Birthday Banquet

"Hello?"

Su Ye answered the phone.

"Hello? Fourth Brother, how have you been lately?"

The caller was Su Ye's college classmate and roommate. There had been four of them in their dorm, and they had gotten along well.

They had ranked themselves by age, and Su Ye was the youngest, so everyone called him Fourth Brother.

"Big Brother? What made you think of calling me?"

Su Ye teased.

"Didn't you see the messages in the class group chat?"

Big Brother asked on the other end of the line.

"I was too busy today and didn't check. What did they say?"

"Wu Zhaolong is planning a class reunion in Guanhai City the day after tomorrow. Are you going?"

Wu Zhaolong had been Su Ye's class monitor in college. He was rather snobbish, and his father was said to be an executive at a publicly listed company, so his family had a little money. He had kept a high profile at school and rarely spent time with Su Ye and the others.

"The day after tomorrow? I'll see when the time comes. If I go, I'll give you guys a call," Su Ye said.

"Sure, I'll hang up now. Talk to you the day after tomorrow!"

Big Brother said on the other end of the line.

Su Ye hung up and opened the class group chat. There were already more than ninety-nine messages. He couldn't be bothered to read them one by one, so he gave them a quick look and left the chat. Meanwhile, the others were still chatting away, with Wu Zhaolong at the center of it all.

Su Ye had originally been interning in Guanhai City too, but the head office had too many people, so he had later been transferred to the Lingnan branch.

Su Ye got up early the next morning.

After washing up, he pushed open the door and was startled by the sight before him.

Birthday decorations hung all around the first-floor hall, and a red carpet had been laid out at the villa's entrance. The place looked festive everywhere he turned.

The housekeepers must have worked through the night to get it all done.

Su Ye went downstairs to the hall. Although it was still early, Xiao Zhentong and the others were already sitting there chatting.

"Brother Su, you're up! Come sit over here!"

Xiao Zhentong spotted Su Ye coming downstairs and waved him over.

Su Ye walked over and sat down beside Xiao Zhentong.

Xiao Zhentong poured a cup of tea and handed it to Su Ye, then introduced him to the man he had been talking with.

"This young man is Su Ye, an old friend of our family's patriarch."

When the man heard that Su Ye was Xiao Qiujun's friend despite their difference in age, he immediately greeted him:

"Young Brother Su, I'm Li Anlan. A pleasure to meet you!"

Xiao Zhentong continued from beside them:

"Chairman Li is a major director at Zunhuang Entertainment!"

Su Ye nodded to Li Anlan and said:

"You're too polite, Chairman Li. Just call me Su Ye!"

When Li Anlan heard how surprisingly easygoing the young man was, he chuckled and said:

"Then I'll take the liberty. If you don't mind, Brother Su, you can call me Big Brother Li!"

As far as Li Anlan knew, every capable member of the Xiao Family was exceedingly proud. Take Xiao Zhentong, for instance: when he had first become Guanhai City's municipal party secretary, Li Anlan had sought an audience with him many times, only to be turned away at the door.

What he didn't know was that only a few months ago, Su Ye had been earning a salary of 1,500 and being ordered around by his boss.

Su Ye chatted with Xiao Zhentong and the others for a while. During that time, quite a few people came over to strike up conversations and greet him, and Su Ye politely responded to each of them.

By asking around in a roundabout way, some people learned that Su Ye was a young Grandmaster, and even more came over to greet him.

Today was Xiao Qiujun's birthday celebration, and almost everyone invited was among Guanhai City's upper echelon, so they all knew just how valuable a Grandmaster was.

Take today's gathering, for example: no more than five Grandmasters had come to wish Xiao Qiujun a happy birthday, and he had taken them all to the back courtyard.

By noon, even more people had arrived. Most of those who could sit in the hall were Guanhai City's top figures, while many more ate at the tables set up in the front courtyard.

A steady stream of people came to offer their congratulations. Luxury cars that were rarely seen elsewhere were everywhere here. Fortunately, the Xiao Family's parking lot was large enough; otherwise, there really wouldn't have been room for them all. The birthday gifts people had brought were almost piled into a mountain.

Su Ye escaped the fiery enthusiasm of the various prominent guests and slipped up to a corner of the second floor, where he found a chair and sat down.

Before long, Xiao Qiujun came out surrounded by several of his children. He wore a light red outfit today, and his face was full of smiles as he calmly fielded the praise of the top figures, looking several years younger.

"It is a rare honor that everyone holds this old man in such regard and has come to wish me a happy birthday. Let me thank you all first."

Xiao Qiujun addressed the crowd.

As soon as Xiao Qiujun finished speaking, everyone showered him with praise again.

"All right, everyone, enjoy your meal and have a good time today!"

Xiao Zhentong also addressed the crowd.

By evening, although some people had begun to leave one after another, others were still arriving in luxury cars with gifts.

The Xiao Family members were all busy receiving guests, while Xiao Qiujun and the others took Su Ye to the back courtyard.

There were six people in the back courtyard, including Xiao Qiujun and Li Xin. Apart from those two, the other four all looked at Su Ye with burning gazes.

"This must be young friend Su!"

An elderly man who looked to be in his fifties, with graying hair, smiled kindly at Su Ye as he spoke.

"Hahaha, Brother Tang, don't scare young friend Su."

Another elderly man who looked a little older spoke.

"Young friend Su, let me introduce them. This is Tang Shan, this is Ye Hao, this is Chen Yuan, and this is Sun Feng. They're all powerful Grandmasters renowned throughout Guanhai City."

Li Xin introduced the four men to Su Ye.

After the introductions, Su Ye greeted the four of them as well!

Tang Shan was an impatient man. Once everyone had gotten acquainted, he pulled Su Ye along, wanting to exchange a few moves with him.

The other three kept their mouths shut and said nothing. They too wanted to see just how strong this young Grandmaster whom Xiao Qiujun had praised to the heavens really was.

Su Ye was a little bewildered. In fact, he had yet to fight a powerful Grandmaster. The people he had fought before were all rotten fish and shrimp, and he had crushed them outright.

"Brother Su, let's go over to that open space and spar a little. We'll stop before anyone gets hurt."

Tang Shan kept talking as he pulled Su Ye along.

Seeing this, Xiao Qiujun looked at Li Xin, who understood immediately.

In Xiao Qiujun's view, although Su Ye had reached the Grandmaster realm at such a young age, his combat experience might not be as extensive as that of these old foxes. If he found himself at a disadvantage, they would need to help.

Li Xin gave Xiao Qiujun a slight nod.

Xiao Qiujun looked apologetically at Su Ye. He had originally wanted to introduce him to a few people, but who could have expected these old foxes to act this way?