246: Chapter 242 Engagement 246: Chapter 242 Engagement Sun Jinzhong and Brother Qiang had arrived in Yang City on the third day in the afternoon.
When there is an interest between people, their relations become much closer to each other.
The reason why they were so enthusiastic and diligent definitely had a lot to do with Chen Hai’s plans to buy a factory and let the two of them run it.
Otherwise, nobody would be idly coming to Yang City all the way from Liuyuan County thousands of miles away in such a hurry.
Of course, this is human nature, and there’s nothing much to be said about it.
No matter the reason, since they were willing to make an effort and come here all the way from Liuyuan County, Chen Hai was willing to accept their kindness.
“Cousin, what kind of alcohol should we arrange for the banquet?”
“For the spirits, let’s just go with Moutai.
For beer and beverages, whichever is more expensive, let’s go with that…”
“Alright, I’ll go out and order these drinks right now.”
“Chen Hai, for the banquet, the hotel has given us quite a few options, which one should we choose?”
“The most expensive kind?
The Supreme Banquet at 8,888 yuan per table?
Let’s just go with that one then.”
…
Although it was merely an engagement banquet, there were quite a few things that Chen Hai and his party had to get busy with.
He was somewhat reluctant to let his parents, Chen Zhonghua and Jiang Meixian, arrange the banquet.
After all, they were used to saving every penny they could in their day-to-day lives.
If they were asked to book a banquet, who knows what they would end up choosing.
When you hold a banquet at a hotel, you generally have to arrange the alcohol yourself!
After the arrival of Sun Jinzhong and Brother Qiang, there were indeed quite a few areas in which they could help.
With them there, Chen Hai could also find time to take care of other matters.
Like arranging the tailoring of attire or the purchasing of items such as necklaces and rings.
For these kinds of things, his parents couldn’t be of much help, and everything depended on Chen Hai’s own decisions.
During this time, Ye Qingqing had come to the hotel several times to meet Chen Hai.
Ye Rongzhong and Song Ling had also visited several times.
Compared to Chen Hai’s side, the Ye Family had many more matters to take care of, likely several times more.
Time flew, and in a blink, it was December 22nd, the day when Chen Hai and Ye Qingqing formally got engaged.
Around ten o’clock in the morning, the two of them were already at the entrance of a Chinese restaurant banquet hall on the third floor of the Black Swan Hotel, starting to receive guests.
“Chen Hai, this is my great-uncle.”
“Chen Hai, this is my third brother, from my second uncle’s family.”
“Chen Hai, this is my uncle, and this is Yingying sister.”
…
As a top-level wealthy family, the Ye Family’s social connections were intricate and complex.
Even though it was just an engagement banquet, Ye Rongzhong and Song Ling, despite claiming to keep it simple and low-profile, not intending to make a big deal out of it, ended up with two to three hundred guests arriving.
With so many people, even though Ye Qingqing introduced them, Chen Hai could only remember a very small number of them.
His face was already stiff from all the smiling!
If this wasn’t his engagement banquet, an event that probably happens only once in a lifetime, he would have longed to slip away at heart!
“Lil’ Hai, congratulations, congratulations!
Now that you and Qingqing are engaged, you’re really together officially!”
A wheelchair was slowly pushed by two black-clad bodyguards near the entrance to the banquet hall.
Uncle Ban, sitting on it, warmly greeted Chen Hai and Ye Qingqing.
“Uncle Ban, welcome, welcome, and thank you for making the trip all the way from the Capital City to Yang City!”
Chen Hai was quite familiar with Uncle Ban and was also delighted by his arrival.
“You and Qingqing getting engaged, how could I not come!”
“Your father-in-law, he’s something, isn’t he?
Such a big event, and he didn’t even notify me.”
“Lucky for me, Qingqing remembered my kindness and gave me a call!”
Uncle Ban laughed and seeing Ye Rongzhong chatting with someone not far away, he raised his voice and shouted, “Ye, your Brother Ban is here, come out and receive your guest…”
His actions were purely in jest.
Given his relationship with Ye Rongzhong, they knew each other since they were in open-crotch trousers.
After so many years of friendship, besides him, there are very few people in the whole Yanhuang Country who would dare to holler at Ye Rongzhong like that.
“Brother Ban, you’re here, let me wheel you in; we brothers haven’t hung out in years, I’ll accompany you and have a good few drinks today.”
“Not many people from the Capital City side were invited for Qingqing’s engagement!”
“But for you, Brother Ban, it’s different; I had Qingqing personally call and invite you…”
Seeing Brother Ban in the wheelchair, Ye Rongzhong, who was in the midst of a conversation, hurriedly halted his speech and came over with a beaming smile.
Regardless of whether his words were true or false, as soon as he said them, Brother Ban felt much better in his heart.
He also noticed the guests in the banquet hall.
Just as Ye Rongzhong had said, most of the guests were from Yuedong, and there were hardly a few from the Capital City.
His two bodyguards temporarily stepped aside.
Ye Rongzhong pushed him along, chatting as they headed toward the banquet hall.
Hou Donggui and Li Dajiang, the two guests personally invited by Chen Hai, had already arrived early in the banquet hall.
However, both of them knew their place, aware that many of the guests who came here were influential people they seldom saw in daily life; they just sat quietly in a corner.
Chen Hai needed to greet guests and didn’t have time to catch up with them.
The so-called matter of giving Chen Hai face wasn’t even brought up.
Hou Donggui just sat honestly, sipping tea.
Li Dajiang, the guy with a flattering smile, would hurriedly butter up anyone who sat near him, respectfully presenting his business card.
Whether his actions could pull in connections was another matter, but in his view, becoming familiar with these big shots was also a good thing.
Although he wasn’t very clear about the identities of the guests entering the banquet hall,
in the corner, he had already seen several familiar faces that he had only seen on TV news before.
The shock in Sun Jinzhong and Brother Qiang’s hearts as they helped out, greeting and bidding farewell to guests and offering cigarettes, was indescribable.
Their knowledge and vision were very limited,
but the conversations among those guests, they had vaguely overheard some.
Just the bits and pieces they unintentionally overheard were enough to make Sun Jinzhong and Brother Qiang tremble, their limbs barely obeying them!
“From now on, we can’t just call him Chen Hai, we have to respectfully call him Brother Hai!”
“Damn, and to think they said I would wear the Yellow Robe in the future?
Turns out, he’s the real boss who could wear the Yellow Robe!”
While occasionally glancing toward the door, Brother Qiang thought to himself.
He used to scalp train tickets in Yuedong, over in Huizhou.
Just now, he saw a big shot from Huizhou City he had recognized from television, appearing in this banquet hall.
And in this banquet hall, that big shot seemed to nowhere near the top!
He was all smiles in front of many people, full of respect.
Brother Qiang was no fool; he naturally guessed that among the mysterious guests inside the hall, there must be quite a few who were even more powerful than that Huizhou big shot.
Brother Qiang had some guesses about the family background of Chen Hai’s fiancee, Ye Qingqing.
Thinking back to the time in Liuyuan County not long ago, the fight he had over Ye Qingqing being harassed excited him greatly.
As for Sun Jinzhong, although he knew nothing about Ye Family in Yuedong, he could tell that the arriving guests were all imposing figures, definitely rich or noble.
With such a formidable background behind his cousin Chen Hai, how could following him turn out badly in the future?
At the thought, he was incredibly excited too.
If anyone felt most awkward and uncomfortable in the banquet hall, it had to be Chen Zhonghua and Jiang Meixian, the parents of Chen Hai.
As Chen Hai’s parents, many of the arriving guests took the initiative to congratulate them and exchanged a few pleasantries with them.
But those who could barely speak Mandarin could only grin foolishly.
The business topics spoken out loud by the guests from the commercial sector during their conversations were often about deals amounting to hundreds of millions or even billions.
As for those from the political sphere, their mutual address included titles, each more prominent than the last.
For Chen Zhonghua and Jiang Meixian, who had never left Liuyuan County all their lives, even a town mayor was an absolute high official.
The conversations between the guests in the hall, inadvertently overheard by them,
just a word or two was enough to make them shiver with fear.
“Qingqing, how come you didn’t notify me of your engagement?”
“If it weren’t for someone else telling me about it, I wouldn’t even know that you suddenly got engaged to someone else.”
“I came straight back from the USA as soon as I received the news.”
“I’m coming uninvited.
I wonder if you and Uncle Ye will welcome my arrival!”
Around half past twelve, the guests who should have arrived at the banquet hall had mostly gone inside, and some, in a hurry and after a quick apology, had already left.
Right when Chen Hai and Ye Qingqing were about to enter the banquet hall, a young man around twenty-four or twenty-five, wearing a neat suit and holding a large basket of flowers, walked unhurriedly to the entrance of the banquet hall.
With a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, he greeted Ye Qingqing, then his gaze landed on Chen Hai.
“So you’re Qingqing’s fiance, Chen Hai?”
“When I first heard the name, I thought you were from the Chen Family in Shanghai.”
“It was only later that I found out I was wrong.
For someone from a family like yours to marry Qingqing, that’s a huge blessing.
If you dare treat Qingqing badly, watch out, I’ll break your legs.”
The young man’s face was still sunny and bright as he smiled, but his words carried a thick undercurrent of disdain.