“Miss Yue, what are you laughing at?” one of the young ladies asked curiously.
“I want to hear too!”
“And me!”
“Hehe, I’m already sitting on a little stool waiting.”
These were the same girls who earlier had clamored for Jiang Fuyue’s autograph.
The first three had already gotten theirs. The last one was just about to receive hers when she noticed Jiang Fuyue looking straight ahead and suddenly letting out a cold laugh.
The girls widened their gossip-hungry eyes and looked in the same direction, trying to uncover something.
Unfortunately, aside from an old lady in a green qipao looking overly dressed-up, there was nothing worth seeing.
“Miss Yue, tell us, what are you laughing at?”
Jiang Fuyue finished the last stroke of her signature neatly and handed it over. “Me? I’m laughing at an old sparrow chirping wildly, pretending to be a phoenix.”
The girls: “?”
There were some guests who were so angered by Fu Choujun arranging a marriage for her son without consulting him that they left immediately. Others, eager to climb up the social ladder, secretly calculated the benefits of joining families with the Lou family.
Although Lou Mingshen was not young anymore, the Lou family currently had a simple household structure, he was the only male heir. If their daughter married him, she would become the proper Madam Lou!
No sisters-in-law to deal with, at most just the old matriarch as a mother-in-law. No other relatives to fuss with.
In two or three years, if she had a son, that child would be the rightful heir of the Lou family!
Decades later, once Lou Mingshen passed away, their daughter would essentially become the “Empress Dowager,” and the entire Lou Corporation would be theirs!
Look at that, what a lucrative deal! One daughter traded for an entire wealthy family!
Having done their calculations, a number of sharp-minded ladies quickly gathered around Fu Choujun—
“Old Madam, with President Lou being such an outstanding man, there must be plenty of beautiful women around him, isn’t that right?”
Fu Choujun smiled faintly and meaningfully: “A woman needs much more than just beauty, especially one to bring home as a wife.”
The lady smiled on the outside but inwardly sneered: As if you didn’t rely on your face back then, only marrying into the Lou family after the original wife died. Now you’re enjoying the benefits of your beauty and still say things like this? A crow really shouldn’t laugh at a pig for being black.
“Yes, looks come second. Character and conduct matter most.”
Fu Choujun shook her head. “The most important thing is a proper match between families. I think your daughter is pretty good: quiet, gentle, well-behaved.”
The lady almost rolled her eyes: My daughter ran away to the bathroom the moment you came downstairs and still hasn’t returned. Which of your eyes sees her as quiet and obedient? Spouting nonsense without even drafting it first honestly!
“In that case, when would be a good time for you to arrange a meeting with President Lou? We can all get together and have a meal. We don’t usually get a chance to see him.”
The other ladies exchanged excited looks. “Yes! Whenever you’re free, we can make time.”
The old lady paused, then nodded. “Meeting and having dinner is appropriate. I’ll notify everyone once the time is set.”
“Then it’s settled!”
“Old Madam, you haven’t met my eldest daughter yet. She’s excellent! Graduated from a top university, played piano since childhood, can dance, her beauty and temperament are both impeccable…”
“My second daughter is also wonderful: gentle, elegant, loves painting the most…”
More and more society ladies surged forward, tirelessly promoting their daughters.
“Utterly absurd!” Han Shen sneered, brows tightly furrowed. He despised this behavior. “Second Brother, go find Yueyue. We’re leaving. This place is unbearable.”
Han Ke exhaled in relief. “Finally! That old lady has been out of the scene for years. The moment she shows up, she stages this. Afraid people won’t know her origins? I’ve never seen such a sloppy and ridiculous matchmaking event. I bet Lou Mingshen has no idea; otherwise, even if the sky fell, he wouldn’t let this banquet happen.”
“Stop gossiping. None of this concerns us. Go get Yueyue.”
“Alright! I’m going. As if I’d let my girl join such a tacky matchmaking circus, ugh.”
Just then, as Fu Choujun remained surrounded by wealthy ladies and the atmosphere grew increasingly lively—
BANG!
The door was shoved open from the outside, slamming into the wall. Lou Mingshen entered with cold eyes and a dark expression. Step by step, slowly, he approached the old lady.
Each step he took felt like a slow-motion shot, each footfall landing heavily in the hearts of everyone present.
The entire hall fell silent.
Fu Choujun’s gaze flickered.
The surrounding ladies looked at the handsome, youthful-looking man and expressed their satisfaction.
Yes, he was older but judging from appearance alone, you would never know. He was even more attractive than men in their twenties and thirties, with an added maturity they lacked.
The perfect “ideal son-in-law” type that any mother-in-law would love.
“Oh my, this must be Mingshen?”
“So handsome! He must work out often, no wonder he’s so tall and impressive!”
“Are you usually busy with work? Lots of business trips?”
“Tired? I can make herbal meals for you sometime…”
The future mother-in-laws chattered nonstop.
At certain moments, it sounded like hundreds of ducks quacking at once.
Lou Mingshen ignored them completely, gaze cold and sharp as he looked at Fu Choujun’s increasingly stiff smile—
“What are you doing?”
He didn’t even call her mother.
Fu Choujun’s eyes chilled. “Is this the attitude you show me?”
“Why? What attitude should I have? Worshipping you? Praising you?”
Fu Choujun inhaled deeply. “Ah Shen, in front of all these guests, you—”
“No need to continue. The banquet is canceled.”
Her expression changed. “What did you say?”
“I said—” Lou Mingshen lifted his eyes, coldly enunciating each word, “The. Banquet. Is. Canceled.”
“It already started. Why suddenly cancel it?”
“You seriously don’t know why?” His lips curled slightly in mockery.
His cold indifference pierced her. He looked at her as if she were a stranger… yet she was his own mother!
“You’re not canceling it!”
If it were canceled, where would she put her dignity? How could she continue circulating among the capital’s elite?
“If you knew the consequences beforehand, you shouldn’t have done it.”
“Ah Shen! I care about you. I just want to see you marry and have children while I’m still alive—”
“Enough!” Lou Mingshen cut her off. “I’m not worthy.”
Then, softly, the gentlest knife: “And you’re not worthy either.”
Fu Choujun staggered, almost falling.
But Lou Mingshen didn’t even glance at her, let alone help.
This abnormal mother-son interaction made the surrounding guests exchange meaningful looks, gossip hearts igniting.
【I heard the Lou mother and son don’t get along. Looks like it’s true!】
【Clearly President Lou had no idea about this banquet.】
【This isn’t just strained relations, they’re practically enemies.】
【Something’s going on. Definitely a story behind this.】
【So… the matchmaking… does it still count? I wasted all that persuasion for nothing.】
【With President Lou’s attitude, any family thinking of marrying into the Lou family should give up. Sending their daughters would be sending them into a fire pit.】
【The Lou family definitely has too many secrets. This just proves it.】
【Like the true cause of Lou Mingyue’s death…】
Their eyes locked: one second, two seconds…
After a full thirty seconds, Lou Mingshen’s aura clearly overwhelmed hers. Fu Choujun conceded, forced to go onstage and announce that the banquet was canceled.
The hall erupted.
“What’s going on?”
“Cancel just like that? Are they joking with us?”
“That old lady is really regressing, no sense of boundaries. No wonder her own son doesn’t like her…”
“I knew President Lou wouldn’t let this happen. He came the moment the news spread.”
“He’s supposedly a lifelong bachelor. Didn’t believe it before. Now it’s practically confirmed.”
“…”
Han Shen and Han Ke stood among the crowd listening to the murmurs.
Han Ke raised a brow. “Told you, Lou Mingshen definitely didn’t know.”
Han Shen: “To reach his age and position, yet still let himself be manipulated… his capabilities seem questionable.”
“That’s his own mother, can he beat her up or tie her down?”
Han Shen glanced sideways. “Weren’t you supposed to find Yueyue? Where is she?”
“Found her. She’s on the lawn.”
“Then let’s go.”
“No, wait a bit!” Han Ke rubbed his hands together, grinning. “At least let me finish listening to the rest of the gossip!”
Han Shen: “…” Speechless.
But ten seconds later… he too subtly perked up his ears.
Meanwhile, Lou Mingshen, having achieved his goal and unwilling to stay a second longer, strode out coldly.
Crossing the lawn, he suddenly halted—
…
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