Mountain village beauty: Brother, don't stop!

Chapter 218: Chapter 218 The Stone Gambling Convention Officially Begins

"But the hotel belongs to our Wen Family, Dad, can’t you simply refuse to let them host it at our hotel?"

Wen Xiaowei asked, puzzled. freewēbnoveℓ.com

"Simply refuse?"

Wen Xiangyong chuckled bitterly.

"Our hotel has always been open for business. If we refuse outright, it would imply that we are afraid. Do you want them to mock the Wen Family for admitting defeat without a fight? Isn’t that more embarrassing than losing?"

Wen Xiaowei fell silent and didn’t speak anymore.

Wen Yonglin had been silent the entire time, just watching Wang Hao with a complex look in his eyes.

"All right, rest assured, I definitely won’t let the Wen Family lose face today. If I don’t manage it, you can do as you please with me!"

Although Wang Hao was somewhat worried, he had no other alternative at the moment. Since he had already promised Wen Yonglin, he could only dare to give it a try.

Because the six stones he had were after all related to the Heart of the Dragon, he believed that he could win. As for the reason, he didn’t elaborate.

"It’s getting late, Xiangyong, quickly send someone to set up the banquet hall."

Wen Yonglin lifted his head and said to Wen Xiangyong.

After Wen Xiangyong had gone, Wen Xiaowei also changed into a different outfit. After all, as the young lady of the Wen Family, she couldn’t attend a banquet dressed in martial arts attire, especially at their own turf. Naturally, she had to dress more appropriately.

By around seven in the evening, many guests gradually arrived at the banquet hall.

The men were all in suits and the women in evening gowns, all dressed very glamorously and properly except for Wang Hao, who was the only one wearing a white T-shirt with a black jacket on top, appearing somewhat out of place.

"Who is this guy? Why has he come dressed like this?"

"Exactly, hasn’t he ever attended such a grand banquet? Why is he dressed like a peasant?"

"Keep your voice down. Didn’t you see him sitting next to Mr. Wen Yonglin? He’s definitely not a nobody. Be careful with what you say!"

A few guests who had just entered the venue couldn’t help whispering among themselves after seeing Wang Hao’s simple attire.

But after seeing him sitting next to Wen Yonglin, they stopped discussing after a couple of sentences.

Although they didn’t say anything more and deliberately concealed their disdain for Wang Hao, the way they looked at him and occasionally pointed and gestured towards him was all seen by Wen Xiaowei.

At that moment, Wen Xiaowei was sitting next to Wang Hao. Seeing the strange looks from those people made her feel quite awkward.

Suddenly, there was a commotion at the entrance of the banquet hall.

Wen Xiaowei turned her head to look, then immediately twisted her head away.

Wang Hao, seeing Wen Xiaowei’s action, unconsciously looked toward the entrance. It turned out Wu Jianzhong had arrived.

Accompanying Wu Jianzhong, besides the expert who appraised jade during the day, was an old man with a full head of white hair.

Although the old man had white hair, he still had a spring in his step, courteously greeting everyone who came up to shake his hand, looking very affable.

However, when he looked at Wen Yonglin, a sly smile crossed his face.

This was the Wu Family patriarch, Wu Yangming.

Wu Yangming, accompanied by Wu Jianzhong and the middle-aged man, walked straight to the table at the front of the venue and smirked at Wen Yonglin.

"Old Wen, you really dared to show up?"

Wen Yonglin snorted coldly, thinking to himself that it’s his own hotel, so why wouldn’t he dare to come?

"Mr. Wen, where’s your jade? Bring it out for us to admire!"

Wu Jianzhong sat at the table, arrogantly crossing his legs and provoking.

Wen Yonglin and Wen Xiangyong exchanged a dark look upon hearing this.

Wen Xiaowei had already clenched her fists under the table, grinding her teeth and glaring at Wu Jianzhong. She despised his smug look and wished she could send him to the hospital right away.

"You’ll see it when the jade betting contest starts soon, won’t you? Why the rush at this moment?"

Wen Yonglin said, feigning composure, but he was tremendously nervous inside. The thought of bringing out those small stones Wang Hao had brought back later made him fear that the Wen Family would become the laughingstock.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Wu Jianzhong cast a cold glance at Wang Hao, then sneered sarcastically.

"The person sitting beside you isn’t the appraiser you invited, is he? I thought you had invited some remarkable expert over. It turns out to be an inconspicuous farmer. You really dared to invite him!"

Wen Yonglin then shot a disdainful look at Wu Jianzhong. The young man was far too conceited.

"This time, the Wu Family has invited the venerable Jiang Hong, an authority in the jade stone appraisal world. He’s chosen for us the finest jade stones in the entire Zao City, with a market value of over ten million."

Wu Jianzhong then leaned closer to Wen Yonglin, curling his lips as he spoke.

"Grandpa Wen, you’d better have your money ready!"

"You..."

Wen Xiaowei just couldn’t take it anymore. Watching Wu Jianzhong’s overbearing face, with every word implying an insult to the Wen Family, she prepared to charge over and teach him a lesson.

But before she could even stand up, she was stopped by Wang Hao.

Wen Xiaowei angrily glared at Wang Hao.

Wang Hao, still blocking her, glared back at Wen Xiaowei, his eyes conveying, "Stay put and don’t argue with me, you can’t beat me anyway."

"Oh, Jianzhong, how can you be so sure that our Wen Family will lose?"

Wen Yonglin suppressed his anger and asked with a light laugh.

"Isn’t that a foregone conclusion? Have you ever won before?"

After Wu Jianzhong finished speaking, he burst into loud laughter.

"You..."

The Wen father and son were at a loss for words; the hard truth was that in the many past jade stone gambling events, the Wu Family had almost always won. It was as if the outcome had been decided in advance.

"Oh, Elder Wen, Elder Wu, you’re both already here. Why so early today?"

While Wu Jianzhong was boasting, an old man stepped through the doorway, loudly greeting Wen Yonglin and Wu Yangming as soon as he entered.

And he was accompanied by a young and beautiful woman.

The old man looked spry, his hair dyed jet black, and his outfit was rather sophisticated.

But what drew the most attention was the beauty by his side, truly stunning, as though she had stepped right out of a painting.

Wang Hao couldn’t help but take a few extra glances, but he detected a hint of disdain in the girl’s eyes.

This spirited elder was Yi Chenguang from the Yi Family, and the beautiful young woman was his youngest granddaughter, Yi Yaoyao.

Wang Hao found it very strange that the Yi Family didn’t bring an appraiser with them.

"Come, say hello to everyone!"

Yi Chenguang directed his granddaughter Yi Yaoyao to greet the people around the table.

Yi Yaoyao greeted each person, but conspicuously skipped over Wang Hao.

Wang Hao, sitting right next to Wen Yonglin in such an obvious spot, couldn’t possibly go unnoticed by the Yi Family; even if Yi Yaoyao was young and unaware, Yi Chenguang would surely know.

Their attitude made it clear that they were targeting Wang Hao, signaling that he shouldn’t have gotten involved in this muddy business.

Wen Yonglin and Wen Xiangyong’s expressions shifted slightly upon witnessing this scene.

Wang Hao said nothing, didn’t take it to heart, and simply dismissed it as childishly impolite behavior.

"Since almost everyone has arrived, let’s get started!"

Wu Jianzhong seemed somewhat impatient.

"It’s dinner time now, and I guess no one has eaten yet. Shall we have something to eat before we start?"

Feeling a bit anxious, Wen Yonglin suggested they eat first, also as a way to delay and calm his own nerves.

"We can appraise the jade while eating, no problem. That will even stimulate the appetite!"

While Wu Yangming maintained a cheerful exterior, inside he was eagerly looking forward to seeing Wen Yonglin make a fool of himself.

"Yes, that’s right, we just need to watch; we can eat and watch at the same time!"

Yi Chenguang echoed in agreement.

Wen Yonglin suddenly furrowed his brows, as the Wu and Yi families seemed to be singing the same tune, showing an obvious alliance.

But now that both had spoken, Wen Yonglin couldn’t postpone further without appearing to others as if he were deliberately dragging his feet, afraid before the event had even started.

"Let’s begin!"

Wen Yonglin then signaled the event host on stage, and the jade stone gambling conference officially commenced...