Chapter 35 Dessert After Dinner
Luo Xincheng's birthday is in March, which happens to be the spring equinox this year.
At the beginning of the month, Wang Jiayan started preparing for their birthday party and even borrowed a yacht from her, saying he wanted to hold it on the yacht this year, and she agreed at the time.
In the following days, she finally managed to find some time to have afternoon tea with her friends. When asked about it, Wang Jiayan shook his head.
"No, I went to see your yacht and it seemed a bit small, so I borrowed it from my brother. His yacht is much bigger."
Luo Xincheng: "..."
Luo Xincheng: "Then why didn't you just ask him to borrow it from the beginning? Why did you have to ask me again? Wasn't that redundant?"
Wang Jiayan took a sip of black tea and sighed wearily, "I still owe him 1.3 million yuan and I'm afraid he'll urge me to pay it back."
Luo Xincheng: "..."
How many people do you actually owe money to?
"It's alright," Jiang Wei said shrewdly, as if it were none of his business. "I remember you had 500,000 yuan in pocket money a month? You could have paid it back in just over two months without eating or drinking."
Wang Jiayan touched his nose and chuckled, “One million three hundred thousand dollars.”
Jiang Wei: "...?"
Jiang Xu laughed so hard he almost choked. "I told you before, don't try to play Formula One racing with your meager allowance. Can you even afford it?"
Luo Xincheng: "Thank you so much. You only asked me to lend you 100,000 dollars."
Wang Jiayan: "After all, you're very stingy, so you can't borrow more than that."
Luo Xincheng: "..."
It's easy to fall into a speechless state when chatting with this person.
She took a bite of cake, paused for a moment, and then asked seemingly casually, "How many people have you invited to your birthday party so far?"
Wang Jiayan pondered for a moment, then said uncertainly, "More than fifty? But some people may not come, and some may bring other friends. Overall, the number will be less than last year, after all, my brother's yacht isn't that big."
Luo Xin cleared his throat to clarify, and said casually, "I think I have other friends coming to the party too."
Wang Jiayan paused for a moment, looked around, and spread his hands. "Aren't all your friends here?"
Xu Peiyi instantly perked up, drawing out the last syllable in a sarcastic tone, "Oh dear, there are other~ friends~ too~."
Upon hearing this, Luo Xincheng retorted angrily, "Can't I have other friends?!"
"Yes, yes, of course!" Wang Jiayan poured her a full cup of black tea and asked obsequiously, "How many people are there? Men and women? Do I know them?"
Luo Xincheng opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Jiang Xu solemnly pushed up his non-existent glasses and said in a deep voice, "Based on my speculation, her friend should be a man."
"And, his name has three characters."
Enraged, Luo Xincheng picked up a cushion next to her and threw it at him, saying, "No one will think you're mute if you don't speak!"
Jiang Xu caught the cushion with lightning speed, speaking rapidly, "Tell me if my guess was right! Was that person a man? Did he have a three-character name?"
Luo Xincheng: "..."
She wanted to deny it, but unfortunately, what he said was true and she couldn't refute it.
She recklessly said, "Yes, yes, yes, it's Fu Zhiheng. He's coming to my birthday party."
Jiang Xu snorted coldly, not surprised at all, "I knew it."
Xu Peiyi and Jiang Wei had only heard gossip about the Fu family before, and had never formally met any of them. Seeing Jiang Xu's expression, they were a little curious, "You know him?"
"We know each other, but we don't really...get along well."
"What do you mean? You hate him?"
Jiang Xu shook his finger seriously and argued, "To be precise, I feel that he has a kind of... subtle malice towards me, so I dislike him. It's a matter of reciprocity."
"He has malicious intent towards you?" Luo Xincheng was taken aback upon hearing this, and her thoughts began to wander. "Did your two companies engage in unfair business competition?"
Xu Peiyi was a little speechless when she saw that the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up towards the end. "Why do you seem so smug?"
"Haha, really?" Jiang Xu raised one eyebrow, his smile growing even more smug. "Sorry, but the thought of Fu Zhiheng being jealous of me makes me want to laugh."
"...Is it necessary?"
"Why wouldn't it be necessary? Please, that's Fu Zhiheng!"
Jiang Xu became inexplicably excited. "Back in high school, whenever we participated in some kind of knowledge competition or essay contest, as long as he signed up, we didn't even need to look at the final results; his name was guaranteed to be on the gold medal list! I always worked my butt off and could only get a silver or bronze medal or something. It made me develop a bit of PTSD from his name."
Luo Xincheng seemed to have heard something unbelievable, "You knew him in high school? You two weren't even in the same school."
"He's quite famous; almost everyone who's participated in the competition has heard of him." Jiang Xu shrugged, then suddenly remembered something, "By the way, you went to Mingcheng No. 1 High School, right? You don't know him?"
Luo Xincheng: "...I know."
It's more than just knowing.
"I knew it. No matter how incompetent you are, you shouldn't be so ignorant as to not even know who's first in the grade." Jiang Xu casually popped a cream puff into his mouth, chewed, chewed, and before he could swallow, he suddenly froze, his expression blank.
Wang Jiayan, who was sitting next to him, was the first to notice that something was wrong with him. He waved his hand in front of his eyes and asked, "What's wrong with you now?"
Jiang Xu didn't say anything, but looked at Luo Xincheng with an extremely complicated expression, a mixture of surprise, doubt, and sudden realization.
"I just realized that you and Fu Zhiheng went to the same high school. Could it be that you two knew each other back then?"
No wonder he always felt that the atmosphere between the two of them was a bit off; if they had known each other since high school, it would make a lot of sense.
Luo Xincheng pursed her lips and said stubbornly, "Would you believe me if I said we don't know each other?"
Jiang Xu's eyes suddenly became meaningful. "I don't believe it."
...Then why are you asking?
She calmly sipped her tea. "After all, we're from the same school and in the same grade. It's normal to have met a few times and spoken a few times, right?"
Jiang Xu snorted coldly, "Pretending! Pretending again!"
Xu Peiyi and Jiang Wei were still trying to recall what Fu Zhiheng looked like. "He seems to be quite tall, probably around 1.9 meters? That's good, so Luo Xincheng can wear whatever heels she wants without feeling ashamed that the man next to her lowers her status."
Wang Jiayan stroked his chin, indulging in daydreams, "If he gets together with you, wouldn't I have another person to borrow money from? Hey, is he generous? Or is he as stingy as you?"
Luo Xincheng said expressionlessly, "Can you please not pair me up with him without my consent? We're not in that kind of relationship."
Jiang Xu retorted, "They even brought him to the birthday party, and it's not like that kind of relationship..."
It isn't now, but it will be sooner or later.
Luo Xincheng glared at him fiercely, "Can't I have ordinary friends of the opposite sex?"
He chuckled and spread his hands, "What are you talking about? When have you ever had a female friend? You wish even the mosquitoes around you were female."
Luo Xincheng looked him up and down, then asked in return, "Aren't you one?"
"Me?" He laughed absurdly, almost choking on his laughter. "You actually actually see me as a woman? No, you actually see me as a person?!"
"..." Luo Xincheng was speechless for a moment. "You're right, you're not human, you're a dog."
She couldn't be bothered to argue with these people about her relationship with Fu Zhiheng; she simply informed them that there would be one more person at the party.
She picked up her phone. "Where will your brother's yacht be moored? Send me the address."
Wang Jiayan gave the address, but still couldn't suppress his curiosity, "Was the person my eldest cousin mentioned during the New Year Fu Zhiheng?"
"..." Luo Xincheng's lips twitched, and she threw the problem back at him, "Go ask your eldest cousin."
Wang Jiayan nodded with satisfaction, "That's him."
Not denying it is tantamount to admitting it. He knows Luo Xincheng's character inside and out and would never be wrong in his guess.
Luo Xincheng: ==
She felt desperate because all her friends were such gossipy and unhelpful people, but at the same time she sent her address to Fu Zhiheng, feeling that she had sacrificed too much for him.
Luo Xincheng: [I just told my friend about your party. Just come to this address before 5 PM on the 20th.]
Fu Zhiheng: [Okay.]
Fu Zhiheng: [Does it mean 'Fu Zhiheng' will be attending? Or did it just say 'a friend' will be attending?]
Luo Xincheng: [???]
Is there any difference?
She pushed away Xu Peiyi's head, which was peeking in with obvious curiosity, thankfully she had a privacy screen on.
She replied, "[I said Fu Zhiheng would come.]"
Fu Zhiheng: [That's good.]
Fu Zhiheng: [I will definitely be there on time.]
Fu Zhiheng: [By the way, are you having dessert with your friends?]
Luo Xincheng: [???]
You know that?
She was startled and quickly turned around to look around, but she and her friend were in a private room, and there was no one else there.
Fu Zhiheng: [I'm on the second floor of the Furong Tower across the street.]
Upon seeing the message, she hesitated for a moment, then peered out the window again, tilting her head back.
Across a sparsely populated avenue, the stained glass windows of the restaurant opposite reflected a bright, dazzling light. In the only empty space, she saw Fu Zhiheng leaning against the windowsill, tilting his head and looking in her direction. After meeting her gaze, he even waved slightly at her.
Luo Xincheng blinked and immediately pulled the curtains down, completely blocking his view.
Isn't he nearsighted with a prescription of over 700 degrees?
How can you see it from this far away?
Using glasses as a telescope?
Seeing that her actions and expressions were quite unusual, Wang Jiayan asked, "What's wrong?"
Then she lifted the curtain and glanced outside, "You... want to eat at Furonglou?"
Without even thinking, she refused, "I won't eat!"
Fu Zhiheng: [The sun is shining so brightly today, shouldn't we enjoy it more?]
What a jerk!
The thought that her every move had been watched by him made Luo Xincheng rub her arms uncomfortably.
Luo Xincheng: [Why were you there?]
She regretted sending the message as soon as she did. Why did she go to the restaurant? What else could it be for besides eating...?
Sure enough, he replied: [Come have lunch.]
Luo Xincheng glanced at the time: [Four o'clock in the afternoon, lunchtime?]
Fu Zhiheng: [Actually, I could have eaten at 2 PM, but the food at Furonglou is quite good. I thought about it and realized I'd been hungry for so long, I couldn't let myself suffer by eating mediocre food, so I drove an hour to get here.]
Fu Zhiheng: [Thank goodness you came.]
Fu Zhiheng: [The food here is really delicious, and the scenery is beautiful too.]
Fu Zhiheng: [The only downside was the dessert; it was a bit too sweet. Is your dessert shop any good?]
Author's Note: Ughhhhh! I was going to schedule this! How did it suddenly get posted?! Oh well... [melted]
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