Chapter 13: Mr. Hu’s Eightieth Birthday Celebration

At noon, Jiang Yunyao and Xie Yixing once again ran to the kitchen, saying they wanted to assist Lu Mucheng and learn how to cook in the process.

Lu Mucheng: “...”

When will this ever end? He didn’t want to teach anymore!

To avoid the chaos of last time, Lu Mucheng had them first identify the seasonings and then tested their knowledge.

Jiang Yunyao picked up a seasoning bottle confidently and said, “Teacher, I know this one—it’s light soy sauce!”

Lu Mucheng: “...That’s dark soy sauce.”

Xie Yixing grabbed another bottle. “This is MSG!”

Lu Mucheng: “...That’s white sugar.”

Very good. The knowledge from the last lesson completely vanished as if they had fallen ill!

After enduring this torture once again, Lu Mucheng left the kitchen and silently vowed: he would never teach these two how to cook again!!!

[Hahaha, the actor Lu is killing me with laughter. Feels like he’s been through another round of torment!]

[From the actor’s self-cultivation: Smile! I must smile... What kind of smile is this!]

[Brother Cheng, as a fan I have to say this: before you retire, could you please take on a comedy role?]

[Hahaha, stop it, if you say more, our actor Lu will break down!]

After lunch, the four didn’t receive any task cards from the production team but instead received several invitations.

Jiang Yunyao took one and looked it over. “Mr. Hu’s eightieth birthday? Is this Mr. Hu an elder you know?”

Xie Yixing casually stuffed the invitation into his pocket and shook his head when he heard her question. “No, my brother sent it, said we should go have some fun!”

Lu Mucheng offered a more detailed explanation, “It was sent by a business partner. He’s hosting a birthday banquet for his father at his private estate.”

Lin Wanwan added, “Mr. Hu has business dealings with my parents. Since my parents are currently abroad, I’m going to attend on their behalf.”

Jiang Yunyao understood. Though four invitations came together, they represented three different parties.

She glanced at the date. “Isn’t this tomorrow? When are we leaving?”

They were currently in S City, and the fastest journey to the capital took at least four hours. Add the time needed for styling… Surely they wouldn’t set off in the middle of the night!

Lu Mucheng said nothing but looked toward Xie Yixing.

Jiang Yunyao and Lin Wanwan noticed his gesture and also looked at Xie Yixing.

Xie Yixing replied, “My brother said seven o’clock tomorrow morning. His assistant will pick us up!”

The “us” he referred to meant all four of them.

“Seven in the morning?” Jiang Yunyao focused on the time. “The banquet is in the capital, right? How will we get there?”

Xie Yixing answered matter-of-factly, “By plane! My brother’s private jet!”

Jiang Yunyao: “...”

Alright, alright, poverty really limits my imagination!

[Private jet... Ahhhh, will the world end if there’s one more rich person like me?!]

[Tomorrow we’re flying on a private jet! I’ve never been on one in my life! So excited!]

[Hey, you calm down first, let me get excited first!]

[Don’t be too happy, this kind of banquet is obviously private. The production crew might not be allowed to go.]

The director took a megaphone and announced that the guests had free time that afternoon and could prepare for tomorrow’s banquet.

Xie Yixing told Jiang Yunyao, “We don’t need to prepare anything. My brother said he’s already taken care of it!”

Lin Wanwan looked at Lu Mucheng. “My parents sent birthday gifts from abroad. They should arrive around four in the afternoon. Ah Cheng, have you prepared the gifts?”

Lu Mucheng nodded. “I’ve already coordinated with President Xie. They’ll be delivered together tomorrow.”

Hearing that no one needed to prepare, Xie Yixing immediately pulled out his phone and suggested, “Since we have nothing to do this afternoon, let’s play games together!”

Jiang Yunyao was the first to agree.

Lu Mucheng noticed the curiosity in Lin Wanwan’s eyes and agreed as well.

After deciding on a game, the four formed a team.

Once Lin Wanwan entered the game and saw their names, she pursed her lips and smiled, “Yao, are these couple names? So creative!”

Lu Mucheng’s gaze lingered on their names for a moment. His fingers twitched as he began thinking of some names himself.

Before Jiang Yunyao could speak, Xie Yixing blurted out, “Yes! They’re couple names!”

Many viewers in the livestream were seeing the gaming IDs of Jiang and Xie for the first time.

[Oh my, Brother Qiang and Sister Cockroach!]

[Well, I admit they really sound like couple IDs, but aren’t they a bit too abstract?]

[Don’t listen to Xiao Xie’s nonsense, these aren’t couple names at all!]

[Lol, this is Xiao Xie’s quickest reaction ever!]

[Director: Some of you, I don’t even want to talk about you. You just grab any chance to play that silly game of yours!]

The four played until nightfall. This time, Jiang and Xie didn’t get addicted to the game.

After dinner, they went for a short walk outside and then went to bed early.

Yet, outside the villa in the quiet night, a group of people worked busily under the lights without rest.

The assistant director paced back and forth with his phone, occasionally sighing.

After a while, he couldn’t hold it in and looked toward the director sitting behind the monitor.

“Director, what do we do? It’s a private banquet—we can’t get in!”

Moreover, the upper-class circles held many secrets. If they accidentally filmed something, they might offend powerful people and nobody would know what fate awaited them!

The director didn’t even look up. He pulled a letter from his pocket and slid it backward with his fingers.

“Tomorrow, President Xie's assistant will pick them up. You go with them and show this letter when you arrive. They’ll let you in.”

The assistant director took a look. The envelope bore the words “Special Invitation” in bold characters.

He felt deep respect for his director—only he could manage to arrange such a thing!

Early the next morning, President Xie’s assistant arrived at the production team.

When Jiang Yunyao saw him, the first thing she noticed was: black suit, briefcase, black-rimmed glasses, and that standard professional smile.

From Xie Yixing, she learned the assistant’s name was Li Zhou, a highly competent professional usually by his brother’s side.

For some reason, Jiang Yunyao suddenly thought of the domineering CEO’s personal assistant in romance novels!

Assistant Li, seemingly like such a character, was meticulous and attentive in everything he said and did. After confirming no one would get airsick, he assigned their seating in the cabin and had them board one by one.

Xie Yixing’s brother had arranged stylists for them and prepared formal attire for the banquet.

By the time they finished getting ready, they had already arrived at their destination.

Assistant Li brought out two birthday gifts—one for Jiang Yunyao and Xie Yixing, the other for Lu Mucheng.

He accompanied them to the entrance of the banquet and turned to explain the situation to Xie Yixing and Jiang Yunyao.

“Mr. Hu is President Xie’s business partner. Today is Mr. Hu’s father’s eightieth birthday. President Xie can’t attend, so if you, young master and young lady, encounter any trouble, you can call me or President Xie.”

Jiang Yunyao nodded. “Thank you for your help.”

Assistant Li was flattered. “Young lady, you’re too polite.”