The launch event was beyond successful, and the majority of her and Samuel's followers supported their relationship after the reveal. Not to mention the kiss that followed right after her announcement. But that's a story for another time.
Today, she, Long Ao and Aishi were going to be moving back home to prepare for the New Year with a little help from their friends and the staff that had diligently kept the mansion clean for them.
Samuel would be celebrating with his family for the majority of the New Year, but to extend their time together, she invited their family to the party.
Her friends Sheng Rong, Gebao, Wenshi and her cousin Zhou Zhangmin, would be assisting her in party planning, while the servants handled the decorations.
Mu Jian Nu and Samuel's roommate, Chen Xiongnu, would both be in charge of the menu for the night's party.
They were currently revising the guest list to see how many guests were expected to arrive and who were not.
According to the list, only one or two people were not expected to arrive due to other festivities, or they were out of the country.
"Hey, look!" All of them crowed around Wenshi, who held a page from the guest list. "My mom is coming to the party!"
"Really, what's her name?" Yaorui asked as she skimmed through the list.
"Here, her name is Zhang Kailong,"
"I remember Auntie LongLong!" Sheng Rong clapped and smiled.
Her brother and Zhang Maorong were childhood friends, and sometimes her (not actually related) aunt came over with her Maorong. Though she didn't remember ever meeting Wenshi in her childhood.
"That's her, I don't know how many times my mom came home and asked my brother to make you her daughter in law. Though I'm pretty sure it was because you could control him back then."
"I remember that he was deathly afraid of spiders and I happened to have a tarantula at home,"
"So that's why he always got mad at mom for mentioning a marriage between you two,"
"She did that?!" Gebao asked excitedly.
"Mmm,"
"Looks like Jian Nu has another rival now," Zhangmin nudged Sheng Rong, she just rolled her eyes.
"Let's get back to work," She said, but that didn't mean her face wasn't beet red.
Her friends giggled and did as she said.
______________
Time skip
Lunch Time
Mu Jian Nu and Chen Xiongnu placed the last of the dishes down just as a thundering group of girls raced down the stairs. In a split second, five girls were seated at the table, already digging into the food.
"You seriously couldn't wait until we called for you?"
"You should be thanking us, we saved you your voice." Zhou Zhangmin (Yaorui's female cousin) snapped back at Chen Xiongnu.
Yaorui found that Chen Xiongnu was surprisingly energetic once you got to know him better.
And it just so happens that her cousin and Chen Xiongnu bickered like children, though in Gebao's eyes, they fought like an old married couple. She had no clue how her friend got to that particular conclusion, but then again, her parents never exactly fought. At least not in front of her and her siblings.
"ShiShi~!" Her brother's voice rang out in the dining hall loud and clear.
Wenshi jumbled out something which she assumed was a greeting, but the sweet and sour pork in her mouth kinda made it hard to make out her words.
Long Ao gave Wenshi a kiss and a hug before seating himself down next to her.
"Wheres Aishi Long Ao?"
"She's in her room practicing for the party tonight, don't worry, I had already asked for the chefs to prepare something good for her voice to eat," Yaorui nodded in response.
"MeiMei! Come give your brother a hug~," Lu Zhi Sai held his arms wide open for his dear little sister.
"Hug yourself," Lu Sheng Rong scoffed and ate the vegetables that Jian Nu had placed in her bowl.
Lu Zhi Sai pouted childishly and hugged himself, creating a wave of laughter. Even the maids couldn't help but giggle.
"Come eat children," Yaorui said jokingly.
"Yah! I'm older than your Yaoyao!" Long Ao pretended to reprimand her.
"Yea, but I'm more responsible,"
"There's no arguing with that," He mumbled under his breath.
Within the next ten minutes, all the dishes were licked clean, and their stomachs filled to the brim.
The girls wanted to have a big lunch so they wouldn't seem like gluttons at the party tonight.
"What's next on the list, Yaorui?"
"Seating plan, decorations review, getting the entertainers set up and a couple of other things."
"Let's split up then, Yaorui and Zhangmin can do the seating plan and decorations, Gebao and Sheng Rong can get the entertainers set up, and Long Ao have you finished up with the security details yet?"
"No,"
"Great, then I 'll help you with that, is that good?"
"I would never turn down more us time, ShiShi~!"
"How about everyone else?"
"What about us?" Her brother and his friends said.
"What were you doing before?"
"Taste testing," Wenshi saw Chen Xiongnu and Mu Jian Nu pale.
"Yea, you're not doing that. Yaorui, what else is on the list?"
"Red envelopes, homework, and getting ready for the party,"
"Go do your homework," This order was followed by moans of sorrow from the group of boys.
"Let's get to work,"
__________________
At exactly 1:00pm, the lion dancers and the vocalists arrived to prepare for the new year feast. A bit after that, the dragon dancer and the Fengshui master arrived followed by a group of three monks, and last but not least, Xing Wuchen, aka Harry Woods.
She couldn't wait to see how he interacted with the children and his fans. He was very introverted, and she assumed that he would look like a lost kid in a crowd like that.
Both Xing Wuchen, her sister, and the vocalists would be collaborating for the night to provide the music.
They had placed firecrackers at the front door for security and traditional purposes, and the red envelopes were all ready to go.
At 5:00pm, exactly 2 hours before the guests would start rolling in, Yaorui and her friends began to get dressed and prepared for the night with some help from the maids.
Zhang Wenshi went with a cheongsam dress that was floor-length and highlighted her curves. It was red with peonies sewed into it.
Her brother, Long Ao, wore a matching outfit but with golden dragons instead of peonies.
Zhou Zhangmin, her cousin, wore a red and white hanfu that had her Zhou family crest embroidered into the back of the dress.
Sheng Rong wore a blue ao dai to honour her Vietnamese mother, while Gebao wore a pink qipao dress.
Yaorui chose to go with a pastel green qipao with a white furry lining to ensure that she wouldn't freeze to death while greeting guests as they entered through the entrance.
By the time the first guest arrived, everything was set and ready for the party.
The first guests were none other than the An family of Japan.
Mr. and Mrs. An arrived arm in arm with lovely smiles spread across their faces. An Akari wore a Japanese kimono that had a big bow at the back and a headpiece that seemed impossibly heavy for a little lolita like her.
An Wade wore a red chang shan shirt and black pants. His secretary, Bai Rouxi, arrived as his date as seen by their matching outfits.
And then there was Samuel.
She didn't know how, but he had worn an outfit that perfectly matched hers. If she told someone that it wasn't planned, no one would believe her.
"How did you know?"
"Know what? What to wear?" She nodded.
"You can do a lot when you have a brother in the fashion industry," he laughed, "Also Yuan Fa Ren is my roommate,"
After granting Samuel a small peck on the lips, she moved on to greet the rest of his family and introduced her friends to them.
Thankfully Samuel didn't turn their small kiss into something more.
Everyone except for Samuel, her little sister, Aishi, her brother and Wenshi stayed behind with her to greet the guests.
Samuel swung his onto her shoulder and grinned, "Let's get this party started,"