Chapter 222: Strength and Sturdiness
When everyone found out that Gu Qinghuan wanted to attend a banquet, it wasn’t just Jiang Chuchu and Yu Xin—practically the entire class got excited.
By the next morning, all kinds of invitations had piled up on Qinghuan’s desk like a small mountain.
Gu Qinghuan broke into a sweat. “What are all these?”
Qin Yue flipped through the invitations with a look of admiration. “These should be invitations to every banquet or event happening in the city over the next half month, right?”
“Mhm, there are also things like art performances, exhibitions, sports events, ribbon-cutting ceremonies…” Ming Xiaolan was also flipping through them, clearly impressed by how comprehensive the selection was.
Qinghuan glanced around and, as expected, saw eager expressions on her classmates’ faces. “You guys just want to eat瓜 on-site, don’t you?”
The classmates immediately shook their heads. “How could that be? Our families just want to meet our class monitor in person!”
That part was actually true. The parents of Class Three had long been curious about this “class monitor” their children kept talking about.
Even though they had seen Qinghuan on TV before, they still wondered if there had been a script involved. No matter how their kids explained, they remained half-convinced at best.
Now that there was a chance to meet her in person, they were more than happy to help.
As for suspecting Qinghuan’s motives? Completely unnecessary. If she really wanted to curry favor with the powerful, there was already the Jiang family—why would she bother with theirs?
“I mainly want to see Xu Zhishu,” Qinghuan said, flipping through the invitations herself.
“Just pick first, then we’ll figure out how to get you in,” Xu Xinghe urged. “It’s only about twenty-something events anyway.”
Although everyone’s family background differed, most hosts wouldn’t mind issuing a few extra invitations.
In other words, once Qinghuan chose, they could just get their parents to secure invitations.
The calculator was practically clicking out loud. Qinghuan couldn’t help glancing at Xu Xinghe before lowering her head to continue choosing.
With the whole class helping, after two breaks, Qinghuan finally narrowed it down to two invitations.
One was for an official charity auction. Since it was a good publicity opportunity, the organizers would invite as many people as possible—getting an invitation wouldn’t be difficult.
Jiang Chuchu mentioned that the Wei family had quite a collection and had submitted three items for the auction, so Xu Zhishu would definitely be there.
The second was an outdoor wine-tasting event. Although it focused on wine, the host was a leading local catering company, so there would also be new dishes available for guests to try. Students could attend as well.
Qinghuan stared at the second invitation—her intentions were obvious.
Jiang Chuchu tapped the desk with her pen. “If you had a superpower, it would definitely be eating with your eyes.”
Qinghuan looked away. “Unfortunately, I don’t have such an amazing ability.”
Chuchu immediately changed the subject. “Have you decided which one to go to?”
Qinghuan stroked her chin. “Just to be clear, this has nothing to do with my personal preference—but I think the second one is more suitable.”
At an auction, it wouldn’t be easy to observe people or have natural conversations. And since it was an official event, Xu Zhishu would definitely be more guarded about her image.
In that case, Qinghuan wouldn’t be able to learn much. From the perspective of “getting to know Xu Zhishu better,” the auction wasn’t ideal.
Yu Xin agreed. “I think so too. That kind of formal setting would also be hard for you to adapt to.”
“But Wei Yan will be at the auction,” Qin Yue added. “From a networking perspective, you could meet him as well.”
Qinghuan stared at both invitations for a while before saying, “Then let’s just go to both. For the auction, Chuchu, can you take me along under your name?”
After all, she had never attended something like that before—going with Jiang Chuchu would make things much easier.
Chuchu nodded readily. “Of course.”
“As for the wine tasting…” Qinghuan thought for a moment. “I’ll find someone to bring me in.”
“You’re worried that going both times as a ‘friend’s plus-one’ will seem suspicious?” Yao Shali asked.
“Yeah. If I show up twice in a short time saying ‘I was curious so my friend brought me,’ the Wei family might think I’m plotting something,” Qinghuan said.
“Whether or not they guess my intentions, they’ll become wary. That would make things troublesome.”
Yao Shali considered it. “In that case, we should also avoid going as a group, in case familiar faces raise suspicion.”
Qinghuan nodded. “Right. We’ll just livestream updates from the scene.”
Without needing instructions, everyone started drawing lots to decide who would attend each event.
Yu Xin planned to go to the wine tasting—she wasn’t comfortable with auctions anyway.
After returning home, Yu Xin told Yu Yuan about it, and the latter immediately said, “Then I want to go too!”
“Aren’t you avoiding the Wei family?” Yu Xin asked in surprise.
Yu Yuan made a bitter face and said softly, “Mom recently talked to me because I’ve been keeping my distance from Wei Xiao…”
Yu Xin frowned. Even though that was her biological mother, that attitude still made her uncomfortable.
Seeing Yu Xin’s expression, Yu Yuan quickly added, “And—I also want to try something!”
“Try what?” Yu Xin’s attention shifted.
“I’ve been learning sanda from Song Yi recently, right? I feel like I’ve improved a lot. But if I can’t actually use what I’ve learned, what’s the point?” Yu Yuan said.
“I have to find a way to break off the engagement. If I don’t have the courage to face Wei Xiao, I won’t be able to move forward.”
Yu Xin looked at her for a moment and said, “You’ve really become stronger.”
“I was always strong!” Yu Yuan protested.
“Mhm, strong taro balls,” Yu Xin nodded seriously.
“You said ‘taro balls’ not ‘Yu Yuan’! And what is ‘strong taro balls’ supposed to mean?!” Yu Yuan exclaimed, both embarrassed and annoyed.
On the afternoon of the auction, Jiang Chuchu personally picked up Gu Qinghuan, took her to Merriness for styling, and after dinner, brought her to the venue.
Jiang Chuchu’s mother, Zhu Qinglan, came along as well. Jiang Youwei was abroad these days and did not attend.
Knowing Zhu Qinglan’s fate in the original tragic timeline, Qinghuan couldn’t help sneaking a few extra glances at her—only to be caught by Jiang Chuchu.
“Why are you staring at my mom?” Chuchu asked.
“Uh, I just feel like… Auntie looks healthier than before,” Qinghuan quickly made up an excuse.
Zhu Qinglan laughed. “Do you mean I look stronger? I’ve been trying rock climbing recently—gained quite a bit of muscle.”
“Muscles are great!” Qinghuan clapped. “You can slap annoying people flying with one hand!”
Zhu Qinglan froze for a second, then burst into laughter. “Exactly—having strength is always a good thing.”
If she were to meet Zhu Manyu again now, she would probably have the confidence to say, “I don’t like you.”
And then—just like Qinghuan said—send her flying with a slap.
