Chapter 357: Fu Zhi, You Are Worthy As My Opponent!
The driver of the Lu Family came to fetch Fu Zhi to the banquet taking place at the Lu Household.
The banquet would start at 7:00 p.m, and it was a welcoming dinner for Bai Yao.
Madam Lu knew that Lu Jingqing had gone to Myanmar and he knew very little about stone gambling. On the contrary, the Wu Family was an expert in this aspect, so after throwing a tantrum in front of Xu Wei to coerce them into attending the banquet, she was certain that Xu Wei would come tonight.
Bai Miao had deliberated over it for a long time before deciding to hold the banquet. Unlike Bai Yao, she was a cultured person. She always carried herself with composure and grace, and her confidence made her feel that her first meeting with Fu Zhi should be formal and grand.
Fu Zhi was going to marry her eldest son. Therefore, Fu Zhi had to have a good reputation in order not to bring shame to the Wu Family.
After Fu Zhi got out of the car, she went into the Lu Household.
Bai Miao and Bai Yao soon came over to welcome her. Bai Yao greeted her. “Oh, here you are, Zhizhi. Come on in.”
Fu Zhi noticed the woman standing beside Bai Yao. She was inspecting her from head to toe with an alert, fastidious gaze.
It seemed to her that she was not happy to see her at all.
Fu Zhi just nodded at them but did not say anything.
Bai Yao was not happy with her hoity-toity att.i.tude, but Bai Miao did not feel anything.
Like people often said, children from single-parent families had a bad att.i.tude, let alone Fu Zhi, who had lost both parents since her childhood. As a result, she found her rude manner reasonable, and it was not that big of a deal in her opinion. After all, she could always condition her and teach her manners after she married into the Wu Family, but that was another story.
Right now, whenever she saw things about Fu Zhi and President Fu on the internet, she had a feeling that her daughter-in-law had cheated on her son. In her opinion, someone like them, who came from an elite family, should distance themselves from lowly, underprivileged people and scandals like this. It was really insulting to the status of an elite family to have such a public image.
Bai Miao pushed her dissatisfaction for Fu Zhi away. After she went into the banquet hall, she waved her hand at her son. “Zhiheng, come over here and meet Ms. Fu.”
Fu Zhi was standing behind her and looking toward the direction where Bai Miao was waving her hand.
Her eyes spotted a group of youngsters around 17 to 18 years old. All of them were dressed lavishly, and they were having some fun talking.
When they heard Bai Miao’s voice, one of the young men turned over and said, “Okay. I’m coming.”
The young man was Wu Zhiheng, Bai Miao’s son. He said something to the girl beside him, and then the youngsters around zeroed in on Fu Zhi as he walked toward his mother.
Just like Bai Miao, he had a delicate and clean face. He was not particularly dashing, and he had a gentle look about him.
“This is my youngest son, Wu Zhiheng,” Bai Miao said, her voice thick with pride.
In her opinion, her son was successful and excellent.
The eyes of the young man standing beside Bai Miao glowed when he saw Fu Zhi.
He knew about Fu Zhi, as her information was all over the internet. He had read a few topics about her, and although he knew she was a beauty, he had not expected that the photos of her on the internet would not even convey half of her pretty looks.
He had initially been against it when Bai Miao had told him that she was going to arrange a marriage between his eldest brother and Fu Zhi. After all, Fu Zhi was the one that had sent Lu Chuwan to prison.
He had not expected that Fu Zhi would be so pretty at all!
He grabbed Bai Miao’s wrist and said, “It’s her!”
‘She’s so pretty! She’s the perfect match for my brother!’
Then, he looked at Fu Zhi and extended his arm. “You’re Fu Zhi, right? I’m a student from Hang Yuan, and I will be representing my school at the interscholastic match with your school!”
Fu Zhi glanced at him but did not take his hand. She turned to Bai Miao and said, “I’m thirsty. Please go get me a cup of water.”
‘Thirsty...
‘She said she’s thirsty...’
She’d refused to shake hands with her son, and now she’d ordered her to get her a cup of water?
Bai Miao was stunned, and the dissatisfaction she had pushed away earlier returned.
She was certain that Fu Zhi was a bad-mannered girl. Not only had she ignored her son, but she even had the guts to order her!
However, on second thought, Bai Miao thought that it was good for Fu Zhi to be stubborn and willful. A brainless, pretty girl like her would be easy to handle, and she could always condition her after she married into the Wu Family.
Bai Yao, on the other hand, blew her fuse when she saw the scene and snarled, “What kind of att.i.tude is that, huh? My sister did not care that you’re a parentless child and came to talk to you, yet you asked her to get you water? Just who do you think...”
“Alright, alright!” Bai Miao patted Bai Yao’s hand. She pressed down the anger in her heart and said, “I will get you water later.”
Fu Zhi nodded.
It seemed to her that the Wu Family did not know how to play the game. It was Wu Qi who had told her that she could order the Wus to do anything for her.
She’d even said “please” while asking Bai Miao to get her a cup of water. However...
‘Hah. All men are liars,’ she concluded inwardly.
Bai Miao only thought that it was illogical for such a spoiled little girl who didn’t know how to behave to do so well in her studies.
She got a cup of water for Fu Zhi.
Xu Wei was held up by Madam Lu, so she could not go away.
Bai Miao said, “I heard from your great aunt that you turned 17 this year, and you are going to college soon, right? I’m not going to beat around the bush. What do you think of my son? He will be the heir of the Wu Family, and although you come from a humble family, I will treat you like my own daughter as long as you join our family. Of course, if you want, you can also spend more time with Zhiheng.”
Bai Miao did not tell Fu Zhi everything. She wanted Fu Zhi to marry her eldest son, but she did not let Fu Zhi know, as she feared that Fu Zhi might say no.
After taking a sip of water, Fu Zhi said, “I’m not interested.”
The atmosphere turned cold.
Ever since Bai Miao had married Wu Qi, n.o.body had dared to say no to her in public.
Fu Zhi had seen through the Bai sisters and found this funny.
Then, she added, “Anyway, where is Wu Qi?”
Bai Miao was stunned.
‘Is she out of her mind? How could she address someone older than her with their full name?’
She calmed herself down and said in a stern voice, “My husband is not here. You can talk to me instead.”
“You?” Fu Zhi said, scrutinizing Bai Miao from head to toe.
The way Fu Zhi looked at her made her heart skip a beat. It seemed to her that Fu Zhi was saying she did not have the right to talk to her.
“Oh well, if Wu Qi is not here, then forget it. I’m tired.”
“Ms. Fu!” Bai Miao couldn’t let go of the patented research left behind by Fu Zhi’s parents and her relationship with the FZ Research Inst.i.tute.
“Yeah? Oh, I almost forgot.”
Fu Zhi then said, “You like me so much, but you haven’t given me a gift yet. I’m not being rude, but are you going to give me a gift?”
Bai Miao said, “No, I... Erm... Yes, I was just about to give you a gift. My husband acquired some high-quality jade in Myanmar the other day, and I turned it into a bracelet. I planned to give it to my daughter-in-law, but if you like it, Ms. Fu, I can give the bracelet to you as well.”
After she finished speaking, she removed the bracelet from her wrist and gave it to Fu Zhi.
The gold-gilded bracelet was made from high-quality jade, and it was worth at least a few million yuan on the market.
She knew Fu Zhi loved money, so she decided to sacrifice the bracelet to gain her favor.
Fu Zhi took the bracelet. She ran her fingers across the bracelet, and the sight froze Wu Zhiheng.
He realized that he was wrong. It was not his eldest brother who did not deserve Fu Zhi.
“That’s very generous of you, Mrs. Wu. You really are an example for other people.”
Fu Zhi put the bracelet into her bag and smiled at Bai Miao.
Bai Miao could not smile at all. She did not want to be a generous person, and her heart was bleeding. However, she felt a little relieved, as Fu Zhi’s att.i.tude toward her had indeed mellowed a lot. Then, she said, “About the marriage...”
“I’m free this week. You can ask your son to take me shopping. Alright, let’s stop talking. I have to go study,” Fu Zhi replied, playing with words.
She took the bracelet. Although it seemed as if she had agreed to the marriage, she spoke as if she had only graced the Wu Family with a chance to take her shopping.
Bao Miao did not know what to say.
She then realized something that made her feel really uncomfortable. This clearly was a reception party for her. Everything should go according to her plan, but... but it seemed to her that she’d been led by the nose since she’d talked with Fu Zhi.
She should be looking down on Fu Zhi, but it appeared to her that the reverse was happening.
Bai Miao felt that she had underestimated Fu Zhi. Compared to her peers, Fu Zhi was truly shameless.
Bai Miao had come prepared and confident that she could talk Fu Zhi into marrying her eldest son, but little had she expected that Fu Zhi would be so tough. Not only had she not gained anything, but she’d also lost her bracelet to Fu Zhi.
However, Bai Miao would not cry.
She comforted herself inwardly.
‘I’m an adult, and it’s just a bracelet. After she joins the Wu Family, Fu Zhi will be my daughter-in-law, and then I can ask her to return it...’
That said, the bracelet was really expensive, and it was one of her favorites. The more she thought about it, the more she wanted to cry. In the end, she could not hold herself back and began shedding tears.
*
Meanwhile, the group of youngsters that had talked with Wu Zhiheng just now came from Hang Yuan High School as well. They stared at Fu Zhi for a long while and whistled after Fu Zhi went upstairs.
“So she’s Fu Zhi? She looks even more gorgeous than she looks on television!”
“Did Wu Zhiheng get her QQ number? Do you think she wants to become my girlfriend?”
“If you have time, go get a mirror and look at yourself. Can’t you see that she just gave Young Master Wu the cold shoulder?”
“But I think she has the capital to do so. Have you all forgotten that the government praised her and called her ‘daughter’ some time ago?”
“She just won a compet.i.tion. It’s not that big of a deal. I heard that she failed all her language papers. In my opinion, Zhiyou is better than her in all aspects.”
Wu Zhiyou was Wu Zhiheng’s sister, and she was present at the banquet as well. She was wearing a pettiskirt and holding an umbrella, looking just like a little peac.o.c.k with its feathers spread out.
When she heard their conversation, she lifted her chin and said, “I’m happy that you guys have good taste. I will treat you all at a dis...o...b..r this month.”
The crowd was left speechless.
Then, the little peac.o.c.k went upstairs and saw Fu Zhi, who was playing games on the couch.
Wu Zhiyou made an inaudible sound to get Fu Zhi’s attention, but Fu Zhi paid her no mind.
She made another inaudible sound, but Fu Zhi still treated her as if she was invisible.
In the end, Wu Zhiyou cleared her throat a few times, and when Fu Zhi finally raised her head to glance at her, she immediately seized the chance and said, “You’re pretty strong, and you have the ability to fight with me. But remember, don’t marry my eldest brother just because you want his money. He’s mentally handicapped, and if you do that, I will unfollow you on Weibo!”
Fu Zhi, who was speechless, just looked silently at the girl in front of her.
Wu Zhiyou swung her ponytail and said, her chubby cheeks slightly flushed, “Just you wait. I’ll be your strongest enemy during this exchange match, and I will surely make Hang Yuan known everywhere in our country!”
Fu Zhi replied, “Okay...”
After all, she was not going to take part in the match.
After Wu Zhiyou finished speaking, she turned around and marched downstairs. However, as soon as she took two steps forward, she shyly turned her head back to observe Fu Zhi’s expression as if she was waiting for Fu Zhi to stop her.
However, she was disappointed. Fu Zhi did not know what she was doing at all, and Wu Zhiyou did not know that Fu Zhi was actually very slow when it came to something like this.
People always said that people with talent would attract each other. From Wu Zhiyou’s perspective, both she and Fu Zhi were outstanding and cute. She had already expressed her goodwill, so she did not understand why Fu Zhi had not asked her for her WeChat number so they could be friends.
‘Sigh.’
The little peac.o.c.k heaved out a sigh.
‘Forget about it.’
If the flower bloomed, the b.u.t.terfly would come. She believed that after she bloomed and showed her strength to Fu Zhi, Fu Zhi would be willing to be her friend and they would study together!
Fu Zhi, who was oblivious to Wu Zhiyou’s thoughts, opened her contacts.
She found Ye Jiu’s WeChat QR code and paused for a moment.
*
Downstairs, Bai Miao wiped the tears off her face and calmed herself down.
She might look like the wife of a rich man on the surface, but when everything was put into perspective, she was not that rich, and the funds that she could use were even less than before she was married.
This was because the Wu Family required a lot of funds to keep their business working. Besides, Wu Qi was preoccupied with his career and was far less fond of Bai Miao than he was of pursuing power.
The funds in Bai Miao’s hands were only enough for her to buy some clothes and, to put it shamelessly, Bai Miao actually wanted the money in Fu Zhi’s hands to live on.
Truth be told, this was actually the present situation of some of the rich ladies of the same cla.s.s as Bai Miao. They might look glamorous on the surface, but in reality, they had even less freedom than ordinary people. Some of their husbands did not love them at all, and they were treated badly in their house by their mother-in-law. They did not have access to their family funds, and they could only rely on the money that they deposited to a certain charity society. For every 10,000 yuan deposited, the society would add 13,000 yuan to their account. The more they deposited, the more money the society would give them.
Thus, Bai Miao was really sad that she had given the bracelet away. However, there was nothing she could do. If she’d refused to give the bracelet, it would have been bad for their family’s reputation.
In the end, Bai Miao grabbed Wu Zhiheng’s hand. “This Sat.u.r.day, you will take Fu Zhi shopping and do everything you can to persuade her to become the Wu Family’s daughter-in-law, okay?”
There were only three things he had to do: be a human ATM, help her carry her purse, and shower her with praise to make her happy...
Bai Miao gave Wu Zhiheng a card. “Here’s a card for you. There are 800,000 yuan inside, but remember: Don’t spend more than 100,000 yuan. This is the last card I have.”
Wu Zhiheng, who was somewhat absorbed in Fu Zhi’s beauty, did not say anything.
After a short while, he nodded. “Okay. Don’t worry, mom. I will do that.”
Then, he turned around and left.
“What did mom just say? Oh well, it was probably nothing important.”