Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 462: Do You Like My Cousin?

Zhou Guobin told his son not to bother standing up."Your mom and I just came over to see you and let you know that we're heading back," he said.

Zhou Yuwen was a bit surprised. "You're heading back already? I was thinking about making some time later to take you both for another stroll around the area."

He wasn't just being polite. His parents had been here for three days, and because of everything going on with Su Qing and Jiang Xinyi, Zhou Yuwen hadn't been able to properly spend time with them.

Zhou Guobin simply shook his head. Parents in this country rarely used words to express their affection, but as he looked at his son—now wearing a sharp suit and standing half a head taller than him—his feelings were clear.

He thought of the line fathers in movies always said to their sons: 'I am proud of you.'

Though he didn't say the words out loud, his eyes expressed the sentiment perfectly.

Before coming to Jinling, the older couple had been full of anxiety. In their eyes, their son was just an ordinary nineteen-year-old. How exactly had he suddenly acquired a fortune of sixty million? Was he being used by someone with ulterior motives?

But after seeing Zhou Yuwen, and witnessing the genuine admiration in the eyes of every employee in this grand, imposing office building, Zhou Guobin understood. That sudden sixty million hadn't just fallen out of the sky—it was wealth his son could truly control.

With that realization, Zhou Guobin's mind was at ease.

Zhou Yuwen was still trying to persuade his parents to stay in Jinling for a few more days, pointing out that he had a large villa for them to stay in anyway.

However, his parents had already made up their minds to return. Even his mother mentioned that she had only asked for three days off from work and still had many things left to do back home.

The two of them didn't have many demands for their son anymore. They only hoped he could sort out his romantic life, whether he chose Su Qing or Jiang Xinyi.

As his parents, they would support him no matter what.

Despite this sentiment, Yang Lijuan hesitated as if she had more to say. She couldn't resist pulling Zhou Yuwen aside to whisper, "If you have a choice, you should pick Little Su."

"That girl really cares about you. We're just an ordinary family, so when it comes to finding a partner, you just want someone considerate who knows how to take care of you. That rich young lady of yours always feels so aloof, like she isn't the same kind of person as us," Yang Lijuan explained.

She kept her voice extremely low, but Zhou Guobin still overheard her. He frowned and chided, "Stop meddling in our son's business."

In Zhou Guobin's mind, it was natural for Yang Lijuan—an ordinary housewife—to feel a sense of distance from Jiang Xinyi. However, he could clearly see that his son no longer had that sense of social class separation.

Hearing his parents bickering, Zhou Yuwen simply chuckled.

The family of three chatted for a little while longer.

They agreed to have lunch together, after which his father would drive his mother back home.

The sheer sense of brokenness in Su Qing's eyes from the other night had left a deep impression on everyone, Yang Lijuan included.

To be honest, Yang Lijuan hadn't thought highly of Su Qing originally. But ever since that day, whenever she recalled that look in Su Qing's eyes, she couldn't stop worrying about the girl.

While she was at Zhou Yuwen's company, she sent Su Qing a message.

She wrote: "Little Su, your uncle and I are leaving soon. Would you like to have lunch together?"

This was her way of giving Su Qing and Zhou Yuwen a chance to clear the air. If it were the Su Qing from before, she would have absolutely jumped at the opportunity.

But after waiting for about a minute.

Su Qing responded quickly.

"There's no need, Auntie. I still have a lot of things to handle on my end. Just let Zhou Yuwen keep you company [Smile]."

A few seconds later.

Su Qing sent another message: "I wish you both a safe trip [Rose]."

It was perfectly polite, yet completely distant.

Yang Lijuan showed the phone to Zhou Yuwen. Upon reading it, a faint ripple of emotion stirred in his heart, but he quickly covered it up, jokingly telling his mother, "Mom, seriously. She isn't my girlfriend anymore. With you bothering her time and time again, anyone would get annoyed."

"You!"

Yang Lijuan simply rolled her eyes in exasperation.

For their lunch gathering, Zhou Yuwen brought Tao Tian along to accompany them. Later, he also called over Peng Xiaoyong and Lu Wanting. The six of them booked a small private room at a restaurant near the company.

The meal went relatively smoothly. Zhou Guobin mainly offered a few words of encouragement to Zhou Yuwen and Peng Xiaoyong, bringing up their familial ties. He hoped that Zhou Yuwen would guide and support Peng Xiaoyong, and also that Peng Xiaoyong would do his best to help Zhou Yuwen.

Both young men agreed. Ever since the villa party, Peng Xiaoyong's attitude toward Zhou Yuwen had noticeably changed. When they went out yesterday, he was busy running around taking care of everything, genuinely treating Zhou Guobin with the utmost respect.

Lu Wanting was as youthful and beautiful as ever. Since they were out having fun, she dressed rather casually, wearing a pink V-neck shirt paired with white shorts. Below the shorts, her slender legs were clad in grey long socks.

Coupled with the fact that she had lived in Nanyang, her sweet, soft-spoken demeanor easily won the affection of Zhou Guobin and his wife. Their only slight concern was one particular issue.

They had always assumed that Lu Wanting was Peng Xiaoyong's girlfriend.

However, during their outing the other day, they noticed that Lu Wanting kept sticking close to their son, showing absolutely no sense of boundaries.

Take their trip to the Zhongshan Scenic Area, for example.

May and June were arguably the most beautiful months of the year at the Zhongshan Scenic Area. The towering sycamore trees were lush green, and tourists from all over the country flocked there to check-in and take photos.

Although Sycamore Avenue was technically just a regular road in Jinling, getting through it smoothly would take at least twenty to thirty minutes due to the crowds.

That day, Peng Xiaoyong had stayed in the back to accompany Zhou Guobin and his wife.

Without realizing it, Zhou Yuwen and Lu Wanting had walked up ahead.

Lu Wanting had spoken to Zhou Yuwen in her sweet, coquettish voice, "I've been in Jinling for so long, but this is my very first time visiting Sycamore Avenue."

Zhou Yuwen had smiled and asked, "Why don't you come here normally, then?"

"I don't have the time! Especially lately, I've been drowning in overtime work. If I hadn't told my boss I was coming out to accompany you, I wouldn't have been able to leave at all," Lu Wanting said, puffing her cheeks.

Zhou Yuwen was a bit surprised. "Does my face really carry that much weight with Sister Zhu?"

"You have no idea."

Lu Wanting continued, "She's actually hoping you might yield a bit of the school market to her."

Zhou Yuwen bluntly replied that it was completely impossible.

Unwilling to give up, Lu Wanting asked, "Not even for my sake?"

"Not for anyone's sake."

"Tch! You're so annoying!"

Lu Wanting rolled her eyes at him and playfully started bickering with him.

Zhou Yuwen knew the true nature of Lu Wanting and Peng Xiaoyong's relationship, so he naturally thought nothing of it.

However, from his parents' perspective, their behavior was incredibly eye-catching and inappropriate.

Yang Lijuan, who cared deeply about such matters, couldn't help but say, "Wenwen, you and your sister-in-law should be a bit more mindful. There are people walking back and forth everywhere here!"

She deliberately emphasized the term 'sister-in-law' to serve as a warning to Zhou Yuwen.

After all, Peng Xiaoyong was right there next to them.

Hearing herself called 'sister-in-law' made Lu Wanting incredibly awkward. But it wasn't like she could just confess the truth to the two elders, right?

It was one thing to be honest with Zhou Yuwen, but telling his parents meant his entire extended family would soon find out. If that happened, what was the point of pretending to be his girlfriend during the New Year in the first place?

Fortunately, Peng Xiaoyong took the initiative to defuse the situation. "It's alright, Maternal Aunt-in-Law. I'm actually really glad that Wanting and Yuwen get along so well," he said.

"?" Yang Lijuan shot Peng Xiaoyong a look of sheer disbelief.

He had to step in, of course. If Lu Wanting spilled the truth, he would be the one facing ultimate embarrassment.

Even so, Zhou Yuwen's parents still felt he needed to keep his distance from Lu Wanting.

It couldn't be like later that day when, exhausted from walking, everyone sat down on some benches to rest—and Lu Wanting had boldly and casually plopped herself down right next to Zhou Yuwen.

Her legs had practically been pressing against him.

Yang Lijuan had even sent Zhou Yuwen a specific message about it that night.

She had emphasized: "She is your sister-in-law!"

Because of all this, Zhou Yuwen had purposely brought Tao Tian along for today's lunch.

During the meal, he deliberately avoided sitting next to Lu Wanting, choosing to sit with Tao Tian instead.

Consequently, when Lu Wanting realized that Zhou Yuwen was actively avoiding her, a deep sense of awkwardness and resentment began to fester in her heart.

Of course, she had no right to feel awkward. She had no real relationship with Zhou Yuwen to begin with, and with all the messy, bad things he was already dealing with, there was no way he'd pay special attention to a sister-in-law whose title didn't match reality.

But Lu Wanting felt slighted all the same.

Especially since just yesterday, she had been talking and laughing with Zhou Yuwen, feeling like their relationship was ready to take a step forward.

Yet today, right in front of her, Zhou Yuwen was sitting and chatting cheerfully with Tao Tian, maintaining a deliberate distance from her.

It was true that girls from Nanyang could be incredibly sweet and soft-spoken, but they were also fiercely possessive.

At the dinner table, she sat completely silent.

Zhou Guobin called her name several times, but she wasn't paying attention at all.

It wasn't until Peng Xiaoyong tugged at the corner of her clothing that she finally snapped out of it and looked over at Zhou Guobin.

Zhou Guobin raised his water glass, offering a toast to use tea as a substitute for wine to thank Lu Wanting for her hospitality yesterday. He then offered a few old platitudes, expressing how much he approved of her and Xiaoyong, and wishing them a happy future together.

Hearing this only deepened Lu Wanting's gloom, but in the end, she didn't expose Peng Xiaoyong's lie.

After the meal ended and they walked his parents out to the entrance, Zhou Guobin and Yang Lijuan said their goodbyes to everyone before driving off in their Volkswagen.

Zhou Yuwen called out to Peng Xiaoyong.

"I still have things to handle at the company, so I'll be heading back first," he said.

"Go ahead. Wanting and I will just take the subway back."

"Alright." Not being affected or overly polite, Zhou Yuwen simply patted Peng Xiaoyong on the arm.

This small gesture showed that Zhou Yuwen didn't view Peng Xiaoyong as an outsider.

In fact, a little while back, Zhou Yuwen had suggested that Peng Xiaoyong join Baidu Food Delivery as an engineer. His salary wouldn't change much, but the future prospects were undoubtedly bright.

However, Peng Xiaoyong had turned him down.

He acknowledged Zhou Yuwen's excellence, but his pride simply wouldn't let him work under his younger cousin to earn a living.

He still hoped to carve out a different future through his own hard work.

Understanding this, Zhou Yuwen hadn't pushed the issue.

"We'll leave it at that, then. Sister-in-law, I'm taking off," Zhou Yuwen said, greeting Lu Wanting after finishing his conversation with his cousin.

To his surprise, he found that Lu Wanting was still spacing out.

Zhou Yuwen couldn't help but chuckle as he teased, "Cousin-in-law, what's on your mind? You've been zoning out this whole time."

Lu Wanting finally snapped back to reality. She glared at Zhou Yuwen and muttered, "Can you stop calling me cousin-in-law? I told you ages ago, if I wasn't afraid of your parents exposing Xiaoyong, I wouldn't have even come."

Hearing this, Zhou Yuwen laughed out loud. "I can't help it! If my parents knew the truth, they would definitely tell my aunt. Just consider it doing my cousin a favor."

"Besides, my cousin is actually a pretty good guy. You two might as well let what starts as a pretense turn serious!"

Hoping to give Peng Xiaoyong a little push, Zhou Yuwen winked at him.

Peng Xiaoyong just smiled awkwardly.

Zhou Yuwen even joked with Lu Wanting afterward that if she actually became his sister-in-law, he would consider yielding a bit of the market to her company.

But Lu Wanting proudly huffed, "That won't be necessary!"

"Fair enough!"

With the banter finished, Zhou Yuwen headed back to his company with Tao Tian.

Meanwhile, Lu Wanting and Peng Xiaoyong took the subway back to their own workplace.

While chatting with Zhou Yuwen, Lu Wanting had clearly seemed very happy.

But the moment Zhou Yuwen left, Lu Wanting suddenly had nothing to say. Her bright smile visibly vanished.

"Shall we get going too?" Peng Xiaoyong asked.

"Mhm."

Their conversation felt dry and dull.

The subway in Jinling stretched in all directions. In fact, sometimes taking the subway was even more convenient than driving a car.

Peng Xiaoyong looked at Lu Wanting, who was walking ahead of him with her head lowered, and remained silent as well.

The two of them continued like this from entering the station all the way to boarding the subway.

Inside the crowded train, they could only find a single empty seat.

Lu Wanting took the seat.

Peng Xiaoyong stood nearby.

For the entire forty-minute journey, Peng Xiaoyong kept his eyes fixed on Lu Wanting.

Lu Wanting simply sat there, frowning in worry.

The two of them maintained their silence.

Truth be told, apart from the congestion near a few of the busier subway stations, the train cleared up considerably as they moved toward the outskirts.

Once space opened up, Peng Xiaoyong took the seat next to Lu Wanting.

Instantly, Lu Wanting shifted to maintain a safe distance from him.

It was a completely subconscious reaction, yet Peng Xiaoyong clearly remembered that when they went out yesterday, Lu Wanting hadn't done anything like that with Zhou Yuwen.

He pushed up his glasses, saying nothing.

When they finally reached the station near Lu Wanting's company.

Peng Xiaoyong offered to walk her off the train.

However, Lu Wanting declined.

"It's only a few steps away, and you have to get back to work at your company too!" Lu Wanting flashed him a quick smile.

Despite her words, Peng Xiaoyong still chased after her.

Feeling a bit of a burden, Lu Wanting sighed helplessly. "Xiaoyong, really, there's no need for you to do this."

They stood on the steps near the station exit.

There was hardly anyone around.

Lu Wanting softly told him that since Peng Xiaoyong wasn't her boyfriend, acting like this all the time placed an unfair burden on her.

Peng Xiaoyong was never a boy who was good at expressing himself. He simply looked at Lu Wanting as she lowered her head with a wry smile.

After a moment of hesitation, he asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Hmm?" Lu Wanting looked up, a bit curious.

Peng Xiaoyong asked, "Do you..."

"...like my younger cousin?"

The moment the question left his lips, Lu Wanting's face instantly burned red.

But looking at Peng Xiaoyong's completely earnest expression, she couldn't help but feel a deep sense of shame.

She lowered her head, hesitating for a long time before finally whispering, "I'm sorry..."