Chapter 2223 - 717: Xue’s Home

8:10 a.m.

Yan City International Airport, the quiet and private FBO (fixed-base operator for business jets).

Three black Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedans glided to a smooth stop under the dedicated entrance canopy of the terminal.

The doors opened, and a party of seven got out one after another.

Without exception, they were all dressed in top-tier custom suits or skirt suits, looking sharp and capable, their leather shoes gleaming, every movement radiating the razor-edged aura belonging to the very top tier of finance elites.

The ground staff who had long been waiting hurried forward, respectfully taking their suitcases and briefcases from the drivers.

The VIP reception manager, wearing a perfectly measured warm smile, stepped up to the tall woman walking in front: "President Lin, good morning! Your Bombardier Challenger 850 and crew are ready. We’ve also prepared freshly ground Blue Mountain coffee and French-style pastries in the lounge for all of you."

"Thank you."

Lin Muxue nodded lightly, her exquisite makeup flawless in the morning light.

She didn’t say anything extra, just took long strides and headed straight inside.

The team members behind her immediately and tacitly fell in line, keeping a distance that was neither too near nor too far.

In the separate VIP lounge, the atmosphere was relaxed yet efficient.

Several core members of the project team—analysts, investment managers—were clustered in twos and threes, holding coffee cups, quietly discussing the final details of this trip to Chang’an.

Lin Muxue didn’t join in. She simply held a cup of warm black tea and sat gracefully on a single sofa.

She took out her phone and tapped open the pinned chat.

First she adjusted the angle, snapped a photo, and sent it over.

Then she left a message: "(#^.^#) President Tang, I’ve arrived at the airport. I’ll take care of the affairs in Chang’an as quickly as possible, then come back and go to France with you. (#playful)"

"Bzz bzz bzz—"

[Tang Song: "Mm, no rush. You can just take this opportunity to go home for a visit. Be safe on the road."]

The corners of Lin Muxue’s lips involuntarily lifted slightly as she replied: [Thank you, my dear President Tang, love you~]

Satisfied, she exited the chat and returned to the main WhatsApp interface.

Her fingertips paused for a moment, then tapped open a rather noisy relatives’ group chat called [One Big Loving Family].

The latest messages were popping up one after another.

[Jiajia: Yanta District Shangri-La Hotel.map]

[Jiajia: "@Everyone, no need to rush, just get here around 11. The check-in desk is set up at the entrance to the private room area on the second floor, you’ll see it as soon as you come out of the second-floor elevator."]

[Jiajia: Check-in desk.jpg, Banquet hall 1.jpg, Banquet hall 2.jpg...]

[Jiajia: Hotel guide video.video]

[Second Aunt: "@Jiajia, we’ve already left Zhou County. We’ll go to your brother Chaohui’s place for a bit first, then head to the hotel together as a group."]

[Cousin Sister - Xiang Tong: "Wow! Jiajia, the scale of your event is huge! This hotel is seriously high-end, it’s my first time eating at the Shangri-La!"]

[Cousin Brother - Chaohui: "That’s right, it’s the Shangri-La, a five-star. It really counts as one of the top ones in our Chang’an."]

[Second Aunt: "Of course, our Jiajia found herself a good boyfriend. Zhao Peng’s family is in big business."]

[Older Brother: "(thumbs-up sticker)"]

[Eldest Uncle: Voice message.mp3]

...

Lin Muxue scrolled up and down through the chat log and opened the guide video Jiajia had shot.

The camera was a bit shaky, starting from the hotel’s resplendent, gold-lit lobby, accompanied by Jiajia’s slightly show-offy commentary:

"Everyone comes in from here, turn right and take this sightseeing elevator straight up to the second floor... Look, the check-in desk is right here... And then the banquet hall is here, we booked this Peony Hall..."

The camera deliberately lingered on the interior of the banquet hall, which had been decorated to look incredibly luxurious and romantic.

Lin Muxue let out a soft laugh, a trace of complicated memory flashing through her eyes.

On her mother’s side, it was a huge family—five siblings’ households, all tangled together.

Above her mother there were two older brothers and two younger sisters; she was the youngest daughter.

There were many cousins in the family, and quite a few were already married with children, some even with a third generation.

She and this cousin sister, Shi Mengjia, were basically the only two of their age group who hadn’t married yet.

Even though they didn’t grow up in the same place, they still interacted a lot as kids. Because both were considered fairly pretty, relatives naturally liked to compare them, and they’d had plenty of overt and covert rivalry in the past.

But as the years went by, Lin Muxue just kept becoming more striking—tall and curvy, with features that grew more and more refined and elegant.

Of course, her eldest aunt’s family was in much better circumstances than hers, and Jiajia had always done well in school. She got into a pretty good university, and her job after graduation was good too—rumor had it she worked in finance at a conglomerate in Chang’an.

And Zhao Peng, the fiancé she had now, was the son of a minority shareholder in that big company.

In the relatives’ eyes, this really counted as marrying up in top-tier fashion, and among their generation of relatives, he was currently the one who’d made it the furthest.

Now that she was finally getting engaged, of course the entire extended family had to show up and give her full face, all flocking over to attend and help build up the atmosphere.

And naturally, there was no shortage of intentions to curry a bit of favor.

All this was what Lin Muxue had pieced together these last few days from the messages in the relatives’ group chat.

Because she hadn’t been home for such a long time, she actually didn’t even know what Zhao Peng looked like.

"Bzz bzz bzz—" Her phone vibrated.

[Cousin Sister - Xiang Tong: "@Xue, I heard from Muchuan that you’re coming back to Chang’an today too? Where are you now?"]

[Second Aunt: "Oh my, it’s been almost two years since we saw Xue, hasn’t it? You didn’t come home for last year’s New Year either. Muchuan said you’re working in finance in Yan City now?"]

[Cousin Brother - Chaohui: "Not ’finance’ as in regular accounting, it’s the financial industry."]