Chapter 25
For Tang Hui, today was almost no different from any other day. He was still very busy and didn't even have time to tell Song Ziyi about what happened last night.
Being busy is good, at least during the day he doesn't have to overthink things and can temporarily forget about his complicated feelings for Zhou Nianhua.
And when they actually meet, what will he say, and how will he face this man who is both his father and his enemy?
It wasn't until 6:30 p.m. that Tang Hui finally had a chance to catch his breath. He invited Song Ziyi to have dinner at a Cantonese restaurant near the law firm and also called Qi Wang over, intending to have a good chat with his brothers.
Just as the dishes were served and Tang Hui was about to speak, his phone, which was in his suit pocket, started vibrating incessantly.
Tang Hui put down his chopsticks, took out his phone, and his face turned green again when he saw the caller ID.
Sitting opposite Tang Hui, Qi Wang and Song Ziyi could guess who was calling just by looking at Tang Hui's expression. They exchanged a glance, feeling a mixture of schadenfreude and pity.
Tang Hui, his face full of anger but unable to speak, answered the phone in frustration. Before he could even open his mouth, Lisa's wailing came from the other end of the line, "Tang Hui, I don't want to stay in the hotel anymore. When are you going to pick me up and take me home?"
"Whenever you want to go home, I'll buy you a plane ticket. Don't worry, I'll personally go to the airport to see you off," Tang Hui said calmly, the implication being clear—your home is in America, so go home if you want to.
The consequences of this statement were naturally catastrophic, to the point that Song Ziyi and Qi Wang, who were sitting opposite each other, could hear the cries coming from the phone.
The two looked at each other, and the same thought popped into their minds at the same time—it must be terrible to be liked by a crazy girl like Lisa. Luckily, they didn't encounter a suitor like that.
Tang Hui knew his cousin's temperament well, so he neither coaxed her nor hung up the phone, but just silently waited for Lisa to vent.
After wailing for a while, Lisa said heartbrokenly, "How could you do this to me? Tang Hui, do you have any conscience?"
“Lisa, it’s precisely because I have a strong conscience that I’ve kept rejecting you. I’ve said many times that we’re cousins, and there’s no way we can be together. If I were heartless, I could have just used you and dumped you, but I’m not that kind of person, and I would never do that to you.” Tang Hui said seriously and righteously.
Lisa thought to herself on the other end of the phone: I'd rather you toyed with me. After you've made love to me, I guarantee you'll never forget how I tasted you, and you'll be completely captivated by me.
However, Lisa would never dare to actually say these words. She was certain that if she said them to Tang Hui's face, Tang Hui would never speak to her again.
After her outburst, Lisa returned to her goal. Sniffling, she asked in a tearful voice, "Can I stay at your place? I'm so sick of staying in hotels."
"If you insist on staying in this city, I'll help you rent a place, and we'll stick to the original agreement. I'll pay the rent for the first six months." Tang Hui remained unmoved and refused to budge.
Lisa got angry and yelled, "Mom showed me pictures of your house. Your house is so big. What's wrong with having another one of me living here? Tang Hui, don't try to fool me with your girlfriend. I don't believe you."
Tang Hui choked for a moment, then suddenly felt incredibly fortunate that he had acted quickly enough. He changed his previous anger and even put on a smile, but this smile made the two men present feel inexplicably creeped out.
"If you still don't believe me, how about I introduce you to her? How about this weekend? I'll treat you to dinner, and you can bring my girlfriend. She's also interested in meeting you."
There was an instant silence on the other end of the phone. Just as Tang Hui thought Lisa wouldn't say anything more and was about to hang up, Lisa's trembling voice came through.
"You, you really have a girlfriend, you're not lying to me?"
"Of course, if you don't believe me, I can let you meet her anytime." Tang Hui's voice carried a suppressed laugh; he knew Lisa truly believed him this time.
"Tang Hui, I hate you!" Lisa roared, then hung up the phone.
Song Ziyi and Qi Wang were stunned. They were speechless for a long time until Tang Hui tapped each of their hands with chopsticks, which brought them back to their senses and they realized that Tang Hui had ended the call.
The two then clapped in unison, looking at Tang Hui with admiration.
The reactions of the two people opposite him gave Tang Hui the illusion that he was not dealing with a relationship issue, but rather winning a brilliant and incredibly difficult case in court.
“I’ve won so many tough cases before, and you’ve never applauded me like this before,” Tang Hui said to Song Ziyi as he picked up a shrimp dumpling and ate it.
Song Ziyi still looked completely incredulous, his voice even sounding a little unsteady, "Lisa's case is far more terrifying than those tough lawsuits. This girl is really scary, relentlessly pursuing us. I now think it was a wise decision for you not to let him stay at home, otherwise I would have prepared to file a lawsuit to clear your name."
Qi Wang immediately and shamelessly chimed in, "I'm a handsome, rich, and successful guy, and I've had tons of girls chasing after me, but I've never met one as fierce as this. Old Tang, what's your cousin's zodiac sign? We need to avoid young women of that sign in our company from now on."
"What? Are you afraid that the employees you hire will also relentlessly attack you, the young master?" Tang Hui rolled his eyes and retorted irritably.
"Of course, buddy, I'm a married man. I can't afford to mess around with other women. I have to nip any danger in the bud and remain absolutely loyal to my wife." Qi Wang couldn't help but feel proud and happy when he mentioned his wife. He immediately sat up straight and spoke with an extremely smug tone.
"Disgusting." Song Ziyi and Tang Hui cursed at the same time. They couldn't stand Qi Wang's behavior the most. Whenever Chen Nian was mentioned, he acted like a complete idiot who had finally managed to get married after being single for eight lifetimes.
After scolding Qi Wang, the topic naturally returned to Tang Hui. Song Ziyi took a soup dumpling from the still steaming steamer, poked a hole in the dumpling skin with chopsticks, and asked while waiting for the dumpling to cool down, "If Lisa insists on seeing your non-existent girlfriend, what do you plan to do? If all else fails, ask one of the single girls in our law firm for help; they'll definitely be happy to."
"No need, I already have some," Tang Hui said elegantly after eating the honeycomb tripe.
At that moment, Song Ziyi had just put a slightly cooled soup dumpling into his mouth, while Qi Wang was struggling with a piece of beef rice noodle roll. After hearing Tang Hui's words, the two of them stopped what they were doing and looked at Tang Hui at the same time.
If someone were to pass by this table at this moment, they would see that the two handsome men were eating in a completely unflattering way, their movements frozen and their eyes glazed over as they stared blankly at another handsome man across from them. Their "tall, rich, and handsome" personas had been utterly destroyed.
Tang Hui rolled his eyes at the two of them with disdain and said sarcastically, "Swallow what's in your mouth before you talk to me. If it happens again, I'll pretend I don't know you two idiots."
Qi Wang was the first to react, slurping up the entire rice noodle roll and swallowing it almost without chewing. He then exclaimed as if his mouth was burning hot, "What did you just say? You already have one? Old Tang, don't tell me you really have a girlfriend."
Song Ziyi spat the half-eaten soup dumpling back into his bowl, and Qi Wang and Tang Hui both showed disgusted expressions. Qi Wang even exaggeratedly moved his chair to the side.
However, Song Ziyi didn't have time to dwell on these things. He couldn't wait to ask, "Wait, last night we were giving you advice on where to find a fake girlfriend to fool your little cousin. How come you found one yourself in just one night?"
Tang Hui snorted, his expression and voice full of smugness, as if to say: Don't you know who I am?
At that moment, a thought flashed through Qi Wang's mind, and he blurted out, "Don't tell me that the girlfriend you found is Dr. Shen."
Song Ziyi gasped, remembering that Shen Bining had driven Tang home after the dinner party last night. Only the two of them knew what happened along the way and throughout the night.
Tang Hui neither confirmed nor denied, but readily admitted, "It is Dr. Shen." Then, realizing that her words might cause misunderstanding, she quickly added, "But we are just pretending to be a couple, we are not really together. I told her about Lisa, and Dr. Shen is kind-hearted enough to be willing to help."
“Oh, I guessed so,” Song Ziyi nodded and muttered, looking like he knew it all. “I told you you couldn’t possibly win over Dr. Shen in just one night. Mu Ci told me when she got home that Chen Nian told her about Dr. Shen’s family background. Her father is the director of their hospital, and her mother is the general manager of the city’s largest medical device company. She’s definitely a rich and beautiful woman. With such good conditions, she’s definitely not easy to win over.”
Tang Hui was also just learning about Shen Bining's family background. He was slightly taken aback, but quickly said indifferently, "Anyway, we made an agreement. She would pretend to be my girlfriend and help me trick Lisa away. After it was done, I would also help her complete her work."
At this point, Tang Hui paused for two seconds, his expression turning somewhat bitter, and said in a muffled voice, "I will go with her to see Zhou Nianhua one last time, to hear if he has anything else he wants to say to me."
The atmosphere became somewhat tense for a moment because someone who shouldn't have been mentioned was brought up.
Tang Hui remained silent as always. Qi Wang and Song Ziyi exchanged a glance, both of them understanding.
They were right. Tang Hui also longed to see his biological father again, at least to ask him face to face what was wrong with him back then that made him want to kill his wife with his own hands.
Tang Hui has a stubborn and proud side to his personality. He wants to see Zhou Nianhua but can't get over the hurdle in his heart, so he needs someone to give him a push and someone to give him a reason that he has no choice but to accept.
Fortunately, Song Ziyi and Qi Wang became the ones who gave him a push, and the appearance of Shen Bining and Lisa's relentless pursuit gave him a reason to accept it.
Silence engulfed the three of them like a tide. Qi Wang and Song Ziyi both felt an urgent need to say something to distract Tang Hui, otherwise he would really remain silent and depressed all night.
Song Ziyi cleared his throat and teased in a mocking tone, "Dr. Shen is really kind-hearted. You mustn't take advantage of this beautiful lady. In this respect, we are all Dr. Shen's family."
“That’s right,” Qi Wang replied, looking quite serious, unlike Song Ziyi who was joking. “If you hurt Dr. Shen’s feelings, my wife will definitely not let me off the hook. Don’t drag me, your brother, into this mess.”
"Useless."
"Wife discipline."
Song Ziyi and Tang Hui cursed in unison.
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