CH 26.1

After bidding Fu Zheng goodbye, Ning Wan had been set to head home. But on the way, she had received a phone call from her junior, Chen Shuo, asking if she wouldn't mind if he consulted her on a case. He had just returned today from a business trip and wondered if she was interested in having a meal together.

Ning Wan thought about it. Thanks to Fu Zheng, she hadn't been able to enjoy the last meal she had had with Chen Shuo, so she agreed.

Chen Shuo seemed very cheerful about it. "Alright then," he laughed over the phone, "I've made reservations. I'll send you the address, see you later!"

The two made an appointment for seven o' clock. However, since Ning Wan had nothing to do between work and then, she arrived a half-hour early. The restaurant Chen Shuo had chosen for tonight was in the high-end business business district of Rong City. Just as Ning Wan was on her way to the restaurant, she received a phone call from Chen Shuo.

"Sister Ning, I'm so sorry! The team is having a last-minute meeting. I may be an hour and a half late. Go ahead and eat without me, I'll join you as soon as possible."

Chen Shuo was full of apologies, but Ning Wan didn't mind. She reassured him and hung up the phone.

Since she wasn't yet very hungry, Ning Wan didn't go to the restaurant in advance. She had plenty of time and it was rare for her to come to this business district, so she figured she might as well see the sights and proceeded to stroll aimlessly around, looking at the shops.

This was the most prosperous area in Rong City, every square inch of land worth its weight in gold. High-end boutiques were everywhere, but when Ning Wan went in and saw the price tags, she withdrew quickly. Checking the time, she decided to go to that restaurant Chen Shuo had sent to her, but just as she was about to turn and leave, she looked up to see Fu Zheng.

He was sitting in an expensive-looking restaurant. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Ning Wan could even see his slight frown.

For fear of having mistaken him for someone else, Ning Wan took out her mobile phone and gave him a call. The person sitting in that expensive restaurant picked up their phone...

There was no escaping it, it was Fu Zheng.

Ning Wan thought about how he had put on a strong front and declined her invitation, claiming that he was going to go home and drink gruel with pickles, looking for all the world like how poor children matured early, and was filled with rage.

She had treated Fu Zheng as one of her own, done her best to try to save him money, and look what happened! As soon as he got his hands on a small sum of money, he had forgotten his principles. After saying that he would try to save up to buy a car and a house, he turned around and ran to such an expensive restaurant to throw it all away! Sure enough, one day of capitalism means lifelong capitalism! Anyone who's been rich before just never understood how to be frugal!

Ning Wan felt deceived and cheated. But though she was angry, she couldn't just watch as Fu Zheng fell into ruin. Taking a deep breath, she went into the dining area, pulled out the chair opposite Fu Zheng, and sat down, her face stony.

Fu Zheng was looking at the menu. He heard the chair across from him move, but didn't look up, thinking it was Zhou Yingying. When he heard Ning Wan's voice, he had the distinct feeling of being woken from a good dream with a bucket of cold water...

Her face black and her voice gloomy, Ning Wan asked, "Weren't you going to go home and save money?"

“……”

As if this train wreck wasn't enough, Zhou Yingying chose this precise moment to push the door open. Her whole body encrusted with jewels, she walked up to Fu Zheng...

Fu Zheng had a feeling that the sky was was about to fall...

He did his best to hint at his cousin with his eyes. However, far from turning invisible, Zhou Yingying didn't get the hint at all. She looked around, saw Fu Zheng, and quickly approached with a happy face. When she reached the table, she saw that there was already someone sitting across from him and paused. Just as she was about to say something, the person turned and looked up at her.

In that instant, Zhou Yingying's competitive womanly hackles stood straight up.

What a woman! Although her body was devoid of valuable accessories, her face alone made her a strong rival! Unconsciously, Zhou Yingying straightened up and held her head higher, so as not to appear weak in the other's eyes.

She couldn't lose here! She may not be as pretty as the other woman, but at the very least she must triumph in momentum!

Envy and confusion warred inside Zhou Yingying's mind. Who was this woman sitting across from her cousin?

But before she could open her mouth to ask, the other woman asked first. "Who are you? Are you meeting someone?"

Frowning, displeasure etched all over her face, the woman looked at her cousin. Even her tone was one of censure.

Inside, Zhou Yingying sighed, all of a sudden completely dropping her guard. Instead of jealousy, she suddenly sympathized with this girl. She was gorgeous, but it looked like she had no EQ and probably wasn't the brightest bulb in the box.

Her cousin was excellent in all aspects, but he had a terrible temper. No matter how beautiful you were, if you spoke to him like that you were immediately and non-negotiably out of the game, even if the two of you were currently in love and seeing each other.

Zhou Yingying didn't say anything in return. She just waited for the show to begin. Soon Fu Zheng would coldly put the other person in her place.

It's just that...

It's just that things seemed a little unusual.

Her bad-tempered cousin not only wasn't putting on his haughty, frosty face, but actually answered the woman's question quite calmly--

"No idea. I don't know her. I'm not meeting anyone."

? ? ?

He gave Zhou Yingying a cool, unfamiliar look as if they didn't know each other, then looked back at the woman and said calmly, "Maybe she's just a passerby who wants to ask us something."

With that, he looked back up at Zhou Yingying. "You did have a question to ask, right?"

“……”

Zhou Yingying had a lot of questions to ask, but she knew that if she asked them now, there was nothing awaiting her but death. Although Fu Zheng was speaking in a mild and gentle manner, there was a definite threat in his eyes...

Faced with her cousin's murderous eyes, Zhou Yingying stammered, "Uhh... do you, uh, know the WiFi password for this restaurant?"

"No," Fu Zheng said simply and concisely, then hinted "you can disappear now" with his eyes.

But though she was afraid of death, this sort of opportunity came only once in a blue moon. Zhou Yingying was determined not to go. At the risk of being shot dead, she turned, pulled out the chair at a nearby table, and sat down expansively. "No problem. I'll ask the waiter for the password."

She smiled at the other woman, then pretended to look at her phone, in reality pricking up her ears to eavesdrop on their conversation. Meanwhile, her thumb was opening up the family WeChat group and typing: "A shocking tale! Our cousin..."

But before she could finish, the words she heard from the next table over nearly frightened her into losing her grip--

"Fu Zheng, I am so disappointed in you! When it comes to money, you need to have a bottom line and a balanced view of consumption! You can't just finally get into the black and then start spending money willy-nilly. Didn't you say you were going to save up to buy a house and a car? Just look what happened! You ran here behind my back to splurge!"

That girl actually started seriously lecturing her cousin!

Fu Zheng had a dark face, but he didn't say a word. He merely bit his lip and kept his head down.

The girl took a sip of water. It seemed like the more she spoke, the more angry she got. "You might argue that you're only going to have this one meal today, and you'll refrain from it in the future, but material desires are a bottomless pit! Becoming frugal again after having been extravagant is very difficult. What will you do when you no longer have money on hand? What if Gao Yuan makes you an offer again then? Would you just go along to keep enjoying yourself? Would you sell your own body?!”

"I thought you weren't too bad of a guy, but it seems I was blind! Even if you wanted to squander your money, how could you hide and eat alone? What about your mother? Did you even think about her? She brought you up, cleaning your piss and poop, but when you come into some money to enjoy, you only care about yourself! Do you think this is in line with the core values of socialism?! Huh?!”

"I really can't figure you out! I've helped you out so many times, how do you keep stumbling?!”

……

The girl's voice was not loud. She had obviously lowered it for the sake of saving face for her cousin, but the trouble was that Zhou Yingying's hearing was just too good. She had once volunteered with deaf children and learned a little lip-reading, so she could generally make out the gist of what was being said. And the more she listened, the more thrilling it was!

Fu Zheng was the arrogant despot of the Fu family, but now here he was, reduced to being raked over the coals by someone else. He didn't even dare make a peep!

Who the hell was this woman? Where was she from? And what on earth was she talking about?!

Zhou Yingying picked her phone back up and hurriedly opened the family group chat, her little heart bursting with gossip--

"Cousin Fu Zheng was scolded!"

Several other cousins poked their heads out--

"So what?"

"Cousin Fu Zheng scolding people is normal."

"Yeah, who here hasn't been scolded by him at some family gathering?"

"Who is he scolding this time? Did they cry?"

……

"Open up your dog eyes!" Zhou Yingying cried. "It's not Fu Zheng doing the scolding, he's the one being scolded!!"

To make sure everyone in the group believed her, she adjusted herself in her chair and pretended to take a selfie, but in actuality started up a livestream.

Fu Zheng was told off only once in a blue moon. If you missed it now, you'd have to wait another 20 years!