Chapter 72

Some people didn’t want to offend Feng Tingshen.

But a portion of people were eager to cultivate good relations with the Lin and Sun families.

After all, the Rong family had declined significantly these past years, while the Lin and Sun families leaned on Feng Tingshen as a towering tree—how to choose was obvious.

General Lan apologized to Rong Changsheng and left.

The old lady and Rong Ci’s aunt He Mingxue hadn’t paid much attention at first.

As more and more guests arrived and then departed, and as the banquet hall grew increasingly sparse—with only a few tables occupied and over half the seats empty—it became impossible to ignore the situation.

The old lady and He Mingxue walked over, frowning: “Why have so many guests left? What happened?”

Rong Changsheng and Rong Ci fell silent, unsure how to answer.

But now, silence was no longer an option.

Rong Changsheng had no choice but to say: “The Sun and Lin families have both settled in Ducheng. The Sun family set their housewarming for today, and they sent invitations to most of our guests, so…”

Thus, they had created the situation now before them.

At this, Rong Changsheng and Rong Ci looked anxiously at the old lady.

Worried she couldn’t bear it.

The Sun family had repaid their kindness with betrayal, ruining the Rong family—this grudge would never fade as long as Rong Yingsheng remained in the sanatorium.

Now they had gone further, deliberately staging this on her birthday—her hatred for the Sun family was unimaginable.

Yet the old lady had weathered storms before.

Upon hearing this, she gripped the table edge tightly, then turned sharp eyes on Rong Changsheng and Rong Ci: “Is that man named Feng backing them?”

Otherwise, how could the Sun family, with no roots in Ducheng and still unsteady after arriving, have drawn so many guests?

The “man named Feng” the old lady referred to was clearly Feng Tingshen.

Rong Ci lowered her gaze: “Yes…”

Her eyes reddened: “Grandma, I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” the old lady said tenderly, brushing her cheek: “You all underestimated just how vile and shameless they are.”

“Grandma…”

“It’s fine,” the old lady said, scanning the banquet hall, now too empty from the lack of guests, her expression calm and steady: “It’s just a birthday. How you spend it doesn’t matter. As long as you all are well, the old woman has no other wish. The rest is empty—no need to care too much.”

“So, I still say this: never punish yourself because of someone else’s shamelessness, understood?”

This remark of the old lady’s also carried the weight of what had happened to Rong Yingsheng back then.

Rong Ci and Rong Changsheng understood clearly: “We understand.”

Rong Ci had also sent invitations to Yu Moxun and Chu Ziyuan.

They had just arrived.

They were well aware of the affairs between the Rong, Sun, and Lin families.

Upon hearing this, Chu Ziyuan cursed outright: “They’re utterly despicable! I’ve never met such disgusting people!”

Yu Moxun patted Rong Ci’s shoulder reassuringly.

After a moment, his phone buzzed. He glanced at the message, paused, then said: “I’ll summon someone for you.”

Rong Ci frowned: “Huh?”

Yu Moxun smiled: “You’ll see in a moment.”

Meanwhile.

The Sun family’s banquet hall.

Seeing the endless stream of arriving guests, Sun Liyao and Sun Shushan beamed with delight.

As Rong Ci and the others had suspected, they did remember the old Rong lady’s birthday.

No—they had celebrated her birthday for so many years, they could never forget this day.

So, they had deliberately set their housewarming for today.

Recalling how they had once planned to move across from the Rong residence, only to have Rong Ci interfere and appeal to Feng Tingshen, ruining their intended move, they seethed with anger.

But afterward, Feng Tingshen had compensated them.

In a way, misfortune had turned to fortune.

Thinking of this, and of how they had deliberately chosen today to steal away all the Rong family’s guests, their mood improved further.

Sun Liyao whispered with a smirk: “There must be hardly anyone left at the Rong family’s banquet now, huh? Ha, they went through so much trouble preparing everything, yet couldn’t even keep their guests—how humiliating. If this gets out, everyone will know the Rong family has lost not just power but also connections—who’ll dare do business with them again?”

Xiang Rufang patted her hand and smiled: “Exactly.”

Though the Sun family had invited many powerful figures from Ducheng,

in truth, they didn’t know most of them personally.

So, while this was technically their housewarming, it was also a means to build connections.

The diamond bracelet Feng Tingshen had bid for Lin Wu that day, she had worn that very night.

Many had heard of Feng Tingshen’s extravagant spending—over four hundred million yuan on four auction items.

Seeing how much Feng Tingshen valued Lin Wu, many present had sought to flatter her.

Seeing her wearing the bracelet, they fawned: “This bracelet suits you perfectly—General Feng has such excellent taste.”

Though the guests were obsequious, Lin Wu was beautiful, and she looked stunning in anything—today, in full regalia, the diamond bracelet indeed enhanced her elegance and noble bearing.

Lin Wu replied: “Thank you.”

To curry favor with the Lin family, many had done their homework.

So, many knew that Lin’s grandmother loved collecting antiques.

Someone ventured: “I heard your grandmother, Lady Lin, collects antiques—was the antique vase from the last auction the one General Feng bought specifically to honor her?”

The use of the word “honor” clearly implied Feng Tingshen now regarded the Lin family as his own.

Lin Wu nodded: “Yes.”

The antique vase had deeply pleased Lady Lin.

Thinking of it, the old lady couldn’t help but rejoice.

After all, it was a vase worth over a hundred million.

One had to admit—Feng Tingshen had truly gone out of his way for his granddaughter Lin Wu, and with great generosity.

Hearing this, Sun’s grandmother couldn’t help but feel a twinge of envy.

As Lin Wu’s elder, Lady Lin had received an antique vase, while she had received nothing.

Yet Lin Wu had mentioned that night, Feng Tingshen had also bid on two other items—each reportedly worth over a hundred million, even more than the antique vase.

Today was the Sun family’s housewarming—Feng Tingshen knew.

One of those two items was surely meant for them.

Thinking of this, Sun’s grandmother’s mood lifted considerably.