The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 347 A Press Conference (Part One)

On the fateful and joyous day, Autumn returned to her origin, the Zhao family, and her father's electronic organ which had been lost for years was gifted to her. She was grateful as she felt the great power of fate in works.

"I hope you like it," Sam said with hopeful eyes. Looking at Autumn's bright and excited face, he felt that it was worth the trouble to find the electronic organ. "I heard you lost this electronic organ when you moved. I wonder if it happened to be picked up by someone nearby. Then I learned that a trash collector had found it. He had a daughter who wanted to learn the piano, so he gave it to her. After I explained the situation to him, I traded him a piano for the electronic organ. The damage has been repaired. A surprise, isn't it?"

"Yes, this really is a big surprise. I cannot even begin to express how much this means to me. Thank you so very much, Sam, "Autumn replied dripping with emotions as she held the electronic organ tightly in a grateful embrace. No birthday present could be better for her than this.

Gary also prepared a birthday gift for Autumn, which was a box of tea sets. He knew that Autumn was a demure girl, who liked making and tasting tea quietly instead of shopping for other extravagant luxuries that tempted other girls.

Autumn took the gift and expressed her gratitude. Then all eyes were affixed on Charles. "Charles, it's your wife's birthday. All of us have given our presents. What have you gotten her?" Chris asked impatiently as her curiosity was peaking.

"Come on, give me your present, "Autumn demanded with a hopeful look.

Charles glanced at Autumn, and then at Sam with reproachful eyes. "Well, Sam, you gave her your thoughtful present first, and now no matter what gift I give her, it will not be as good as yours," he expressed his concern in all honesty.

"That is not necessary, Charles," Chris assured him, "you're the most special man in Autumn's heart, so don't worry. I'm sure she will appreciate and cherish whatever you give her."

Charles let out a dry cough, as he turned to Autumn and lovingly said, "Autumn, I know you've always wanted to travel. But for various reasons, our plans to travel ever since we got married have never materialized, so my birthday gift to you is..."

He paused as he drew out two plane tickets from his pocket, and continued, "After much deliberation over the perfect destination, I got us two tickets to Saipan next week."

"This is a wonderful gift." Even though Autumn did not appear very excited, she was quite elated in her heart. Charles' gift was just what she wished for in her heart. She was overwhelmed by the love she received from everyone present in the room.

What was matter more, that the value of a gift, was the thought and the love from the giver.

Before his last business trip to Europe, Charles promised that he would take Autumn out for a trip. The gift indicated that he remembered this promise and that he was willing to go the extra mile to spend time with her and make her feel special. She was quite content with this thought.

"Thank you so very much, Charles, "Autumn sincerely thanked him for his thoughtful gesture.

"You are welcome, you silly girl." Charles gave her a indulgent smile and reminded her, "Your birthday party is about to begin. Let's hurry to the hotel now." Then they all drove to the party.

Once they reached the hotel, the birthday party was just about to begin. While Arthur was preparing the party, Autumn told him not to make a big and grand deal out of it, but to simply conduct a dinner with the family and conclude with telling journalists about her identity. However, when she arrived at the scene, she found that Arthur did not take her advice into account at all.

But Autumn quite understood his excitement and reasons. After all, he only had one granddaughter, and this was the first time he was celebrating her birthday. It was only in his nature that he would hold the most grand part he possibly could.

As a result, the party was coming alive as quite a happy affair with more and more people joining in the event.

Hale and hearty, Arthur greeted guests at the door and was surrounded by a group of journalists. "Doctor Zhao, could you please tell us why you are hosting Mrs. Lu's birthday party and what is the relationship between both of you?"

"Yes, Doctor Zhao, please answer the questions." These journalists relentlessly questioned him, leaving Arthur pretty disgusted and distressed.

Impatient, he told them, "Dear friends from the press, I know you have many questions for me to answer. But as I made clear earlier, I will attend to all these questions later. I will appreciate it if you could ask these questions at that time. I'm very busy now, sorry."

Arthur then saw Autumn entering. He hurried to meet her. "Autumn, you're finally here."

"Grandpa." Autumn smiled.

He then led her and others into the heart of the party as he said, "All the esteemed guests have still not arrived. You take a break and enjoy the party. I will join you after I've finished attending all the guests." "Okay, thank you so very much, grandpa." As soon as they entered deeper into the hall, Autumn spotted Amy and Emily sitting on the sofa in the corner. She immediately went to them, and called out, "Grandmas!"

Amy and Emily had also seen her, and returning the enthusiastic greeting they too asked her to sit by them to chat.

Watching the party take on such a big scale, Autumn couldn't help grumbling, "Grandma, I told grandpa not to make the party so grand, why is it so... "

In her opinion, it was only a birthday party and there was no need to make it so extravagant.

"This is the first birthday party we have held for you. It had to be grand, " Amy smiled as she responded humbly. "You'll have to get used to such big parties and celebrations."

Autumn went silent. 'So my birthday parties will be grander and bigger in the future,' she thought bitterly, but she did not speak it out.

As she pondered what to say, she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure appear at the door.

'Rachel? What's she doing here?'

Rachel dressed in a black low-cut dress which accentuated her perfect figure, took Edward's arm and walked around the hall with a wide smile on her face. Once she saw Autumn, she let out a sneer, before she turned her head and said something to Edward. As Edward gave her a nod, she went to Autumn. "Hello, Autumn, long time no see," she greeted.

Autumn cast a sidelong glance at her, and answered coldly, "Hello, Rachel."

"I didn't know that today was your birthday not until yesterday, so I didn't get a chance to buy you a present. Here's a bracelet. I hope you like it. Happy birthday!" Rachel said and handed her a beautifully wrapped box. This birthday gift was of great value, but everyone knew that Rachel was the spokesperson of the bracelet's brand. And there was high chance it was given to her by the advertiser. Obviously, she was annoying Autumn on purpose by doing so.

Autumn stared at the present and hesitated to take it. "Don't you like it?" Rachel asked with a sly smile in her eyes. Autumn knew that she was deliberately trying to embarrass her in full view of the public. If she did not accept the gift, people would say she was arrogant and rude, but she was angry with Rachel and did not want to accept the gift.

"Well, I guess you don't like this present. I'll send you another gift in a few days then." Before Autumn could say anything, Rachel sneered and was about to take the gift back when Autumn caught it. "You're absolutely wrong." Autumn smiled and said, "How could I not like your generous gift? But this bracelet isn't worth as much as your autograph. Why don't you sign the box later, Rachel?"