Even when faced with such a huge crowd, Tang Shi seemed unfazed, and he engaged with them calmly.
As always, he appeared relaxed, with an elegant and courteous smile on his face.
It was a smile that was appropriate for the occasion. A little more warmth in it and it would have made him seem too friendly, a little less would have made him seem arrogant.
Even so, no matter how carefully contrived, it was a smile that still managed to put distance between the man and the people around him.
Such was Tang Shi's innate air of superiority.
It didn't matter if he seemed to be friendly or if he was engaging in polite conversation, Tang Shi always managed to give the feeling that he was distant from everyone else, unreachable. People always felt that they were never able to clearly grasp his inner thoughts.
Picking up two glasses of wine from a waiter, Siyue handed one to Gu Qingcheng and, arm in arm with her, began to snake her way through the crowd.
At this time, Tang Shi was surrounded by a bevy of beautiful, gorgeously dressed young women from wealthy families. Although they were all vying for the same prize, they nonetheless managed to maintain their decorum, none of them going overboard by showing their eagerness.
However, regardless of how devastatingly beautiful the women were, Tang Shi never wavered from his token smile, friendly enough but indifferent.
After much effort, Siyue finally managed to squeeze her way to Tang Shi's side. Looking sweetly up at him, she called out, "Bro."
Then she raised her glass to Tang Shi.
Although Tang Shi's expression didn't change at all, the look that he gave Siyue was filled with a bit more warmth than he'd shown to the others..
They clinked glasses and drank. Then Siyue handed him the gift that she had prepared for him, saying, "Happy birthday, Bro!"
"Thank you." Tang Shi accepted the gift and passed it to Lin Jinchen instead of to Lu Ran.
Lin Jinchen and Lu Ran were both standing beside Tang Shi, assisting him with the gifts.
While most people weren't aware of the difference between the gifts that were passed to Lin Jinchen or to Lu Ran, Gu Qingcheng, who had known Tang Shi for so many years, was.
Because Tang Shi would always receive a huge number of gifts, it was impossible for him to open every one of them.
Gifts from people who were not closely associated with him would, after having been accepted by Tang Shi himself, be passed to Lu Ran for immediate storage in a warehouse, never to be opened.
On the other hand, gifts that were handed over to Lin Jinchen would be retained and opened by Tang Shi later.
So, to find out whether the person who had presented the gift was important to Tang Shi, one just had to observe if he had passed the gift to Lin Jinchen or Lu Ran.
Standing near to Tang Shi, Gu Qingcheng had been observing this minor detail. She'd realized that almost all of the gifts presented by the wealthy young women had been relegated to Lu Ran.
Having conveyed her birthday greetings and handed him her gift, Siyue tugged at Gu Qingcheng and shoved her in front of Tang Shi.
While Gu Qingcheng was about to raise his glass and make a toast to Tang Shidao, he got preempted by someone next to him who started to talk ahead of him.