Chapter 31

Zhang Heying moved fast. She sent an invitation to a few of her friends for her birthday. Pei Yueran received an invitation a day after their phone conversation, and the family driver was sent to deliver an invitation to Li Chuanmo.

Wu Taehan arrived in the evening, just as Li Chuanmo and Li Yuchen were finishing up dinner. He presented the invitation respectfully and delivered Zhang Heying's message, which was, "Come if you want, but make sure Chen'er attends."

Li Qianye asked her why she sent such a message. What if Li Chuanmo decides not to come, won't their plan fail? Zhang Heying smiled mysteriously and said, "He dares not come!"

Of course, Li Chuanmo planned on attending. No matter what, Zhang Heying was the mother that loved and cared for him growing up, and she deserved his respect. If it were to be heard within their circle that he didn't attend his own mother's birthday party, unpleasant rumors would spread.

So he nodded expressionlessly at Wu Taehan, acquiescing. Li Yuchen happily bounced over and collected the invitation card. "What are you going to wear Dad?"

"Anything", Li Chuanmo said disinterestedly.

"Alright then, I'll pick something out for you", Li Yuchen said, to which Li Chuanmo said nothing.

However, he couldn't keep calm when he saw the outfit Li Yuchen picked out when they went to the shopping mall a few days later—a bright red suit with a black-and-white inner shirt.

He gave Li Yuchen a deep, dark look.

Li Yuchen held up his hands in surrender and went to place it back on the rack. Eventually, he picked an all black suit with a black inner shirt. Li Chuanmo let it go. He wasn't too interested in his outfit, but he didn't want to draw attention with outlandish colors.

*****

"Dad is definitely coming. I didn't have to use words to convince him."

"Good. Have you chosen your outfits?"

"Yes Grandma. I chose all black suits for both of us."

"Are you sure that will be nice?"

"Dad seemed okay with it. And I think it will suit us well." Li Yuchen typed.

"Alright then. Make sure you come early on Saturday." Zhang Heying reminded.

Grandmother and grandson had been in cahoots for the past few days, sharing ideas on how to make Li Chuanmo loosen up. Their common consensus was to try and link Li Chuanmo up with someone at the party, to make him loosen up a bit.

Both of them were not entirely honest with each other though. The person Zhang Heying had in mind was of course Pei Yueran, but she didn't tell Li Yuchen because he only said he liked her, but never said anything about wanting her to marry his father.

Conversely, Li Yuchen wanted to link his Goddess up with his Dad, but wasn't sure if they'd get to meet at all. He didn't know his grandmother knew her, and he didn't even know she and his father worked together in the first place. So, his plan was to have a proper talk with his Grandma during the party and present more of Pei Yueran's good points.

So, he was trying to do everything his grandmother asked him to, so that she would soften up more and listen to him.

Thus, both of them worked together perfectly.

*****

Pei Yueran was also preparing for the party. After much consideration, she decided to get Zhang Heying a set of Baroque pearl jewelry. It wasn't too expensive, but it looked pretty and very presentable. Later on, she decided to also knit a scarf.

Although Zhang Heying told her not to bother about a present, she felt it would be bad to attend the party empty-handed.

She struggled with what to wear for the party and even messaged Zhang Heying to ask about the dress code. Zhang Heying told her that there was no dress code, she only needed to dress prettily. She also hinted that black would look good on her.

Pei Yueran pondered. Black? She had skirt suits in almost every available color —black included— but she didn't wear gowns very often, especially long gowns. She wasn't sure how black would look on her.

She messaged Su Qianhua, "Quick question Qianhua, do you think black would look good on me?"

Su Qianhua, who was currently on a stakeout in City A, took her eyes off the target's house for a few moments to type, "You would even look good in a jute sack. Black would be a breeze."

Pei Yueran smiled as she typed, "Be serious."

"Cross my heart", came the reply.

"Alright, thanks."

So she went to buy a black dinner gown. The gown she eventually picked was an A-line, full-length gown with silver trimmings on the bodice and hem. The plunging neckline had black transparent lace sewn into it, so it wasn't revealing. It fit snugly around her hips and went down in a flare, perfectly flattering her pear-shaped figure.

The shop attendants praised sincerely, "You look stunning in this gown Miss."

"Thank you", Pei Yueran said, inexplicably feeling shy. She had not purposely dressed up like this in a long, long while.

She paired her outfit with black strappy heels and a silver purse.

She was set for Saturday.

*****

The Li family villa was brightly lit, and the garden was decorated and arranged for a small scale party. It was a buffet-styled dinner, but waiters were on standby to escort and attend to the guests. The orchestra was already seated, playing sentimental music. It was an elegant scene.

The party was yet to start when Fu Mengyao made her entrance, but one or two guests had already arrived, and they were making small conversation. She went to the garden to make sure Li Chuanmo hadn't gone there first, before she went straight into the main house to greet the host.

When Butler Nan announced her, Li Qianye gave his wife a long-suffering look. Why was she invited in the first place?

Of course he was just saying. Fu Mengyao's mother was one of Zhang Heying's childhood friends, and she couldn't shed all pretence of cordiality simply because her daughter was a golddigger.

Besides, marriage was a business deal in their circle, and marrying based on who could give you the greatest benefits was normal. No one would talk about it to their face, but they would be seen as petty.

Not that Zhang Heying cared about that, but she didn't want anything to affect Li Chuanmo's reputation further and put him on the radar of the paparazzi.