The capital is truly a city of wealth and wealth.
The Chao family has produced a total of five ministers since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Currently, there is an old minister who has just retired from the Ministry of National Discipline Inspection, and a current minister of the Ministry of Education. The Chao family is not counted among the powerful people in Kyoto. If he is famous, he is also a real powerful person.
The Chao family has always been low-key. Even the old man and his wife didn’t hold a big banquet on their 60th birthday. When the third-generation eldest granddaughter got married and her granddaughter got a daughter, they didn’t have a big banquet. This year, when the old man turns 70, Finally, the rare invitation was sent out.
There are many wealthy families in Beijing, and there are countless banquets, so it is normal to receive invitations. And when some families received invitations from the three brothers of the Chao family to celebrate their father's birthday, , I immediately thought about it and took it very seriously.
Therefore, when Mr. Chao’s birthday came on December 29, everyone who received the invitation went to Mr. Chao’s house early with their wives and children for the dinner.
The three Chao brothers held a birthday banquet for their father at Mr. Chao’s villa. It was also considered a family banquet. All the guests invited were close relatives and close friends, and some of the others were business partners or work partners. All of my colleagues at the meeting had to be invited due to work relationships and personal relationships.
Because Chao Yi and Chao San had no time to take care of the banquet, Chao Er was solely responsible for the family banquet. They only posted to invite some guests in their field in the name of celebrating their father's birthday.
On that day, Chao Yi and Chao San went to work as usual, and Chao Er supervised and inspected the details of the banquet at home, checking the seating arrangements of the guests to avoid any embarrassment at the dinner.
The dinner was scheduled to start at seven o'clock. Around five o'clock in the afternoon, the in-laws of the Chao family in Beijing also arrived one after another. They were all the natal families of the three brothers and wives of the Chao family. They were accompanied by Chao Yi's father-in-law Yang Jianlei. Family members, Mrs. Yang passed away due to illness a few years ago, so only Mr. Yang and his descendants were the only ones to celebrate their birthdays; Chao Er's in-laws, Zhou You, Lao Zhou and his wife and juniors; Chao San's parents-in-law.
Chao San’s wife Li Qingwan, whose father Li Yuanchao holds real power and is very popular, Mr. Li and his wife Cheng Yian only have one daughter, Li Qingwan, so Mrs. Chao San’s son Chao Yubo is also the only one in the Li family. Mr. and Mrs. Li Like a treasure, like a lifeblood.
Mr. Li and his wife didn't bother Qiao because of their high position, so they went to Chao's house early to chat with their relatives.
In addition to the in-laws of the three brothers of the Chao family, there is also the in-laws of Chao Yi's children, the Zhang family. Miss Chao was very happy to have her beloved daughter, and four generations of the Zhang family live in the same household. The old man of the Zhang family is still alive, so the whole family has four generations. Went to Chao's house together.
In addition, there are also Mrs. Chao’s natal brothers, Ye Nianzhong and Ye Nianxiao, who also came with their elders and children. Mr. Chao’s brother’s wife’s natal family and sister’s husband’s family are not in the capital. Only Mr. Chao’s eldest brother Chao Xingqiang, his second sister Chao Xingyun, and the representative of the Chao family Chao Xingzhong arrived in the morning to congratulate him on his birthday.
Mr. Chao and Mrs. Chao had gone to their second son’s villa yesterday to recharge their batteries. In the middle of the afternoon, they were ready to gather with their relatives and friends of the same age. In front of the in-laws, the older generation who had not seen each other for a long time gathered together. We have endless things to talk about together, middle-aged people of the same generationThere are endless things to talk about. The young generation found someone to talk to and happily complained to each other.
The lively chatter between the old and young was still lingering at six o'clock in the evening. Since the guests had already arrived one after another, they went downstairs to the banquet hall on the first floor. The in-laws also helped to greet the guests.
Chao Erye allocated staff from his own hotel to take charge of the banquet. There were waiters in the hall and waiters outside the door to check invitations.
The guests at the Chao family banquet included a small number of old family friends, some of whom were educators, geologists, and representative scholars invited by Mr. Chao; some were colleagues of senior officials invited by Chao Yi and Chao San. , representing state cadres; some were Chao Er's business friends and associates, representing the wealthy. A birthday banquet brought together the powerful, wealthy, and scholars, and almost included most of the prominent people in the capital.
Guests arrived one after another, including business partners of Mr. Chao Er and colleagues of Mr. Chao Yi and Mr. Chao. Generally speaking, Mr. Chao and Mr. Chao invited more senior cadres, especially those invited by Mr. Chao. Mr. Chao Sanye holds the position of Minister of Education, one of the ministries of the Ministry of Education. Naturally, he cannot favor one over the other. He sends invitations to all the ministers one by one. There are more than 20 ministries in the Ministry of Education, and there are more than 40 ministers and deputy ministers alone. , each family brings a wife or one child, usually a family of three. The number of people alone is enough for six or seven tables, plus the heads of departments, it is estimated that there will be about ten tables.
Each group of guests were warmly welcomed by the hosts. The guests congratulated Mr. Chao, and the nannies and waiters served tea and sent the guests to their reserved tables. Afterwards, the guests sat drinking tea and chatting, or looking for Say hello to people you know, or make new acquaintances with rich and powerful people.
Whether you have an official position or not, whether you are a multi-millionaire or a billionaire, the men are in suits and leather shoes and are polite, the ladies are dignified and gentle, the men of all families are young and personable, and the daughters are all ladies, young and old. We all maintain good manners to avoid being rude in front of others.
At six-thirty, the passenger flow reached its peak. There was a long queue of cars in front of the villa, and guests came in groups of threes and threes in an endless stream.
The guests came one after another, making it overwhelming. At this time, the three Chao family daughters-in-law had a place to show off their female talents. They were good at dancing, elegant and thoughtful, and none of the guests Feeling neglected or looked down upon.
The family friends of the Chao family were almost here. When the waiter outside announced the name of a guest, an old man in a dark gray Tang suit walked into Chao's house with his head held high, accompanied by a middle-aged couple. Home hall.
The old man has piercing eyes, meticulously combed hair, high nose and thick eyebrows, and is very energetic; the middle-aged man and the old man have similar faces, wearing glasses, and the lady wears a navy jumpsuit. Skirt, light makeup, delicate eyebrows.
The family of three is the son of Chao family, Chao Yubo, who was born in the same year, month and day. Li Yubo’s parents and grandfather are Li Qingyun, the old man, who is now a deputy national cadre. Li Yubo’s father, Li Zhengnai, is the top leader of the Forestry Bureau. Mrs. Zheng's surname is Luo, Luo Zhuxiang, and she is engaged in business.
"Mr. Li, you are finally here. My old man has been talking about it for a long time.. ”
“Brother Zheng, sister Xiang, you are here just in time. Please help us entertain the guests.” ”
Chao Yi and his wife met Chao Er and his wife. Li Zheng and Chao Er were the same age and were close to the three brothers of the Chao family. When Chao Yi and Chao Er saw their good brothers and couple coming, they rudely grabbed the young man. Help share the worries.
“I am a guest today, okay? How can a guest have to run errands for the host? "Li Zheng complained, but he didn't stop. He and his wife accompanied the old man to say hello to the birthday girl.
Mr. Li smiled deeply, his face was red, and he strode along the red carpet in the middle of the hall towards tonight.
Chao Erye’s villa is extremely wide, and the first floor is specially used for various banquets for the owner. It can accommodate more than a hundred tables, and the load-bearing wall columns are packed into cylinders to activate the banquet mode. The lights are bright.
There is a red carpet in the middle of the hall, about three meters wide. There are free activity areas on both sides of the door, with tables for red wine, snacks and fruits for guests to relax before the banquet. There is a certain distance between the free area activities and the banquet area. There is a huge screen on the wall at the end of the red carpet. There is a host table in the middle of the red carpet not far from the screen. Tonight, where the birthday boy and the host are sitting, Mr. Chao and Mrs. Chao are wearing bright red retro Tang suits and sitting at the table to receive blessings. Behind them is the host seat, with tea on the table, and the nanny and the waiter are responsible for making tea.
Chao San and his wife stood beside the old man and his wife. Whenever a guest congratulated the old man, Chao Er served tea while Chao San and his wife arranged for the guests to sit down.
"Lao Chao, brother, I wish you happiness every year and happiness every year. "Mr. Li walked across the red carpet, bent down and held the birthday boy's hand, with a smile and crow's feet at the corners of his eyes.
"Brother, thank you very much. I haven't had a drink with you for a long time. Don't leave early tonight. , let’s all have a good drink together. Mr. Chao smiled heartily. Even if they are in the capital, it is rare for these old friends to get together because they each have their own work.
"No, I don't dare to drink. If I drink with you again, we will The two brothers at home have to worry about us again. "
"It's disappointing, okay, if you don't want to drink with me, I won't bother to care about you. Just sit wherever you can. "Mr. Chao pretended to be angry with a sullen face.
Mr. Li really didn't want to talk nonsense about the birthday girl, and talked to Mrs. Chao with a smile. Li Zheng hurriedly gave the birthday gift, and the three of them received the fragrant tea. Mr. Li went Sitting next to Li Yuanchao and others, Li Zheng and his wife went to help the host entertain the guests.
There are many people with the surname Li who are officials in the same dynasty. Li Qingyun and the Chao family are family friends. In the Yuan Dynasty, Mr. Li and the Chao family were related by marriage. The two Mr. Li lived together and it was not easy to address them, so everyone called Li Qingyun "Lao Qing." Li Yuanchao needed to avoid taboos due to his position, so everyone called him "Mr. Li"
Li Qingyun sat at the same table with Mr. Li, as well as Mr. Zhou, Mr. Ye, Mr. Xiao, Mr. Huang and others, so everyone called him "Lao Qing"
The Chao family has Li. Lao Qing, Lao Zhou, Lao Yang and other prominent figures were present, and other ministers and others were a little inferior and more frugal and self-restrained.
The elders gathered together happily.
At the door, guests rushed in like fish.
"Mr. Wu has arrived." The waiter received an invitation. Since the guests were very important, out of etiquette, they specially reminded the host by roll call.
Here he is indeed
Chao Shengguo and Chao Shengan looked at each other and looked at the door with their wives.
In order to prevent the cold wind from blowing into the hall, a bead curtain was hung on the door. Chao Yi and his wife were on the right side of the door, and Chao Er and his wife were on the left.
As the bead curtain swayed, an old man arrived with a middle-aged man and a beautiful woman. The old man looked to be in his sixties, his hair was black and shiny, and he had the aura of a superior in his brows. The middle-aged man is tall and cold, while the woman is about 20 years old. She wears an off-shoulder red fishtail dress, has her eyebrows trimmed, and holds a wallet-shaped handbag in her hand.
"Welcome to Mr. Wu"
Chao Shengguo and Chao Sheng'an bowed slightly and respectfully. Although Mr. Wu has retired from the post of the first head of state for many years, he is particularly influential. exist.
Mr. Wu smiled and held the hands of the two Chao brothers, "I am just an ordinary retired old man now, here to enjoy Mr. Chao's happiness, you don't need to entertain me specially."
"The arrival of Mr. Wu will make the Pengshe shine. Mr. Wu please come here." Uncle Chao greeted the distinguished guest, personally stepped forward to support Mr. Wu, and accompanied the old man to meet his father.
Mrs. Chao Er recognized the young woman brought by Mr. Wu, and pretended not to know him at this time. She politely said "please" and watched the middle-aged and young woman meet their old man.
Mr. Wu was being supported by Uncle Chao. Le Jiaqi could no longer support Mr. Wu’s arms and had lost his backbone. He was nervous, his smile was a little stiff, his legs were stiff, and his walking posture was stiff.
Mr. Wu was supported by Chao Yi and walked to the main table in the hall. As soon as he came, Mr. Li and others stood up to greet him.
In front of everyone, Le Jiaqi, who had never seen such a large formation, felt frightened, her back felt cold, and her arms had goosebumps.
Mr. Chao also stood up to greet him and shook hands with Mr. Wu. Mr. Wu took Mr. Chao's hand and said, "Mr. Chao, I'm here to ask for a drink. You are the birthday girl. Please sit down."
Mr. p>
Mr. Chao was not polite and sat down upright.
It was the master’s birthday and there were many guests. Mr. Wu only said a few auspicious words, presented one of his calligraphy and paintings as a birthday gift, and accepted the tea from Mrs. Chao San.
"You go and get to know the young people." He told the middle-aged and young women beside him, and followed Mr. Chao's invitation to sit with Mr. Li and others.
Le Jiaqi responded stiffly, and walked with the middle-aged man to the crowd of people chatting freely to get to know the powerful people.
With Mr. Li and others helping Mr. Wu, Chao Yi returned to the door and received several more guests. The mayor of Beijing, Wang Lingyun and his wife, who were also top leaders in the city, arrived with him.
Mayor Wang not only brought his wife to the banquet, but also brought his parents, niece and prospective niece-in-law Zhao Zongze. When he entered Chao's house with the old and young, Chao Yi and Chao Er saw Mayor Wang.The niece's boyfriend has a deep look in his eyes. Is the Wang family going too far? They bring in people who haven't even given birth to a child to share their seats
Sanjun of the Chao family had already had a hunch that there would be distinguished guests at the dinner. Inevitably, some bitches came to cause trouble. When they saw Mr. Wu bringing the Le family daughter, they didn't make any move. They also saw the bitch brought by the Wang family, and they felt very unhappy. It was understandable that Mayor Wang brought his parents and niece. After all, That's the Wang family, but what's the point of bringing a niece's boyfriend? The Chao family is not that close to the Wang family, and bringing irrelevant people to occupy seats and grab connections is not intentional to cause trouble to the Chao family and use the Chao family as a stepping stone< /p>
The Chao brothers looked at their niece holding hands with the young man with unhappy eyes. Wang Lingyun also noticed it and apologized awkwardly, "Secretary Chao, Director Chao, I'm sorry, my niece is not sensible, please forgive me. ”
Mr. Wang and Mrs. Wang’s heart trembled, and their faces could not help but heat up. Secretary Chao only invited his eldest son and his wife. They insisted on coming. It was not very polite, but they were eager to come because they loved their granddaughter. , I wanted to accumulate more connections for my granddaughter and grandson-in-law, and brought people to the Chao family to take the opportunity to show their faces, but I did not consider the attitude of the Chao family. The Chao family is a well-established local meritorious family. How can they hide their thoughts? Chao family.
Zhao Zongze covered the hand of Wang Yuxuan who was holding his arm. He was excited about meeting many powerful people. When he heard Mayor Wang's words, he knew that it was Wang Qianjin who brought him here. Ignorant behavior is like being showered with cold water, leaving your body and mind cold.
Wang Yuxuan’s expression suddenly changed. Her uncle said she was ignorant and she brought her boyfriend to the banquet. She was not convinced that something was wrong and did not dare to show it. Her parents were not qualified to attend celebrity banquets. In the past, Yan Xing could go to various banquets at any time, but now she could only have the chance to join the upper-class banquets with her uncle and grandma. Even if her uncle said it was her fault, she would have to live with it.
"Mayor Wang, I would like to make an apology first and say something to offend you. There are extremely important guests present at my father's birthday banquet. I also ask Mayor Wang to restrain his niece and order her to give her ten million yuan." Don't rush into my father's distinguished guests. "If the Wang family didn't bring an irrelevant person, Chao Shengguo would naturally give him face. Because he would feel uncomfortable if he brought an irrelevant person, he naturally couldn't feel aggrieved himself. He had to make the person involved feel aggrieved as well, so he didn't A word of caution to save face.
Mr. Wang and Mrs. Wang’s faces turned hot. They heard that the Chao family was very dissatisfied with the fact that they brought their granddaughter and her boyfriend to gain connections. This was a warning to them. Just enough, don't go too far.
"Thank you, Secretary Chao, for reminding me. I will take good care of my little niece and not cause trouble to everyone." Wang Lingyun was keenly aware of Secretary Chao's hidden meaning, guessed that there was a very special guest at the dinner, and was very grateful to him reminder.
Many people looked over, and it was inconvenient for him to stay at the door for a long time, taking his wife and parents to meet the birthday boy. Mrs. Wang also put away all the strategies she had thought up long ago, took her husband's arm, and acted like a A noble old lady.
Zhao Zongze held Wang Yuxuan’s arm and followed Mayor Wang and his wife. Because of the owner’s warning, he tried not to look away.See. Wang Yuxuan did not dare to show the slightest emotion.
Mayor Wang saw Mr. Wu and Mr. Li, and understood what Secretary Chao meant by the distinguished guests. He knew what he meant. He accompanied his parents to congratulate Mr. Chao on his birthday, and took the tea from Miss Chao Er. He greeted everyone on Mr. Li's side and took his parents to the other side to prevent his niece and her boyfriend from bumping into the distinguished guests of the Chao family.
The old man and his wife of the Chao family, Mr. and Mrs. Chao Sanye never asked who the young man brought by Mayor Wang was. Mrs. Wang was also embarrassed to stand up for her prospective grandson-in-law and promote her granddaughter's boyfriend to others.
Mayor Wang was afraid that his niece would run around and cause trouble, so no one was allowed to run around after sitting down. There were six people in their family, occupying most of the table.
Mr. Wang Wang Guohong used to be in a high position and had many connections. Mayor Wang also had connections. Many people recognized Mr. Wang and Mayor Wang and took the initiative to say hello to Mr. Wang and Mayor Wang.
Soon, one of Mr. Chao’s friends, Liu Zhifu’s family from the Liu family, arrived. Liu Zhifu was Liu Xiangyang’s grandfather. The old man was three years older than Mr. Chao, and his hair was mostly white with time.
Mr. Liu was born in the military. Due to injuries and physical effects, he retired at the rank of major general. He has three sons, the eldest son Zhengying, the second son Zhengxiong, and the third son Zhengyi.
Ryu Zhengyi is currently the commander of a certain garrison area in central Beijing, and Liu Zhengxiong is in a certain area of the Jiangnan Military Region. Therefore, Liu Zhengying, his wife, and Liu Zhengyi were accompanied to the banquet.
Liu Zhengying’s wife, Zhou Jing, is the same clan as Chao’s second wife, Zhou Ran, and is a vocational lecturer.
All the men in the Liu family are tall and tall, Liu Zhengying is elegant, Liu Zhengyi is heroic, Liu Xiangyang is sunny and handsome, the old man is still old, but he still has a majestic spirit. The only woman is an educator, a role model for others. , the whole family entered the hall, shining brightly.
The guests at the Chao family banquet were either rich or noble. Le Jiaqi felt out of place and very restrained. She found a place to sit down and did not dare to walk around, lest she be laughed at.
When she saw Mr. Liu, Leda’s daughter’s eyebrows lit up and she became energetic instantly.
Liu Xiangyang supported his grandfather with his coat on his arm. Mr. Liu and Mr. Chao hadn’t seen each other for a long time. They held hands and couldn’t bear to leave. They cared about each other and asked about their welfare, and then Mr. Chao led them to their seats.
The time is getting closer and closer to seven o'clock, and everyone is looking forward to when the Chao family brother will show up.
Chao Yubo and his convoy drove non-stop. It was already 6:40 when they arrived outside Chao Erye's villa, and the convoy stopped behind a long train.
Professor Wanqi and his wife were waiting for Professor Fu and Professor Zhai. Classmates Chen and Cai followed the professors and took the lead, while the other students paused for a moment.
The three professors walked outside the hall before taking off their coats. Uncle Hu, the housekeeper of the Chao family, was waiting outside, took the coats of the three professors, and sent them to the private cloakroom for storage.
Uncle Hu personally told the waiters how to communicate, so announcements came one after another into the hall
"Professor Wan Qi and his wife have arrived."
"Zhai The professor is here with his students.”
“Professor Fu is here with his students.”
The three-way report made Mr. Chao very happy, "Oh, those two guys, Lao Zhai and Lao Fu, are finally willing to let their beloved disciples come out."
"Old Fu and Lao Zhai are probably afraid of their disciples. The limelight was stolen by Professor Wan Qi's primary school students, so he quickly showed off." Li Qingyun also felt happy. The three major professors were one of the attending doctors of Brother Chao's family. He was good with the Chao family, so he naturally became a doctor. friend.
"That makes sense." Mr. Chao knew who Professor Wan Qi's primary school student was, and agreed with his old friend. He heard that Xiao Lele was famous and had the power to overwhelm all living beings in the Medical Department of Qingda University. Professor Fu and Professor Zhai would no longer Let the disciples show their faces. When Xiao Lele grows up, he will probably steal the limelight.
Li Qingyun recognized Professor Wan Qi, but some of the other guests did not. They all looked towards the door and soon saw a couple. The two old men were walking towards him with a young man each carrying a young man.
The lady in the couple is noble and gentle, the man has a scholarly look, the other two groups have serious looks and handsome young men, but one of them is a bit short. If it is taller, then it will be better. Perfect.
Everyone in the Chao family is getting more and more excited. Professor Wanqi has arrived, and Xiaobo and Xiao Lele should be back soon.
Professor Wan Qi had a few words with Chao Yi and Chao Er. When they saw many looks coming towards them, the three professors kept their smiles unchanged and strode forward. Professor Fu smiled as he walked, "Sorry to bother you." , everyone is free to do so."
As disciples of the ancient martial arts family, the three professors remained calm even in front of the head of state, with the integrity and pride expected of an out-of-this-world family; Mrs. Wang often attended heavyweight events. At the banquet, who wants to oppress her with his eyes? It's too difficult.
All the guests were among the most distinguished and distinguished people in the capital. Most of them recognized Mrs. Wang and smiled.
The three professors first wished Mr. Chao a happy birthday. Chen Shuyuan, a talented scholar, also sent a message to the birthday boy and presented a box of health pills prepared by the two of them.
"Good children are all young and promising heroes." Mr. Chao was very happy to see his grandson's best friend.
After receiving the gifts, Chao Sanye and his wife sent the guests to the distinguished guest seat closest to the main table. The three professors had worked hard for the only male child of the Chao family. Of course, they were guests of the Chao family, Chen. My classmates and classmates went to sit in the seats prepared for young people.
Seeing that it was approaching seven o'clock soon, the guests secretly speculated why the Chao family brother had not shown up for so long. They heard a surprised shout from outside, "Old man and madam, Brother Bo, take care of the kids." The princess is back"