A Dish Best Served Cold (The Man In Rage)

"I...damn..."

Chu Wen-Fei was so angry that he almost had a stroke.

These bastards. Are they idiots? Since they are toasting me, how could they not know me?

If they don't know who I am, then why the hell are they toasting me!

"Haha, this is your first meeting, so it is natural that you can't recognize him."

"Let me make the introduction. This person is my son-in-law. He is Chu Wen-Fei, the son of Chu Yang, owner of Yangtian Real Estate. You may also call him Mr. Chu." Just then, with a smile on her face, Wang Qiao-Yu volunteered to introduce her son-in-law to the assembled executives.

"What?"

"He is Mr. Chu?" 'Then who is that person?" The hotel executives were flummoxed. Why was there another Mr. Chu?

"Young Master Shen, what...?"

The hotel General Manager, Lin Feng, looked at Shen Fei in confusion.

But Shen Fei only winked at the General Manager and said, "A true hero does not reveal his identity, and someone who goes around claiming to be one is not a true hero. So why don't you all just pretend he is Mr. Chu and toast him."

Lin Feng understood the meaning behind Shen Fei's words immediately. The former turned to look at Ye Fan with an ambiguous smile on his face and said, "Haha~ I get it. I get it."

"In that case, let us finish our drinks."

Lin Feng and the executives laughed before quaffing their drinks.

"Mr. Lin, about what you said earlier. Is that a promise?" Wang Qiao-Yu asked her question after Lin Feng and the other executives had finished their drinks.

"What I said?"

"About the free meals for Mr. Chu?"

"Yes, of course. It is our honor to have Mr. Chu visit us. Not only are we going to comp his meals, we will also serve the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast. At the same time, we will offer a free flow of drinks such as Chateau Lafite and Feitian Moutai. He can drink as much as he wants."

One has to give before they receive. In order to forge ties with Ye Fan, the executives were willing to put in quite the effort.

After they had finished toasting each other, Lin Feng left with the other executives.

And Shen Fei also left the room to answer a phone call. Wang Qiao-Yu, who had been holding in her emotions, decided to take the opportunity to cut loose.

"Haha-" "Look, look. Look at how much they respect our Wen-Fei."

"When we go for free meals in future, we will also receive free wine worth several hundred thousand."

The other Qius could only stew in their envy and jealousy.

Damn it. Rich people get all the luck. Everywhere, there will be people who are willing to suck up to them.

Many of the Qius gave Chu Wen-Fei the thumbs-up gesture. Even the eldest Qiu brother, Qiu Guang, was full of praise for him. "Awesome, Wen-Fei. Even the Shens have to suck up to you. When I go about my business outside, I can hold my head up high because you are my nephew."

"Haha, Uncle Guang, you are standing on ceremony. We are one family. If you ever run into any trouble you can't handle, give me a ring. I will take care of everything with just one phone call."

Chu Wen-Fei could not stop showing off, and he kept at it at the dining table. One by one, the Qius toasted him. It was clear from what they were saying that they were toadying up to him.

In contrast to the bustle around Chu Wen-Fei, it was rather quiet where Ye Fan was sitting. Nobody was offering to toast him or his wife. Both of them were ignored by everyone else.

Ye Fan remained as composed as before. He continued to sip his tea. But as Qiu Mu-Cheng looked at the preferential treatment Chu Wen-Fei was getting, she could not help feeling aggrieved. Eventually, in order to cover up her embarrassment, Qiu Mu-Cheng took her chopsticks and tried to pick up some food.

She did not succeed. When she tried to get some fish, someone swivelled the rotating turntable and moved the fish dish out of her reach. So Qiu Mu-Cheng had no choice put to pick the vegetable dish. But just as she was stretching out her chopsticks to pick up the food, someone swivelled the turntable again. That made her feel even more embarrassed.

"Hmph, you pair of ungrateful wretches. Are you still after the free food? Stop dreaming, will you?" Wang Qiao-Yu smiled smugly and kept swivelling the turntable. She was determined to keep the food out of Qiu Mu-Cheng's reach.

"Mu-Cheng, did you want some fish? Why didn't you tell me?" Ye Fan suddenly spoke up. His hand darted out, quick as a cat, and he managed to pick up a piece of fish with his chopsticks. Which he placed or Qiu Mu-Cheng's plate.

And that angered Wang Qiao-Yu. She retaliated by mocking the couple. "If you feed a dog, it will know to wag its tail and bark to express its gratitude. But some people are really shameless. They did not say one word of thanks, after they have gorged themselves on the free food and drinks. And they even picked the expensive stuff."

"How shameless are they?"

Although Wang Qiao-Yu did not mention names, every Qiu present knew who she was referring to.

"That's right. We didn't want them to come, but they followed us shamelessly. And now, they are eating my husband's food, drinking my husband's wine and sharing his limelight. But not only did they not fork out a single cent, they are sitting there now looking so high and mighty. These people, they deserve to remain poor and useless their whole lives."

Just then, Chu Wen-Fei left the room to use the toilet. Qiu Mu-Ying and her mother quieted down for a bit, but they continued to smile mockingly at Yen Fan and his wife.

Qiu Mu-Cheng turned paler and paler. She felt as if she was sitting on a bed of nails.

Ye Fan frowned.

He slammed his tea cup on the table, looked up and said in cold voice, "Are you looking for trouble?"

"Whoa, you are getting angry?"

"We wouldn't dare. You are so awesome. You are the renowned live-in son-in-law of Yunzhou city. Even if we look through thousands of candidates, we would not be able to find someone awesome like you. You are indeed worthy of the position of live-in son-in-law. I am your wife's little sister, so I definitely do not dare to find trouble with you." Qiu Mu-Ying's speech, which was loaded with sarcasm, caused the Qius to burst out laughing.

Ye Fan's frown got deeper. Just as he was about to get up from his seat, Qiu Mu-Cheng stopped him and shook her head.

Under the circumstances, starting a fight against their relatives would only make matters worse for both of them.

Just then, the doors were pushed open and, amidst a flurry of footsteps, a middle-aged man strode into the dining hall while being escorted by his bodyguards.

The middle-aged man had the look of a successful businessman. And he had the aura of someone used to command. Beside him, the normally arrogant Shen Fei looked as meek as child. Both of them were walking together.

The latecomer was none other than Shen Jiu-Yi, the head of the Shen family and Shen Fei's father.

Shen Jiu-Yi did not stop at the dining table. He went up to the podium and turned to look at Ye Fan. "Mr. and Madam Chu, I have kept you waiting. I came late because I had some matter to attend to. Please forgive me."

"I have only one reason for throwing this banquet today. And that is to apologize to Mr. and Madam Chu. My failure to educate my son has caused him to offend Madam Chu and, in the end, he angered Mr. Chu. I am sincerely sorry."

"Here, I and my unworthy son will bow in apology to Mr. and Madam Chu."

Once he had finished speaking, Shen Jiu-Yi and his son bowed at the waist in front of everybody. AS they did so, their eyes were filled with sincere regret.

"Mm?" "Ying-Ying, what's going on? When did Shen Fei offend you?" The Qius were flummoxed and they all looked at Qiu Mu-Ying in confusion.

Qiu Mu-Ying herself was feeling bewildered. She could not remember an occasion when Shen Fei had offended her. But she smiled and told her relatives: "Maybe they are talking about that time when he accidentally stepped on my foot. It's not a big deal and I have already forgotten about it."

When the Qius heard this, they glanced at each other.

That was awesome!

Just because Shen Fei had accidentally stepped on Qiu Mu-Ying's foot, the Shens had to arrange a banquet to apologize. How much clout did Chu Wen-Fei have?

"Finally, to express my sincere apology, I would like to present an antique painting to Mr. Chu. I hope you will accept my humble gift."

Shen Jiu-Yi adopted a servile attitude and then he carefully opened a wooden box. From inside the box, he retrieved a scroll, which he unrolled in front of everybody.

On that scroll was a painting. It depicted an evening during late autumn. A man, supported by a walking clutch, could be seen returning home after visiting someone or some place in the mountains. The painting gave off a sense of chaos, but the composition was well done. The layout was both graceful and compact. Some areas of the painting were sparse while others were compact, but the artist had managed to skillfully blend the two aspects together. One could tell, at a glance, that the painting was extremely valuable.

"Whoa!"

"Could...Could this painting be "Visiting a Recluse near the Streams"? Drawn personally by one of the Four Masters of the Ming Dynasty, Tang Bo-Hu?"

"I heard it appeared three years ago at the auction held at Jianghai city in Jiangdong province. It was sold to a mysterious tycoon at the astronomical price of twenty million. It created a new record and shocked the entire art collecting world of Jiangdong!"

"Don't tell me, the mysterious tycoon who bought the painting is Mr. Shen?"

Qiu Guang had few hobbies, and one of them was collecting artworks.

So when he caught sight of the painting, he got so agitated that he could not help but shout out loud.