As soon as she stepped into the grand hall, Jiang Yuchi spotted Yu Buqi in the very center, already holding hands with his little girlfriend, Xu Zhen, and beginning to dance.
The handsome young master did not look very happy right now; in fact, his expression was somewhat gloomy. Jiang Yuchi was quite curious about what could have caused the young master, whose every hair had been radiating joy just moments ago, to make such a drastic mood swing in a mere few minutes. Still, this was clearly not the right time to ask.
"You guys go dance, too." Jiang Yuchi half-squatted, pinched her younger daughter’s cheek, and then looked at Zhang Yu, who was nearly one hundred and eighty-seven centimeters tall. For a moment, she was at a loss—how on earth were these two supposed to dance?
Zhang Yu had already taken this into consideration when he agreed to be the little girl's dance partner. He simply squatted down, picked up Yu Buying with one hand, and took her wrist with the other as they swayed back and forth. Just like that, the two of them wobbled their way into the dance floor.
*Even that works?* Jiang Yuchi glanced around and discovered that basically all the children on the floor took two proper steps before starting to sway around however they pleased. By comparison, Yu Buqi and Xu Zhen, who were earnestly dancing in the middle of the floor, stood out as the odd ones out. Along the outer perimeter stood a circle of parents just like her, smiling and exchanging pleasantries with one another.
It seemed that children dancing was just a cover; using the opportunity to let this group of "big kids" network was the real objective.
Jiang Yuchi keenly sensed that quite a few gazes around her were sizing her up. It was just that she had disappeared from this place for six years; even those who had seen her back then had their doubts and dared not be certain of her identity. Before they could figure out who she was, no one dared to act rashly.
Jiang Yuchi was quite content with this arrangement. She leisurely nibbled on small pastries while watching the cute little kids dance about, but naturally, someone just had to come and ruin her mood.
"Haven't seen you in years, Yuchi, and you're still as charming and captivating as ever!"
The aristocratic matron walking toward her, accompanied by a woman who shared her features, stepped right into Jiang Yuchi's path to block her. Jiang Yuchi carefully studied them for a moment. Oh my, wasn't this her former fiancé Jiang Zhiyi's biological mother—her former prospective mother-in-law, Madam Jiang, also known as Bai Jiaru, along with her daughter Jiang Zhixin?
The mere thought of these two made Jiang Yuchi mutter *bad luck*, but considering this was the children's graduation ball, she forced a perfunctory smile at the two of them and made to walk away. Unfortunately, some people simply refused to let her go.
"In the past, my mother always said that even without my brother, you'd still be able to find someone even more suitable. Look, Mom was right, wasn't she? Come to think of it, you really have to thank my mother and my brother, otherwise how would you ever have had the chance to climb up to the Yu Family and marry into high society?" Jiang Zhixin grabbed Jiang Yuchi's hand, her tone dripping with hidden barbs. Every single word was a sarcastic jab implying that Jiang Yuchi had stepped on her brother Jiang Zhiyi to get ahead, and that she should kneel down and kowtow twice to their Jiang Family.
"Zhixin! Let go!" Madam Jiang said with a hint of annoyance. While scolding Jiang Zhixin to let go, she turned to Jiang Yuchi and said, "Our Zhixin was spoiled rotten by the family since she was a little girl and has a rather straightforward personality. Auntie will apologize to you on her behalf."
So many years had passed, and these two—now a mother and a grandmother—still enjoyed playing the good cop and bad cop routine to make people sick to their stomachs just like before. They hadn't grown an inch.
If this were six years ago, Jiang Yuchi definitely would have thrown a vicious, sarcastic remark right back: *Dear former prospective mother-in-law, you're just as petty and obnoxious as you used to be! Climbing high branches requires actual skill, or else why didn't you, Jiang Zhixin, manage to climb up when you were hovering around Yujie for over a decade? The whole family spoils you, so let me ask, how many shares of the Jiang enterprise were actually distributed to this young lady of wealth?*
Unfortunately...
Jiang Yuchi clapped her hands, flashing a smile that inexplicably sent a chill down Madam Jiang's and Jiang Zhixin's spines. She stepped forward, took Madam Jiang's hand, and spoke with eager familiarity, "Before I even returned to the country, Qinghuai told me that the Jiang enterprise's new project had come looking for the Yu Group for investment, and he asked whether I would mind handing the final decision over to me as the largest shareholder."
"I scolded that boy on the spot. Madam Jiang and I were just *this close* to becoming mother and daughter, and then *this close* to becoming mother-in-law and daughter-in-law—could I possibly let the Yu Group make things difficult for the Jiang enterprise?"
Jiang Yuchi intentionally placed heavy emphasis on the words *mother and daughter*.
Even though several years had passed, Jiang Yuchi still couldn't forget her awkwardness and helplessness back then during Madam Jiang's birthday banquet. Right in front of her boyfriend at the time, Jiang Zhiyi, Madam Jiang had taken her hand with a loving expression and smiled as she said that Yuchi was a child destined to be her adopted daughter.
She looked down on the Jiang Family, yet she still wanted to put on the act of a loving mother in front of Jiang Zhiyi. Thus, she was always skilled at delivering these needles wrapped in silk to make people sick. What a pity she was no longer the Jiang Yuchi of the past.
Madam Jiang's face instantly turned as pale as chalk. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to say something, and just as she finally managed to organize her wording and pull a forced smile to the corners of her mouth to speak, Jiang Zhixin shouted furiously at Jiang Yuchi, "Jiang Yuchi, you—!"
Just as those harsh words barely formed their beginning, Jiang Yuchi cut her off with an innocent and dreamy tone: "Zhixin was also *this close* to becoming my sister, and I truly regard her as a younger sister. Look at this, Zhixin's husband's hotel is practically merged into the Yu Group now anyway. Calculated this way, Zhixin and I are practically family nowadays! What a wonderful coincidence!"
Mentioning her husband made Jiang Zhixin choke instantly, her face turning as red as if she had been grabbed by the throat. Standing next to the pale-faced Madam Jiang, the two of them truly looked like the red cop and the white cop. It was Madam Jiang who recovered her wits first, using the excuse that her grandson seemed to be calling for her as she tried to drag Jiang Zhixin away.
This time, however, it was Jiang Yuchi who grabbed Madam Jiang's wrist and continued, "Auntie, don't rush off. You greeted me so warmly just now that I actually thought you and little Zhixin had a lot of things you wanted to tell me, just like I do."
Jiang Yuchi stretched out her other finger, pointed toward the main stage in the center and the piano nearby, and said nonchalantly, "I've known since before that Auntie plays the piano wonderfully, and little Zhixin's ballet is always breathtaking. How about this? There just happens to be a piano right over here, so why doesn't Auntie provide the accompaniment and let little Zhixin get on stage to put on a performance for everyone?"
Just as Madam Jiang had claimed, Jiang Zhixin was truly "spoiled rotten by the family since she was a little girl." Anger flared up, and she wanted to charge right forward, but fortunately, Madam Jiang grabbed her tightly at the very first moment and forced a smile at Jiang Yuchi. "Yuchi, Auntie hasn't played the piano in a long time. I hope you can show some mercy and allow Auntie to go home and practice more before playing it exclusively for you another time."
Madam Jiang was genuinely panicked now. Her impression of Jiang Yuchi was still stuck in that cowardly and helpless state from eight years ago; when she saw her, she assumed she was still that unfavored daughter of the Jiang Family who liked Jiang Zhiyi and could be manipulated however she pleased.
It wasn't until Jiang Yuchi dropped a few casual words that she was jolted into realization: Yujie was dead. Now, as his widow, Jiang Yuchi wouldn't even need to crush the Jiang Family—just being in a bad mood and making a casual little gesture would be enough to give the Jiang enterprise a massive headache.
*Show some mercy?* She never would have imagined hearing those words come out of Madam Jiang's mouth one day.
Yet it was she herself who had initiative to latch onto her; how could there be any logic where she could just walk away whenever she pleased? Jiang Yuchi sneered inwardly, though outwardly she still maintained that affable expression, playing with her fingernails as she said, "For Auntie to say that is to be too much of a stranger. What is our relationship? Could I possibly laugh at Auntie for getting rusty?"