320 Family Banquets (2/2)

”Hello? Hello?! Haohao my boy, where in the bloody hell are you right now? Tell me! I want to know!” Grandpa Lu's voice boomed when he answered the phone on speaker while driving.

He decided to answer the call because if he just ignored it, the old man might send his army of subordinates to follow him and drag him back to the banquet.

”How dare you leave our family gathering at New Year?! Come back here right now or I'll have you dragged back here!”

See?

Lu Zihao forced the annoyance out of his voice and explained to the old man, ”I'm heading to Third Brother's place. Xiulan is alone there right now because Third Brother has to attend the Jin family's banquet. And she's not attending the Longs' banquet. So I'm accompanying her to celebrate the New Year. Are you telling me to leave her alone instead?”

”What?! My girl Xiulan is left alone on such an important occasion?! Poor girl! Why didn't any of you tell me?! I want to know! Pick her up quickly and bring her here! If she doesn't want to celebrate with the Jins or the Longs, she's more than welcome to celebrate Lunar New Year with us, the Lus!”

”No, it's fine. She doesn't know anyone else in our family. She'll just feel uncomfortable and out of place.”

Grandpa Lu grumbled for a bit before acquiescing. Lu Zihao was relieved when the phone call ended.

When he finally arrived at the mansion, he was surprised by the festive atmosphere. Some of the male staff already started lighting up firecrackers outside while the others were busy preparing the dinner table.

He found Iris at the living area watching the Spring Festival Gala on TV. She was petting Ice Cream on her lap. The grey cat wasn't as fat as before, but still nowhere as slim as her brother. Popcorn already recovered from his neutering procedure and was now playing with Little Jun and Dom (a.k.a. Slave #1). Jiang Ying Yue watched over them, making sure that her son and the cat wouldn't hurt themselves.

Iris' face lit up when she saw Lu Zihao. ”You came.”

”Of course. I promised you.”

She smiled.

Popcorn immediately ran over to him and leaped into his arms. He stroked the needy cat as he walked over and sat beside his sister. He looked at the TV show. ”They didn't invite you to perform?”

”No,” she said, shrugging. ”I heard that they initially planned on inviting me but then the matter about…about Fan Luo happened.” Her expression darkened. She took a few deep breaths before continuing, ”They sent the invitations to perform around that time. Everything happened and I disappeared, so they ended up not inviting me. Oh well. I don't really care. I'd rather spend these holidays resting and spending time with family than working.”

”Heh… I see. Then this gala must be boring to watch because you're not performing.”

She giggled. ”Jin Chonglin will be performing later tonight.”

Lu Zihao didn't look interested at all.

As they watched the different performances at the gala on TV, Iris kept on receiving messages from Jin Liwei, asking him what she was doing, if she was alright, etc.

She also received a message from Wei Lan, greeting her Happy New Year. This time, Wei Lan seemed to be in Brazil. Iris only sent a quick reply, greeting the older woman back, before putting Wei Lan out of her mind.

Next was a phone call from Meimei.

”Oh, Xiulan! Your relatives are so horrible, especially the elders! I had to excuse myself from the dining table because if I stay and listen more to them, I would've exploded! They're trash talking you nonstop, saying that you're unfilial and disrespectful for not attending the banquet. Blah blah blah! They're also all being so mean to Big Brother Hui. They'll temporarily shut up whenever they see Uncle Tengfei but when he's not near, they'll start trash talking again. I can't believe them! How can they do such negative things during New Year? Aren't they inviting bad luck? You did the right thing by not attending such an unpleasant party. Hmph! If it weren't because I don't want to leave my aunt alone, I would've headed there right now. I'd rather celebrate the Lunar New Year with you and my twin Dom and the others, instead of with this pack of hyenas!”