HBWMA -Chapter 159 No Lack of Manners

Shen Qingyu knew he couldn’t persuade the old lady, so he could only hope the banquet would fall into chaos and end in an unpleasant mess. As long as his grandmother didn’t openly cause a scene in public, there would still be room to salvage things.

Jiang Huashan finally understood what was going on, but she was a bit confused. “Old Madam Gu wants to take you away? Why don’t you go?”

As long as Shen Lanxi and Shen Guiling were in the Shen family, Shen Qingyu would never be seen. In fact, returning to the Gu family might not necessarily be a bad thing for him. In her previous life, Shen Qingyu only had the chance to showcase his abilities after returning to the Gu family—only, time had not been on his side.

Shen Qingyu lifted his eyelids slightly. “Why should I leave?”

Jiang Huashan said, “Don’t you hate your father? If you leave the Shen family, you can get away from him.”

Shen Qingyu curled his lips. “Don’t you hate your mother? So what did you do?”

Jiang Huashan paused slightly and looked at him.

She hated Fang Mei, which was why she had tried every possible way to drive her out of the Shen residence. Was Shen Qingyu telling her that he would also drive Shen Yuan out of the Shen family?

After thinking for a moment, Jiang Huashan pressed her hand against the gold card on the table. “So what you really want is to stop Old Madam Gu from publicly tearing things apart with the Shen family, not to ruin the banquet?”

No matter how much of a child’s drama it was, there would always be a way to smooth things over after a scene. But if Old Madam Gu chose such an important occasion to humiliate the Shen family, then whatever remaining courtesy between the two families would likely be gone.

Most importantly, he didn’t want the old master to become suspicious of the Gu family.

Shen Qingyu nodded. “Grandfather dotes on you. Only if you handle this will he let it slide lightly.”

Jiang Huashan tapped her fingers lightly. “Last question. Brother Qingyu, why do you insist on staying?”

—

Jiang Huashan had only been dragged out of the banquet hall by Shen Qingyu for a short while when the banquet officially began.

They were not the protagonists of the event, so whether they were present or not didn’t affect the proceedings.

As the representative of the Shen family, Shen Zhuang went on stage with Shen Lanxi supporting him. After a few formal, polite remarks, he naturally brought Shen Lanxi into the spotlight.

As the main focus of the banquet, Shen Lanxi performed flawlessly—graceful in speech, neither arrogant nor submissive. In just a few sentences, he won the favor of everyone present, and the hall erupted in applause.

After the speech ended, the banquet officially began.

Shen Zhuang led Shen Lanxi through the crowd, toasting and exchanging greetings. After a round of socializing, he let Shen Lanxi face the guests seeking introductions on his own.

Returning to his seat, Shen Zhi thoughtfully brought over health tea. Shen Zhuang took a sip and looked around. “Where are Shanshan and Qingyu? They still haven’t come back?”

Shen Zhi shook his head. “The Gu family steward followed them out but was sent back.”

At that moment, Old Master Zhou approached with a glass of wine to toast. Shen Zhuang immediately stood up with a smile to respond.

In the banquet hall, Shen Qian was leading Shen Guiling through the crowd. Everyone was curious about Shen Guiling and kept casting assessing glances at him.

The young man stood quietly to the side—his brows clear and refined, gentle and composed. Every girl who saw him couldn’t help but blush.

Old Madam Gu’s gaze moved back and forth between Shen Lanxi and Shen Guiling, a deep, dark light gradually forming in her eyes.

These two young men from the Shen family were indeed outstanding. No wonder Shen Zhuang didn’t take her little Qingyu seriously at all.

The old lady lowered her eyes and lightly tapped the table with her palm before slowly standing up.

If they didn’t care for him, then she would take the child back. From now on, each family would go its own way.

Old Madam Gu held her wine glass, walking straight through the crowd toward the stage. On her way, she casually took the microphone from the stand.

“Sorry to interrupt everyone’s enjoyment.”

Most guests were busy socializing and didn’t notice someone walking onto the stage. By the time they reacted, the old lady was already prepared to break things off completely.

The guests froze, confused, looking toward the central stage.

Shen Zhuang frowned, the smile on his face fading slightly.

There were security guards at the banquet, but Old Madam Gu was the matriarch of the Gu family—who would dare act disrespectfully in front of everyone? She had clearly counted on this and acted without fear.

“Today, with everyone present, I represent the Gu family to announce an important matter. From today on, the Shen—”

“Where are the Shen family’s maids?”

Another amplified voice suddenly cut in, overlapping her words. The two sounds collided, and the hall instantly erupted into a sharp screech. Guests covered their ears in distress.

Shen Guiling lowered his head and rubbed his ear. Shen Lanxi turned his head slightly with his eyes closed. When they looked up again, they saw someone had returned with a megaphone.

“….”

Jiang Huashan slipped into the banquet hall with a smooth ghost-step, then gave a deep bow toward the central seat where Shen Zhuang was. “Grandpa, sorry to keep you waiting! The game starts now!”

Shen Zhuang glanced at Old Madam Gu and reluctantly nodded.

Old Madam Gu had just nearly been blasted away by that screech and was still recovering when she saw someone daring to make a mockery in front of her. She immediately flew into a rage, gripping the microphone tightly.

“What game time? Didn’t you see I was speaking?”

Jiang Huashan, with two speakers strapped at her waist and a megaphone in hand, said loudly, “Old Madam, this doesn’t follow banquet procedure. The game was scheduled for this afternoon. Cutting in line is bad manners.”

“Bad manners?!”

Old Madam Gu stared at her in disbelief. She had ruled the Gu family for twenty years and no one had ever dared speak to her like that.

Shen Qingyu, hiding behind the door, covered his face in despair.

Didn’t he already tell her the old lady had a heart condition and couldn’t be angered?

She didn’t hear a single word…