"Master, Madames, Young Master Wu, and Young Lady Wu are arriving," the male maid informed.
Quickly Yang Fu claimed, "Invite them in."
"Yes."
It was really a pride that Wu's third daughter also came. Because Yang Fu had known that Lantian was the beloved child of Wu Guang, and in Wu's house, she had more power than anyone; even Longwei had less authority than her. In addition, he heard that other millionaires that had daughters had invited Longwei to their houses, but Lantian did not go; only to his house did she come along with her brother. With this, Yang Fu felt he had a bigger hope than others to attach flesh and blood to Wu.
"Master Yang, Madam Yang," Longwei and Lantian greeted the house owner as they arrived in the hall.
"Young Master Wu, Young Lady Wu," Yang Fu greeted them back. "It's Yang's honor that the two of you agree to come. Please have a seat."
With a smile, Longwei moved to sit in a guest chair while Lantian took the next seat to him.
Tea was served as a welcome, and after that, as a warm-up, Yang Fu kicked off a small chit-chat, especially anything related to the preferences of the young male, but he was careful not to mention too personal questions. During the conversation, he also scanned the son of Wu and saw him maintain a humble and polite manner. The young guy gave a possible reply, and this gave big pleasure to the old Yang with the mind was sure this fellow would be the best to be his son-in-law.
Talking about Lantian, though she did not open her lips, her ears and eyes were unlocked to inspect the cave of the spider demon. In the opposite row, she saw the three madames of Yang sitting with smiles over their lips, and she could guess that the chair closer to Yang Fu was the first Yang madame, then the second Yang madame, and then the third Yang madame. Though these three women kept their mouths shut, their faces clearly expressed the content in their minds, and their eyes showed a twinkle when they looked at Longwei. Seeing that, Lantian felt pity and humor towards her brother.
'Being heir, sometimes, is not a blessing.' She thought.
What was lacking in the hall were the daughters of Yang. The ladies were the main dish for today's dinner; they could not be absent, Lantian thought.
Not long after, Yang's madames rose from their seats and made excuses that the dinner needed them to check on. In the head of Lantian, she sensed they would be going to inform their daughters about the meeting scene; soon her brother would be brought to see the main dishes.
Awesome, her guess was right.
"Young Master Wu, Young Lady Wu, since you have arrived, I would like to bring you to tour around my house," Yang Fu said.
When they got off the seats, Lantian knocked her brother's arm slightly and whispered, "It's time to see the menu."
However, Longwei revealed on his face that he was under pressure, but his sister giggled.
**
*
Along the journey, Yang Fu spoke about his residence—size of land, number of rooms, name of hall, size of space, kind of furniture and its origin, and so on. His speaking skill was very great, which created no doubt he was successful in business. The wonderful thing was he did not have story repetition.
But the competence of this old Yang was not only speaking. When they jumped to tour the park, Lantian made a call in her mind that he should work as a matchmaker. Why did she think like that? Because a locale for a meeting between her brother and his daughters was organized in the yard by the waterfall, surrounded by colorful flowers, green trees, and the sound of birds, under the cool sunlight, along with the music, and the four ladies were practicing dancing. The scene was very good, like they were watching the goddesses dance in paradise. It was a great design, which she had to give him a thumb.
"Young Master Wu, Young Lady Wu, they are my daughters. Ehuang, Liqing, Li Ai, and Lifen."
"Young Master Wu, Young Lady Wu," all four ladies greeted after their father introduced them.
Being a gentleman, Longwei gave a little bow of the head to greet the ladies; as for Lantian, she maintained her straight head and back, and even her lips did not smile.
It was a very short meeting; following it, they headed to the dining room when the servant informed them that the dish was already prepared.
"Young Master Wu, young lady Wu, please," Yang Fu invited.
Arriving at the room, Lantian scanned the space, where she found it big, with a large round table in the middle and chairs around. As for the seats, she counted and saw there were ten. Then she eyed the people in the eating room and found they exactly matched the number of seats.
"Master Yang, I heard you have five daughters, didn't you?"
The question of Lantian made the Yang daze. It was unbelievable she acknowledged the number of Yang's young ladies; even Longwei was surprised to hear it—because he did not know that Yang Fu had five daughters.
Even though old Yang was unable to respond, he just showed a forced smile on his lips. "Er, well…"
As for Lady Fan, she held an unhappy face.
"You have five daughters, so chairs should be eleven."
It was the acclamation of the daughter of the mayor, who dared to oppose? So, Yang Fu hurriedly said to his maid, "Go to call Second Miss."
At that moment, the intense displeasure was shown clearly over the face of the first madame that all the servants could sense—hence, they did not dare to step out of the hall. Also, no any of Yang's members in the room were brave enough to move; only Lady Ju spoke to a young maid that was standing behind her daughter, Liqing: "Go to invite Second Miss to dinner."
This action showed clearly that the second madame was disagreeing and resisting the command. It caused the rage inside the chest of Lady Fan and she was throwing irate eyeballs towards her sisterhood. But Lady Ju ignored everything, and the maid also ignored it since she was the private maid of the second mistress. She ran quickly, without waiting for a second time telling, to the camp of the elder daughter of the master and made a call, "Second Miss."
At that time, Caihong was preparing to eat the meal. When she heard a call, she came out of her hut.
"What's the matter?"
"Master names you to have dinner in the hall."
Caihong narrowed her eyebrows. "Father calls me to have dinner?"
The maid nodded, "Yes."
Was it real or a dream? The girl was asking herself, because it had been seventeen years already that she had eaten without family. She never got any call or mention—not only for Yang's event dish but also for Yang's snack. But today was the first time in her life that her father called her to have a meal with him.
Along the way to the big house, she walked with her head and eyes kept low. In her brain, there was a question, and in her mind it was complicated, as she did not know if she should be happy or what.
"Oh, you came," Yang Fu vocalized when Caihong arrived. "Sit."
Still with a lower head, Caihong went to a free seat between Ehaung and Liqing.
"This is my second daughter, Caihong," Yang Fu told his guests. "Caihong," he said to the daughter, "here are Young Master Wu and Young Lady Wu."
Head that was kept low needed to be raised, and at the time that eyes saw the face of the guests of her dad who were sitting in front, the surprise happened. The lady. She remembered her, and without knowing a reason, her mind felt troubled, and even though she did not know the title of this lady, she was sure she was from a big family, or her father would not act respectfully like this. However, she had to express, in a soft voice, "Young Master Wu, Young Lady Wu."
"Second Miss," Longwei greeted.
"Second Miss Yang," Lantian said, stressing her name.
The tone was very daring. It made Caihong's mind not at rest. Immediately, she needed to make her eyes low and calm her concern, since she felt that she was called to be presented in this hall because of this high girl.
The meal arrived. The Yang and the Wu's boy ate and had some chat; only Caihong was in a quiet position, and her face did not show any contentment.
Sitting between sisters was a big pressure for her.
Actually, if talking about Liqing, she did not have any hate towards her elder sister, but Ehuang was angry that Caihong was sitting equal to her. This first young mistress of Yang never wanted to admit Caihong was connected to her because she was born from the low concubine, and furthermore, she was taught that Caihong's mother had stolen her father from her mother. This problem Caihong was aware of since she was born, and she knew that she was not welcomed, especially by her first mother and her eldest sister. Speaking honestly, she did not want to attend either, but she didn't have the ability to refuse the command of the old sire, and at present, her mind prayed the dinner would end quickly. In this room, she felt there was no air for her to breathe.
On the opposite side of the table, Lantian also was in noiseless mode. Even though her eyes were shooting straight at the girl. She noticed Caihong was eating very little and holding no cheery expression, and moreover, there were several recipes on the table, but Caihong put chopsticks into a plate of food that was before her only.
Not happy; at once, she dropped chopsticks and called, "Master Yang, is this meal from your house's chef?"
"Yes, they are all from the chef in my house," Yang Fu said.
"Oh!"
This expression made Yang Fu hurriedly pay attention. "It doesn't match with your tongue, does it?"
Lantian did not utter a word, just raised a teacup to her lips.
Seeing that, Yang Fu quickly said to his maid, "Bring the chef for young lady Wu."
But Lantian called, "I think I need recommendations from young ladies."
Yangs' daughters raised their features up, except Caihong.