Seeing that her daughter was still standing there in a daze, Secretary Tao prompted, "Xiaowen, didn't you want to make a toast to Uncle Zhao? If you don't go now, Uncle Zhao is going to get impatient!"
At her father's words, Tao Wenwen immediately snapped out of it. She gave her father an ingratiating smile, then turned to Vice Governor Zhao and said, "Uncle Zhao, thank you for your continued support and guidance. To you!"
With that, she raised her goblet and took a gentle sip of red wine.
Vice Governor Zhao chuckled and said, "Xiaowen, there's no need to be so formal over such a small matter. Don't talk like that in the future!" He also raised his glass and took a sip.
In truth, Tao Wenwen's words were quite subtle, implicitly thanking Vice Governor Zhao for his support of her business.
Everyone at the table understood this tacitly. They all knew that after Tao Wenwen followed her father to Songjiang, she took direct charge of Donghu Hotel, and when the hotel underwent reforms last year, she contracted it out. Everyone knew the hotel belonged to the secretary's daughter, and since they were all eager to curry favor with her, any meetings or events were invariably held right here.
Although Tao Wenwen didn't need to worry about the hotel's clientele, expressing her gratitude in front of the key leaders was still necessary.
In fact, Tao Wenwen's past was filled with pain and helplessness. She was a sacrifice to a political marriage.
At the age of twenty-two, arranged by both families, she married a company commander in the military, while her father-in-law was the commander of that military region at the time.
On their wedding night, her husband received an emergency order to head to the Laoshan frontlines, and in a battle, he remained forever in that southern borderland.
Tao Wenwen and her husband had only met five times from dating to marriage, so there was no deep bond between them, and that tall, handsome figure had already grown somewhat hazy in her memory.
Becoming a widow right after marriage undoubtedly brought her immense grief. Believing it was simply her destiny, she had never remarried since.
Secretary Tao felt deeply apologetic toward his daughter, feeling that he had ruined her life.
Although he had agreed to this political marriage under family pressure—at which point he was already the vice governor of a certain southern province and held considerable sway at home—if he had stood his ground more firmly back then, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out this way.
Because of his son's early death, Secretary Tao cherished his daughter Tao Wenwen all the more, trying his utmost to make it up to her.
After transferring to Jiangnan Province, he arranged for Tao Wenwen to take the position of deputy director of the Finance Division at the Provincial Personnel Department, a job that was right up her alley.
Yet Tao Wenwen felt completely uninterested in that monotonous and dull job. Instead, she chose to lease Donghu Hotel, making herself its general manager.
Tao Wenwen was blessed with a natural business acumen, and she managed the hotel in an orderly fashion. Coupled with her parents' prestige and connections, it was hard for Donghu Hotel not to turn a profit.
Within half a year, the hotel's business was booming beyond belief.
According to Tao Wenwen's usual protocol, after toasting Vice Governor Zhao, she should have gone next to toast her father, Tao Yong.
Ever since she took over Donghu Hotel, whenever her father was present at a gathering, despite Tao Yong holding the highest rank, she would always toast the most senior guest first. Since her father was family, there was no need for excessive formalities; this approach was both polite and gave the guest of honor enough respect, making it a very slick social maneuver.
However, to everyone's surprise, instead of walking directly to her father to make a toast, Tao Wenwen bypassed him entirely and came to Wu Hua's side. Looking at his handsome and familiar face, her smile blossomed like peach blossoms: "Little brother, what's your name?"
Wu Hua never expected Tao Wenwen to take the initiative to speak to him. He froze for a moment, somewhat at a loss when faced with her radiant smile.
On second thought, he realized that he was the only one at this table who could possibly be called "little brother," confirming the reality of the situation.
For a moment he was tongue-tied, unsure how to address Tao Wenwen. Hearing Vice Governor Zhao call her Xiaowen, he certainly couldn't use that name himself. In his haste, he blurted out, "Beautiful Sister, my name is Wu Hua."
The words "Beautiful Sister" made Tao Wenwen pause, and then she burst into a giggle of delight. She hadn't expected Wu Hua to address her in such a unique way—what woman doesn't like being called pretty?
Tao Wenwen switched her wine glass to her left hand and cheerfully extended her right: "Little brother, you're hilarious! Come on, let's get acquainted. I'm Tao Wenwen, the general manager here!"
Wu Hua nervously shook Tao Wenwen's hand, feeling how soft and delicate it was, and for a moment he drifted off, reluctant to let go.
Tao Wenwen looked at Wu Hua with a smile, showing no intention of pulling her hand back either. The more she looked at Wu Hua, the more he reminded her of her younger brother, and the more endearing she found him.
"Clang!" The sound of clinking glasses jolted Wu Hua back to reality. He suddenly realized how inappropriate his behavior was, but pulling his hand away abruptly would look too deliberate, so he tried to maintain his composure and said, "Beautiful Sister—no, Sister Wen, it's so nice to meet you!" As he spoke, he pretended to withdraw his hand naturally.
Wu Hua's flustered and yet deliberately mature words sent the whole table into roaring laughter, and Tao Wenwen laughed so hard her shoulders shook. If there weren't so many prying eyes around, she might have rushed over to hug this adorable little brother.
Raising her glass again, she giggled, "Little brother Wu Hua, it's super nice to meet you too! Come on, let's toast to our new acquaintance!"
Director Xu, standing nearby, reacted quickly and promptly filled Wu Hua's glass with soda.
Wu Hua was still a freshman in college, so naturally no one at the table would let him drink alcohol. Seeing Director Xu's action, Tao Wenwen nodded in tacit agreement.
A director pouring soda for him personally? Wu Hua couldn't help feeling immensely pleased.
He raised his glass to clink it gently with Tao Wenwen's, tipped his head back to finish the soda in one go, and then turned his glass upside down like an adult to show it was empty.
Because she was so fond of him, Tao Wenwen found everything Wu Hua did utterly adorable.
She raised her glass, finished her red wine, and, copying Wu Hua's gesture, turned her glass upside down to show she had emptied it as well. At that moment, someone started clapping, and soon applause erupted all around.
After the toast to their acquaintance, Tao Wenwen didn't immediately go to toast her father. Instead, she raised a glass to everyone present before preparing to leave.
She bid farewell to her father, Vice Governor Zhao, and Director Xu, and just before leaving, she said to Wu Hua, "Little brother Wu Hua, we're officially sister and brother now. We must keep in touch, and when Sister has time, I'll definitely treat you to something delicious."
"Thank you, Sister Wen Wen!" Wu Hua didn't understand why Tao Wenwen was showing him such enthusiasm. Knowing she was Secretary Tao's daughter, he assumed it was just polite chit-chat, so he answered casually and didn't give it another thought.
After Tao Wenwen left, Secretary Tao and Vice Governor Zhao also departed one after another due to matters to attend to.
Wu Hua wanted to leave as well, but Director Xu intercepted him. For a while, he became the center of attention at the table, surrounded by a chorus of praise, until Wu Hua felt quite dizzy, and the banquet finally came to an end.
When he reached the first-floor lobby, the banquet was over, and most of the teachers and students had already left, leaving only the waitstaff cleaning up.
As he walked into the front hall of the hotel, he saw Song Xinmei waiting for him with a certificate of merit.
Seeing Wu Hua appear, Song Xinmei walked up to him.
During this period, Wu Hua's outstanding performance had somewhat changed Song Xinmei's attitude toward him. Furthermore, without Wu Hua's stimulation, she wouldn't have been able to pull off an extraordinary performance this time and secure sixth place—and more importantly, the honor of provincial three-good student.
"You won. Congratulations, classmate Wu Hua." Song Xinmei took the initiative to concede defeat, which caught Wu Hua somewhat by surprise.
"Winning and losing are just for fun. The hope is that we can make progress together. Congratulations to you for getting such a great result this time too." Wu Hua said with a smile.
Song Xinmei didn't say much else; after offering her congratulations, she left with a flushed face.