Chapter 232: The Farewell Banquet Amidst Raging Underlying Currents

Ning Jinli was about to hang up the phone, but hearing Ning Yao say that, she hesitated instantly.

She really wanted to know why Ning Hai was favored by M Guo, or what methods he had used.

But even Shangguan Ying hadn't uncovered the reason.

So it's probably a secret for M Guo.

Perhaps Ning Yao doesn't know either; she's just saying it deliberately to coax her into meeting.

But……

What if Ning Yao actually knows some inside scoop?

Moreover, even if Ning Yao is bluffing, there's no loss in meeting her in person.

"Where shall we meet?" Ning Jinli asked.

Ning Yao immediately gave her an address: a high‑end hotel in the city center.

A little over an hour later, near lunchtime.

Ning Jinli took a taxi to the destination.

At the hotel entrance she saw several luxury business cars parked outside, all the same model and all with black paint.

The adjacent parking spaces were all empty.

That was a bit odd; it was Ning Jinli's first time seeing the hotel so deserted.

Ning Jinli got out of the car and entered the hotel; two greeters smiled, "Miss Ning Jinli, please come in."

In the spacious first‑floor restaurant, aside from a table in the center, there were no other guests.

Ning Jinli instantly saw Ning Yao and Ning Yao's mother, Lin Lina.

The mother and daughter were dressed flamboyantly with pearl‑shimmering finery, even more lavish than before.

"Come, have a seat!" Lin Lina glanced sideways at Ning Jinli, pointing with her chin to the seat opposite the large round table.

Ning Jinli calmly walked over and sat down.

Ning Yao spoke, "Ah, cousin, you finally made it; I didn't waste the whole hotel I booked just for you."

So she had booked the entire place; no wonder the upscale hotel was empty of other guests.

"You're really extravagant," Ning Jinli replied, unfazed.

"Of course I have to be extravagant; that's in line with my spending habits. Honestly, after everything of the Ning Family was taken by you, I thought I'd have to live like a pauper, almost losing the courage to keep going. But I didn't expect my father to be so resilient."

Ning Jinli lightly tapped the table and said, "Just a reminder: everything of the Ning Family originally belongs to my parents; it wasn't taken by us, it simply returned to its rightful owner."

"Fine, fine, say what you will," Ning Yao said with an indifferent face, spreading her hands. "Anyway, now my parents and I have no interest in the Ning Group. From now on my mother and I needn't do anything; with the generous treatment M Guo gives my father, we can live a richer life than before. Looking back at everything, I realize I still have to thank you."

Ning Jinli raised an eyebrow, "Thank me for what?"

"If it weren't for the series of incidents that happened earlier, my father wouldn't have been forced to flee across the ocean. Had he not gone overseas, he wouldn't have inadvertently attracted M Guo's special attention. As a result, my mother was also pardoned, and both my mother and I obtained M Guo citizenship, so from now on the three of us are M Guo people."

Ning Jinli said, "Is becoming an M Guo citizen really such a cause for joy and pride?"

"Of course!" Ning Yao's eyes glittered. "Who doesn't know that M Guo is the ideal nation coveted by countless people worldwide, thousands of times better than your country!"

Ning Jinli couldn't help but show a hint of disgust.

She just changed citizenship and now calls her motherland 'your country'; such an eager attempt to draw a line is truly nauseating.

"Daughter, don't provoke her, lest she become envious and hateful; if she gets too jealous and can't sleep night after night, what will she do?" Lin Lina said with a smile.

"Ah, sorry, cousin," Ning Yao said, increasingly smug, "I'm so happy I can hardly contain myself. Don't mind me. If you ever have a chance to travel to M Guo, I'll show you around; you seem never to have left the country, right? No worries, I've often traveled to M Guo before, I'm familiar with many places. Now that I'm an M Guo citizen, I should extend even more hospitality."

The mother and daughter harmonized, trying not to make their flaunting too obvious.

Ning Jinli wasn't provoked at all; she just thought the mother and daughter increasingly resembled a pair of clowns—quite laughable.

"So you two booked the whole hotel and invited me here just to show off?" Ning Jinli's face showed a faint expression of speechlessness.

Ning Yao laughed, "Of course! Such a good thing can't go unbragged, especially in front of you!"

Ning Jinli calmly said, "Getting to the point, you know why I came, so…"

"Sorry," Ning Yao sneered triumphantly, "My mother and I know nothing about my father's situation; I have nothing to tell you about what you want to know. I merely found something that might pique your interest to lure you here, and you took it seriously, ha ha ha!"

Ning Jinli stared into her eyes, "You really don't know?"

"I truly don't know; I'm not lying to you. Think about it—M Guo's government and military both protect my father, so he must be of great importance there. Could his situation be disclosed casually? Not even ordinary people, let alone family members, have the right to know. You're funny, not even realizing this." Ning Yao said, crossing her arms.

"I thought of it, but I only came on a whim hoping for luck, already prepared for a wasted trip," Ning Jinli said as she stood, "Since there's nothing left to discuss, I'll take my leave now, hoping I never have to see you again."

"Wait!" Ning Yao stopped, "Now that you're here, why are you in such a hurry to leave? Not even willing to share a final meal? Or is it that you can't accept that our family's future status, position, and wealth will surpass yours?"

"Even if you can't accept it, the fact remains unchanged. Jinli, our mother‑daughter bragging aside, we genuinely wanted to see you one last time over a meal. We even tried to contact your parents but couldn't reach them. After all, we were once a family; I watched you grow up, so there's still some feeling left... This afternoon we're heading to M Guo, so let's treat this meal as a farewell banquet." Lin Lina said, her smile thinly masking a twitch in her cheek and a vaguely off complexion.

"Exactly, exactly," Ning Yao echoed, "If in the future your family wants to see us again, it won't be easy. From now on, our two families are not only citizens of different nations but also separated by a huge gap in social status and identity."

Ning Jinli smiled, "Fine, it's rare I have free time to relax, and hearing you two chat is fine. So—let the dishes come, I'm hungry."

Lin Lina's cheek twitched slightly, and her complexion looked vaguely off.

Ning Yao snapped her fingers, "You may bring out the dishes."

Soon, the waitstaff lined up and continuously brought dishes over, gradually filling a large table, all Western‑style cuisine.

Ning Jinli didn't mind eating Western food, but at this moment the entire spread was Western dishes, most of them typical M Guo fare, making it clear the mother and daughter's intent, which she found both absurd and amusing.

"Cousin, I put a lot of effort into this meal," Ning Yao said, pinching her fork and smiling, "These are the dishes that M Guo's high‑society elites eat at upscale events; the ingredients and tableware were hand‑picked and air‑freighted from M Guo, and the head chef was a top Western‑cuisine chef hired from M Guo, aiming for a faithful recreation in every detail. You can't easily find this in your country."

Ning Jinli turned to the nearby server and said, "Please bring me a pair of chopsticks, thank you."

Ning Yao laughed, "This is proper top‑grade Western cuisine, and you actually use chopsticks—so backward and rustic?"

Lin Lina pretended to help explain, "Daughter, do you think she's had the same experiences as you, eating and seeing everything? She only had a relatively good first ten‑something years; after that she never had the chance to frequent high‑end venues. Please be understanding."

Then, putting on a pretentious air, she instructed Ning Jinli, "Jinli, you now have your own career; your family has acquired all of the Ning assets, making you middle‑class domestically. Going forward you should broaden your horizons—clothing, food, housing, lifestyle—where refinement is required, it should be observed. Take your outfit today, for example: why does it still look like when you were in school, wearing dozens or hundreds of cheap items? Your hair is unstyled, you wear no jewelry, you don't even apply makeup—sigh…"

Ning Jinli, holding chopsticks, lifted a piece of premium steak, chewing slowly, said, "In matters of clothing, food, housing, lifestyle, I do whatever feels natural to me. It's not about wrapping oneself in high‑end refinement to appear lofty; that reverses priorities and only invites ridicule. It's like a lump of feces—no matter how you coat it with gold leaf and jewels, it's still feces; no matter how dazzling the pearl‑shimmer, it can't mask the stench that emerges from within."

"You..." Lin Lina was momentarily speechless, even gripping the steak‑cutting knife with extra force unconsciously.

While you're eating high‑end Western cuisine, cousin, everything you say and do is feces—so vulgar. Luckily no outsiders are here; otherwise it would be truly disgraceful.

Ning Jinli smiled faintly, "As for your claim that chopsticks are backward and old‑fashioned, I suggest you find time to learn some real knowledge. Forks and knives as dining tools appeared in our country as early as the Neolithic era, roughly four thousand years ago. Then, about two thousand years later, fork‑and‑knife eating became too primitive and barbaric, gradually being eliminated and replaced by chopsticks, which are better suited to delicate food and more civilized. In short, you think the fork‑and‑knife dining you consider high‑end and advanced is just leftover playthings of our ancestors."

Ning Yao's face turned instantly awkward, forcing a self‑defense, "Even so, today's Western forks and knives are not comparable to those ancient utensils of your country, and they certainly can't be put on the same level as chopsticks. Eating with forks and knives is so elegant and refined… Moreover, using forks and knives is quite particular and has technical content, far more pleasing than stabbing with two sticks."

Ning Jinli sneered, "You haven't even officially lived in M Guo yet, and after changing your nationality you forget your own roots and lineage? The Ning Family has produced such a pro‑foreign, fawning thing as you; I find it disgraceful."

"You!" Ning Yao, furious, slammed the table.

Lin Lina immediately soothed, "Daughter, we are M Guo people; don't stoop to this country‑bumpkin's level, mind your image."

Ning Yao took a deep breath, forced a self‑perceived dignified smile, swallowed her voice and said, "Cousin, I'm discussing the matter with you, yet you label me and morally blackmail me; that proves you cannot refute me on factual grounds, so indeed I have no need to spar with you."

Ning Jinli's eyes held contemptuous faint smile, "In our country, any normal person doesn't eat the way you describe, stabbing food with chopsticks. Who would eat so recklessly? They would be called uncultured. Were you never taught to use chopsticks as a child? When you normally use chopsticks, do you stab and poke?"

"I… you…" Ning Yao again could not hold herself.

Isn't this a twisted way of berating her for being uncultured?

Ning Jinli continued, "You can randomly train a few monkeys; they can all learn to use forks and knives proficiently, but have you ever seen a monkey easily master chopsticks? Ha, something that even an animal can handle without difficulty, and you still brag about technical content. Ning Yao, so you think being a monkey is higher class."

"Ning Jinli!" Ning Yao broke down, furious, slammed the table and rose, "You wait for me! My great M Guo will someday crush your country! Then you all will become wandering beggars! You'll have to kneel and beg us M Guo people for rescue!"

Ning Jinli grinned, "Who will crush whom, just wait and see."

Ning Yao had been extremely smug, now felt as if she swallowed a stomach full of flies, uncomfortable from head to toe, sat down, pushed the plate in front of her aside, set a stern face and stopped eating.

Lin Lina's complexion wasn't great, but she remained composed, leisurely and elegantly ate.

Ning Jinli enjoyed the quiet, after finishing, took a napkin to wipe her mouth, smiled brightly, "I have finished, thank you both for such attentive hospitality, the ingredients were fresh and the taste good. Then, I will take my leave."

Watching Ning Jinli stand up and about to leave.

Ning Yao, the more she thought, felt more aggrieved, clearly she had staged this to show off and humiliate the other, but the effect backfired.

This breath, she simply could not swallow down!

If not resolved, she feared that later during life in M Guo, just recalling it would make her angry enough to lose sleep at midnight!

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Ning Yao suddenly raised both hands, forcefully clapped three times.

The crisp applause echoed around the spacious restaurant.

Ning Jinli turned her head aside, teasing, "So polite, even applauding as a send‑off?"

Before the voice fell, ten men in large strides entered the restaurant, standing in a line blocking Ning Jinli's path.

Their skin tones varied—some white, some brown, some black—but all were robust and muscular; their black suits were stretched by their muscles, and they wore black sunglasses, looking both fierce and cold.

Ning Jinli gave a faint glance, "What, afraid that the road won't be safe for me alone, want your bodyguards to escort me?"

Ning Yao casually picked up the wine goblet filled with red wine, slowly swayed it, curled her mouth and said, "It's not wrong to call them our bodyguards; they came from M Guo to fetch me and my mother, responsible for our safety throughout. Any situation that could endanger us, they will spare no effort to resolve."

Ning Jinli turned around, faced Ning Yao, half‑smiling, half‑smirking, and asked, "You mean I've become a danger to you and your mother? So you intend to eliminate me?"