As time passed, most of the guests had arrived.
Second Aunt leaned toward Second Uncle's ear and whispered, "Are they still coming?"
They were, of course, talking about Lin Rui and Lin Xiaolan.
Lin Dahu snorted coldly, looking completely indifferent. "Who cares if they come or not."
Just as they were speaking, Lin Rui and Du Yan appeared with smiles on their faces. Sun Rou and Zhang Yuxi hurried over to greet them.
"Rui, Du Yan, you're here."
Du Yan smiled. "Today is your kids' first birthday party. Of course I had to come!"
"You definitely had to come," Zhang Yuxi replied with a smile. "We've been waiting for ages."
"The traffic was terrible. Now, let me see the babies..."
"Wow, they don't look one year old at all. You could say they were a year and a half and people would believe you."
Du Yan couldn't help but feel envious. "Your daughter is so beautiful. I really wish I had a daughter like her."
Sun Rou also chimed in, "Me too."
"With your situation now, you could totally have a second child," Du Yan said. "There's no pressure."
"No way. Raising a second child is draining, and our financial situation doesn't allow for it either."
Du Yan's eyes widened. "Your finances don't allow it? I heard you landed quite a few big contracts this year."
Sun Rou laughed. "We did get some, but as you know, it's not cash in hand. A lot of clients are late on their final payments."
"Take that client in East City, for example. He's been a regular customer for years, signing contracts worth hundreds of thousands. But he owes us two or three million. What can we do?"
"Another client owes us a hundred and fifty thousand. We even sent a court summons, but it was useless!"
Sun Rou looked incredibly worried just talking about it.
They seemed to have signed a lot of contracts worth hundreds of thousands, but how much of that money did they actually see?
Du Yan and Zhang Yuxi sighed.
"Let's not talk about that," Sun Rou said, forcing a laugh. "How about you and Rui? When are you having a second child?"
The smile on Du Yan's face slowly froze.
"No, we're not planning on it. We're happy with just one."
She'd considered it before, but now, the thought was completely gone.
Meanwhile, Lin Rui was sitting with Yu Zheng and a few others, chatting and laughing cheerfully.
Watching him, Du Yan felt a surge of frustration she couldn't release.
Most of the guests had arrived, except for a few distant relatives. Lin Feng checked the time, and seeing it was almost time to serve the food, he went to find the manager.
At Lin Feng and Zhang Yuxi's table sat his parents, Lin Dashan and Zhou Cuilan; her parents, Zhang Fuyong and Zhao Lizhen; and their friends, An Lan and Liu Bo.
Lin Jie was seated at the teachers' table.
The babies had been playing since they arrived and were starting to get tired, so they were now eating quietly.
When a melodious tune began to play, the babies perked up instantly. They watched curiously as the screen on the stage lowered, finding it fascinating.
The host stood on stage and announced with a smile, "Thank you, distinguished guests, for attending Lin Jie's college acceptance banquet!"
"Today marks the perfect conclusion to Lin Jie's high school career. He achieved outstanding results and became our Meicheng's top science scholar!"
"With his incredible achievements, he also received a generous reward... an acceptance letter from the prestigious Peking University!"
"Let's give Lin Jie a warm round of applause to congratulate him!"
Everyone clapped.
At the host's invitation, Lin Jie went on stage to give a speech.
This was the third school acceptance banquet he had attended, so he had some experience giving speeches by now.
"First and foremost, I want to thank my family," he began.
"They gave me confidence and encouragement! When they learned I was aiming for Peking University, they never doubted my ability. They believed I could do it!"
"I want to sincerely thank my brother, who has always silently supported me and stood by my side!"
"And to my brother, I want to say: thank you, bro!"
Lin Feng hadn't expected Lin Jie to mention him, and a smile touched his lips.
Getting grades like that was because of your hard work and the teachers' efforts. I just did what I should have.
Lin Jie smiled and continued. "Next, I would like to thank my teachers for their tireless dedication in helping me achieve these excellent results."
"Thank you, my teachers. Without you, I wouldn't be where I am today."
His teachers waved their hands dismissively.
"Lin Jie, you're the one who worked hard!"
"As teachers, we are extremely proud and honored to have taught a student as outstanding as you."
"We were just doing our jobs. This is the result of all our efforts combined!"
Lin Jie then thanked Chen Miaomiao and his other friends.
"If it weren't for them, for keeping me company and working hard alongside me through those long nights, I might not have been able to persist through that last month."
"So, I thank them."
"No matter where we find ourselves in the future, I hope our brotherhood remains unchanged."
Zhao Lizhen whispered to Zhou Cuilan, "Lin Jie is becoming more and more outstanding. You're so lucky to have two sons who are both so remarkable."
Zhou Cuilan's expression showed unconcealable pride, but her words were humble. "Not at all, he's just grown up and become more sensible. I didn't do much; it was all his own effort."
Seeing their child shining on stage, the parents beamed with pride. When he first declared he was aiming for Peking University, so many relatives and friends had been waiting to see him fail.
The host signaled for Lin Jie to return to his seat.
"Indeed, you reap what you sow," the host said. "Without all the hard work he put in, how could he have achieved today's results?"
"And the younger brother isn't the only outstanding one; his older brother is just as remarkable."
"Under his meticulous care, the four little angels are growing up strong and healthy."
"Today, they celebrate their first birthday, and so we wish them a happy birthday!"
"May they grow up to be outstanding pillars of our nation!"
As the host spoke, the large screen slowly retracted. Behind it was a forest castle scene that had been set up for the babies, and a children's choir version of "Happy Birthday" began to play. The atmosphere in the venue immediately became joyful.
The event planner laid out all the items for the first-birthday grabbing ceremony on stage.
The host reminded the crowd, "Now, the babies will begin the grabbing ceremony."
"We ask all our guests to please remain quiet and not influence the babies' choices. Please wait patiently."
Following the host's words, everyone fell silent.
The items for the grabbing ceremony were arranged exactly as Zhao Lizhen had specified. The host signaled for everyone to stay quiet and not disturb the babies, letting them choose the items on their own.
...
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