As her words fell, the entire main table instantly froze.
The big shot in a suit who was drinking tea paused, his hand stopping in mid-air.
The others nearly spat out the drinks they had just brought to their lips, coughing violently a couple of times.
An extremely subtle crack appeared on Elder Mr. Shen's calm and unruffled face.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
There was about three seconds of dead silence in the entire hall.
Soon, Old Master Shen's cold face relaxed into a smile.
"You kid," he shook his head while laughing, reaching out to pull her down to sit with an undeniably affectionate gesture. "You dressed yourself up all afternoon, looking like a cake, just to come here today and tell your grandfather his beard is ugly?"
Shen Yi retorted, "My clothes were decorated by a friend, it wasn't my own subjective wish."
Do people automatically unlock a beard when they reach a certain age?
Obviously, her grandfather used to be quite an elegant and handsome man.
"But your beard is very ugly."
Beard.
So ugly.
Very ugly...
For that split second, Elder Mr. Shen's expression was very complicated. Probably struck by this blow, he was also a bit broken. "You girl really have no taste, I grew it for a long time."
Shen Yi had always had a big problem with his beard.
In her childhood memories, Old Master Shen had always been the image of a big shot with a straight back, walking with a commanding presence.
Just standing there without speaking could make a whole room of people hold their breath.
But—
Why is it that when a person reaches a certain age, they have to go and unlock the legendary beard?
Did he feel that aura alone wasn't enough? Could the beard have saved his life or something?
She didn't understand.
The white-haired big shot next to them glanced at her and joked with a smile, "This kid is quite interesting."
Old Master Shen waved his hand, not angry at all, his tone mixed with undisguised laughter: "Takes after me."
The atmosphere of the entire hall quietly loosened with this laugh.
Those previously tense and scrutinizing gazes turned into something else.
Curiosity, surprise, and a little bit of envy.
In a hall full of people, no matter who it was, everyone spoke flawless and pleasant social pleasantries. She was probably the only one who dared to say Old Master Shen's beard was ugly in front of everyone.
And Old Master Shen not only didn't get angry, but he also laughed.
This smile carried more weight than any word he had said during his speech just now.
The middle-aged onlookers exchanged glances in unison.
If she was the only direct descendant, and a girl at that, didn't that mean they had a chance to see if they could form a marriage alliance?
Although it was hard to marry into such a prestigious family, once successful, the future would be more than just a meteoric rise.
It would be like riding a rocket straight up.
Moreover, the child was still young, which meant any child of the right age had a huge opportunity.
There were quite a few wealthy young ladies in their circle who were blind when it came to love.
What if this kid just happened to be blind too?
But thoughts were just thoughts. For now, they could only try their best to suppress the excitement in their hearts, not daring to show it in such a setting.
Iris came to her senses. Watching the scene at the main table from afar, her eyes rested on her good friend as she said softly, "What should we do, Young Lady? Your vassal doesn't seem to be your vassal."
Who would have thought that Shen Yi, who usually trained with them, ate boxed lunches, and complained about the company, actually had such an identity.
Sophia raised her hand and propped up her chin to prevent her expression from being too exaggerated.
The young girl's misty blue eyes were still wide open, her eyelashes fluttering up and down several times before she finally steadied her expression.
She stared at Shen Yi's back at the main table, her mind still replaying the scene from just now. The more she thought about it, the more unbelievable it felt.
"...But, but why would she give up being a proper wealthy young lady to be a bodyguard?" Sophia put her hand down, turned to Iris and Zhao Shumin, and asked the question that had been stuck in her throat.
"And," Sophia genuinely couldn't understand, "if her family knew, wouldn't they be angry?"
Zhao Shumin shivered, her eyelashes trembling wildly in unease.
She reached out and patted Sophia's shoulder, her lowered voice carrying a heartfelt tension: "Her, her family probably doesn't know about this, or rather, they probably don't know that Shen Yi is your vassal, right? Sophia."
Zhao Shumin tried to remind Sophia of the crux of the matter.
For someone with Shen Yi's background to run off and be someone's bodyguard was already absurd enough. If the Shen family found out she was acting as Sophia's vassal, she simply didn't dare to imagine the scene.
Zhao Shumin had always believed that this family was by no means full of kind-hearted people.
Before coming here, she had spent a long time mentally preparing herself.
After seeing these people with her own eyes tonight, Zhao Shumin's mental preparation was instantly declared useless.
Just with that Shen Wenta sitting there without speaking, she felt that the surrounding air was no longer flowing smoothly.
"...I know, I'm not an idiot." Sophia pursed her lips, feeling a little unyielding after being overly cautioned.
After speaking, she glanced at the main table again, at those few people from the Shen family, and quickly withdrew her gaze.
Okay, Zhao Shumin had a point. That family really didn't look like people you'd want to mess with.
Although she wasn't afraid of anyone when her temper flared, she wasn't completely lacking in tact.
"Grandpa, can I sit with my friends?" Shen Yi sat next to Old Master Shen and spoke softly during the gap when the people around them started chatting among themselves.
Shen Yi's eyes drifted toward the table where Iris and the others were: "They're all chatting, and I'm just by myself."
"Your grandpa, and all these uncles of yours, are we not people?" Old Master Shen led her in front of him, introducing her to these big shots, his tone carrying a bit of amusement.
Meeting the kind and smiling gazes of those people, Shen Yi only felt a stomachache.
She quickly returned a fake smile, then leaned close to Elder Mr. Shen's side and whispered, "But you adults have adult topics. When you start chatting, you all sound like successful people, military strategists, and politicians. I'm just a commoner who can't understand, it's very boring."
Shen Yi's words carried a bit of teasing.
But teasing aside, these people were indeed genuine politicians and successful individuals.
It was just that for Shen Yi, a political illiterate, she didn't care much about international issues. Compared to these things, she'd rather chat with her friends about trivial, mindless topics.
Old Master Shen glanced at her and smiled without saying no. "You want to leave?"
Shen Yi thought there was a chance.
She actively leaned a bit closer to the old man. Because they were so close, she was almost speaking right into his ear. "Yes."
"Grandpa, if you don't agree..."
Her hand quietly grabbed his beard, making an audaciously bold threat: "I will pluck out your entire beard!!"
Only updating one chapter today. On a side note.
I have a question. Is there really such a thing as continuously clashing tropes from the beginning all the way to the later parts?
I'm not talking about common internet slang like Celestial Dragons, or Brother, hungry, food food, but what is going on with the plot issues? The above is just a part of it, which I asked a teacher to help compile. There are still many matching points. I wouldn't mind five or six trope clashes or borrowings; clashing is normal and borrowing is fine, but isn't yours a bit too much???
