Chapter 26: Banquet

After noon, the number of guests coming to the island suddenly increased, and the small passenger ship was running between the island and the port of Haiyun City, sending waves of well-dressed guests ashore and taking them to the mansion by electric car.

Yu Chu was sitting on a boulder close to the yard, from which angle he could see the people of the yard clearly, but was easily spotted by others. After Zhou Mu’s introduction, Yu Chu knew that these guests were basically local businessmen with a face in Haiyun City, as well as foreign business celebrities, including several celebrities invited to support the event, surrounded by followers on the battery car.

Although the sun was fierce, the roof was uncovered and it was still hot, so Zhou Mu handed a water bottle to Yu Chu, saying, “Drink some water, your face is all red.”

Yu Chu took a small sip of water, but said under his breath, “Yu ShiQing has a lot of guests.” 

Zhou Mu gave him a look and said, “He’s a top local entrepreneur and a big business investor, so it’s normal to have a relationship with many people.”

By the time the guests had all disembarked and the ferry set sail for Haiyun City to pick up the next group of guests, Yu Chu’s phone also rang.

“Xiao Chu, the guests have arrived, aren’t you in charge of hosting? Where did the guests go?” Yu ShiQing’s voice came over the phone.

Yu Chu thought he was just a name, but he didn’t expect to receive the guests, so he said, “Yes, Dad, I’m coming.”

Hanging up the phone, the two of them got up from the stone and went back to the Yu Mansion.

In the garden, the band was playing in a small open space on the left, the guests were chatting in groups, and the well-trained maids were weaving in and out of the crowd with drinks.

Yu Chu had just crossed into the garden when he saw Yu ShiQing on the steps, smiling and talking to two guests. His eyes fell on him, before he beckoned him over.

When Yu Chu approached, Yu ShiQing introduced to the two guests, “Mr. Chen, Mr. Zhang, this is my youngest son Yu Chu, please take care of him in the future.”

Yu Chu bowed well and greeted, “Greetings, Uncle Chen. Greetings, Uncle Zhang.”

“Good, good. Your Young Master is really a talented man.” Mr. Zhang and Mr. Chen complimented Yu Chu, and they laughed and talked.

Yu ShiQing introduced Yu Chu to the guests when they came to exchange pleasantries.

This time Mrs. Yu wasn’t here and Yu Feng also didn’t come to entertain guests, while Yu ShiQing was followed by the illegitimate son, but no one was stupid enough to ask.

Who didn’t have a few private matters in the business world? They knew each other well, all mentioned Yu Feng and Mrs. Yu, and only smiled and praised Yu Chu.

Yu ShiQing stayed downstairs for a while, telling Yu Chu to entertain the guests, and then went to the upstairs room with a few guests who seemed to be of high authority.

The guests also needed to be entertained by Yu Chu, and Uncle Wu arranged everything properly, taking all those who wanted to be quiet to the guest room to rest, while those who liked to be lively remained in the garden or the hall, serving drinks and chatting about music.

Yu Chu was ready to go to the woods behind the building to get some fresh air. Zhou Mu had already disappeared and he didn’t bother to look for him, but when he went to the woods behind the building, he found this man sitting on a chair at the edge of the woods, facing the small lake, quietly smoking a cigarette.

“You’re around for 24-hour personal protection, and you actually came here alone, hiding. Not afraid of me being drugged by someone again?” Yu Chu sat down beside him and politely plucked the cigarette from his mouth and put it out.

There were many young people here today, and Yu Chu’s seemingly sweet and soft appearance attracted people’s attention, not to mention the ones who were secretly excited, and there were several who directly came to talk to him. One of them looked familiar, and Yu Chu later thought that it was the second male character in a certain drama he was following.

The last time he met Li Wei was when he first transmigrated, but this time he hadn’t seen him. He was probably also severely cleaned up by Yu ShiQing, and didn’t dare to come back to the island.

Zhou Mu put one hand on the back of the chair behind Yu Chu, “I believe that with your current skills, somebody drugging you would make a terrible mistake.”

“Hmph.” Yu Chu’s mouth sneered, but he approved of the words. He asked, “What are you doing here?”

“It’s noisy outside, so I came here to feed the fish.”

The backyard of Yu Mansion was very large, in addition to a small forest and a small artificial lake, there were a few small buildings farther away.

The small lake in front was sparkling, and there were indeed ornamental fish inside, and Zhou Mu was also holding half a piece of bread in his hand, and threw a piece into the lake. But Yu Chu definitely believed that this person hadn’t just come to leisurely feed the fish, so he turned around to survey the area.

On the left was the main building, the third floor of the largest floor-to-ceiling windows open, he could see from the small woods between the gaps. Yu ShiQing was sitting on the sofa, and opposite several guests were laughing and talking.

Yu Chu immediately understood the purpose of Zhou Mu sitting here and turned back to look at him askance.

“By the way, I came to check on your father as well.” Zhou Mu’s face changed and he broke another piece of bread and threw it into the lake.

“Are you trying to catch him in the act?” Yu Chu sat a little closer and lowered his voice, “Yu ShiQing is good, and the people who came to the banquet today think they will get good things too.”

Zhou Mu stared at him in silence for a moment, “Isn’t Yu ShiQing your real father in the end?”

“Biologically speaking, he’s definitely the father of this body, but psychologically no.”

Yu ShiQing put the original mother under house arrest and broke his fingers. If he continued to be kept under house arrest on the island now, his life may be in danger one day. After he transmigrated here, Yu Chu was less likely to treat him as a father after knowing what Yu ShiQing had done to the original body.

He seriously thought for a few seconds, then soothingly patted Zhou Mu’s shoulder, “Don’t worry, I know that you find it hard to believe. But don’t mind it.”

“Your finger, and Yu ShiQing are related, right?” Zhou Mu eyes fell to his hand, “Every time Yu ShiQing is mentioned, you will subconsciously move to touch your pinky finger.”

Yu Chu also hid and moved his two deformed pinkies, “Yes, he broke his fingers when he asked for the key. He was only ten years old at that time.”

Although he hadn’t personally experienced that pain, when he mentioned this matter, his eyes were oozing with hostility.

Zhou Mu’s hand holding the bread paused for a moment, then broke off a small piece and threw it into the water, asking, “Have you remembered the past?”

“No, just this bit.”

Zhou Mu didn’t know whether to believe that, but didn’t continue to ask. The two people watched the surface of the clear lake, and the atmosphere began to become quiet and soft.

But when a message alert sounded, Zhou Mu looked at his phone, put the remaining half of the bread into Yu Chu’s hand, stood up and patted the crumbs on his trouser leg, “Since you have nothing to do, stay here and help watching for a while. There’s not enough manpower today and Uncle Wu wants me to be on guard duty at the gate.”

“Watch what?” Yu Chu asked.

Zhou Mu said, “Today’s people on the island are in muddy water. I suspect that A’Bang will go to the island and make a deal with your only biological father.”

“…Ah.”

“So we have to keep a good eye on him.”

Yu Chu hesitated, “But a live transaction like that, can’t he just leave it to Uncle Wu?

“If he and A’Bang are dealing drugs, the quantity is bound to be huge, and he won’t feel comfortable leaving it to others.” Zhou Mu said with certainty.

When Yu Chu didn’t say anything, he asked, “Do you want to be free?”

Yu Chu said, “Yes.”

Zhou Mu patted him, “Good boy, if you want to be free, keep an eye on him, and call if anything goes wrong.”

After Zhou Mu left, Yu Chu lay back in his chair and watched the evening sunset through the gaps between the trees. Only occasionally turning to look at the third floor window, he found that Yu ShiQing had never left the study, and after a few guests had left, he leaned back in the wide leather chair and rested with his eyes closed.

Yu ShiQing held this grand birthday party, but stayed alone in the empty study, so it was clear that at this moment, he was thinking about something.

When the sky was completely darkened, Yu ShiQing finally got out of the study, and Yu Chu knew that it was time for the dinner party to start, so he also climbed up from his chair and went to the main building.

He hurried through the grove and returned to the main building hall, where he saw several large round tables already set up and guests sitting around them, looking at the small square table at the front. Yu ShiQing stood there holding a microphone and making a short speech.

“Guests, friends, thank you very much for taking some valuable time from your busy life to visit Singwon Island to participate in the birthday party. I am honored and delighted…”

Yu Chu stood at the door and saw Uncle Wu gesturing to him in the shadow of the side of the platform, signaling him to hurry up to the stage.

Yu Chu nodded and walked up to the stage from the side passage and stood behind Yu ShiQing. He could see the whole hall clearly from here, and his eyes darted past the faces of the guests without seeing A’Bang.

“…Finally, I sincerely hope that in receiving the great blessing, you will also be able to bring a good night. So thank you all for your time. Thank you.”

The banquet began, and the servants, arranged in rows, stepped into the aisle pushing the clanking food carts, and set a gourmet dish cooked by the chef on the table, and the guests began to exchange glasses and laugh.

“Where did you go? Weren’t you told to entertain the guests?” Yu ShiQing whispered to Yu Chu, who was following behind him.

Yu Chu said timidly, “I don’t know everyone and I’m not used to this kind of occasion, so I rested by the small lake in the backyard for a while.”

He didn’t believe that he had been lying by the lake all afternoon and Yu ShiQing hadn’t noticed a single glance.

Due to the current situation, Yu ShiQing also continued to reprimand, but said, “Later on, go to toast the seniors. Use white wine or just pour some champagne for show.”

“Alright.”

Yu ShiQing sat in the main seat, someone came to toast, this occasion was familiar to Yu Chu, all the responses were familiar, but still pretended to adapt to the situation, coyly saying some raw words.

Yu ShiQing was satisfied with his reaction and didn’t say anything.

Yu ShiQing only dipped his lips each time, the glass of white wine looked like a layer of wine skin. When he saw that the guests had gotten into the mood on their own and started to talk to each other warmly, he went upstairs to rest and came down when the ball started.

Uncle Wu took his suit jacket on the back of the chair and followed him.

Yu Chu saw their backs disappear around the corner of the stairs, then put down his glass, avoiding the young people who wanted to talk to him, and flew out of the hall and walked to the small forest behind the main building. As he passed through the front garden, he looked at the gate, and although there were several watchmen standing there, he found Zhou Mu’s figure at first sight.

Zhou Mu was leaning sideways to him against a fence, talking to one of the thugs beside him. He was slightly slumped, lazyly smoking his cigarette, but when he seemed to sense Yu Chu’s gaze, he also raised his eyes to look at him.

The moment their gazes met, he narrowed his eyes and exhaled a smoke ring at Yu Chu, and turned away as if nothing had happened.

Damn, stupid mole, acting all handsome like that.

Yu Chu looked at him and followed the main building to the courtyard. This was also decorated with lights, the small lake was reflected in the water glistening mist, looking beautiful.

He didn’t dare to sit down by the woods as he did in the afternoon, but found a dark corner that wasn’t illuminated by the light, crouched in the grass, with the help of the surrounding forest cover, staring at the study of Yu ShiQing on the third floor.

The study was lit, but the curtains were closed, and only two figures could be seen cast on it, with the occasional movement of someone’s outline, appearing shadowed.

Yu Chu patiently stood there, knowing that ten or so minutes had passed and that in half an hour or so, the banquet would begin and Yu ShiQing would go to the hall again then. He thought that Zhou Mu was wrong, Yu ShiQing would simply choose to deal with A’Bang today.

Although it was already October, there were still mosquitoes on the island, especially in this grass, and the buzzing in his ears was unbroken. Fortunately, he was wearing long pants today, and would be bitten by mosquitoes, but didn’t pay attention to it, even though his ear that was exposed outside his hair was still being targeted, becoming red and itchy.

He used his fingers to scratch the bite on his ear, scratching a few times felt too much, and then used his fingernails to pinch, pinching a cross on it. He waited until the itch passed before continuing to look at Yu ShiQing’s study.

The room was still lit, showing that the owner hadn’t left, but Yu Chu immediately noticed that something was wrong.

The figure by the curtain was gone.