"What is it?" Tang Xiaomin asked, feigning ignorance.
"It's about the gift, of course."
"Oh, the gift."
Tang Xiaomin looked at Zhang Guodong teasingly.
"If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have completely forgotten."
Zhang Guodong’s old face cracked into an embarrassed smile.
He had been waiting for a long time, but Tang Xiaomin hadn't produced anything.
At this moment, Tang Xiaomin said,
"My gift is a bit special. Wait for me outside, I'll go get it for you."
Tang Xiaomin then said to Zhang Meiyu, "Wait for me here, I'll be right back."
With that, Tang Xiaomin left the Zhang household.
Zhang Guodong's eyes were full of anticipation.
"This child, making such a fuss about a gift. What could it possibly be?"
Zhang Meiyu sneered inwardly. She had prepared a gift herself, it was in her bag.
But after Zhao Lan's commotion, she wouldn't even give them garbage, let alone a gift.
"We'll know when we wait."
Zhang Meiyu didn't believe Tang Xiaomin would bring back anything valuable.
Tang Xiaomin returned in less than ten minutes, holding a steaming bowl of vegetable noodles.
"When we came, Ms. Zhang said it wasn't an important occasion, so we didn't prepare any gifts. This is longevity noodles I personally bought for you from across the street. It's ten yuan a bowl, and after eating it, you'll live a hundred years."
Tang Xiaomin said this very seriously, showing no sign of deliberate malice.
To return once every few years and dismiss them with ten-yuan longevity noodles. What a cheap "generous gift."
Even people with only a casual acquaintance wouldn't give a bowl of noodles on someone's birthday.
This wasn't just disrespecting Zhang Guodong; it was practically crashing the party.
Ignoring Zhang Guodong's darkening face, Tang Xiaomin chuckled.
"Eat slowly. We have to go now."
Zhang Meiyu looked at the bowl of noodles and Zhang Guodong's expression, and a sense of schadenfreude welled up in her heart.
"Big Brother, this bowl of longevity noodles is Xiaomin's heartfelt wish. Please enjoy it. Compared to those expensive gifts, this bowl of longevity noodles holds greater meaning."
After saying that, Zhang Meiyu and Tang Xiaomin turned and left.
Zhao Lan, who had been watching, couldn't stand it any longer and stepped forward to block them.
"Zhang Meiyu, your own cousin is celebrating his birthday today, and you're only giving a bowl of longevity noodles? Don't you think that's embarrassing?"
"Embarrassing? How so?" Zhang Meiyu replied nonchalantly.
She had lost all face long ago. Now, compared to money, her reputation was worthless.
"Xiaomin giving longevity noodles is a wish for Big Brother to live a long life. There's nothing wrong with that."
"I think you're just being stingy and doing this on purpose!" Zhao Lan shrieked.
"So, you're saying you think longevity noodles are cheap and you don't like them, and you're forcing us to give an expensive gift?" Tang Xiaomin retorted with a cold smile.
Zhao Lan noticed the sideways glances from the surrounding people and realized she had said the wrong thing. She stammered, "I... I didn't mean that."
Her every word and action had already exposed her true intentions.
The way everyone looked at her changed, but no one wanted to openly humiliate her in front of so many people.
Tang Xiaomin raised her voice and said, "I sincerely wish him a long life. I've given my gift, whether you accept it or not."
Zhang Meiyu and Tang Xiaomin no longer hesitated and strode out of the Zhang household.
Zhang Guodong was left empty-handed. For the rest of the evening, he forced a smile and mingled with the guests.
After the birthday banquet ended, Zhang Guo'er ran up to Zhang Guodong and complained.
"Dad, Tang Xiaomin isn't a good person. You should have sought justice for me then and taught Tang Xiaomin a lesson. You hit me, and in the end, it was all for nothing. I took the beating for nothing."
"I didn't know she would deceive people like that." Zhang Guodong was furious when he thought about it.
In front of so many people, he couldn't bring himself to force Zhang Meiyu and Tang Xiaomin to give him an expensive gift, so he had to let it go.
"It's all Zhang Meiyu's fault. She said from the beginning that she had prepared a generous gift, which misled me."
Looking at the red palm print on Zhang Guo'er's face, Zhang Guodong felt both regret and heartache.
"Guo'er, is your face alright? It's all Dad's fault. Alas, Dad is just trying to earn a little more money during the birthday banquet to provide a good life for you."
"Your tuition is due again soon, and a million yuan is not a small sum."
In order to blend into high society, the Zhang family always put on a show of wealth, trying to gain some resources. Indeed, they had managed to earn some money through sheer audacity.
Take this birthday banquet, for example. The gifts received were worth a considerable amount, adding up to hundreds of thousands.
By scraping and saving, they could barely afford to send Zhang Guo'er to a prestigious academy.
When the topic of tuition came up, Zhang Guo'er felt a pang of unease.
"Dad, tuition is so expensive. Maybe I shouldn't go anymore."
"How can that be?"
Zhang Guodong objected without hesitation.
"Guo'er, you're still young, you don't understand the importance of networking. The people at the aristocratic academy are all exceptional. If you can mingle well with those rich young masters and ladies, you'll have a bright future."
"But playing with those rich heiresses also requires capital. I can't always let them pay when we go out. Who would respect me then?"
"Don't worry. After Dad sells the gifts we received in a few days, I'll give you the money. The money you spend now is an investment in your future. This money cannot be saved."
Zhang Guodong was wracked with worry for Zhang Guo'er.
"By the way, Dad. Chanel just released a new bag recently, and all my friends have bought it..."
"How much is it?"
"Um... it costs a hundred thousand."
Zhang Guodong frowned, gritting his teeth.
"Since your friends have bought it, you must buy it too, otherwise they will look down on you. Dad will transfer the money to your card tomorrow."
"Thank you, Dad."
Zhang Guo'er rejoiced inwardly. With this hundred thousand, she could buy the bag. Then everyone would believe she had a rich boyfriend.
How many people would flock to butter her up then?
...
On the way back, Tang Xiaomin couldn't help but grumble.
"The Zhang family is truly interesting. They hold birthday banquets to receive gifts and make money. They must have done this many times, right?"
The Zhang family was still trading on the name of the old Zhang family, but in reality, the old Zhang family's wealth came from Zhang Meiyu's parents.
Zhang Meiyu was an only child. The Zhang family's company and assets were all given to Zhang Meiyu, not a single cent to Zhang Guodong's family.
Zhang Meiyu sighed helplessly.
"So many years have passed, and they are still the same. I must have been out of my mind to bring you to this banquet. I'll just stay away from them from now on."
Listening to Zhang Meiyu's words, Tang Xiaomin felt an inexplicable sadness.
She had first gone through a failed marriage, then her family members had met with one disaster after another, and her two sons were imprisoned.
All the hardships of life had descended upon her, tormenting her body and soul.
If she hadn't lived such a bitter life, would she even have thought of the Zhang family?
Rather than the Zhang family, it was more like her own carefree childhood that she was reminiscing about.