Chapter 148: Stripped Bare?

After getting out of the car, the three of them walked straight ahead.

"What is wrong with you three? It was one thing that you were nowhere to be found last night, but you didn't even show up early this morning. Look at what time it is now! Everyone else has arrived, and Mom's birthday banquet has already started..." Before they even reached her, Shen Huifang unleashed a torrent of complaints, her eyes blazing with anger tinged with a sense of grievance.

"Alright, that's enough," Lin Yuangui reprimanded with a gloomy face. He glanced at the three of them and said, "Hurry inside, the banquet is about to begin. Remember to apologize to your grandmother first."

"Dad, what are you..." Hong Chen pointed at Lin Yuangui's work clothes. Shen Huifang's gaze turned icy. "It's all because of you! You were supposed to wear this outfit, but since you were missing, old Lin had to take your place. What on earth did our family do in our past life to deserve you..."

"Shen Huifang, that's enough!" Lin Yuangui shouted in a low voice once more, his expression darkening further. Under Lin Yuangui's stern glare, Shen Huifang's face flickered through various emotions before she finally let out a snort and backed down completely.

This miraculous sight left Hong Chen stunned, his expression turning somewhat peculiar. In his memory, Lin Yuangui was always a quiet pushover, practically henpecked. For the past two years of their marriage, aside from Lin Yuxin occasionally talking back, Shen Huifang made all the major and minor decisions in the household.

Could a coup d'état have taken place during this month away from home, allowing Lin Yuangui to reclaim the sovereignty due to the head of the house and finally rise like a serf turning over the tables?

"Go on in," Lin Yuangui urged the three of them again. Hong Chen didn't move right away, instead asking, "Dad, you and Mom arrived two days early. How have things been with the Shen family over the past couple of days?"

Shen Huifang let out a muffled snort. "How do you think? You know very well what our family's status is in the Shen family. Aside from being allowed to sit and eat with everyone else, how are we any different from servants? It's all because the men in this family are useless."

She took a swipe not only at Hong Chen but dragged Lin Yuangui down with him as well.

This time, Lin Yuangui remained silent with a less-than-pleasant expression. Lin Yuxin couldn't help but chime in, "Dad, Mom, you came out here to the entrance—they must have driven you out, didn't they?"

Shen Huifang gritted her teeth and snapped, "Need you ask? Since you two weren't here, your grandfather told the two of us to wait for you out here. We aren't allowed to go in until everyone has arrived."

Welcoming guests was a job for servants. By having Lin Yuangui and his wife play this role, the old master was clearly extremely displeased with Hong Chen and the others for repeatedly showing up late!

A look of anger flashed across Lin Yuxin's face. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have been a big deal, but today was her grandmother's birthday. The entire Shen family was present, along with numerous guests. For her grandfather to pull this stunt was equivalent to stripping their family of every last shred of dignity.

They were both daughters, yet if the same situation had happened to her eldest aunt, the outcome would never have been like this!

Just because her eldest aunt's husband was more successful than Lin Yuangui, and Xiao Ting's fiancé was more impressive than Lin Yuxin's man, the gifts they presented every year for her grandparents' birthdays and wedding anniversaries were always much more lavish!

"It seems that young master Lu wasn't injured too badly, but knowing he was in the wrong and feeling guilty, he didn't dare to come make a scene," Hong Chen suddenly muttered in a low voice. The two sisters glanced at him and nodded slightly.

***

"Let's go. We'll save some face for Dad and Mom later," Hong Chen smiled and took the lead. Lin Yuxin quickly followed, while Lin Yinfeng lagged half a step behind. Lin Yuangui and his wife exchanged a bewildered glance, and Shen Huifang laughed out of sheer exasperation. "Save my face? As long as we don't lose too much of it, I'll thank the heavens and earth."

......

The spacious hall of over two hundred square meters was set with ten tables, creating a very lively atmosphere.

At the main table, covered with a red tablecloth, Master Shen sat upright in a custom Tang suit. His half-black, half-white hair was neatly combed, and his aged face bloomed with a smile like a blooming chrysanthemum, radiating high spirits.

Beside him sat a plump, kindly-faced elderly woman—the birthday star of the day, Old Madam Luo.

On the wall behind the elderly couple hung a massive character for "Longevity," while the younger generations stepped forward one by one to offer their birthday greetings and present their gifts.

"Mom, I wish you and Dad continued health and peace throughout the years. This is a five-hundred-year-old wild ginseng that I specifically had a friend bring over from the Goryeo Kingdom. If you and Dad stew a little bit of it every day, it's guaranteed to give you a long life. Once you finish it, I'll go back to Goryeo and buy more for you."

The third uncle, Shen Shanze, along with his wife, son, and daughter-in-law, a family of four, offered their birthday wishes to the old lady. Shen Shanze held out an exquisite gift box with both hands and opened it, revealing a foot-long old ginseng root inside.

A five-hundred-year-old ginseng.

"Goodness, centennial ginseng is a rare sight nowadays, but a ginseng that is five hundred years old is simply an incomparable treasure!"

"Nowadays, ginseng that's a few decades old costs hundreds of thousands. How much must a five-hundred-year-old one be worth? They say raising children is for security in old age—Master Shen and his wife are truly blessed to have such a filial son!"

The guests burst into a chorus of exclamations, and words of praise rose one after another. Of course, quite a few people remained silent, some even wearing faint expressions of contempt and mockery.

Only a fool would genuinely believe in a five-hundred-year-old ginseng. If it were real, the Goryeo Kingdom wouldn't export it. Such a large size with such a stellar appearance was clearly artificially cultivated—it was nothing more than puffing up one's cheeks to pretend to be a fat man!

"Shanze, you and your wife put a lot of thought into this," Old Madam Luo said with a beaming smile, taking a sip of the tea they offered.

After the Shen Shanze family, it was Shen Huizhu's turn. Xiao Ting's boyfriend had been replaced; compared to that Luo Cheng from before, he was much more handsome with a hint of arrogance on his face. Judging by his appearance, not only was he good-looking, but his financial standing probably wouldn't be bad either.

"Mom, I wish you a life as boundless as the Eastern Sea and a longevity matching the Southern Mountains. May every year bring days like this, and every age bring times like now. This is an ice-type jadeite bracelet that I specifically won at an auction in the Burmese region. A string of beads like this costs two hundred and seventy thousand. Wearing it close to the skin can nourish the human body and slow down aging..."

After a long speech, the main point was the price of two hundred and seventy thousand. Shen Huizhu not only emphasized the pronunciation of the sum, but she also deliberately took out the auction certificate showing the price for Master Shen and Old Madam Luo to inspect.

Another wave of exclamations swept through the guests. Over two hundred thousand! The old lady was just celebrating an ordinary birthday, not a milestone one; presenting a gift worth over two hundred thousand was definitely a heavy tribute. If one added the grandfather's birthday and their wedding anniversary, sending seven or eight hundred thousand a year meant this filial piety could truly be considered substantial!

Moreover, compared to the ginseng presented by Shen Shanze, which was purely a superficial face-saving project, the jadeite beads from Shen Huizhu were the real deal. The Shen family knew this eldest daughter of theirs very well; she cared deeply about her reputation and would never use fake goods to fool anyone.

Old Madam Luo grinned from ear to ear, repeating, "You've put your heart into this."

Apart from his smile, Master Shen's face also held a bit more satisfaction.

After serving the tea, Shen Huizhu's family should have returned to their table, but Shen Huizhu didn't hurry away. Her gaze swept casually around the room, and she let out an inquiring "Oh?" Sound. "Dad, Mom, why hasn't Huifang arrived yet? Could it be that because their family has struck it rich, they look down on us poor relatives and can't even be bothered to attend Mom's birthday banquet?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the hall fell silent. The smiles on Master Shen and Old Madam Luo's faces also stiffened. Master Shen let out a heavy snort and said with displeasure, "That younger sister of yours is completely out of hand! Your mother's birthday banquet has already begun, yet neither of her precious daughters nor that golden-son-in-law of theirs has shown up. What you said is right; ever since their family struck it rich, your mother and I have just become an old codger and an old hag in their eyes."

With the hall packed with guests, Master Shen spoke so harshly that it showed just how deep his dissatisfaction with Shen Huifang's family ran.

"Dad, Yuxin and the others have arrived," Shen Huifang's family had actually already entered, but they had been seated at a table in the furthest corner where no one paid them any attention. Since Master Shen had put things so bluntly, if Shen Huifang didn't show her face now, she truly would become an object of universal scorn.

"Oh? Second Sister, so you've already arrived? I was just looking for you earlier," Shen Huizhu said with a hypocritical smile on her face, turning to Master Shen and his wife. "Dad, Mom, don't be angry. Huifang and the others must have been late because they were busy preparing a heavy birthday gift for Mom."

With that, a playful glint flashed in her eyes as she turned back to Shen Huifang. "Huifang, Yuxin travels back and forth in a Bentley these days, and the last time she treated our family to a meal, it cost nearly a million. From childhood until now, among all the children, Mom has always loved you the most, and she's always been closer to Yuxin and Yinfeng than to her own grandsons and granddaughters. Mom only has a birthday once a year, so I'm sure your family's filial piety must be the deepest of all."

A single stone stirred up a thousand ripples!

The gazes of the guests instantly converged on the same spot—Shen Huifang's family, who had been abandoned in a forgotten corner, instantly became the focal point of the hall.

To Shen Huifang, those astonished gazes felt like a barrage of sharp thorns, tearing her skin apart and piercing straight through her internal organs. Her face instantly turned as red as blood, and she wished desperately for a hole to appear in the wall so she could crawl into it, or a crack in the ground so she could burrow inside.

Lin Yuangui was right beside her, his face equally flushed, feeling utterly humiliated while burning with fury. How could Shen Huifang have such an elder sister who insisted on stripping their family's dignity down to the bare bone?