Xiao Yichen stared at the couple, wishing he could gouge his own eyes out. Were they really going to flaunt their affection right in front of him? Was this how they treated the birthday boy as guests?
I didn't see the gift, but I stuffed his mouth full of dog food first.
However, when Huo Shenyan arrived, everyone stopped playing cards. Xiao Yichen said directly, "Let's play cards first, Han Zhao hasn't arrived yet."
Since not everyone had arrived yet, there was no rush to serve the food; they just played cards to pass the time.
Huo Shenyan didn't answer him directly, but instead glanced at Ni Jingxi and said with a smile, "Why don't you do it?"
Ni Jingxi knows how to play cards because her maternal grandmother was quite fond of it, so she was exposed to it from a young age, a family tradition.
“I only know how to play Shanghai Mahjong,” Ni Jingxi said.
Xiao Yichen immediately said, "We're playing Shanghai Mahjong. Come on, Shenyan takes this game too seriously, I don't like playing with him."
The young man sitting opposite him smiled and said, "That's right, and Brother Shenyan is also good at remembering cards. Last time we played cards, three of us lost, but he was the only one who won."
Ni Jingxi had just sat down in the chair, her hands already spread out on the card table, a hint of surprise on her face: "What should I do? I'm not playing cards for fun. I'm sitting here to win money."
The other three people at the card table were dumbfounded.
Until Xiao Yichen clasped his hands together, making a crisp cracking sound, he glanced at the other two and said, "Did you hear that? Jing Xi doesn't take us seriously at all. You two better give her a good beating."
"Absolutely. We have to prove ourselves and not let our sister-in-law look down on us like this."
The group bantered back and forth, instantly enlivening the atmosphere at the card table. The other two men, who had initially been seated with girls, dismissed their partners after Huo Shenyan sat down next to Ni Jingxi.
Although Ni Jingxi majored in journalism, she was extremely sensitive to numbers and had a great memory. She could remember exactly who played which card at the card table, and even the order in which.
After several rounds, she actually won by all of them.
Just then, the waiter came in with fresh tea and a new fruit platter. Huo Shenyan glanced at it and asked, "Are you hungry? Why don't you have some fruit first?"
"Hmm." Ni Jingxi was drawing cards and responded casually.
Huo Shenyan got up to get the fruit, and the other three exchanged glances. When he brought the fruit over, his long, slender, fair hand held a silver fork, poked a piece of mango, and held it to Ni Jingxi's lips.
Ni Jingxi was arranging the cards with her head down. When the mango was brought to her lips, she didn't even lift her eyelids before opening her mouth and eating it.
One fed the other, their movements were skillful and their teamwork seamless.
The other three looked at each other, convinced that Huo Shenyan's method of feeding them was definitely not a first-time occurrence.
These people were genuinely familiar with Huo Shenyan, so they were truly surprised.
This pampering is really too much to bear.
As a result, Huo Shenyan not only fed her, but also watched her play cards. In the end, she pouted and said, "I think it's better to play this card."
In the end, Xiao Yichen on the other side was missing only one card, the Eight of Bamboo, and Ni Jingxi held onto it until the very end without playing it.
After the person on the left won, Ni Jingxi revealed her hand, which made Xiao Yichen yell angrily.
Ni Jingxi looked at Huo Shenyan beside her triumphantly and said in a sweet voice, "See, I told you we couldn't play this card."
"Yes, you're right." Huo Shenyan smiled slightly. "I was wrong."
After saying that, he reached out and pinched her earlobe, laughing heartily.
"If you keep doing this, I won't get to eat today," Xiao Yichen said helplessly, pushing the tiles in front of him into the mahjong machine.
Just then, Xiao Yichen's phone rang. After answering it, he laughed and scolded, "Hurry up, or I won't wait for you."
"Xiao Zhao is coming." Xiao Yichen said after putting down his phone.
The man next to him immediately said, "If you're so capable, call him Xiao Zhao to our faces and let us hear it. Don't back down then."
Xiao Yichen laughed in anger, and said shamelessly, "So what if it's in front of him? I'll still call him that. Xiao Zhao, Xiao Zhao, Xiao Zhao..."
It's just that Xiao Zhao is so famous in Mr. Jin Yong's The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber that Han Zhao is particularly annoyed by people calling him that.
This childishness is hopeless. The crowd around him immediately attacked Xiao Yichen, but he didn't care. Anyway, Han Zhao wasn't there, so even if he shouted a hundred times, no one would fight him.
Han Zhao was the only special one in their circle because he was a soldier with two bars and one star on his shoulders.
His family originated in the north, and his grandfather's generation were true pillars of the nation, ranking among the best even in the prestigious city of Beijing.
He wasn't particularly close to Xiao Yichen and the others, but his family and Huo Shenyan's mother's side were old friends.
At this moment, Xiao Yichen changed the subject and said, "I heard from Xiao Zhao before that your uncle might get a share of the conferment of ranks this time."
Huo Shenyan remained noncommittal, his expression still indifferent: "Is that so?"
"How come I seem to care more about the Jiang family's affairs than you do?" Xiao Yichen chuckled.
Sure enough, Han Zhao arrived shortly afterward. His hair was extremely short, the kind where you could see the split ends, but it didn't detract from his handsome appearance at all; on the contrary, it gave him a rugged and masculine air.
It stands out exceptionally well.
As soon as Han Zhao entered, the other two people at the card table immediately started teasing, "Yi Chen, your Xiao Zhao is here, aren't you going to greet her?"
Xiao Yichen was so angry he wanted to kick them.
"Brother Shenyan," fortunately, Han Zhao greeted Huo Shenyan first when he came over, and when he saw Ni Jingxi, he nodded and politely called her "Sister-in-law".
"Han Zhao, your brother Yichen just kept saying he misses his Xiao Zhao." Sure enough, within seconds, Xiao Yichen was betrayed.
However, Han Zhao ignored him and instead threw something at him, saying, "This is something from Brother Jingyang."
"What is this?" Xiao Yichen opened it and was completely stunned to find that it was a watch. After a long while, he came to his senses and said, "Jingyang is too kind."
Han Zhao said nonchalantly, "Anyway, you all have too much money to burn. When he celebrates his birthday, you can give him a dollar back too."
That's an insult.
However, no one cared, since Han Jingyang was his cousin anyway.
Now that almost everyone had arrived, Xiao Yichen instructed the waiter to start serving the dishes. Everyone then took their seats, and the meal finally began.
Ni Jingxi is not one to chat idly at the dinner table; she simply buries herself in her food.
Besides, the day's activities had been quite exhausting. In the end, while the other girls at the table only lightly touched their food, she ate earnestly and persistently.
When the door was opened again, the waiter came in to serve the food.
Unexpectedly, a head popped out from behind and looked around at the door for a while. Han Zhao noticed it first and was somewhat surprised: "Qiqi."
His shout made everyone look up and turn towards the door. Shen Qiqi was also a girl in their circle, someone they had watched grow up. However, she had said she had something to do today and couldn't come, so they hadn't waited for her.
"I didn't expect you to come again," Xiao Yichen said with some surprise. "Qiqi, what are you doing standing at the door? Come in."
Shen Qiqi peeked out and watched as they magically pulled out another person from the side and shouted, "Look, who's here?"
The person who arrived was wearing a black fisherman's hat, an oversized hoodie, and skinny jeans, making her look exceptionally slender and slim.
When she looked up, everyone in the private room was stunned.
Until a girl next to me exclaimed, "Su Yiheng!"
Ni Jingxi looked up and saw that Su Yiheng had taken off her hat, revealing her delicate and beautiful face, which was magnified countless times on the big screen.
She is known in the entertainment industry for her elegant and outstanding temperament, and she looks exceptionally beautiful standing there now.
The moment Su Yiheng appeared, everyone at the table, intentionally or unintentionally, glanced at Huo Shenyan.
Everyone knows more or less about this past; Su Yiheng's feelings for him were quite obvious back then. Moreover, the two were childhood sweethearts from similar family backgrounds, and everyone thought that it was only a matter of time before they confessed their feelings.
Unexpectedly, Ni Jingxi appeared out of nowhere. Huo Shenyan had only been abroad for a short time, but when he returned, he already had a beautiful woman in his arms, and there was an extra person on his household registration.
What's going on here?
A battleground?
Just as the atmosphere in the private room suddenly became unusually quiet, a deep voice asked softly, "Wife, do you still want to eat this shrimp?"
Huo Shenyan turned to look at Ni Jingxi and asked.
Ni Jingxi: "..." Is now the time to talk about shrimp?
Author's Note: Brother Shenyan: I have a wife, why are you all looking at me like that...
(Author's complaint: Shenyan and his gang are trying to scam you)
Chapter 18
This simple question plunged the already quiet private room into an even more unbearable silence than death.
The turntable on the round table was spinning freely, and at this moment, she could see that the plate of shrimp was gradually moving away from her.
Huo Shenyan glanced at her again and asked in a low voice, "Do you want to eat more?"
His attitude was open and calm, completely unlike the turbulent undercurrents that others had expected. On the contrary, his eyes were always on Ni Jingxi, and even though his expression was indifferent, everyone could see the tenderness in his eyes.
“Yes, I want to eat it.” Ni Jingxi nodded.
She wasn't one to be pretentious; since Huo Shenyan asked, she nodded because she genuinely liked eating shrimp.
At this moment, Xiao Yichen, as the birthday boy, certainly couldn't let the atmosphere remain so awkward. He immediately stood up and walked to Su Yiheng and Shen Qiqi, saying, "Why are you two so naughty, deliberately giving me a surprise? I knew it was such an important event as my birthday, how could none of you come?"
As he spoke, Xiao Yichen put on an expression that said, "I'm so touched by what you two are doing," and made a move to hug them both.
Shen Qiqi couldn't stand his mushy manner and immediately jumped aside, saying, "Brother Yichen, you're so mushy."
"You little brat." Xiao Yichen rolled his eyes at her.
To be honest, he was still quite troubled, after all, everyone could see that Su Yiheng liked Huo Shenyan. Moreover, before Huo Shenyan got married, Xiao Yichen often joked about the two of them.
Of course, Huo Shenyan didn't like it. If Su Yiheng were there, he wouldn't have argued with her, after all, he had to consider the girl's feelings.
However, whenever Xiao Yichen joked with him in private, Huo Shenyan would tell him to shut up.
At that time, Xiao Yichen thought he was too cold-hearted and only focused on work, so he was slow to warm up when it came to matters of the heart.
Moreover, it wasn't just the younger generation who had high hopes for them; even the elders of both families thought highly of them. Su Yiheng had repeatedly promoted Zhong Lan's charity association before. Of course, doing charity work was part of the reason, but the main reason was to get closer to Zhong Lan by starting with the elders.
Zhong Lan did indeed show affection for Su Yiheng, after all, the girl had a good education, graduating from Imperial College London. Her appearance was also undeniably beautiful; not only were her features delicate and serene, but she also possessed a gentle and graceful temperament, making her stand out even in the glittering entertainment industry.
Su Yiheng was originally an English news anchor. Later, by chance, she made a cameo appearance in a movie, and the response was unexpectedly excellent.
After all, in recent years, there have been many beautiful and aggressive female stars in the entertainment industry, but there is a lack of actresses with a refined temperament.
She has both good fortune and a powerful background, and the movies she's tailored for have all been well-received.
So Su Yiheng seized the opportunity and became an instant sensation.