Yesterday at the hotel, the more Zhu Li thought about it, the angrier she got. She hadn’t expected to run into Zhang Fan again today while out having fun—it was like the woman’s ghost just wouldn’t leave her alone!
She sized up Wang Zekai with an unfriendly gaze. The clothes he wore, his shoes—all had brand logos, and the logos were big and conspicuous.
Either a nouveau riche or a country bumpkin.
“Did you bring your brain when you left the house?” Wang Zekai looked at Zhu Li with disgust. “If this were a couple years ago, I’d have slapped you dead with one hand!”
“Pfft!”
Zhu Li rolled her eyes. “I was just being kind! You don’t know what kind of person she is, do you?”
She glanced smugly at Zhang Fan, her eyes carrying a hint of threat.
“Oh ho, I don’t know what kind of person she is?” Wang Zekai was amused. “Then why don’t you tell me—what kind of person is Zhang Fan?”
“You really want me to say it?” Zhu Li asked Zhang Fan.
“Go ahead, say it. I’d like to know too—what kind of person I actually am.”
Zhang Fan wore a smile on her face. How Zhu Li saw her didn’t really matter. The key was that these words were meant for Wang Zekai to hear.
If he chose to listen and believe, and drew a line from here on out, then this friend simply wasn’t worth having—saving her the trouble of having to reject him herself.
“Heh…”
Seeing Zhang Fan so calm and composed only made Zhu Li angrier the more she looked. An unwanted old woman—what did she have to be so smug about?
Did she really think a nouveau riche would actually marry her?
He’s just looking for something fresh, seeing how stupid you are, playing around with you?
She was young and beautiful with a good figure, and even she could only find old men. What right did a fool like that have to hook a young one?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She spoke in a sarcastic, mocking tone:
“She’s a brother-supporting demon! She’s worked for over a decade and doesn’t have a single cent in savings. Her parents are just waiting for a man like you to come along so they can sell her off at a high price!
You don’t actually think she’s fallen for you as a person, do you? The only thing she’s after is your money!”
The moment the words left her mouth, she waited to see Wang Zekai’s expression change immediately, to watch him abandon Zhang Fan and leave.
But unexpectedly, the man actually clapped his hands in delight: “Really?”
He turned to grab Zhang Fan’s hand, and even after she dodged, he remained excited: “If money can win you over, I’m willing!
Have your uncle and aunt name a number—no, no, no, I mean, how much bride price do they want? I’ll pay it!
As long as I can marry you, all the assets under my name can be yours!”
Is this guy insane?
Zhu Li’s eyes widened in shock. Were there still men this foolish these days?
But Wang Zekai’s next words left her choking on a breath stuck in her throat, unable to get it up or down.
“Fanfan, I have three storefronts under my name, all in Central. One beat-up Mercedes, only driven for two years.
It’s a bit little, but my sister said she won’t compete with me. There are still over twenty commercial apartments at home—they’ll all be mine eventually!
Altogether worth a few hundred million, I’d say!
Of course, we’ll negotiate the bride price. If it’s too high, my parents might have some thoughts about it, but it doesn’t matter—as long as I can afford it, no matter how high, I’ll find a way to make it work. What do you think?”
He scratched his head sheepishly, his expression as genuine as could be.
Not only was Zhu Li dumbfounded, but the other customers in the shop were stunned too.
In the already sparsely populated restaurant, it was dead silent—even the dogs were forcibly muted by their owners.
One sees proposals often enough, but such sincerity was rare.
The moment they heard Wang Zekai had a few hundred million in assets and was a landlord, every woman present wished they could accept on Zhang Fan’s behalf.
“I say, you two should just keep acting! The Oscars owe you a little golden statue!”
Zhu Li snorted disdainfully, grabbed the giant poodle, and turned to leave. But who knows if it was because the dog was too big, or her heels were too high, or maybe neither of them was willing to cooperate with her.
She did a sudden split and crashed to the ground.
Her tight pencil skirt was ripped in two right down the middle of her buttocks.
The touching marriage proposal scene instantly turned into a comical farce.
The onlookers who were furiously snapping photos with their phones laughed so hard they sounded like pigs squealing.
“We’d better not eat anymore!”
Under these circumstances, how could they possibly sit down and have a proper meal? Zhang Fan wished she could leave immediately, the sooner the better.
“Fanfan, everything I said just now is true!” Wang Zekai held her back. “If you don’t believe me, I can take the property deed and bring you to the housing authority to check each one!”
“Wow… if I had a landlord propose to me, I’d marry him on the spot!”
“I might have even picked out our kids’ names already!”
“A man this genuine—just marry him!”
“Hey landlord bro, add me on WeChat, I’ll be your backup!”
…
Some people in the crowd teased, some envied. Zhu Li scrambled up from the ground in a sorry state, clutched her skirt, and fled without a word—only to accidentally bump into a waiter carrying a tray.
Two large glasses of lemon water ran down along her cleavage, forming a river that streamed down from the center line.
“I’m sorry, miss, are you alright?”
The waiter hurriedly apologized, his face full of panic.
“Do I look alright to you?” Zhu Li raised her hand and slapped him across the face.
“Smack!”
The crisp sound of skin hitting skin echoed through the entire restaurant.
The restaurant manager heard the commotion and ran over, immediately pressing the waiter’s head down without a word: “We’re sorry, we’re sorry! We’re willing to compensate for the damage to your clothing!”
“Can you even afford it? These are all limited editions!” Zhu Li felt like she was about to explode on the spot. Why was she so unlucky?
It was all that Zhang Fan’s fault!
“It’s your own mistake—why should someone else pay for it?”
Zhang Fan didn’t like to stand out, but seeing the red slap mark on the waiter’s face, she empathized.
She knew what it felt like to be slapped for no reason.
“Everyone here saw it, and there’s surveillance footage to check!”
Her voice carried not a trace of emotion, like a lawyer delivering a closing statement:
“You fell on your own, you knocked over the water yourself. Adults need to take responsibility for their own actions.
It’s not that others should compensate you for your clothes—it’s that you need to apologize to this waiter, and pay compensation!”
“What the hell is wrong with you? Do you really think you’re hot stuff just because you snagged a nouveau riche?”
Zhu Li’s long, manicured fingernail was practically poking Zhang Fan in the face.
“What’s wrong with being nouveau riche? Did a nouveau riche dig up your family’s ancestral graves?”
Wang Zekai slapped Zhu Li’s hand away and shielded Zhang Fan behind him.
“Fine, you just wait!” Zhu Li threw out a threat and was about to leave, but Zhang Fan yanked her back.
“Apologize! Pay up!”
There was never any justice in this world to begin with. And if you didn’t fight for it yourself, then there really was no hope at all.
Every time she was wronged, every time she was bullied, how she wished someone would help her—but not once did anyone ever come.
This time, she hoped to save the person she once was.
“Are you insane, Zhang Fan?” Zhu Li’s face flushed bright red, her exquisite makeup somewhat ruined, making her look rather frightening.
“The person who got slapped didn’t even say anything—who do you think you are, playing the good Samaritan here?”
Zhang Fan tightened her grip on Zhu Li’s wrist. They were both women, but she was used to hard labor and had plenty of strength.
“He’s weak and won’t stand up for his own rights—that’s his business. But if I watch you bully people like this and do nothing, then that’s on me!”
Her gaze was calm, yet carried an unmistakable finality:
“Apologize and pay compensation! Otherwise, I’ll file a lawsuit against you for ‘insulting personal dignity’ and ‘corrupting social morals.’
The money doesn’t matter, winning or losing doesn’t matter—I’ll just make you famous and let the whole world see your true face!”