Chapter 16: Beat You Until You Call Me Daddy

  After the speech ended, Old Master Bo went up to exchange some final pleasantries. The banquet was drawing to a close.

  “Hey! Ye the tag-along, are you a pig or what? Get up!”

  A strong pat on the shoulder jolted Ye Xian awake. Her first reaction was to check the corner of her mouth for drool. “Is it over? Can we go now?”

  “Go where? Have you even eaten? Out of respect for the captain, Chairman Bo invited FOR to the family banquet. Let’s go!”

  Cary forcibly pulled her up. Lin Yan handed over a tissue. “Wipe yourself.”

  She really had drooled.

  Well, Cary could’ve just not said anything, but now that he mentioned it, her stomach started growling.

  “You’ve got some serious guts, huh? The CEO was giving a speech and you actually fell asleep? In the front row, no less.”

  “So what?”

  What did his speech have to do with her nap? It’s not like it was meant for her.

  “True. You, Ye the tag-along, are only afraid of the captain and no one else. Still, I’ve never seen you freeze up the way you do in front of the CEO.”

  Ye Xian rolled her eyes. “Warning you—call me tag-along one more time and see what happens.”

  “I will call you that. What are you gonna do? Ye the tag-along, Ye the tag-along~”

  Cary made ridiculous faces, prompting Ye Xian to throw fists and kicks at him. “Wanna get beat till you call me Daddy?”

  “Oh, I’d like to see you try. With those weak punches? Feels like a tickle. Are you even a woman?”

  “I think it’s your skin that’s too thick!”

  “Ahem ahem—”

  Lin Yan coughed lightly to remind them.

  Only then did Cary and Ye Xian realize they had already arrived at the Bo family’s private banquet hall.

  Under a dazzling crystal chandelier stood a long, European-style carved dining table. At the head sat the birthday honoree—Old Master Bo. On his left and right were his eldest son, daughter-in-w, and grandson Bo Tingshen. Further down the table sat Jiang Wanze and other retives and friends, all now staring at Ye Xian and Cary’s roughhousing.

  Moments ago, she’d been half-asleep. Now she was wide awake.

  Cary dusted off his clothes where she had kicked him and scratched his head sheepishly. Ye Xian’s brows twitched as she too looked embarrassed.

  Old Master Bo, however, remained kind and cheerful, completely unbothered. “Wanze, the boys in your team are quite lively.”

  “Yes, Grandpa.”

  Perhaps due to her presence, Jiang Wanze’s expression was cold and indifferent, clearly unwilling to say much more.

  Old Master Bo had never really recognized Jiang Wanze and never had high expectations for him. To preserve the ideal image of a good grandson in his grandfather’s eyes, Ye Xian’s constant chasing of him had never reached the old man’s ears. For that, Ye Xian was thankful.

  “No need to keep standing—take your seats. It’s a family dinner tonight, no need to be so formal.”

  Though Old Master Bo was well into his sixties, he was still energetic and looked kindly. He didn’t seem the type to care about status or background.

  But Jiang Wanze’s seat… was clearly on par with those of the distant retives.

  Ye Xian popped a quail egg into her mouth, puzzled. Her eyes shifted between Old Master Bo and Jiang Wanze. But then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught… Bo Tingshen’s gnce.

  Startled, she reflexively swallowed the egg whole.

  Had she swallowed it cleanly, that would’ve been fine—but her throat was too narrow. It got stuck halfway, making her cw at her neck in panic. She grabbed a gss of red wine and downed it in one go.

  “Cough cough cough—”

  The wine was bitter. One gss in, her face turned red from choking.

  When she finally looked up again with teary eyes, she realized everyone at the table—except Bo Tingshen—was staring at her.

  Cary looked thrilled, ready to watch the drama unfold.

  Seated next to her, Cheng Jingshu tried hard to hide her disgust as she subtly shifted her chair away.

  Like some starving ghost reincarnated… no css at all.