Jia Yanzhen, standing beside the old woman, said nothing. After all, this was the Oriental family's internal affair, and he was not qualified to interfere.
However, Jia Yanzhen was sure of one thing: the old woman had a very keen eye for people and rarely made mistakes. Especially Zhou Bingwen, who was also the old woman's child. No mother dislikes her child, except for those abandoned from birth. Of course, Jia Yanzhen also believed that his mother must have had unavoidable difficulties when she abandoned him.
Zhou Jinbai's expression softened at the old woman's words, but it wasn't enough to change his mind.
"I'm not interested in anything in the family. Even what happens to the family in the future is the family's own destiny and has nothing to do with me. Don't try to morally blackmail me. A family can prosper continuously, or it can perish step by step. This is not something I alone can decide."
Zhou Jinbai's words were reasonable, and the old woman, who was about to persuade him, became even angrier.
"I know the fate of the entire family cannot depend on one person, but our Oriental family has developed to this day thanks to one person after another. They were all excellent and outstanding, leading our entire Oriental family to a more prosperous future. And they were all chosen by us because we knew they were not only excellent but also upright. If you truly feel it has nothing to do with you, fine. From now on, I, Fu Cha Wanrong, will act as if I never had a grandson like you."
The old woman was clearly enraged. After saying this to Zhou Jinbai, she turned around angrily and walked away.
"Grandma, wait for me! You already have trouble with your legs, why are you walking so fast? If you fall, I won't take care of you. Slow down, slow down, I really can't catch up."
Jia Yanzhen chased after them, and soon their figures disappeared from Zhou Jinbai's sight. Even Jia Yanzhen's voice gradually became smaller.
Only then did Zhou Jinbai look up, gazing in the direction they had left. His eyes, as deep as the sea, were filled with complex emotions that no one could understand.
The banquet was proceeding in an orderly fashion.
Lin Xingwan and Duan Muxing had now also arrived at the main venue of the banquet.
Admittedly, the Oriental family's banquet was the grandest and most magnificent Lin Xingwan had ever seen.
It was even more luxurious than the banquet Duan Muxing had hosted at the Star Picking Tower.
The attendees of the banquet, judging by their expressions, were all from the very top echelon of high society.
There was also a dedicated area for receiving the evening's gifts, with over twenty staff members.
Some were rushing back and forth anxiously, clearing the numerous gifts, while others were constantly recording on their tablets.
Lin Xingwan saw the gifts piled up like small hills. At the forefront were century-old ginseng, carved works made of agarwood, and some high-quality jade. Any one of these items was worth millions.
Yet, they were now placed together as if they were trash, giving the impression that they were worthless.
"I didn't expect the Oriental family's elder's birthday banquet to be so grand and lively," Lin Xingwan chatted with Duan Muxing as they walked. Duan Muxing, sitting in his wheelchair, simply chuckled.
"This is already the most ordinary banquet of the Oriental family. Although the person celebrating their birthday tonight is one hundred years old, they are insignificant in front of the elders of the Oriental family. The liveliest banquet I remember was Zhou Jinbai's eighteenth birthday celebration. That should be considered an unprecedented feast in the history of the Oriental family. The fireworks worth millions were set off from dusk until the moment the next day dawned. And Zhou Jinbai at that time was in high spirits, unrivaled."
Duan Muxing's mind recalled the stunning impression Zhou Jinbai made when he first saw him.
A long, long time ago, when Duan Muxing still couldn't forget his disability, Zhou Jinbai's appearance was a fatal blow to him.
At that time, Duan Muxing even thought that if he could stand up, he would also become such a dazzling figure like Zhou Jinbai.
However, there were no "ifs." He had once darkly thought, why couldn't Zhou Jinbai become disabled like him?
Of course, such dark thoughts were suppressed as Duan Muxing grew up and his abilities improved.
Especially with Lin Xingwan's appearance, Duan Muxing found an opportunity to openly make Zhou Jinbai unhappy and miserable, tormenting him in the most cruel way.
However, Duan Muxing found that he didn't feel any happiness at all.
"It seems that in the Oriental family, there is no banquet grander than Zhou Jinbai's coming-of-age ceremony," Lin Xingwan said. Although she hadn't witnessed such a banquet, she could imagine it.
"No, if Zhou Jinbai gets married, his wedding will be even grander. But... in the current situation, whether Zhou Jinbai can live to see his wedding is also a question."
After speaking, Duan Muxing's gaze fell on Zhou Bingwen, who was standing not far away.
Lin Xingwan couldn't help but follow Duan Muxing's direction and saw Zhou Bingwen being flattered by the crowd. He held a wine glass in one hand and elegantly shook hands with others with the other.
If the attendees of the banquet tonight were successful people, then Zhou Bingwen was the most successful among them.
But Lin Xingwan inexplicably felt this scene was somewhat jarring.
Logically speaking, Zhou Bingwen was the previous generation's Dongfang Zechuan, and Zhou Jinbai was the current generation's Dongfang Junze. Tonight's banquet should have been dominated by Zhou Jinbai's brilliance.
But Lin Xingwan had not seen Zhou Jinbai at all so far.
Just then, a flash of white light suddenly flashed through Lin Xingwan's mind.
Even her eyes began to fill with a cunning glint.
"My stomach feels a bit uncomfortable, I want to go to the restroom," Lin Xingwan said to Duan Muxing.
Duan Muxing did not suspect Lin Xingwan's words and ordered Qingluan, who was standing behind him, "Go with Qingdai."
"Yes, Young Master."
After Qingluan finished speaking, she respectfully said to Lin Xingwan, "Miss Xu, please come with me, I'll take you to the restroom."
"No, no, no, you should stay here and protect Duan Muxing. He's in a wheelchair and needs care. Am I, a twenty-something-year-old person, unable to find the restroom?"
After speaking, Lin Xingwan turned and ran.
Qingluan intended to chase after Lin Xingwan but was stopped by Duan Muxing.
"No need."
Duan Muxing watched Lin Xingwan's disappearing back with interest. At first, Duan Muxing didn't think much of it.
But seeing Lin Xingwan's hurried manner, Duan Muxing was sure that this woman definitely had something she wanted to do.
"Let's go chat with Zhou Bingwen. I haven't talked to this man in a long time either," Duan Muxing said. Qingluan had no choice but to push him towards Zhou Bingwen.
"Uncle Zhou, long time no see."
Duan Muxing appeared in Zhou Bingwen's line of sight. When Zhou Bingwen saw Duan Muxing, he thought he was mistaken and immediately adopted an extremely excited and happy tone, "Muxing, I didn't expect you to be here too! Tonight, the Oriental family is truly shining!"
Zhou Bingwen was quite fond of Duan Muxing. After all, once he became the head of the Oriental family, he could have people like Duan Muxing constantly research various longevity medicines for him.
If the old folks of the Oriental family could live to over a hundred, then he would live to over two hundred.
Twenty years ago, what belonged to him was snatched away by others.
Twenty years later, he would scheme step by step and would definitely take back what belonged to him bit by bit.
"Uncle Zhou, you flatter me. Normally, I don't have the资格 to come here and see you. Now that I finally have a chance to meet, if you are so polite, I don't know what to say."
Duan Muxing said this in front of everyone, which was equivalent to lowering his own status, thus satisfying Zhou Bingwen's vanity to an unprecedented degree.
"Muxing, you're being too serious. After all, I'm an elder who watched you grow up. If you want to come to our Oriental family in the future, you can come anytime. The doors of our Oriental family are always open to you."
Zhou Bingwen and Duan Muxing began to chat. Meanwhile, Lin Xingwan had arrived at the entrance of a very quiet Chinese-style villa.
This Chinese-style villa stood out in stark contrast to the grand and magnificent European-style manor.
However, this small villa was precisely where Zhou Bingwen lived.
When she was recuperating in the Oriental family before, Zhou Jinbai had brought her here for tea.
But Zhou Bingwen was also present at that time, and she couldn't enter his bedroom in front of him.
Tonight, everyone was gathered in the main venue of the banquet, and even a large number of servants had been dispatched.
Lin Xingwan watched at the door for a long time, only seeing a middle-aged woman, about fifty years old, gently dusting antiques with a feather duster upstairs.
Even though Lin Xingwan knew there were definitely surveillance cameras here, she still decided to take a gamble.
Soon, Lin Xingwan entered the villa. The first thing she wanted to do was to avoid the areas that the cameras could capture as much as possible and quietly head towards Zhou Bingwen's room.
The door to the room was not closed.
After sneaking in, Lin Xingwan began to count the floorboards in the room, squatting on the ground and touching each floorboard to see if there was anything unusual.
As expected, heaven favored the persistent. After tapping a few boards, Lin Xingwan found a hollow one!
She quickly opened this floorboard and, as expected, found several yellowed notebooks inside.
The notebooks were of the type most popular in Lin Xingwan's parents' generation, but they seemed very old-fashioned now.
However, even so, these books were very well preserved.
"Who is it? Is the master back? Master—" Suddenly, the cleaning lady came downstairs, and judging by the sound, Lin Xingwan felt that the woman was slowly approaching her.
Now that she had these diaries in her hands, if she were discovered by the cleaning lady, not only would her efforts be in vain, but she would also be unable to explain herself.
She absolutely could not be discovered by this cleaning lady!
Thinking this, Lin Xingwan's gaze fell on the incense burner in Zhou Bingwen's room.
In just a few seconds, a slightly plump figure appeared at the door.
Lin Xingwan quickly scattered the ashes from the incense burner onto the cleaning lady's face. Before the cleaning lady could even see who was in Zhou Bingwen's room, her vision suddenly blurred, and then her eyes felt a sharp pain.
Lin Xingwan pushed the cleaning lady aside and quickly ran out. As she ran, she didn't forget to put the notebooks into her pocket.
She was wearing an evening gown with pockets tonight, and Lin Xingwan had always thought it was a very good decision.
However, Lin Xingwan was so focused on the cleaning lady behind her that she didn't pay attention and ran straight into a wall of flesh.
This wall of flesh was so hard that Lin Xingwan instantly fell to the ground, and her wrists and knees also felt a sharp pain.
"Ah... hiss..." Lin Xingwan cried out in pain. She couldn't help but cast a wronged gaze at the 'thing' she had bumped into.
Seeing it, Lin Xingwan felt her heart leap into her throat.
"Zhou... Zhou Jinbai..." Lin Xingwan was puzzled. Why would she meet Zhou Jinbai here?
Even if this man didn't attend tonight's banquet, he shouldn't have come here!
"Miss Xu?" Zhou Jinbai was also surprised to see Xu Qingdai, Duan Muxing's fiancée, here.
They hadn't had any contact since he mistook her last time.
"Why are you here?"
"Why are you here?"
They both spoke at the same time, followed by a moment of silence.
Lin Xingwan's eyes darted around frantically. The cleaning lady would be here soon, and she had to leave quickly.
"I... my stomach hurts, I wanted to find the restroom, but your house is too big, and I couldn't find it. As I was walking, I ended up here. I don't know what place this is. Mr. Zhou, can you take me out?"
Lin Xingwan tried her best to appear sincere. Zhou Jinbai nodded, "I can take you out."
Lin Xingwan was overjoyed. She got up from the ground and limped behind Zhou Jinbai.
Zhou Jinbai walked very slowly, but Lin Xingwan still couldn't keep up.
It hurt too much. She had fallen on small stones just now. Her skin was already delicate, and after this fall, she felt like her head was exploding with pain.
Zhou Jinbai's gaze fell on the woman's legs beside him.
They were fair, straight, and slender legs. In his memory, a woman's legs were also like this.
If that woman were injured, she would definitely act spoiled and ask him to hold her.
Thinking of this, Zhou Jinbai felt a trace of pity for Xu Qingdai.
The man stopped and directly picked Lin Xingwan up into his arms.