Chapter 51: Gege, I Didn’t Lose Face for the Family, Did I?
Applause rang out once more, but compared to the applause for Su Lin just now, it seemed to carry a more complex meaning. Countless gazes instantly focused on Jiang Limu.
Jiang Limu took a deep breath and straightened his back. He looked at Jiang Qing, who gave him a slight nod of the chin.
“Go on,” Jiang Qing said.
Jiang Limu nodded and started walking toward the stage. The spotlight chased his figure, separating him from Jiang Qing, who remained in the shadows. He could feel those gazes—probing, comparing, even slightly pitying. He forced himself not to overthink and walked to the center of the stage, standing slightly behind Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu gave him a look and then turned back to the microphone.
Just as Jiang Limu was about to speak the practiced pleasantries about welcoming Su Lin home, Jiang Yu’s voice spoke first, drowning out the fading applause:
“Before Limu speaks, I have a few words of my own.”
Jiang Yu’s gaze slowly swept across the crowd.
“Su Lin’s return is a joyous occasion and a completion. But standing here today, I have more than one younger brother.” He turned slightly to indicate Jiang Limu, who was clearly stunned by his words.
“Although Jiang Limu has no blood relation to me or my parents, for the past twenty years, he has grown up as a child of the Jiang family in our home.”
“He calls us Mom and Dad, he calls me Big Brother, and he calls Jiang Qing Second Brother. Every day of these twenty years has been filled with real, existing family affection.”
The ballroom was pin-drop silent as everyone listened with bated breath. These words undoubtedly gave the most definitive characterization of Jiang Limu’s status at this delicate moment.
“So, today, I want to clearly tell everyone,”
“To the Jiang family, Jiang Limu will always be our family, our child. This will never change due to any circumstance.”
He paused, letting his gaze linger on the faces of Father and Mother Jiang for a moment. After receiving their affirmative looks, he continued:
“Su Lin’s homecoming is not a replacement, but an addition. The doors of the Jiang family are always open to the children who truly belong to this home. Su Lin is one, and Limu always will be.”
“They,” Jiang Yu’s gaze landed on the face of Jiang Limu, whose eyes were wide with shock, before turning to Su Lin and finally returning to the front, “are both my, Jiang Yu’s, younger brothers, and both are inseparable parts of the Jiang family.”
As he finished speaking, after a brief silence, the audience erupted into applause even more enthusiastic than before. This declaration was clear, powerful, and directly shut down many possible rumors. It also preserved Jiang Limu’s dignity and position in the family to the greatest extent.
Jiang Limu stood there, his ears ringing and his eyes feeling inexplicably hot.
He instinctively looked toward Jiang Qing in the crowd. Jiang Qing was still leaning in that corner, toying with the empty cake plate. Seeing Limu look over, he raised the plate toward him from afar with a gentle smile.
Jiang Limu felt a surge of warmth in his heart. He took a deep breath and turned to the microphone. When he spoke, although his voice still trembled slightly, it was much steadier:
“Thank you, Big Brother.” He first nodded to Jiang Yu in gratitude and then looked at the audience. “And thank you all. As Big Brother said, Su Lin-ge coming home is the reunion our family has long awaited. Like Big Brother and Second Brother, I welcome Su Lin-ge, and I hope that in the future, we can get along like true brothers.”
Applause rang out again.
——————————————
The recognition banquet had reached its second half before Chi Jiong finally made his appearance.
He didn’t enter through the main entrance. Instead, he was led by a waiter through a quiet corridor from the side hall. His dark gray suit was perfectly tailored, emphasizing his broad shoulders and narrow waist. He wore no tie, the top button of his shirt casually undone. The expensive watch on his wrist peeked out from under his cuff—low-key yet impossible to ignore.
His arrival didn’t cause much of a stir, as the protagonists of the night were the Jiang family and their newly recognized young master.
As soon as Chi Jiong entered, he saw Jiang Qing leaning against the wall. He prepared to walk over silently.
Just then, a rose suddenly stretched out between them, blocking the way.
?
Chi Jiong looked up in confusion at the owner of the rose. The owner flicked his wrist, and the vivid red rose was moved from between Jiang Qing and Chi Jiong to right in front of Jiang Qing.
Jiang Qing rolled his eyes.
“Do you want our family to hold the recognition banquet and a wedding together?”
He didn’t take the rose; instead, he reached out and pushed the flower aside with a hint of impatience.
“Qin Zhiyan, aren’t you a bit childish?”
Qin Zhiyan wasn’t annoyed at being rejected. Instead, he grinned and pulled the rose back, sniffing it while his eyes darted toward Chi Jiong, speaking with hidden meaning:
“I just saw someone trying to cut in line, so I wanted to declare that they need to ‘take a number’ in advance.”
Chi Jiong raised an eyebrow.
Compared to his own yet-unspoken and perhaps not-fully-realized feelings, he had heard of this Young Master Qin’s “illustrious deeds”—high-profile flower deliveries, reciting confessions downstairs, and being rejected in various ways by Jiang Qing only to try again. He was practically the classic talk of the town.
“Young Master Qin is joking. I just have some business to discuss with Jiang Qing. As for ‘taking a number’…” He paused, his gaze sweeping between Qin Zhiyan and Jiang Qing. “It doesn’t seem like it’s my turn to take one.”
The smile on Qin Zhiyan’s face stiffened for a second. “Young Master Chi is quite well-informed to even know about my little ‘hobby.’ However…”
He took a step forward. “The matters between Jiang Qing and me… whatever outsiders know is just the surface. Right, Qingqing?”
“…”
Jiang Qing turned his head with a expressionless face.
Qin Zhiyan felt a chill down his neck under that gaze, but he held his ground.
The speeches on stage seemed to have ended. The sound of conversation around them grew louder, along with the crisp clinking of glasses. The crowd began to move again.
Su Lin had been silently watching the situation here while he was on stage.
Once the speeches ended and the applause died down, he subtly broke away from the crowd surrounding him and walked toward this corner.
“Gege,” Su Lin’s voice rang out behind Qin Zhiyan, interrupting the latter’s intention to continue his “appeal.”
The three of them turned to look at the same time.
When Su Lin’s gaze swept over Qin Zhiyan’s overly close posture to Jiang Qing, it paused slightly.
“Young Master Qin, Young Master Chi.” He nodded to both of them in greeting, his tone polite. Then, his gaze fell entirely on Jiang Qing.
“Gege, just now… I didn’t lose face for the family, did I?” His voice softened, carrying a hint of uncertainty.
Qin Zhiyan narrowed his eyes.
He’s already calling him ‘Gege’?
He had been chasing Jiang Qing for so long, calling him everything from wife to baby to darling, but why did it feel like Su Lin’s simple “Gege” was more lethal?
Chi Jiong looked at this employee of his bar—and the younger brother of his friend—feeling a bit conflicted.
Su Lin had been able to work at “Zero Six” because he had spoken with the owner of “Yunye.” At the time, Zero Six’s original bartender had taken a temporary leave of absence, and he happened to hear a recommendation from a friend that Su Lin was quite talented in mixology, so he had recruited him.
He never expected that this seemingly ordinary bartender was actually the biological son of the Jiang family who had been missing for over twenty years.
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