Since Su Shirong's death in a car accident, the Su family began to decline, getting worse year by year, like Wang Xiaoer celebrating the New Year.
It wasn't until Su Wu joined the Wu Department, coupled with the improved prosperity of the raw material pharmaceutical industry, that the Su family gradually began to recover.
Because of the Su family's decline, Su Yuanshan held birthday banquets every year, using the opportunity of his birthday to invite distinguished guests to the Su family to maintain his network of contacts.
Both Li Lianyi and Qin Linhai judged that Su Yuanshan's eighty-first birthday would be a grand affair based on Su Yuanshan's habit.
However—
The reality was the opposite of what the two had judged.
Su Yuanshan was not celebrating his eighty-first birthday this year, nor was he inviting any guests.
On one hand, Su Yuanshan believed that since the Su family had long-term cooperation with Longteng Pharmaceutical, their revival was inevitable, it was only a matter of time.
On the other hand, the Su family had gone from hell to heaven overnight. If Su Yuanshan were to hold a grand eighty-first birthday banquet, it would lead outsiders to mistakenly believe he was showing off or gloating over his success.
Despite this, the Su family disciples still meticulously prepared gifts.
Even Su Shiyun was no exception.
After all, it was Su Yuanshan's eighty-first birthday, and it might be the last major birthday in Su Yuanshan's life!
Su Shiyun's birthday gift for Su Yuanshan was a thirty-year-old wild ginseng.
She had commissioned Yan Xin, the head of the Longteng Pharmaceutical Jiangnan branch, to obtain it. However, Yan Xin did not ask for any money – he had firmly believed that Su Shiyun was the woman of a Li family descendant, and in his drunken confession, he had successfully misled Su Shiwei!
While preparing the gift, Su Shiyun had asked Jiang Wuming if he wanted her to prepare one for him too. However, she learned from Jiang Wuming that he had already prepared a gift for Su Yuanshan.
…
At five o'clock in the afternoon on Su Yuanshan's birthday, the families of Su Shiwei, Su Shijie, and Su Shining all arrived.
Including Su Le and Su Qiang, who had not appeared, they were standing in the courtyard instead of in the ancestral house's living room.
Su Le had lost two billion yuan in a casino not long ago, and Su Shijie, in order to save him, had reduced his holdings in Su's Group stocks, almost becoming the last straw that broke Su's Group.
He had also become a prodigal son of the Su family, not daring to see the elders of the Su family unless absolutely necessary.
As for Su Qiang, he had always wanted to prove himself through his own efforts and gain Su Yuanshan's approval, but he had never succeeded and was considered a good-for-nothing by the Su family.
He and Su Le were a pair of unfortunate brothers.
"Qiangzi, I heard your boss Wu Guang is dead, and even Wu Guang's boss Qiao Tianba and his son Qiao Lin are dead. Do you know who did it?" Su Le asked Su Qiang.
"I don't know."
Su Qiang shook his head, his expression a bit dejected.
He had finally become a core subordinate of Wu Guang, but as Su Le said, Wu Guang and his boss Qiao Tianba were dead, and all his previous efforts were in vain.
Upon hearing Su Qiang's reply, Su Le was about to say something else when he saw Jiang Wuming and Su Shiyun walking into the courtyard. He immediately shut his mouth, his expression filled with complexity.
He knew that his father, Su Shijie, had always sided with Su Shiwei and had offended Su Shiyun because of it. Su Shiyun had then saved Su's Group through unimaginable means and become the chairman of Su's Group.
"Sister Shiyun, Brother Wuming."
Just as Su Le was looking at Jiang Wuming and Su Shiyun with a complicated expression, Su Qiang took the initiative to greet them. He was the youngest among the third generation of the Su family.
As he spoke, Su Qiang thought of Su Shiyun's actions and compared them to his own lack of achievement. He lowered his head again.
"Qiangzi, I haven't seen you these past few days," Jiang Wuming replied with a nod.
"Qiangzi, is Grandpa in the living room?" Su Shiyun asked with a smile.
"Sister Shiyun, Grandpa and Eldest Uncle are all in the living room."
Su Le answered first, with a fawning smile on his face, wanting to get closer to Su Shiyun.
"Mm."
Su Shiyun nodded, returned to her room with Jiang Wuming, then took her gift and went to the living room with Liu Guifang.
As Su Qiang had said, Su Yuanshan was indeed in the ancestral living room.
In addition, Su Shiwei, Xia Hong, Su Wu, and Su Li's family of four, as well as Su Shijie and Su Shiwen and their wives, were all present.
They were in the middle of a conversation when they stopped as they saw Jiang Wuming, Su Shiyun, and Liu Guifang arrive.
"Dad, happy birthday, and may you live a long and healthy life!"
"Grandpa, I wish you longevity as enduring as the Southern Mountains!"
Liu Guifang, accompanied by Jiang Wuming and Su Shiyun, wished Su Yuanshan a happy birthday.
"Please sit."
Su Yuanshan nodded with a smile.
Su Shiwei and the others looked at the three of them, Jiang Wuming, Su Shiyun, and Liu Guifang, and noticed that Liu Guifang and Su Shiyun both had gift boxes in their hands, while Jiang Wuming was empty-handed.
"Grandpa, this is the wild ginseng and reishi mushroom that Mom and I bought for you."
As Su Shiyun spoke, she handed the gift box to Zhong Gang, Su Yuanshan's bodyguard and driver. Zhong Gang took the gift box and placed it in a corner of the hall, where many gifts were already piled up, all sent by Su Shiwei and others, each worth a fortune.
"It's your Grandpa's eighty-first birthday, and you're empty-handed, without any gift – do you still have Grandpa and the Su family in your eyes?"
At the same time, Su Wu glared at Jiang Wuming and accused him.
"Little Wu, Wuming just returned to Sujiang and hasn't started working yet, so it's fine if he doesn't give a gift," Su Yuanshan said with a smile, waving his hand, not bothered.
"Grandpa, as the saying goes, a small gift carries great meaning. Even if he has no money, he can afford a cheap gift. Moreover, he could have asked Su Shiyun to buy it for him! I think he just doesn't have any heart!" Su Wu attacked relentlessly.
*Swish!*
Upon hearing Su Wu's words again, Su Shiyun's expression changed, and she was about to say something, but Jiang Wuming stopped her with a look.
"Su Wu, the gift I prepared for Grandpa hasn't arrived yet," Jiang Wuming said.
"Tsk tsk, what kind of gift is so precious that it hasn't arrived yet?" Su Wu said sarcastically.
"You don't need to worry about that."
Jiang Wuming stared at Su Wu and said sternly, "On the other hand, you seem to have forgotten the bet from that day – my sister fulfilled those two things, and according to the bet, you should leave the Su family!"
*Swish, swish, swish…*
Upon hearing Jiang Wuming mention the bet from that day, the expressions of many Su family members present changed.
"A bet?"
Su Wu's face turned extremely ugly, and he shamelessly said, "I am the eldest grandson of the Su family, and I work in the Wu Department. How can I leave the Su family because of a playful bet?"
"Playful? If my sister hadn't done those two things, you definitely wouldn't have considered it playful, but would have kicked me out of the Su family, right?" Jiang Wuming said mockingly.
"—"
Su Wu was immediately speechless.
Because if things were as Jiang Wuming had said, then not only could Su Shiyun not serve as the chairman of Su's Group, but he, Su Shiwei, and Su Shijie would definitely drive Jiang Wuming out of the Su family!
"Kid, do you know what it means for Xiaowu to be assigned to the Sujiang office of the Wu Department? As long as Xiaowu is in the Wu Department, all sorts of unsavory characters in society will not dare to extend their claws to our Su family!
Xiaowu provides the Su family with protection! How can he leave the Su family because of a bet made in anger with you?
Su Shiwei suddenly said coldly, "Even if Xiaowu lost a bet with you in a moment of impulsiveness, he cannot leave the Su family! On the contrary, what have you done for the Su family? What qualifications do you have to spout such nonsense?!"
"Exactly, why don't you take a look in the mirror and see what you are?" Su Li immediately chimed in to support him.
Seeing Su Shiwei and Su Li speak one after another, Su Yuanshan's brow twitched, and he was about to speak when he heard Su Le's voice from outside: "Grandpa, a guest has come to wish you a happy birthday!"
"Shiyun, take Wuming out to welcome the guest."
Su Yuanshan said to Su Shiyun upon hearing this. This was both to show Su Shiyun's current status in the Su family in front of the guests and to allow Su Shiyun to take Jiang Wuming out to end the argument.
"Dad, niece Shiyun probably doesn't recognize the guests who have come to wish you a happy birthday. I'll go."
Immediately, before Su Shiyun could answer, Su Shiwei preempted her, a sarcastic smile appearing on his lips.
As he spoke, without waiting for Su Yuanshan's reply, he got up and walked out.
Su Yuanshan hesitated but did not stop him.
Su Shiyun shook her head secretly upon seeing this.
She knew what gift Jiang Wuming had prepared for Su Yuanshan today, and she vaguely felt that the actions of Su Shiwei's family just now would not simply result in them regretting their actions to the extreme today.
They had sealed their own fate!