Chapter 473 - 413: Birthday Party
Chapter 473: Chapter 413: Birthday Party
Two days later, the snow stopped and the wind died down. Although the sun didn’t come out, the clouds in the sky seemed less low and thick. With arrangements made by Gu Qiming, Tang Qingshan and Ai Wenli took a military helicopter to Wancheng in the South. They planned to stay in Gongdao Village for three or four days before returning to Beijing. Tang Qingshan still had to go back to Liaozhou before the new year.
Xiao Man wanted to go too, but her Grandpa and Grandma persuaded her not to. They said the house in the countryside was crowded and small right now, and other guests might show up, making it hard to find a place for everyone to stay. For now, Qingshan and Wenli would go visit Grandpa and Grandma to represent the Beijing side and deliver New Year’s blessings to Gongdao Village. They could all go next year when the new house in the countryside was built. Then Grandpa and Grandma wouldn’t have to worry so much.
Hao Hao laughed and said, "Sis, just stay out of the way. Uncle and Auntie don’t need a third wheel anymore."
Tang Qingyun also comforted Xiao Man, "When summer break starts and I have time, I’ll go back to the countryside with you."
The day after Tang Qingshan and his wife left was Gu Shaoling’s birthday.
She was turning fifteen, an age that in ancient times marked the hair-pinning ceremony when a girl came of age. She was also the Gu family’s eldest granddaughter. So, at Old Mrs. Gu’s request, and with Gu Shaoling acting cute, spoiled, and pitiful, Old Mrs. Gu agreed almost without a second thought. She let Tian Xueqin handle all the arrangements, giving her free rein with the budget and the scale of the extravagance!
This was the precious granddaughter she had doted on and raised. She had made a mistake and been exiled from Beijing to the seaside for a whole year. Though she couldn’t say much about it, she always felt she owed her granddaughter. ’If there’s any way to make it up to her, I should take it.’ The Gu family had always treasured their daughters-in-law, but their own daughters were just as precious—the apple of their eye. They couldn’t let her feel too wronged.
Naturally, the entire Tang family was invited. Even though Xiao Man and Gu Shaoling didn’t get along, she had no reason not to go. Besides, she hadn’t even finished trying on the seven or eight new outfits Zheng Shaolian had sent over. Gu Qiming and Zhou Hui Lan arrived, and they also brought two new outfits. After watching Xiao Man try them on, Zhou Hui Lan pointed to a rose-red skirt suit and said with a smile, "Mr. Gu picked that one out for you. It really looks wonderful on you—it makes you look mature, like a young lady. You should wear that one."
Tian Xueqin arranged her daughter’s birthday banquet at the Mingzhu Hotel. She had booked the entire first and second floors. From the entrance to the lobby and the dining hall, the place was opulently decorated with potted plants, flower baskets, and colorful silks, creating a scene of lavish splendor. By the dance floor, a band enthusiastically played one melodious and romantic Chinese or foreign classic after another. In addition to the formal banquet, guests could help themselves to various pastries, fruits, and drinks at a food station in the main hall. It was said that many rooms on the upper floors had also been booked for guests to rest in.
At Granny Gu’s urging, Xiao Man and her Grandma Tang arrived quite early. Hao Hao’s participation in such festivities depended on his mood and the occasion; he declared he wasn’t interested in Gu Shaoling’s birthday and stayed home to read. He would only go out later when his grandpa and dad left.
Xiao Man linked arms with her grandma and followed Granny Gu’s group as they toured the hotel. Tian Xueqin walked beside them, beaming as she reported to Granny Gu that many guests had come—fifty tables had been booked for the banquet alone. Xiao Man couldn’t help but be secretly astonished. ’Fifty tables? Doesn’t that mean five hundred people? Is this a birthday party for a little girl? Anyone who didn’t know better would think it was a longevity banquet for one of the family elders. Some people don’t even invite this many guests to their wedding or a baby’s first-month celebration.’
Granny Gu, who had been smiling happily, froze slightly when she heard this. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Grandma Tang looking at her with a meaningful smile. Her mood soured instantly. She swallowed the words she was about to say to her second daughter-in-law, merely nodding before continuing her conversation with Grandma Tang and leading the group of ladies forward.
Tian Xueqin had to go mingle with other guests and couldn’t stay with the old ladies the whole time, so she excused herself after a few more words.
More and more guests arrived. Young men and women, adults, children, and even many elderly people the age of Granny Gu and Grandma Tang streamed endlessly into the hotel. And wouldn’t you know it, at this rate, the fifty banquet tables really would be filled.
With so many people came a lot of gifts. The teenagers were the ones bringing presents, while the adults brought out red envelopes. The auspicious red envelopes, flashing before everyone’s eyes, were quite conspicuous, and none of them felt light. There were so many that eventually, Tian Xueqin’s sister-in-law and sister from her side of the family had to step in to help collect them. The shoulder bags they carried were soon stuffed full, bulging like balls in a rather jarring display, yet the red envelopes just kept coming...
Granny Gu’s expression darkened. She turned and took Gu Shaoying from Jiang Yuyan’s arms, said something that made Jiang Yuyan walk away, and then whispered a few instructions to Zhou Hui Lan. After that, she turned back to call to Grandma Tang and the other old ladies, and the group went upstairs, chatting and laughing.
Zhou Hui Lan stopped beside Grandma Tang and said, "It seems there won’t be much to enjoy today. You all should probably head home early, too. I need to leave now. Mr. Gu was in a good mood yesterday and promised Shaoling he would drop by for a bit. Old Mrs. Gu just told me to hurry home and find a way to keep them from coming. It’ll be a mess if he sees this and loses his temper."
Grandma Tang waved for Zhou Hui Lan to hurry along, then sighed and said to Xiao Man, "I originally thought Tian Xueqin would be better than Wu Xiaowen, but now it seems she’s just as troublesome and unreliable. Gu Shaoling is just a child having a birthday. Ten or twenty tables for young people and close friends and family to have some fun would have been enough. But she had to go and make such a spectacle. It’s fine for relatives and elders to give a red envelope for a child’s birthday, but how can they accept cash gifts from regular guests? Anyone who sees this will overthink it—it looks like they’re just collecting money! A family like the Gu family... Ugh! Let’s not talk about it. Don’t go to the Gu house for the next few days. Your Granny Gu is going to get an earful again, and it won’t be good to watch."
Xiao Man nodded. "I won’t. I don’t go there at all when Gu Shaoling is home."
The gift sent in her name had been prepared by Zheng Shaolian, who had also taken care of putting it in the gift pile. She didn’t have to face Gu Shaoling. Attending this banquet was just to keep up appearances. After all, their families had been friends for generations; it would have been impossible and awkward to refuse the invitation.
She hadn’t particularly disliked Gu Shaoling before, but after the dispute last winter that forced Gu Shaoling to leave Beijing, Gu Shaoling had sent several postcards to Xiao Man’s school. Each was filled with angry, venting messages like "You horrible person, you can go to hell!" and "I hate you, drop dead!" and so on. It was clear she hated Xiao Man to the bone, so Xiao Man had decided to stay far away from Gu Shaoling from then on.
Grandma Tang sighed again. "It’s a good thing Gu Shaoling isn’t your actual sister-in-law."
Just then, Pang Xiaoji arrived with her mother. As soon as she saw Xiao Man, she rushed right over and pulled her away to have fun. Grandma Tang didn’t want to keep her granddaughter cooped up with a bunch of old ladies—that would be no fun—so she just gave her a few reminders and let them go off to play.
Xiao Man wasn’t the center of attention, but Pang Xiaoji was. The two of them had only taken a dozen steps together when a group of seven or eight boys and girls their age surrounded them. They all called out "Little Ji!" first, and then "Manman!" After that, the group stuck together, wandering around and looking at everything, chattering excitedly the whole time, until they ran into the little birthday girl, Gu Shaoling.