Ugly people often cause trouble
The car's heater warmed Wen Dai's frozen fingers. She flexed her knuckles, tilting her head to the window. Through the window, she could still see Zhang Ai waiting for the car at the entrance as they left the courthouse. Zhang Lin, standing next to Zhang Ai, had his brows furrowed, his raised face showing annoyance. His mouth was moving in various shapes as he mumbled something. Even Zhang Ai's mother-in-law had her brows furrowed, her raised hand gesturing and pointing in the air.
Her eyelashes drooped down, obscuring Wen Dai's pupils, and the image that rushed into her eyes was Zhang Ai's face from when she had just been talking to her.
Looking at that ashen face and those ashen eyes, she said solemnly, “Age doesn’t mean anything. Although there are indeed restrictions and severe exploitation on older people in today’s society, you’re not old at thirty. Even if you only live to sixty, you’ve only gone halfway. Besides, the average lifespan is far more than sixty now. You’re still young, and you have the capital to start over.”
"The world is indeed constantly changing, but nothing is ever 'outdated.' When we talk about people, they retain a sense of antiquity, and many things are also described as having an antiquity. No matter how unpleasant the adjective, it cannot deny that some things can represent a certain year or a certain memory from the past. You can pursue and learn about the 'new' aspects of this world. Many classical cultures have experienced a resurgence after innovation, and people can do the same. Don't deny what you haven't done. First of all, you have to move forward."
The last image that remained in her mind was of her staring blankly at herself. Wen Dai wasn't sure if she had taken her words to heart, but everyone has their own destiny, so she left it at that.
A lazy voice from the driver's seat drifted over: "Going to eat?"
Struggling to pull herself out of her reverie, Wen Dai turned to him and said, "Hmm... you pick the place, it's almost past lunchtime. How many good men are there?" The sudden turn of events successfully caught the attention of the man who was focused on driving.
However, Wen Dai seemed oblivious to the confusion in his eyes, and continued counting on her fingers, "My dad counts, Uncle Chen is pretty good too... it seems like there aren't any others." She paused, holding her little finger and ring finger.
He didn't really want to discuss this somewhat childish topic with her, but Chen Sizhe still couldn't help himself. As he turned the steering wheel, he quickly glanced at her and said, "Am I not a good person?"
"Are you a thing?" Wen Dai swore that she hadn't thought much before those five words left her mouth; it was purely instinct.
After receiving a cold glance from Chen Sizhe, her malfunctioning brain snapped back to reality, reminding her that this petty lawyer had recently given her a special rate and personally represented her in court. And… she hadn't paid him yet.
Her expression suddenly took on a hint of fawning, and Wen Dai sat up abruptly. She chuckled and said, "How could you be a thing—no, that's not what I meant. You can't be considered a good man. Even if you were a woman, you'd be a good woman!"
The expressionless man gave her another indifferent look, as if to say, "I'd like to see what other nonsense you can come up with."
Her throat tightened twice, and Wen Dai tried her best to control her rebellious mouth. She raised her hand, opened it in the air, then clenched it into a fist. Her brows were tightly furrowed, and she awkwardly tried to smooth things over, saying, "Uh... what I mean is, even among all of humanity, you're in the top tier, a truly great person."
Sure enough, once you've mastered the skill of being sarcastic, you'll lose some of your ability to praise others—especially when the praise isn't genuine.
The response she received was a cold laugh from Chen Sizhe.
Before long, the car stopped in the underground parking lot of a restaurant.
Wen Dai unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car, hurrying behind Chen Sizhe. "I remember this restaurant requires reservations. Did you make a reservation?"
"Hmm." The man, who had been leisurely walking and leaving her behind, finally stopped in front of the elevator. He pressed the up button, glanced at the person standing next to him who was panting, and sneered, "I booked it two days in advance. Otherwise, if I had relied on you, we would probably have starved to death together."
Uncharacteristically, Wen Dai didn't refute the remark. She hadn't paid attention to it; at worst, she would just go home and cook some noodles to make do.
She followed him into the elevator, watching him press the button, and casually started chatting: "I still prefer the old restaurants. Now you basically have to take a number and wait in line, and some even have to make a reservation in advance. Once you're inside, you have to wait for the food to be served. It's so long."
“Only you would need to wait.” He raised his hand, tapped his temple with the tip of his index finger, and looked down at her with disdain in his foxy eyes. “I thought that people with this condition should know to make an appointment in advance, or time it out themselves, unless they have plenty of time or something unexpected happens.”
Wen Dai didn't really want to care about his help right now. She puffed out her cheeks and let out a angry "Heh." As the elevator doors opened, she slapped him across the face. "Why don't you just sew your mouth shut? I'm not hitting you because I'm kind. If someone else heard you say that, do you think you'd get ganged up on?"
With a hiss, Chen Sizhe dodged his arm and glared at her unhappily. "You didn't hit me just now? Then what was that that that hit my arm?"
"I just slapped you once, is that considered a beating? Chen Sizhe, can you not be so fragile—hey!" The consequence of being so engrossed in a verbal battle with Chen was being knocked over, though of course, it wasn't Chen Sizhe who knocked him over.
Wen Dai was knocked to the side by a passerby who suddenly appeared from the restaurant entrance, and was greeted by Chen Sizhe who instinctively reached out his hand.
The man, who had been flirting with his girlfriend while walking, finally snapped out of his daze after bumping into someone. The burly man, still holding the petite woman in his arms, turned around and his gaze lingered for a moment when he saw Wen Dai's face. Then, the perfunctory expression on his face vanished, and he apologized, seemingly sincerely: "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. Can I add you on WeChat? Your coat is really nice; I'd like to buy one for my girlfriend too. I wanted to ask how to purchase it."
Rubbing her sore shoulder, Wen Dai propped herself up from Chen Sizhe's chest and looked the hourglass-shaped man in front of her over. "Excuse me, I don't add strangers. This coat was custom-made by Dressmaker, and I don't want to have the same one as someone else."
She glanced at the woman the man was embracing. The slender and charming woman seemed completely unconcerned about the man's fickle behavior, and was admiring her manicured nails with her fingers bent in front of her face.
Just as she was about to turn around and go into the restaurant with Chen Sizhe, the man seemed not to understand human speech. He took two steps forward and reached out his hand to grab Wen Dai. However, Wen Dai seemed to have eyes in the back of her head and shrank back to avoid him—but she shrank back towards Chen Sizhe, so she squeezed into his arms again.
There was no room for explanation. Wen Dai believed that the most urgent task at hand was to scald this dead pig, who was immersed in his own world and could not understand rejection, awake.
She turned over, the burning sensation in her hungry stomach adding fuel to her anger. She glanced disgustedly at the smug, self-importantly handsome fat man, her lips twitching slightly. "Stop laughing," she said. "Even a fathead fish is cuter than you. When I looked at you, I thought some pig had escaped from a slaughterhouse. I didn't hold it against you for bumping into me; couldn't you just leave? Why did you have to keep talking? Your back looks like a pig's. Do you think I'm the kind of person who talks to a pig? You're holding a little sister in your arms; can't you be content? After all, it's hard to find people with poor eyesight these days."
"Please, I've been terrified of pigs since I was a child. If you keep showing me that face, I'm going to throw up." A barrage of sarcastic words poured out of Wen Dai's mouth. She would occasionally nod her chin at the gourd-shaped man, until the man who had been smiling just moments before turned pale.
The fat on the man's face seemed to tremble, the pockmarks on his face seemed to shake, and even the ring of his chin seemed to jiggle. "Do you know who I am?"
Wen Dai nodded her forehead in a mock-serious manner, her tone solemn: "Yes, I know, I'm part of the slaughterhouse."
Chen Sizhe, who had been watching from the sidelines, finally couldn't hold back any longer and let out a laugh. His fox-like eyes, filled with laughter, gained a charming and amorous quality. He could laugh openly now, while the woman in the gourd-shaped man's arms squirmed and then bit into his mouth.
The gourd-shaped man was furious. He stared at Wen Dai and Chen Sizhe beside her for a moment with a sinister look. "You just wait and see." Then his gaze fell on Wen Dai, and his narrow eyes seemed to be hitting Wen Dai's face. "When the time comes, I'll see if you will come with me on your own initiative. I'll see if your boyfriend, who looks like a woman, can protect you."
"Take my advice, okay? Read fewer of those 'King of Destruction' novels when it's getting cold, okay? Stop acting like you're so great, okay? Look down at your belly. Just because there's a guy standing next to me doesn't mean he's my boyfriend! He looks much better than you, even if he looks like a woman. You're not even human." Throughout the entire verbal battle, Wen Dai spoke in a soft, gentle tone, yet the words she uttered were extremely aggressive. Coupled with the disdain in her expression, the gourd-shaped man was almost so angry that he attacked her on the spot.
Just as the gourd-shaped man pointed at Wen Dai and urged her to step forward, Chen Sizhe, who had been leisurely watching the show, moved. He put his hand on Wen Dai's shoulder and pulled her behind him, easily blocking her way. His gaze, which was not smiling, swept over the gourd-shaped man. "Ugly people really do make trouble. Haven't you ever looked in a mirror before?"
He raised his chin, pointed at the shiny tiles under his feet with his eyes, and said sarcastically, "If you've never looked in a mirror, you can lie down and look at yourself now. Whether you're human or not, you should still have some self-awareness. I think I need to remind you—someone like you would easily be chopped into pieces and stir-fried into braised pork if you walked into the kitchen, after all, some people just love fatty meat."
That chubby head turned fiery red after turning ashen, but the gourd-shaped man indeed had a hard time climbing to the top against Chen Sizhe; the oppressive feeling brought by his 1.9-meter height should not be underestimated.
He gave the gourd-shaped man a disdainful look, then put his hand on Wen Dai's back and half-pushed her into the restaurant.
After they sat down and ordered, Wen Dai glanced at him curiously, leaning forward and resting her body against the edge of the table. "Hey, aren't you afraid of getting yourself into trouble? I was just trying to get you out of this mess."
In an instant, she shrank back into her chair, her almond-shaped eyes flashing with wariness. "You're not trying to rip me off again, are you? Let me tell you in advance, I can't afford the losses you suffer if you get dragged into this. I've seen that guy; he's got some skills, and he's involved in—" She tapped the floor with her finger.
"This 'underground' doesn't refer to the netherworld. He has connections above him, connections with the deputy domain chief, tsk tsk... the deputy domain chief's own son." While mentioning how extraordinary the gourd-shaped man's identity was, Wen Dai acted with complete ease, sipping the tea that had been served first.
Chen Sizhe, who appeared even more composed than Wen Dai, leaned back in his chair with his long legs crossed and one hand tapping on his thigh. He flicked his dark eyelashes and looked across at the person opposite him with his dark, star-like eyes. "Stop trying to pin this on me. Do you know that you sound like you have paranoia? I know who that person was. I've seen them before."
The teacup was slammed back on the table. Wen Dai's eyes widened slightly, a look of surprise in them. She exclaimed in astonishment, "You knew that, yet you still joined me in arguing with him. Aren't you afraid of getting yourself into trouble?"
Chen Sizhe responded with a sneer. He tilted his head slightly, his chin raised, his disdain evident in his eyes. "What's there to be afraid of? The trouble he caused should be called his father's leverage. He's a stupid thing, spoiled rotten. If he dares to provoke me, he's handing me a rope that can restrain them."
Admittedly, this guy actually looked quite handsome when he struck a contemptuous pose. After realizing what was on her mind, Wen Dai quickly banished the thoughts that had suddenly surfaced. Damn it, could it be that she actually had some masochistic tendencies?
The dishes were brought to the table one by one by the waiter. Wen Dai pulled the one she had ordered in front of her, picked up her fork and started shoveling food into it. She looked up and asked casually, "Who's his father? I've never heard of him when I was little. Sun Ping..."
“He used to be the secretary-general.” Chen Sizhe held his knife and fork, cutting the steak in front of him, speaking in a casual tone: “He was a confidant of the former regional governor and was quite powerful back then.”
The former domain chief... Wen Dai's eyes suddenly froze. Among the information she had collected over the years, there was trace of the former domain chief, Long Fangqi—the arson case, or rather, the owner of the chemical plant, seemed to be connected to him.
Then I thought back to the gourd-shaped man I met at the restaurant entrance earlier. He was short and fat, pampered with money, and while he was holding a beautiful woman in his arms, he would still glance at passersby. If the soft approach didn't work, he would try the hard approach—I don't know how many times he had actually used this trick, but in any case, it wouldn't only happen to her.
For the sake of profit, they disregard human life.
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