flstandardbreds Chapter 164 Banquet
Chapter 164 Banquet
As night fell and the city lights came on, the Suzuki family mansion was adorned with dazzling lights, resembling a fairytale castle, shimmering brilliantly. Inside the banquet hall, it was resplendent with gold and shimmering with light, the air filled with a subtle blend of floral and high-end perfume scents.
A huge crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, emitting a soft and warm light that illuminated the entire banquet hall as if it were daytime. Exquisite murals hung on the walls, and a soft red carpet was laid on the floor, making each step feel like walking on clouds, gentle and silent.
The guests were dressed in gorgeous formal attire; most of the men were in suits and ties, while the women wore a variety of evening gowns, their skirts swaying gracefully, and their jewelry sparkling brilliantly under the lights.
In one corner of the banquet hall, there was a long buffet table laden with all sorts of delicious food. Unfortunately, most of the food was just for decoration, and few guests actually stood around the table to eat.
Except for... the rest of the blank space.
As Yu Sheng said, today's banquet is because President Suzuki acquired an extremely beautiful and expensive gemstone. In order to show off this rare treasure in front of all the guests, President Suzuki meticulously prepared this grand banquet, intending to make the brilliance of this gemstone the most dazzling focus tonight.
Because these banquets attract a large number of people and involve various troublesome security checks, Bu Yue didn't come with him this time. Therefore, she didn't plan to socialize and intended to stay quietly by herself until Yu Bai came in after the banquet ended, following her father's advice.
After greeting President Suzuki and Sonoko, I headed straight for the food area. I grabbed a small cake I liked and then retreated to a corner to leisurely enjoy it.
"Oh, you unglamorous fellow, I knew you'd hide here." I'd only taken a few bites of the cake in my hand when a familiar voice rang in my ear.
Looking up, he saw a magnificent Atobe standing in front of him, with an equally eye-catching red-haired boy standing beside him.
"Long time no see, Ah Bai." The red-haired boy greeted Yu Bai with a smile when Yu Bai looked up and noticed him.
Upon seeing this person, Yu Bai's eyes instantly curved into two beautiful arcs of joy: "Xiao Zheng, it's been a long time!"
Seijuro Akashi, heir to the Akashi family.
Like the Yu family, the Akashi family and the Atobe family are among the few conglomerates in Sakura, and the Yu family and the Akashi family also frequently have business dealings.
Therefore, Yu Bai knew Akashi Seijuro when he was young.
Back then, as a reborn individual, Yu Bai sometimes saw young Akashi Seijuro diligently learning all sorts of knowledge and skills, and Akashi Seishin's almost harsh demands on him. Whenever he saw the tired expression on young Akashi's tender face, Yu Bai would sincerely sigh that the child was living too hard a life.
Especially during the period when Akashi's mother passed away, Akashi Seishin, who was not good at communicating with his children, chose to suppress the pain of his wife's death in his heart, while being even stricter with his children.
This resulted in Yu Bai smiling less and less every time he saw Akashi Seijuro.
But Yu Bai wasn't a member of the Akashi family, so he had no right to comment on their education. He could only take the man around to relax and have fun when he visited the Akashi family with his father.
How can children be frowning all day long? Of course they should enjoy their childhood happily!
Therefore, whenever Yu Bai came to the Akashi family, the Akashi family's servants would often see their young master being dragged by the Yu family's young master to amusement parks, the beach, to fly kites, to have picnics, to catch fish in the pond, and so on...
The servants couldn't stop them even if they wanted to, and the only one who could stop them was Akashi Seishin, the head of the Akashi family, who didn't prevent the two from becoming friends because of Yu Bai's identity and certain other reasons.
Under Yu Bai's guidance and companionship, Akashi Seijuro was finally able to show the smile unique to children of that age in front of him.
As time went by, Akashi Seijuro and Yu Bai joined Hyotei and Teiko, respectively, and they didn't see each other as often as they did when they were children.
One day during the first semester of third grade, Akashi Seijuro called Yu Bai and invited him to watch Teiko's match. After accepting the invitation, Yu Bai met Akashi Seijuro, who now has heterochromia.
Unlike his previous gentle and polite image with red eyes, Seijuro with heterochromia exudes a sharper aura.
Later, while watching his match, Yu Bai heard from his childhood friends words such as, "I have conquered everything, everything I do is right. You have defied me to such an extent that simply making you sit down is not enough. Kneel down!"
Yu Bai was shocked, Yu Bai didn't understand, and Yu Bai respected him.
Although we don't know what triggered this friend to suddenly become so immature and even seem to have a slight personality change.
But even after this person left the stage, when he was staring intently at him with those heterochromatic eyes, Yu Bai still gave his friend a big hug.
No matter what, Akashi Seijuro is Akashi Seijuro.
"It's been a while since I've seen you. The national tournament is coming up soon. Would you like to come watch the competition, Ah Bai?" When Akashi Seijuro faced Yu Bai, his heterochromatic eyes, which usually carried an air of authority and sharpness, softened slightly.
"Ugh, no way, this guy wants to come watch my match." Atobe Keigo said unhappily, stroking the beauty mark at the corner of his eye.
Because Yu Bai became a Saniwa, he hadn't been able to watch Hyotei's matches for a long time. And now, Akashi actually wanted to kidnap him? That's incredibly annoying.
As Atobe Keigo thought this, his purple eyes met Akashi Seijuro's heterochromatic eyes without any hesitation.
"Heh, didn't you get second place last year? What, are you confident you can win the championship this year?" Akashi Seijuro said with a smirk.
"Hmph, the champion this year is naturally Hyotei, led by me! You guys are the ones who should win. Judging from your Teiko's recent performance and the mentality of your players, I can see it all clearly. What's so interesting about a game where you're so individualistic and disrespectful to your opponents?" Atobe Keigo retorted without backing down.
He had previously watched the Teiko vs. Dojimazaki match, in which Teiko won by a large margin of 109:5, but Atobe Keigo, with his abnormal observational skills, noticed the mental issues among Teiko's regular players.
"If you want to win, you have to be even more ruthless. Victory is everything," Akashi Seijuro said coldly.
"Heh~" Atobe Keigo snorted disdainfully.
Seeing that the atmosphere was getting increasingly awkward, Yu Bai quickly interrupted, "It's okay, it's okay. I can go watch the finals. The national finals for tennis and basketball are not at the same time, so I'll go watch both."
As he spoke, Yu Bai quickly scooped two large spoonfuls from the small cake in his hand and stuffed them into the mouths of Akashi Seijuro and Atobe Keigo, one bite each: "Come on~ have some dessert to fill your stomachs."
……
Seijuro Akashi: You didn't even win the championship last year, and you still have the nerve to let Shiro watch your matches?
Atobe Keigo: I don't even want to talk about the problems within your team. And what right does Haku have to watch Teiko's matches when he's a student of Hyotei?!
Akashi Seijuro: *stares*
Atobe Keigo: Stare —————
Yu Bai: Quiet down, quiet down, let's have a small cake.