Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 447: Family Matters

Li Qiang had gone to such lengths that even a heart of stone would have been moved, let alone Lu Hui's.Looking at this innocent college boy who had so devotedly stayed by her side, Lu Hui felt a sharp sting in her nose.

She threw her arms around Li Qiang and burst into hysterical tears.

These tears weren't just born of gratitude; they were also shed for her own miserable experiences. Getting dumped by her boyfriend was bad enough, but being played for a fool by him tonight? How could she not be heartbroken?

This time, Lu Hui finally understood. She wanted absolutely nothing more to do with Liu Shuo. The man wasn't just ugly; he was utterly repulsive. She would be far better off having a proper, loving relationship with Li Qiang.

Taking the initiative, she leaned in and kissed him.

It was only natural that the two of them ended up sleeping together.

Even though it was Li Qiang's first time, and he was effectively taking Liu Shuo's leftovers.

There might have even been some lingering traces of Liu Shuo's presence.

But Li Qiang couldn't have cared less. Experiencing manhood for the first time, he felt completely invigorated, his heart swelling with an indescribable joy. He had finally moved Lu Hui's heart, and he could finally be with his Sister Hui.

A few minutes later, holding Lu Hui in his arms, Li Qiang spoke with absolute sincerity. "Sister Hui, I promise I'll give you a good life."

Lu Hui, however, didn't seem particularly overjoyed. She simply reached for her jacket, pulled eight hundred yuan from the pocket, and handed it to him. She told him that he had worked hard for his money these past few days, and this was to help cover his rent.

Staring at the money, Li Qiang was moved beyond words. He pushed five hundred yuan back toward her, insisting, "How could I ever take your money, Sister Hui? Don't worry, I won't let you down!"

"At the very least, I'm going to do better for myself than that black wild boar!"

He made the vow with unwavering conviction.

Yet, less than two weeks later, while Li Qiang was still bitterly grinding away at part-time jobs for a mere one hundred and fifty yuan a day, Liu Shuo suddenly raked in a staggering 1.2 million.

The news caused quite a stir across the University Town. While it couldn't quite eclipse the waves Zhou Yuwen had made, the fact that a mere junior college student like Liu Shuo had suddenly come into a massive windfall of 1.2 million yuan was staggering. What was more, with the impending establishment of Baidu Food Delivery, Liu Shuo was poised to become a pivotal figure in the Jiangsu provincial division.

For his run-of-the-mill junior college, it was truly a case of a golden phoenix rising from a chicken coop. Even the principal sought him out for a heart-to-heart, encouraging him with words like, "Keep up the excellent work, student Liu. If you need anything at all, just let the school know. We have your full support."

Practically overnight, Liu Shuo became a hot commodity. Naturally, this bred a considerable amount of envy. It wasn't just Li Qiang and Chang Hao who harbored bitter thoughts; even certain members within the Xuhuai Association felt the same. To them, Liu Shuo was nothing more than a glutton and good-for-nothing who had stumbled into good luck by crossing paths with Zhou Yuwen. They figured that if they had stooped to being Zhou Yuwen's lackeys, they wouldn't have done any worse than him.

But there was nothing they could do about it. Liu Shuo simply had good luck.

Besides, Liu Shuo possessed a remarkably clear head on his shoulders. When Zhou Yuwen had first offered him the 1.2 million cut, he had been absolutely dumbfounded, immediately waving his hands in refusal.

Just the mere offer of 1.2 million had practically brought him to tears. He had said, "Brother, I know exactly what I'm made of. There's no way I could ever earn this kind of money. No matter how much you make, I'll never be jealous. You really don't need to save this for me."

But Zhou Yuwen had simply replied, "I'm giving it to you, so take it. Cut the nonsense."

"I also know that with your personality, you definitely won't be able to hold onto this cash. So, I was thinking—while housing prices are still cheap, go buy a three-bedroom apartment in Zhonghai Garden. Then, find yourself a decent girlfriend. Stop wasting your time messing around with women like Lu Hui."

Zhou Yuwen was genuinely looking out for Liu Shuo's best interests; giving him the money was specifically so he could buy a house. Despite Liu Shuo's somewhat thick-headed appearance, he had a sharp intuition for who truly treated him well. In his own words, even his own father hadn't treated him this well in his entire life.

"Brother, whatever you tell me to do from now on, I'll do it. If I utter even a single word of complaint, then I'm a son of a bitch!" When Liu Shuo said this, his voice had already grown thick with emotion.

It couldn't be helped; he had just suffered his girlfriend's betrayal.

Yet the boss he had been following so loyally casually handed him 1.2 million, earnestly advising him, "Shuo, I'm doing this for your own good. Go buy a house."

Who wouldn't be moved by that?

Zhou Yuwen told him to stop spouting nonsense, pointing out that a mere apartment was nothing to get emotional over.

"It wasn't easy for your dad to raise you. If you're really grateful, show some proper filial piety to him."

"Him? Forget it. All he cares about is keeping his secondary wife. He's never treated me half as well as you do, Brother!"

After securing the 1.2 million, Liu Shuo even got a chance to show his face on the local television station. Although he didn't radiate the same dashing brilliance as Zhou Yuwen, he still enjoyed his moment in the spotlight, becoming recognizable wherever he went.

However, the hushed conversations behind his back usually went something like this:

"That's Liu Shuo."

"The one who started that business with Zhou Yuwen?"

"Yeah, that's him. He's got such good luck, following the right guy."

"If it weren't for Zhou Yuwen, he'd be an absolute nobody!"

There were far too many people parroting these exact sentiments. Even Liu Shuo's closest confidants felt quite indignant on his behalf, complaining to him, "Brother, just listen to the garbage they're spewing!"

But Liu Shuo remained remarkably clear-headed. He simply replied, "They're telling the truth! Damn it, without my Brother, I ain't worth shit!"

...

Zhou Yuwen, on the other hand, had fully cemented his public image. Splashed across various media outlets were sensational headlines like "Business Prodigy" and "Sixty Million!"

They even blew up a photograph of Zhou Yuwen sharply dressed in a suit, plastering it right on their front pages.

With such a monumental event making waves, it was impossible for the news not to reach Zhou Yuwen's hometown. And even if they somehow missed it, there were countless people eager to personally deliver the news to his parents.

Take Peng Xiaoyong, for instance, who was also working in Jinling.

That day, Lu Wanting returned to her apartment in low spirits. She had been stuck in meetings all day, and while the core topic hadn't explicitly been Zhou Yuwen, it might as well have been.

With Baidu charging into the food delivery industry, both Meituan and Ele.me were feeling an overwhelming mountain of pressure.

Zhu Hong was originally just an acting president, but with this recent development, it was highly likely she wouldn't be shedding that acting title anytime soon. They had just fought a life-and-death struggle against Ele.me not too long ago, and now Baidu was entering the fray. Zhu Hong was currently nursing a massive headache, completely at a loss as to how to defend their current market share.

If the boss was dealing with a massive headache, then naturally, Lu Wanting had to run herself ragged dealing with the fallout.

That evening, Lu Wanting hadn't made it back to her apartment until ten o'clock. Having stomped around in high heels all day, her feet were covered in painful blisters.

Hearing the commotion, Peng Xiaoyong, who lived right next door, stepped out into the hall. Feigning concern, he asked, "Why are you just getting back? Are things really that busy lately?"

Lu Wanting sighed and replied, "How could it not be busy? That cousin of yours has blown up the news again."

"What?" Peng Xiaoyong was taken aback. After getting the full story from Lu Wanting, he was left even more stunned...

To be perfectly honest, since Zhou Yuwen was his relative, Peng Xiaoyong should logically have been thrilled to see him becoming so incredibly successful.

Yet, he just couldn't muster any happiness. Instead, he felt a crushing sensation, as if he were plummeting straight into an endless abyss.

No matter how he looked at it, he couldn't summon a single ounce of energy.

Peng Xiaoyong's mother would call him every few days, constantly encouraging her son to work hard in Jinling.

She would always tell him, "So what if your uncle's family has a bit of money?"

"All the money in the world can't raise a child as excellent as my son!"

"Isn't your younger male cousin still just attending a second-tier university?"

"My son is still the most excellent one. An overseas returnee!"

"Xiaoyong, keep up the hard work. You are the absolute best of your generation. None of your younger cousins can hold a candle to you. You have to win some glory for our family!"

In the past, while Peng Xiaoyong wouldn't openly agree with his mother's boasting, he secretly believed she was right. He truly felt destined to stand head and shoulders above the rest. But today, when he received his mother's call once again...

Peng Xiaoyong held his breath for a long time, unable to squeeze out a single word. Finally, he couldn't hold it back any longer. "Mom! I can't catch up!"

"We will never be able to catch up to him!"

After shouting those words, Peng Xiaoyong felt as though he had drained every last drop of strength from his body. Like a deflated balloon, all his fighting spirit vanished without a trace.

He poured out the whole story to his mother. Hearing it, Peng Xiaoyong's mother was filled with absolute disbelief. "How is that even possible?" she demanded. "Does the money in the big city just fall from the sky? How can he just suddenly have sixty million? It has to be a scam, right? Have you actually seen his bank account? Does he really have sixty million?"

"If he really does have sixty million, you should ask your cousin to lend you a little to buy a house."

Faced with his mother's incredibly naive suggestion, Peng Xiaoyong naturally didn't want to say another word. "Mom, I'm exhausted. I'm going to sleep," he muttered.

While a despondent Peng Xiaoyong fell silent, his mother found herself tossing and turning, completely unable to sleep after learning the news. She simply couldn't wrap her head around it. Was making money in the big city really that easy?

Regardless of how it happened, her nephew had struck it rich, and she needed to secure some benefits for her own son.

Having made up her mind, Peng Xiaoyong's mother abandoned all thoughts of sleep. In the middle of the night, she rushed straight to Zhou Yuwen's family home and began pounding heavily on the door.

Startled awake, Zhou Guobin frowned deeply. "Who in the world isn't sleeping? Banging on the door in the dead of night?"

Yang Lijuan was equally displeased. "Why are you asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"

"Lijuan, open the door! It's me, your older sister!" a voice called out from the hallway.

Yang Lijuan scoffed. "Well, now you know. Isn't that your dear older sister?"

Zhou Guobin's initial flare of temper cooled by half upon realizing it was his own flesh-and-blood sister. "Coming over in the middle of the night... there must be some sort of emergency," he reasoned.

"Go open the door."

Yang Lijuan rolled her eyes in exasperation.

And so, having been rudely awakened in the middle of the night, they were greeted by Peng Xiaoyong's mother, who barged in wearing an expression of absolute elation. "Guobin! Lijuan! Your family has struck gold!" she cheered.

"It just goes to show what having knowledge and culture does for you! The son you've raised is absolutely incredible!"

Utterly bewildered, Zhou Guobin and Yang Lijuan asked her what she was talking about.

"What, do you mean to tell me you don't know yet? Xiaoyong already told me everything. You aren't trying to hide it from me, are you?"

"No, Sister, what exactly do you mean? We really don't understand," Zhou Guobin and Yang Lijuan replied, thoroughly confused.

Seeing that her brother and sister-in-law genuinely had no idea, Peng Xiaoyong's mother secretly found it amusing. "That boy Yuwen, really. He runs into such incredibly good fortune, yet he doesn't even tell his own parents. Now I have to be the one to break the news."

With that, she eagerly relayed everything Peng Xiaoyong had told her to Yang Lijuan and Zhou Guobin.

The couple could only stare at each other in sheer disbelief.

Previously, when they heard their son had earned a few million, it had taken them quite a while to digest the shock. Now, suddenly being told that he had made sixty million... anyone hearing such a staggering number would have their heart pounding out of their chest.

After dropping that bombshell, Peng Xiaoyong's mother immediately launched into another speech. "This is clearly our ancestors watching over us!"

"There was an old man back then who said our family's plot of land was excellent, bound to produce greatness. But in the end, our father passed the entire plot straight to you. Just look—Yuwen grew up on this very land, and even without being great at studying, he's achieved so much success. It's our poor Xiaoyong I feel sorry for. He worked so hard to study abroad, but now that he's working, he doesn't even have a house of his own."

"Guobin, you are his own uncle! Now that your family has struck it rich, you can't forget about us poor relatives. It's sixty million, after all! Lending our family a few million to buy a house and a car—that's only reasonable, right?"

She stared at her younger brother, her face brimming with expectation.

At this moment, Zhou Guobin was truly in a daze.

In the middle of the night, his sister had suddenly barged in to announce that his family was fabulously wealthy.

And in the very next breath, she was asking to borrow money?

Zhou Guobin was, at the very least, a man who had seen the world. After grasping the situation, he exchanged a glance with his wife and said, "Sister, I honestly don't know anything about this. If you had said he earned a few hundred thousand, or even a million, there might be some credibility to it. But throwing around tens of millions... my head is spinning just trying to process it."

"Are you sure the rumor isn't wrong, or maybe it's just someone with the exact same name?"

Yang Lijuan chimed in her agreement.

But Peng Xiaoyong's mother adamantly stood her ground. "Xiaoyong specifically told me! How could it possibly be wrong?"

"Wrong or not, this is the absolute truth!"

She wanted to say more, but Zhou Guobin and Yang Lijuan tag-teamed her, insisting that it was far too late. "Sister, why don't you head home and get some rest for now? As for the details, let us call Yuwen tomorrow and ask him directly?"

Naturally, Zhou Dagu refused to yield so easily and tried to steer the conversation back to borrowing money. Eventually, Zhou Guobin firmly interjected, "Sister, regardless of whether this is even true or not, even if it is, that is Yuwen's money. It is not our money."

"If it were my money, I'd give it to you without a second thought. But it's Yuwen's money. What right do we have to make decisions for him? You'll just have to wait until we get to the bottom of this."

Zhou Dagu's face instantly twisted in displeasure. "A son's money? Are you saying a father can't make decisions regarding his own son's wealth? He's supposedly earned tens of millions! Don't tell me he'd be unwilling to lend a few measly million?"

"You haven't forgotten, have you? Back when the two of you were too busy with work, I even took care of Yuwen for a while."

Zhou Guobin had no desire to bicker with his older sister any further. He simply reiterated that he would figure everything out tomorrow.

Seeing this, Zhou Dagu finally backed down from her aggressive stance, though she left him with an earnest, guilt-tripping reminder. "Guobin, you know perfectly well how your older sister treated you when we were kids."

"Our Xiaoyong has had a hard life, being stuck with a family like ours. But you know just how talented he is! Now that Yuwen has found such success, he absolutely has to lend Xiaoyong a helping hand!"

Zhou Guobin merely replied, "We'll talk about it tomorrow."

After finally seeing Zhou Dagu out, Zhou Guobin and Yang Lijuan lay back down in bed, but sleep completely eluded them.

"Are you asleep?" Yang Lijuan whispered into the darkness.

"Mhm," Zhou Guobin grunted, keeping his eyes firmly shut.

"If you're asleep, how are you talking?"

"Mhm."

Yang Lijuan was thoroughly exasperated by her husband's antics. "Hey, do you think what your sister said is true or false?"

Zhou Guobin let out a heavy sigh and admitted that he had no idea.

Yang Lijuan scoffed. "She's always been the type who won't lift a finger unless there's something in it for her. If she didn't see a clear profit to be made, why on earth would she sprint over to our house in the dead of night?"

Zhou Guobin remained silent.

Growing angry, Yang Lijuan snapped, "Hey, listen to me. If this is true, that sixty million is money our Yuwen earned all on his own! She's been mooching off you her entire life, and now she wants to bleed my son dry? She's got another thing coming!"

"I'm putting my foot down right now—not a single cent! She's not getting a single cent of my son's money! Tell her to stop dreaming! If she dares to bother my son over this, she can't blame me for not holding back!"

In truth, Yang Lijuan had wanted to explode on her earlier, only holding her tongue out of respect for her husband.

Yet throughout this tirade, Zhou Guobin maintained his stoic silence.

Finally, her temper flaring, Yang Lijuan reached over and gave her husband a sharp pinch. "Did you hear me?" she demanded.

"I'm telling you, if you dare to bother our son because of her, we are getting a divorce! I'll take him and live on my own!"

He had fully intended to just feign deafness and let the matter blow over.

But upon hearing his wife utter those words...

Zhou Guobin's brow instantly furrowed. "What did I even say to warrant you bringing up divorce?"

"Oh, so now that you see our son is successful, you're immediately looking for a divorce?"

Hearing this, Yang Lijuan let out an amused snort. "Hah! You might be right! Sixty million... how on earth are we going to spend all that?"