Тhаt gоssiрy Shen Тing!
Wu Маngmаng сouldn't help but snееr coldlу, "Your boss lооks quitе аlооf, but who knew his tоngue was so long? Talking bеhind рeоplе's bасks—trulу, aрреаrаncеs can be dесeiving."
Вut Xiāo Gùgōng said hеartlesslу, "He mеаnt wеll, just wоrriеd I might gеt tаken advаntаge оf."
Тrаitorоus scum! Wu Маngmang moсkеd, "So уou're taking his mоney and sреаking up fоr him, huh?"
When words don't аlign, еvеn half а sеntеnсе is tоo muсh!
Lаter, whеn Wu Mаngmang saw Хiāo Gùgōng аt Sрring Рlazа, shе rеаlized this scoundrеl hadn't betrayed his сousin for monеy.
Hе was simрlу abаndoning his sister for a pretty face.
Wu Mangmang decisively rummaged through her bag for eye drops, dripped them into her eyes, and two streams of tears rolled down. She immediately rushed up to Xiāo Gùgōng.
"Xiāo Gùgōng, didn't you say you were working overtime today? Is this how you work overtime—by accompanying a woman shopping?" Wu Mangmang thought to herself that she'd finally caught the chance to play the role of the rightful wife.
Xiāo Gùgōng was still a bit dazed. "Mangmang."
Wu Mangmang looked heartbroken at Xiāo Gùgōng and Shen Yuanli, this pair of "adulterous couple." "Xiāo Gùgōng, how could you do this to me? I worked three jobs a day, even sold blood at my worst, just to support your study abroad. And now that you're back, you want to abandon me, your faithful wife, is that it?"
In just a few sentences, Wu Mangmang successfully portrayed herself as the epitome of a virtuous Chinese woman, drawing countless scornful glances from passersby toward Xiāo Gùgōng.
This is what they call "a gentleman's revenge takes ten years." Wu Mangmang thought smugly, serves you right for siding with your boss. Karma.
Xiāo Gùgōng's mind was sharp enough to snap back to reality quickly. He wrapped an arm around Wu Mangmang's shoulder. "Mangmang, stop acting. I've already confessed everything to Yuanli."
Wu Mangmang glanced at the somewhat stunned Shen Yuanli beside them, still not fully out of her role as the romantic rival.
"Cousin," Shen Yuanli called out obediently.
So he really had confessed everything.
Wu Mangmang pulled Xiāo Gùgōng aside. "You jerk, where's your backbone? Didn't you say you weren't interested? What's this called—'even a fierce man fears a persistent woman'?"
Xiāo Gùgōng rubbed his nose. "Things got messy after drinking."
"Pah! As if a man could even get it up after drinking." Wu Mangmang's social circle wasn't for nothing—many of her girlfriends had complained about this.
"Do we really need to discuss this?" Xiāo Gùgōng retorted.
Now it was Wu Mangmang's turn to rub her nose. Indeed, this wasn't a topic to discuss with her cousin.
She changed the subject. "So, did I play the role of a fickle woman for nothing?"
Of course, it couldn't be for nothing. Xiāo Gùgōng had already latched onto a rich and beautiful woman, so he naturally handed his card to Wu Mangmang.
Wu Mangmang was furious. Did others see her as a money-grubbing woman?
Angrily, she took the card from Xiāo Gùgōng's hand. "What's the password?"
"Your birthday," Xiāo Gùgōng said.
What a guy, no wonder he could charm Shen Ting's sister into being as docile as a rabbit. He must have anticipated Wu Mangmang's outburst and prepared a consolation gift in advance.
If Wu Mangmang were the boss, she'd want to poach Xiāo Gùgōng back too.
With the card in hand, Wu Mangmang began shopping with a clear conscience. Originally, she had come to Spring Plaza to treat herself after earning a small sum from helping Lu Lin restore an antique vase and receiving her quarterly allowance. Who knew today would be her lucky day, running into Xiāo Gùgōng while he was chasing girls?Wu Mangmang happily tried on shoes. As a regular customer, she took a few photos, and the sales assistant didn’t stop her—after all, money talks.
She posted the photos in a WeChat group. "Which looks better, the black pair or the gold one?"
"The gold pair," a male voice sounded behind Wu Mangmang.
Wu Mangmang turned and looked up. "Mr. Ning?"
Ning Zheng sat down beside Wu Mangmang. "Men tend to prefer shoes with straps like these."
Does it stir up your bondage fantasies or something?
Wu Mangmang rolled her eyes inwardly but glanced around without spotting Ning Zheng’s female companion. This was a women’s shoe store, after all!
"Mr. Ning, what a coincidence."
Ning Zheng flicked Wu Mangmang’s ponytail with his finger. "Not a coincidence. I saw you get dumped earlier and followed you here."
What the—!
"I wasn’t dumped. That was my cousin," Wu Mangmang retorted, her pride at stake. How could she let anyone see her being dumped?
Especially since she’d been dumped so many times, she was extra sensitive about it.
"Since we’ve run into each other, let me treat you to a meal," Ning Zheng invited. "There’s a small shop nearby with amazing soup dumplings and bone broth. Most people don’t even know about it."
Wu Mangmang initially wanted to refuse, but she had too many passions in life, and good food was definitely one of them. If a young master like Ning Zheng recommended a place, it was definitely worth trying.
Unable to resist, Wu Mangmang cursed inwardly. Playboys really know how to charm women.
In the end, Wu Mangmang bought both the black and gold shoes.
A woman must be willful—why choose? If you have the money, buy them all to avoid the dilemma of "the white moonlight and the cinnabar mole."
When it was time to pay, Ning Zheng leaned over. "Want me to swipe for you?"
They say that accepting a man’s diamonds means you’re also accepting the man.
The combined price of the two pairs of shoes was enough to buy a decent little diamond ring.
Wu Mangmang silently pulled out Xiao Gugong’s card. Spending her cousin’s money felt much safer. After all, her uncle, Dr. Xiao, was great at making money, and her cousin was too.
The dumpling shop didn’t even have a sign. The space was tiny—just ten square meters, with the kitchen taking up most of it, leaving only enough room for one long table. Wu Mangmang and Ning Zheng had to settle for a makeshift table set up on the sidewalk. They were lucky; some people were squatting by the roadside, holding bowls of bone broth and munching on dumplings.
Ning Zheng grabbed a roll of paper from the table, wiped the greasy residue off Wu Mangmang’s stool, and even politely pulled it back for her.
A humble eatery, but treated like a French fine-dining experience.
The bone broth was rich and fragrant, but oddly, there was very little oil floating on the surface—it was almost clear. The only downside was the chopped scallions sprinkled on top, which Wu Mangmang didn’t eat.
Ning Zheng naturally took her bowl and began picking out the scallions with his chopsticks, one by one.
Meanwhile, Wu Mangmang devoured the soup dumplings one after another, marveling at how delicious the filling was, while also saying to Ning Zheng, "Why not just order another bowl? Picking them out like this will take forever, and other people are waiting for seats."
Hearing this, even the refined and elegant Mr. Ning couldn’t help but curse inwardly. What a waste of kindness.
Wu Mangmang leaned forward, bringing her face within a foot of Ning Zheng’s. Her big eyes sparkled like stars, but her smile was as sly as a fox’s. "Feeling like your kindness was taken for granted?""If we sleep together, will I be the one picking out the scallions next time?" Wu Mangmang raised an eyebrow, her expression both proud and arrogant, yet it managed to stir that deeply hidden, masochistic nerve in Ning Zheng.
Standing so close, her chest was right before Ning Zheng’s eyes. With just a slight lowering of his gaze, he could see the snowy, sugar-frosted valley through the wide neckline of her T-shirt, along with the hint of a black edge.
Just this small glimpse, imagining the scenery beneath the T-shirt, made Ning Zheng’s throat tighten and stirred an involuntary reaction.
This little temptress before him had clearly found his weak spot.
"Girls shouldn’t speak so crudely," Ning Zheng said, feigning seriousness, then added, "If we really do sleep together, of course I’d still be the one picking out the scallions for you."
Ning Zheng pushed the soup bowl, now free of scallions, toward Wu Mangmang.
Wu Mangmang took a sip of the bone broth with a meat bun, truly the greatest pleasure in life. "So, knowing I don’t like scallions, you’d still order me a bowl of scallion soup next time?"
She theatrically placed a hand on her chest and cooed, "Is this how you try to woo someone? So inconsiderate?"
Ning Zheng chuckled, reaching out to wipe the glistening oil from the corner of Wu Mangmang’s lips. She didn’t flinch—her experience teasing decent men was likely no less than Ning Zheng’s experience flirting with pretty girls.
She let Ning Zheng’s thumb brush her lips as he said, "Then why don’t you give it a try with me?"
Wu Mangmang swallowed another bun, wiped her mouth, and then said seriously, "But I only date with marriage as the goal."
This wasn’t a lie.
With her extensive dating experience, Miss Wu was long tired of irresponsible relationships.
"You’re still so young, and you already want to jump into the grave?" Ning Zheng straightened up again. For someone like him, the mere mention of marriage was enough to give him a headache.
"I’m just afraid of dying without a place to be buried," Wu Mangmang retorted, then called for the boss to settle the bill.
Ning Zheng pulled out a hundred-yuan note. The boss, speaking in Sichuan-accented Mandarin, said, "Don’t you have any smaller change? I just gave out two hundred-yuan notes earlier and I’m out of change."
Ning Zheng looked at Wu Mangmang, who had no choice but to take out her wallet.
But in that split second, the stack of red bills in Ning Zheng’s wallet had already caught someone’s eye. While he was distracted looking at Wu Mangmang, a seasoned thief swiftly grabbed the wallet he had placed beside him and took off.
Wu Mangmang, the female flying hero, tossed her own wallet to Ning Zheng and gave chase.
Though she wasn’t tall—only 167 centimeters—she had remarkably long legs for her height, seemingly reaching all the way to her waist. Agile and quick, she dashed after the thief and, before he could jump onto his electric scooter, grabbed him by the collar, yanking him away from the vehicle.
With a sharp pull of her elbow, the thief fell to the ground. Wu Mangmang turned and pinned him under her foot. This time, she didn’t play the role of a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region police officer but instead adopted a dramatic tone: "What petty thief dares to steal from my friend’s wallet?"
With her triumphant and radiant expression, Wu Mangmang looked every bit the head disciple of the Emei Sect.
No one could understand the pride she felt at that moment—the martial arts she had practiced since childhood had finally found their purpose.Usually beating up a few thieves who stole from you was nothing, but today was about upholding justice, and she even put on a show of "taking a knife for a friend"—a true display of loyalty.
That feeling was really something else.
Ning Zheng had already run up by now. He had been genuinely stunned earlier, thinking she was some seductive vixen, only to discover her true form was a tough-as-nails woman.
It should have been a turn-off.
But when Ning Zheng’s gaze drifted downward and he saw Wu Mangmang, after her moment of triumph, bending over with her hands on her knees, panting heavily as she held his wallet.
Her T-shirt collar was wide open, and this time it wasn’t just the black edges he could see—the full shape of the peaches was on full display.
Breathing so heavily, as if she’d just been wronged, stirred a fierce restlessness right from the tailbone.
Wu Mangmang handed the wallet to Ning Zheng and personally called the police to report the incident.
These days, no one dared to provoke thieves, afraid of retaliation from organized crime rings.
Now Ning Zheng came in handy, gently tapping Wu Mangmang’s shoulder. "Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the whole nest is cleaned out for you. We’ll punish them as severely as possible, so they’ll never dare show their faces around you again."
Wu Mangmang looked up at Ning Zheng. It had to be said, he looked a bit more handsome at that moment.
A statement still had to be taken, and even privilege had to go through the motions, right?
But it was still a waste of time, and Wu Mangmang couldn’t help complaining, "Why do you carry so much cash in your wallet? Can’t you just bring a card?"
What man with any style carries more than two hundred yuan in his wallet?
That was because Wu Mangmang didn’t understand Ning Zheng’s secret weapon for picking up girls.
In this world, there are many women who love money, but even more who don’t.
Not every time could Young Master Ning just scatter a handful of cash and have women flocking to him.
So Young Master Ning’s ultimate move was to take these young women to eat at all kinds of obscure street stalls and small eateries, capturing their stomachs to gain access to their hearts.
This also made him seem down-to-earth, avoiding the chance for the woman to back out due to the huge gap in social status.
How do you swipe a card at such small shops?
On the other hand, having Young Master Ning and his friends use payment apps like Alipay or WeChat Pay seemed cheap.
Moreover, using group buying deals was even more unacceptable.
Saving money meant losing style.
So, cash was king.
Ning Zheng, of course, couldn’t explain this to Wu Mangmang, so he changed the subject. "How was the soup dumplings and bone broth earlier?"
"Delicious!" Wu Mangmang answered firmly. She’d even memorized the street name, planning to bring Xiao Gugong here another day to try it.
"How did you find a place like this?" The shop was in a particularly remote location, on the ground floor of a rundown residential building, on a narrow alley only wide enough for a tricycle.
"Your uncle found it. He’s picky with food, and his nose is sharper than a dog’s," Ning Zheng said.
"Speaking of which, shouldn’t you call me ‘uncle’ too?" Ning Zheng looked at Wu Mangmang with a suggestive smile. "Come on, say it."
Wu Mangmang couldn’t be bothered with Ning Zheng, thinking to herself, If we’re talking about seniority, you should be calling me ‘mom.’
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