At the residence, Yang's family was waiting for the presence of the son of the high minister.
"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 a pride that Wu's third daughter also came. 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 knew 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 bigger hope than others to attach flesh and blood to Wu.
"Master Yang. Madames 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.
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; he gave a possible reply, and this gave big pleasure to the old Yang—he was sure this young guy 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 three madames of Yang sitting with smiles over their lips, and she could guess that in the chair closer to Yang Fu was the first Yang madame, then the second Yang madame, and third 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 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."
When he heard it, 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; there was no doubt he was successful in business. The wonderful thing was he did not have story repetition.
When they jumped to tour the park, Lantian thought Yang Fu should work as a matchmaker since his design ideas for men and women were very great. 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.
"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 was going to have the meal. It was big, with a large round table in the middle. The girl counted the seats and saw there were ten. 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.
"Er, well…" Old Yang was unable to respond; he just showed a forced smile on his lips. As for Lady Fan, she held an unhappy face.
"You have five daughters, so chairs should be eleven."
Hearing that acclamation, Yang Fu saw the intention of the daughter of the mayor. He hurriedly said to his maid, "Go to call the second miss."
At that moment, the first madame held a cross face that all the servants could sense—hence, they did not dare to step out of the hall. Immediately, Lady Ju spoke to a young maid that was standing behind her daughter, Liqing: "Go to invite the second miss to dinner."
Hearing that, Lady Fan threw irate eyeballs towards the maid, but the girl ignored her since she was the private maid of the second mistress.
"Yes, Madame," she said, then ran quickly to the camp of the elder daughter of the master.
"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 eyebrows. "Father calls me to have dinner?"
The maid nodded, "Yes."
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. 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, the girl walked with her head and eyes kept low. In her head, 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."
When Caihong raised her head up, she was surprised to see Lantian. She remembered about her, and her mind felt troubled, because 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.
"Young Master Wu, Young Lady Wu," Caihong said in a soft voice.
"Second miss," Longwei greeted.
"Second Miss Yang," Lantian said, stressing her name.
Hearing that made Caihong's mind not at rest. She made her eyes lower and tried to calm her feelings, which were full of worry since she felt that she was called to be presented in this hall because of this high girl.
When the meal arrived, the Yang girls ate and had some chat; only Caihong ate quietly, and her face did not show any contentment. Sitting between sisters was a big pressure for her.
If talking about Liqing, she did not have any hate towards her elder sister, but Ehuang was angry that Caihong was sitting equally. This first young mistress of Yang never wanted to admit Caihong was her sister because she looked down on her because she was born from the low concubine, and she thought that Caihong's mother had stolen her father from her mother. This problem Caihong knew about, and she knew that she was not welcomed, especially by her first mother and her eldest sister. Actually, she did not want to attend, but she could not refuse. During eating, her mind prayed the dinner would end quickly. She felt, in this room, there was no air for her to breathe.
The same as Caihong, Lantian sat and ate quietly. Since her chair was opposite to the second daughter of Yang, her eyes shot straight at her and perceived she was eating very little and holding not a cheery expression. Furthermore, she found there were several recipes on the table, but Caihong put chopsticks into a plate of food that was before her only. Looking at the girl's expression, Lantian guessed that she did not adore the meal she was eating. Seeing that, at once, she dropped chopsticks and raised up words: "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; she raised a teacup to drink from.
Seeing that, Yang Fu quickly said to his maid, "Bring the chef for young lady Wu."
"Wait," Lantian called. "I think I need recommendations from young ladies."
Hearing the claim, the Yangs' daughters raised their features up, except Caihong.