Chapter 566: The Empress Dowager's Imperial Appointment

Quite a few people were willing to spend a little extra for a good night’s sleep.

“Boss.”

Zhou Meng called out hurriedly as he watched Tan Hua get out of the car, arm in arm with Qi Sheng.

“Hello, ma’am.”

“Hello.”

Tan Hua smiled and nodded, not expecting Qi Sheng to bring her to the hotel’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

“It’s been over a year. You’re looking well.”

Qi Sheng said with a smile, patting Zhou Meng on the shoulder.

Back when the hotel in Xixi Wetland was rebranded as a Banyan Tree, Zhou Meng’s performance had been outstanding.

Now that the renovation of the West Lake Hotel was complete, Zhou Meng had been promoted a rank, just as he had hoped.

“Hehe, I can’t compare to you. President Chen is currently receiving some officials. Please, come in.”

Beaming, Zhou Meng bowed slightly and led the way.

Chen Ye also hurried to the hotel lobby, running right into Qi Sheng and his party.

“Chairman.”

Chen Ye greeted him respectfully.

“How long until the opening ceremony starts?”

Qi Sheng smiled, waved his hand dismissively, and asked casually.

“Another half hour. There are a few officials who are very eager to speak with you. Would that be convenient?”

Chen Ye finished his answer, then asked cautiously.

“Then let’s have a casual chat.”

Qi Sheng patted Tan Hua’s hand, then followed Chen Ye to a reception room on the top floor of the hotel.

“Gentlemen, this is the chairman of our Banyan Tree Group, Mr. Qi Sheng.”

Chen Ye announced with a smile after knocking and entering the room.

“Ah, Chairman Qi, a pleasure to meet you.”

Chen Ye had already briefed him on the identities of these officials.

The highest-ranking among them was merely a fourth-in-command at the district level.

Given Qi Sheng’s status, he really didn’t need to pay them much mind.

However, you don’t slap a smiling face.

So, Qi Sheng was quite polite, shaking their hands and exchanging a few pleasantries.

When it was time for the opening ceremony, Qi Sheng and the officials went outside the hotel.

The stage, which had been set up in advance, was ready.

Chen Ye, acting as the host, gave a passionate speech and then announced,

“I now declare the grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Banyan Tree West Lake Hotel, a brand under the Banyan Tree Group, officially open!”

Qi Sheng and the others cut the red ribbon, and the hotel employees applauded in unison.

The male employees were fine, but the female employees were busy whispering among themselves.

‘Our boss is so handsome it’s practically illegal.’

After the ribbon-cutting, Chen Ye still had to entertain the group of officials.

Qi Sheng couldn’t be bothered to participate, so he took Tan Hua and began to wander around the hotel on their own.

With Zhou Meng accompanying them, it wasn’t boring.

When they grew tired of touring the hotel, they went for a stroll along the shore of West Lake.

For Tan Hua, this kind of simple, everyday couple’s activity was a luxury.

“Honey, it’s been so long since we’ve taken a walk together, just the two of us.”

Tan Hua said with a sigh, holding onto Qi Sheng’s arm.

“Then I’ll make more time to spend with you from now on.”

Qi Sheng felt a pang of guilt and couldn’t help but pull his girlfriend’s slender, soft waist closer.

“Oh, I’m not blaming you. I know it’s not easy for you, always working so hard for this big family of ours.”

“Yingying told us you signed that high-stakes deal. We’re all worried about you.”

“Even if you really lose everything, we’ll be right there with you, fighting by your side!”

Seeing Qi Sheng’s awkward expression, Tan Hua let out a giggle.

“Don’t worry about the deal. I wouldn’t have done it if I wasn’t confident.”

Qi Sheng ruffled Tan Hua’s hair, a warmth spreading through his heart.

“Mhm, I believe in you!”

Tan Hua looked at Qi Sheng with her sparkling, beautiful eyes, which were filled with blind faith in him.

In her heart, Qi Sheng was omnipotent.

No matter the industry, as long as Qi Sheng set his mind to it,

he would only succeed, never fail.

Aside from his philandering, Qi Sheng was truly the perfect dreamboat every girl fantasized about.

‘But you can’t blame him entirely for being a womanizer.’

‘If you had to blame someone, you could only blame the system.’

‘Fortunately, Qi Sheng had already beaten the system, so he no longer had to blindly increase the number of his girlfriends.’

They walked around West Lake for over an hour.

Qi Sheng and Tan Hua talked about everything from how they first met to the present, from their families to their hobbies.

Only when Tan Hua started to get tired did they get in the car and return to Yunxi Rose Garden.

Before leaving for the New Year holiday, Qi Sheng had promised his parents

that he would buy them an authentic Jiang Nan garden-style villa.

Qiu Lei had been running around trying to take care of this matter for some time.

But finding a place that could accommodate their entire large family was proving to be a difficult task.

He couldn’t find a villa in all of Hangzhou that met Qi Sheng’s requirements.

But as long as you have money, there’s no problem that can’t be solved.

Qi Sheng spent 400 million to buy two Chinese-style courtyard homes in Yunxi Rose Garden.

Combined, the two courtyard homes occupied a total of eight acres, with the main courtyard alone being 3,600 square meters.

It boasted ten bedrooms, sixteen courtyards, and an eight-car garage.

Both Chinese-style courtyard homes were premier, lakefront villas in the community.

They faced south, a sign of excellent feng shui.

Even with his entire family moving in, it wouldn’t feel crowded in the slightest.

Living in the same city all the time can get boring after a while.

The villa in Yunxi Rose Garden perfectly matched the Jiang Nan garden style that the old couple wanted.

It had small bridges over flowing water, white walls and black tiles—quaint and antique.

Aside from being a bit expensive, you could hardly find a single fault with it.

To this day, Qi Zhizhong and Zhu Min still hadn’t fully processed the surprise of living in a mansion worth hundreds of millions.

Their son was successful, and they could finally hold their heads high.

The only downside was that more people were asking to borrow money.

Living here in Hangzhou was, at the very least, quiet enough.

If they had a choice,

who would want to live in the icy north instead of the south, where it was like spring all year round?

“Huahua is back.”

Seeing Qi Sheng and Tan Hua arm in arm, Zhu Min felt both gratified and guilty.

Who could have imagined that Qi Sheng would give her such a huge surprise?

‘All these daughters-in-law are beautiful and know how to please people.’

‘Although Tan Hua is wonderful, what mother doesn’t favor her own son?’

‘Besides, what elderly person doesn’t want more grandchildren to hold?’

‘With only Tan Hua as a daughter-in-law, there was a chance she might not get any grandchildren.’

‘But with so many daughters-in-law, Zhu Min was already worrying about how she would dote on all her future grandchildren.’

“Auntie, are you and Uncle satisfied with this villa?”

Tan Hua let go of Qi Sheng’s hand and warmly took Zhu Min’s arm.

“Of course, we’re satisfied! His father and I never even dreamed we’d live in such a beautiful, big house.”

Zhu Min was grinning from ear to ear, filled with an immense sense of pride.

Her son was successful, so of course, she, his mother, had more face.

“We’ll be staying in Hangzhou for a while, too. Once you and Uncle have settled in, we’ll come back to stay for the New Year.”

Seeing how satisfied Zhu Min was, Tan Hua secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She had also helped advise on the choice of these two Chinese-style courtyard homes for a long time before the decision was made.

If Zhu Min, her future mother-in-law, had been dissatisfied, she didn’t know how upset she would have been.

‘Can’t be helped. Who was the one with so many sisters?’

‘If she wanted to maintain her position as the empress, how could she not serve Zhu Min, the Empress Dowager, well?’

‘Luckily, Zhu Min had always been especially fond of her.’

‘In terms of status, the other girlfriends were far behind her.’

Qi Sheng didn’t disturb the mother-and-daughter-like pair, who were chatting away. He went to find Old Qi for tea.

Qi Zhizhong was fanning himself with a cattail fan, sipping tea, and listening to an audiobook.

He was the very picture of contentment.

After half a lifetime of hard work, he finally had the chance to enjoy the rest of his life.

The father and son chatted about everything under the sun until they were interrupted by Zhu Min’s arrival.

“You punk, go spend more time with Huahua. That girl was the first one to be with you, so don’t you mistreat her.”

Zhu Min shot Qi Sheng a look, indirectly showing her affection for Tan Hua.

“Don’t worry.”

Qi Sheng smiled and nodded. ‘Tonight, I won’t bother flipping the plaques.’

‘I’ll just sleep in our Empress Tan’s room.’

‘As for the other beloved concubines, I can only say sorry.’

‘Can’t be helped. They weren’t the ones handpicked by the Empress Dowager.’