Tong Xu took a deep breath and looked at Jiang Li, “I know that no matter what I say now, you won’t believe me, but time will prove everything. I’m really not the kind of person she claims.”
Jiang Li gave him a polite smile, “You don’t need to prove anything to me.”
“…” At this moment, Tong Xu finally understood the frustration of being unable to explain himself, especially with Tong Yi sitting next to Jiang Li, looking at him provocatively, intensifying his heartbreak.
After Tong Xu left in embarrassment, the KTV room was filled with murmurs as everyone excitedly gossiped about the farce just now.
Jiang Li looked at Tong Yi with a cold smile, “Let’s go outside and talk.” After saying this, she got up and informed her classmates that she was leaving early.
Tong Yi casually looked at Qin Zheng and patted him on the shoulder, “See you later, former classmate. Let’s catch up next time!”
“…” No, I don’t want ‘see you later’ with you—Qin Zheng sincerely thought, fearing he’d end up like Tong Xu.
Watching the two leave, Qin Zheng suddenly felt fortunate that he never had romantic feelings for Jiang Li. Having Tong Yi as a rival in love would be nothing but a headache!
The woman in the red dress had obviously terrible acting skills, yet Jiang Li’s classmates were completely fooled. Those who stayed in the KTV were energetically denouncing Tong Xu as a scumbag.
Wang Simin noticed Qin Zheng’s particularly somber expression, looking like the only sober person among drunkards, and couldn’t help but remark, “Vice class president, you’ve turned down several girls tonight. How do you feel?”
Qin Zheng replied helplessly, “Does that include you?”
Wang Simin shook her head, “I lost a dare, so I came to you. Besides, I knew you’d refuse.”
Qin Zheng chuckled, “What if I had agreed?”
Wang Simin shrugged nonchalantly, “You’re the most handsome guy in our school. If you’d said yes, I wouldn’t have lost out.”
Qin Zheng: “…”
Seeing Qin Zheng’s speechless expression, Wang Simin burst into laughter, “Don’t worry, I know you have someone you like and don’t care about us ordinary people. I wouldn’t foolishly run knowing it was a dead end.” With that, she left and returned to the game.
Qin Zheng didn’t take Wang Simin’s words to heart, but Shen Mian, who overheard their conversation, looked somewhat troubled.
After Wang Simin left, Shen Mian sat next to Qin Zheng and hesitantly asked, “Is… is that thing true?”
“What thing?” Qin Zheng didn’t understand what she was talking about.
“It’s about Jiang Ruo’s terminal illness. You don’t know about it?” Shen Mian looked at him with surprise.
Qin Zheng’s pupils contracted sharply, and the beer can in his hand suddenly was crushed. He turned to Shen Mian, “You said she… she has a terminal illness?”
Shen Mian, startled by his reaction, carefully explained, “Jiang Ruo uploaded a short video before, showing her medical records. It says she has chronic kidney failure and needs to go to the hospital for dialysis every two or three days. I’m not sure if… if it’s true or not…”
Seeing Qin Zheng remain silent, Shen Mian took out her phone, opened the app, found Jiang Ruo’s video, and played it for him.
As Qin Zheng looked at the pages of medical records, it all felt surreal to him—because the news came so suddenly and without warning.
After a long silence, he suddenly stood up, his voice low, “I have something to do, so I’ll leave first. Order whatever you want, just put it on my tab.”
Zhang Qingqing, who had somehow joined them, overheard and couldn’t help but mutter, “Can you really put it on the tab here?”
Shen Mian nodded, “Of course. This KTV is owned by Qin Zheng’s family. He’s the future big boss here, so he could do whatever he liked. Keeping tabs is simply to avoid unclear accounts.”
Back in junior high, Jiang Ruo often invited her friends to sing here, always charging it to Qin Zheng’s tab, so Shen Mian was well aware of it.
Zhang Qingqing looked shocked, “Old Qin is a second-generation rich kid?”
Shen Mian shook her head slowly, correcting, “To be precise, he’s a second-generation elite. His family is not only rich but also high class. I heard from someone that back in junior high, Qin Zheng’s father gave him a secondary credit card with a spending limit of ten million yuan.”
Zhang Qingqing: “…”
Excuse her reaction—poverty limited her imagination. To her, someone like Shen Mian, who had more than two thousand yuan in pocket money every month, was already very wealthy. But she hadn’t realized there were even higher levels of wealth!
Zhang Qingqing wanted to talk to the elite second-generation Qin Zheng, but when she turned around, he had already disappeared, so she turned to Shen Mian and sighed in melancholy, “I never imagined one of my classmates would be an elite second-generation. If I tell my parents, they wouldn’t believe me and would think I’m bragging.”
“Well, there’s not just a second-generation elite among your classmates, but a third-generation elite too. And that third-generation elite lives in the same dorm room as you, though you never noticed,” Shen Mian teased.
Zhang Qingqing was shocked, “Are you talking about Jiang Li?”
Shen Mian nodded, “Didn’t you notice?”
Zhang Qingqing shook her head, “I heard you all say that Jiang Li’s family didn’t recognize her and kept Jiang Ruo, the fake daughter, in the family. Jiang Li lives with her maternal relatives now, but her youngest uncle is apparently quite impressive, having won a Nobel Prize in scientific research, so he must have a lot of money. But if Jiang Li’s uncle gets married, she might be disliked by her aunt, and that could be tough.”
Shen Mian sighed and explained, “Jiang Li’s youngest uncle is not just a scientific research big shot; he’s also a celebrity on the wealth list. Jiang Li’s grandfather was once the richest man, but after he got older, Jiang Li’s eldest uncle took over. For the past few years, the richest person has been Jiang Li’s eldest uncle. Can you believe it?”
“Well… Jiang Li never looks like she’s loaded with money, so I didn’t notice. Didn’t her grandfather’s family give her any extra money? But her uncle seems to spoil her,” Zhang Qingqing said, puzzled.
Shen Mian shrugged, “You are right, she indeed never looks rich. The watch on her wrist is only worth about twenty million yuan. And apart from her school uniform, her clothes and shoes are just limited editions.”
“…” Zhang Qingqing was dumbfounded once again. This class reunion completely shattered her perception of wealth. Even in her wildest dreams, she hadn’t dared to dream this big!
…
After leaving the KTV, Jiang Li looked at Tong Yi with a cold smile and asked, “Was it fun?”
“Fun… fun what?” Tong Yi responded, looking guilty.
Jiang Li jabbed his arm with her finger, “Framing your cousin, was it fun?”
Tong Yi knew he couldn’t hide it anymore and admitted frankly, “Well, it wasn’t exactly framing him, just playing a prank.”
Jiang Li’s face turned expressionless, “Whether you framed him or played a prank, you shouldn’t treat me like a fool.”
Seeing her change in expression, Tong Yi instantly panicked, “I… I didn’t treat you like a fool, really, I swear.”
Jiang Li glanced up at the starry sky above and chuckled, “Be careful, you might get struck by lightning for lying so much.”
“…” After a moment of silence, Tong Yi mumbled, “Tong Xu has a crush on you. You must have noticed, right?”
Jiang Li nodded, “I can see that, but he hasn’t said anything yet. And even if he does, it should be up to me to reject him, right?”
Tong Yi immediately nodded, “Yes, I thought so too. But your third brother thinks that since Tong Xu is so shameless to have a crush on you despite his age, he should be taught a lesson.”
Jiang Li was puzzled, “My third brother?”
Tong Yi sighed and called out, “We’ve been found out. Come out.”
Jiang Li followed Tong Yi’s gaze and saw her third brother, Feng Bai, stepping out from behind a camphor tree, smiling awkwardly. “You two conspired this together?” She was shocked.
< Previous | TOC | Advanced TOC | Next >
Wants more chapters?
Click this page for the status of sponsored chapters.
Click this page for advanced chapters TOC.