Chapter 9: The Banquet Emerges

After speaking, Zheng Bei cast a resentful glance at Zheng Zheng and turned to leave with a few people beside him

This person... Zheng Zheng looked at Zheng Yonghe leaving, shaking his head in a mix of laughter and tears. He truly had not encountered many people like Zheng Yonghe.

As soon as he approached Zheng Yonghe, a single remark from Zheng Yonghe left Zheng Zheng in a state of both laughter and tears

Zheng Yonghe was crouching in the corner behind a pillar, feeling uneasy. After a moment of thought, he reached out and pulled Zheng Zheng behind the pillar as well. He shook his head and said, "I snuck in. At the entrance, I said my surname was Zheng and presented my credentials, and the doorman brought me here. I figured that with so many people around, it wasn't the right time to leverage connections, so I decided to wait a bit. I planned to take my seat once the banquet started, but unexpectedly, I saw you here."

Zheng Zheng smiled, sat back in his chair, and said leisurely: "Coming to congratulate the head of the family on his birthday, the key is still a matter of sincerity. The head of the family oversees the Zheng family; what has he not seen? What is there that he lacks? Ordinary gifts do not catch the head's eye; he is only a bit pleased because they are presented by the family’s own descendants."

Seeing Zheng Zheng's puzzled expression, Zheng Yonghe pointed to the side and threw Zheng Zheng a knowing glance: "I just passed by a table and casually picked it up from there."

Zheng Yonghe gave Zheng Zheng a thumbs up, looked around, and then said: "I reckon it's about time to start handing out business cards and the like. You find a place to sit for now, and I will go network and distribute some business cards to see if I can find one or two clients."

Zheng Zheng stared blankly at the cigarette in his hand

Zheng Zheng was both surprised and amused; he never expected to encounter Zheng Yonghe today. He nodded slightly to Zheng Yonghe and then walked over.

He changed the subject and looked at Zheng Bei, saying: "To be honest, Zheng Bei, even if you give me one or two antiques to save face, the head of the family may not truly appreciate them. He would still need to flatter me a bit to maintain my dignity. This is merely a formality and does not constitute filial piety. Since that is the case, it is better to sit quietly here, enjoy a cup of longevity wine, and sincerely wish the head of the family a happy birthday. Why act like a monkey with a burned bottom, unable to sit still and jumping around everywhere?"

The slender young man nodded repeatedly and said: "The item you mentioned sending to the old gentleman should be that Yuan blue-and-white porcelain vase, right? I heard you haven't restored it yet?"

Zheng Zheng listened in silence, while Zheng Yonghe appeared quite composed. He lit a cigarette and casually handed one to Zheng Zheng, chuckling, "Let's not talk about that for now, let's smoke, let's smoke"

Two people stood behind a pillar, smoking and chatting. Zheng Yonghe noticed that Zheng Zheng's hands were empty and asked with some confusion.

Zheng Bei looked at Zheng Zheng without speaking, intending to make Zheng Zheng uncomfortable: "Zheng Zheng, speaking of this gift, I see your hands are empty and you haven't brought anything. Haven't you prepared any gifts? That wouldn't be good, would it? If not, I can give you one or two antiques or something. Don't worry about the money, just pay me back slowly."

"Mao." Zheng Yonghe comfortably exhaled a puff of smoke and then said: "It's over fifty yuan a pack, I must be crazy to buy this."

Before he could reach the table, Zheng Zheng caught a glimpse of Zheng Bei standing not far away. Zheng Bei had clearly seen him as well, and was walking towards Zheng Zheng along with three or five other people.

Having finished speaking, Zheng Yonghe did not wait for Zheng Zheng to respond and stealthily walked out from behind the pillar, leaving one to wonder where he was headed

Upon seeing Zheng Zheng glance over, Zheng Yonghe vigorously waved at him and said in a low voice: "Come, come over here"

You little rascal, you managed to sneak in as well? Quite impressive

Zheng Bei truly heard these words, how could he not realize that Zheng Zheng was mocking him. Anger surged within him, causing the veins on his forehead to throb violently, to the point that he felt a burning itch in his teeth.

Zheng Zheng looked at Zheng Bei as he walked over step by step, and he did not stop in his tracks. At the same time, he thought to himself: "I just want to sit here, yet you, Zheng Bei, have to come and stir up trouble. Why is it so difficult to have a peaceful meal? However, I am not afraid of you. I don't believe you dare to make a scene here in front of so many people."

Zheng Zheng, come, let me introduce you to a few of my friends

Zheng Beiqiang suppressed his anger, gritting his teeth, his face pale with rage, and said slowly and deliberately: "Zheng Zheng, you sit down first, I will go over there to take a look. If I have time in the future... we can have a good talk then"

No, why do I see you coming here empty-handed? Didn't you say you had some relatives in the Zheng family? The head of the Zheng family is celebrating a birthday; shouldn't you bring some congratulatory gifts or something?

"Not bad, it is meant to be presented to the old gentleman at the birthday banquet." Zheng Bei glanced at Zheng Zheng, either intentionally or unintentionally, and continued, "A couple of days ago, I was busy with a client's commission, so I didn't properly clean up those pieces of blue and white porcelain. However, I originally intended to restore this blue and white porcelain on-site at today's birthday banquet, so it's not a problem."

Great minds think alike

Zheng Zheng understood that although Zheng Bei was very arrogant, he was not a fool. The banquet hall was unlike other places; countless eyes were watching this young master of the Zheng family. No matter what Zheng Bei said, he would not confront Zheng Zheng here. Therefore, although Zheng Zheng's expression was not pleasant, he felt very relaxed inside and was not worried at all about what trouble Zheng Bei could stir up.

Zheng Bei watched as Zheng Zheng sat down without a care, feeling quite uncomfortable. However, he managed to suppress his anger and greeted Zheng Zheng with a smiling face: "These are my university classmates. Although none of them work in the antique business, they are all very interested in antiques."

Before arriving, Zheng Zheng had already thought it through; even if he exhausted his mind and emptied his pockets, the Zheng family would not value what he brought. Since that is the case, he decided not to trouble himself with this matter. He would simply go to the Zheng family to make an appearance, allowing them to know that he had visited, which would be sufficient for him. As for other matters, Zheng Zheng did not wish to concern himself with them

"Oh, Su Yan? Your old soy milk is quite high-end, isn't it?" Zheng Zheng said with a smile, glancing at the cigarette in his hand.

Zheng Zheng never expected that after bidding farewell to the two individuals yesterday, he would unexpectedly encounter them today. It seems that the notion of fate does indeed hold some truth. However, instead of meeting a beautiful woman, he found himself face to face with a middle-aged man, which left Zheng Zheng feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

With a change of tone, Zheng Bei pointed at Zheng Zheng and introduced him to the crowd: "This is my brother from the same family, named Zheng Zheng. The Zheng Zheng I mentioned earlier is him. He is currently working at an antique shop." Zheng Bei stared at Zheng Zheng, a smile that was false to the core on his face, and spoke in a strange tone: "The future is limitless."

"Are you related to the Zheng family? Oh, I really didn't notice that."

Zheng Bei had a smile that was not quite a smile, carrying a somewhat sarcastic tone: "Yes... it was this little brother of mine who recognized the pieces of blue and white porcelain at a glance and then sold them to me at a low price. He was willing to sell me the blue and white porcelain for 100,000 yuan, hehe, that’s really generous."

Hello everyone, my name is Zheng Zheng. Zheng Zheng completely ignored Zheng Bei's provocation, stood up, and gave a faint greeting to the crowd

Zheng Zheng shook his head and smiled, saying: "The Zheng family is large and prosperous, and we are in the antique business; what do we lack? Moreover, just look at those who have come to celebrate the birthday; they must have put a lot of thought into their gifts, as they wouldn't bring ordinary items as presents. As for my limited resources... bringing something mediocre would be a disgrace, and I don't have the means to acquire anything too extravagant, so I might as well bring nothing at all"

"Are you right? Zheng Bei?" Zheng Zheng asked with a smile

I... I have some distant relatives in the Zheng family, and I came to celebrate the birthday." Zheng Zheng explained with a mix of laughter and tears, then asked, "But how did you get in? Do you also have relatives in the Zheng family?"

Hey ... ... Hehe ... ... Alright, alright

With Zheng Yonghe's departure, Zheng Zheng suddenly found himself without someone to converse with, and he felt a bit bored for a moment. After some thought, he walked back to his previous seat, preparing to wait for the banquet to begin

So this is the Zheng Xiaoxiong you mentioned, a young man who can identify blue and white porcelain at a glance, impressive indeed. A slender young man looked Zheng Zheng up and down, then spoke to Zheng Bei beside him.

Zheng Zheng arrived at the table first, sitting down with great authority to drink tea, completely disregarding Zheng Bei who followed behind.

Zheng Zheng was enjoying his tea and smoking a cigarette when he heard a deliberately lowered voice calling out to him. He turned to look in the direction of the sound and saw the middle-aged man Zheng Yonghe, whom he had met yesterday on the bulk cargo street, hiding in a corner and beckoning to him.

The monkey that burned its bottom... is jumping around the world...