Birthday Banquet

Jiang Xizhi fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow.

After all, high school students are always sleep-deprived, even though she had already slept for an entire day, she still felt sleepy.

The next morning, the servants in Jiang Xizhi’s house began their preparations.

The evening banquet was to be held at their villa, so various decorations needed to be prepared as early as possible.

Liang Jing and Jiang Yueyi were up early, overseeing everything.

Even Jiang Shengde, who was running a business overseas, rushed back.

Only Jiang Xizhi felt no enthusiasm.

Even though she looked forward to her birthday banquets every year, she couldn’t muster any interest this time.

Lying on her soft bed, Jiang Xizhi felt listless and lacking energy. She didn’t even feel like taking a shower.

It wasn’t until Liang Jing came to call her after ten o’clock that she reluctantly took a shower and emerged from her room.

Jiang Shengde had bought many luxury gifts from abroad.

Seeing his little daughter, he smiled and said, “Zhizhi, come quickly and see the gifts I prepared for you. They’re all new models this year; you’ll definitely like them.”

“Thank you, Dad,” Jiang Xizhi said, forcing a smile. Although the gifts were all very nice, she still had no mood for it.

Jiang Shengde knew that his daughter had had a falling out with her friends, so he advised,

“Don’t be upset, little birthday star. A quarrel with your girlfriends will be over in a few days. Today is your birthday, so you should smile more.”

“Okay,” she responded, but Jiang Xizhi still couldn’t smile.

At noon, the family had lunch together.

The cook even made longevity noodles especially for Jiang Xizhi.

After lunch with her family, Jiang Xizhi returned to her room, feeling drained.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yining had sent a WeChat message to Jiang Xizhi last night, telling her not to come over today, so Zhou Yining didn’t go to the Jiang family’s villa that morning.

She didn’t stay at home either.

She went to an internet café early in the morning to write, and by noon, Zhou Yining had finished two short stories.

She submitted the manuscripts to several magazines and then ate a bowl of noodles nearby.

It was already past one o’clock when she finished eating.

Zhou Yining took a bus to the villa district, but this time she was going to Zhong Yumeng’s place.

As Zhou Yining passed Jiang Xizhi’s villa, she stood at a distance and watched for a while before leaving.

She sighed. She still didn’t go over to say hello. After all, the little fox was still angry.

If she went over, she would probably only make her angrier.

Soon, Zhou Yining arrived at Villa No. 36, Zhong Yumeng’s house.

The butler, seeing that it was Zhou Yining, respectfully led her to Zhong Yumeng’s study.

Zhong Yumeng was doing a test paper. Seeing Zhou Yining arrive, she smiled and greeted her,

“You’re here? Have you had lunch?”

Zhou Yining nodded. “I’ve eaten. Let’s get started.”

Zhong Yumeng smiled at her. “I think I’ve met someone who studies even harder than me. Okay, but I have to go to Jiang Xizhi’s birthday party later, so we need to finish before four o’clock.”

“Okay, that’s more than two hours. Let’s start. Last time, I told you to do practice questions by module. Did you get many wrong?” Zhou Yining didn’t waste any time and immediately started studying.

Zhong Yumeng nodded.

“Quite a few. They’re mostly concentrated in the last two questions. I’ve organized them all. Can you help me take a look?”

“Okay.”

Zhou Yining took Zhong Yumeng’s error notebook and began explaining,

“These questions are basically the same problem. You didn’t fully understand the transformation of a formula. Let me go over the formula with you first.”

“Okay.”

The two study fanatics got together, and Zhou Yining kept explaining.

Because Zhong Yumeng had a very good foundation in math, it was relatively easier for her to explain.

One was engrossed in explaining, and the other was engrossed in listening.

Two hours passed quickly without them even taking a break.

The desk was covered with scratch paper filled with formulas.

Even after the explanation was over, Zhong Yumeng still felt a little unsatisfied.

“That was really enjoyable. Too bad, it’s four o’clock. I need to hurry up and put on makeup and change clothes.”

“Okay,” Zhou Yining nodded and asked, “Did Zhizhi invite you?”

“Yes, my family and her family have business dealings. Although we don’t talk much in class, she still invites me to her birthday parties.”

Zhong Yumeng seemed to remember something and said, “I remember you and her seem to be on good terms. Didn’t she invite you?”

Zhou Yining shook her head. “She’s angry with me because of Lin Shaohui.”

“That incident was the fault of Lin Shaohui and his group. Why is Jiang Xizhi angry with you?” Zhong Yumeng asked.

Zhou Yining sighed and explained,

“She’s angry that I asked you for help and didn’t ask her. She doesn’t consider her a friend.”

Zhong Yumeng was amused.

“Really? Jiang Xizhi is quite jealous. She’s not only jealous of Zhang Ye, but she’s also jealous of her friends.”

Zhou Yining was also helpless.

She and Zhong Yumeng were quite familiar, so Zhou Yining asked, “By the way, you…”

Zhong Yumeng burst out laughing. “Who told you that?”

Zhou Yining shook her head. “That’s not it…”

“…Don’t be silly. How could I be with Zhang Ye? We grew up together. I even remember when he wet the bed. How could I be with him? The reason I’m always with him is to use him as a shield to avoid…”

“Okay, no wonder you’re the school beauty. Using him as a shield is indeed a good idea.”

“Stop it, stop teasing me with the school beauty thing. By the way, I’m going to the party later. Is there anything you want me to tell her?” Zhong Yumeng asked.

Zhou Yining thought for a moment. “Never mind. I’m afraid that if you help me, she’ll be even angrier.”

Zhong Yumeng’s tears almost came out from laughing.

“You two are really funny, like a young couple in love. Okay, if you don’t want me to say anything, then I won’t say anything more. By the way, why don’t you stay for dinner before you leave?”

“No, I have to go out and take care of some personal matters. You should hurry up and put on makeup.”

“Okay, then I won’t bother you.” Zhong Yumeng said, quickly asking the butler to contact a makeup artist and stylist.

She had to dress up nicely for such a party, or she would be laughed at by people in the circle.

After leaving the villa district, Zhou Yining went to the internet café again.

Since the little fox wouldn’t let her celebrate her birthday with her, she could only continue to work hard to make money.

Anyway, it was still early, and she planned to go home around eight or nine o’clock.

Meanwhile, at the Jiang family’s villa, Jiang Xizhi was sitting in front of a makeup mirror, having a makeup artist apply makeup.

Jiang Yueyi, seeing that her younger sister had no smile on her face, advised,

“Zhizhi, you’re the main character tonight. Don’t keep a straight face all the time, or everyone will feel uncomfortable. Smile more.”

“I know, Sis.” She wanted to smile, but she couldn’t. Her mind was full of Zhou Yining.

After finishing her makeup, Jiang Xizhi went to change into her high-end dress.

It was a moon-white dress that made Jiang Xizhi’s skin look like snow.

She also wore a small crown on her head, with a ruby inlaid at the top.

Liang Jing had specially asked a designer to prepare it, and the ruby alone was very expensive.

Jiang Xizhi’s dress and accessories were all exquisite.

She really looked like a little princess, but Jiang Xizhi still couldn’t be happy.

At six o’clock in the evening, many people arrived one after another.

Among them were many people from the business world in Nanchuan City, as well as some people from the wealthy second-generation circle.

Zhang Ye arrived early with his father.

When they left, Zhang Ye’s father told him not to be so cold to Jiang Xizhi. Zhang Ye was not as impatient as before and obediently agreed.

Zhang Ye’s father saw that Jiang Shengde and Liang Jing were both there and hurried over to greet them.

“President Jiang, President Liang, I brought Zhang Ye over.”

“Welcome, welcome. Zhizhi is over there,” Jiang Shengde said, waving to his daughter.

Jiang Xizhi got up from the sofa. She didn’t want to go over, nor did she want to look at Zhang Ye.

Seeing that his daughter still had no energy, Jiang Shengde was puzzled.

In the past, his daughter had always liked to chat with Zhang Ye at her birthday parties.

Why did his daughter seem uninterested in Zhang Ye today?

“Zhizhi is getting more and more beautiful. Zhang Ye, these adults and you young people have a generation gap. Spend more time with Zhizhi and have a good chat with her,” Zhang’s father said with a smile.

“Okay,” Zhang Ye replied obediently.

He and Jiang Xizhi went to the side.

Zhang Ye’s eyes fell on Jiang Xizhi’s face, and his cheeks flushed involuntarily.

Usually, he was so focused on studying at school that he didn’t pay attention to these things.

Now that he looked at Jiang Xizhi so carefully, Zhang Ye felt that Jiang Xizhi seemed to have become even more beautiful.

In addition, Jiang Xizhi hadn’t been bothering him recently, so Zhang Ye was a little interested in Jiang Xizhi. He cleared his throat and said, “Why haven’t you been talking to me lately?”

Jiang Xizhi glanced at him with a look that said he was stupid.

She turned around, picked up a glass of orange juice from the table, took a sip, and then said,

“Are you okay? I remember you used to hate me bothering you the most. Now that I’m not bothering you, shouldn’t you be happy?”

Zhang Ye coughed guiltily. “Well, I’m not that happy. I’m not used to your attitude towards me now. I still prefer you the way you were before.”

“Seriously? Who do you think you are? Just because you like it, I have to do it? Do you really think you’re something special?”

Jiang Xizhi was already in a bad mood, but Zhang Ye had to run into the line of fire, making her even worse.

Jiang Xizhi got up and sat down far away from Zhang Ye.

Meanwhile, the adults who were chatting also noticed this scene.

Jiang Shengde excused himself and went to find his eldest daughter.

“What’s wrong with your sister? She used to like to bother that kid Zhang Ye the most,” Jiang Shengde asked.

Jiang Yueyi shook her head. “Zhizhi doesn’t like him anymore, Dad. Just leave it alone. It’s already messy enough.”

“Okay, okay, I won’t interfere. I’m going to entertain the guests. Keep an eye on your sister. I think she still doesn’t have much energy today. Is it just because she’s jealous of her friend?”

Jiang Shengde shook his head, a little confused about what girls were thinking these days.

“Okay, I’ll watch her. Go and do your work.” Jiang Yueyi said, picking up a glass of champagne and sitting down next to her sister.