Chapter 317 - 137: Pokémon Raising Convention (2)

Chapter 317: Chapter 137: Pokémon Raising Convention (2)

Gu Qiuyan had already sent the address. The driver parked and followed them in, though he kept his distance, presumably to avoid disturbing their conversation. The four of them took the elevator and stopped in front of a Shandong restaurant. ’What a coincidence,’ Zhang Shutong thought. He remembered that in eight years, their group would have a reunion at this very spot, though by then it would have become the Lake Fish Restaurant.

Zhang Shutong recalled Ruoping telling him in the future about her parrot, which had learned her mother’s marriage-nagging phrases and drove her up the wall. He joked, "You’d better not get a parrot."

Ruoping, however, just looked baffled. "But I just bought one last week. How did you know?"

Zhang Shutong was taken aback for a second. Then he remembered that parrots have long lifespans—even the smallest budgerigar could easily live eight years. He could only offer Ruoping a moment of silent mourning. ’I hope you keep that thing and your mom separated.’

But the real surprises were yet to come.

Zhang Shutong had only just noticed that the address Gu Qiuyan sent wasn’t just for the restaurant—it also included the name of a private room.

Gu Qiuyan used Intimidate!

Zhang Shutong was stunned!

Okay, he was a little desensitized by now. In his mind, this was just supposed to be a casual dinner. They used to just eat somewhere on the commercial street; the only thing that had changed was the location. But as Zhang Shutong stepped inside, he found the staff lined up in two rows. The moment he entered, the whole group bowed.

"Welcome."

A waiter asked if they were Miss Gu’s guests, then led the group to their private room. Zhang Shutong whispered to Ruoping, "Why are we being treated like honored guests?"

Ruoping replied, "Well, it’s a victory celebration, after all."

The restaurant stretched far back. They crossed the main dining hall and entered a long corridor laid with a dark red carpet. The air was scented with a light perfume, and the walls were adorned with scrolls of calligraphy and paintings. It all looked quite impressive.

The lighting was also meticulously arranged. Each overhead lamp cast a soft halo, creating a perfectly tranquil atmosphere—neither gloomy nor jarringly bright. The waiter stopped at the far end of the corridor. Their destination, it turned out, was the largest private room in the entire restaurant.

The doors to the private room were just as imposing—not a single door, but a set of large double doors. Zhang Shutong suspected this might be the room Father Gu used to entertain his own guests. He couldn’t tell what the doors were made of, but he saw they were adorned with a brass relief—a magnificent rendering of ’A Fierce Tiger Descending the Mountain’.

Then, two young waitresses, one on each side, pushed the heavy doors open in unison. The quiet atmosphere of the corridor shattered in an instant!

A wave of voices washed over them!

Light flooded out from massive floor-to-ceiling windows, devouring the hallway’s shadows. Zhang Shutong blinked, his eyes struggling to adjust. Before him was a cacophony of voices and a blur of light. When he finally made out the scene inside, he was completely and utterly stunned.

He was on the verge of asking if they were in the wrong place. Until this moment, he had assumed it was just a dinner for the five of them, albeit in a fancier location. But the moment he stepped inside, he saw that the enormous room was full of people. ’One, two, three...’ Zhang Shutong counted numbly, but it was pointless to count by ones. He was already in the double digits. The lavishly decorated room held more than a dozen teenage boys and girls.

They were gathered around a massive, solid-wood round table with a flower basket at its center. Zhang Shutong truly wanted to ask if they’d come to the wrong place, but the people before him were all clearly wearing their school uniforms. As the doors opened, the chatter paused for a beat, and all eyes turned toward them.

’Maybe there’s another rich Miss Gu at our school, and our Gu Qiuyan is actually sitting in the room next door...’ But that was impossible. Zhang Shutong instinctively checked his friends’ expressions. Ruoping’s eyes were slowly widening in disbelief. Qingyi maintained his usual deadpan look. Du Kang, on the other hand, seemed to know people everywhere. Utterly unfazed, he was already laughing and greeting several people.

Zhang Shutong finally understood the truth—

This was a grand gathering of the minions.

And he, one of the minions, had been dragged along for some reason.

’Okay, okay,’ he thought, as it all suddenly clicked. ’No wonder there was a chauffeur. No wonder Gu Qiuyan hadn’t shown up yet. No wonder there were so many cars at the mall. I don’t really want to be part of this kind of event. At the end of the day, I’m just an unofficial minion; I have no place at a formal gathering. It’s not just me, either. Some of the others look surprised to see me, too. They’re probably thinking, ’Who’s this guy? Where’d he come from? Never seen him before. Is he a new Pokémon our boss just caught?’’

But there’s an old saying: ’Since you’re here, you might as well stay.’ Standing dazed in the doorway wouldn’t look right. Coincidentally, there were a few empty seats at the lower end of the table. The room was so large that even with more than a dozen people, it still felt spacious.

"Let me introduce you. These are my best friends: Ruoping, Qingyi, and the most stylish one here, Shutong..."

"Oh, Ruoping, you’re here! Why didn’t you say so? We could’ve ridden together if I’d known!"

Amidst the chorus of greetings, Zhang Shutong couldn’t keep track of who was who. He offered a quick hello and was about to take a seat when, at the head of the round table, a girl suddenly stood up and waved at him cheerfully.

"Senior! Hey, Senior! You guys, come over here! I saved these seats for you."

Zhang Shutong had finally run into someone he knew. Although her aunt couldn’t stand the sight of him, Xu Zhiruo herself was quite friendly. The "little secretary" pulled him away. Since the seats had been specially saved, they were right next to the head of the table. ’Clearly, this Pokémon is in its master’s good graces,’ he thought wryly. Xu Zhiruo stuck her tongue out playfully.

"I’m sorry about last time, Senior. I didn’t know you had a fever. Hope you can forgive me!"

Zhang Shutong knew she was talking about the video call from when he was in the hospital. In reality, she’d actually helped him out. Besides, how could he hold a grudge when she was asking for forgiveness so cutely? He’d never been upset in the first place, so he just shook his head. "It’s nothing," he said. "So, what’s with this whole production?"

"The more the merrier, right? Oh, Qiumian just went to the restroom. She’ll be back in a minute. So, are you surprised?"

"’Surprised’ isn’t the word for it. More like ’terrified,’" Zhang Shutong replied. "I thought I’d walked into someone’s college acceptance banquet."

"’Do you need me to introduce you to everyone?’ the little secretary asked, then immediately added, ’Oh, probably not. I forgot—Senior, you know everyone here.’"

’What does she mean, I know everyone? I clearly don’t. Even the Pokémon Day Care has a staff member to handle introductions.’

As Zhang Shutong was thinking this, unsure whether to laugh or cry, the doors to the room were pushed open once more.

This time, however, it wasn’t just two waiters opening the doors. In fact, it looked like the entire restaurant staff had gathered at the entrance, forming a welcoming corridor.

A familiar figure walked in.

She was wearing her boots, as usual, but they were silent on the deep red carpet. The girl who entered carried herself with an air of pride.

Zhang Shutong tore his gaze away from her boots. He seemed to have developed a habit of looking at Gu Qiuyan in a certain order: first her boots, then her scarf, and finally the small charm tied into her hair. He had no idea when this habit had started.

And so, he raised his eyes—only for his mouth to fall open in silent shock.

A roar of voices erupted around him, and figures blurred as many people shot to their feet.

The girl, for her part, was smiling and greeting them in return.

But why...

did the Gu Qiuyan he was seeing have long hair?