After the Fake Young Master Ran Away with His Child, the Villain Went Crazy - Chapter 3

The banquet venue was not far away. It took about half an hour by car to get there. This banquet was being held for Old Mr. Chen’s one-hundredth birthday. The younger members of the Chen family had invited quite a few people to celebrate the joyous occasion.

There were very few elders who lived to be a hundred. Even in their circle, one might not see such a person for decades. So this time, aside from a few important figures whom the Chen family had personally visited to invite, the rest had all been sent invitations. As for the remaining people who wanted to come, they could attend as well. All they had to do was report the name of their company to the staff at the front desk. Because of that, the number of guests attending this time would definitely be unusually large.

Yan Jin had also received an invitation, not under Yan Chengnan’s name, but as the boss of Weiyu Technology.

Jing Ruan watched as the car passed by the parking lot. The outside of the lot was densely packed with vehicles. After passing through the parking lot and entering the underground garage, someone was there to guide them.

Once the car was parked, the guide first asked for their identities, then led them toward an elevator. There were six elevators here. The guide took out an identity card and swiped it against the elevator. The elevator doors opened.

Everything felt new and fascinating to Jing Ruan. His eyes stayed fixed on the display screen inside the elevator. The screen showed the process for attending the banquet, and it had thoughtfully marked where the main banquet hall was located.

The elevator rose to the eighth floor and opened with a ding.

After the doors opened, the staff waiting outside immediately led them toward the front hall. During the entire process, they made no idle chatter and showed no overly enthusiastic attempts to curry favor. They truly achieved a robot-like coldness.

After crossing an aerial corridor, they arrived at another building. The doors of the banquet hall in that building were tightly shut, with eight bodyguards lined up separately at the entrance.

Jing Ruan followed Yan Jin through layer after layer of security. Curious, he asked in a quiet voice.

“There are so many people protecting everyone.”

It had been three months since Jing Ruan came to this world. He had learned many things from watching television. There were similar scenes on TV too, but this place was even more luxurious and imposing than what he had seen there.

Yan Jin knew the Jing family belonged to the lowest tier and that Jing Ruan might never have attended a banquet like this before, so he tilted his head slightly and lowered his voice to explain.

“The Yan family will also be sending someone to attend this banquet. Not only will the Yan family come, but several families on good terms with them will also send people. All of this is to ensure their safety.”

Yan Jin knew which people those families would send. Yan Yi He had entered the family business at sixteen and gained a firm foothold by eighteen. The Yan family’s ancestors had already been wealthy enough to rival a nation. After generations of accumulation, the Yan family was like a towering tree, casting its shade over the entire Z City.

The Yan family did not have those messy dramas common in wealthy families, with illegitimate children and endless scandals. Each generation’s family head recognized only one child. Whether that child was biological or adopted from another branch, whether boy or girl, as long as their intelligence met the selection standard, they would be designated as heir after an appraisal.

All of this was to ensure the concentration and control of power.

When that child reached the age of six, several children would be chosen from the other families attached to the Yan family. They would grow up alongside the heir and become the child’s left and right hands.

It was truly an all-around top-tier education from childhood to adulthood. After the heir entered the group at sixteen, if they failed to gain the approval of the elders and could not gain a firm foothold within two years, then the previous retired family head would have to select a new heir and begin training them.

A true genius would not be a late bloomer.

Most would show signs of it in childhood.

And so, after this wolf-like education was passed down generation after generation, it had truly made the Yan family into an unshakable empire.

As the new-generation person in power of the Yan family, Yan Yi He’s security would naturally not be light. Old Mr. Chen had been a subordinate of the previous previous Yan family head. This time, for the old gentleman’s one-hundredth birthday, the Yan family heir would certainly appear.

What was more, Chen Fu was also a direct descendant of the Chen family and had already been designated as the Chen family heir. From childhood, he had been chosen by the Yan family as one of Yan Yi He’s playmates and had grown up with Yan Yi He.

Jing Ruan listened to Yan Jin’s explanation, half understanding and half not. He did not quite understand the specifics. He only knew that very impressive people had come to attend the banquet.

Once they arrived at the main banquet hall, the guests passed through the security checkpoint before they were considered to have officially reached the venue. Gifts were not required for this banquet. Yan Jin found Jing Ruan an empty seat and told him he would be back soon.

Jing Ruan watched Yan Jin walk to the very front of the banquet hall. Quite a few people were gathered there. An old man sat in a chair, with several cushions placed in front of him. Yan Jin bent his knees and knelt on one of the cushions, then kowtowed once. The juniors beside the old man quietly reminded him by his ear who the visitor was.

After Yan Jin finished kowtowing, the old man nodded with a smile. He grabbed a handful of small objects from the tray beside him and gave them to Yan Jin. After greeting him, Yan Jin brought the small objects back.

Yan Jin casually handed the items in his hand to Jing Ruan.

“Here, take them. They’re things blessed with good fortune. The meaning is auspicious.”

Jing Ruan reached out with both hands to receive them.

Once the items fell into his hands, Jing Ruan’s eyes widened. He almost let out a wow. In his hands were several little longevity peaches, made of gold, jade, gemstones, and wood.

Yan Jin smiled as he watched Jing Ruan fondle the little trinkets admiringly. These things were made according to the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. In truth, no one here lacked such small things, but because they carried blessings, everyone would come to ask for a few on behalf of the younger members of their family.

Jing Ruan knew these things were valuable. When Yan Jin turned to look elsewhere, Jing Ruan secretly picked up the little longevity peach made of gold and bit it. Once he bit down, a shallow tooth mark was left behind.

Wow, it really was gold!

The top of the banquet hall was completely covered in bulletproof glass, and the soundproofing was very good too. At this moment, someone saw several helicopters hovering in the sky.

Chen Fu, Yan Yi He, and the others had already arrived. They had been here for a little while. Originally, they were going to come down immediately, but Yan Qian’s sharp eyes had spotted Yan Jin, so he told Yan Yi He to wait a moment before going down. He wanted to see what kind of trick Yan Jin was up to.

Yan Yi He stood beside the helicopter cabin door, holding a pair of binoculars in his hand. He watched the bustle inside the banquet hall from beginning to end. That naturally included the banquet hall’s entrance of an out-of-place little mouse. Yan Yi He simply could not understand what was so worth biting about gold that this person had to bite each one in turn.

“Yan Qian, has your family fallen into poverty?”

Yan Yi He raised a hand and pointed at the person beside Yan Jin.

Yan Qian felt humiliated. What was that illegitimate son Yan Jin doing, bringing someone like this to attend the banquet?

Did he not know that the words and actions of the person he brought were tied to himself? If the other party embarrassed himself, that also meant Yan Jin’s own face was lost.

“Probably some little lover he has his eye on. Didn’t that person save him too? Maybe there’s a life-saving benefactor halo added on. For something like a little lover, what etiquette would anyone expect?”

“I thought he would like that woman, but who knew he’d actually gotten close to this person recently instead?”

Yan Qian tried to salvage the Yan family’s dignity.

“Go down first.”

Yan Yi He ordered his people to descend and land the helicopter on the platform. People had already been waiting on the platform for a long time. Seeing that these few had finally come down, they let out breaths of relief.

They had been hovering for so long without coming down that the people below had thought something about the banquet had been poorly arranged. Their hearts had risen into their throats.

Yan Yi He stepped down from the helicopter. He walked at the very front, with about five people following behind him. Only after that did the people waiting on the platform follow at their sides.

“Yi He, you’re here. The old gentleman has been talking about you for a long time. He said he hasn’t seen you in ages, and since it’s rare to see you, he wants to talk to you more.”

Chen Shi walked beside Chen Fu. First, he exchanged a few greetings with Yan Yi He, then signaled with his eyes for Chen Fu to fall back a step. In a low voice, he asked why they had been hovering just now and had delayed coming down for so long.

“It’s nothing. Don’t overthink it. We were watching Yan Jin make a joke of himself.”

After saying this, Chen Fu patted his father’s shoulder. Without another useless word or any further pleasantries, he strode after the others without looking back.

Bitterness welled faintly in Chen Shi’s heart. His son had been sent to the Yan family when he was young, so he was not close to him as his father. His son would only take Yan Yi He as his highest authority, and he would never betray Yan Yi He.

Yan Yi He stepped into the hall, leading the group to Old Mr. Chen’s side. The people gathered around the old gentleman and talking to him consciously moved aside, opening up the most central space.

Yan Yi He walked up to the prayer cushion, knelt, and kowtowed once. With a smile, he said a few auspicious words. Old Mr. Chen was so excited that he wanted to rise. A junior on each side of him supported him to his feet.

“Good child. It’s rare that you had the heart to come.”

Tears glimmered in the old gentleman’s eyes. Trembling, he stretched out a hand to help Yan Yi He up. Yan Yi He used the old man’s supporting gesture to stand.

The old gentleman grabbed a handful of items from the tray beside him, held them in both hands, and gave them to Yan Yi He. Yan Yi He accepted them.

Yan Yi He casually handed the things in his hand to Yan Qian, asking him to hold them for him. Then he walked to the old gentleman’s side and supported him back to his seat.

After he sat down, the people Yan Yi He had brought each kowtowed to the old gentleman one by one. Each person received a handful of little blessed trinkets. However, this time the old gentleman did not get up to help anyone. After all, he was very old, and it was inconvenient for him to move too much. Aside from Yan Yi He, no matter who came to kowtow, he did not rise again.

After Yan Yi He arrived, everyone surrounded him and escorted him toward the far right side of the banquet hall. There, the building extended outward into an L-shaped sky terrace. From the terrace, one could look down over several buildings.

The guests in the other buildings could also see the terrace from the windows. At that moment, fireworks celebrating the birthday began to launch from the top floor.

Yan Yi He raised his head and looked at the fireworks in the sky. After watching for a few moments, he turned to speak to Yan Qian.

“Have the helicopters prepare. It can begin.”

Everyone else could choose not to present their sincere regards, but the Yan family could not. The Chen family was attached to them, so as a show of grace, they would send something.

Yan Qian stepped aside, pressed his earpiece, and notified the people waiting in the distance to begin the operation.

Amid the grand fireworks, five helicopters flew over from afar. Iron chains hung beneath them, and tied to the chains was an enormous wooden box.

The helicopters flew closer and lowered the wooden box. The Chen family sent people to dismantle the box, and only then did the many guests roughly see what was inside. It was five statues made of jade.

What was displayed before everyone were five statues of the Five Blessings offering birthday congratulations.

Each statue was as tall as an adult. The jade had not a single impurity and was one uniform color throughout. High-quality jade was not difficult to find. What was difficult was finding pieces this large, and ones without even the slightest trace of mixed coloring at that.

What was more, there were five statues of this size.

Jing Ruan stood by the glass window, taking in everything happening on the terrace. His eyes were filled with intense envy.

The banquet began, and the guests started eating. Jing Ruan wanted to eat too, but Yan Jin called him over to help. Jing Ruan thought he could just eat when he came back later.

So he swallowed silently and followed.

Yan Jin knew that the people following Yan Yi He were definitely people whose families would not give up this chance to make connections. They would certainly each send someone to call them away.

“Jing Ruan, when you go over later, just say you want to find Mr. Yan. If they don’t let you in, come back. If they let you in, go find Mr. Yan and ask him one question.”

Yan Jin carefully instructed Jing Ruan.

Jing Ruan nodded heavily and set off with his mission in his heart.