"What is it?" Old Master Shen asked his youngest daughter.
He could see his youngest daughter was about to lose her temper.
Shen Jianrong suppressed the anger in her heart and said as calmly as possible,
"Xiaoping asked me where Sister Feng was. She said the banquet today was such a success all thanks to Sister Feng, and she wanted to thank her personally."
"She said that in front of Tianjing, completely ignoring Tianjing."
"And completely ignoring me, the host. Today's banquet is her family's business, Shen family's business."
Old Master Shen frowned, "Where is Xiaoping?"
"She went to the kitchen," Shen Jianrong said with a bitter laugh, "She even asked Jiyong for Xiao Yuan's full name, as if Xiao Yuan and Jiyong were her family's servants."
"Dad, I've really had enough of such relatives. You value family ties, but I've decided to unilaterally announce that I'm severing ties with my elder brother and second brother."
"Don't rush," Old Master Shen calmly advised his youngest daughter, "Soon, those six families will be investigated by the tax authorities. Don't you want to see their results?"
Shen Jianrong shook her head, "Then I should sever ties even sooner, otherwise, my sister-in-law and second sister-in-law will be crying and asking me and my elder sister for help again."
"Now, I am synonymous with being rich."
Old Master Shen paused for a moment, then nodded, "You have a point. Go to the Li family's side and bring all the gift money. Count it in front of everyone, and then hand the gift money over to Xiao Bo."
Shen Jianrong was surprised. What was her father doing?
Old Master Shen tapped his youngest daughter's shoulder, "Giving it to Xiao Bo is giving it to Ziyu. Ziyu is a married daughter, and her money is the Li family's money."
"This will shut your sister-in-law and second sister-in-law up, and it will also shut your four nieces up."
Shen Jianrong slapped her palm, "Yes, I'll go right now."
...
In the kitchen, after Shen Xiaoping chatted with the head chef for a while, she asked where Sister Feng was.
The head chef shook his head, "I don't know any Sister Feng."
Shen Xiaoping changed her approach and asked, "Who is the chef today?"
The head chef narrowed his eyes, which were already small due to his plumpness. Yuan Feng had instructed him to assist her and guide her culinary skills, but the condition was that her identity must not be revealed.
Shen family granddaughter asking, hehe, she was not qualified.
No, even if Old Master Shen asked, he would not be qualified. Yuan Feng was equivalent to his master.
What the master said, the disciple must obey.
So the head chef lied, "The chef was invited by Old Master Shen. After the dinner menu was arranged, he left. I don't know who he is. You should ask Old Master Shen."
Shen Xiaoping stared at the head chef, but could not discern anything from his plump face. She could only leave dejectedly.
After she left, the head chef warned everyone in the kitchen not to reveal the chef's appearance, age, or gender to anyone.
Everyone in the kitchen quickly waved their hands and said they wouldn't. They hadn't really seen the chef clearly anyway.
After the chef arrived, he was always surrounded by the head chef and another assistant. They were too busy with preparing and washing vegetables to pay attention to the chef's appearance.
If they had been notified in advance, they might have paid attention. But now, if asked, apart from being a woman, they truly knew nothing about other characteristics.
...
Shen Jianrong counted the gift money in front of everyone. Li Jingyan and Li Jinghe felt a bit embarrassed. Didn't she trust them?
Li Jinghua gave his two younger brothers a look, telling them to remain calm. No matter how explosive his sister-in-law's temper was, she wouldn't easily slap her own family. There must be a reason.
Forty tables, with six tables being host tables, meant only thirty-four tables for guests.
Assuming three or four people per family, that would be about a hundred families.
At two hundred per family, the total gift money was over twenty thousand yuan.
This was not even enough to satisfy Tianjing's appetite, but for the family, it was a small fortune.
Ma Xingxiang and Zhao Qilan, however, wore disdainful smiles. "Serving only two hundred yuan, how proud are you?"
They had seen clearly that almost every family gave a thousand or two thousand yuan in red envelopes. If it was a thousand yuan per family, that would be over a hundred thousand yuan.
Now there was only over twenty thousand yuan. Was it enough to buy ingredients?
Shen Jianrong pushed all the gift money in front of Li Weibao, "Xiao Bo, you keep this."
Li Weibao frantically waved his hands, "No, no, this is all for your and Dad's social connections."
Yu Ziyu didn't know why her mother was giving all the gift money to her, but she accepted it readily.
Li Weibao held her hand, "Ziyu."
Shen Jianrong didn't want to cause a rift between the young couple on their first day together. She explained, "The Yu family only has Ziyu as their child."
"I'm giving all the gift money to you two. When it's time to return the favors in the future, it will be your responsibility. Your father and I will no longer bear this debt."
Li Weibao still shook his head, "We can return the favors, but we can't take this gift money."
"Take it," Tianjing saw that Shen Jianrong had a purpose in doing this.
Given her estimation of the Yu family's financial situation, their assets were almost depleted. Why were they still giving the collected gift money to Ziyu and her husband?
She glanced at Ma Xingxiang and Zhao Qilan. Seeing only disdain on their faces, she couldn't guess Shen Jianrong's intention.
Since her mother had spoken, Li Weibao had no choice but to accept. He pushed the gift money towards Yu Ziyu,
"Ziyu, you take it, and you take the ledger too."
Yu Ziyu nodded and put the gift money and the ledger into her large shoulder bag.
It was the bag that Li Wanzhen had been carrying for her.
Seeing this shoulder bag, Ma Xingxiang and Zhao Qilan's expressions turned to greed. Tens of thousands of yuan in red envelopes for the change of surname.
After handing over the gift money, Shen Jianrong asked Shen Xiaoping, who had just come out of the kitchen, "Xiaoping, did you find Sister Feng?"
Shen Xiaoping was taken aback.
Shen Jianrong smiled, "What if you can't find Sister Feng? What if you can't thank her personally?"
"Without her, today's banquet would not have been so successful. If you don't thank her personally, you, as the host, must feel very guilty, right?"
Seeing everyone's eyes on her, Shen Xiaoping quickly explained, "Auntie, I, I didn't mean it that way."
Shen Jianrong waved her hand, "I don't care what you meant. From today onwards, from this moment on, I, Shen Jianrong, sever ties with Shen Jianming and Shen Jianhui's families and will have no further contact with them."
"Ma Xingxiang, Zhao Qilan, the red envelopes and gift money you gave today can all be returned to you."
"From now on, I, Shen Jianrong, am just Shen Jianrong. Shen Jianrong's affairs are the Yu family's affairs, not the Shen family's affairs."
"Before, the two of you would come to the Yu family and act as if you were more at home than at your own house, like masters."
"Now, even Shen Xiaoping can, on my daughter's wedding day, act as the host and thank a so-called Sister Feng."
"If I, Shen Jianrong, don't sever ties with your two families, can I still be human?"
"What am I? Am I a stepping stone for you Shen family members? What do I owe your Shen family?"
"Shen Jianming's matter has already been explained clearly, and Ma Xingxiang has changed somewhat."
"What about Zhao Qilan? What about Zhao Qilan's daughter?"
"What do I owe you, Zhao Qilan? What do I owe you, Shen Xiaoping?"
"You want to slap my face in front of my in-laws, ignoring my existence?"
"Shen Xiaoping, the chef you are looking for was hired by the Li family."
"You want to thank Sister Feng personally, you want to praise her for the success of today's banquet as her contribution."
"Where do you place the Li family? Where do you place me?"
"If you weren't already an adult in your thirties, I would have slapped your thick face long ago."
"The words 'shameless' have been perfectly demonstrated by you, Shen Xiaoping. Get out!"
Yu Ziyu appropriately handed over Ma Xingxiang and Zhao Qilan's gift money and the two red envelopes for the change of surname.
Shen Jianrong threw the red envelopes at Shen Jianming and Shen Jianhui, "Get out! Take your family's money and get out!"