Read Novel Full Chapter 50.3 – Birthday Banquet: Second Part (III)
Chapter 50.3 – Birthday Banquet: Second Part (III)
Xia Mian couldn’t help but chuckle—now she remembered where she had seen this young man before. He had been at the auction, sitting behind them, and had shown great interest in Ning Shaoyun’s Guardian painting.
Clearly, many people in the room recognized Wei Hongqiu as well. As soon as he spoke, those who had previously thought Ning Shaoyun was making a fuss and being disrespectful started reevaluating the situation. The way they looked at Huo Pengyi and Hu Cuihua was beginning to shift.
Just as Huo Pengyi was about to say something, a powerful voice rang out from outside the hall.
“I was wondering why my junior sister, who had such incredible talent, disappeared completely after getting married. Turns out she’s been cut off from her peers all this time, unable to even contact her senior brothers.”
Zhu Yuanhai entered the room, accompanied by a man and a woman. He sneered, “So tell me, is this a marriage or a prison sentence?”
He turned to Old Master Ning. “Old Master Ning, are you really going to just sit back and let your daughter-in-law collude with outsiders to humiliate your grandchildren at your own birthday banquet?”
Old Master Ning cast a glance at Fan Xiuzhi, then sighed with his eyes closed. “We’re sorry to show you all this disgraceful scene.”
Fan Xiuzhi suddenly realized it—when her father-in-law had tried to stop her earlier, he had actually done that for her sake.
But who were all these people? Annoyed, she frowned. “And may I ask who you all are?”
Wei Hongqiu immediately perked up and excitedly rushed forward. “Professor Zhu, Chairman Miao, Teacher!”
His excitement was palpable as he asked, “What brings you here?”
Fan Xiuzhi, noticing his enthusiasm, adjusted her tone. “Hongqiu, these people are…?”
Compared to her father’s business partners, Wei Hongqiu obviously trusted his revered mentors more. His attitude toward Fan Xiuzhi grew colder as he replied, “This is Professor Zhu Yuanhai, a leading figure in contemporary calligraphy and painting. He is the true master of the industry.”
“This is Chairman Miao of the Calligraphy and Painting Association. And this is my teacher, Master Ma Lisheng.”
Fan Xiuzhi scoffed inwardly. A bunch of so-called artists with no real power—why should she take them seriously? However, out of consideration for Wei Hongqiu, whose father was a prominent business figure, she maintained a polite smile and said, “Welcome, welcome. I wasn’t aware you were coming, and I apologize for not preparing a proper reception.”
Zhu Yuanhai smirked. “No need for sarcasm. We know that the Ning family’s doors are too high for people like us to step through. We’ve never bothered coming here before because we saw no point in inviting humiliation.”
“But,” he continued, “we recently discovered that one of my junior sister’s private paintings ended up at an auction house—under rather suspicious circumstances, might I add. We believe the matter involved some illegal transactions, so we’re here to get to the bottom of it.”
Huo Pengyi’s brows furrowed. “Auction? Illegal?”
Wei Hongqiu finally connected the dots. “Professor Zhu’s junior sister… The last and most prized disciple of Master Qi Minghao…”
He turned to look at Ning Shaoyun, his excitement barely contained, as if he had just met his idol. “Mas-master Xueyun!”
“So the Guardian at the auction was your work! I loved that painting. It’s such a shame I couldn’t win the bid…”
“But…” His gaze fell on the painting on the table. “This sign… Xinyun?”
Ning Shaoyun let out a wry chuckle and explained, “It’s embarrassing to admit, but Guardian was the result of the years I wasted, trapped in the Huo family.”
“It was only after I left them that I broke through my artistic bottleneck and found new life. That’s why I changed my name to Xinyun (New Yun).”
“Then in a way, Guardian is your final work under your old name?” Wei Hongqiu was filled with regret. “If I had known, I would have bought it no matter the cost—even for a million!”
Old Madam Huo’s eyes widened. “A million?!”
“Not quite,” Wei Hongqiu said. “It was auctioned off for 850,000…”
850,000 or a million—there wasn’t much difference. Old Madam Huo was stunned. She had never imagined that Ning Shaoyun’s paintings were worth so much!
No wonder Director Luo approved that project so smoothly. Thinking about how they had basically gifted away a painting worth over 800,000, Old Madam Huo felt a sharp pang of regret. She had been in the Huo family for years, but even she had never had 800,000 at her disposal.
Ning Shaobai sneered at the Huo couple. “My sister was married into your family for seven years. Following Old Madam Huo’s rules, she devoted herself to her husband and child, and you all ignored her. Fine. But then you went as far as stealing her work?”
“I’d like to ask everyone here—forget daughters-in-law. If your own son or daughter had something worth 800,000 or 900,000 taken from them without so much as a word, and you found out it was secretly given away as a gift, what would you do?”
He turned to Fan Xiuzhi. “Aunt Fan, if I took 10% of the company’s shares and brushed it off as nothing, would you be able to let it go so easily?”
Not waiting for her to respond, he continued, “So stop pretending to be generous when all you’re doing is using our family’s suffering for your own gain. Isn’t it just because you and the Huo family want to collaborate on Chengbei project that you’ve teamed up to suppress us?”
Zhu Yuanhai chuckled. “How odd. The Ning and Huo families are connected by marriage—if the Huo family doesn’t know their own daughter-in-law’s talent, that’s one thing. But President Fan, you married into the Ning family when my junior sister was six or seven and just starting to learn painting. You mean to tell me you never knew who her teacher was? And yet, you put on this whole act of being such a caring stepmother.”
“Let me ask everyone here—do any of you actually believe that?”
The guests exchanged awkward glances. It was one thing for a stepmother to be wary of her stepchildren; people could accept that as normal. But for Fan Xiuzhi, who already held a tight grip on the Ning family’s power, to continue oppressing the children of the first wife… That was too much.
Fan Xiuzhi opened her mouth to speak, but Ning Shaobai cut her off directly. “Aunt Fan, if you don’t want us to completely strip away your dignity and trample it in front of everyone, I suggest you stop speaking about my sister and me from this moment forward.”
“A lie will always be a lie. No matter how well you spin it, the truth will eventually come to light.” His voice carried a sharp edge. “You should at least leave yourself some face.”
Fan Xiuzhi’s expression darkened as she looked toward Old Master Ning, her eyes turned gloomy.
But this time, Old Master Ning didn’t step in to smooth things over. Instead, he turned to Zhu Yuanhai and asked, “Xiao Zhu, you mentioned that Xiao Yun’s painting is involved in something illegal…”
“Oh, that? Director Luo has already been reported and is under investigation,” Zhu Yuanhai said, shifting his gaze to Old Madam Huo. “And the primary reason? He accepted a painting valued at 850,000 as a bribe.”
“That’s impossible!” Old Madam Huo’s face turned pale.
“You can ask Zhou Qianqian about it,” Ning Shaobai sneered. “She knows everything.”
He added sarcastically, “Not only does she know, but she was the one responsible for inflating the price to over 800,000.”
“I was originally planning to buy the painting back quietly and handle this matter without making a scene. After all, it’s my sister’s painting. If they pressed charges for bribery, I wouldn’t put it past you all to push her as a scapegoat and make her take the fall.”
“But what I didn’t expect was that Zhou Qianqian herself helped drive up the bid.”
Huo Pengyi’s head snapped toward Zhou Qianqian, who stood not far away.
Zhou Qianqian’s face had gone completely white. “No, it wasn’t me—I didn’t—”
Wei Hongqiu spoke up. “No, it was you! I remember clearly. The auction could have been won at 600,000, but you raised the bid to 800,000.”
Because he had been so eager to own the painting, he had remembered every detail vividly. If the price had stayed at 600,000, he could have afforded it…
Ning Shaoyun then delivered the final blow, her tone cool and distant. “Did you all really think I wanted a divorce just because of a painting?”
“No, it’s because of the Huo family’s lack of morals. I don’t want my son growing up in such an environment. I don’t want him to become a twisted, unscrupulous monster like these people.”
Huo Pengyi and Old Madam Huo locked eyes with Ning Shaoyun, feeling as though she could see straight through them—down to the depths of their souls.