Inside the Lily Hall, under the sparkling crystal chandeliers, a rather sizable stage was set up in the front hall. On the stage stood a couple's photo of Xue Miao and a plump man, with a line of text below: Xue Miao and Xu Jiang's Engagement Banquet.
The entire hall could accommodate twenty tables, and each table was adorned with a pack of Hard Zhonghua cigarettes and a bottle of Maotai. In 2008, in C City, the standard was even higher than that of most formal weddings, let alone a mere engagement banquet.
As she considered this, Xue Miao's smile grew more genuine.
After all, the Xu Jiang family was the best she had encountered among all the families she had dealt with. Any higher, and she wouldn't have the confidence to win them over.
As it reached past eleven, guests began to arrive. Xue Miao and Xu Jiang, led by Xu Jiang's father, Xu Hai, stood at the entrance to greet the arriving guests.
"Come, come, Miao Miao, this is your Uncle Jiang. He's a seasoned veteran, having worked in the education sector for over thirty years. It's not easy!"
Xue Miao, dressed in a small red dress and with exquisite makeup, held the arm of Xu Jiang, who was shorter than her but appeared to weigh as much as two Xue Miaos.
"Hello, Uncle Jiang, Auntie Jiang. I've often heard my father mention you, saying you are a veteran and that I must learn a lot from you."
After speaking, Xue Miao quickly and smilingly personally led the family to a table near the stage. Anyone paying attention would notice that the closer the tables were to the stage, the higher the official rank of the people seated there.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that today's engagement banquet attracted nearly a third of the senior personnel in the education system of S Province.
And Xue Miao's lover, Vice Principal Luo, was like the most inconspicuous blade of grass by the roadside among this group of people, and a slightly old blade of grass at that.
As time wore on and the seats in the Lily Hall gradually filled, Xu Hai remained standing outside the entrance of the Lily Hall, not yet having entered.
Xue Miao asked the person in charge of playing the video to wait a moment, then walked to Xu Hai's side in flat shoes, her expression respectful as she asked,
"Dad, you should sit down. Shall I wait?"
Xu Hai waved his hand, his gaze still fixed on the end of the corridor, his tone tinged with anxiety. "You don't carry enough weight. Wait a bit longer. Until eleven-thirty, I sent an invitation to the director. Let's see if he will consider my decades of diligent work and hardship."
"Director? Dad, you invited the director of our C City Education Bureau?"
Xue Miao's shock and surprise were genuine. She had never imagined that her engagement banquet would be graced by the presence of the director. If this were the case, as long as Principal Xiao of the school saw this, wouldn't all her future appraisals and ratings be easily secured?
Marrying Xu Jiang was merely her stepping stone. With this stepping stone, she believed that with her own methods, she would eventually reach the heights she desired.
At that time, money? Even if she didn't ask for it, people would line up to give it to her!
With this thought, Xue Miao stood even straighter.
She even personally walked over to the young man in charge of playing the video, smiling and entrusting him with a request:
"When my father brings people in later, start playing the documentary of my fiancé and me. Thank you~"
***
Inside the Lily Hall, Liu Chen, dressed in a waiter's uniform, stood in a corner. Although the other waiters found her unfamiliar, they didn't ask many questions, assuming she was a temporary hire because the hotel was too busy during the National Day.
In fact, Liu Chen's hands were covered in sweat. She could have left after swapping the video, but she stayed. She wanted to witness, with her own eyes, the expression on the face of someone like Xue Miao as she plummeted from what she thought was the pinnacle of her life.
As she watched the staff connect the projector's cable to the laptop, they exchanged a few words with Xue Miao. Xue Miao went outside for a moment, then returned smilingly, said something, and the staff nodded, settling in front of the laptop.
Liu Chen felt sweat trickling down her forehead to her chin, and then dripping onto the carpet.
At 11:28, the crystal chandeliers in the Lily Hall dimmed, and the projector screen began to slowly draw back, revealing a blue computer screen on the backdrop, becoming the sole source of light in the Lily Hall.
Xu Hai was respectfully following a man around fifty years old, with a head full of white hair, wearing a shirt and suit pants.
"Old brother, ah, thank you so much. I'm truly grateful that you could make time amidst your busy schedule to attend my son's engagement banquet. Thank you, thank you!"
Lu Chuanping, referred to as "old brother," frowned slightly.
"We're all colleagues. I've said it many times, just call me Lu Chuanping. Alright, alright, but you've certainly spared no expense for this engagement banquet."
Looking at the Zhonghua cigarettes and Maotai wine on the table, Lu Chuanping's brow remained furrowed. Xu Hai, this old comrade, usually worked diligently, but he had one flaw: he liked to show off.
Forget it, Xu Hai would retire in a few years anyway. It was best to turn a blind eye to these matters.
The seat Lu Chuanping occupied was specially reserved by Xue Miao, the third table from the stage. This position offered the most suitable view of the screen, neither too imposing nor too obscure.
The staff opened the player and clicked to play the documentary of Xue Miao, which was copied onto the desktop.
"Wow! Mommy, there's a naked, naughty grandpa!"
With the child's innocent exclamation, the gazes of all the guests in the Lily Hall converged on the screen.
On the hundred-inch screen were two individuals wearing only underwear. At this moment, the hall's expensive sound system also came to life.
"Look at this, last year it was twenty thousand per person, this year the price is really a bit...
Well, let's both compromise. Thirty-six thousand each, and I'll take all sixteen."
"After getting engaged to Xu Jiang, you'll be someone else's wife. Heh heh, the thought of it makes me love you even more."
Scorching words blared from the speakers. Guests with children quickly covered their children's ears. What if these lewd words were heard by the children?
Xue Miao stood beneath the stage, her eyes wide as she stared at the high-definition, booming footage playing on the screen.
Beside her, Xu Jiang was so enraged that he directly fainted. His large, plump body toppled backward, pinning the stunned Xue Miao beneath him. The engagement ceremony descended into chaos.
Some rushed to help Xu Jiang up, others tried to turn off the video, and some went to turn on the lights.
Xu Hai slumped into his chair. In his decades of life, this was the first time Xu Hai didn't know what to do.
His reputation, his son's reputation, had been thoroughly trampled underfoot and ground to dust by this woman named Xue Miao today.
At this moment, the waiter who had been waiting outside pushed a three-tiered cake into the hall.
On the cake, a pair of small figurines of a couple was made.
Xu Hai suddenly rose from his seat, rushed to the cake, overturned it with a force, and then angrily scooped a handful of cake from the ground and pressed it onto Xue Miao's face, who was pinned beneath.
"Xue Miao, I will never forgive you!"