Chapter 194
Chapter 194
After a brief restructuring, Fatty Huang took over the Guo Family enterprises at Hanover City. In less than a week, they were reopened for business.
Fatty Huang wanted a quick boom for his enterprises, so he made an effort to invite Hanover City's rich and powerful, through Big Brother Qian, for a grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
After the lively ribbon- cutting ceremony, a banquet was prepared for them to feast, drink, and be merry.
This banquet was attended by more than seventy percent of Hanover City's elite. Most of the who's who of the town were present, to pay their respects to Fatty Huang, and of course many were there in deference to Hubert Qian. After all, Hubert Qian was one of the two elders of Hanover City.
At the outset of the banquet, Fatty Huang made a simple toast. Thereafter, the various guests prepared to make toasts of felicitations in return.
They held up their wine glasses and walked over with smiles plastered on their faces.
After toasting to Fatty Huang by downing their wine and clinking their glasses, they proceeded to his side, where Hubert Qian and Fade Chen were sitting.
The invited guests walked respectfully towards the both of them, taking the initiative to introduce themselves and also giving them toasts in veneration, expressing their deepest congratulations to them.
By this time, everyone was aware of the relationship between Big Brother Qian and his guest of honor, Mr. Chen. Therefore, they did not hesitate to give their compliments in the hopes of gaining favor with them.
As the guests were toasting and making their rounds, there was a small interruption. As Chessca Tan and her father came by to make their toast, Chessca Tan suddenly knelt down and groveled before Fade Chen, apologizing fervently and begging him for forgiveness.
In actual fact, Fade Chen had already forgotten about Chessca Tan. However, her actions reinforced Fade Chen's feeling of revulsion towards her. He felt that she was way too pretentious.
Therefore, Fade Chen did not accept the drink when she toasted him, but directly made a gesture with his hand for her to leave.
Seeing this, Chessca Tan and her father instantly turned pale and left the banquet crestfallen.
Although this was only a minor slight on his part, Mr. Chen's attitude was seen as an indicator of Hubert Qian's inclinations. Many people of power and status would be hesitant to collaborate with the Tan family in the future.
After this episode, the toasting of the guests continued, round after round. Although Fatty Huang was considered good at holding his liquor, he became rather drunk and his face was flushed bright red. In the end, he required assistance to be carried home for a rest.
Hubert Qian and Fade Chen were still sober as a judge, able to hold their liquor without a problem. In particular, Fade Chen, after downing many glasses of wine, still did not turn red, nor did his heartbeat quicken at all. He remained completely unaffected.
Observing this, Hubert Qian's sense of shock was amplified, and his admiration for the abilities of Lunatic Chen increased.
Finally, after the toasting ceremony was over, Hubert Qian stood up and raised his glass. He said in a clear voice, "I would like to thank all of you for coming today. You are all here to witness something extraordinary."
Everyone felt a sense of curiosity and could not understand Hubert Qian's words.
Then, they saw Hubert Qian with his raised glass, turning around to face Fade Chen. He proceeded to bow in a deferential manner. Finally, he clasped the glass with both hands and said, "I, Hubert Qian, would like to propose a toast in honor of Mr. Chen."
With those words, Hubert Qian downed the wine in his raised cup in one big chug.
Witnessing this, the crowd was stunned and looked on with an expression of incredulity.
Although they had heard that Hubert Qian treated Fade Chen like a venerable guest of honor and had the utmost respect for him, they were not expecting him to be so respectful towards Fade Chen. They did not anticipate such a personal toast to Fade Chen from him in the presence of the rich and powerful of Hanover City. Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.
This gesture seemed comparable to an explicit announcement to the crowd of the fact that Hubert Qian saw himself as subordinate to Fade Chen. This was Hubert Qian putting Fade Chen on a pedestal.
Instantly, speculation about the truth behind Fade Chen's identity, which had died down for a while, resurfaced. The crowd started to buzz and chatter amongst themselves.
Some of the guests were shrewd, and quickly came to their senses on how they should react to this. They imitated the gesture, raising their wine glasses and bowing respectfully at Fade Chen.
The rest of the guests began to take the cue and follow in gesture. Another round of toasting began at that time, and Fade Chen did not restrain himself but drank up all the wine. He still seemed well, calm, and unaffected, without any change to his demeanor.
Just as the round of toasting was coming to an end, a middle-aged man, who was around his forties or fifties, suddenly emerged from the crowd.
The man was dressed in a smart-looking suit and wearing shiny leather shoes. In his tow were two others, and he stepped forward with a smile on his face.
Noticing this man, the guests had a surprised expression. They fixed their gazes on him.
"Why is he here?"
"The Hu family actually sent someone as representative to the banquet. What do you think this means?"
"It's alright to send a representative, but why arrive so late? Won't the banquet be ending soon ?"
"This is obviously an insult towards Big Brother Qian!"
Amidst the crowd's discussion, Hubert Qian's face fell. Seeing Fade Chen beside him with a puzzled expression, Hubert Qian explained, "This man is the butler of Shawn Hu. The Qian family and the Hu family have long been at odds with each other, and in recent years, there has hardly been any contact between us. But now, he has sent a representative to the banquet."
Fade Chen nodded, understanding the situation. The history between the Qian Family and the Hu Family was similar to that of the Long Enterprise and the Wan Family in Bay City. There were all sorts of conflicts and grievances between both elders and the families. After all, they were both based in the same territory, so it was inevitable.
The fact was that for a very long time, there had been no contact between the two families. However, now out of the blue, a representative had arrived. One had to seriously consider the motives behind this action.
The butler walked up to Hubert Qian, made a cordial gesture of greeting, and said, "Mr. Qian, it's a pleasure to meet you. When Old Master was informed that a friend of Mr. Qian is opening a
business and having a ribboncutting ceremony, he sent me to congratulate Mr. Qian. Unfortunately, there was a traffic jam on the road, which caused me to be late. Many apologies, Mr. Qian."
This excuse was so preposterous that one could not believe it. The Hu Family had a high status in the city, therefore it was impossible for a traffic jam to be of any hindrance to them. It was obvious that they had arrived late on purpose.
Hubert Qian was of course aware of this fact. His face was solemn and he said, "Since you were delayed, it would have not been necessary for you to be in attendance. I am in no need of extra gifts."
At these words, the butler's expression did not change. He gestured his hand and let the two men behind him bring forward two gifts, one which was larger and the other smaller in size.
The butler still had a smile on his face as he said to Hubert Qian, "Old Master has given the command that I must ensure that the gifts are delivered and received."
"Just leave the gifts and go!" Hubert Qian knew that they had deliberately arrived late in order to insult him. In such cases as these, Hubert Qian would not be so gracious, therefore he asked them to leave immediately.
However, the butler did not move. Instead, he looked at Fade Chen, who was beside Hubert Qian, and continued with a smile, "This time, Old Master heard that Mr. Qian is graced by the presence of an honored guest, Mr. Chen, therefore he prepared two gifts."
He pointed to the two gifts behind him, one which was bigger and the other smaller. He proceeded to speak with a simper, "Originally, according to the master's instructions, the bigger gift belongs to Mr. Qian, and the smaller gift to Mr. Chen."
"But I just observed Mr. Qian giving a toast to Mr. Chen. At this moment, I can't tell who is of higher or lower status. I am not sure who should I present the bigger gift to, and for who the smaller gift should be given. Mr. Qian and Mr. Chen, please assist me in this matter." The butler made a polite gesture in obeisance, continuing to smile ingratiatingly at Hubert Qian and Fade Chen.
The crowd had become completely silent, and everyone was gazing at Hubert Qian and Fade Chen.