Two days later, Shen Jianyi and Lu Jinsheng went to the Zhang family's as promised.
Although the Zhang family was not among the top - tier wealthy families in Shanghai, Professor Zhang had been teaching for decades, especially at a prestigious institution like Tsinghua University. Many of his former students had now become well - known figures in various fields.
Therefore, this birthday banquet had gathered many well - known figures from all over China. Each of them was an important person who held a significant position in their respective industries. As a result, there were already many reporters surrounding the Zhang family's residence.
When Shen Jianyi and Lu Jinsheng arrived, the banquet had already started.
After being by Lu Jinsheng's side for so long, she was already accustomed to the constant gazes. Calmly, she hooked her arm through Lu Jinsheng's and walked into the Zhang family's residence, scanning the crowd for Zhou Sang's figure.
Soon, she found her target.
Sure enough, Zhou Sang was here. He was dressed in an extremely low - key gray suit, with a gentle smile on his face as he was quietly chatting with Professor Zhang.
"Teacher." Lu Jinsheng said with a smile, politely greeting Professor Zhang. However, his eyes inadvertently landed on Zhou Sang beside him.
Zhou Sang was also looking at him with a smile on his face. Their gazes collided in the air, and the atmosphere became a bit delicate.
Seeing his beloved student coming, Professor Zhang's smile grew even wider. He patted Lu Jinsheng's arm and then glanced at Shen Jianyi.
"You rascal, you're so late. Just like when you were in school, you still love to be late!"
Lu Jinsheng didn't expect Professor Zhang to suddenly bring up this old story. He looked a bit embarrassed and said, "I'm late, teacher."
"You rascal. Well, since you've come to your teacher's birthday banquet, it shows that you still have a heart."
Professor Zhang wasn't really angry. His eyes were filled with smiles.
Shen Jianyi presented the box in her hands with both hands and said, "Professor, this is the birthday gift from Jinsheng and me. I hope you like it."
It was a red sandalwood box with intricate yet exquisite carvings on the outside.
Professor Zhang didn't decline. He took it with a beaming smile and opened the box. Inside was a fine square inkstick, with a faint golden glow.
"We know that you like these things, so we specially prepared this square inkstick for you." Lu Jinsheng said softly.
Scholars always loved the four treasures of the study, and Professor Zhang was no exception. He happily took it and told the servant to put it away.
"What? Only Lu Jinsheng prepared a gift. Didn't you prepare anything?"
Suddenly, a female voice came from behind.
Shen Jianyi frowned and turned around. It was Jian Xi and Jian Xiao. They had come over at some point.
Jian Xi twitched the corner of her mouth, showing a somewhat ambiguous smile. Then she walked past Lu Jinsheng and Shen Jianyi and came in front of the professor.
"May the teacher be blessed as the Eastern Sea and live as long as the Southern Mountain. This is the birthday gift from me and Jian Xiao. I hope you like it."
So this woman was also Professor Zhang's student. Shen Jianyi lifted her lips and sneered.
Jian Xiao handed two boxes to Professor Zhang. Inside were a fine purple - haired writing brush and a painting.
Shen Jianyi recognized at a glance that the painting was one of Mr. William's works. It had been auctioned off for a million yuan at that time. Of course, this Mr. William was the real one, not the imposter Sam.
"I heard that Mrs. Lu's adoptive father is Mr. William. You must be very familiar with this painting, right?" Jian Xi said with a fake smile, her eyes filled with a bit of mockery.
"Jian Xi." Lu Jinsheng frowned unhappily, his eyes filled with a bit of warning.
But today, Jian Xi seemed to have expected that Lu Jinsheng wouldn't cause trouble at Professor Zhang's birthday banquet. There was still a bit of coldness on her face.
"Why is the senior so excited? I'm just asking. Mrs. Lu, you're not angry, are you?" Jian Xi threw the topic to Shen Jianyi.
Shen Jianyi blinked her eyes, and the smile on her face grew wider. "Of course not."
What was there for her to be angry about? What intrigued her was why Jian Xi and Jian Xiao had so much hostility towards her. She didn't remember having any grudges with them.
"Since that's the case, I wonder what birthday gift Mrs. Lu has prepared for Professor Zhang. I heard that you got into Tsinghua University thanks to Professor Zhang. Logically, you should also show your appreciation, right?"
Soon, people noticed the commotion here. They all cast curious glances over and sized them up.
Shen Jianyi also felt the curious looks from all around.
"Unfortunately, I'm not as thoughtful as Miss Jian. It seems I'll have to make up the birthday gift for the professor later." Shen Jianyi didn't fall into Jian Xi's trap and said calmly.
"Why does it have to be so grand?" Jian Xi seemed to have expected what Shen Jianyi would say.
"Since Mrs. Lu is the adopted daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William, you must know something about painting. How about this? You paint a picture for the professor to show your appreciation. Professor, what do you think?"
"This..." Professor Zhang smiled awkwardly.
One was his student, and the other was his student's wife. What could he say? Even if he was slow - witted, he could tell that Jian Xi seemed to have some hostility towards Shen Jianyi... He thought for a while and felt it was inappropriate.
"I'm an old man. I don't need - "
"Okay." To everyone's surprise, Shen Jianyi directly agreed.
"What?" Jian Xi raised her eyebrows in surprise and only then noticed the faint smile on Lu Jinsheng's face. She suddenly realized that she might have miscalculated this time.
"Don't you want me to paint? Since the professor likes it, I'll give it a try." Shen Jianyi nodded slightly and said to Professor Zhang.
Hearing that Shen Jianyi had agreed, Professor Zhang didn't say anything more. He told the servant to prepare the tools for painting.
A long table was set up. The guests nearby gathered around curiously, blocking the long table tightly.
What Shen Jianyi was going to paint was not an oil painting but a traditional Chinese painting. She asked someone to prepare the writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone.
"I know that Professor Zhang likes Chinese paintings, so I'll give it a try." Shen Jianyi lifted her lips and smiled.
She was wearing a lake - green spaghetti - strap evening dress today, with slender and fair arms. Her delicate hands picked up the writing brush and dipped it in the ink.
On the long table was a piece of flawless rice paper. Everyone was looking at Shen Jianyi.
They saw her start to write on the rice paper with a very skillful movement. She lowered her head slightly, and her side profile was smooth and beautiful. Everyone's attention was attracted by the ink on the rice paper, while Lu Jinsheng's eyes were fixed on Shen Jianyi without moving.