At the dinner table, Gao Shijin mobilized the entire family, from his great aunt to his second, third, and fourth uncles. The whole family had been waiting in place since before the agreed time. It was for this reason that Cheng Feiyang had to come over in order to get out of the big mountain of his great aunt.
When Cheng Ran's family arrived and Cheng Feiyang entered first, all the cousins and their wives stood up under the leadership of Gao Shijin, except for the oldest aunt who had visited Shanhai before. They were a little reserved. The third cousin, who was the most cheerful and usually spoke in a hurry, didn't know where to put her hands at this time, and the smile on her face was obviously not natural.
Gao Shaoning, his fourth cousin, two thin boys beside his second cousin, and the little girl from his third cousin's family all stared at Cheng Feiyang with awe.
Originally, if Cheng Feiyang was just the CEO of Fulong Company, it would be fine. The brothers of Gao family might not be able to put on such an attitude. However, the Lei Wei incident some time ago was heard by everyone in the streets. When Lei Wei was colluding with Beituo Company, he hit the iron plate of Fulong, and later the whole system collapsed. At first glance, the incident ended with Lei Wei being arrested, the evil group being destroyed, and Beituo's reputation plummeting.
But the undercurrent caused by this incident has actually continued. Up to now, many senior officials in the provincial bureaucracy have been removed from office, and the continued shock is still continuing.
Then they finally confirmed that their cousin Cheng Feiyang from Shanhai was the one people referred to as Mr. Cheng.
In this situation, in everyone's eyes, Cheng Feiyang was no longer an ordinary company boss. The invisible aura and oppression he exuded when he arrived were no less than some of the ones they had seen before.
Cheng Feiyang was the first to step forward and hold his cousin's great-aunt's hand. There were tears in the corners of his cousin's great-aunt's eyes. She kept talking about how she had heard about your military service and how promising your children were... Gao Shijin started by talking about family dinner and relatives. He knew that Cheng Feiyang didn't come because of him. He had called Xu Lan several times before to invite her and said that the venue was set. But Xu Lan always refused because the time was not suitable and Cheng Feiyang had something to do. Then he kept changing the schedule until he had no other choice but to let his old mother call Cheng Feiyang, and Cheng Ran's family finally agreed.
He knew very well that his previous performance was indeed not satisfactory, and it was meaningless to say anything now. He could only try his best to use the tone of "relative", "this and that happened in the past", "we are all family" and so on.
Gao Shijin, who used to be the absolute dominant figure in such family banquets, is no longer like that. Cheng Feiyang frequently greeted his great aunt, and everyone's topic turned to the elderly.
Somehow the third cousin let slip that her mother was sick and hospitalized some time ago, and her sons were admitted to the hospital to see her. She was the one who took care of her from beginning to end, which caused her children to not do well in the exams. When she talked about this, the impetuous third cousin's eyes were red.
Cheng Feiyang's face turned cold. Gao Shijin quickly said that his shop was also very busy during that period. His second and fourth brothers all had shops and helped each other, so they were basically too busy. However, he gave money to his third sister, and he also bore most of the burden for his sick mother at home.
Cheng Feiyang's expression softened a bit and he said, "These are not excuses. You need to take better care of the elderly. You only have one mother. If anything happens to her, you will regret it no matter how much money you make!"
Everyone nodded vigorously and asked about their great aunt's well-being. Gao Shijin also nodded repeatedly, and his eyes turned red when he spoke excitedly.
This was the first time that Gao Shijin, who regarded himself as the patriarch of the family, had to bow his head like this. However, everyone in the Gao family felt that in front of Cheng Feiyang's aura, all this seemed so natural.
However, the cousin's aunt could not sit still when she saw that her eldest son felt a little aggrieved by Cheng Feiyang's harsh words. She kept telling Cheng Feiyang that her children were very good to her, that she did not have any serious illness, but was just hospitalized due to hypoglycemia, and that it was necessary for them to be busy with their families and lives. She was very protective of her... which made Cheng Feiyang nod his head and say good things to her.
During the meal, the elders were chatting about family matters, while Gao Shaoning and her three cousins, who were sitting with Cheng Ran, were secretly sizing up Cheng Ran.
Gao Shaoning didn't feel the same sense of burden as her parents did in front of Cheng Ran's family. This was probably because she felt that Cheng Ran was not too far behind her in age, and that he was not so distant from her in terms of status. She asked softly, "You are studying in No. 10 Middle School... Is it stressful?"
"Pressure?" Cheng Ran thought for a moment, "Maybe."
"Are there a lot of people around you who have good grades?" Gao Shaoning tilted her head and shook her braids.
Cheng Ran said, "It's okay. For me... it's not too much."
"Tsk..." Gao Shaoning wrinkled his nose. "It's okay for the top 50 students in the grade to say that. But how many places did you rank in No. 10 Middle School, where I've heard calluses from hearing that if you don't work hard, you can go to Sichuan University next door?"
"Grade... Second, I guess."
Gao Shaoning opened his mouth, but the "Tsk!" he had prepared was forced back into his throat as if he had swallowed a fist.
Finally, he was so shocked that he managed to utter, "You're lying!?"
Cheng Ran smiled and said, "It's not often that I can get this score. I did quite well this time."
Gao Shaoning continued to watch Superman Returns like the Man of Steel, looking at him with his head tilted for a long while.
In the end, I didn't even know how to start talking.
This is probably what is meant by talking to oneself to death.
You can't just swallow your saliva and say, "Why is there another one in front of you?"
What she was afraid to hear was, "He answered one more question correctly than I did."
This is not a question of dignity, but a gap between species.
Gao Shaoning stopped talking afterwards, but just rolled his eyes around, not knowing what he was thinking.
As soon as Cheng Ran saw this "distant cousin", she knew that she was not someone who could be taken lightly. Although Gao Shijin was very dignified in the family, Gao Shaoning was actually a bit rebellious and usually spoke carelessly. At the wedding banquet that day, she made mostly friends with people of her age who seemed to value brotherhood.
Perhaps thinking of what happened that day, Gao Shaoning turned around and asked, "Who was that beautiful sister that day? What's your relationship with her?"
"good friend."
Gao Shaoning just said "Oh", but he didn't give up and asked again, "Classmate? Best friend? How close are you? Do you guys ever meet up to play together in private?"
Seeing Cheng Ran's half-smile, Gao Shaoning said angrily, "I heard that sister's family members are high-ranking officials?"
"So what? Then she should have no friends?" Cheng Ran said.
"That's not what I meant..." Gao Shaoning pouted, "I just felt that she was quite friendly to you, you can't tell at all... But then again, people who are really capable are usually quite low-key."
Cheng Ran said, "That's not quite right. There are many capable people who are high-profile. There are many different people who do many different things. And most of the time, there is no absolute high-profile or low-profile. It all depends on the needs of the current stage of action. In a stagnant world, doing things in a high-profile manner can actually gather people's hearts and make things more powerful. And being low-key can keep oneself hidden in certain storms. The basis of being low-key is that you can be high-profile at any time. So I don't agree with the argument that being low-key is a style. Some people keep saying that they are so-called low-profile because they can't be higher-profile than others, so they can only use the ostrich mentality as a fig leaf."
Gao Shaoning was dumbfounded, and finally said, "Can all top students talk like this!?"
Cheng Ran smiled inwardly, mainly because the dinner party was too boring, so he said a few more words to Gao Shaoning. But he also felt that there was no point in debating with a little girl.
Gao Shaoning rolled his eyes again and asked, "Do you have anything to do this afternoon?"
Cheng Ran nodded without hesitation, "Something happened."
"Bullshit! I asked your mom before, you are all free today." Gao Shaoning tilted her head back and pouted, causing her braids to swing due to the large movement. "Our stage play will be performed at the Provincial Grand Theater this afternoon. I have an internal ticket. Let's watch it together!"
Gao Shaoning's words immediately brought the topic of conversation at the dinner table to the spotlight.
The cousin's aunt also looked at Cheng Ran eagerly, "Ningning is learning to dance, isn't she? Their troupe has a performance this time, and she has been selected. She also has tickets to give to relatives and friends. They are selling for 88 yuan a ticket outside. Go and have a look, don't waste it."
"You..." Cheng Ran looked at Gao Shaoning in front of him, "Performance?"
Gao Shaoning's black eyes flickered and he nodded repeatedly.
At this time, Xu Lan finally spoke up. She probably didn't intend to alienate Cheng Ran from his cousins in Rongcheng. "How about... you go and watch Cousin Gao's performance and show your support for her."
Then came what Cheng Ran feared the most: a table full of relatives talking at once and trying to persuade him in all kinds of ways.