172: Chapter 172: I was immediately ridiculed as soon as I entered!

Walking through the long corridor covered in thick red carpet, Su Yun, Zhao Xiaoman, and Zhao Dahai entered the banquet hall.

The hall was enormous, with a dome crafted entirely from transparent glass, allowing one to see the night sky just by looking up.

Over a dozen massive crystal chandeliers hung overhead, illuminating the entire space as bright as day.

In the very center of the hall was a half-meter-high main stage, backed by a giant LED screen.

Below the stage, fifty expensive mahogany round tables were arranged neatly.

The tables were covered in pure white tablecloths and set with exquisite silver cutlery and fresh flowers.

Quite a few of Jiangcheng's prominent wealthy businessmen and celebrities had already arrived.

Men wore haute couture suits, while women were dressed in various evening gowns, gathering in groups of three to five with wine glasses in hand to chat.

Following behind Su Yun, Zhao Dahai swallowed hard.

He had never seen so many big shots in his life.

Any person picked at random was an entrepreneur he usually only saw on the television news.

Zhao Dahai was very self-aware.

As a mere residential property manager, being able to step through this door was already a stroke of incredible ancestral luck.

If he really followed the Mayor's daughter to sit at the main table in the very front, he probably wouldn't even know how he died tomorrow.

"Mr. Su, Miss Zhao." Zhao Dahai hunched his back and lowered his voice. "The ones up front are all big bosses; my status really isn't suitable for that."

"I see an empty seat at the very back. I'll just grab a bite over there."

Su Yun nodded and didn't force him.

As if granted a massive reprieve, Zhao Dahai quickly slipped along the wall to an ordinary seat in the farthest corner of the hall.

Zhao Xiaoman, however, had no such reservations.

She was the Mayor's daughter, after all; she had attended countless occasions like this since she was a child.

In her high heels, she led Su Yun, walking with large strides toward the main table in the very first row.

The main table had the best position, directly facing the stage with an extremely wide view.

Several young people were already seated at the main table.

Chu Tianjiao was sitting in the seat of honor in a domineering posture.

Holding half a glass of red wine, he was bragging to several 'rich second-generation' heirs next to him about the limited-edition sports car he had just picked up last month.

Looking up, Chu Tianjiao saw Zhao Xiaoman and Su Yun walking over.

Having just suffered a major setback in the parking lot, he was suppressing a fire in his gut with nowhere to vent it.

Seeing Su Yun swaggering toward the main table now, his anger became impossible to suppress.

Chu Tianjiao slammed the wine glass in his hand down onto the table.

The base of the glass hit the tabletop with a loud thud.

A few drops of red wine splashed out, landing on the white tablecloth.

"Zhao Xiaoman, what is the meaning of this?" Chu Tianjiao pointed at Su Yun, his tone full of disdain and provocation.

"This main table in the first row is for the top figures of Jiangcheng; it represents the face of Jiangcheng."

"Why are you bringing a charlatan from the bottom of society here to join the fun?"

"What kind of thing is he? Does he have the right to sit here?"

Chu Tianjiao's voice was quite loud.

Wealthy businessmen at the surrounding tables turned their heads one after another, beginning to watch the spectacle.

Someone sized Su Yun up for a few moments and recognized him immediately.

"Hey, isn't this that fortune-telling streamer who's quite popular online?"

"Right, right, right, his name is Su Yun or something. My son watches his livestreams every day."

"I was wondering why he looked familiar. So he's just an internet streamer."

"Are you kidding me? How could the eldest Miss Zhao bring someone like this?"

"Exactly. What's an influencer doing here? Isn't this just nonsense?"

Several undisguised sneers came from the crowd.

In the eyes of these brick-and-mortar capitalists, influencers were just attention-seeking performers who couldn't truly be taken seriously.

At a nearby table, a building materials merchant with a beer belly stood up.

This man was named Fatty Liu. He did sand and gravel business in Jiangcheng and had always wanted to board the great ship that was the Chu family.

Seeing Chu Tianjiao making things difficult, Fatty Liu felt his chance to perform had come.

He walked over with his wine glass, intentionally raising his volume.

"Young Master Chu is absolutely right."

"Those fortune-tellers online nowadays are all packaged by scripts and teams."

"Finding a few shills to act on a split-screen call is fine for fooling those brainless netizens."

"But coming to an elegant occasion like ours simply lowers the grade of the entire banquet."

Fatty Liu pointed at Su Yun, his face full of contempt.

"This kind of swindler should be setting up a stall under an overpass!"

"Where is security? Why are you letting any random riffraff in? Hurry up and kick him out!"

Several wealthy businessmen who wanted to curry favor with the Chu family also chimed in with nods, pointing and whispering at Su Yun.

Su Yun stood with his hands in his pockets, coldly watching this group of people perform like jumping clowns.

He couldn't be bothered to pay any attention to these idiots.

Zhao Xiaoman, however, could not endure it.

Su Yun was her savior. These people insulting Su Yun to her face was the same as slapping her own face.

Zhao Xiaoman gave a cold laugh.

She didn't even look at that prancing Fatty Liu.

She stepped forward, pulled out a chair at the main table, and respectfully invited Su Yun to sit.

Su Yun didn't stand on ceremony either and sat down in a domineering fashion.

This infuriated Chu Tianjiao. Just as he was about to explode, Zhao Xiaoman moved even faster.

Zhao Xiaoman opened her crocodile-skin bag and pulled out several folded sheets of A4 paper.

Those were official police situation reports she had asked the Municipal Bureau for in advance.

Holding the reports, Zhao Xiaoman slapped them directly onto the main table.

The sound of the paper hitting the table was sharp, giving Chu Tianjiao a start.

"Open your dog eyes and look clearly at the words on this."

Zhao Xiaoman pointed at the reports—black text on a white background with a bright red official seal—her voice echoing through the hall.

"The Wang Dahai Building Materials Company Hidden Corpse Case."

"The Starlight Media Major Fraud and Prostitution Case."

"And the Suburban Bus Serial Kidnapping and Murder Case."

"All of these were solved by the police with the assistance of Mr. Su!"

Zhao Xiaoman looked around, her gaze sharp.

"A man personally thanked in a report by the official police account, and you call him a charlatan?"

"You say it's scripted hype?"

"If any of you have the ability, why don't you go get the Municipal Bureau to issue a report praising you?"

The hall fell silent for a few seconds.

The surrounding businessmen were stunned.

A few people leaned in to look at the reports on the main table; that bright red official seal definitely couldn't be faked.

The Fatty Liu who had shouted the loudest shrunk his neck and slunk back to his seat with his wine glass, not daring to utter another word.

Are you kidding? Going against an official report from the Municipal Bureau? Did he still want to do business?

Chu Tianjiao looked at the reports on the table, his expression shifting repeatedly.

But there was no way he would bow his head to a poor kid.

Chu Tianjiao curled his lip, his face full of mockery.

"Zhao Xiaoman, who are you trying to fool with this stuff?"

"Who doesn't know that the police also need traffic and political achievements nowadays?"

"This is clearly the Jiangcheng Police trying to meet their year-end targets by teaming up with this influencer for hype."

Chu Tianjiao picked up his red wine glass and swirled it gently.

"Just spending money to buy an official endorsement; I've seen this routine plenty of times."

"It only fools laymen like you."

"I'm telling you, our Jiangnan Province circles definitely won't buy this!"

Chu Tianjiao slapped the table and pointed at Su Yun's nose.

"If he dares to sit at this main table today, I, Chu Tianjiao, will be the first to disagree!"

Just as Chu Tianjiao finished speaking...

The side door of the banquet hall was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

Several attendants in black suits walked in quickly, lining up on both sides.

A middle-aged man stepped into the hall.

He wore a dark jacket and had his hair slicked back, possessing a natural air of authority.

It was the Mayor of Jiangcheng, Zhao Donghai.

The chatter in the hall stopped instantly.

Everyone instinctively stood up straight and looked toward the door.

The top official of Jiangcheng arriving in person—this was an immense amount of face given.

When Chu Tianjiao saw Zhao Donghai enter, his eyes lit up.

He quickly straightened his suit and tie, putting on an extremely fawning smile.

Holding his wine glass, Chu Tianjiao hurried forward to greet him.

"Uncle Zhao, it's really been a long time."