Chapter 85: The influential circles in the capital

"It’s going to be just the three of us for the next few days. Your grandfather and uncle, along with your eldest and second brothers, will be working overtime to clear the backlog. So tonight, we can take our time and have a girls’ night out—ahem," Wei Ranmiao coughed.

Strangely, she felt as if their group were an all-girl group going out to have fun. It was really strange.

"I mean, we can take our time eating dinner outside. Later, we’ll go to a salon and relax, then we can go home and go straight to sleep."

The two teenagers nodded in understanding.

It seemed that the recent leave had caused work to pile up, so all the adult men in the family had decided to tackle it together at the company. Bai Jiancheng, who was already nineteen, had been dragged along, too.

Lin Feng was glad that he wasn’t included, or else he would have no idea how to deal with the documents at all.

The restaurant they were dining at was a Western-style establishment.

Fortunately, Lin Feng had often used Western dining utensils at the homestead villa to familiarize himself with the memories in his mind, so he managed to handle them without awkwardness, even appearing graceful thanks to his natural aura of charm, cultivated since birth.

While their group chatted casually, someone at another table on the other side of the restaurant was talking about them.

"You want to know what happened between the Lin and Bai families at the restaurant last week? How did you even know about that—Ah, now that you mention it..."

Zhuang Meng was sitting with her older brother, Zhuang Cheng, and her maternal cousin, Tang Rui. Before coming here, she hadn’t understood why this cousin, who was always so proud and exceptionally gifted in music, had wanted to meet her and her brother.

Now, hearing his question, Zhuang Meng was taken aback.

Only then did she recall that the boy who had appeared briefly in the videos from Bohai Town bore a resemblance to this cousin of hers. But because the video she had watched was blurry, with smoke floating everywhere, the boy’s appearance had not been entirely clear.

Everyone had been talking about Lin Feng, so hardly anyone had mentioned the other handsome boy who had performed onstage with him. Before people could give the matter much thought, the incident had already been suppressed, and the videos and pictures had been taken down.

"Tang Rui, was that really you? Were you the one who performed with Lin Feng back then?"

"Yes, it was me."

Zhuang Cheng looked up, his thick eyebrows lifting. "Is that homo really good with instruments? How does he compare to you?"

Tang Rui remembered the person’s slender, fair fingers strumming and plucking the guqin, along with his lowered gaze and long lashes that made him resemble a naive spirit who had wandered into the mortal world.

"He’s very talented, especially at playing the guqin. He’s almost at the grandmaster level." Tang Rui nodded absentmindedly and wiped his mouth with a napkin, seemingly unaware of his two cousins’ widening eyes.

"No way!" Zhuang Cheng exclaimed. "I remember that homo is a finance maniac! He likes studying all the time."

He remembered it well because Lin Feng used to be the model neighbor boy his parents often held up as an example to teach him how to behave.

"Stop using those words. We’re in public." Tang Rui scolded Zhuang Cheng, then turned to Zhuang Meng. "Please tell me what happened at the restaurant last week."

Zhuang Meng had only just recovered from her shock at the high praise her usually stern cousin had given. Tang Rui had always been stingy with words, incredibly proud, and quick to look down on incompetent people.

She hesitated slightly.

Both the Bai and Lin families had asked them to keep the matter confidential as a favor. However, Tang Rui was their cousin, and the Tang family was not entirely unrelated to the matter either. In the end, she relented and began explaining what had happened.

Tang Rui and Zhuang Cheng listened quietly. It was also the first time Zhuang Cheng had heard about the incident.

When he learned that the Lin family had forgiven the troublemaker so easily, he frowned.

"How can they be so forgiving? The Lin family is truly declining. They can’t even muster the backbone to fight back." His voice was full of disdain.

Zhuang Meng glared at her brother. "Stop talking nonsense! It’s precisely because you’re so thoughtless that you keep offending people."

"My Zhuang family has no reason to fear anyone." Zhuang Cheng raised his chin, his long eyes narrowing.

"We’re hardly the most powerful family in the capital. This isn’t Shandong."

The siblings began bickering again.

Tang Rui sighed and had to interrupt them before the conversation strayed completely off course.

"Enough, you two. You know my family’s situation is very sensitive right now. The elders are still considering whether we should pursue reconciliation or launch a direct attack. If the Bai and Lin families join forces, the Tang family will have to reconsider our actions."

Zhuang Cheng’s eyes widened.

"Why should we reconsider? They owe the Tang family so much, and you’re telling me the elders are willing to back down?"

Zhuang Cheng was accustomed to throwing his weight around in Shandong. There, the Zhuang family wielded absolute influence.

Although other families held comparable sway, their small social circle meant they were all friends and allies in one way or another. No one dared challenge them. Everyone wanted to curry favor with Zhuang Cheng, and anyone who offended him inevitably suffered the consequences.

Four years ago, Mother Zhuang and Father Zhuang had realized that the family elders had spoiled Zhuang Cheng rotten. They had decisively brought him to the capital to keep an eye on his behavior.

Ever since, his parents had constantly reminded him to keep a low profile and avoid offending anyone. But how could the arrogant Zhuang Cheng accept such restrictions so easily?

Because of his uncooperative personality, the Zhuang family had asked Zhuang Meng, who had remained in the capital to study at its most prestigious schools, to keep an eye on him. With her impeccable grades and sociable personality, she had also helped the Zhuang family establish numerous connections.

She had even been given the authority to discipline her brother whenever he stepped out of line.

After four years of being reined in, Zhuang Cheng was no longer as reckless and domineering as he had once been, but he remained considerably arrogant.

As a result, his circle of friends had always differed from Zhuang Meng’s, and he rarely interacted with members of the Lin and Bai families.

When Zhuang Cheng learned that Lin Feng, who had once been regarded by everyone as a well-behaved young man, had single-handedly ruined the reputations of several families, he had laughed and opened a bottle of champagne.

Then he discovered that his family held shares in the Tang family’s group of companies, and his dislike of Lin Feng deepened.

Later, when rumors about Lin Feng’s sexual orientation began circulating, Zhuang Cheng had voiced his disgust without the slightest restraint and was immediately grounded by his parents for three days.

Zhuang Cheng could not understand what he had done wrong. He disliked homosexuals. In his eyes, they were nothing but freaks.

He only quieted down after his parents secretly explained that many powerful families had homosexual members, and voicing such prejudice openly could easily offend people they couldn’t afford to antagonize, such as the Chu family.