239: Chapter 239 Su Qinghan is recognized by the Li family

The Li family's ancestral home banquet hall was located in the side hall behind the thoroughfare.

Li Zhenguo had been planning this dinner for a long time.

The dozen or so people sitting inside were all branch leaders of the Li family who had branched out in the provincial capital and various cities below. Some were division chiefs in provincial government agencies, and others held real power in state-owned enterprises.

Everyone had arrived early, gathering in one place to whisper to each other.

They knew well that Old Master Li was hosting this banquet today for his eldest son, Li Zhengxing.

This eldest son, who had been honing his skills in The Capital for many years, had returned to Jiangnan Province to fully take over the connections of the Li Faction. Old Master Li summoned them to establish the successor in public, to build momentum and set rules for Li Zhengxing.

The door curtain of the side hall was lifted from the outside by Butler Wang Jianan.

The fragmented whispers in the hall stopped abruptly.

Everyone stood up from their chairs, facing the door, ready to welcome the eldest son who was about to control the family's lifeline.

The first to enter was Li Zhenguo.

Following half a step behind the Old Master on his left was not Li Zhengxing.

It was the Minister of the Provincial Organization Department, Minister Xiao Dingyu.

Behind Minister Xiao Dingyu was Secretary Zhu Tianhe, Deputy Secretary of the Linjiang Municipal Party Committee.

Further back, Li Zhengxing stepped over the threshold.

Zhu Wenhao followed half a shoulder behind him.

Walking at the very end were Su Qinghan and Study Committee Member Cao Rui.

This formation and seating arrangement left the collateral relatives in the room bewildered.

Logically, Li Zhengxing should have been the protagonist surrounded by everyone today; why would he fall behind others?

And Minister Xiao was busy with ten thousand things every day, why would he condescend to attend such a private family banquet?

What made it even harder to understand was the young woman brought by Zhu Wenhao.

Li Zhenguo walked to the center of the main table. Without sitting down directly, he turned around and pointed at the table surface.

"Minister Xiao, Secretary Zhu Tianhe. You two sit on my right." Li Zhenguo spoke.

Minister Xiao Dingyu and Secretary Zhu Tianhe sat down as instructed.

"Li Zhengxing, you sit on my left."

Li Zhengxing pulled out his chair, sat up straight, and after settling down, lowered his head to look at the white porcelain bone dish in front of him.

The key positions on both sides of the main seat were already taken. The remaining core seats were the yardstick for measuring this game today.

Li Zhenguo's gaze passed over everyone and stopped on Zhu Wenhao.

He raised his hand and pointed to a position next to Li Zhengxing, extremely close to the main seat.

"Zhu Wenhao, you sit here."

When these words came out, several elders of the collateral branch exchanged obscure glances.

This position had always been reserved for family elders in the past; how could an external grandson jump the queue to take it?

Zhu Wenhao did not decline, stepped forward, and sat down calmly.

"The girl from The Su Family." Li Zhenguo looked at Su Qinghan, who was standing in the back. "You are new here, sit next to Zhu Wenhao."

One could hear a pin drop in the hall.

To let an unmarried woman sit directly at the main table, and with a seating position higher than the collateral elders present.

Such an arrangement was unheard of.

The eyes of all the relatives gathered together, shock, inquiry, and confusion, all contained within.

Su Qinghan walked to the side of Zhu Wenhao and sat down calmly. She sat upright, hands folded on her lap, ignoring the gazes around her.

Li Juan sat down at the next table.

The dishes were served like flowing water, the sauce fragrance overflowing.

The family banquet began.

Li Zhenguo raised his wine glass and gave a few congratulatory remarks about family reunion. Everyone raised their glasses in agreement and drank it in one gulp.

After three courses, the atmosphere relaxed slightly.

A woman sitting at the end of the main table put down her chopsticks.

She was Li Zhengxing's cousin, holding a leisurely position in the Provincial Women's Federation.

She picked up a glass of warm water, her gaze crossing half the round table, and cast it toward Su Qinghan.

"I've heard for a long time that Zhu Wenhao's girlfriend is from the Linjiang Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, and she acts swiftly and ruthlessly when handling cases, without showing any affection." The cousin picked up a tissue and pressed the corners of her lips. "Seeing it today, it really is a cold temperament. We are all elders at this table, and Su Qinghan hasn't said a word. Could it be that the impartiality of the Discipline Inspection Commission is to be brought to the family banquet table?"

The attack had begun.

The surroundings stopped using chopsticks.

Li Zhengxing raised his eyes slightly, observing the situation calmly.

Zhu Wenhao held his wine cup without helping her out.

Su Qinghan picked up the serving chopsticks on the table and served a piece of food to Zhu Wenhao.

Afterwards, she picked up the teacup in front of her and faced that cousin.

"You are right to teach me. Discipline inspection work often deals with case files, and I am used to seeing the filth behind human relationships, so my temperament is indeed a bit cold."

Su Qinghan held the teacup, her wrist not shaking at all.

"However, when elders host a banquet, the younger generation should keep their mouths shut, listen more and speak less."

"Furthermore. The foundation of a family is not in the noise and flattery, but in the word 'rules'. If the rules are clear, the family will be peaceful, don't you think?"

After speaking, she used tea instead of wine, toasted from a distance, and drank half a mouthful.

This soft nail, while deflecting and striking back, capped the other party with a hat of "not understanding the rules and being obtrusive".

The cousin's face flushed, and the hand holding the water cup stopped in mid-air, neither drinking nor putting it down.

Zhu Wenhao placed the wine cup in his hand on the table, and the porcelain clicked with a crisp sound.

"Aunt works in the Women's Federation often, and caring about the younger generation's daily life is also good intentions."

Zhu Wenhao turned his head, his gaze swept over Li Zhengxing, and fell on those collateral leaders with different expressions.

"Everyone is gathered here today for the long term." Zhu Wenhao's voice was not heavy.

"Family harmony is not about who suppresses whom, let alone who steals the limelight from whom."

"Family harmony is about everyone keeping their position."

"Everyone should hold their own bowl and eat their own food. Do not touch the food on other people's plates."

He looked directly at Li Zhengxing.

"Only if the rules are established can the family not fall apart. If someone thinks their hands are long enough and insists on crossing the line to establish prestige, then I am afraid this meal will not last long."

The whole table was silent.

This sentence, on the surface, was to help Su Qinghan out, but in reality, it was to set the tone for today's family banquet, and even for the entire Li Faction in Jiangnan Province.

He was warning everyone, including his eldest uncle who had returned from The Capital: The resources of the Li family are now demarcated by me, Zhu Wenhao. Whoever dares to reach out, I will cut it off.

Li Juan saw that the atmosphere was stagnant and forced a smile.

She stood up, picked up the serving chopsticks, walked to Su Qinghan's side, picked up a piece of soft meat from the belly of the steamed bass, and placed it in Su Qinghan's bone dish.

"Zhu Wenhao, this child, always speaks without restraint." Li Juan smoothed things over. "Su Qinghan, don't mind him, try this fish quickly. Old Master Li specially asked someone to catch it from East Lake, it's very fresh."

This piece of fish fell, representing the last line of defense around Li Juan, or Old Master Li, and made a substantial acceptance of Su Qinghan.

Su Qinghan said thank you and used her chopsticks to eat the fish.

Li Zhengxing sat in his seat, picked up a vegetable, put it into his mouth, and chewed slowly.

That bitterness spread from the root of his tongue to his stomach.

He had planned for so long, intending to go south to become king. But in a game that hadn't even started, he was stripped of all his hole cards.

Now, even at the dinner table, he had become a mere decoration.

The banquet proceeded to the second half.

Li Zhenguo put down his chopsticks and wiped his hands with a hot towel.

He turned his head and looked at Butler Wang Jianan standing behind him.

Butler Wang Jianan understood, turned and walked into the back hall.

Before long, he walked back quickly, holding a small rosewood box in both hands.

The four corners of the box were wrapped in brass, which was old and had a lustrous patina.

Li Zhenguo took the box without opening it.

He pushed the rosewood box steadily along the table toward Su Qinghan.

The box slid on the smooth wooden surface and finally stopped less than half a foot in front of Su Qinghan.

"Girl." Li Zhenguo's voice was old. "The things in this box are not worth much money."

"This is a pair of old items that Zhu Wenhao's grandmother brought with her when she married."

This was not just acceptance, but recognition.

Su Qinghan looked at the rosewood box in front of her.

She didn't touch it, but turned to look at Zhu Wenhao.

Zhu Wenhao nodded slightly.

Only then did Su Qinghan stretch out her hands, took the box squarely, and placed it on her lap.

"Thank you, Grandfather." Su Qinghan's words were extremely concise, without any hypocritical refusal.

Li Zhengxing stopped his chopsticks, picked up the glass of white wine in front of him, and poured it down.

At the end of the meal, the leftovers were cleared, and a few pots of digestive tea were brought up.

Everyone drank tea with their own thoughts.

Li Zhenguo put down his teacup and pressed his hands on the armrests of the chair.

"Zhu Wenhao."

Old Master Li spoke.

Zhu Wenhao cast his gaze toward the main seat.

"If you've eaten well, accompany me back to the study to sit for a while."

Li Zhenguo stood up, and Butler Wang Jianan stepped forward to support his arm.

Old Master Li walked with some stumbling steps toward the thoroughfare.

Zhu Wenhao stood up.

"Enjoy yourselves." He threw a sentence to everyone at the table and walked steadily toward the study.

Leaving a table of people facing cold tea, with different thoughts.