Chapter 25 Terrible Drinking Capacity
Upon hearing him mention Fu Zhiheng, Luo Xincheng was momentarily taken aback, but quickly regained her composure.
"Who is that?" she scoffed. "So, you can't win an argument, so you resort to spreading rumors about me, huh?"
Wang Yunzheng leaned back in his chair, having to look up at her to meet her gaze.
To be honest, it gave him the unpleasant feeling of being halfway through a class when the teacher suddenly walked from the podium to his desk, looked down at him, and told him to stop fidgeting and concentrate on the lesson.
But he didn't show it, looking directly into Luo Xincheng's open and honest eyes.
"On the 16th of last month, at 3 pm, in front of Yunze Building, I saw with my own eyes that kid got out of your car with disheveled clothes."
To prevent Luo Xincheng from making excuses, he added, "That car was a gift from my dad, I can't possibly be mistaken."
What the hell is wrong with his clothes?
Luo Xincheng immediately retorted, "Are you sick? I just gave him a ride, and you're bringing up an inappropriate relationship? Don't you have any ordinary friends?"
"Ordinary friends?" Wang Yunzheng laughed, finding it rather absurd, as he pulled at his shirt, which was meticulously buttoned up to the top, with a righteous and awe-inspiring expression.
"His collar is plunging all the way down to his chest! Didn't you see it? Tell me, what man with a conscience and a sense of shame would wear his collar so low? My female friends wouldn't meet me dressed so inappropriately!"
"besides!"
Before Luo Xincheng could speak, Wang Yunzheng took a deep breath and readjusted his expression to one of blankness.
"Before you returned to China, I dealt with that kid a few times. He's not bad-minded, and every time we met, he was always serious and unsmiling. Ha, I was quite surprised at the time, thinking that it was actually a good thing that someone from that family of good-for-nothings actually focused on building a career... But what happened? He actually used such despicable means to seduce you!"
"The Fu family is currently embroiled in fierce internal strife. He wants to stand out among his ambitious brothers and sisters, so in addition to his own efforts, he will also need to rely on some external forces."
As he looked at Luo Xincheng, his expression genuinely conveyed a sense of earnestness and concern.
"Do you think his tenderness and affection for you means he likes you? Don't be so naive. He's only after your powerful background; he sees something to gain from you, so he's only flattering you!"
"I've seen far too many men who climb the social ladder by relying on women! Don't think that he'll remember your kindness once he's truly in power. It's impossible. He'll only think he's capable, and then he'll secretly find several, or even a dozen, subservient women who look up to him!"
Halfway through the conversation, Luo Xincheng felt tired of standing, so she went back to her chair, casually crossed her legs, and watched him continue his eloquent talk.
Wang Yunzheng talked for a long time but didn't see any positive response from her. When he saw that she was looking at him with the leisurely attitude of watching a circus performance, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood.
"I'm talking to you nicely, are you even listening?!"
Her cold indifference made him feel like a monkey trying to get attention with exaggerated cries and actions, and that he was just putting on a one-man show.
“Listen up.” She rested her chin on one hand and gestured towards him. “To be honest, what you’re saying makes a lot of sense. My mom often tells me that spending money on a man will bring you bad luck for life, and that’s one of my life principles.”
"So," she asked with a puzzled look, "why do you think I would fall for a weak and useless man who needs to rely on a woman's abilities to seize power?"
"Or, why do you think that if I like a man, I would use my resources to pave the way for him?"
She clutched her heart like Xi Shi, and began to sing in an exaggerated tone.
"I never expected that in my cousin's eyes I would be so 'noble' as someone who would sacrifice my own interests for love. My God, I am truly flattered."
When Wang Yunzheng met the mocking smile in her eyes, after a long while, a few laughs that were neither laughable nor sad suddenly escaped his throat.
"Just consider it me worrying unnecessarily." He gave her a deep look, then took a deep breath, "But how can Fu Zhiheng, an illegitimate child, be worthy of her..."
Luo Xincheng was too lazy to argue with him anymore. "Are you ever going to stop? I've already said I have nothing to do with him, so stop dragging unrelated people into this, okay? You keep calling him an illegitimate child, you look down on illegitimate children so much, but I didn't see you say anything to Fourth Uncle's illegitimate child just now. Are you too scared to say anything?"
"They are obsequious to their elders about their chaotic private lives, but they are extremely derogatory towards a complete stranger."
She stood up again and dusted off a non-existent speck of dust from the corner of her clothes.
"Don't interfere with my marriage. You're not qualified. Wait until you're in your father's position before you come and spout that sanctimonious nonsense about marriage for the sake of the family. Of course, I won't listen anyway."
She pointed at his nose with a grin.
"Has anyone ever told you that your arrogant and condescending attitude is really annoying?" "In terms of manners, you are much worse than your second cousin. You are his own brothers, how come he is so gentle and polite in his dealings with others?"
She openly criticized him, saying, "No wonder my uncle likes him more. If it were me, I would also prefer such a likable child."
As if she didn't see Wang Yunzheng's face darken instantly, she turned and walked towards the door, muttering to herself as she went.
"What are you doing, acting like a domineering CEO in front of me, you idiot."
After saying that, she slammed the study door shut.
Bang!
The loud noise startled the maids cleaning the corridor. Facing their terrified looks, Luo Xincheng nonchalantly pointed to the study.
"Bring the young master a cup of bitter tea, make it strong, so he can cool down."
It would be best if he suffered to death.
*
The old man's birthday banquet was quite lively, with a large number of dignitaries coming and going.
Luo Xincheng stood on the second floor, looking at her phone and then at the main banquet hall downstairs. After a long while, she finally spotted a few familiar faces among the guests.
A glimmer of life finally appeared on her face, and she gracefully descended the stairs, lifting the hem of her flowing skirt.
A few minutes later, she walked up behind her friends who were huddled together eating dessert.
Jiang Wei was the first to spot her.
"You're here." She was eating a piece of cannoli and seemed quite satisfied with its taste. Her brows, which had been gloomy due to years of heavy academic work, relaxed.
"Didn't they say your grandfather was dying? I just checked on him, and he seemed quite energetic."
Luo Xincheng thought to herself that she must have heard too much gossip and misremembered, and was about to explain when Xu Peiyi beat her to it.
Luo Xincheng covered her mouth in horror.
"Don't talk nonsense! I didn't say anything! Don't slander me!"
Jiang Xu laughed heartily from the side, "You dare to say it but not admit it, huh?"
Luo Xincheng withdrew her hand seriously, "Even if I really said that, it was just because I wasn't thinking straight in the middle of the night, so don't take it seriously."
Xu Peiyi took a mirror out of her handbag and looked at herself. "Your tone has changed so quickly? What have you been through these past two days?"
Thankfully, her lipstick didn't smudge; she clearly knows how to handle things carefully.
Luo Xincheng picked up a glass of champagne from the table, took a small sip, and said, "It's just that I suddenly felt a little bit of Grandpa's love."
Jiang Xu: "What did he give you?"
Luo Xincheng: "A medium-sized yacht built by Heesen."
Love is where money is. She suddenly received a large sum of money from her grandfather, which could be considered a brief period of being loved.
"What?!" Wang Jiayan, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, exclaimed, "Why did they only give me one car?! I don't need any more! It's not what I wanted at all!"
"Then what do you want?"
"hydrofoil sailboat".
"..."
After finishing a glass of champagne, Luo Xincheng picked up another and said calmly, "Who told you to have three kids? The gifts you and your older brother and sister received combined are about the same as my yacht."
Although they treat their grandchildren very differently, they are fairly even in terms of material things.
Wang Jiayan looked dejected. "Being an only child is great... so can I postpone owing you the 100,000 dollars?"
Luo Xincheng: "..."
She didn't want to talk to this shameless debtor, so she turned to look at Jiang Xu, who was enjoying the show, and asked with feigned concern, "..."
"How have you been lately? Have those rumors about your illegitimate child affected you?"
Jiang Xu glanced at her malicious smile, and his lips drooped.
"Well..." His gaze swept past the guests clinking glasses, and he sighed softly, "In a way, that rumor also debunked the rumors about my sexuality."
Upon hearing this, his cronies burst into laughter.
Luo Xincheng was drinking champagne when she heard this and immediately choked.
"Ahem," she coughed and laughed, "I'm having a drink, can you please not make me laugh at a time like this?"
"Who made you laugh?" Jiang Xu couldn't stand these people anymore. "Can't you at least acknowledge my pain?"
"Is it painful? I think you're quite optimistic."
"Was that optimism? I was just completely out of options, so I could only try to find joy in the midst of suffering!"
Wang Jiayan wanted to comfort him, but couldn't think of any words, so he patted him on the shoulder and joked, "Do you need me to introduce you to a psychologist?"
Jiang Xu told him to get lost, "Don't show off your connections at such an inopportune time, okay?"
Everyone burst into laughter again.
But after laughing for a while, an eerie silence suddenly fell, and several pairs of eyes stared intently at the man walking gracefully towards them.
"Miss Luo."
The tall, unfamiliar man smiled slightly at her, raised his glass in a gesture of respect, and said, "Seeing is believing. Miss Luo is far more elegant and charming than she appears in the photos."
Luo Xincheng's smile froze for a moment, a subtle feeling of being disturbed creeping over her.
Xu Minhui.
Her eldest cousin wanted her to marry someone.
Even if she was unwilling when no one was around, and even argued that the other person was old, now that the person was in front of her, Luo Xincheng couldn't possibly refuse to give them any face.
She forced a flawless smile. "Mr. Xu?"
Xu Minhui nodded slightly and cut to the chase without any preamble, "Could we speak in private?"
Luo Xincheng thought to herself, "What's there to talk about with you? I'm sorry, I'm here..."
Turning around, she wanted her friend to give her an excuse to refuse, but found that the small corner that was once packed with people was now empty, with only a few empty wine glasses left on the table.
Luo Xincheng: ...
However, this friendship is just too superficial.
Xu Minhui noticed the slight change in her expression and said considerately, "If Miss Luo doesn't wish to move to another place, we can talk here. I don't mind."
Who cares if you mind or not?
Luo Xincheng turned to look at him, a business-like smile still on her face. "This is the first time Mr. Xu and I have met. I don't think we have much to talk about, do we?"
Xu Minhui sensed her wariness and stepped forward with a smile. "Although this is our first meeting, I feel that Miss Luo has a lot of opinions about me. I sincerely hope that Miss Luo can give me a chance to explain."
Why do you speak in such a formal, literary way? Your Mandarin isn't even very standard...
Luo Xincheng drifted off into thought, thinking of her stepfather, whose Chinese was even more broken; he would sometimes speak like that.
But when he talks about it, it's so funny and humorous. As for the person in front of her, all she can think is:
As expected, birds of a feather flock together; the guy Wang Yunzheng introduced was also a show-off.
As he approached, the faint scent of sandalwood mixed with a distinct smell of tobacco emanating from him made me even more annoyed.
"Miss Luo?"
Seeing that she didn't respond for a long time, Xu Minhui tilted his head in deep confusion.
Luo Xincheng met his gaze upon hearing the sound.
Although the man was very polite and smiling when he saw her, his eyes were indifferent, and he looked at her with a condescending and scrutinizing attitude.
She didn't like that look, but she didn't show it at the moment.
Instead, he lazily sat down on the sofa.
Xu Minhui raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly upon seeing this, but said nothing and sat down in the seat opposite him.
Just as I was about to bring up the topic, I suddenly heard her ask with great interest:
How tall is Mr. Xu?
His brow twitched, and before he could react, he blurted out, "188 centimeters."
Luo Xincheng pressed further, "Bare-chested height?"
His smile froze slightly, and he remained silent.
Luo Xincheng chuckled with a mischievous grin, "Oh~~~ you're only 188cm with shoes on."
Upon hearing the word "talent," Xu Minhui instinctively felt displeasure.
"Does Mr. Xu know how tall I am?" She paused slightly, as if giving him a moment to process her answer, before continuing on her own.
“My height without shoes is 176 cm. The high heels I’m wearing today are 8 cm high, so I’m 184 cm tall. That’s only 4 cm shorter than Mr. Xu with his shoes on.”
Her voice rose at the end, capturing his attention completely, before she gave him a sweet smile.
She held up one index finger and pointed downwards.
"Looking at me like this, I'm only four centimeters taller, it's completely unnecessary."
"That's completely unnecessary^^"
Seeing her wicked smile, Xu Minhui's smiling mask finally cracked slightly.
At the same time, a deliberately suppressed chuckle came from behind the two of them.
It was a very short sound, but it was still caught by the two people who fell silent for a moment.
Luo Xincheng glanced to the side casually, and the first thing she noticed was a pair of shiny thin-soled leather shoes. Her gaze followed upwards, and a pair of long legs encased in sharp suit trousers came into view. These legs were a bit too long. She tilted her head back slightly before she finally saw his upper body.
The laughing young man was looking down at Xu Minhui, a slight smile playing on his lips.
He stood against the light, with the light source above his head. The dim and unclear light and shadow cut his face into a messy mess, but even so, his exceptionally handsome face was not affected in the slightest and still gave people a great visual impact.
Unaware that her smile had taken on a different kind of radiance, she eagerly asked the newcomer, "How tall is Mr. Fu?"
He looked over, played along with her joke, and answered honestly, "192 centimeters."
"Bare height?"
"Um."
Luo Xincheng laughed even harder, and seeing Xu Minhui's face darken, she skillfully started to belittle him, "He's four centimeters taller than Mr. Xu with his shoes on, what a coincidence, also four centimeters, but Mr. Fu never looks at me like Mr. Xu just did..."
"Therefore, Mr. Xu should learn a lot from them in terms of etiquette."
"Etiquette, number?"
Xu Minhui narrowed his eyes slightly and said meaningfully, "It's unbelievable that Miss Luo could actually say this word."
Aren't you the most rude person?
Luo Xincheng understood the other party's implied meaning and frankly admitted his shortcomings in this area.
"I was playful when I was young and never took etiquette classes seriously. My older cousin also criticized me severely for this. So if I have unintentionally offended Mr. Xu today, my older cousin can kneel down and kowtow to Mr. Xu on my behalf to express my apology."
Upon hearing the kneeling and kowtowing, Fu Zhiheng couldn't hold back and quietly smiled, pressing his fist to his lips.
Xu Minhui couldn't laugh at all.
He glanced at Luo Xincheng, who was laughing arrogantly as if to say "what can you do to me?", and then at Fu Zhiheng, who was smirking. He wanted to slam his fist on the table, scold the two of them, and then leave.
But when he thought about how Fu Zhiheng was four centimeters taller than him even with his shoes off, and how he was only four centimeters taller than Luo Xincheng with his shoes on, he felt a lack of presence when he stood up and was sandwiched between the two of them, looking like a WIF number.
So I think I'll stick with garlic.
His mind raced with conflicting thoughts, but in reality, only a dozen seconds had passed.
After making his decision, he raised the corners of his lips to Luo Xincheng and slowly gave her a gentle smile.
"It seems that Miss Luo's prejudice against me is much deeper than I imagined. Since we cannot communicate amicably for the time being, I will not stay here any longer and get in Miss Luo's way."
But he didn't behave so gentlemanly towards Fu Zhiheng. He got up, glanced at him expressionlessly, and left without looking back.
Luo Xincheng watched him leave, and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, he had seen off this big shot.
Turning my head, I saw Fu Zhiheng quickly sit down in the empty seat opposite me.
Seeing her looking over, he gave her a shy smile.
In a moment of inspiration, Luo Xincheng suddenly felt like a busy HR person, having just seen off one job seeker only to have another one arrive immediately, without giving her a chance to rest.
When I looked again, I met his gaze squarely.
He wasn't wearing his glasses today, and when he looked at her, there was no longer any distance between them.
Staring at her with those deep, bright eyes, she was stunned for a long time before belatedly realizing what was happening.
"You're not wearing your glasses?"
He was standing against the light, so she couldn't see his face clearly and naturally didn't notice these details.
"I'm wearing it."
He spoke in a serious tone, extending a finger and tapping his lower eyelid.
Contact lenses.
She was surprised, "Aren't you... unable to wear contact lenses due to sensitive eyes?"
She cut off the rest of her sentence in time.
He gazed at her, his eyes smiling, the warm orange light shining from the side melting quietly into his eyes like honey.
"Not what?"
"..."
She shook her head, the ruby-red gemstones adorning her earlobes shimmering, drawing his heart to sway with her beauty.
He glanced at her earrings a couple more times before restraining himself and looking away.
She seems to be dressed entirely in purple today.
Her eyelids were covered in a wet, pinkish-purple glitter, creating a shimmering effect that perfectly complemented her bright eyes. A thin layer of purple blush was swept across her cheeks, with very low saturation, giving off a natural, healthy glow. Her dress was a light, hazy smoky purple...
"Does Mr. Fu smoke?"
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden question, and Fu Zhiheng replied without hesitation, "No."
Taking this opportunity, he finally had a reason to look up again and glance over without making a sound.
The person opposite him held his cheek with one hand, and looked over with a pair of clear, emotionless eyes.
She had long, loose, curly hair, half of which was tucked behind her ears, revealing exquisitely cut ruby earrings, while the other half hung down in front of her, rising and falling with her breath.
Hearing his answer, she nodded without any surprise.
In their previous meetings, no matter how close they were, she never smelled cigarette smoke on him. Only once did she detect a faint scent of coffee on him.
"Do you drink alcohol?" she continued.
"I……"
His gaze drifted uncontrollably toward her shoulders and neck.
Whether to match her outfit or simply because she was cold, she casually draped a fluffy shawl over her upper body. As she rested her chin on her hand, one side of the shawl was tightly wrapped around her shoulder, while the other side slid loosely down to her arm, revealing her fair shoulder.
The thin shoulder straps were stretched out of the way by her prominent collarbones, extending close to the muscles under her collarbones and leaving faint marks on her delicate skin, trembling slightly with the occasional movement.
He hurriedly looked away, even though he was dressed quite warmly, he just couldn't bear to look any further.
"I'll drink a little."
As if to prove his point, he reached for a glass of champagne that was clearly untouched in the distance and gulped it down in one go.
After finishing his drink, he put down his glass, his expression blank, as if he had paused for a moment, before adding, "But I can't hold my liquor, so I can't drink too much."
Luo Xincheng stared at the visibly flushed cheeks on his face and laughed heartily.
"Your alcohol tolerance is terrible, you've only had a few sips."
She laughed hysterically in the honey-like halo, the gems by her ears swaying wildly, exuding a unique and decadent charm.
Fu Zhiheng couldn't help but glance at it, then glanced at it again, a burning sensation spreading across his cheeks. He muttered to himself:
"...It's not that bad."
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