Jin Xiuying sat in the spacious hall of the Chu family, but there was no trace of happiness on her face.

Chu Xuanyue walked into the hall. Her expression changed several times when she saw Jin Xiuying. This was her biological mother, but she had brought her more pain than happiness in the past years. After hesitating for a while, she finally walked over and said, “Mom, I’m back.”

Different from normal moms who loved their daughters, Jin Xiuying did not seem happy at all to see Chu Xuanyuan whom she had not met for more than 20 years. On the contrary, she had a disgusted look on her face.

In response to her daughter’s greeting, she just snorted and then turned her head away, fiddling with the prayer beads in her hands.

Chu Xuanyue had mentioned that her mother was a cold and unfeeling woman. But today Qin Haodong finally saw it first-hand. A cold light flashed in his eyes.

Chu Xuanyue had planned to ask Qin Haodong to say hello to her mother together with all her daughters-in-law. But she immediately gave up after seeing her attitude.

Since Jin Xiuying was so cold, she did not need to show any excessive passion for her.

Seeing that the atmosphere was getting awkward, Chu Xuanli immediately said, “Little sister is back now. Let’s all take a seat.”

Fortunately, Chu Shanhe’s attitude was firm, so the others were quite enthusiastic about Chu Xuanyue’s return. Or at least they seemed so on the surface. After sitting down, they were immediately surrounded by some relatives and cousins who were talking non-stop.

Chu Xuanyue, followed by her daughters-in-law, greeted the women of the Chu family and talked about daily affairs. It was quite lively, but Qin Haodong seemed to be isolated. Only Chu Mingli was sitting with him.

The younger generation of the Chu family, led by Chu Mingcong, were very resistant to his return. They sneered at this sight, “I cannot afford to offend you, but I can choose to ignore you. You must be embarrassed, sitting there by yourself.”

Qin Haodong did not care about them. He enjoyed the tea and snacks leisurely. In fact, it would be best if these people did not come to him, which saved him a lot of trouble.

As time went by, more guests came to the Chu family to celebrate the birthday. Chu Mingli also got up, followed by Chu Xuanli, to greet the guests. Qin Haodong was the only one sitting at the dining table.

A cold smile appeared on Chu Mingcong’s face, “Aren’t you powerful? Aren’t you good at martial arts? I can defeat you without being too violent.”

But at this moment, the emcee at the door exclaimed, “Han Wuji, Master of the Han family, has arrived.”

Hearing this name, all those present were slightly stunned. Generally, the other families would only send a second-generation disciple to celebrate the birthday of the head of the Seven Great Families. Masters rarely came to the party personally. So why did Han Wuji come here today?

Chu Xuanming was also astonished at first, but he immediately calmed down and brought Han Wuji into the hall.

Surrounded by many people, Han Wuji walked into the hall and greeted Chu Shanhe, who was sitting at the head of the table, “Master Chu, I wish you a long life.”

Chu Shanhe did not dare to show any disrespect toward the master of another family. He stood up and said, “Master Han, this is just my birthday party. It is a great honor to have you here!”

Han Wuji simply greeted him and then looked around the crowd.

Chu Xuanming hurried forward and said, “Master Han, please take your seat at the VIP table.”

As the master of another family, Han Wuji was definitely one of the most distinguished guests. Logically speaking, he should be sitting at the VIP table.

But he directly ignored Chu Xuanming and strode toward the ordinary seats next to him. under the gazes of all those present.

Seeing Qin Haodong sitting there alone, the cunning old man immediately felt the implication and he was pleased. Although Qin Haodong came back to the Chu family, their relationship was not so harmonious.

This was definitely good news for the other families. If the Chu family got the support of the Tang Sect, what else would there be in store for them.

The reason why he came here to celebrate Chu Shanhe’s birthday in person was to get closer to Qin Haodong. It seemed that this was an excellent strategy.

“Mr. Qin, am I lucky enough to sit with you?”

Qin Haodong looked at Han Wuji. After all, this man was Han Jieyu’s grandfather and he had always got along well with the Tang Sect. So he nodded, pointed to the seat next to him and said, “Of course!”

Receiving Qin Haodong’s consent, Han Wuji sat next to him happily.

Sitting in the main seat, Chu Shanhe was annoyed at this sight. The younger generations of the Chu family were really good for nothing. He had taken great pains to invite Qin Haodong to the party, but they did not even realize this young man’s great importance in the capital.

If the younger generation of his family would gather around Qin Haodong, it would be impossible for Han Wuji to drive them away and talk to him. But now the benefits were obtained by Han Wuji.

At this moment, Qi Guofan and Zhao Cangqiong, masters of the Qi and Zhao families also turned up. After a simple greeting, the two of them also sat beside Qin Haodong happily.

After a while, all the masters from the Seven Great Families in the capital were here, but the other six were gathered around Qin Haodong. They surrounded him and talked to him, like stars around the moon, but Qin Haodong merely responded in an indifferent manner.

The stupid younger generations of the Chu family also realized that the masters from the other six families were not here to celebrate the birthday. Instead, they were trying to please Qin Haodong.

Chu Shanhe’s face clouded. He had done his best to invite Chu Xuanyue and her son back to prove his good relationship with the Tang Sect to the other six families.

But all his efforts were in vain. The other six masters must have realized that relationship between the Chu family and the Tang Sect was not so harmonious.

But there was no alternative. After all, it was his birthday party and the guests were here. He could only grin and bear it and wait for the end of the birthday party to teach these ignorant younger generations a lesson.

The complacency on Chu Mingcong’s face disappeared. He had wanted to see Qin Haodong being embarrassed and humiliated. But now with the masters from the other six families gathered around him, he was the star of the party.

With the arrival of the guests, it was almost time for the party. Next, the younger generation needed to present birthday gifts to the old man. The emcee exclaimed, “I’m honored to welcome the filial sons and grandchildren of the Chu family to present their gifts.”

According to the order, the eldest son should be the first one to present the gifts. Chu Xuanli was well-prepared. He held a big red gift box and said, “Father, this is your birthday. I wish you good luck and a long life.”

The family member standing next to him immediately stepped forward and took the gift box. But suddenly, Chu Xuanming, who was standing next to him, said, “Brother, shouldn’t we open our gifts in public and show our filial piety to the guests?”

Chu Xuanli hesitated for a moment and said, “Well then, this is my gift.”

Then he opened the box and inside was a jade Buddha.

The jade Buddha was about 20 centimeters high. It was made of fine mutton-fat jade and looked crystal clear. They knew that it must be precious when they saw it.

The guests immediately began to talk about the jade Buddha.

“The Chu family is really impressive. Their son gave a jade Buddha as a gift! It’s really extraordinary!”

“In my opinion, this jade Buddha is worth at least a few million yuan…”

“What are you talking about? Such a big mutton-fat jade Buddha must be worth at least ten million…”

Chu Shanhe nodded with satisfaction. He was obviously satisfied with his son’s gift.

After the demonstration, the family put away the jade Buddha. It was the second son, Chu Xuanming’s turn to give a gift. Everyone looked at him with great interest. They were curious to know what his gift was.

“Bring it up.”

Chu Xuanli waved his hand and Chu Mingcong immediately came up with two family members carrying a huge gift box. It seemed to be quite heavy.

Under the puzzled gazes of the crowd, Chu Xuanming opened the gift box and inside was also a jade Buddha. But this one was 50 centimeters high and was of a better quality and size than Chu Xuanli’s.

The guests exclaimed in surprise, “Oh my God, what a big jade Buddha! It must be expensive…”

“Wow, second son is so generous. Such a large piece of jade is worth more than a hundred million yuan, not to mention the skill it needs.”

“This jade Buddha is so beautiful. It’s definitely a treasure…”

Hearing the praises, Chu Xuanming said proudly, “Father, today is your 80th birthday, so I already asked someone to find a piece of good jade three years ago. I invited a famous craftsman to carve a jade Buddha for you as a birthday gift. Our Chu family will be covered by the Light of Buddha. You will also be healthy and will live for another thousand years!”

“Well done! Good for you!”

A brilliant smile appeared on Chu Shanhe’s face. Obviously, he was very satisfied with his second son’s gift.

Chu Xuanli’s face darkened instantly. He was an honest man, but he was not stupid. Chu Xuanming chose the same gift as him and he offered to show it in public. It was obvious that he wanted to belittle him at the birthday party.

Chu Xuanming turned his head and said triumphantly, “Brother, I’m so sorry. I forgot to discuss this with you before. Look, our gifts are almost the same!”

In recent days, with the promotion of Chu Xuanli’s cultivation, his status in the family was getting higher. It was obvious that he was inferior to Chu Xuanli.

He had carefully planned today’s gift. He had known before that Chu Xuanli had prepared a jade Buddha, so he specially asked someone to make a bigger and better Buddha statue. His purpose was to humiliate his brother in public.

Chu Xuanyue, who was standing next to him, shook her head secretly. After so many years, her second elder brother still liked to play tricks. He did not even give his elder brother a chance.

He had just humiliated his elder brother, so Chu Xuanyue thought that she would be next. She turned around and asked Qin Haodong, “Son, have you prepared our gifts?”

Qin Haodong smiled slightly and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of everything. I won’t let you down.”

Sure enough, as soon as they finished speaking, Chu Xuanming turned around and looked at Chu Xuanyue with a sinister smile, “Little sister, it’s your turn to show your filial piety.”

Looking at Chu Xuanyue and Qin Haodong, who were holding nothing, he pretended to be surprised and said, “Little sister, today is father’s 80th birthday. Did you prepare any gifts?”

Chu Xuanyue looked embarrassed and turned to Qin Haodong for help.

Qin Haodong gave his mother a comforting look, stepped forward and said to Chu Xuanming, “Do you mean that we are not displaying any filial piety if we did not prepare a gift for grandpa?”

“Is grandpa such a money-hungry man? Does he distinguish the filial piety of his children based on the size of the gifts?”

“Well…”

Chu Xuanming was eager to improve his position in the family through the jade Buddha that he had carefully prepared. But now, he was embarrassed and did not know what to say.

If he admitted that Qin Haodong was right, then his gift would be in vain. If he denied it, then it meant that his father was greedy.

At this time, Jin Xiuying, who was sitting next to Chu Shanhe, snorted and said, “You’re really sharp-tongued. Of course, our Chu family does not differentiate filial piety by gifts. But it’s basic etiquette to give a birthday gift to an elder on his birthday party. If you did not prepare a gift, then just shut up and stop talking nonsense.”