Chapter 1298 — Conflict at the Banquet

Xu Shilan walked to the front of the banquet hall, up beside the stage, and amid the guests' enthusiastic applause she and the middle-aged man stepped onto the stage together.

Sister Wang and Feng Sanhuang, meanwhile, remained below the stage; as manager and bodyguard, they could not accompany Xu Shilan up there.

"My thanks to all you distinguished guests for attending the celebration banquet for our company's Miss Xu Shilan's concert!" Once onstage, the middle-aged man began to speak. As the head of an entertainment company, he naturally spoke first: "Today's concert was a great success. Here I thank all you friends who support Miss Xu Shilan, and I offer Miss Xu Shilan my heartfelt good wishes! Thank you!"

The middle-aged man's speech was brief and formulaic. Though Xu Shilan was his subordinate, he did not dare slight her in the least. Quite apart from her being his money tree, the background behind Xu Shilan, vast enough to blot out the sky, filled him with awe and dread.

He still remembered that three years ago, when drink had loosened his restraint and lust had clouded his head, he had tried to force himself on Xu Shilan in the name of the industry's unspoken rules. Feng Sanhuang's ferocious skill and icy gaze, and the Yellow-Rank expert bodyguard he had hired for a fortune, whom Feng Sanhuang had knocked senseless to the ground with a single punch, had nearly made his heart explode with fright.

And especially after Feng Sanhuang obliquely hinted at Xu Shilan's background, the middle-aged man was so terrified he knelt and begged for mercy, vowing that from then on he would treat Xu Shilan as his own daughter and promote her as the pillar of the company.

Though the guests were not much moved by the middle-aged man's speech, since after all they had all come for Xu Shilan, he was the head of the entertainment company and his face had to be given; so when he finished speaking, they still answered with warm applause.

After the applause, it was Xu Shilan's turn to speak.

"I am very happy today. Though there was a small mishap midway through the concert, it was resolved satisfactorily in the end." Xu Shilan smiled faintly. "My thanks to those who helped me. Thank you all!"

On the surface, these words were spoken to all the guests and staff present, but in truth they were meant for Wei Zhao, and she trusted that Wei Zhao would understand. Understand them he did, however, only he gave no sign of it, merely smiling faintly without even lifting his head.

Seeing that Wei Zhao in his corner had no reaction at all, Xu Shilan grew a little angry. While she was speaking, everyone else had watched her with faces full of warmth; only Wei Zhao, she had no idea what he was doing, could he have fallen asleep?

Xu Shilan wanted to rush off the stage and kick him, but with so many people around, and Wei Zhao being her benefactor besides, she could only swallow her anger and let it go. Had Wei Zhao been merely some passerby, she would not have been so angry; but now that the two of them were friends, and she was still ignored like this, she felt uncomfortable.

Xu Shilan's speech too was brief; for an occasion like this, she was only going through the motions. Among the guests at the celebration banquet, few were truly her fans. Many came with impure motives, hoping to draw near to a beauty, and Xu Shilan understood their thoughts perfectly well.

"All right, everyone, eat well and enjoy yourselves!" The middle-aged man finally took back the microphone and brought the matter to a close with one decisive stroke.

By now the celebration banquet could be considered officially begun. Xu Shilan did not offer toasts to the guests from the stage; this had always been her rule. She did not drink, so naturally this step was omitted.

Yet once the banquet began, many people still came forward with raised glasses to toast her. Xu Shilan could not put them all off, and so she could only substitute tea for wine, making her way among the assembled guests.

Xu Shilan disliked scenes like this. Of course, her dislike did not mean others disliked them; some stars with no popularity at all would have given anything to attend such a banquet and build up their connections.

"Miss Xu, what a coincidence, we meet again!" Zhao Qibing, seated in his wheelchair, came toward Xu Shilan together with Su Jiaonang.

At the sight of Zhao Qibing, Xu Shilan's expression changed slightly at once. She had never expected that Zhao Qibing would attend this celebration banquet as well. But the guest list had all been drawn up by the company, and Xu Shilan had not known beforehand.

Zhao Qibing's entrance made the young gentlemen who had been gathered around Xu Shilan step aside. Zhao Qibing's name rang loud in Songshan City; these sons and brothers attending the banquet on behalf of their fathers' generation all knew Zhao Qibing. Their purpose in coming was in fact quite simple: beyond harboring fantasies about Xu Shilan, they were mostly using the banquet to make more friends and accumulate connections for their families' business and enterprises.

Of course, since Zhao Qibing had already shown such strong possessiveness toward Xu Shilan, naturally no one else would cross him.

"Hello, young master Zhao." Xu Shilan nodded with a smile and greeted Zhao Qibing. Though she loathed him in her heart, she let nothing show on the surface.

"Miss Xu, I wonder whether I might invite you for a drink? Let us find a table, sit down, and have a chat?" Zhao Qibing came straight to the point with his invitation.

"My apologies, young master Zhao. I do not drink, and with so many guests here now, I am afraid I have no way to sit and talk with you alone. Another time, all right?" Xu Shilan politely declined Zhao Qibing's proposal.

"So many guests? Where? I do not see any. You all have business to attend to, do you not? Stop standing here, go do whatever you ought to be doing!" Zhao Qibing glanced at the young gentlemen around him, his tone faintly threatening.

These people had come here to make friends as well; who would cross Zhao Qibing over a woman? Even if that woman was a great star and beautiful as a heavenly fairy, she was not worth making an enemy over.

So once Zhao Qibing spoke, they all turned and dispersed one after another. Undoubtedly, of the whole banquet, Zhao Qibing held the highest station; even if Xu Shilan was not to be his, she could not belong to anyone else.

"Zhao Qibing, why is it that I find your conduct so unbearable? To take womanizing to your level is truly the pinnacle." The man who spoke was that young man beside Wu Chengtian whom Wei Zhao found somewhat familiar.

Hearing this mockery, Zhao Qibing was briefly stunned. He turned his head, saw who had spoken, and his face turned cold at once: "I thought who it was. Is this not the Sun family's second son? What, what, feeling stifled in the Sun family, unable to become the heir, so you ran out to take your mind off things?"

"So what if I am? A second son is still better than a bastard." The man gave a cold snort and said this lightly.

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