Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

After Ling Yun took his seat, Xue Chengye smiled as he announced that the birthday ceremony would officially begin. A single sentence from him was enough to raise the atmosphere in the living room to the climax.

The most excited of them all would be the table Ling Yun was seated at. Every one of them clapped loudly with great spirits as they awaited the arrival of tonight's female lead. They couldn't wait to show off their well-prepared gifts to Xue Meining. They were excited to see who could win the grand lottery, Xue Meining's heart.

This was different from an ordinary birthday celebration. For birthday ceremonies of this level, n.o.body came simply for the food. Besides their congratulations, everyone came with a purpose, it was only that each person's purpose varied.

This was especially so for these hedonistic sons of rich parents. Ever since birth, they had tasted every kind of living creature capable of flying in the air, swimming in the ocean, or running on land.

Even though Xue Chengye invited the best chef in Beijing to prepare the grandest of banquets, to put on the table countless delicacies, n.o.body really bothered too much about it.

For such grand ceremonies, the importance of formalities was far greater than the substance of the banquet. During ordinary circ.u.mstances, such a banquet wouldn't last more than two hours.

There were only two climaxes throughout the birthday banquet. One was naturally Xue Meining blowing out the candles and making a wish, as well as the acceptance of everyone else's blessings. The other would be the gifting of birthday presents to Xue Meining.

Because the gifting of presents could tell the closeness of the two families, everyone who brought gifts came with a motive. Moreover, this segment was the perfect opportunity to show off a family's strength and status!

All the young men raised their heads in excitement as they continued to await Xue Meining's arrival.

Xue Chengye arranged for Ling Yun to sit in the best seat at the table with the other young men. He was seated between the young valley master of Miracle Physician Valley, Hu Shaobai, as well as the seventh young master of the Long Family, Long Tianyu.

This made everyone else extremely envious and unhappy in their hearts.

Initially, they expected an incredibly impressive figure who was worth the respect and admiration of Miracle Doctor Xue as well as Xue Meining. However, they went on to exchange glances after Ling Yun arrived in the living room, and every one of them was stunned.

This was because none of them recognized Ling Yun!

Moreover, Ling Yun's attire was so inappropriate that he should never be allowed to sit next to them. Compared to what they were wearing, his clothes made him look like a beggar standing beside a crowd of superstars in designer clothes.

To be honest, this was a random s.h.i.+rt Ling Yun got when he rushed to Wuhan. Otherwise, if he were to wear Dugu Mo's torn robe, he might not even be able to enter the mansion.

Everyone looked at each other as their curious eyes turned to strong looks of disdain. Some of them even started to look down on Ling Yun by smiling coldly at one another.

They initially thought that Ling Yun was an impressive figure. Now that they had a closer look, Ling Yun was nothing much other than good looks!

His good looks couldn't even feed the living!

Even the usually quiet Long Tianyu couldn't believe his eyes. This was Ning Er's birthday ceremony, so where did this Ling Yun pop out from?

He s.h.i.+fted his seat nonchalantly to the side so that he would be slightly further away from Ling Yun. Following which, he stared at Ling Yun before asking with a smile, “Ling Yun, we were all here before you and have introduced ourselves to each other. May I know where your family…”

Ling Yun smiled faintly as he replied, “Oh, my family is from Qingshui City. My mother runs a clinic…”

When everyone at the table heard this, they could no longer conceal the disdainful look on their faces. One of them even asked coldly, “Then may I know how you know Sister Ning Er?”

Ling Yun maintained his smile. “We are cla.s.smates at Qingshui High. I am a student from Qingshui High…”

Everyone momentarily came to a sudden realization as they thought to themselves, Ah! Just cla.s.smates! That shouldn't be a problem.

When one of the embarra.s.sed sons realized that there was finally someone of lower status than him, he suddenly had a target to make fun of. Therefore, he pointed to the living room and chuckled. “Ling Yun, did you notice a problem?”

Problem? The moment Ling Yun entered the room, he did ponder about something that bothered him. Therefore, he nodded as he replied absent-mindedly, “There is indeed a problem.”

All the rich sons looked at each other again as they couldn't help but burst into laughter.

These young men didn't understand what Ling Yun meant. The problem Ling Yun realized was that after he entered the house, there wasn't a single person that he recognized with the exception of Miracle Doctor Xue!

Initially, Ling Yun was expecting to see Ning Lingyu, Tang Meng, Cao Shanshan, Zhuang Meifeng, and the rest at Ning Er's birthday ceremony. He was even expecting to see his own mother, Qin Qiuyue!

Even though this little demon girl was crafty and unruly, she never failed to grasp the big picture. Given Ling Yun's current relations.h.i.+p with Xue Meining, Ling Yun wouldn't believe it if someone told him that Xue Meining didn't know she had to invite all those people.

This was especially after meeting his own mother. The two of them got along well, and his mother really liked Ning Er. If Ning Er had invited his own mother, Qin Qiuyue would definitely be here!

Since it was impossible that Ning Er didn't invite them, why were none of them here? This was indeed abnormal!

That embarra.s.sed kid finally felt good as he grunted coldly, “Since you know there is a problem, didn't you realize that none of Ning Er's cla.s.smate stayed to have a meal? So, since you are her cla.s.smate, why are you still here? Shouldn't you leave now?”

That kid didn't know that Ling Yun was worrying about greater issues, which was why he didn't bother with him. However, he thought that Ling Yun was easy to bully, so his words started to go overboard as he continued to chase Ling Yun away.

“Leave? Ning Er isn't here yet, so why should I leave?” Ling Yun finally returned to his senses as he lifted his head to look confidently at that kid.

They were in Ning Er's birthday ceremony, which should be a joyous and auspicious occasion. Ling Yun didn't wish to add any sort of unhappiness at Ning Er's birthday ceremony, so he didn't care too much about this burdensome kid. He simply let him do and say whatever he wanted.

Moreover, he carried the Devil's Blade with him now and could match the strength of a Xiantian Realm Level One expert. Therefore, he didn't feel the need to deal with an ordinary wealthy and spoilt kid.

“Ahem…” Li Youmin also felt that the kid was going overboard, so he coughed to mediate the situation before smiling at Ling Yun, asking, “Ling Yun, I wonder what gift you prepared for Ning Er?”

“Ah… Birthday gift? Ning Er didn't ask me for any birthday gift…”

Li Youmin's question really made Ling Yun stuck. Ling Yun was rus.h.i.+ng back since morning, so he actually didn't prepare a birthday gift for Ning Er. This is really…

However, Ling Yun thought for a while and had an idea immediately. When he was in the sealed mountain valley, he did pick up a few ginseng kings that had been growing for over a few thousand years called the Chinese Knotweed. He could simply gift Ning Er one of those. Even though Ning Er had no use for that, it should be sufficient to be a birthday gift.

Everyone burst into laughter once again when they heard Ling Yun's reply. They couldn't control themselves as they made funny faces at each other. They couldn't wait to see Ling Yun make a fool out of himself.

“You came to Sister Ning Er's birthday without knowing to prepare a birthday present? Hahahaha…” The previously embarra.s.sed kid no longer wished for Ling Yun to leave. He wanted Ling Yun to stay so he could continue making fun of him.

When Hu Shaobai heard this, he concluded that Ling Yun had no family background and no power of any sort. Moreover, the way he spoke was a little sloppy as well. There were even more traces of disgust in his eyes, so he started to distance himself from Ling Yun.

“I really don't understand this… I really thought he was going to be some outstanding young man. Who would have thought that he was just a slightly better-looking gigolo…”

“I believe he is a toad that wishes to eat the meat of a swan, he is simply out of our league hahaha…”

“Looking at Mr. Ling's outfit, it really looks like a new fas.h.i.+on! Is this the latest brand?”

“At this day and age, there are many arrogant people on the streets. There are also many pretentious p.r.i.c.ks who end up looking like fools…”

Everyone started to mock and make fun of Ling Yun as though it brought them some sort of pleasurable sensation.

Ling Yun merely smiled at how ignorant those comments were.

Just like that, five to six minutes went by, and Ling Yun suddenly turned his head to look towards the staircase of the mansion. Following which, he furrowed his brows slightly as there was a trace of heartache in his handsome eyes.

“Our birthday girl is here!”

“Sister Ning Er is here…”

At the edge of the staircase was Xue Meining in a gorgeous red evening gown. The exquisite gown revealed her tender and delicate shoulder as she matched it with s.h.i.+ny high heels. Her right hand held onto the corner of her dress cautiously as she walked down the stairs. She looked stunning and graceful. Following behind her was her mother, Zhang Manyun.

Xue Meining was, without a doubt, the female lead of tonight's event. The moment she appeared, the entire living room erupted with thunderous applause and cheers.

“How beautiful…”

“Indeed, Ning Er's figure… Wow…”

“She is only seventeen years old. Just imagine how beautiful she will be in two more years…”

“In the end, I wonder which family's son is the lucky b*stard. I'm definitely not a match for the Xue Family. Otherwise, I would have brought a matchmaker here…”

“Matchmaker? Look at that table, what do you think they are here for?”

“Brother Ling Yun!” Xue Meining could no longer contain it in her heart. She got her mother to help her put on some simple makeup to cover her swollen eyes. Immediately after that, she rushed down to see Ling Yun.

Before she climbed down from the stairs, she already swept through the living room with her eyes and spotted Ling Yun's familiar face staring at her.

The nervousness and expectations in Xue Meining's eyes instantly turned into endless excitement. She no longer cared about anything else as she held up her dress a little higher before das.h.i.+ng towards Ling Yun!

Ling Yun smiled, got up, pushed the seat aside, and opened his arms while everyone was watching him.

Xue Meining's was running faster and faster as she ran into Ling Yun's arms hurriedly. She was worried that Ling Yun might run away again. She extended her arms like the roots of lotus and grabbed Ling Yun's waist without hesitation!

This little demon girl was no longer bothered about the makeup on her face as she pressed her head against Ling Yun's chest. Tears started flowing down her cheeks like rain, and Ling Yun's chest was instantly drenched.

“Ning Er, don't cry! Everyone is watching! Aren't I back now?”