Read Chapter 6961 of the novel Charismatic Charlie Wade free online.
Chapter 6961
When the situation in Syria subsided,
Tawana’s concert went ahead as planned in Paris.
The queen’s unparalleled appeal made fans rejoice as if it were New Year’s Eve.
Suddenly, it was the Lantern Festival.
In Charlie’s eyes, the Lantern Festival was the most lively of all traditional festivals,
And also the most visually stunning.
The entire Qinhuai River was festooned with lights and even held traditional boat parades.
Although the weather was still damp and cold,
It couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the Aurous Hill citizens for nighttime lantern viewing.
Tonight, the Calligraphy and Painting Association held a calligraphy, painting, and lantern riddle competition at a book club on the Qinhuai River.
As a member of the association, Jacob naturally wanted to attend.
Elaine, always keen to join in the fun,
Also made arrangements to go along, even inviting Charlie and Claire along.
At this moment, the Qinhuai River was ablaze with dazzling lights,
And many children watching the lanterns were also holding a variety of colorful lanterns,
Creating a lively atmosphere.
All the trees on both sides of the river were wrapped with colorful lights,
And the fireworks were very beautiful.
People were rubbing shoulders with each other,
But they did not mind the crowds and noise at all.
No matter what kind of troubles, difficulties, or dissatisfactions they had in their daily lives,
They could put aside their negative emotions for a short time when they walked out tonight and felt the strong festive atmosphere.
So everyone had a happy and joyful smile on their faces.
Charlie and Claire walked hand in hand along the bank of the Qinhuai River.
Seeing this lively scene, Claire’s suppressed sadness was temporarily relieved.
She asked Charlie beside her:
“Do you still remember how you celebrated the Lantern Festival when you were a child?”
After that, she added:
“I’m talking about when your parents were still alive.”
Charlie thought for a moment and smiled:
“When my parents were still alive, we would come out to enjoy the lanterns and visit the gardens on the Lantern Festival.”
“I would also carry a small red lantern in my hand,”
“But the red lantern was not filled with batteries, but with burning candles.”
“At that time, fireworks were not banned.”
“Every night on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month,”
“We would go to the lakeside to set off fireworks.”
“Some units would even set off fireworks specifically for this purpose.”
“The department set aside a budget to set off a large number of fireworks on the night of the Lantern Festival.”
“Sometimes, there would be competition between units,”
“With everyone competing to see who could set off more, bigger, and longer fireworks.”
“We kids thought it was so lively,”
“And we watched from all directions; it was simply too much to take in.
Claire nodded gently and said,
“It seemed similar when I was a child.”
“I remember that every night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month,”
“The whole city was filled with fireworks.”
“Grandpa would also buy a lot of fireworks for us kids,”
“But I didn’t dare to set them off.”
“Harold usually set them off,”
“And we just watched from the side.”
At this point, she suddenly remembered something and said,
“Oh, by the way, I saw Natalie yesterday.”
“Vivi?” Charlie asked curiously, “Natalie?”
“Yes.” Claire nodded and said,
“Yesterday I went to the Emgrand Group to attend a meeting to report on the progress of the project.”
“It happened that the Emgrand Group had a Lantern Festival dinner held a day in advance.”
“And Vice President Doris invited me to attend.”
“There were a lot of people at the group dinner, and many etiquette ladies were hired to run around.”
“Natalie came over to toast Vice President Wang.”
“And that’s how we met.”
Charlie pretended to be confused and asked,
“Did Natalie go to work at the Emgrand Group?”
“No.” Claire said, “Natalie started her own business.”
“You should have heard about it.”
“Mom talked about it some time ago.”
“She set up her own etiquette company, specializing in etiquette services, and it seems to be doing very well.”
“Many large companies in Aurous Hill have long-term cooperation with her.”
“And the Emgrand Group is the largest customer.”
Charlie naturally knew Natalie’s situation.
It was he who helped her solve the problem of the profiteer who had harmed her in the etiquette company,
Allowing her to have her own career.
He also secretly instructed his subordinates to take good care of Natalie’s company.
However, he felt he had to pretend to know less than Claire,
So he feigned amazement,
“I never thought Natalie would find her way back.”
Claire nodded and chuckled,
“I think she, like me, must have had some kind of benefactor help her.”
“Otherwise, given our circumstances,”
“How could we have partnered with the Emgrand Group and even met face-to-face with Vice President Doris?”
Charlie felt awkward, but he smiled impassively,
“Perhaps you two are just lucky.”
Claire didn’t say anything, simply nodding gently and passing the conversation off.
At that moment, the Qinhuai River resembled a busy thoroughfare,
Bustling with small, antique-style boats and pleasure boats.
One of the boats, along with the others,
Slowly moved to the right, passing by Charlie and Claire.
At the bow and stern, two boatmen controlled the boat’s speed and direction with bamboo poles.
Inside, the entrance and windows were covered with curtains,
Making it impossible to see inside from the outside,
But allowing a glimpse of the outside from inside.
Such boats are not uncommon, and there are more than one or two boats with curtains lowered.
After all, some young couples come out for a boat ride,
And after seeing the scenery on the riverbank for a long time,
They will lower the curtains and spend time in the boat in their own world,
So Charlie did not pay much attention to it.