Chapter 75: Family Banquet

The day of the Liang family's longevity banquet arrived as scheduled.
As long-time friends, the Perez family showed great respect. Mr. and Mrs. Perez, as well as Eric and Monica, were all present and brought valuable congratulatory gifts, expressing their sincerity.
Lawrence's mother and Lawrence stood at the door, smiling politely, welcoming the waves of guests.
His father passed away early, Lawrence's grandfather's health was not good, and Lawrence had been pursuing his photography dream overseas for many years.
Therefore, the whole family relied on Lawrence's mother to manage everything inside and outside the house, even Mrs. Perez admired her perseverance.
The two sides exchanged pleasantries at the door, Lawrence's mother looked at Eric and politely smiled, "Eric has grown up so much now. I heard that he's been managing the company very well. He's truly outstanding."
Just as she finished speaking, her tone turned bitter, "Unlike my incompetent son, who messes around with that broken camera all day and doesn't take care of the family business."
The smile on Lawrence's face faded a little.
Mrs. Perez placed her hand on Lawrence's mother's hand and said, "You can't say that. Everyone has their own aspirations. Lawrence has a great talent in photography. I heard from Monica that he recently won a world-class award. That's something that many people can't achieve in their lifetime."
Upon hearing Monica's name, Lawrence's mother finally looked at her, nodded lightly as a greeting, and stepped aside to invite them in.
Monica somewhat sensed that Lawrence's mother seemed to dislike her.
The villa was brightly lit, and the banquet hall was beautifully decorated. It was said that even the color of the tablecloth was carefully chosen, grand yet solemn.
Mrs. Perez nodded repeatedly and said, "I heard that she personally arranged this longevity banquet. As the head of the household, she is truly remarkable."
The "she" naturally referred to Lawrence's mother.
Monica looked back and saw Lawrence's mother and Lawrence still standing at the door, their figures straight as pillars in the night.
The Perez family first went to visit the birthday star.
When Lawrence's grandfather, Liang, saw Monica, he was very happy, waved his hand to greet her to sit by his side, looked her up and down, and smiled with satisfaction.
"Back then, when your grandfather was still alive, you were only this tall. Now, in the blink of an eye, you've grown up so much, my girl."
After showing concern for Monica, he looked at Eric, "How about Eric? Still single? Does grandpa need to introduce you to a few people?"
Eric joked, "No need for you to worry, Grandpa. My mom is even more anxious than you are. She has arranged blind dates for me that are scheduled for next year."
Grandpa Liang burst into laughter.
Laughing, he sat in a wheelchair, extending his hand to signal the servant, "Bring me the thing."
The servant turned around and quickly brought a small box.
The dark red velvet fabric looked as if it bore the traces of time. Grandpa Liang reached out and gently stroked it, seemingly nostalgic, before slowly opening it.
"This is something left by Lawrence's grandmother, not a valuable jade, but it has a good meaning. It has been blessed by a master at the temple."
Lawrence took out the bracelet, its emerald green curvature shining translucent under the light.
"This thing has been covered in dust for too long. I always thought it was a pity. Today, Monica happens to be here, and besides you, I can't think of anyone more suitable to wear it. I'll give it to you as a gift from an elder during our first meeting."
Although Lawrence Liang didn't explicitly say it, the implication behind the item left by Lawrence's grandmother couldn't be more obvious. Monica was startled, too afraid to accept it.
She lowered her hands and sought help by looking towards Mrs. Perez.
Mrs. Perez took a step forward, gently blocking her daughter's hands, and smiled, saying, "We can't give Monica such a valuable thing. She is always so careless and has broken so many bracelets we bought for her. We are grateful enough that you like Monica with such sincerity."
Lawrence Liang insisted on giving it, but Mrs. Perez made a strong effort to persuade him to take the gift back.
Just then, Lawrence arrived with his mother. Lawrence Liang glanced at her and didn't bring up the matter again.
Monica finally relaxed a little and took the opportunity during the banquet to escape to a small balcony on the side.
She secretly called Steven and complained softly, "I still have some time left... it's so boring, all the elders here, we have to be polite and follow the rules, can't make any mistakes."
Steven chatted with her for a while, then Monica asked, "Where will you wait for me later?"
"I'll come pick you up?"
"No! There are too many people here, my mom will be here too, it's not good if we're discovered."
"I'll wait for you at the entrance of the city park, it's closer to the Liang family." Steven paused for a moment, seemingly estimating the time, "Is one hour enough?"
"Yes, that's enough. I'm almost done with dinner, so I'll find an excuse to slip away."
"Alright, I'll leave in half an hour on time." He smiled, "Ms. Perez, looking forward to our meeting tonight."
After hanging up the phone, Monica couldn't help but raise the corners of her lips, her mood brightened as she emerged from behind the curtains and returned to the banquet hall along the corridor.
However, she saw a slightly ajar door in the distance, light spilling out from inside, illuminating the tiled floor of the corridor.
"I knew it..." A woman's intermittent weeping could be faintly heard from inside the room.
"For so many years, he never respected me! Never acknowledged me! After being married for so long, what have I done wrong?! Dealing with in-laws, educating children, I've put my heart and soul into the Liang family! And yet, that bracelet was hidden for so many years. Today, in front of all these people, it is given to a young girl, his future granddaughter-in-law, but he never even thought about giving it to me, his daughter-in-law, for just one day!"
The room fell silent, only the heavy breaths could be faintly heard.
"Mom..." Lawrence's voice came through helplessly.
"You dare to call me!" Liang's usually gentle and composed mother was now completely lost, almost on the verge of collapse.
"You knew I didn't agree, so you deliberately went to find your grandfather, didn't you?! Do you even have me as your mother in your heart? Have you ever considered my feelings?"
"Is it easy for me to manage this household all these years? Do you know that all your cousins have been eyeing the Liang family’s assets? If it weren't for me protecting you, the title of the young master of the Liang family would have been long gone!"
Lawrence said, "But I'm not interested. Whoever wants it can have it."
It seemed like Lawrence's words only angered his mother even more, as she continued to gasp for breath.
"You think I'm interested? Do you think I enjoy doing all this? Isn't everything I do for you? When you said you wanted to study photography, pursue your dreams, and not be involved in business, I agreed. I gave you a few years to freely do what you wanted. Now you've received awards, done what you needed to do, isn't it time to come back and share the burden with your mother?"
Lawrence remained silent and didn't say anything.
"Fine, if you don't want to talk about this, let's talk about something else." his mother slowly stabilized her emotions.
"First of all, the future mistress of the Liang family must be knowledgeable, polite, capable of handling affairs, and definitely not someone who is spoiled and has a princess-like attitude. Even at home, she must be revered like an ancestor..."
"Mom," Lawrence interrupted again, "Don't bother with me."
After speaking, Monica heard footsteps, seeming like Lawrence was coming out.
She didn't know whether to move forward or backward and coincidentally bumped into him, saying awkwardly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."
Before she could finish her sentence, a small porcelain vase was thrown from the inside, straight towards Lawrence's back.
Monica became extremely alarmed and instinctively tried to pull him, but Lawrence reacted and lunged towards her, embracing her shoulders and using his back to meet the flying vase.
With a "crack," the vase smashed into the person, making a dull, shattering sound.
At the same time, both of them tumbled onto the floor in a disheveled manner. Lawrence's hand cushioned Monica's back, shielding her from some of the impact and embedding itself in the densely scattered fragments.
Monica quickly got up while Lawrence also stood up, holding her hand and hurrying towards the other side of the corridor, saying, "Let's not stay here for now."
The two of them turned a corner along the way before he let go of her hand.
Monica looked down and saw blood seeping from Lawrence's hand, the bright red color spreading and staining his pure white shirt cuff in a dirty mess.
She was startled and quickly grabbed Lawrence's wrist, carefully examining it. The small porcelain shards from the vase were embedded deep in his flesh, dense and painfully looking.
Lawrence frowned and struggled, trying to withdraw his hand, pretending to be calm, he said, "I'm fine."
"No, this much bleeding needs to be treated, let's go to the hospital right away."
Monica took out a handkerchief from her pocket, attempting to wipe away the mottled bloodstains.
Lawrence allowed her to do so, watching her profile, his face showing a hint of displeasure.
Monica looked relieved and smiled, "Finally done washing the photos, right?"
Monica took out her phone anxiously, "Why are you still thinking about these things at a time like this? I'll call someone."
Lawrence stopped her, "Absolutely not. Today is my grandfather's birthday celebration, and I'm bleeding. It's not good to make a big fuss. The elderly believes in these things, so it's better if fewer people know."
Lawrence was injured because he was protecting her. Monica couldn't just leave him alone. She gritted her teeth and said, "Then I'll accompany you. The wound needs to be treated. It's not good if you lose too much blood."
Mr. Louie the driver from the Perez family, had been waiting at the door. Monica helped Lawrence into the car and asked Mr. Louie to take them to the nearest hospital before picking up Mrs. Perez and the others.
Mr. Louie glanced at the backseat through the rearview mirror and said, "Alright, Miss."
The car sped along the road in the night and soon arrived at the hospital. Lawrence's hand was injured and inconvenient, so Monica hurriedly helped him with the registration and bandaging, which took quite a while to finish.
The smell of disinfectant permeated the hospital, and the harsh white light hung from the ceiling. The two of them sat in silence on the long bench in the hallway.
"I'm sorry," Lawrence suddenly spoke, his voice low. "I'm really sorry you saw the joke of our family."
He had lost his usual gentle smile, revealing rare melancholy, which made Monica feel somewhat sorry for him.
"It's okay."
"I'm a man who can't take responsibility," he looked at his palm wrapped in gauze. "I've hurt the people close to me in pursuit of my dreams."
"But people only live once, and if given the chance, of course, it's best to live for oneself to be happy," Monica said.
"I'm not here to persuade you to do anything, nor do I have that right. I'm just speaking as a friend. No matter what you choose, I hope you can always be happy."
Her every word struck heavy chords in his heart, resonating in his chest.
Lawrence took a deep breath and gathered his courage to speak.
"Monica."
He gently held her wrist, his own face pale from blood loss, appearing somewhat fragile under the lights.
The gentle smile that was forever imprinted in Monica's memory had now turned into a tired and bitter curve of his lips.
"Can you stay and talk with me?
Monica was momentarily stunned, and at that moment, her phone in her palm vibrated, and the Facebook notification sound rang out.
Almost forgot, Steven was still waiting for her.