Heartthrob, Your Image is Crumbling!

Chapter 453: Legend of Zhen Huan

The father and son rarely got to meet once, so they naturally had a lot to talk about. Zhou Guobin did not ask too much about his romantic life, turning instead to ask Zhou Yuwen about his career. During the New Year, hearing that he made several million from writing novels was already enough to shock the couple. Now, not even two months later, he was saying he sold his startup company for sixty million.He had raised his son by his side for eighteen years and never felt there was anything extraordinarily special about him. How had he changed so much after being away for less than a year?

Zhou Yuwen laughed it off, saying it could only be attributed to inheriting his excellent genes.

Zhou Guobin rolled his eyes at his son and told him to stop flattering him.

"Tell me what exactly is going on. Did they really give you sixty million? Don't let yourself get scammed." This was what the old father was actually worried about. He even had a somewhat wild thought: 'Could someone be intentionally trying to set me up?'

Granted, a deputy position in a county town was not worth a price of sixty million.

However, Zhou Guobin was still a little worried.

Hearing this, Zhou Yuwen could not help but laugh. "How is that possible? Cold, hard cash has been wired to my bank card. Here, you just haven't seen big money before, Old Zhou. Let me show you."

As he spoke, Zhou Yuwen opened the mobile banking app on his phone. In 2014, following the launch of Alipay, major banks had successively rolled out their online banking features.

Growing up, Zhou Yuwen had never seen so much money either. So after Baidu notified him to check his account, he truly looked at the countless zeros in his bank card more than just once.

Sometimes, before sleeping at night, he would open it up to take a look. It felt like none of this was real, yet it was all too real. This sum of funds was sixty million, plus the fifty million Zhou Yuwen had continuously put into his stock investment.

Zhou Yuwen's current personal assets had already reached one hundred and ten million.

Out of that, twenty million was used by Zhou Yuwen to purchase large-denomination certificates of deposit.

Right now, these super large-denomination certificates could barely negotiate an interest rate of five percent. If it were a few years later, it would be simply unimaginable.

A twenty-million certificate of deposit could generate one million in interest a year.

Then, with the remaining ninety million, Zhou Yuwen would invest in stocks, gold, and cryptocurrency.

As for real estate, Zhou Yuwen definitely wanted to make an investment, but he would mostly use leveraged investments, paying only a small down payment to leverage more funds.

Zhou Yuwen proudly placed his phone in front of Zhou Guobin, then smiled at him and said, "Take a look, how many zeros are at the end?"

Zhou Guobin had never seen so much money either. Staring at the balance in Zhou Yuwen's account, and then looking at his son's proud expression, the corner of the mouth could not help but turn up slightly.

It seemed his son had truly grown up.

Next, Zhou Guobin asked if his son had any planning for this sixty million. Why did he sell the company? He had heard from a few friends back home that if he did not sell the company, developing it himself would have been fine too.

Zhou Yuwen told Zhou Guobin that he definitely wanted to do something else next, but he would skip food delivery. In the future, this kind of food delivery company would only exploit the bottom rung of society.

"I certainly wouldn't be happy doing that kind of thing. If possible, I definitely hope to do something that doesn't hinder me from making money, but can also benefit the general public. Didn't Fan Zhongyan say it? 'Bear the hardships of the world before anyone else, and enjoy its comforts only after everyone else has.'"

"Although my ideological realization isn't that high, it's not too far off either."

Zhou Guobin nodded, speaking to Zhou Yuwen in a tone he had never used before. "You really have grown up."

While the father and son were having a rare, heart-to-heart conversation in the study room, Yang Lijuan and the others arrived at the shopping mall not far away. Along the way, Yang Lijuan kept thinking to herself: no wonder men liked having multiple wives and concubines. You really couldn't blame those men; this feeling was indeed wonderful.

Not to mention what happened after arriving at the shopping mall, even just right after leaving the house.

Jiang Xinyi was eager to show off. She stepped in front of Yang Lijuan and said, "Auntie, you're going to the market, right? Let my driver take you. My family's car is spacious and comfortable to sit in."

Su Qing, who was following closely beside Yang Lijuan, naturally found Jiang Xinyi an eyesore. She interjected directly, "Ah, your car is so big. It's the time when everyone is getting off work right now, so the supermarket entrance will definitely be congested. It's much more convenient to take our car."

Zheng Yanyan linked her arm through Yang Lijuan's other arm and chimed in, "That's right, Auntie. You can take our car, and the two of us can keep you company and spend time chatting. Wouldn't that be nice!"

"Once we get to the shopping mall, I can just have the driver take the car away. Then, when we're done shopping, I'll have the driver bring the car back," Jiang Xinyi quickly offered.

Yang Lijuan felt this was all too troublesome. Besides, deep in her mind, she was indeed more inclined toward Su Qing and Zheng Yanyan. Yang Lijuan felt that either of these two girls would make a fine daughter-in-law.

Even Tao Tian, who was standing behind them, was acceptable. But Jiang Xinyi...

She was indeed a bit older, and furthermore, the impression she had just given Yang Lijuan was not very good.

So at this moment, Yang Lijuan smiled and said, "Ah, that's too much trouble, sweetie. We'd have to bother your driver too."

Jiang Xinyi wanted to say it wasn't any trouble and that it was only right, but before she could speak, Yang Lijuan smiled and added, "I think it's better if we just take Little Su's car. The main thing is that your car is too high-class, and I've never ridden in one like it before. I'm afraid I wouldn't be used to it. Riding in this kind of small car is quite comfortable."

"Exactly, Auntie. A small car is much more comfortable. Those ones that look like vans, even I don't find them comfortable to sit in. After all, for ordinary folks like us, if we accidentally dirty someone's fancy car, we wouldn't be able to afford the compensation, right?" Zheng Yanyan hurried to join in.

"What nonsense are you saying?!"

Jiang Xinyi could not tolerate these words. Wasn't this blatantly badmouthing her to her face?

Yang Lijuan quickly mediated, "Alright, let's stop arguing here. Let's go buy groceries quickly. Yuwen and his father are still waiting at home."

Saying this, she gestured for Su Qing to lead her to the shopping mall. Su Qing was more than willing to pull Yang Lijuan away from Jiang Xinyi. Meanwhile, Zheng Yanyan was still fanning the flames from behind, motioning for Jiang Xinyi to step aside.

A small Mercedes-Benz was just enough for five people. Tao Tian took the wheel.

Lu Lin sat in the front passenger seat, while Zheng Yanyan and Su Qing ushered Yang Lijuan into the middle seat in the back, treating her like the moon surrounded by stars.

Rolling down the car window, Zheng Yanyan said to Jiang Xinyi, "Oh my, the seats are all full. There's no room left for you. What should we do, Teacher Jiang? How about you just wait at home."

Jiang Xinyi felt Zheng Yanyan was truly asking for a beating when she acted like this. At this moment, Tao Tian also rolled down her window, smiled at Jiang Xinyi, and said, "Why don't you just wait at home? Zhou Yuwen should just about be done chatting with Uncle. You can stay home and keep Zhou Yuwen company."

After saying this, Tao Tian lightly stepped on the gas pedal. The Mercedes-Benz sedan slowly pulled away, quickly accelerating and disappearing from Jiang Xinyi's sight.

In all her life, this was the first time Jiang Xinyi was feeling wronged to such an extent.

Her nose suddenly stung with the urge to cry.

It wasn't that Jiang Xinyi was overly fragile, but the situation was just too suffocating.

Logically speaking, Yang Lijuan was her prospective mother-in-law. She should have taken her perspective and maintained a sense of boundaries with Su Qing and the others.

But Yang Lijuan did not.

This left Jiang Xinyi feeling extremely dissatisfied.

Furthermore, Su Qing and Zheng Yanyan were six years younger than her, yet they had spoken to her in such an impolite manner.

The more she thought about it, the more wronged Jiang Xinyi felt in her heart.

She returned to the villa in a huff, wanting to complain to Zhou Yuwen.

However, the heavy doors of the study room were still tightly shut.

Jiang Xinyi truly felt incredibly stifled, so she made a phone call to her mother and recounted the situation.

She wanted to express her grievances to her mother, but she was also afraid that her mother would get angry and blame Zhou Yuwen, so her words were somewhat ambiguous.

Even so, Liu Jing could still hear that her daughter was feeling wronged, so she asked, "Did they bully you?" "No, Zhou Yuwen's parents are actually fine."

Jiang Xinyi hurriedly absolved Zhou Yuwen's parents of any responsibility, explaining aggrievedly that it was mainly because of Zhou Yuwen's two ex-girlfriends.

"They have absolutely no sense of boundaries."

"Zhou Yuwen broke up with them a long time ago, yet they just shamelessly cling to him. They even claim they know Zhou Yuwen's parents and insist that they have to come over to entertain them whenever they visit."

Listening to this, Liu Jing offered her evaluation: "Yuwen indeed handled this matter poorly."

"How about this, I'll give Yuwen a phone call."

"Don't."

Jiang Xinyi had merely been feeling wronged earlier and just wanted to talk to her mother. Now that her mother was suggesting calling Zhou Yuwen, she grew worried that it would negatively impact her relationship with him.

She explained that Zhou Yuwen actually had quite good boundaries, otherwise, those girls wouldn't have to keep seeking out his mother.

"Forget it. I feel like this is also a kind of challenge for me. Being with him, I will definitely encounter this sort of thing in the future." After finishing the phone call with her mother, Jiang Xinyi felt much more comfortable in her heart.

Liu Jing asked Jiang Xinyi if she was truly okay with it.

Jiang Xinyi said there was no problem.

"It's just annoying, and I don't know what to say. Did you and my dad ever encounter this kind of situation back in the day?" Jiang Xinyi shifted the conversation to chat with her mother about other things.

Hearing this, Liu Jing could not help but laugh. She replied that it was only normal for men to have a few girls around them.

Not to mention a boy like Yuwen, who was handsome and excellent.

"But you shouldn't care too much. Yuwen is a smart kid; he knows who he should choose."

Clearly, Liu Jing was even more confident about her daughter's relationship than Jiang Xinyi herself was. She could intervene in this matter, but judging by Jiang Xinyi's words, she wanted to handle it herself.

That was fine as well; it would let her daughter gain some valuable experience.

It was harmless anyway.

"Yuwen's parents just arrived in Jinling today, right? How many days are they staying?"

Liu Jing felt that she shouldn't interfere too much with the relationships of the younger generation, but the necessary etiquette still needed to be upheld. At the same time, it was an opportunity to let Zhou Yuwen's parents know that choosing her family was the correct choice.

Jiang Xinyi replied that she hadn't asked yet.

Liu Jing said, "Then go ahead and ask."

"Find a time for us to invite their family out for a meal. We still have some ginseng and bird's nest that your uncle sent over. Make some time tomorrow to come home and take some over to them. You just need to be your best self, and that's enough. You are Yuwen's girlfriend now. Even if they crowd around him all they want, they've already broken up. Are you really scared of this?"

Comforted by her mother in this way, Jiang Xinyi felt much more comfortable.

Liu Jing then added, "If there's nothing else, I'm going to hang up."

"Don't."

Jiang Xinyi wouldn't let her hang up. Pouting at her mother, she whined that the others had gone out to buy groceries, and Zhou Yuwen was chatting with his father in the study room, leaving her all alone and bored.

"Mom, keep me company and let's spend some time chatting."

Hearing this, Liu Jing couldn't help but chuckle. She thought to herself that it had been a long time since her daughter had acted so spoiled. She really had to thank Zhou Yuwen for this.

"Alright then, what do you want to chat about?"

Thus, Jiang Xinyi spent the time chatting with her mother on the second-floor terrace. Over at the shopping mall, Yang Lijuan was also surrounded by the four girls. Whenever she wanted to buy something, she only needed to say the word, and all four girls would be chattering excitedly as they coaxed her to go get it. This made Yang Lijuan incredibly happy. She praised each of the four girls individually, declaring that they were all good children.

Then, on the way back, Yang Lijuan asked about Jiang Xinyi in a roundabout manner. She phrased her questions tactfully, but Su Qing and the other girls could still hear that Yang Lijuan did, in fact, care quite a bit about Jiang Xinyi.

After all, Jiang Xinyi was currently still Zhou Yuwen's official girlfriend.

Her personal liking for Su Qing and Zheng Yanyan was useless.

Ultimately, it still depended on Zhou Yuwen.

And as Zhou Yuwen's mother, whoever her son chose would be her daughter-in-law.

So she naturally had to get to know more about her, especially regarding what Su Qing had mentioned earlier about her being an investor with a wealthy family and such.

What if she took the wrong side and affected her son's future career?

Therefore, on the drive back, Yang Lijuan asked very carefully, though the girls still caught on to her underlying intentions.

"What investor? She's just here to reap the rewards of others' labor," Su Qing whined with two soft pouts. She had no good evaluation for Jiang Xinyi; earlier, she had been intentionally acting passive-aggressive right in front of her.

Now that Jiang Xinyi was not around, they were muttering behind her back. They claimed that while it was true her family had money, she was only deliberately throwing herself at Zhou Yuwen because she had her eyes on his company.

"That's right, Auntie. These are clearly all things Zhou Yuwen earned through his own hard work. But do you know how the media is spinning it now? They actually claim that Zhou Yuwen achieved all this by relying on Jiang Xinyi's family! It makes me angry just reading it!" Zheng Yanyan chimed in from the side.

In the front, Tao Tian and Lu Lin had initially intended to remain silent.

But when Yang Lijuan heard that Jiang Xinyi's family was actually bullying her son in such a way, she immediately became upset and asked, "Is that really true?"

"Of course it's true! Everyone knows it. If you don't believe me, just ask. Right, Tao Tian?" Su Qing called out directly to Tao Tian.

Driving the car, Tao Tian let out an unexpected exclamation. Then, glancing at Yang Lijuan in the rearview mirror, she said, "Mm, it's indeed like that."

'This shouldn't be considered badmouthing, right?'

Because Tao Tian felt that what she said was not wrong either.

With all the girls saying this, Yang Lijuan's impression of Jiang Xinyi instantly became even worse. She could not help but burst out, "How could they be like that? No matter how much money her family has, that's her family's business. Our family might not be that rich, but we certainly aren't lacking in food or drink. Furthermore, how old is she, and how old is our Yuwen?"

"Exactly!"

Su Qing and Zheng Yanyan agreed in unison. Then, exchanging a glance, they continued badmouthing Jiang Xinyi. In truth, Su Qing was a bit more restrained, generally stopping before she went too far. The crucial jabs were all delivered by Zheng Yanyan.

Zheng Yanyan already had a habit of speaking without any filter. Adding to that, with Su Qing echoing her from the side, she became even more oblivious to her limits. Later on, she even brought up the matter of Jiang Xinyi having a romantic relationship with You Changjin, embellishing the story with added flair.

Listening to all this, Yang Lijuan's expression grew darker and darker.