Wearing simple white heels, Zhou Hua Fan proudly took her grandfather's offered arm when she exits the car. He also proudly wore her jade cuffs that had been gifted to him two days before making Hua Fan feel extremely happy tonight. Not only would Zhou Feng Meng's face be slapped directly by her grandfather because he brought his granddaughter to an event instead of his son but her Ye Ye also likes her gift. It was like being presented with two presents at once. Around them were other people who had also just arrived and they all murmured to one another when they saw the girl who was being personally escorted by the chairman of the Zhou company.
Hua Fan paid them no mind and only focused on looking charming and mature compared to the girls beside herself. Her status was naturally different from theirs, she was being presented as a future heiress, not a glass vase as others were. Meanwhile, her grandfather considerably slowed down to allow her to be able to walk beside him. If he walked at a normal pace Hua Fan would have a hard time catching up so he could only slow his steps down to accommodate her. To see such a stern old man willingly slow down to carefully escort a child they saw just how important the girl was to him. So without even it doubting for a second, they knew right away that that pretty little girl was Zhou Hua Fan, the Chairman's precious granddaughter. Walking inside without a glance toward others Hua Fan understood her grandfather's thoughts and naturally adopted his aloof attitude.
Doing nothing more than introduce herself when her grandfather stopped and allowed her to speak to only a few special guests. Well, it was more as if her grandfather was finding people important enough to introduce the heiress to. Hua Fan would politely nod and introduce herself to them since in the future no doubt she would be working with these people regularly. A girl who was barely in her teens was being introduced to famous businessmen and women was a strange thing to see but to those who had the honor of meeting Hua Fan. They all understood Zhou Jian Kong's intentions and were very polite and kind to Zhou Hua Fan despite her age.
After interacting with her they were even a bit jealous of Zhou Jian Kong for having such a sensible granddaughter who already knew what to and what not to say. Zhou Jian Kong did not tell her to leave and directly brought her over to sit beside him. Although Zhou Hua Fan didn't exactly like speaking more than needed to people other than her grandfather she could only endure and deal with the old sneaky men and women who eagerly engage in conversation with her at his table. Hua Fan wore a polite and reserved smile while keeping her mouth shut unless she was expected or required to respond. When they began talking about stocks and current project progress Hua Fan didn't hide nor glance at her grandfather and merely gave some tidbits of information without revealing everything. The men and woman in the end after testing her gave surprised but bright grins in her direction across the table after seeing that Hua Fan didn't get lost during the conversations at all and even caught up accordingly.
If she knew nothing after being asked then she would even show a regretful smile and say that she honestly didn't know about that subject appearing honest and realistic. Even if I knew about my ye ye's next investment and company plans I wouldn't be stupid enough to blabber to you all about it. Hmph. Internally the girl scoffs at their poor attempts at tricking her to spell company secrets right in front of her grandfather just to see if she was that stupid. After being ignored Zhou Jian Kong didn't seem to mind her being questioned by these people and was only paying attention to a single gentleman on the side. The man sitting by her ye ye's side wasn't that much younger than her grandfather but seemingly opposite of her indifferent grandfather the man wore a gentlemanly smile on his face.
Even when her ye ye gave a disinterested grunt of acknowledgment towards him he merely chuckled and continued onto another subject patiently. Catching her look over his way he gave Hua Fan a kind look of an elder to a junior politely smiling at her before looking away neither too quickly nor too slowly so Hua Fan had a decent impression of him. Seeming to notice her waning attention Zhou Jian Kong finally made a move, well, he just moved a bit deliberately while appearing natural. Jian Kong didn't have to do much as he merely lifted his hands and adjusted his sleeves a bit showing off the handsome cufflinks which allowed the eyes of his circle to express hints of subtle surprise. Didn't Zhou Jian Kong not like spending money on accessories calling them wastes of money? But one of them with the same taste as Jian Kong quickly identified the rare little accessory and abruptly questions him.
"Old Zhou those-! Aren't those part of the exclusive winter jade set?" Hua Fan, as well as Jian Kong both look over at the stunned man. Hua Fan with a slight tilt of the head appearing like an adorable doll, and Jian Kong with looking over with a cool glance as if he weren't surprised by the response. Hearing his exclamation as well as seeing them all show expressions of astonishment while trying to take closer looks at the cufflinks. Hua Fan gave her grandfather a somewhat suspicious and amused glance. Did he know something about these cufflinks I don't? What winter jade set? Now that I think about it, I didn't exactly pay much attention when the manager was explaining to me about the stuff he brought in. Perhaps he did mention it but I didn't care to listen. "My granddaughter gifted them to me." Hua Fan raised a glass to her mouth to hide her smile while the people sitting around them stare at Jian Kong with disbelief. Weren't pieces of that set expensive? Even as the granddaughter of Zhou Jian Kong he allowed her to spend that much money on a few pieces of jade?
This time, the look on their faces became complicated when looking over at the calm-looking girl who took small sips of water as if she couldn't see their indecisive expressions. They had all heard and seen the special treatment the Zhou heiress received from Zhou Jian Kong, but for him to indulge her to this extent... They all glance at each other and respectively call for their own grandchildren much to Zhou Jian Kong's faint annoyance. Do they want to match Fan'er with their own grandchildren right under my nose? This time, all of them looked at Zhou Hua Fan and expressed their fondness for her almost fawning if not for wanting to keep their own faces.
Yet who knew that as soon they called their grandchildren over their hopes would be dashed as fast as they came in the face of the graceful child sitting with them. Many of them already knew of Hua Fan since they went to the same school as her and admired her from afar. Though they had no clue why their grandparents called them over they took this opportunity to try and strike a conversation with the Zhou flower with no reservation nor tact. As immediately upon seeing Hua Fan they all brighten up and eagerly greet her instead of greeting Zhou Jian Kong first. Before their grandparents could say anything to reprimand them with red faces the young teens eagerly stare at the pretty girl with eyes of worship and happily call out. "Zhou Hua Fan!! How was your break?" "Zhou Hua Fan, you were also here? If I knew I would have invited you to our table too!"
"Mm, it wasn't bad. I arrived a few minutes earlier, I want to sit with my grandfather." Hua Fan's smile fell and she reveals a polite but distant attitude allowing Zhou Jian Kong to relax once more and snort internally with disdain towards the less than cute children gathering around his precious granddaughter. A bit embarrassed due to their own family's children's fawning behavior towards the girl they felt a bit helpless and didn't dare look Zhou Jian Kong in the eyes at the moment. Although they can't say that they were better than Chairman Zhou, they also can't be considered worse off than him as well. So, seeing their noble kids bowing their heads to a little girl they felt as if their children willingly threw their faces into the dirt just to please the cold girl.
Hua Fan saw their smiles stiffening and almost wanted to laugh out loud if it weren't for Zhou Jian Kong sending her a look out of the corner of her vision causing her to bite her tongue in order to hold it down. It wasn't my fault I am beautiful, ye ye can't blame me for being born too pretty and attracting so much attention. Jian Kong would have smiled after she shot him an "aggravated" look if they were at home, so to compensate he lays a heavy hand on top of her head and Zhou Hua Fan's eyes notably brighten under his adoration. "Fan'er is indeed our Zhou family's flower." Their surrounding company felt the wall between themselves and the Zhou grandfather and daughter but did not feel offended. Instead, they felt their family's own pearls were a bit lacking compared to the Zhou girl's temperament.
If they could hook this golden koi into their pond through marriage it would be the biggest fortune they would ever receive in this life. But upon seeing the unmoved look on Jian Kong's face they all come to a sudden realization. Zhou Jian Kong had no intentions of finding a capable grandson-in-law for Zhou Hua Fan at all. In fact, he probably had the intention to indulge Zhou Hua Fan's wishes all his life without urging her to give birth to a son to take over the Zhou company... Her attitude really was too familiar. Some of them couldn't help but recall the past attitudes of Zhou Jian Kong and his deceased wife and after remembering those old days. When looking at Zhou Hua Fan they all came to an understanding and no longer had straying ideas about hooking Zhou Hua Fan into their pond. If the Zhou heiress didn't give their children more than a passing glance upon the first meeting no doubt they wouldn't have the chance to impress her at all in this lifetime. Zhou Jian Kong's attitude was similar back then too before he meet his wife.
A brave and humored person spoke out amongst the crowd seeming to tease her ye ye. "You two really do share the same blood. Seeing how popular your granddaughter makes me reminisce the old days of when you too stole the hearts of every woman you came across." The same gentle smiling older man sitting beside her grandfather met Jian Kong's cold gaze head-on without shying away laughing out loud after receiving his friend's glare. Rong Rou Shui is a reliable partner of her grandfather who could even be considered an old friend from her grandfather's younger years. There really wasn't much special to him besides being a capable leader, he was a novel rich in his younger years and helped her grandfather smoothen his road into this world in the background. Even without much information, she could see the man had a natural friendly charisma that drew others in. If she remembered correctly he had two daughters and a single grandson from his eldest daughter. Currently, his second daughter should also be expecting a pair of twins.
But Zhou Hua Fan wasn't too worried about them, they would not enter the fight until Hua Fan was already long gone from this world. Although the eldest grandson was about a year younger than her and she could take the time to make relations with them she would rather not bring trouble to her grandfather's door. If she really did become close with the boy and an engagement was brought up from Rong Rou Shui arrived at their doorsteps, her grandfather's friendship would become strained if she refused it. She had no intentions of seducing a person who her grandfather's old friends had connections with. Not that she had much control over who fell for her looks. But it's better to be safe than sorry. Zhou Hua Fan wasn't being vain, after all, in her past life even though she fell from grace she received more than one letter of proposal.
Though... Hua Fan's eyes flicker with conflict and her lips purse for a second. Though, as soon as she would receive those messages or notes they would disappear the next day after a certain someone visited her... Hua Fan returns to her quiet self and serves her grandfather considerately handing him snacks or replacing his water, no longer in the mood to entertain the people around her. "Do my eyes deceive me? You, a stinky old man actually dared to bring one of your blood relatives into the public? Really have thicker skin than this old one!" Not just Jian Kong, but those sitting around them all naturally look up with surprise to see the person who would dare speak to Chairman Zhou this way.
When seeing who it was they all nervously shuffle in their seats and awkwardly smile not knowing how to react to his provocation towards Jian Kong. Besides Rong Rou Shui that is, the man snorts faintly as he was not scared of Xing Wai-Ning. "Xing Wai-Ning, as if you are one to speak. How many mistresses are crawling outside that second son-in-law's home currently? I heard that the famous movie queen herself even accepted an invitation to that frivolous person's bed recently." Wai-Ning's expression darkened at the mention of his disgraceful in-laws, directed a glare at Rong Rou Shui full of derision. His daughter really didn't have a good eye for people and married trash without his permission so although Wai-Ning was annoyed he couldn't deny the fact that his daughter was a part of his shameful past and present.
Though she was glum at that moment Hua Fan hid a smile behind her hand, finding the man's words to her taste. No wonder ye ye allowed Rong Rou Shui to become his friend for so long. Raising a hand to brush her hair behind her ear, Hua Fan was fully prepared to let her grandfather's people handle the situation without butting in and wanted to go freshen up. "Ye ye I'll be right back, I need to visit the ladies' room for a moment." Yet as she rose from her seat, her wrist was caught in a firm grip, forcing her to move her cold gaze from the show to a handsome young teen who grinned at her from above. Under the shocked expressions of everyone around them, Xing Qiu Shen boldly rose her pale fingers to his lips in a gentle manner.
His actions were intimate and frivolous enough to enrage both her grandfather and even his own. Jian Kong's face was so dark they could see a thunderstorm brewing above his head. Wai-Ning's was the same, it was red and his blood boiled with the urge to smack this grandson of his. This unfilial grandson! Qiu Shen's gaze was full of mischief, "Zhou Hua Fan, have you missed me?"