Even as a "normie," I'm completely oblivious to it.

"Good luck, Lizhi! Send me a message when you get there. It's getting late, so we'll be heading out now."

After saying this, Elisa rolled up the car window, and Ouyang Yan waved to Xiao Lizhi. The convoy then set off again, and they estimated that they would arrive at the Su family in about a minute.

Only the little lychee was left behind on the cold, damp road in the dead of night.

But her heart was warm.

She took out her phone, turned on the navigation, and her warm heart instantly turned cold.

Mom! You just said that it's only one kilometer from here to the Su family's house! But the navigation shows a straight-line distance of three kilometers!

Six miles away! You really are my mother!

So Xiaolizhi sadly switched to the chat interface and sent a message to Yuzhe: "Brother Yuzhe, my mom left me on the road. It's so far away. If I get there now, the banquet will definitely start. What should I do?"

Messages are replied to instantly.

Upon hearing the notification sound, Xiao Lizhi quickly picked up her phone again and held it in front of her.

Yu Zhe's reply was only two words, but it was a brilliant idea that Xiao Lizhi hadn't even considered.

"Take a taxi."

It was followed by an emoji: "Why are you so silly?"

Yeah! I can just take a taxi there.

Maybe it's because they can't wrap their heads around it. It's a kilometer away, you can walk there, you don't need to take a taxi.

Three kilometers is too far, but I forgot to take a taxi.

Little Lychee secretly thought that her brain was really not working properly. With tears in her eyes, she hailed a taxi and headed to the Su family villa.

Of course, when she arrived at the place to check the invitation and showed the maid the invitation given by Yu Zhe, she was shocked again. The maid welcomed Xiao Lizhi like a VIP, just like before.

Little Lychee thought she had done something wrong again!

Also, the maid thought to herself: So, the real VIPs don't wear formal attire? I see.

........................... ..

After entering the venue, Qi Xinye immediately spoke with Qi Yi and the others and then acted on her own for the time being.

Actually, she was supposed to go with Qi Yi to greet the other major families first.

It was indeed influenced by Yu Zhe that she now kept her distance from all those rules and etiquette, but the most fundamental reason was that she wanted to see Yu Zhe as soon as possible.

Following the location Yu Zhe sent her on her phone, Qi Xinye found him behind the auditorium, under a quiet banyan tree near the back entrance.

Zixiao and Yuche were with him.

"Sister Ye, over here!"

She saw Xiao Zhe waving at her from afar, and her mood instantly improved, and she felt a little excited.

The hem of her skirt was a bit long, so Qi Xinye gently lifted the hem that might trip her and ran to Yu Zhe.

Then she smiled sincerely: "Happy birthday, Xiao Zhe! From today onwards, our Xiao Zhe is finally an adult, and so is Yu Che. Happy birthday to you too!"

"Thank you, Sister Ye."

"Okay, thank you, big-breasted woman."

The second sentence was, of course, spoken by Yu Che. Goodness, even responding to a blessing has to be a sarcastic remark. However, Qi Xinye knew that she definitely didn't mean any harm. Yu Che, with her sharp tongue but soft heart, has a personality somewhat similar to Yu Zhe when they were young.

Hey ~

However, if possible, she should refrain from being called a "big-breasted woman." After all, it's not like she wanted to have big breasts.

Yu Zhe looked Qi Xinye up and down and praised, "Sister Ye, this outfit suits you very well, you look beautiful!"

"Hmm...is that so?" Qi Xinye said, lowering her skirt and walking closer to Yu Zhe. "I was worried that this outfit might be too formal and that Xiao Zhe might dislike it."

"No, no, no, Sister Ye"

You're overthinking it. I just hate all the red tape and rules; as for nice clothes, they're definitely still nice!

"Is...is that so...then I'm relieved."

Zixiao agreed: "Yes, Sister Xinye's outfit is really gorgeous."

Even the sharp-tongued Yu Che joined in the evaluation: "It's just average, nothing special."

"..."

You're just attacking people! You're targeting the person, not the issue!

Qi Xinye then realized that the three people in front of her were all wearing pretty but ordinary down jackets, without any extra dressing up. Sure enough, the Su family's family style is very free. The Qi family should work harder in the future.

Yu Zhe glanced at the time and muttered to himself, "Hmm... the others should be here by now."

54. You're still the most reliable one!

"Hmm... the others should be here soon too."

As Yu Zhe said this, he turned his gaze to the corner where the back door of the auditorium met the wall.

The others?

Did Xiao Zhe also invite other people to his birthday party separately?

Qi Xinye was unaware of this, but it was a good thing! In the past, she and Zi Xiaoyuche would celebrate Xiao Zhe's birthday every year. If Xiao Zhe had more friends this year, that would definitely be a good thing.

Following Yu Zhe's gaze, we saw that someone had indeed appeared around the corner.

Naturally, it was Qin Ruoke and Luo Xiaomeng, who was shorter than her and followed beside her!

Hmm? They're all girls?

That's right... Qi Xinye should have guessed it long ago. Xiao Zhe is so beautiful that no boy would dare to approach him, let alone be friends with him.

The two girls waved and ran towards him, which further convinced Qi Xinye that these were the friends he had invited alone.

Oh dear... the number of girls has increased again.

Moreover, judging from Zi Xiaoyu's slightly furrowed brows, these two must be the "wildflowers" they often mentioned.

Moreover, she had seen one of them before, Qin Ruoke, who was slightly taller. She had seen him once in the stands during the sports meet. As for the other one, who was about the same height as the short and stout Yu Che, he was probably the class monitor in Xiao Zhe's class.

No wonder Zixiao and Yuche were so wary; these two "wildflowers" are indeed quite beautiful, and even in casual clothes, they have a lot of class.

However, Qi Xinye's words about temperament are not something that can be said. When Xiaomeng and Qin Ruoke saw Qi Xinye next to Yu Zhe, they both felt a little nervous. It would be strange if they weren't nervous and afraid of saying the wrong thing when facing a real young lady in a formal dress.

Even so, their first words upon standing here were heartfelt blessings.

"Happy birthday." Qin Ruoke said calmly.

"Happy birthday, Yuzhe! Sorry we're a little late."

Luo Xiaomeng scratched the back of her head sheepishly, then turned her gaze slightly towards Qi Xinye.

Oh no… She didn’t say anything, too embarrassed to introduce herself… afraid of making a fool of herself, not understanding this high level of social etiquette!

Yu Zhe was quite pleased to see the two of them arrive: "It's not late, it's not late. After all, there's still a silly girl on her way. Oh, you don't know each other yet, do you? Let me introduce you..."

"It's alright, Xiao Zhe. I've met these two before." Qi Xinye smiled and looked at the two of them. "Ms. Qin Ruoke... well, we met at your school's sports meet last time. And Luo Xiaomeng, thank you for taking care of Xiao Zhe."

"How could she know that?" Qin Ruoke was obvious, as the two had met before. Luo Xiaomeng was quite surprised, though, that this young lady actually knew her name.

Qin Ruoke calmly replied, "Hello, Sister Qi."

Is this Sister Qi?

This was beyond Qi Xinye's expectations. She didn't expect Xiao Zhe's friend to be so perceptive; he could reveal a person's emotional intelligence just from how he addressed them.

Qin Ruoke was thinking that Qi Xinye was Yu Zhe's childhood sweetheart and older sister. If she addressed her that way, would it make it seem like she and Yu Zhe were too close?

Xiao Meng was less composed: "Take care of... anything! Not at all! I've always been the one being taken care of by Yu Zhe. Anyway, it's a pleasure to meet you, Sister Qi!"

It's really funny to see this little one following along, and he's definitely quick to react.

"Yes, it's nice to meet you all."

"Alright, alright, stop beating around the bush. Now that we know each other, let's just talk things out."

Yu Che yawned, and quite naturally and purposefully took Yu Zhe's arm, pressing tightly against his shoulder to secure the best spot.

It appears to be an act of asserting sovereignty.

Almost all the girls present raised an eyebrow.

But there was nothing I could say. Damn it, is this the privilege of being a younger sister?

After they finished introducing themselves, Zixiao pointed out the current problem: "So what should we do next? Should we go directly to the small building over there for a small gathering, or should we first experience the atmosphere of this grand banquet?"

Huh? So this grand banquet is optional?

Xiao Meng thought Yu Zhe was like the rich young masters on TV, always having to say a few words at banquets.

Indeed, you can't easily believe what you see on TV.

In any other family, the child celebrating their birthday would indeed be required to go up and say a few words, but this is the Su family, so if they don't want to go, they don't have to.

When asked about the answer to this question, everyone turned their attention to Yu Zhe.

It means that everyone listens to his decisions.

Yu Zhe didn't refuse and shared his thoughts: "If you ask me... well... we definitely have to have a small gathering, it's a tradition of ours. As for this big banquet, we've spent a whole day setting it up, wouldn't we be missing out if we didn't go in and take a look?"

He then added, "Also, Xiaomeng and Xiaoruoke probably haven't attended this kind of banquet before, so taking a look would be a good experience."

indeed

Xiao Meng and Qin Ruoke were both secretly curious and looking forward to this banquet they had never seen before, but what they wanted most was for Yu Zhe to be happy.

"Don't worry about me..."

"It's alright, it'll be fine as long as you make arrangements, Yuzhe..."

Before they could finish speaking, Yu Zhe clapped his hands and said, "Alright, it's decided then. Let's go check out the venue first; it's quite lively inside!"

Since these two have come to keep their appointment, of course we must make them happy!

As long as the girls are happy, Yu Zhe feels that the birthday party is meaningful.

Of course, everyone was willing to listen to him.

Just as Yu Zhe was thinking about the next step.