Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ah Wan decided to utilize his silence in order to express his dissatisfaction.
Jiang Zhi looked at him with the eyes of someone looking at a mentally handicapped person. A short while later, becoming disinterested in Ah Wan, he turned toward the other side to catch some shut-eye.
Right at that moment, his shattered phone started ringing. It was a phone call from Xue Baoyi. Jiang Zhi was too lazy to get up, so he lazily raised his arm. Ah Wan understood the gesture and proceeded to answer the call before switching it to hands-free mode.
“Brother Zhi, the Lu family is hosting a business reception at 7 pm. You coming or not?”
Powerlessly, Jiang Zhi squeezed the words out of his lungs. “No.”
Xue Baoyi, being the unrestrained man that he was, continued to urge Jiang Zhi over the phone. “I wonder what that lass from their family is up to. You sure you don’t wanna come over and see?”
Of the “Big Four” families, the Lu family had always been in a headlock with the Jiangs throughout the years. There was supposedly some heated conflict from many years ago between the two families’ elders, and their grudge had only deepened over the years, resulting in a cold war being continuously fought in the dark.
However, since the main son of the Lu family was diagnosed with narcolepsy which meant he was awake for only a handful of hours per day, much of the family was controlled by the second-in-line, an heiress.
Lu Sheng, the little lass, was just twenty-odd years old which certainly earned Xue Baoyi’s respect for being able to consolidate her position as the dictator of her family. She was no plain Jane for her to be able to achieve such a feat.
However, that wasn’t enough to rouse Jiang Zhi’s interest. “I’m not planning to go out tonight.”
Xue Baoyi responded with a scoff. “What’s up? You meditating or something?” Someone from the Jiang family had to attend the event as a representative, and what’s more, Jiang Zhi had so much time to spare. Was he giving up his slice of his family’s assets?
Xue Baoyi found himself a little worried in Jiang Zhi’s stead. While there was no doubt that Madame Jiang loved her grandson the most, because Jiang Zhi wasn’t showing much interest in contesting for power, a significant amount of power that he was supposed to hold had been transferred to either the first or second child of the madame.
Be that as it may, Jiang Zhi continued to wear that same old indifferent look on his face. “Going out at night is risky. My life is short enough already so I don’t plan to throw my remaining years away.”
“The hell are you talking about?”
After tossing about on the sofa, Jiang Zhi sat up after realizing that he was not feeling even an ounce of sleepiness. Again, he stared at his palm as he mindlessly responded to Xue Baoyi’s words. “Since I’m attractive, there’s a chance that I’ll be taken away if I go out at night.”
Zhou Xufang had warned him to refrain from going out tonight.
“…”
Filming ended around evening time when the sun had started to set.
Ah Wan returned just in time with a new phone for the young master. “I got you a new phone.” That, of course, was not all. “I’ve even smacked a new screen protector on it.”
What a hard-working man Ah Wan was!
“Ah Wan.”
“Yes, boss?”
Jiang Zhi started fiddling with his new phone, his fingertips softly massaging the flawless screen up and down. “You know, you’re pretty stupid, so don’t try to be Mister Smartypants when you’re not.”
“…”
‘But the screen protector was offered as a complimentary gift by the shop! Am I even to blame for that!?’
Jiang Zhi peeled off the screen protector and tossed it into the bin. After that, he grabbed his coat and stood up from his seat.
Ah Wan quickly followed behind Jiang Zhi. “Would you like me to send you back?”
Jiang Zhi walked out with the corners of his mouth slightly curved upward into an almost undetectable smile. That smile, however, seemed to have reduced how obvious his sickly condition was, and he appeared livelier than usual.
He looked almost like a fairy.
“No need to hurry. It’s still early,” said the fairy.
‘Early!?’
The Sun was already setting outside.
Ah Wan fished the car key out of his pocket as he asked, “Where would you like to go, boss?”
“To Bayi Bridge.”
‘Tsk, tsk, tsk, no wonder his eyes were shining so brightly.’
Ah Wan responded cleverly. “So, you were planning to get your screen protector from Miss Zhou, huh?”
Jiang Zhi did not bother replying to Ah Wan. Instead, he changed the topic altogether by asking him about the rooster Zhou Xufang had given him.
“That rooster of mine… how is it faring?”
Ah Wan was not asking for credit but he certainly was most proud of himself. With a happy look on his face, he reported to Jiang Zhi about the rooster’s condition as of late. “Everything about it is A-okay, boss!”
Jiang Zhi simply mumbled a reply, but his mouth curved upward just a little more after hearing Ah Wan’s response.
It wasn’t even 6 pm yet but Zhou Xufang was already setting up her stall underneath Bayi Bridge. Today was Friday, so she was doing pretty well. In a little over half an hour, she had already sold 8 screen protectors.
There were lots of people dancing in the square opposite Bayi Bridge, so they made sure to blare their music extra loud today. As a whole, the entire place seemed to be teeming with activity.
“Miss Zhou, yer’ pretty early today, aren’t ya’?”
Zhou Xufang lowered her head. In a cold, emotionless voice, she replied, “Today’s filming ended early.”
The auntie who had spoken to Xufang had been running her stall for over half a year now. She knew that Zhou Xufang wasn’t a talker, but she had always been polite when she spoke, and from her observation, she even seemed like a true hustler. Zhou Xufang had, in other words, made a pretty good impression in her mind. Her only son who was currently single came to mind when she looked at Xufang. Suddenly, she got the idea of playing Cupid for them.
“You’re pretty hard-working, eh? Unlike that darned brat we have at home whose only job is to play on his d*mn phone all day long!” The auntie burst into laughter after ridiculing her useless son. Still, there was a hint of pride in her eyes as she started talking about that child. “That boy doesn’t know much about being industrious but he’s quite a looker!”
Zhou Xufang, who was clueless about human interaction, only listened to her words quietly without even responding to them.
“How old are ya’, Miss Zhou?”
She couldn’t remember her exact birth date but she remembered her birth year which that man who saved her had told her.
“I’m 22,” she replied.
To be out here running her own stall at the age of 22, the auntie guessed that she must’ve stopped studying. “That son of mine is 2 years older than you. He’s 24 as of this year. It’s been 2 years since he graduated from university but he’s pretty stubborn about findin’ a job. He doesn’t even have a girlfriend! Sounds like a troublemaker, doesn’t he?” Naturally, the topic would now shift toward Zhou Xufang. “What about you, Miss Zhou? Got a boyfriend?”
While this girl’s level of education wasn’t particularly high, she looked beautiful and her attitude was likable. The more the auntie looked at her, the more she grew to like Zhou Xufang.
Zhou Xufang’s brows furrowed. “No.”
Oh ho! What a coincidence! The auntie smiled so hard that her eyes turned into two tiny slits. “Auntie here would always see you walking to and fro alone with no one by your side. How ’bout this, you give your WeChat contact to me, then I’ll get that brat of mine to add you as a friend. You youngsters should have something to talk about, no? It’s better to make friends at this age, ya’ know?”
Zhou Xufang didn’t want to hand her contact number over to some stranger. She was beginning to worry about how to turn down the auntie’s proposition when someone’s voice came to the rescue.
“She doesn’t use WeChat.”
Ah, what a nice-sounding voice.
She knew instantly that it was Jiang Zhi. Looking up, her knitted brows finally loosened up.
The auntie was visibly pissed off by the devil incarnate, Cheng Yaojin’s sudden appearance. Her glare shot toward the source of that voice. “And you are!?”
‘D*mned brat! This is outrageous!’
Jiang Zhi tossed his phone over to Zhou Xufang and turned toward the lady with a raised eyebrow. “I’m here to get a screen protector.”
So it was her customer, huh? The auntie didn’t bother clashing swords with the young man. Since there was already someone waiting in line to buy her deep-fried stinky tofu, she quickly handed Zhou Xufang a piece of paper before returning to her stall.
“Here ya’ go, Miss Zhou. Write your WeChat ID on this. I’m getting old so I can’t remember things that well.”
“…”
The auntie returned to her stall hastily. On her way back, she shot several glances at Jiang Zhi.
‘So what if you’re good-looking!? Arrogant bastard.’
“N-nice to meet you.”
It was the young lady who had come to buy the stinky tofu. With a coy look, she peered up at Jiang Zhi. “Can you add me on WeChat?”
Jiang Zhi’s smile faded away and out came his stone-cold gaze. “No.”
“…”
This world of superficiality was driving her nuts. Feeling royally pissed, her hands were so shaky that the two pieces of freshly-fried tofu slipped off her ladle and plopped back into the wok of oil. Angrily, she asked the said female customer how spicy she wanted her tofu to be.
The customer slammed her money down onto the table and ran off with an embarrassed look on her face, abandoning her tofu even though she had already paid for it.
“…”
Passerbys shoved past one another in the narrow walkways and with tightly-knitted brows, Jiang Zhi waited beside Zhou Xufang’s stall. Finally, he found an empty spot to crouch down in. Dressed in a complete set of haute couture, the man stood out like a sore thumb amidst the sea of blue-collar workers. Still, he remained there with his eyes fixated on her face.
“How often do people decide to strike up a conversation with you here at your stall?”