37 Invitation

Zixi saw as Yueyue sent him home while she went out for a late - night dinner with Li Rong. Sometimes he felt susceptible to being powerless in the outcome of the possibility of these dinners, walks and laughs Yueyue shared with Li Rong. But at the end of the day, what could he do?

In the last two years he had tried to find out and route the people who had been responsible for what had had happened to his family. The results were disappointing to say the least. Though, he had followed the thread to a few people but they were all smaller fishes, he still didn't know who was the mastermind behind it all and the reason for their callous decision to eliminate the Qin's. Looking at everything happening around him, he felt a crushing sense of defeat overwhelm him. He couldn't find his enemies since he had to be particularly careful not to alert anyone about his actions and turn their eyes towards uncle's family and then he also had to watch Yueyue getting closer to another guy.

Still, he didn't want to act like a stalker and follow the both of them without their knowledge so he went back to the Yu residence. Moreover, watching them from the shadows would hurt himself more so why would he try to watch something that was an eyesore for him. As soon as he returned back, uncle called him into the study to inform him that the interloper was returning. Really swell. It wasn't as if he didn't have enough on his plate and his heavy heart already, that now a new eyesore would be prancing in front of him to spike his blood pressure. He felt weary to the bones. Anyways, he tried to put these heavy and dismal thoughts behind him and get back to his work. The next day that misbegotten girl returned.

Yu Yan hadn't thought that her father wouldn't even come to receive her at the airport. After all, he had gone to pick up his beloved first - born when Yu Yue had returned. She was infuriated at his seemingly indifference towards her return but then she had burnt her own bridges with him somewhat, so it was understandable. She rested at home for a few days and was informed that she would be joining the company next week along with Yu Yue. At least, that gave her a meager of satisfaction. She was also informed that there would be a party at the residence because the heiress was finally joining the company in a formal, official manner at last.

On the day of the party, Yu Jian called both his daughters to the study and told them in no uncertain terms that they had to behave and act befitting of a Yu family member during the party and that no matter their internal differences, they shouldn't try to one up each other tonight so as not to end up as a laughing stock for everyone to speculate about.

The guests had already arrived at the Yu residence and were recieved and greeted by the patriarch of the family and everyone was waiting for Yu Yueto come and greet them. Also, they knew from their sources that the spurious child had also returned and would be joining the party. This time it was different from the Age of Coming Ceremony. At that point none of them knew the strengths of the heir - apparent but in the last few years she had a made a name for herself in their circles. They had heard reports about how she was sharing the burden of her father even though she hadn't joined the company as of yet and helped him clench deals worth millions. Also, in all these years they hadn't heard a single scandal regarding her by word of mouth or on print. This could either mean that she was very conscious of such things and nobody had been able to entrap her, proving her intelligence or she had an inpergnable wall surrounding her in which case it meant opposing her or being petty with her was akin to cracking an egg against a rock. Either way she was someone to take notice of and keep their eye on so nobody present today wanted to start something against her for short - term gains. On the other hand, the illegitimate daughter had been sent for a metaphorical exile by the patriarch so it seemed he was set on not letting an outsider to embarras or provoke his first - born. When the Heiress had went oversees everyone had wondered if the astute businessman was muddleheaded in his personal life, if his emotions had overtaken his rational but his subsequent actions had stopped all the wagging tongues.

Many people also knew that he was looking for his future son - in - laws. It was an accepted practice in their circle to settle on a person and then have your child have a long engagement with the said person before marriage. This gave the added bonus of not being blindsided later on due to the other party's greed. After all, people can't keep on their act for a long period of time. Most families had brought their sons of the same age as to that of the two Yu girls to the party. If someone caught either of the girl's eyes, it could prove beneficial to both parties as everyone was of the same standing and prestige with minor differences.

Everyone was eagerly awaiting to have a look and a talk with Yu Yue and Yu Yan. They saw them coming down the stairs one after another. Yu Yue looked resplendent in her strapless, ruby Red dress of semi-embroidered fabric which accentuated her thin waist, hugged her hips, and flared out a bit. Yu Yan also looked stunning in a camel coloured slit gown paired with bold red lips and leather boots. The only problem was that it was super flairy. People would need to give her a wide berth so as not to step on her gown.

Yu Yan knew she looked beautiful in the dress and she had the confidence to wow everyone present. Half an hour later she saw the Li family entering the ballroom together. She watched as the patriarch, the heir and Li Rong came along with the heir's wife. She wanted to take this chance to talk to Li Rong. But before she could take more than two steps towards him, she saw him looking around at the people and she knew he was trying to find Yu Yue. As soon as he saw her standing and talking in a cluster of people, he ditched his family and with just a faint greeting to her father, he walked towards Yueyue with quick steps. It was as if he couldn't wait to meet and greet her, as if he hadn't seen the girl for ages even though he had dropped her off yesterday evening. She really didn't understand that what did he see in Yueyue? Tonight she'll make sure to take the first step towards ensuring to make him hers without fail.

Li Rong saw 'the princess' and went to talk to her about a project his family was interested in pursuing with the Yu family. He reached the group shewas talking to and took her to the side for a talk. He knew people were watching his actions but he really didn't have the heart to pay any mind to them at the moment. As soon as the details of the collaboration were somewhat discussed, he heaved a sigh of relief. At least he hadn't come here in vain.

Li Rong knew many people thought that they were either dating or some such rot but truthfully even he didn't know where their relationship stood. It was certainly more than friends but it wasn't exactly like that of a couple. Many times he had thought to try and break that fragile wall between them but he knew that if his thoughts were not appreciated by the other party; it would create awkwardness in their relationship. He had always believed the fact that there could be no simple friendship between a man and a woman, especially when a confession had already been made. Therefore, he tried to be content with the present status quo between the both of them.

Moreover, he had a faint inkling in his heart that though, the Yu patriarch was looking high and low for a son - in - law for his first - born, he himself had an eye on a person he wasn't divulging to anyone. It was as if Yu Jian was asking the other person to complete all his pending obligations and hold his daughter's hand. He wondered who was it that had caught the Yu patriarch's eye for his daughter and what was the reason that he wasn't doing or saying anything in that regards. Otherwise, how could it be that he hadn't even set up any blind dates for her or tried to introduce her to people of the opposite sex but in an acceptable age range?

While he was lost in his thoughts, he saw a girl dressed in a camel coloured gown coming upto him and standing by his side to wait for him to come out of his own thoughts and talk to her. He had seen many woman play this ploy and he wasn't interested but as soon as he saw her, he was really stupified. Not because she was breathlessly beautiful or anything like that but because he recognised her as the illegitimate sister of princess. Really unlucky to meet her here but then he couldn't ignore her blatantly or his elder brother would have his hide later on citing the reason that he had no manners and how could he ignore/insult someone in their own home. Therefore, he raised his lips into a smile and turned to give his greetings.

"Mr. Li, Welcome. Hope you are enjoying the party."

"Yes, thank you." he replied

""I saw you were standing by yourself and thought to accompany you for a bit. Please don't mind." Really this girl was sticking it on quite thick.

"It's okay. Thank you for your consideration. I was just momentarily free of meeting and greeting people so I came here to be by myself." He thought she would leave him alone after his words but either he had thought too much of her intelligence or she was playing stupid. His bet was on the latter option.

"Since Mr. Li is free why not spend some time playing with other people our age. All work and no play would make you dull."

"Ah! Yes, yes all work and no play makes jack a dull boy." He was just saying things to get her off his back but who knew she would jump on the chance to stick to him.

"Since Mr. Li also feels the same then why not we go tomorrow evening to play some tennis. I have heard you are quite good at it and not be egotistical or anything but I myself am a fair hand at it."

He really couldn't reject her idea. He was in the Yu residence and a Yu family member was inviting him for an outing, if he rejected and it was passed on to other's ears it would seem that the Li family didn't put the Yu's in their eyes. Really these rules were mind boggling to him. So what if the person inviting him out had the same surname as the host of the part, did he have to waste his own time going out with her on a pointless match or whatever she wanted to do.

"I have already invited you a few times earlier whenever I was in the country but you didn't have the time and were busy so you declined. Please, do not decline my invitation this time."

"Better to respectfully accept than decline courteously." She really didn't leave him another option. By now he could feel that though people close to them were pretending as to being oblivious of their conversation, everyone had their ears pricked up to hear and catch whatever they could.

"That's great! I'll see you tomorrow at the City Gardens for a match."