"Big sister, I ran into two friends, so..." Jiang Yingxue began, her presence noticeably weaker in front of this matron.
The matron, named Jiang Xia, was the daughter of the third generation of the Jiang Family, belonging to the main line of descent, whereas Jiang Yingxue's lineage was one of the weakest branches within the family, barely holding any status.
Jiang Xia glanced at Lin Mo and Yingzi. Seeing that although they had an extraordinary demeanor, their clothing was plain, she frowned and said, "Yingxue, the ones attending the banquet are all top-level big shots from Jiangzhou. If you bring friends and something goes wrong, no one can save you."
"Big sister, they are all my friends. I want to take them in to have a look; they won't cause any trouble," Jiang Yingxue said in a somewhat meek tone, laced with pleading.
Jiang Yingxue, seeing Lin Mo and Yingzi here, thought they were also here to spectate and wanted to help them get inside.
Frowning, Jiang Xia warned, "Then keep an eye on your friends and don't stir up any trouble."
After speaking, Jiang Xia didn't give Lin Mo and Yingzi another look and turned to walk into the hotel.
Jiang Yingxue patted her chest, exhaled, and revealed a charming smile to Lin Mo, "Alright, we can go in now."
Lin Mo showed a wry smile but couldn't explain directly to Jiang Yingxue, so they simply walked into the banquet together.
The banquet hall covered over a thousand square meters and hosted one to two hundred people—all prominent figures from Jiangzhou, the men in suits and the women glamorous, mingling in low voices like any upper-class gathering.
The three found a corner. Lin Mo, holding a glass of 1989 Bordeaux red wine, puzzled, asked, "Mr. Jiang, how did you end up coming to Jiangzhou?"
"I came with my second uncle. I really didn't want to come, but my family insisted, and I had no choice," Jiang Yingxue sighed, a hint of helplessness in her expression.
After hearing Jiang Yingxue's explanation, Lin Mo understood.
This visit was mainly because her second uncle, the general manager of Jiyao Hall, who had never married or had children, always treated Jiang Yingxue like his own daughter, wanting to nurture her into the core circle of the Jiang Family; this caused Jiang Yingxue to be ostracized by other juniors in the family.
Lin Mo nodded, finally realize why Jiang Yingxue feared the matron from earlier.
"Mr. Jiang, rest assured, with me here, no one dares to bully you," Lin Mo said with a light smile.
Jiang Yingxue took a sip of her red wine and smiled gently, not taking his words seriously. Lin Mo, despite having initially shocked her, was after all a stranger in Jiangzhou—surely he couldn't have extensive contacts here?
"Wow, such big talk. Who said anyone was bullying our Sister Yingxue?" Suddenly, a sharp voice rang out sharply.
A young girl in a long dress and round silver earrings, wearing an off-shoulder outfit, approached with a certain arrogance on her pretty face, accompanied by a youth in a suit, around seventeen or eighteen, casually resting one hand in his pocket, his lips curved in a playful smile.
"Little Ying, Xiao Can, what brings you here?" Jiang Yingxue awkwardly said.
"Heh, if we didn't come, who knows if others might think we're secretly bullying you," Jiang Can coldly chuckled, his eyes sweeping towards Lin Mo, his gaze turning colder.
Jiang Yingxue blushed and quickly shook her head, saying, "He was just speaking offhand—this is my friend, he means no harm to you."
Jiang Can said coldly, "He dares to show no malice towards me? Have you forgotten what day it is for Sister Yingxue today, bringing people in carelessly, do you want to cause trouble?"
"They just came in to look around, they won't cause any trouble," Jiang Yingxue hurriedly explained.
"The banquet is attended by big shots, offending any one of them could cause big trouble, don't think just because your second uncle dotes on you that you can do whatever you want," Jiang Can sternly scolded.
Her second uncle, Jiang Xun, is now the general manager of Jiyao Hall, a very important person in the Jiang family. Jiang Xun has no children of his own but takes great care of Jiang Yingxue, which has elicited significant envy from other juniors in the family, especially the direct descendants, fearing that Jiang Yingxue would take over the great authority of Jiyao Hall.
Jiang Ying held a brand new Dior handbag and asked Lin Mo, "Did you two also have invitations to come in?"
Lin Mo shook his head indifferently; indeed, no one had given him any such "invitation."
Jiang Can waved his hand, and several Martial Artist Bodyguards immediately approached.
"This man has no invitation and sneaked into the banquet. Do you know how many big shots are at this banquet? If you disturb even one of them, can you bear the responsibility?" Jiang Can pointed directly at Lin Mo and rebuked coldly.
Lin Mo continued to sit casually on the sofa drinking, but his gaze flicked to a young woman not far away, who was watching the scene unfold with a somewhat gleeful expression – it was eldest sister Jiang Xia.
Lin Mo realized without thinking that it must have been Jiang Xia who deliberately had Jiang Yingxue bring him in, and then instigated the two men to come over and cause trouble, simply to embarrass Jiang Yingxue.
Upon hearing Jiang Can's words, the Martial Artist Bodyguards nodded repeatedly. Seeing dressed extravagantly, they were surely wealthy hosts, while the young man sitting on the sofa, dressed plainly, might be a thief who sneak in, looking to steal.
With the gathering visited by top-tier personalities of Jiangzhou, they couldn't afford any mishap.
"Hello, I am the head of security for this banquet, Captain Zhang," said a man about forty, dressed in a suit, walking over and smiling politely at Jiang Can.
"Oh, Captain Zhang, there is someone here who crashed the party. Please have him removed," Jiang Can said, looking down on Lin Mo from his higher position.
Jiang Yingxue looked extremely anxious, wringing her hands together with sweat, biting her thin lips, afraid of what they might do to Lin Mo, she said, "Captain Zhang, these two are my friends. They are not bad people."
"I'm not sure if they are bad people, but the organizer has rules. If there is no invitation, they cannot enter, I'm sorry," Captain Zhang replied, still looking at Lin Mo with a degree of respect, considering that nowadays many wealthy people like to pretend to be poor, and if the person actually were important, he was not someone a mere security head could afford to offend.
"Sir, please show us your invitation as we are just following procedures, and do not make things difficult for us."
"I told you I don't have an invitation, and I don't need one," Lin Mo said lightly.
"Ha ha, no invitation and still so arrogant, do you think this is a market where anyone can enter?" Jiang Can laughed loudly.
"They really aren't bad people," Jiang Yingxue's pretty face filled with anxiousness.
At that moment, a young woman accompanied by a middle-aged man walked over, the woman was indeed Jiang Xia, and the man beside her emitted a presence of an authoritative long-time supervisor, no doubt Jiang Xun, the current helmsman of Jiyao Hall.
"Yingxue, what's the matter?" Jiang Xun asked with a stern expression, frowning.