Justin had a lunch meeting here at noon.
On the second floor of Hotel Finest, the conference hall was on the left and the restaurant on the right.
As soon as he walked out of the elevator, he heard the commotion at the entrance of the conference hall. He originally wasn't paying much attention to it, but when he glanced over, he spotted a familiar figure.
His footsteps paused for a moment. When he heard the service staff chasing them away impatiently, he frowned and said to Sean, "Let's go over and take a look."
No matter what, the Andersons were, after all, acquaintances with the Hunts. The previous generation of the two families had been closely acquainted with one another; how could he allow others to bully and humiliate them?
Sean nodded. "Yes, sir."
But when he was about to walk over, he heard that deep and clear voice going "Wait a minute."
Nora picked up her cell phone. Her fair and slender fingers tapped a couple of times on it and she opened her email inbox. Sure enough, there were a few invitations lying within.
As the most prestigious surgeon around, organizers of various conferences held in different countries would send her token invitations.
Sure enough, the organizers of a formal conference like this one had also sent her one.
However, she needed a bit of time to find the invitation from her junk mail…
At this time, someone beside her spoke. "Miss Smith?"
Taken aback, Nora lifted her head and looked over—it was a woman that looked about 30 years old. Her curly hair rested on her shoulders and she was wearing formal business attire.
She frowned. After a moment's hesitation, she asked, "You are?"
A displeased Tina York frowned. They had obviously met in the hospital before, but she was actually pretending not to know her…
However, she had been wondering why Justin had brought a young doctor over that time. After much ado, it turned out that she was actually from the Andersons.
The Andersons were gradually falling into decline day by day. They were solely relying on formulas from twenty years ago and selling medicines based on them. They must have been at the end of their tether and told that nobody doctor to operate on Mrs. Hunt as a last-ditch attempt, right?
Unfortunately, all that credit had gone to her instead!
At the thought of that, her displeasure quickly dissipated. She smiled and seemingly said as a kind reminder, "Everyone's a distinguished individual here. Since the Andersons haven't received an invitation, if you make a fuss here, it won't reflect well on you, either…"
A single line from her made everyone queuing behind start speculating in low voices:
"My goodness, I thought the Andersons just forgot their invitation, but the truth is they actually didn't receive one?"
"The Myerses' market share has expanded. There's basically no one buying the Andersons' drugs now. Sigh! To think they've been reduced to the point where they can't even get an invitation anymore!"
"They can't blame anyone else for that. What can anyone do if they don't improve themselves? I heard the drugstores and hospitals working with them have returned their goods recently and switched to the Myerses'."
"…If I were them, I'd have quickly sneaked off with my tail between my legs by now. What are they still doing here?"
The speculations made Simon's expression change again and again, and he felt as if he had never been any more embarrassed.
After Tina kept quiet for a while, she sighed and said, "Everyone's here for a good time today. If you simply have to go in… Uncle Simon, if you promise you won't disturb the others, I'll bring you in!"
"Won't disturb the others"… The way she put it, it was as if they weren't fit to be seen in public!
Simon felt as if someone had given him two tight slaps. Just as he became so infuriated that he turned to leave, a cool voice said, "No, it's fine."
Nora stared at Tina coldly and said, "The Andersons receive a lot of invitations, so I took a while to find it and ended up causing a short delay. Sorry about that, Uncle Simon and Aunt Melissa."
She raised her cell phone and presented the QR code to the service staff. "Can we go in now?"
"… This way, please!"
Only then did the three of them from the Andersons finally enter the banquet hall.
At the door, Tina was stunned. She clearly remembered that her teacher hadn't sent an invitation to the Andersons. Had she remembered wrongly?
Nearby.
Sean, who had taken a couple of steps toward the Andersons with the intention of helping them out of the embarrassing situation, was taken aback. Then, he looked back at Justin. "They don't seem to need any help anymore."
Justin, "…"
It had momentarily slipped his mind that that woman was Anti, so how could she possibly not have an invitation?
However, her line of "The Andersons receive a lot of invitations" sure was interesting.
Justin suddenly turned and started walking toward the conference hall. The usually reticent man said, "I'm just going over to see if there's a chance for me to return the favor I owe."
Sean, who was following closely behind him silently, was rendered speechless.
Boss, you don't need to explain anything! An explanation is no different from a cover-up!
As a professional secretary, however, Sean quickly reported on the Andersons' affairs. "… The Andersons can't sell their drugs at all. If this continues, I'm afraid they'll go bust soon."
Although Justin didn't reply, he nevertheless looked rather thoughtful when he heard the report.
All the Hotel Finest service staff knew their boss, so Justin entered the conference hall straightaway. The place's layout was arranged like a small banquet. Most of the male guests were in suits and formal shoes while the women wore formal dresses.
Only that woman was dressed in a white T-shirt and a pair of jeans, yet she was still eye-catching among the crowd.
Justin narrowed his eyes slightly and walked over. As soon as he approached, he heard Melissa ask, "Nora, where did you get the invitation?"
The young woman replied casually, "Oh, I was helping with the treatment of Mrs. Hunt's illness before, right? Although I wasn't of much help, Mr. Hunt was still pretty nice."
Sure enough, Melissa misunderstood her words. "Oh, so Mr. Hunt gave it to you! He must have also wanted you to come over and broaden your horizons."
Justin, "…"
That woman really was using him as a scapegoat for everything, wasn't she?!
A mischievous smile suddenly formed on his lips and he said in a low voice, "Uncle Simon, Aunt Melissa."
The three walking in front immediately stopped and turned around. Upon seeing him, Melissa immediately said gratefully, "Thank you for giving Nora an invitation, Justin. Otherwise, we really wouldn't have been able to enter today."
Justin glanced over and saw the discomfited girl touching her nose awkwardly. But after that, she looked down quietly and calmed down. Those docile cat-like eyes of hers were raised slightly, and she had a seemingly amused look on her face as if she wasn't the one lying just now.
Her mental resilience was first-class.
In an equally seemingly amused manner, Justin replied, "You're welcome."
Simon's purpose in attending the banquet was to sell his company's drugs. When he spotted a regular customer who wanted to return their goods in front, he hurriedly said, "Justin, you guys go ahead and have a chat first. I'll be back in a jiffy."
He started walking over after saying that.
A look of worry came over Melissa's countenance.
Justin observed Nora out of the corner of his eye.
She had almond-shaped eyes and a small but high-bridged nose. Her lips were rosy and plump, and looked very attractive.
For some reason, he suddenly thought of what Chester had said the day before: "You can have a daughter if you go to Nora."
A daughter…
He suddenly asked, "Miss Smith, what does your daughter look like? Does she resemble you?"
Nora glanced at him.
Cherry actually didn't look like her. Seriously speaking, she instead bore a 70% resemblance to the man in front of her. Thus, she answered, "No, she resembles her father instead."
"Oh?" Justin suddenly became interested. "Do you have any photos?"
Nora glanced at him and replied, "Yes."