The next two days were filled with preparations. Ling Qidong shopped for a gift, and luckily his new car arrived, while not talking a word to Li.
Ding Feng, meanwhile, called Yan Yuiling's parents so that they would convince her to attend his birthday party.
Consequently, the day passed by quickly, and Ling Qidong arrived at Ding Feng's birthday party in his new car, dressed in an expensive suit. There he contacted Lang Chanmei, who arrived a few minutes later.
"Good that you are here, Qidong," Lang Chanmei greeted. "But what about him? Only you were invited, not him," he pointed at Li.
"Oh, he is my bodyguard; is there a problem?" Ling Qidong asked.
"I don't know this place already has security guards arranged throughout, so I'm not sure if you can bring him inside, but asking shouldn't hurt," Lang Chanmei shrugged his shoulders. Although his background and influence were a lot higher than Ling Qidong's, in the end he was just an ordinary guest at this party.
At the same time, Yan Yuiling arrived at the entrance of the hotel where the party took place. She wore a long blue accentuating her deep blue eyes and covered most of her skin.
In the end this was a birthday party, so she had to wear a dress, but she just wanted to speak to a few other company heads before leaving as fast as possible. Her parents talked her into attending this party, and she had no choice but to come.
The security guards let her through without any trouble, and soon, she was in the middle of a lot of second-generation rich brats, flaunting their wealth to each other.
That was exactly why she hated these kinds of events: dressing up to impress, talking about the purchase of an expensive watch, flaunting newly acquired girlfriends. No substance, no real success to speak of, just the wealth of their parents.
What was the point of flexing with something given by someone else? In the end it was all about family wealth and showing status while talking with like-minded individuals, while the few people with actual success were still seen as below them since they were richer.
Luckily, her company was successful enough to surpass most of these young masters, so she could ignore these people without being threatened since they lost face.
She directly walked through the crowd of young masters and young ladies, ready to talk business, and ignoring the looks of lust she was getting.
Of course, though, Ding Feng showed up first, destroying her plans. "Yuiling! You showed up. It means a lot to me to have you here at my birthday party," he said, surrounded by his friends, who consisted of yes-sayers and people there for his status. Take away his wealth, and probably none of these people would even look at him.
"Yan Yuiling and boss Ding, a match made in heaven."
"So young master Ding came out to greet a fairy. Who is lucky enough to catch his eyes?"
The insignificant people behind him said.
"Yes, I'm here, but I'm here to talk business. Here is your present; where are the older business people?" She asked while handing Ding Feng his present.
She bought him a 1000 yuan coupon for a purchase at Zone. After all, showing up without a gift at a birthday party would be quite rude.
She hoped that young master Ding would leave her alone after seeing this impersonal coupon, but of course, as always, he couldn't take the hint. Her struggles continued.
Meanwhile, Ling Qidong had just arrived inside the building with Lang Chanmei walking in front of him and greeting several young masters. After some discussion, it was decided that Li would stay behind and join the security guards within the venue so he could protect Ling Qidong from afar while not standing out.
Ling Qidong's plan to use Li to get closer to rich heirs was now gone, but he was still confident that he could befriend some powerful people.
And for Li, this was the perfect assignment; he could stand at a higher position, looking to look out for any misbehavior and hear what everyone was saying. These young masters could be assessed from above, and he would choose his next employer; it was like a huge job interview.
Standing at a railing and looking down, he also spotted Yan Yuiling, the woman who had told him a lot about this world. Sadly she wasn't looking for a bodyguard at the time, otherwise he wouldn't have to deal with someone like Ling Qidong.
Yan Yuiling seemed to be quite sought after; he could hear multiple people talk about her.
"She is Yan Yuiling, the president of Yan Software, the upcoming tech company? No wonder young master Ding wants to have her as a girlfriend. She is beautiful."
"I was about to talk to her and ask her out; luckily I didn't, otherwise I would have tried to claim what belonged to young master Ding."
Li looked over to this young master Ding but frowned, claiming what belonged to him? It didn't seem like Yan Yuiling was willing.
"Come on, none of them have arrived yet; let's sit down and talk," Ding Feng said, and Yan Yuiling just had to sigh and accept. Might as well stay with the person that the people she wanted to talk to would greet.
The party continued, with waiters distributing different drinks and a huge birthday cake as well as a buffet of foods for everyone to enjoy. Everything was of the highest quality, and the guests had no complaints at all. All in all, it was fitting for the birthday of a rich heir like Ding Feng.
The only guest who wasn't absorbed in the festivities and stood alone at a table with a glass of champagne in his hand was Ling Qidong.
After splitting from Lang Chanmei, he tried to make friends, but the people around him didn't take him seriously at all. After nodding to his greeting, they would chat with others, leaving him no real chance to integrate; now he was on his own drinking and worked out a way to get in touch with at least someone.