Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 398: Let's Invite Your Younger Cousin to Dinner

"Don't tell me you're about to say that you and my older cousin aren't actually a couple, and you two are just ordinary friends putting on an act?"Before Lu Wanting could even open her mouth, Zhou Yuwen asked with an amused smile.

Lu Wanting was thoroughly surprised. "How did you know?"

Seeing her expression, Zhou Yuwen merely smiled without saying a word.

Lu Wanting only had to think for a moment to figure out the reason. She could not help but laugh. "And here I really thought Su Qing would keep my secret."

Zhou Yuwen replied that such a thing was impossible.

"Sister Wanting, no matter what, Su Qing is still my girlfriend. Do you really think there would be any secrets between us?"

Although Lu Wanting felt a bit awkward, she had to admit that Zhou Yuwen was speaking the truth.

The two of them chatted for a little while longer. In truth, Lu Wanting could have easily kept this from Zhou Yuwen. Before coming clean, she could at least play the role of his cousin-in-law in front of him. But now, she was reduced to being nothing more than a little assistant.

However, Lu Wanting truly admired Zhou Yuwen. Despite his young age, he had already built a net worth in the tens of millions. As long as he agreed, Zhu Hong was ready to hand him eight million at a moment's notice.

Yet, astonishingly, Zhou Yuwen actually looked down on those eight million.

Zhou Yuwen mentioned that since she was from a rival company, it was not convenient for him to reveal too much.

"Whenever you decide to jump ship to my company, I'll tell you," he added.

"Sure! Then I'll jump ship right now!"

Lu Wanting naturally had a lively and uninhibited personality. While at Zhou Yuwen's home, she had at least tried to act the part of a mature cousin-in-law. Now that the pretense was dropped, she skipped the act entirely and began joking directly with him.

Zhou Yuwen quickly turned her down.

"I'm currently being targeted by your company. If I let my guard down even a little, let alone eight million, I probably won't even get a single penny out of this."

Lu Wanting assured him that wouldn't happen.

At that moment, someone knocked on the door again.

Lu Wanting went to open it and found Jiang Xinyi standing there.

Jiang Xinyi cast a suspicious gaze over the two of them inside the room, asking curiously, "You two are just hanging out in the room like this?"

Zhou Yuwen explained, "She was bringing me some clothes."

"Oh."

Lu Wanting was quite tactful. Seeing that someone else had arrived, she smiled at Zhou Yuwen and said, "Then I will take my leave first, President Zhou."

With that, she backed out of the room.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yuwen changed his clothes and prepared to go eat with Jiang Xinyi.

They had already covered most of the important topics while playing golf earlier, so there was not much business left to discuss over dinner. Instead, they just chatted about trivial matters.

Earlier, Zhou Yuwen had also asked Lu Wanting about his older cousin.

"Did he find a job?"

"He did. He's working as an electronic engineer at Wanhui Group," Lu Wanting had replied with a smile.

Wanhui Group was the large corporation that included the planning company Zhou Yuwen frequently collaborated with, where Gao Bide was an executive. As a massive conglomerate with numerous departments, Peng Xiaoyong managing to secure a position there was quite an accomplishment.

Currently, his comprehensive monthly income was hovering around ten thousand.

Of course, with Peng Xiaoyong's abilities, he could certainly have found a job with an even higher salary.

However, Wanhui Group and Meituan's office buildings were located in the same district. This arrangement allowed Peng Xiaoyong to see Lu Wanting frequently. Originally, Peng Xiaoyong had wanted to rent an apartment together with her.

But Lu Wanting had made her own arrangements long ago. Upon arriving in Jinling, she immediately moved into the talent apartment complex.

Left with no other choice, Peng Xiaoyong also moved into a single room within the same talent apartment building.

It was while chatting about these matters that the topic of Lu Wanting not actually being Zhou Yuwen's cousin-in-law had come up.

At the time, she had merely been pretending to be Peng Xiaoyong's girlfriend.

When Zhu Hong had found out, she had been quite surprised, telling her, "You didn't grow up in our country, so you don't know the local customs. Generally, if you're willing to go home with a man to meet his family, it means you're prepared to marry him."

"Really? I had no idea," Lu Wanting had said.

Zhou Yuwen had remarked, "It doesn't matter. You aren't planning to find a boyfriend in this country anyway, so it won't affect you."

"Who said I wasn't planning to?"

Lu Wanting had pouted.

Everyone who heard this couldn't help but laugh.

Now, returning to the present, the dinner with Jiang Xinyi was generally quite pleasant. She spoke very little throughout the meal. It was only later that night, when Zhou Yuwen was escorting her home, that she finally offered a few words. She mentioned that the eight million Meituan offered was actually very reasonable.

"Currently, the commission for a single rider is far too high. For an order of roast meat and rice that only costs ten, the delivery rider takes a five-yuan cut. That's nearly half. I'm worried that if this continues, we won't be able to hold out."

Jiang Xinyi harbored a deep sense of worry.

Zhou Yuwen told her not to worry about it, declaring that even if he had to risk going bankrupt, he would fight them to the bitter end.

"If you need money, you can tell me. I can ask my mother to support you," Jiang Xinyi offered.

Hearing this, Zhou Yuwen felt deeply moved. Smiling, he reached out and touched Jiang Xinyi's thigh, her legs clad in white socks, and said, "Thank you, Sister Xinyi. You're so good to me."

Feeling Zhou Yuwen's wandering hand, Jiang Xinyi couldn't help but pout. Although she felt happy on the inside, she pushed her lips out in a pout and scolded, "Talking is one thing, but why are you getting all handsy?"

Zhou Yuwen replied that it wasn't the first time.

"So you're not going to bring up the fact that I'm your teacher's girlfriend anymore?" Jiang Xinyi asked, blinking her eyes.

Zhou Yuwen chuckled, "Touching my teacher's girlfriend feels even better."

"Get lost!"

That single sentence made Jiang Xinyi roll her eyes in exasperation, while Zhou Yuwen simply laughed along.

After dropping Jiang Xinyi off at home that day, the two didn't obsess over the whole boyfriend-and-girlfriend issue. Clearly, they were currently in a state of ambiguity, and Jiang Xinyi was no longer hung up on defining their relationship.

Liu Jing was right; marriage was just a formality. As long as they truly loved each other, they could absolutely have a child first. Then again, she found herself not wanting to have a child as much anymore.

Women were just like that—always changing their minds seven or eight times a day.

None of this had anything to do with Zhou Yuwen.

What did concern Zhou Yuwen, however, was the ongoing food delivery war. The commission price for a single order had already climbed to five. Zhou Yuwen deliberately priced every order just one cent lower than Meituan, sending a clear message: if they wanted a price war, they wouldn't be able to beat him.

But for Meituan, the arrow was already on the bowstring. The person in charge, Mr. Wang, had single-handedly driven the prices up. If they were to give up now, it would mean all their previous efforts had been completely in vain.

Furthermore, Meituan's true opponent wasn't Zhou Yuwen at all. Their primary target was Ele.me.

If push came to shove, they could temporarily lift their sanctions against Zhou Yuwen and focus their full attention on Ele.me instead.

While the two corporate giants were engaged in a fierce battle, Zhou Yuwen took Liu Shuo and a few others down to Sunan. Relying on the connections they had accumulated over the winter holiday, the Xuhuai Association blossomed across the three cities of Suxi-Chang. At this point in time, both Meituan and Ele.me already had their own delivery riders operating in Suxi-Chang. Because the clash between the two groups was a province-wide war, it was genuinely difficult for any ordinary person to break into the market.

But what made Zhou Yuwen different was that he was an insider among the students. Compared to the big corporations, his unique advantage lay in his ability to negotiate directly with the student body.

Operating right under the noses of the two major companies, Zhou Yuwen built a brand-new food delivery rider team from the ground up. Just purchasing the equipment alone cost him two million.

Originally, he had around forty million in capital. Now, after going head-to-head with the two massive delivery conglomerates, he was down to thirty million. Judging by the current situation, it was unlikely a clear victor would emerge anytime soon.

In university, apart from the very first month of freshman year when everything felt new and exciting, the next four years were actually remarkably static. It was nothing more than a repetitive cycle of university activities, which occasionally managed to add a little flair to an otherwise mundane life.

Throughout the entire month of March, Zhou Yuwen basically spent his time constantly traveling back and forth to Sunan. Sometimes, even Zhu Hong couldn't get ahold of him. Although she didn't know exactly what Zhou Yuwen was up to, she was certain he was secretly brewing some sort of scheme.

Unfortunately, her own life didn't intersect much with Zhou Yuwen's.

So one day, while Lu Wanting was bringing her a cup of coffee, Zhu Hong casually asked, "Have you been in touch with Zhou Yuwen lately?"

"Huh? Why would I have any contact with him?" Lu Wanting replied with a laugh.

"Well, you could try reaching out to him and see," Zhu Hong suggested.

Sipping her coffee, Zhu Hong elaborated, "Zhou Yuwen is a crucial link in our group's layout in Jinling. I really want to know what he's up to right now, but I have no channels to find out. Didn't you mention that his older cousin is courting you?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it courting," Lu Wanting said.

Zhu Hong smiled. "Whether it is or isn't, you two must still know each other."

"You should make use of these connections," Zhu Hong pressed.

Zhu Hong told Lu Wanting that she couldn't remain a mere assistant forever. Zhou Yuwen was a highly promising young man, and maintaining a good relationship with him would make him a massive asset in her future career.

"But I feel that the intention behind making friends should be a bit more simple," Lu Wanting hesitated.

"There's nothing complicated about it. Of course, this is just a suggestion," Zhu Hong said with a smile, taking another sip of her drink. "The coffee is quite good."

Lu Wanting just smiled and said nothing.

On her way home, Lu Wanting carefully considered Zhu Hong's words. Not long after she stepped through her front door, a knock sounded.

When she opened the door, she found Peng Xiaoyong standing there holding fresh ingredients.

Pushing up his glasses, Peng Xiaoyong asked, "You haven't eaten yet, have you?"

"Mhm."

The two of them now lived in the same apartment complex. Although they had their own separate single rooms, their doors were directly across from each other. Thus, every time they got off work, Peng Xiaoyong would come over and cook for Lu Wanting.

Lu Wanting did indeed enjoy eating certain domestic dishes, and Peng Xiaoyong reasoned that since he had to cook anyway, they might as well eat together.

Lu Wanting found no issue with this arrangement, so this routine had persisted for quite some time.

In truth, a man like Peng Xiaoyong was quite excellent. Not long after joining the company, quite a few female colleagues had already taken a liking to him. However, despite the many fish in the sea, he only had eyes for one.

On this particular day, he was cooking over at the stove just like usual.

Lu Wanting first returned to her room to take off her office attire.

The short skirt, stockings, and high heels—while these three items looked fantastic when worn, they weren't exactly comfortable.

Lu Wanting rolled the nude stockings down her legs, the thin layer peeling away from her snow-white thighs.

She changed into a simple tracksuit.

Stepping back out, Lu Wanting looked at Peng Xiaoyong cooking and asked, "Xiaoyong, you've been in Jinling for so long now, haven't you contacted your younger cousin?"

Peng Xiaoyong cooked with meticulous precision. "He's just a student," he replied. "Why would I contact him?"

Lu Wanting pointed out that he was still his cousin, regardless.

"Shouldn't you guys grab a meal together and catch up?"

Peng Xiaoyong said nothing, keeping his head down as he focused entirely on his cooking.

It was only after quite a while that he finally uttered, "There's no need."

Lu Wanting finally understood his stance. Deep in thought, she remarked, "It seems you truly know absolutely nothing about your cousin."

"What do you mean?" Peng Xiaoyong asked, clearly puzzled.

Lu Wanting sighed, "Just finish cooking first."

During dinner, Lu Wanting brought the matter up as if casually recounting an everyday occurrence. She mentioned that a few days ago, Boss Zhu had asked her to entertain a business partner. She emphasized that this partner was incredibly important, as he held the key to the company's entire layout in Jinling.

"Why? Did you mess it up?" Peng Xiaoyong asked.

"How could I? Do you know who this client was?" Lu Wanting countered.

Peng Xiaoyong was clueless. He only knew a handful of people and genuinely had no idea who it could be.

"Your younger cousin," Lu Wanting revealed.

Peng Xiaoyong froze, completely caught off guard by the answer.

"Surprising, right? I was incredibly surprised too."

Lu Wanting explained that his cousin had founded a food delivery company that was highly popular among the university students.

Upon hearing that this important client was Zhou Yuwen, Peng Xiaoyong was already feeling somewhat displeased. This displeasure was etched deep into his bones, so much so that he couldn't even articulate the reason why.

Hearing Lu Wanting elaborate, Peng Xiaoyong offered his objective evaluation, "It's just a university student playing around. Your company's boss is probably taking this whole thing far too seriously."

"Is that so?"

"But do you have any idea how much money our boss is willing to spend to acquire his company?"

"How much?" Peng Xiaoyong asked, his face entirely expressionless as he reached out with his chopsticks to pick up some food.

"Eight,"

Lu Wanting held up her fingers in a gesture for eight. "Million."

Peng Xiaoyong's hand stiffened mid-reach, but he quickly recovered his natural composure. "Hmm."

"But your cousin didn't take it. Your cousin wants twenty million."

"Young people are always aiming too high," Peng Xiaoyong remarked dismissively.

Lu Wanting sighed. In her heart, she thought, 'Whether he's aiming too high or not, I don't really know.'

But right now, she had a difficult problem to solve.

"When you have the time, why don't we invite your cousin over for dinner?" Lu Wanting asked, feeling slightly embarrassed to bring it up.