The Kitty Became a Cutie and Was Pampered in the 80s

Chapter 2155: Chapter 2155: His Heart Is All on Her (7)

And Duan Qirui was still in that same familiar all-white outfit. The moment he walked in, he frowned. If it were anyone else, people would probably think he was being a bit rude—coming to someone’s birthday celebration with a frown. But the Ruan Family knew he was just purely disgusted by the crowd, and by the air pollution caused by too many people.

When they saw Duan Qianyang, the Ruan Family quickly went over to greet him. Ruan Jiaojiao also came over hand in hand with Duan Xi, calling out sweetly, "Uncle Duan."

"Aiya, our Jiaojiao really is getting prettier and prettier. Uncle had something to deal with just now and got held up a bit, so I’m late. I’ll make it up to you later with a bigger birthday present, how about that?" Duan Qianyang said with a smile to Ruan Jiaojiao.

Ruan Jiaojiao nodded with her eyes curved in a smile. "You’re not late, you’re not late. But I’ll still be taking that big present."

Next to her, Shu Jiao heard this and looked at her helplessly. "This child..."

Duan Qianyang hurriedly chimed in, "That’s exactly what I like about our Jiaojiao, she doesn’t treat her uncle like an outsider, hahaha."

Duan Qianyang wasn’t just saying that for show; he meant it. The Duan Family had few descendants, and their family bonds were even thinner. Not having it in the past was one thing, but after spending these past years with Ruan Jiaojiao, seeing this considerate, sweet girl, then looking at his cold, indifferent son, how could he not be greedy for what he didn’t have?

Luckily, even if she couldn’t be his daughter, he’d be more than happy to have her as his future daughter-in-law.

The group chatted and laughed as they walked. Duan Qianyang then went over to greet Old Master Shu, and with that, the important guests were basically all here. At 11:30 at noon, the meal officially started.

The Ruan Family were straightforward people. This lunch was done according to the highest banquet standard: a total of eighteen dishes, making sure everyone could eat and drink their fill.

This was also the only time the Ruan Family hosted a banquet without accepting any cash gifts, something approved by both Shu Jiao and the Ruanlin Family.

Turning eighteen could certainly be celebrated in a lively way, but taking cash gifts for it would feel tacky. On this point, the Ruan Family really couldn’t bear to let Ruan Jiaojiao get tainted by that kind of mercenary vibe, especially at such a beautiful age as eighteen.

They didn’t accept cash gifts, but Ruan Jiaojiao still received a mountain of presents. Whether it was her classmates, guests who had business dealings with the Ruan Family, or people who came on account of the Shu Family and the Duan Family, they all brought birthday presents for Ruan Jiaojiao—so many that they piled up and filled an entire private room.

Other than saying a few words on stage before the meal—at Ruan Jianguo’s prompting—Ruan Jiaojiao wasn’t required to socialize the rest of the time. She just needed to take care of her own friends and classmates.

After the meal, Ruan Hao called Ruan Jiaojiao over and told her to take her classmates and friends to a karaoke hall on the same street. The entire place had already been booked; all she needed to do was lead everyone over.

Ruan Jiaojiao had just been worrying about how to arrange things for her classmates after they finished eating, so she nodded happily at his words. More than thirty classmates had come, a pretty big group. She discussed it with Duan Xi; since they didn’t have to worry about things at the hotel anyway, they might as well take everyone over to the karaoke hall first.

Before heading to the karaoke, Ruan Jiaojiao went upstairs to find a few of her brothers, wanting the ones around her age like Ruan Lei to go over first and help her entertain the classmates.

When it came to Ruan Jiaojiao, her brothers would naturally never say no; they agreed without a second thought.

On their way downstairs, the older ones—Ruan Chi, Ruan Jie, and Lu Xian—also had nothing much to do, so they planned to go along and have some fun. Just as they reached the staircase in the main hall, Duan Qianyang happened to come out of a private room by the side of the stairs looking for Duan Xi, and ran right into them.