Even if Fan Zheng understood what his grandfather really wanted, he already had Zhao Ai. So did he protest and try to appeal to the old guy that there should be other ways to save their livelihood and home?
A stupid question. Of course, he did!
As he was a young man drunk in his first experience with love, he was even quite stubborn and resolute. His vision of the reality was limited, like the many youngsters who had yet to experience the hards.h.i.+p of surviving as a real, working adult. He thought there would surely be a way. But he had no idea that thinking of a solution was not the end of it, one would have to plan how, where, why, and when it would be implemented, and most importantly, if the solution was even plausible, to begin with.
Thankfully, the old man was a powerful and experienced negotiator and knew how to manipulate somebody in his father"s generation into doing his bidding. The male lead was merely somebody from the youngest generation. He was also at a disadvantage since he had to be mindful of the other"s seniority.
How could somebody like him, whose expertise lied in communication with ghosts rather than humans, best his grandfather in an argument?
Fan Zheng did not even manage to clarify if they were really in that desperate of a situation… or ask why it had to be through engagement or marriage with another wealthy family.
After a few minutes of discussion, the result came, and it was as one would have expected, a result tilting on the old man"s favor.
"I"ll think about it." That was all he managed to say before hurriedly escaping from the old man"s eyesight.
It was the afternoon of the second day of cla.s.s.
Fan Zheng just found himself back to the dorms. He left his sister at the small mansion near the university after packing his belongings. He was in no mood to face his girlfriend who was staying there, so he showed his face to no one. As his mind was confused, he felt like he needs some time for himself to think about his grandfather"s orders and his family"s situation.
Ignoring his roommates" curious eyes as he was rarely staying on campus if there was no cla.s.ses, he lied on his bed, sinking into his thoughts, "When things go south, does it always have to be the firstborn carrying all the burdens? Or is it because I am a man that more responsibilities are falling on my shoulders?"
He drew a cold breath and covered his eyes and half his face with his left arm. When night fell and he felt like he had rested enough, the man went out to fill his stomach.
It was no coincidence that he appeared at Fortune Dragon Restaurant.
Fan Zheng knew this place was where Gu Mochou always dined despite having some conflict with the management two weeks ago. In his mind, the files kept appearing and it subconsciously influenced him to see one of the potential marriage candidates.
Of course, he had no idea what time she would go there. He was merely banking on his luck. Yet when it worked on his favor that night, he didn"t know whether to be relieved or to be guilty. There was no cheating done yet but his heart was already uncomfortable thinking of his girlfriend eating by herself at the small mansion.
Fan Zheng"s expression was unreadable when the beautiful transferee walked in through the entrance of the restaurant.
Gu Mochou did not see him at first. And, he was hesitating to call her name.
Fan Zheng still had the awareness and knew it was a sc.u.mmy behavior for a taken guy to eat with a girl not his girlfriend, especially if the purpose was to develop a relations.h.i.+p with her.
Because of this, his mind was really torn. On one side was his girlfriend, on the other was his family. He had to choose between being an honest man and being a sc.u.mbag.
"Should I invite her over?"
"But since I could remember, I never talk enthusiastically to her. It will awkward."
It was at that time when the great love he had for Zhao Ai was about to win when Gu Mochou finally noticed him and instantly gave him a smile.
"Senior!" She waved a hand at Fan Zheng who immediately had mixed feelings from seeing her sweet, happy smile.
She was supposed to walk towards the vacant table near the piano, and only changed directions upon seeing him near the counter. The girl had been tipped off by the female ghost king hiding in her right pearl earring.
Fan Zheng stiffly smiled and waved back. "h.e.l.lo, Junior Gu."
The male lead watched her get nearer and nearer.
In all honesty, when compared to Zhao Ai, this girl who was only a year younger than him, truly looked way more beautiful. Only Zhan Rong, that woman who refused the wacky t.i.tle of campus G.o.ddess, could be said better than Gu Mochou in terms of appearance. Then again, Gu Mochou possessed a more pleasing personality. She was also from a good family. No wonder she was at the top of the list given to him by his grandfather.
"With her specs and qualifications, why did she like somebody like me? Her family might be not in a major province or city, but it"s richer than mine."
"Or is she actually in love with that b.a.s.t.a.r.d of the engineering department?"
"Let me share a table with you, Senior Fan," said Gu Mochou happily while pulling out a chair for herself.
To this, he plainly nodded, swallowing the words of rejection that almost instinctively escaped his mouth when he was engrossed in his thoughts.
The girl noticed he really looked uncomfortable but failed to realize she was the cause behind it. She worriedly asked, "By the way, senior, are you okay? Why did you not go to cla.s.s today? You"re quite famous on campus, Senior, so many wondered why you"re nowhere around since yesterday. Did something bad happen?"
There was no way a prideful male lead would open up about the troubles at home so he dodged the question by just smiling and bringing up another topic.
"It"s just a minor trouble. It"s not worth discussing, especially since we"re at a place with a nice ambiance. Rather than my boring life, I think yours is more colorful."
"That sounds odd in my ears." She laughed.
He also forced a smile and asked, "So how are you doing? I heard you"re joining a talent show."
"Nope, that"s just a rumor." Gu Mochou laughed and shook her head.
The two began to talk, although there were some stiff moments that could not be helped since they were not that close. Fan Zheng"s face value was high but in all honesty, the eyes that were darting everywhere was a huge turn-off.
Thankfully, none of them were not really thinking seriously about each other. The villainess only found his reactions really funny as this was one of the developments she really wanted to see when she commenced the attacks.
Gu Mochou, who had just recovered from another pain-hospital-police-embarra.s.sment cycle, observed how the bug"s boyfriend struggled inwardly whether to hit on her or remain faithful to his lover.
When the man excused himself for the restroom, she began to giggle.
"Look at this slow-brained guy. Most likely he did not even try to ask for help from his friends nor try to check who was the one attacking them."
"How funny that he blindly followed the orders of his hypnotized grandfather." The villainess laughed at the speculations that formed in her mind.
The dinner had been pleasant for her. One more thing she liked the most was that Jiang Li, the restaurant worker she quite hated, was not present. The music was from the stereo and the voice of some auto-tune type singer was echoing throughout the hall, but she was fine with it. Her mood was not affected.
Because she felt like the world was really going on her favor, the grin on her lovely face never left.
Her mood became more pleasant when Fan Zheng agreed to accompany her to the jewelry shop next to the restaurant where they ended up b.u.mping into Zhao Ai who was with Zhang Jian.
As a girl striving to separate a so-called OTP, what was more satisfying to see than two pairs of lovers on a date with different people crossing paths at the most inopportune moment?
The girl was supposed to be rehabilitating from the injected drugs, the boy was supposed to be at home or at the dorm. Yet they discovered one another accompanying people who were obviously interested in them.
Gu Mochou carefully imprinted in the back of her mind the shocked expression in Fan Zheng"s face which later turned into a pained one. There was also Zhao Ai.
The bug looked surprised at first too, but since she thought she had the clearer conscience between them, her surprise immediately turned into anger upon seeing the prettier woman by her boyfriend"s side.
Once consumed by jealousy, even the mildest tempered teenager would turn impulsive.
"I only went to accompany Zhang Jian to help him choose a good gift for his mother. But what is the meaning of this, brother Fan? What are you doing with her?!"
The female lead looked really furious as she strode forward and pointed a finger at Gu Mochou.
At that time, Zhao Ai forgot that in their relations.h.i.+p, she had always been the weaker one always watching out for Fan Zheng"s mood. She was after all, akin to a mistress who would not be able to survive a day in the city without her man"s support.
The male lead was still plagued with worries about his family so he was not in the best state of mind nor at the height of his confidence to himself when he looked at Zhang Jiang.
When Fan Zheng quietly s.h.i.+fted his gaze to the girl whose eyes were turning red while yelling accusations at him, Gu Mochou hung her head low to hide the faint smile that formed on her lips.
"What a wonderful show..."
"I want to drive Fan Zheng into poverty. But even if I succeed, since he"s head over heels for the bug, he wouldn"t cut off his support to her."
"He must be driven to the point of cutting the ties by himself."
"I am close to my goal now, right?"
It was quite unbelievable, but all along, this was her only intention for targeting the Fan family. To make a good guy who also had ties with cultivators leave the female lead"s side. Such a sick goal was what killed several people in the process of slandering the male lead"s company.
However, Gu Mochou seemed to not find anything wrong with her thinking or methods. If Jiang Li were here, he would have guessed easily that if ever this particular move failed, she would easily resort to amnesia tricks.
On one side of the store, Gu Mochou only maintained her silence even though she and the also silent Fan Zheng were receiving harsh gazes from the nearby people.
"After that, he will be next," she simply thought. For a moment, her eyes settled on the other person enamored by Zhao Ai.