought back a young lady with him that things started to become clearer.
After all, some guests present were well-informed. Thus, it was during the time Lu Huaiyu had gone to pick Ning Li up that everyone found out the details about the situation.
— Second Master Lu’s party tonight was for Ning Li.
— Who was Ning Li? Was she the Ye family’s adopted daughter that they picked up some time ago?
— What was their relationship that made Second Master Lu behave so attentively towards her?
The last question was what they were most concerned about.
Someone then remembered that Lu Huaiyu had even hit someone at Old Master Cheng’s 70th birthday, all because of a girl. That girl appeared to be Ning Li.
The most intriguing point was that at this moment at the Jinsheng Hotel across the street, the Ye family was hosting a celebration banquet for Ye Ci.
Anyone with a discerning eye could see that Lu Huaiyu had done this as a show of support for Ning Li.
Thus, everyone’s gaze fell on Ning Li with curiosity and scrutiny.
…
“Sister Li.” Ji Shu took the lead and walked over.
Ji Shu had always been frank and unrestrained, unlike other people who were reserved and polite. Plus, he had also known that today’s party had been specially organized by Lu Huaiyu for Ning Li, so he had an even more relaxed attitude.
Someone would always give her what the Ye family did not.
“Sister Li, how could you not tell me? If I hadn’t heard my parents mention it, I would’ve missed the celebration!”
Originally, Ji Shu’s parents had planned on going to Jinsheng and wanted to take him along.
However, he could not be bothered to deal with the Ye family and had refused without much thought.
Just as his parents were about to leave, he had heard that there had been a last-minute change and that they were going to Lu Huaiyu’s party at the Grand Hyatt instead.
Ji Shu had met Lu Huaiyu several times, so he had immediately asked Cheng Xiyue about it. He found out that his guess had been right. This party was being held for Ning Li.
He had then hopped into the car and came over with his parents.
Ning Li smiled a little helplessly. “I didn’t know about this beforehand either.”
“What?” Ji Shu was a bit surprised, but looking at Ning Li’s sincere expression, he knew that what she said was true.
He scratched his head. After a while, he smiled. ‘Second Master Lu is really something…’
“Second Master Lu, so this young lady must be Ning Li?”
Ji Wenyuan and his wife walked over and looked at Ning Li with kind eyes.
“Ji Shu has mentioned Ning Li several times. We only met very briefly at the Cheng’s mansion previously. I didn’t expect that she would achieve such outstanding results!”
The first time most of them had seen Ning Li was at Old Master Cheng’s birthday banquet. However, at that time, the topic surrounding her had been inseparable from her origins.
Almost no one had cared about what she was really like.
However, it was completely different now.
Ning Li had come in first at the provincial physics competition as well as first in the city for the midterms. These facts were enough to change everyone’s opinion about Ning Li.
Moreover, Lu Huaiyu was standing beside her now.
There was also another reason Ji Shu’s parents were so affectionate towards Ning Li.
It was because Ning Li had been the reason that Ji Shu had stopped riding motorcycles.
There was nothing wrong with boys liking these things, but in their opinion, it was too dangerous. They had tried to advise Ji Shu many times, but he had always refused to listen.
Somehow, he had stopped because of Ning Li.
Thus, they had always had a good impression of Ning Li.
Today, after getting a closer look at her, they liked her even more.
Even without her excellent grades, the girl was beautiful with such a rare and calm temperament.
“If only Ji Shu was half as good as you, then we wouldn’t need to worry so much.”
As Mrs. Ji said this, her eyes were full of appreciation and admiration as she looked at Ning Li.
“You’re welcome to come to our house any time!”
When the other guests saw this, they were stunned.
How was it that Ning Li had such a good relationship not only with Lu Huaiyu, but also with the Ji family?
Ning Li was about to speak when Lu Huaiyu, who was beside her, suddenly laughed and said, “I’ll definitely bring Lili over to visit you someday.”