Fu Zeming patted her arm comfortingly.
"The Xie family is holding another dinner party in three days..."
Fu Youqing, who had been silent all this time, also spoke up.
She gritted her teeth as she spoke, her voice tinged with sobs.
"A dinner party?"
"Why do they still dare to hold a dinner party?"
Xia Sanghuan frowned.
"Because they're quite certain that we won't be able to find the real culprit behind the attempt on Ling Shi's life," Leng Chuanjin said in a deep voice, like the calm sea before a storm.
"Moreover, the invitations were sent four days ago."
"I guess they didn't expect Chuanjin and Ling Shi to dig this deep," Fu Zeming calmly added.
"Then, should we still go to this dinner party?"
Fu Moning turned her gaze to Leng Chuanjin.
"Of course we should go."
"We must go to this dinner party," Xia Sanghuan suddenly spoke up.
For a moment, everyone in the ward turned their gazes to her.
"No, it's too dangerous," Leng Chuanjin immediately opposed her suggestion.
But before he could finish his sentence, the girl retorted.
"Brother Chuanjin, even if I go, I'll go as a member of the Fu family. As the head of the Leng family, you don't have the right to interfere with me."
Fu Youqing sensed the tense atmosphere between them and quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
"Huanhuan, Chuanjin is right. This dinner party is really too dangerous for us. You're still so young. If anyone is going, it shouldn't be you."
But Xia Sanghuan didn't agree with this view.
"If you don't enter the tiger's den, you can't catch the tiger's cub. Among all of us here, besides big brother and Brother Chuanjin, I'm the only one related to this matter. Moreover, the Xie family has tried to harm me several times before. Maybe it's because they didn't know my identity. This time, if I attend the dinner party as the young lady of the Fu family, they might be more restrained towards me in the future."
Her small face was tense, and her tone was very serious.
Seeing that her decision was firm, Fu Zeming expressed his stance.
"Then let Huanhuan go."
"Dad!" Fu Moning shouted dissatisfiedly.
"Huanhuan has just come of age. Even if this incident hadn't happened, the Xie family's dinner party isn't a place she should go."
Hearing the implication in her second sister's words, Xia Sanghuan couldn't help but feel suspicious. From these conversations, it was clear that the Xie family was not a kind bunch. Moreover, they had a feud with the Leng and Fu families. But this definitely wasn't the reason for not letting her go.
"Just look at this girl's determined look. Do you think you can stop her?"
Fu Moning glanced at her little sister and then sighed in compromise.
"However, once we're at the scene, Huanhuan mustn't leave me and Youqing's side for a single step."
Her worried yet determined gaze fell on her little sister.
Xia Sanghuan nodded seriously.
This matter was thus settled.
That night, Leng Chuanjin's assistant stayed to take care of the patient. After all, Fu Lingshi was the backbone of the Fu family's company. Now that he was injured, many positions were left vacant. Fu Moning and Fu Youqing not only had to be busy with their own work but also had to share some of their father's responsibilities.
Before leaving, Xia Sanghuan asked her second sister, "Second sister, do you and third sister have to go to the Xie family's dinner party?"
Hearing this, her second sister gave a bitter smile.
"Yes."
"We can decline invitations from other families, but we can't decline the Xie family's. Because there are intricate interests among the four major families. If you don't go, it's easy to be criticized. And the other party will seize this opportunity and stab you in the back when you're not paying attention."
After hearing this, Xia Sanghuan fell silent for a moment.
Sure enough, the upper - class society was completely different from what she had imagined. Behind the huge interests, there were also huge risks.
After parting ways with her relatives, she reluctantly got into Leng Chuanjin's car. The man was still sitting in the back seat as usual. When she opened the car door and saw him, for a moment, she wanted to sit in the front passenger seat. But she was just a guest, and doing so would make her seem very ill - mannered. So she could only sit in the back seat grudgingly.
She sat next to the car door and didn't move towards the middle. She turned her head towards the car window, looking as if she would never say a word to the man again.
Seeing her stubborn look, Leng Chuanjin sighed helplessly.
After returning home, the two of them didn't say a word and went back to their rooms to rest.
In the few days before the dinner party, Xia Sanghuan asked for leave from Professor He. She studied some basic social etiquette and ballroom dancing at home while working on her thesis. The progress of her thesis wasn't as smooth as she had expected. With so many things piling up, she felt like she was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Amid this tense atmosphere, three people seemed out of place. They were the two elders of the Fu family and Fu Kai.
This was already who - knows - how - many - times the two elders had come to discuss the power transfer with Fu Zeming. They were sitting on the sofa in the office, sipping tea leisurely.
"Zeming, since that kid won't be able to return to the company for a while, why don't you assign some of his duties to Xiaokai?"
The old master of the Fu family put down his teacup and glanced at his son, who had been buried in his work.
Hearing this, Fu Zeming looked up and stared at the two elders.
"No. The tasks that Lingshi is in charge of are the most core parts of the company. Transferring them to Xiaokai rashly will only expose the company to uncontrollable risks."
"Oh, what are you talking about?" the old mistress of the Fu family said angrily. "What do you mean by uncontrollable risks? If the bastard you picked up from outside can handle these tasks, why can't our Xiaokai?"
Fu Zeming wasn't willing to give in either. He frowned and looked at his mother dissatisfiedly.
"Mom, the company is operating so well now, and more than half of the credit goes to Lingshi. How can you talk about him like that? Lingshi is also your grandson."
But the old mistress of the Fu family looked disgusted.
"What kind of grandson is he? Was he born by you or Sangsang?"
Seeing that he couldn't convince his mother, Fu Zeming simply shut up and continued to revise the documents in his hand.
"Old man, look at your son. He's actually siding with outsiders!"
Seeing her son's attitude, the old mistress of the Fu family became even angrier.
"Zeming, you're not really going to leave all your assets to that girl, are you?"
Thinking of Xia Sanghuan, the old mistress felt even more uncomfortable.
"Of course. I always keep my word. Moreover, I'm not only going to leave all my family property to Huanhuan but also this company to Lingshi. Mom, if you and dad continue to let Xiaokai be so useless, he won't get a single cent from me!"
Seeing that his son wasn't joking at all, the old master of the Fu family immediately got anxious. He hit the ground hard with his walking stick.