NOVEL NEXT Chapter 264 - The Biggest Winner
Chapter 264 The Biggest Winner
The storm was temporarily over, and tonight’s big event was the most important New Year’s Eve meal. The incident would certainly not delay such an important event. In the main hall, everyone was sitting around a huge round table, waiting.
Dinner was about to start, but there was still one vacant seat left around the table. As the leader of the Murong family, Murong Qingtian raised his eyebrows and stared at Murong Lanxi. “Lanxi, where is Xiao Rui?”
Murong Lanxi looked at the vacant seat next to her, feeling slightly embarrassed. Her eldest son was a major source of worry for her. He was always absent from every family reunion. However, he couldn’t escape this New Year’s Eve dinner, so he had managed to stay invisible in the corner.
“Big brother, Xiao Rui must have gone to the bathroom. He’ll be back soon.”
Murong Lanxi stared at her second son, Su Chen, and whispered in his ear, “Didn’t I tell you to keep a close eye on your eldest brother? Where is he?”
Su Chen said in a resigned voice, “Mom, you know my eldest brother. He can disappear in just one moment. I can do nothing about it.”
Murong Lanxi was speechless. “Well, you need to find him quickly. Don’t let the whole family wait.”
Su Chen nodded and instantly stood up and left the table.
Murong Haotian couldn’t help but ask, “Lanxi, Xiao Rui is an adult now, but his behavior is really immature. You should teach him some discipline. In the future, he will be the heir of the Su Family, yet you keep letting him mess around. Who will the Su Family rely on in the future?”
Murong Lanxi sighed softly. “My son is very headstrong. I can do nothing about it. He doesn’t even come home now, so I only saw him a few times this year. Mr. Su has been mainly concerned about himself. He doesn’t care about our two sons. I sometimes wonder whether he is their father or not.”
Murong Lanxi turned to glare at Su Penghai. Although Su Penghai was the leader of the Su family, its property was inferior compared to that of the Murong Family. He could act in an arrogant and dignified manner outside. However, every time he visited the Murong Family, he had to be docile and submissive.
Su Penghai didn’t respond. In fact, he was an open-minded parent when it came to his sons. He wanted his sons to be able to do whatever they liked, so he didn’t meddle in their affairs. However, that day, people kept bringing this up at the table. He didn’t want to comment on it, as it was his family’s affair.
Unfortunately, Murong Lanxi was reluctant to let go of the topic. “Xiao Rui is 26 years old. He should help run the company. Xiao Chen is 22 years old and he has not graduated yet. As the eldest, Xiao Rui should take responsibility. Their father has always indulged them too much. Anyway, we only have these two children, so we are supposed to teach them.”
Murong Lanxi kept nagging. Su Haipeng usually restrained his temper and said nothing in front of the Murong Family, but he couldn’t stand being insulted by Murong Lanxi in front of so many people.
“All right! Your sons have grown up and they have their own opinions. Don’t always try to force your own ideas on others! You can do whatever you like at home, but we are in front of all these people now. Did you even consider your children’s feelings before saying that?”
Murong Lanxi was mad. Su Haipeng had suddenly talked back, which was unacceptable at the moment. Maybe she had been born with a certain superiority because she had grown up in the Murong Family, but she just couldn’t accept it.
“Hey! What’s up with your attitude? You ignore the children and now you started finding excuses for yourself. This is about your sons and their future!”
People were unwilling to take part in this kind of family quarrel. Thus, they kept their mouths shut and watched the couple arguing more and more loudly.
Mu Rongqingtian, who was the head of his family, could not let the quarrel go on. He frowned and snapped in a cold voice. “Either stop it, or go home and continue your quarrel. Don’t spoil everyone’s mood on New Year’s Eve.”
Murong Lanxi instantly went silent, even though she became angrier deep down.
Su Haipeng didn’t want to quarrel with her, so he naturally stopped talking.
Everyone was silent by the time Su Chen came back with Su Rui.
When Su Rui appeared, Murong Yunxi and Gong Yu were surprised. Murong Yunrong even exclaimed, “It’s you?”
Su Rui looked at them with a trace of an apology on his face. He nodded slightly at them.
Everyone saw that Su Rui seemed to know Gong Yu and Murong Yunxi and looked at the three of them curiously.
Murong Lanxi asked, “Xiao Rui, do you know Xiao Xi and Gong Yu?”
Before Su Rui could answer the question, Niannian called out sweetly. “Uncle Seven!”
Su Rui smiled and approached Niannian. He took out a red envelope and passed it to Niannian. “Niannian, you are so sweet. Come closer to Uncle Su, this red envelope is for you. I would like to wish you a healthy and happy new year.”
A brilliant smile formed on Niannian’s small face before she left a kiss on Su Rui’s face. Her voice was really sweet. “Thank you! But how come you are not Uncle Seven? How did you become Uncle Su?”
Su Rui rubbed her little head and turned to Gong Yu and Murong Yunxi. “Sorry I haven’t told you about this! I’ll explain when I have a chance.”
Everyone watched the interaction between Su Rui and Murong Yunxi’s family in confusion. Su Rui had very little contact with his own family daily, so he had never been close to any of his cousins. It seemed that he had a very unusual relationship with Murong Yunxi’s family.
Everyone’s impression of Su Rui immediately changed. Su Rui usually didn’t care so much about anything that was related to the family. Now, it seemed that he had already found someone to back him up. He was clearly not as simple as he looked. He had just been saving energy for a big move.
Everyone thought this way. Even Murong Lanxi was no exception. Her view on Su Rui also changed. From a disappointing son, he became a son to be proud of.
Murong Lanxi’s heart was filled with delight as she thought to herself, My eldest son doesn’t talk much, but he secretly won the central figure of the family over.
Everyone knew that Murong Qingtian and Murong Ye adored Murong Yunxi, who was very precious to them. It was hard to tell whether Murong Ye would take over the Murong Family in the future. Therefore, Murong Yunxi had become the central figure of the Murong Family now. The previous day, she had actually showed a talent for making money, so everyone had started to take her seriously ever since.
“Well, since everyone is here, dinner can be served!”
Murong Qingtian showed his seriousness and vigor as the head of the family. When he scanned the table, everyone went quiet. Su Rui also stepped back toward his seat and sat down.
Murong Yunxi looked at Su Rui, who she thought looked different than usual.
Today, he was wearing a suit and leather shoes, and his hair had been waxed deliberately. His appearance gave people a totally different image, and even his disposition was different. He seemed to be more laid-back, like a rich young lad.
Niannian, who was holding the big red envelope Su Rui had given her, was very happy. Judging by the thickness of the red envelope, there should be a lot of money inside. As a child who used to live in an ordinary family, Niannian had never seen so much money before. She was so excited that she could hardly let go of the big red envelope.
Murong Yunxi was speechless when she saw Niannian like this. Her little girl acted like she had never seen money before. She was really overwhelmed.
“Come on, Niannian. Let mommy help you put it away. It’s not safe for a child to carry so much money.”
Niannian listened to her mom and handed the red envelope to Murong Yunxi. However, her pair of big black eyes still stared at the red envelope.
Upon seeing this, Murong Qingtian smiled slightly, took out a bigger red envelope and handed it to Niannian. “Come here, Niannian. Grandpa has a red envelope for you, too.”
When Niannian saw the bigger red envelope, her big eyes suddenly brightened. She smiled and slammed herself into Murong Qingtian’s arms. “Grandpa, Happy New Year! I wish you good fortune and a long life. I hope that you can always have a good laugh. May everything go well! I wish you great luck… ”
Niannian had said more than 20 auspicious words. Her charming, sweet little face simply made Murong Qingtian laugh out loud.
Finally, Niannian said, “Congratulations on getting rich! Give me the red envelope!” In the end, a pair of small hands reached out to Murong Qiangtian, who smiled and placed the red envelope in Niannian’s hands.
Although the Murong Family invited all its family menbers over for New Year’s Eve dinner, there had never been a child present. The whole family had never seen an image like this. Niannian was the joy in the center of the event. They all called out to Niannian to hear her New Year’s greetings one after another before giving her big red envelopes.
Niannian, who was not afraid, walked around the big table with a bright smile. She received countless red envelopes. She was indeed that day’s biggest winner.
She eventually returned to Murong Yunxi’s side with a large stack of red envelopes and smiled happily. “Mommy, see? I have many red envelopes. I haven’t received so many red envelopes in such a long time.”
Murong Yunxi scratched her nose in embarrassment. These innocent words had left her speechless. “Come on, don’t look like a miser. Everyone’s laughing at you.”
Murong Yunxi put away the red envelopes and stood up to make a toast. “Thank you all for today! This is the first time I celebrate the New Year with you. So many relatives are with us. Niannian and I are very happy. I hope we can truly become a family in the following days.”
After her toast, Murong Yunxi drank her beverage in one gulp. Her action was bold and forthright.
However, it was just a glass. Murong Haotian quipped. “Xiao Xi, Niannian is as sweet as you! How can you just drink one glass, though? I see no sincerity in you.”
Murong Ye’s eyes narrowed as he shot a cold look at the man. “How could you say that, Second Uncle? Xiao Xi can’t drink wine, that’s who she is. She was more sincere than you. Your ‘sincerity’ is too much for us!”
Murong Ye’s words were heard by everyone, but his cold tone still surprised them. They didn’t know what had happened, so they looked at Murong Ye and Murong Haotian.