Family Banquet (2)

  Collect and recommend!

  ***

  Cai Ming, sitting next to Zhang Yong, immediately shouted loudly at the outside: "Waiter, bring dishes."

  Cai Ming is now just a small clerk in the Municipal Planning Bureau, although he has a good relationship with his superiors, but in the planning bureau, he is only a section-level cadre, and it is rare for him to come to a hotel like the White Cloud Hotel.

  To put it bluntly, even if he could come here to eat a meal or two on normal days, it would be with his leader or clients. The service staff here at the White Cloud Hotel are generally people who have connections and can get in, where does he fit in to be so arrogant? It's just that today his own big brother-in-law is present, and also happens to be a leading cadre of the White Cloud Hotel, that's why he dares to be so cocky.

  The Zhang family has held several banquets here, and since Zhang Yong is also the person in charge here, the person in charge had carefully arranged the food a long time ago. With one call, those dishes were brought up like a flowing water banquet.

  Wang Guang and Cai Qiang, two younger male cousins, looked at the fragrant dishes on the table, their throats moving with desire. As half-grown boys, they couldn't resist the temptation of such delicious food, but since the adults hadn't started eating yet, they didn't dare to take a single bite.

  If it were the original Li Yifan, I estimate that he would have been drooling over the food on the table like his two cousins by now. However, the current him is no longer the naive and ignorant young man he used to be. He has eaten countless dishes that are even more impressive than this one, so it's already very difficult for him to show any strong emotions in front of this spread of food.

  Li Yifan's calmness was noticed by his cousin Zhang Qian, who became a little curious about this cousin. Previously, Li Yifan didn't study well and got into No. 1 Middle School with the help of his father's connections. After entering school, he blended in with the crowd, so Zhang Qian looked down on her own cousin somewhat.

  But yesterday she heard that her cousin had given the son of Director Gao Zhi-shan of the Civil Affairs Bureau two slaps, and today Li Yi-fan's unusual calmness at this dinner party made her feel even more curious about what had happened to her cousin. How could he change so much all of a sudden?

  Zhang Qian's mouth moved, but in the end she still didn't speak. On the other hand, under Wang Hu and Cai Ming's enthusiastic encouragement, Zhang Yong had already started drinking with his two cousins.

  Several sisters-in-law started chatting, the men began to drink heavily, and this time no one paid attention to the half-grown boy who was having a blast, sweeping away the food on the table like a whirlwind.

  After two years of training, Li Yifan, who is very familiar with table manners, did not join the battle team of his two younger male cousins early like he did in previous family banquets. Instead, he ate slowly and gently, only picking up a few dishes that interested him, and usually stopped after a small taste, without the embarrassing performance as before.

  But Li Yifeng's unusual performance today was also noticed by Zhang Yong, who thought that his nephew seemed different today, and looking at his calm and natural expression, it didn't seem like he was pretending, which was very different from the impression he had of him before.

  "Yi Fan, you have your final exams tomorrow, right? How's your preparation going?"

  As for the news of his younger family members, Zhang Yong is still very concerned. In his early years, he also relied solely on himself and became the first university student in Longtou Village to be admitted to university. Then, through his identity as a university student, he joined the civil service team and mixed to today's status and position. Therefore, he knows deeply the importance of good academic performance for a young man.

  His own child is a daughter, although she studies well, so he is very relieved about his own daughter. However, among the younger generation, up to now, only this nephew has some ambition.

  Er Jie's family's Wang Guang, this kid because of his appearance, since childhood Zhang Yong has not liked him, and this kid is not a good student either, still messing around in that ordinary middle school San Zhong, so Zhang Yong doesn't pay much attention to Wang Guang.

  Xiao Mei's cousin Cai Qiang is a child who is honest but doesn't study well. He will be taking the high school entrance exam next year, but Zhang Yong doesn't have much hope for him.

  This leaves only the eldest sister's family with three children, and this child, although his academic performance has been poor in recent years, was still quite clever in the early years, and he is also good-looking, and now studying at No. 1 Middle School, so Zhang Yong still has great expectations for Li Yifan.

  In his view, the hope of this family's future now rested on Zhang Qian and Li Yifan.

  This time, starting from the first semester final exam of No. 1 Middle School, there will be a division of classes, which has been widely discussed in the city. Many children of cadres who are studying in the first year of high school at No. 1 Middle School have been discussing this topic recently, and they are all very concerned about their children's future. This year, Li Yifan also needs to take part in the semester final exam, so Zhang Yong inadvertently brought up the topic.

  "Ah, preparations are almost complete."

  Li Yifan replied calmly, although there was no clenched teeth expression, but his calmness still made Zhang Yong's eyes light up. This child is different from before, less impulsive, more steady, as if he had grown up overnight.

  Li Yifan's academic performance had always been a source of shame for his parents to mention to others, after all, although his grades were not at the bottom of the class, they were still mediocre.

  So even though parents are reluctant to mention it in front of relatives, everyone else is also aware of the situation. As the saying goes, "don't hit a person's face", people generally won't bring up such embarrassing questions for parents during gatherings.

  Today, too, was a day when Eldest Uncle was being flattered by Second Aunt's husband and Youngest Aunt's husband, which made him somewhat pleased.

  The second aunt and uncle flashed a hint of gloom on their faces, but it was quickly covered up by the two, while the younger uncle had a face full of disdain, but after being poked by the younger aunt, his expression also changed.

  "Huh? ... Haha, so confident, that's a good thing."

  Xiao Yifu said that he was not satisfied with Li Lisheng, the father of Li Yifan, because Cai Ming was a city person, while Li Lisheng was from Longtou Village. Although Li Lisheng was good at cooking, he was a bit dull and not good at socializing. Previously, Li Lisheng had said something that offended Cai Ming, who remembered it in his heart.

  Moreover, he and Second Aunt's husband Wang Hu walked very close together, so when Second Aunt and her husband had ideas about Li Lisheng and his family, he already knew. When Second Aunt and her husband were not convenient to show up, he often said some excessive words to his own father, which made Li Yifan look at him with displeasure for a long time.

  "Uh-huh, having confidence is a good thing, but you absolutely can't underestimate the enemy, I heard that this exam's difficulty isn't low!"

  Zhang Yong couldn't help but remind his unusually confident nephew once again.

  "Uncle, don't worry, I've already made preparations."

  Li Yifan still replied calmly, but Zhang Yong was even more surprised after hearing this sentence. Was this the same Li Yifan who used to be intimidated by his own majesty and stuttered when speaking to him in the past?

  Moreover, his eyes were very determined and full of confidence, seemingly not speaking nonsense.

  "Right, right, Xiao Fan has been working hard lately. Every day he comes home and reviews until the second half of the night. I haven't seen him study so diligently for a long time."

  Just thinking about the changes in her son over the past few days, Zhang Shu couldn't help but feel proud. Any change in her son, no matter how small, was something she wanted to share with others.

  "Really? Haha, that's good, that's good."

  "Really? Working so hard? Not secretly watching martial arts? Haha, just kidding..."

  Cai Ming couldn't let go of the opportunity to strike Li Yifeng, and it was really unbecoming for a grown man like him to play such a joke on a child.

  Seeing his wife's unusual gaze and Zhang Yong's slightly displeased eyes, Cai Ming also realized that he had misspoken, so he hastily said.

  "Haha, Yifan, this time for the final exam, if you do well and can stay in the key class, your aunt's husband will reward you with a Giant bicycle."

  Giant bicycles aren't cheap these days, a casual one costs around 800 to 1,000 yuan. Cai Ming's monthly salary was only over 2,000 yuan at that time, but he dared to say so because he didn't believe Li Yifan could pass the exam.

  "Haha, yeah, Yifan is really good at studying, Xiao Cai, you'll be the one paying up later."

  The second aunt said, and then the second aunt's husband continued what the second aunt had said.

  "No way, I remember when we were in elementary school, Yifan was always one of the top students. He was often among the top ten in our class. Although his grades haven't been very stable in recent years, don't underestimate a high school boy who really puts his mind to studying - his grades can improve quickly."

  As soon as Li Yifan heard the couple's words, it seemed like they were praising him, but when he saw their expressions exchanging glances, he knew this was a case of "praising to death". Their intention was very clear: now that they're praising you so highly, later on you'll fall even harder, and not only will Li Yifan lose face in front of relatives and friends, but also Li Lisheng and Zhang Shu's faces will be lost along with his. Zhang Shu is the eldest sister and has a quick temper; she generally doesn't like to think too much about these intricate schemes and struggles, after all, she wants to maintain unity among her siblings.

  Li Liqiang is a straightforward person and has never been good at handling interpersonal relationships, so he didn't catch the underlying meaning between his two brothers-in-law.

  However, the big uncle who had been in officialdom for a long time couldn't help but understand the meaning between the two uncles, and the tacit understanding of the eyes exchanged between Cai Ming and Wang Hu, he saw it all.

  Hmph! Are you playing a game of red face and white face? Between relatives, how can it be like this?

  "Xiao Fan, if you do well on this exam and can stay in the key class, your uncle will reward you with 1,000 yuan!"

  Zhang Yong has spoken, and his words are sincere and genuine. He had seen the schemes between Er Yi Fu and Xiao Yi Fu with his own eyes, so compared to Da Shu's true and sincere words now, it is clear who is better and who is inferior at a glance.

  "Don't worry, Uncle, I definitely won't disappoint you. By the way, Aunt's husband, are you ready with that bicycle? Second uncle, if I do well on the exam, aren't you going to reward me something?"

  Since you like to show off in front of me, why don't I take advantage of the situation and become a general?

  "By the way, your family's current situation is all thanks to your elder sister and brother-in-law, so Wang Hu, you can't be stingy this time?"

  Zhang Yong smiled and said to Wang Hu, "By the way, I'll give you a hand." For people like Wang Hu and Cai Ming who put pressure on their children before exams, he really couldn't stand it. Adults have grudges, but involving children is not right.

  Xiang Zhangshan, who had been quiet all along, also spoke up at this time.

  "Right, Second Brother-in-law, your family and Eldest Sister's family have been running a restaurant together for some time now, and you've earned quite a bit. This time, if your Big Nephew does well on his final exams, shouldn't you show some appreciation?"

  Wang Hu did not expect that the conversation would be directed at himself, his face turned a bit red with embarrassment, but he quickly opened his mouth.

  "That's good, if Xiaofan does well in this exam and can stay in the key class, I'll reward him with 2,000 yuan cash."