Chapter 253: Chapter 253: Birthday Banquet Face-Slapping (11) Chapter 253: Chapter 253: Birthday Banquet Face-Slapping (11) A deviation of a second or two didn’t seem like much, and even at that time, he had convinced himself that Qin Qing’s technique had improved.

But now, looking back, there was actually much more to it.

What did this have to do with Jiang Zhe, though?

Jiang Yaowang made a trip to the restroom.

When he came out, Jiang Xiruo walked up to him and asked in a low voice, “Dad, about the guests who came today…”

“I just asked Xiaozhe, and she said that most of them came for the sake of Qin Jingchen’s reputation,” he replied.

Although he felt that didn’t quite seem right.

But there wasn’t really a reason to refute this.

Jiang Xiruo thought the same and said with worry, “We just wanted to give Xiaozhe a peaceful and stable life. With things like this now, won’t it possibly drag her into matters she shouldn’t be involved in…?”

Jiang Yaowang was silent for a long time.

…

The Fen Family.

The mahjong game lasted until after eleven at night.

Right around eleven, Madam Fen, with a somewhat lazy interest, said, “Shall we play a bit longer?

Seeing that she didn’t really want to continue, everyone else tactfully responded, “It’s getting late, so perhaps that’s enough. We had a great time today.”

Madam Fen then stood up and said, “Let’s call it a night then. Next time, when we have a chance, I’ll invite everyone over again.”

Ding Yuehua secretly thought, so is the birthday surprise about to start?

She picked up her phone and walked over to her husband.

Ding Xuexue joined them as well.

They didn’t use money for stakes tonight; the mahjong game was more for fun. It was simply a matter of drinking a glass of juice or some other beverage if someone lost, but Jiang Cheng and Ding Yuehua still had a tough time playing. They couldn’t let the distinguished guests drink too much, nor could they drink too much themselves.

The weary family of three waited for Madam Fen’s birthday surprise.

Madam Fen addressed the guests, “I won’t keep you all tonight, let’s get together again next time.”

The others knew this was their cue to leave.

Ding Yuehua was startled—so did Madam Fen genuinely not plan to celebrate her birthday today and only accept New Year’s visits?

Then, for whom was the birthday banquet Fen Ye and the others were preparing?

No matter how hard she racked her brain, Ding Yuehua couldn’t think of anyone else in Beijing whose birthday was today and worth such elaborate prep and participation.

The Fen Family’s butler had already started seeing off the guests.

Jiang Cheng and Ding Yuehua were full of doubts, but it wasn’t their place to ask.

All they could do was take their birthday gift and, after saying farewell to Madam Fen, leave with their family of three.

The evening was filled with socializing, yet clearly, it did not match their expectations at all.

They hadn’t even seen Mr. Fen or Fen Ye.

Ding Xuexue had been keen on meeting Fen Ye’s circle of friends, but she hadn’t seen any of them tonight.

“Forget it, don’t think too much about it. At least we joined them in a game of mahjong, making them happy,” Ding Yuehua felt the visit wasn’t in vain.

Jiang Cheng nodded, “Since it’s still early, maybe we could stop by Jiang Zhe’s place…”

He still wanted to see if he could catch the cutting of the birthday cake.

“Are we still going this late?” Ding Yuehua was already very tired.

“I’ll check with Li Yihua to see what’s happening there,” Jiang Cheng said, unlocking his phone.

Then he found that Li Yihua had sent quite a few videos and made several calls while his phone was on silent.

He casually opened one of them and was somewhat surprised, the person appearing in the video was actually Wan Si?

Ding Yuehua also recognized the identity of the person, “Wan Si? Why would he come?”

“Mom and Dad, didn’t Jiang Zhe attend some sort of environmental lecture and exchange on new energy last time?” Ding Xuexue had inquired about this matter before.

Ding Yuehua sighed in relief, “I remember now.”

Although having such a good relationship with Wan Si was indeed rare, it wasn’t enough to shock Ding Yuehua.

Then the video moved on to Pei Yuan and Lin Huaiyuan.

Because of Lin Huaiyuan, it was normal for Pei Yuan to come in the couple’s minds.

But even so, Ding Yuehua was feeling a bit of regret; she had almost forgotten about Lin Huaiyuan.

On New Year’s Day Lin Huaiyuan didn’t come, and originally she thought that he would be even less likely to attend Jiang Zhe’s birthday banquet, not to mention that Pei Yuan would come too.

Next, the couple saw Professor Fan and Professor Zhou. Originally, they weren’t familiar with these two, but Ding Xuexue’s classmate was preparing for the Beijing Music Academy examination, so it was she who recognized their identity.

“Since you say they are professors from the Beijing Music Academy, why would they come to Jiang Zhe’s birthday party?” Ding Yuehua was very puzzled.

Jiang Cheng and Ding Xuexue had no explanation either.

But Ding Xuexue was indeed feeling some regret now, “If I had known they were there, I could have gone today and asked about the admission situation for a few of my friends.”

The mother and daughter were already feeling an uncontrollable sense of regret.

When they got to the last video, they were even more surprised to see Wu Jiang there, and Jiang Cheng and Ding Yuehua exchanged glances.

“Isn’t that Fen Ye and Qin He?” Ding Xuexue, with her sharp eyes, saw the two people who flickered past in one of the videos.

However, it was obvious that the person filming the short video was already distracted, not paying much attention to filming anymore, and the video ended shortly thereafter.

And after this video was sent, no other videos were sent afterward.

Ding Xuexue replayed the video, and sure enough, it was Fen Ye and Qin He!

How is that possible?

Why are there so many people appearing at Jiang Zhe’s birthday party?

Neither the mother and daughter nor Jiang Cheng could figure it out.

But no matter what, these people had arrived at the scene, whether for Jiang Zhe himself or for Jiang Yaowang, it could be said that their attendance was of great value.

They had spent the entire day at the Fen Family’s residence and only seen a few people, yet so many influential figures appeared at Jiang Zhe’s birthday banquet.

In the car, Ding Yuehua pursed her lips, saying nothing.

Ding Xuexue, internally regretting her decision, silently mulled over whether the birthday celebration Fen Ye and the others talked about was actually prepared for Jiang Zhe?

She looked at the group chat, tranquil as a calm sea, nobody was speaking.

When she had created this group chat, with so many people in it, whatever she said would usually get a response from everyone.

Whether it was going out to have fun or anything else, nobody specifically avoided her, and she had joined them many times.

But this time…

A feeling of being excluded surfaced, and it was highly possible that these people were excluding her because of Jiang Zhe.

Her mind was a confused mess, and Ding Xuexue couldn’t describe how she felt.

“Honey, let’s go to the hotel where the birthday party was,” Ding Yuehua said, not ready to give up.

The three of them went to the hotel together.

As expected, there wasn’t a single guest left; a waiter was just putting the last chair in its place.

“I’ll call Li Yihua,” Ding Yuehua finally realized that Li Yihua was still there.

He would definitely know what had happened at the event.