utation, making others see that they were not to be trifled with; thus, she spoke rather arrogantly.Another girl chimed in: "Take care of your woman and don't let Ma Xiaochi fall into the mud!""Can yo...Chapter 123: Gifts

The lawn of No. 40 Beitulu and other floors all had terraces, seemingly every day was lively; today was no exception. Every woman must have imagined herself as a princess, but with Lin Luoran's appearance, many would be jealous or envious, any competition that existed quickly buried itself, for there was simply no confidence to match her.

After entering the gate, Lin Muran naturally became the focus. The convoy behind him was also quite conspicuous, but if they didn't show restraint now, Tao Chuohong wouldn't have needed to work at all. He immediately drove straight into the restaurant and parked in front of a sign indicating guest parking. At this moment, he had no time to arrange his own vehicles and came over to greet Wang Weiwei and others.

Lin Luoran naturally didn’t care about the convoy behind her; she walked directly towards Zhang Feifei who was waiting for her with blistered feet. She patted Lin Zouwu's shoulder, handing him the bags in her hands, deliberately saying, "I've been shopping all day long, I'm exhausted, can you help me carry them"

Saying this, she suddenly sat down on a chair beside Su Can. The tight little sweater clung to her waist and abdomen, making it hard not to stare, as she stretched luxuriously with an aura of confidence; she took the bottled water placed by the waiter and drank from it without paying attention to Su Can. However, this lazy and alluring posture had already made many around her, who had been watching her since her arrival on Rongda Road, swallow their saliva.

Lin Zouwu was unhappy, "You bought these things; why should I carry them for you" It seemed the brother-sister squabbles over trifles persisted from childhood.

Lin Luoran shot him a look, "Among these items, there are clothes I bought for you and Wang Weiwei. Why shouldn't they be yours to carry

"I have a share" Wang Weiwei was surprised at the favoritism, while Lin Zouwu's hand had already started rummaging through his pockets. He was hit on the back of his hand as he stood up and moved around the table by Lin Luoran, "You can check when we get home."

Lin Zouwu immediately made a gesture of surrendering with a silly smile and nodding, "Alright, my little sister is the best."

Zhuang Zhiyu and Zhang Xian were envious, the two men pouted like girls and complained, "This isn't fair at all; why don't we get any share"

"I didn’t know you guys would come," Lin Luoran said innocently with her pale slender hands spread out, then she pointed to Zhang Feifei, smiling brightly, "Alright, someone has bought something for you."

Zhang Feifei then handed the two pockets in her hands to Zhu Zhiyu and Zhang Xian, saying, "Here, I happened to find something suitable for you both."

The recipients, Zhu Zhiyu and Zhang Xian, didn't show much excitement. Just like Wang Weiwei and Lin Zhounv, they awkwardly glanced at Su Chen with a puzzled expression.

Su Chen broke the deadlock with a casual remark. "Looks like everyone has presents. Well then, I guess I'm an extra member."

Lin Geren had been arguing with him before and hadn't resolved their conflict yet. Though she appeared to be ladylike in front of the group earlier on, her stubborn nature wouldn't allow her to buy a present for Su Chen out of spite. In fact, he was quite happy that she didn't give him an evil eye.

Furthermore, it wasn't his place to demand anything from her anyway. Wang Weiwei had grown up with Lin Luoran, while Lin Zhounv was Lin Muran's brother. From any perspective, Su Chen couldn't ask for more.

Su Chen’s casual remark broke the deadlock and everyone started laughing again. Zhang Feifei looked at him hesitantly and said, "Su Chen, you've grown taller. I don’t know your size, so I didn’t bring anything suitable for you, but next time I will."

Lin Geren rested her chin in one hand and turned to face Su Chen properly for the first time since she met him. "You're not an extra member, but I just couldn't find something appropriate today, so I apologize, Xuanzhuo."

Su Chen nodded his head. "I understand. No need to feel bad."

Seeing Su Chen's crestfallen expression, Wang Luoran suddenly laughed in a charming manner.

Lin Zhounv also sent Su Chen an encouraging glance as if saying, "Brother, I support you spiritually. It’s just that I can’t do much because of my connection to him."

The next moment, Tao Chuhong walked straight over. Su Chen stood up and said apologetically, “Sorry, I need to use the restroom.”

By the time Tao Chuhong arrived, Su Chen had already left with the others.

Tao Chuhong saw him leave but found it hard to recall where he had seen this person before. Back when he smashed Cheng Quanming’s car at Yinxing Hotel, his arrogance and audacity were well known. Even on the occasion of Su Chen's banquet, Cheng Quanming hadn’t dared to do anything against him.

Tao Chuhong wasn't just a spoiled rich kid; he had some brains too. If it weren’t for the backing from his family, he would have been courting disaster by acting recklessly like this.

However, with the support of his influential background, sometimes he could be quite terrifying and domineering.

That was why no one had dared to take action against him even though everyone knew what he did. Instead, they were closely watching Tao Chuhong’s every move in regard to the land reserve center.

In fact, because of this incident, Taohua Group's westward expansion strategy in southwestern China seemed to be gaining momentum and many obstacles had been effortlessly overcome.

"Wang Weiwei! Hahaha, I haven’t seen you for two or three years. I heard you’re now at Youth College – the cradle of future high-ranking officials! You must have great potential! These few days, I’ve invited you so many times but you were always too busy to come. Well then, today is your lucky day since you finally made time for me! We should really enjoy ourselves today because we’re good friends!"

Tao Chuhong's voice was brash and confident; it was clear that he had never experienced any setbacks before.

This made Zhuang Zhiyu and Zhang Xian secretly observe him in their hearts. Is this the son of Nanning Group The person who has been quite famous among Chengdu youngsters lately

"I don't drink much alcohol; just a little will do," Wang Weiwei, although not very fond of Tao Chuhong and having heard many people say that they suffered losses due to him, didn't show it too obviously. He was unwilling to get close to such a person, so he put on an attitude.

Tao Chuhong gave him the thumbs up and said to those around him, "Look at this, someone who graduated from Blue Sky College is different. His words are not ordinary; just enough. Alright, we'll also stop when it's just right."

This statement had a sarcastic tone to it. Tao Chuhong was dissatisfied with Wang Weiwei’s distant attitude these days.

Lin Zhouwu, who caught the drift, thought to himself that you indeed are someone from a rich family who has stepped on many other young masters of wealth before. You really don't show any servility in front of friends and others, showing quite a bit of temperament. Alright then, better not mess with me; otherwise, let's see who’s the bigger bully.

The two started chatting and introducing themselves to each other. Zhang Feifei watched Su Chan's back and whispered to Lin Luoran, "I can tell he is angry now. You really should have given him a small gift if you knew you didn't buy one; otherwise, no one would be happy with this."

Lin Luoran glanced at Su Chan’s back and thought about his previous disappointed look, feeling as bitter as morning yogurt that had gone bad, slightly gnawing her lip. She said, "I wonder how long you can pretend for."

Su Chan's sudden exit to the bathroom was not just to avoid Tao Chuhong but because he saw a hotel attendant sitting in Tao Chuhong’s Ferrari.

"Come over here; this car is parked right there," Su Chan gestured. The restaurant’s valet driver, though puzzled by who Su Chan was, took him as the owner's companion under his instructions and parked the car accordingly, unlocking it, taking out the keys, and leaving a parking card on the window. Keys were kept in custody by hotel staff; one needed to come back with their own card to get them.

After the valet left, standing below the tall restaurant building, Su Chan carefully observed Tao Chuhong’s Ferrari, indeed an excellent car. Its exterior could be said to rival his Bentley, and its headlights were very lively.

Standing for a while and then squatting down to look at it again, Su Chan felt like he was peeping at a little girl. People on the grass lawn had mostly arrived and started entering the restaurant one after another. Then Su Chan received Lin Zhouwu's call, "Su Chan, you've been in the toilet so long; we're already upstairs waiting for you."

Su Cai finally put away his phone, got up, stretched his body to relieve the numbness in his legs from squatting for too long, and headed towards the main entrance of the restaurant.

Upon reaching the restaurant's entrance, he saw Wang Weiwei and a group of people standing there. Some others were smoking and chatting nearby while waiting with them. As Su Cai approached, everyone scrutinized him from head to toe. During the gathering earlier, the organizers had asked everyone to go upstairs, but Wang Weiwei said they were waiting for someone specific. Nobody dared to ask who it was until now when they saw Su Cai; this must be the person Wang Weiwei was waiting for. However, anyone would know that the less noticeable a person seems in the circle, the more powerful and influential their background might be. Therefore, nobody took any chances with him and paid extra attention.

They then used the elevator to go up to the fifth floor. Lin Luoran was standing beside Su Cai in the elevator, her delicate scent overwhelming. Even so, Lin Guran couldn't help but resentfully say to Su Cai, "Wasting someone else's time is like committing murder; you're killing us with your waste of time, Su Cai."

But Su Cai's next sentence left Lin Luoran speechless: "If you want to go to the bathroom too, I'll wait for you outside."

"You! Shameless and disgusting!"

The crowded elevator erupted into laughter. Some people didn't understand what was going on but thought that Su Cai must have offended Miss Lin, which could be troublesome.

The fifth floor of the restaurant featured a large lounge area integrated with lighting effects and a bar, complete with sofas arranged in a circle around it. There were long glass coffee tables at each turn of the sofas, allowing guests to sit comfortably without feeling isolated or empty.

As soon as they entered, Tao Chuhong's voice could be heard from one of the couches; she was speaking loudly and humorously to a group of people, frequently causing laughter among them.

In front of the sofas hung an oval-shaped rear-projection screen. At that moment, a carefully dressed woman sang in a slightly hoarse but pleasant voice.

When Su Cai and his companions entered, someone immediately welcomed them and guided them to sit down on one of the couches. Many people came up to greet them.

The greetings were mainly directed at Wang Weiwei; however, Su Cai took a moment to glance around the room, noticing there were about thirty or so people present today—quite a number indeed. No wonder they needed this large lounge on the fifth floor of the restaurant for their gathering. It seemed that Wang Weiwei and Lin Zouwu had been invited out many times in Chengdu before the Spring Festival, but this time, they could not refuse an invitation. They must have felt it necessary to attend one last get-together before the holiday arrived. (To be continued) it caused surpassed that of book burning. While only 460 scholars were buried alive during Qin Shi Huang's reign, the number of people who suffered from the imperial examination system was innumerabl...