Chapter 86: Core Formation Visit
I must say, Lin Yao’s move proved to be quite effective.
By stepping forward to shield Jiang Cheng from drinking, not to mention whether she could hold her liquor, the gesture alone made it very clear that she was refusing social drinking on his behalf.
All the adults around were sharp-witted; who wouldn’t understand Lin Yao’s intent?
Or perhaps, was it Lin Yao’s own idea to step forward, or was it Jiang Cheng’s?
These matters were not fit for direct mention, but everyone understood implicitly.
It was no longer appropriate to urge more drinking, but ribbing her a few times was still inevitable.
“Wow, who could’ve guessed that young Jiang suffers from bronchitis?”
“Ha ha, his little wife won’t let him drink, huh.”
“Tch, tch, it’s good to see young love. My wife, hey, she’s practically got her fist imprinted on my face.”
“Let’s disperse, let’s disperse. We’ll drink another time.”
Jiang Cheng hadn’t thought much about attending the advancement celebration banquet.
What could possibly happen just by eating a meal?
It was just a bit unexpected to run into Principal Yang on the way.
And then he got somewhat bewilderingly pulled to the adults’ table to eat.
If Jiang Cheng had a choice, he’d have preferred to sit at the kids’ table, as he didn’t quite know how to drink alcohol and wasn’t familiar with social interactions.
But Lin Yao’s appearance was even more bizarre. What was she doing at Sun Yuan’s celebration banquet? What exactly was her situation?
“What are you planning to do?”
Considering it was Sun Yuan’s celebration today, it wasn’t nice for Jiang Cheng to just slip away, and it wasn’t good to make a scene with Lin Yao, so he asked her softly.
“Yao’er noticed that Shixiong doesn’t enjoy social drinking, so I took it upon myself to help Shixiong out.”
Lin Yao said with her head lowered, biting her lip.
She was afraid she had done something wrong again, upsetting Jiang Cheng.
Jiang Cheng found Lin Yao’s submissive demeanor even more puzzling.
He already thought it peculiar for Lin Yao to attend the advancement banquet, not to mention that the enchantress now spoke without arrogance, seemingly undergoing a drastic change in personality, as if she had become a completely different person.
“Classmate Lin, since you’re here, don’t leave just yet. Let’s add a stool for you to sit next to Jiang Cheng,” suggested Yang Lingbao.
Yet, Lin Yao didn’t directly heed Principal Yang’s words; seeing that Jiang Cheng seemed unwilling, she quickly expressed her understanding: “No need to trouble you, Principal. My classmates are waiting for me over there.”
Then, Lin Yao turned her face towards Jiang Cheng, and the tenderness in her eyes tightened his brow.
“Jiang Shixiong, Yao’er is going back now.”
“Mhm,” Jiang Cheng nodded.
Sun Yuan, who had been watching the drama unfold, was so shocked that his mouth remained open for a long time, unable to close it.
The girl he had always admired, Lin Yao, the goddess of Wuyue Advanced Middle School, why did she seem like an obedient little wife in front of his cousin?
Could someone explain to him what on earth was happening?
Actually, not only Sun Yuan but even Jiang Cheng himself couldn’t understand the situation.
Based on what he knew of Lin Yao’s character from before, she should have been insistent on causing a scene just now; how could she kindly help him out and then quietly leave without making a fuss?
Could it be that the enchantress’s tactics had upgraded?
Witnessing Lin Yao’s docile behavior in front of Jiang Cheng made Zhou Yiwen’s heart bleed.
By this point, Zhou Yiwen had nothing left to hold back.
He had to put on a big show, covering up all of Jiang Cheng’s earlier spotlight!
Fortunately, the owner of Weishou Restaurant was a friend of his father’s, and using his father’s connections should not be a problem.
Zhou Yiwen had already decided that even if using this influence meant he might get beaten up when he got home, he had to do it today no matter what!
Zhou Yiwen walked out of the restaurant and took out his communication talisman to call Zhou Yunshan.
“Dad, didn’t you say you knew the owner of Weishou Restaurant? Give me his contact info; I need a small favor from him.”
“What do you need him for?”
“Aren’t we having my classmate’s brother’s advancement celebration? I was thinking of ordering a few more impressive dishes for him.”
“Impressive dishes? That’s good, we’ve already prepared them. I can’t talk much now, your father is busy.”
Already prepared?
Zhou Yiwen was momentarily stunned, not quite processing the news, when he heard a commotion inside the restaurant.
Turns out a team of waiters had emerged from the kitchen and started serving dishes.
And the dishes that came out last were rare and expensive delicacies, one after another.
Zhou Yiwen was dumbfounded.
How could someone have the same idea as him?
He had also planned to splurge on good food and then ask the owner of Weishou Restaurant to personally come out and sing his praises…
Sure enough, whatever Zhou Yiwen thought came true.
The owner of Weishou did indeed grab the microphone and assume the role of emcee.
But unfortunately, it wasn’t Zhou Yiwen whom the Weishou owner was praising, but Sun Qing, Sun Yuan, and—Jiang Cheng!
What puzzled Zhou Yiwen even more was that his father, Zhou Yunshan, had personally come!
“Dad?”
Zhou Yiwen stood at the restaurant entrance, incredulously watching Zhou Yunshan walk out from the back kitchen of the restaurant.
“Yiwen? Why are you standing over there? Come on, come with Dad to toast to today’s guest of honor.”
Zhou Yunshan was very pleased with the arrangements the owner of Weishou had set up and began to introduce Zhou Yiwen and Jiang Cheng to each other.
“Master Jiang. This must be Principal Yang, right? Dean Chen, Mr. Sun, this is my son Zhou Yiwen. He’s a bit mischievous usually, but he came specially today to apologize, so please be patient with him.”
Even though Zhou Yunshan was considerate of each person, his partiality towards Jiang Cheng was quite apparent in everything he said.
It seemed that, to Zhou Yunshan, Zhou Yiwen was his son, but Jiang Cheng was not his son’s classmate, but his own friend.
Zhou Yiwen was feeling quite uncomfortable now.
He had planned to put on an air of importance, to elevate his image in Lin Yao’s heart, but his dad came, his dad put on the air for him, and then his dad even treated Jiang Cheng as an equal.
He was bewildered, and before he knew it, he had suddenly become a junior to Jiang Cheng!
Zhou Yiwen felt extremely aggrieved, but there was someone who was even more aggrieved than Zhou Yiwen.
It was Tang Qian.
Tang Qian was sitting next to Lin Yao at that moment, wishing she could just crawl into a hole and hide.
She came to this so-called promotion banquet hoping to see Jiang Cheng make a fool of himself and Lin Yao face humiliation for picking the wrong Cultivator as her partner.
But as it turned out, Jiang Cheng unexpectedly showed strength.
Not only did he appear quite at ease, but his connections were also deep and wide.
What made Tang Qian feel even more embarrassed was that Jiang Cheng could converse as an equal with many middle-aged figures of considerable influence.
If one were to consider seniority, both she, Tang Qian, and Chen Shuai’s girlfriend, Xie Linshan, turned out to be juniors to Lin Yao!
What did being a junior mean?
It meant that if Tang Qian wanted to observe proper etiquette and be a person of decorum, she would be put in her place by Lin Yao, who was senior to her.
And this gap in seniority was not something effort could bridge.
As long as she married Zhou Yiwen and Lin Yao married Jiang Cheng, Tang Qian would be trampled underfoot by Lin Yao for the rest of her life!
Tang Qian couldn’t accept that.
Especially when she saw Jiang Cheng confidently chatting with other Cultivators, while her boyfriend Zhou Yiwen was timidly hiding behind his father.
She really wanted to call Zhou Yiwen a good-for-nothing!
But then, Tang Qian soon came to terms with it because she would realize that it wasn’t that Zhou Yiwen wasn’t trying, it was just that he was no match for Jiang Cheng.
In the midst of the eating, drinking, and chatting at Weishou Restaurant…
A middle-aged man dressed in ancient costumes slowly made his way into the restaurant’s entrance.
The moment he entered, the laughter in the place involuntarily ceased.
Since on him, there emanated a powerful aura unique to a Core Formation Cultivator, sweeping across all the space from the moment he stepped into the restaurant.
But that wasn’t all.
Following him came one, two more.
In total, three Core Formation Cultivators made an abrupt appearance inside the restaurant.
No one in the entire place spoke a word.
There were only a few Core Formation elders in Wuyue to begin with, and now three had arrived, which likely meant that half of Wuyue’s Core Formation experts were present.
Everyone was guessing the purpose of the Core Formation elders’ visit. In their minds, only a matter concerning the whole of Wuyue would warrant a personal visit from a Core Formation Cultivator.
The first to break the silence among the three Core Formation cultivators, the one with the fiercest appearance, spoke up.
“Haha, Jiang, my friend, we meet again.”
Lei Buxiao was quite delighted at the moment; he had been on the receiving end of Jiang Cheng’s torment last time, but now he was just a spectator.
He was all about enjoying the drama to the fullest.
And what could be more enjoyable than watching Jiang Cheng give someone else a hard time?
Peng, when you encounter Jiang Cheng just accept it!
Hahahahaha!