Chapter 51 - Banquet

Ch.51 – Banquet
In the blink of an eye, Elder Shen’s birthday banquet had arrived.
In order to look elegant, Shen Yu could only temporarily abandon his crutches and sit in the wheelchair that Uncle Zhang had prepared for him.
At 7 o’clock in the evening, all kinds of luxury cars entered the hotel parking lot in an orderly fashion.
Shen Yu sat in front of the window of his room on the eighth floor. Through several clear and bright streetlamps, he could see the busy streets outside and the lively scenes of the city at night. The bright light was reflected in his pupils.
After a long time of staring, Shen Yu sighed.
In his mind, he was still reluctant to the thought of the coming banquet.


Although this birthday banquet was presided over by him personally, Uncle Zhang and Kang Lin also made a lot of efforts on his behalf, especially in the later stages of planning where they could hardly sit down they were so busy. In reality Shen Yu had been pretty lazy.
At this time, Uncle Zhang and Kang Lin were accompanying Elder Shen in the hall to welcome guests. Shen Yu was inconvenient to move in his wheelchair, so he planned to wait until the birthday party was halfway over before quietly going down.
Time passed by, minute by minute.
Shen Yu acted leisurely and simply picked up the remote to turn on the TV.
Suddenly he heard a slight knock on the door.
Shen Yu tapped his fingertips on the remote and quickly paused the TV. After the TV show was paused, he listened carefully.
Sure enough, there was another noise.
However, it’s not a knocking sound like Shen Yu had thought before. Instead, it sounded like the scratch of a card on the door lock. Instantly he felt uncomfortable.
Shen Yu hesitated for a moment, then put the TV remote on the tea table, got up, and staggered to the front door.
He slowly opened the door.


Outside stood a beautiful woman, slightly bowed over, beating the lock on the door with something in her hand.
Beautiful black hair like the finest silk slid down from her shoulder. She looked at the door that suddenly opened in confusion. After a while, she collected her thoughts and looked up at Shen Yu.

Who are you?
, the woman asked. As she opened her mouth, the scent of alcohol rushed forward with her breath.
Shen Yu frowned and subconsciously took two steps back. He did not answer her question and instead asked,
Who are you?


I am…
The woman stood up straight and mumbled out three slurred words, which should be her name.
Only then did Shen Yu see clearly that the card in the woman’s hand was a room card.
He breathed a sigh of relief, and his tone softened slightly.
This is my room. You’re in the wrong place.


Ah?
, slurred the woman, with her mouth open, her delicate face filled with an expression of intoxication and confusion. She tilted her head and mutters after a long time,
No wonder I can’t open the door…

Shen Yu politely told her it was all right and was ready to close the door.
He never cared about such idleness, and the person in question this time was a drunken woman. If something happened carelessly, he might not be able to wash himself clean.


But before closing the door, Shen Yu suddenly remembered that this was a hotel owned by the Shen family’s Company… Which was under his management.
So Shen Yu stopped closing the door, and as he spoke his next words, he reached for the room card in the woman’s hand.

Let me see which room you are in. I’ll have the hotel attendant take you back.

Just as his fingertips were about to touch the card, he saw that the woman’s wrist turned and avoided Shen Yu’s hand just in time. Her flexible movements were totally different from those of the clumsy and dull woman he saw just now.
Shen Yu was stunned.
Just as he was about to speak, the woman suddenly seemed to wake up and her eyes became clear. She blushed and said,
thank you
to him. Then she ran away with her high heels clattering down the hallway floor.
Shen Yu:
…

He looked at the woman running away and felt strange.
Shen Yu shook his head, closed the door, turned and staggered back to his wheelchair.
It wasn’t until he picked up the remote and unpaused the TV that Shen Yu suddenly realized what was wrong just now. The hotel had been closed a week ago, that is to say, there should be no guests in the hotel.


Managers and waiters in the hotel have already cleared the whole hotel out. Apart from the lobby on the first floor and the cafe on the second floor, the other floors are temporarily closed to the public.
Even Shen Yu’s eighth floor is acting as a temporary accommodation for guests after the birthday banquet.
So –
How did some unknown woman appear on the eighth floor?
And with the room card for a hotel room…
The more Shen Yu thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong. He quickly put down the remote and steered the wheelchair to the door.
Opening the door, he saw a tall figure standing outside.
It’s not the woman from just now, but Tang Li who was wearing an elegant suit.
Tang Li had his hand raised and seemed ready to knock on the door. However, the door had suddenly opened from the inside. He was a little stunned and then raised his lips into a smile and laughed,
May I come in?


Of course.
Shen Yu turned the wheelchair sideways, giving Tang Li room to come in.


Tang Li asked,
Were you going out just now?


Oh, no.
Shen Yu shut the door and followed Tang Li. After thinking for a while, he decided not to tell Tang Li about the woman, so he casually found an excuse to give Tang Li.
I thought I heard a sound so I went to check what it was. I didn’t expect you were coming over.

Tang Li turned his head and looked at Shen Yu.
Is that right?

This sentence seemed to make Tang Li very happy. His black eyes were full of stars and dots of light. His mouth raised into a cheerful grin, and his cold face seemed to be covered with a soft light.
Tang Li is usually expressionless and seldom showed such a heartfelt smile.
Only in front of Shen Yu did he smile so defenselessly.
Shen Yu raised his head, and his bright eyes reflected the smiling face of Tang Li. Somehow, the tension that had arisen from the fear of that woman disappeared completely.
Tang Li was like a calming tea.
Shen Yu’s whole being felt like it was released from some unknown weight.
Despite this, Tang Li, who was usually sensitive to Shen Yu’s mood, noticed his anomaly. He half squatted in front of the wheelchair, gently grasped Shen Yu’s hand, which was resting on his knee as he sat in the wheelchair, and asked,
What’s wrong?

Shen Yu looked at him, shook his head and said,
It’s nothing.

Tang Li knew Shen Yu was lying, but since Shen Yu did not intend to say it, he stopped asking questions and quietly changed the topic:
Shen Rong came from Jincheng tonight.

Hearing this, Shen Yu frowned:
I didn’t invite him.

Moreover, he had discussed this matter with Elder Shen beforehand, and decided that they would not allow any relatives of the Shen family to bring Shen Rong to the birthday party.
Tang Li pinched Shen Yu’s hand and sighed softly,
He brought a friend with him. Security guards stopped them from entering the hotel, but Grandpa Shen saw them and couldn’t make a scene, so he had to let them in.

Shen Yu:
A friend?

Tang Li nodded:
A musician.

Even if Shen Yu was reluctant, Shen Rong had already come. He could not drive the two people out in front of so many guests.
Forget it.
He’ll just ignore Shen Rong.
It was not until ten o’clock in the evening that Uncle Zhang came to inform Shen Yu that it was time to go downstairs.
Shen Yu, wearing a light grey suit, sat in his wheelchair and was pushed out of the elevator by Uncle Zhang. Immediately, his arrival attracted the attention of several of his guests.
A birthday banquet sounds like a party for close friends. In fact, everyone knows that it is only a high-level social networking arena. The guests here either want to make a good impression on the Shen family, or they want to expand their interpersonal relationships with others.
It’s a pity that nobody came to congratulate Grandpa Shen sincerely on his birthday except his close friends.
Many people stared at Shen Yu as if they were foxes staring at a juicy rabbit.
Unfortunately, before they could find a chance to talk to Shen Yu, they watched their intended prey be happily called over by Elder Shen.
Elder Shen was wearing a red and black birthday suit, full of spirit, his voice was very loud. He was surrounded by a group of old friends and their younger generations, waving happily at Shen Yu.

Little Yu.
After seeing Shen Yu’s wheelchair, Elder Shen stared at him and asked,
Can’t you walk down? Why are you in a wheelchair again?
Shen Yu smiled politely and said,
It’s not convenient to walk with crutches. It’s more convenient to sit in a wheelchair on such an important occasion.


That’s true. My grandson is very considerate.
The reproach on Elder Shen’s face instantly turned into a deep laugh. Then he turned to his friends and said,
Little Yu has been able to walk on his own for a long time. Normal life is no problem, but the doctor said it will take several years to reach the level of walking as vigorously as before.

An old friend quickly said,
It’s only a matter of time. A few years will pass in a flash.

Others echoed similar statements:
Yeah, in the blink of an eye, we’re all so old.

With a deep sigh, Elder Shen gradually turned the topic to another direction. He sighed again, this time with a bit more flair, and said sadly,
My Little Yu is almost thirty years old, and he has no one to marry. This poor old man has been worrying himself so much over this matter that he can’t even sleep at night.

Another old friend immediately said,
Oh, what a coincidence! My niece is also single. She just returned from studying abroad last year…

With that, he pulled over the tall woman standing behind him, who had short, refined hair and light makeup. She nodded politely and shyly to Shen Yu.
Shen Yu:
…

He watched Elder Shen and his old friends sing in unison without saying a word. He quietly steered the wheelchair around and left.
Behind him came Elder Shen’s anxious voice:
Little Yu, don’t go. If you are not satisfied, Grandpa will get you another one. How about this girl?

Then came the voice of the others urging their younger generations,
What are you doing still standing here? Back in our day, girls had to take some initiative.

Shen Yu almost spouted blood from his mouth.
He inexplicably produced a feeling of entering the vegetable market, those girls are like the cabbages in the market, letting him pick and choose freely.
Shen Yu felt a little sad, as if he was holding a breath in his heart. He kept speeding up his wheelchair and went over to Tang Li who was in front of the bar.
Tang Li was sitting in on of the bar chairs with one leg bent and the other on the ground. His appearance was a little lazy. His expression was frosty, like a cold mist lingering around his body. He was surrounded by four or five young men and women, who were chattering with him about something.
Looking at Shen Yu’s ugly expression as he approached, the men and women immediately scattered like a flock of birds.
Tang Li saw the depression in Shen Yu’s expression and gave a big chuckle. The low pressure around him disappeared in an instant.
He asked,
Angry?

Shen Yu hugged his lips and was silent for a long time before he couldn’t help saying,
Sure enough, I am not very suitable for this occasion.


It seems that way.
Tang Li reached out to grab Shen Yu’s wrist and squeezed it cheerfully two times.
You looked very ugly just now. Look how fast those people ran away when they saw you.

Shen Yu felt more depressed when he recalled the young people’s reaction. He touched his face and said to herself,
If I get angry again, I won’t scare them like that, will I?

People who don’t know him may think he’s a ghost.
Tang Li raised the corners of his mouth and looked down at Shen Yu’s small movements. A certain emotion surging in his chest was about to break away from the shackles and burst out in a clamor. God knows how hard he had to work to suppress that impulse.
Still, unconsciously, his hand touched Shen Yu’s cheek.
His fingertips had previously turned cold by the cold wind circulating through the room. So, when he touched Shen Yu’s hot skin with his fingertips, it seemed like an electric current ran through them and hit him directly in the deepest part of his heart.
At this moment, he would give anything for time to stop.
He would never have to take his hands-off Shen Yu again.
However, this idea can only be thought about in the deepest parts of his heart. Before Tang Li could take his hand away, he felt a cool breeze blowing through his fingertips. When he finally left his dazed stated, he found Shen Yu had moved away from his touch.
Tang Li’s outstretched hand was still hanging stiffly in mid-air. After a long time, he shook out his five fingers and slowly retracted his hand.