Ноwеvеr, Lu Sui didn't give Wu Mаngmаng thе сhаnce, turning arоund аnd walking baсk into the hаll.
Wu Маngmаng's gаzе remainеd fixed on the areа оf Lu Sui's swim trunks, watсhing him all thе wау insidе.
Thе linеs wеrе trulу imprеssive—cleаrlу pоwerful, making her wаnt to give thеm a squeеzе.
Wu Маngmаng sighеd. It sеemed shе rеallу wаs gеtting oldеr. In five mоrе yeаrs, shе'd entеr that insatiablе age, yеt it wаs а pitу she still hadn't eхреrienсеd thе ultimаtе рleаsurеs of lifе.
She hоped thе blind datе Мs. Liu hаd arrаngеd fоr hеr tonight would be mоre capablе.
After breаkfast, evеn though it wаs аgreеd they'd come for horseback riding, Ning Zheng and Shen Ting both requested fencing instead. The ladies seemed more interested in watching the fencing match, leaving Wu Mangmang to stare helplessly at them.
She might as well have played mahjong—at least she understood the rules.
Wu Mangmang felt she was truly foolish. Last time, when she went sailing with Shen Ting, hadn't she already decided never to hang out with these boring old men and women again?
Yet, in a moment of unclear thinking, she had come again.
As for fencing, Wu Mangmang admitted she understood nothing—she couldn't tell why they suddenly stopped or how they won.
But it was clear that Lu Sui's skills seemed excellent; neither Ning Zheng nor Shen Ting were a match for him.
After a few rounds, Lu Sui simply removed his mask, inserted his sword into the scabbard, looking like a lonely master seeking defeat.
He was so arrogant he wouldn't even play with them anymore.
Lu Lin leaned over and whispered in Wu Mangmang's ear, "Mangmang, would you like to learn fencing? I could teach you."
Such an elegant yet useless sport—Wu Mangmang had no interest in learning it.
"You two go ahead," Lu Sui stepped back, letting Ning Zheng and Shen Ting face off.
He could tell these two were underperforming, simply because they hadn't chosen the right opponent.
Now, when Ning Zheng and Shen Ting faced each other, they looked like stags raising their long antlers high, competing for the right to mate with a doe.
Brotherly bonds shouldn't be hurt, especially over something only slightly interesting. Was it really necessary to stare each other down like fighting cocks last night?
Watching the two men advance and retreat like a cha-cha dance, listening to the "clinking" sounds of their swords colliding, Wu Mangmang couldn't help but yawn. She then posted on Weibo, naturally with a picture of two men in white outfits wearing masks, captioned: "A beautiful day begins with an elegant sport."
In the online world, if you're not pretending to be sophisticated, you're probably acting vulgar—either way, it rarely resembles the real you.
The slightly noisy environment seemed more conducive to sleep. After yawning twice, Wu Mangmang decided not to fight herself anymore. She had woken up too early in the morning and should go back for a nap.
The host was very considerate. Wu Mangmang hung the "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door of her guest room and slept soundly, even skipping lunch—perfect for weight loss.
In the end, it was Lu Qingqing who had a servant open the door and dragged Wu Mangmang out of bed. "Hurry up, everyone is about to leave."
Wu Mangmang groggily climbed out of bed, her face still marked with red lines from her hair. Lu Qingqing thought she looked unbearably adorable.
Wu Mangmang, however, was startled awake by Lu Qingqing's almost drooling expression.
Fortunately, her luggage was already packed. Wu Mangmang closed her eyes, hung her head, and followed behind Lu Qingqing as they walked out. Whenever she felt they were about to turn a corner, she lifted her eyelids to take a glance.Most of the guests arrived on Lu Sui’s private jet, while Wu Mangmang came with Ning Zheng. However, at the moment, Shěn Yuànzǐ, dressed in a red suit, stood quietly beside Ning Zheng, her presence overwhelming. Even with her thick skin, Wu Mangmang couldn’t bring herself to ask for a ride back on Ning Zheng’s plane.
Wu Mangmang suddenly felt a bit weary of these wealthy people. Every time they sought entertainment, they either deployed helicopters or private jets, making transportation so inconvenient—it was truly a hassle.
The servant carrying Wu Mangmang and Lu Qingqing’s luggage was waiting for instructions when Lu Lin happened to walk over. “Mangmang, come back with me. Yijun still wants to chat with you for a while.”
Wu Mangmang felt as if she had been granted a reprieve and nodded decisively.
Ning Zheng remained silent, his expression cold.
Wu Mangmang felt no guilt about it. If someone already had a fiancée-to-be, they shouldn’t be fooling around, right?
Lu Sui’s plane was slightly more spacious than Ning Zheng’s—perhaps it just looked that way. The interior was tastefully decorated, understated yet of high quality. Compared to Ning Zheng’s Arabian palace-style decor, it was far more comfortable.
Once on board, the bosses were still busy discussing business, networking, and negotiating collaboration frameworks. Wu Mangmang, on the other hand, pulled an eye mask over her face, curled up on the sofa, and continued catching up on sleep, ignoring the “you’re so disappointing” look Lu Qingqing gave her.
When they disembarked, Du Yijun smiled at Wu Mangmang and said again, “Your face is perfect for the screen. If you’re interested, give me a call.”
Wu Mangmang merely smiled in response. She didn’t believe she had such charm that Mrs. Liu would repeatedly extend invitations.
Everything in this world comes with a price.
But it seemed that only the pocket money from Boss Wu and Ms. Liu was the easiest to accept without any psychological burden.
As soon as she got off the plane, Wu Mangmang headed straight for the hillside. On the way, she stopped to buy a set of Ultraman toys for Wù Dàndàn. To reclaim her pocket money, she had to keep up the effort—otherwise, she wouldn’t have the funds to buy equipment in her game.
Ms. Liu, having not seen Wu Mangmang for a while, found her more tolerable today—absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all. Seeing that Wu Mangmang was still wearing clothes from last season throughout the summer, she found it rather unsightly.
So, not only did she toss a newly bought rose gold iPhone 6S to Wu Mangmang, but she also, for the first time ever, handed her five thousand yuan to buy new clothes for an upcoming blind date.
Although a decent dress would cost more than that, this still exceeded Wu Mangmang’s most optimistic expectations. She hugged Ms. Liu, kissing and nibbling on her, not minding the face powder she got all over her mouth. “I almost had to sell a kidney. When I post on Weibo, everyone else has the 6S, and I’m stuck with the 6.”
It wasn’t that Wu Mangmang was vain—it was just that in her social circle, people were even more snobbish than ordinary folks. If you fell even slightly behind, you’d be met with a disdainful forty-five-degree side-eye.
“Look at you. Didn’t I give you money before?” Ms. Liu had no way to deal with her shameless yet stubborn daughter.
“I spent the money on other things,” Wu Mangmang replied matter-of-factly. In her mobile game, ten diamonds cost one yuan. Although she couldn’t become a super-rich tycoon like Lu Sui in real life, in her game server, she was absolutely a goddess.
When others asked for her help, they’d say, “Goddess, give me a dozen bottles of wine. Goddess, give me a dozen pieces of plywood…”
It was incredibly satisfying.
In the entire server, her manor was the most luxurious and beautiful, with the most chickens, the most cows, and the highest wool production.Even Wù Dàndàn marveled at how his sister was a true big spender in the game.
Kids these days, at just four or five years old, are already more skilled at mobile games than adults. When Wù Dàndàn wanted to play with Wu Mangmang’s new phone, she had no choice but to give in.
If Wù Dàndàn wanted to play games, Wu Mangmang had to open her mobile gaming app.
Phones strain the eyes, so Wu Mangmang ended up getting scolded. "I told you not to let your brother play games, with all those knives and forks..." Ms. Liu’s words shot out like countless darts.
Wu Mangmang didn’t retort at all. Finally, Ms. Liu couldn’t help but stop and ask, "Are you sick? Why aren’t you saying anything?"
Wu Mangmang lowered her eyelids, thinking of those mature and worldly older men, and sighed softly. "Because after going out and seeing the world, I realized home is still the best."
Although Ms. Liu was a bit too biased, she always had her daughter’s best interests at heart, without any ulterior motives.
Liǔ Lèwéi fell silent, feeling a pang of bitterness in her heart.
Of course, she was happy that her daughter had become more sensible, but if this maturity came from being hurt or bullied outside, it made her heart ache.
After all, this was the flesh of her flesh.
When she was two or three years old, her chubby little face was simply adorable.
Unfortunately, they had missed too much in between. By the time they wanted to make up for it, the child had grown up, developed her own thoughts and life, and could no longer depend on or be as close to her as she was in childhood.
So Liǔ Lèwéi was even more unwilling to miss Wù Dàndàn’s childhood. Sometimes she could sense her own bias, but recognizing it was one thing—correcting it was another.
"Right now, your father’s funds are tied up in the second phase of the project, so your allowance won’t be as much as before for a while," Ms. Liu said.
Wu Mangmang never expected such a twist of fate and looked at Ms. Liu in disbelief.
"Cut in half each month," Ms. Liu added.
Wu Mangmang did the math—it would still be enough. If she saved for a few months, she could buy a domestic SUV.
As long as she had a car to get around, that was fine. Lately, she was tired of catching thieves and perverts.
Before dinner, Boss Wu returned home after socializing and, seeing Wu Mangmang there, couldn’t help but say, "So you finally decided to come back?"
Wu Mangmang could tell at a glance that Boss Wu had taken out his frustrations on her, so she didn’t respond.
"Look at you—twenty-five or twenty-six years old, and you don’t even have a proper boyfriend. When people talk about you, the biggest impression is that you change boyfriends every other day. It’s downright embarrassing."
Boss Wu had a whole string of criticisms waiting for Wu Mangmang. "Your mother went through a lot of trouble to arrange a blind date for you with Shen Ting from the Shen family, and what happened? He didn’t take a liking to you at all. How dare you still throw tantrums with us?"
Wu Mangmang’s eyes reddened at Boss Wu’s words, as if her only value in his eyes was to build connections. Just because someone didn’t like her, she had no face left?
The brief moment of warmth had burst like a bubble.
Hearing Boss Wu’s harsh words, Liǔ Lèwéi quickly tugged at him. "Go change your clothes. I’ll run a bath for you."
Turning back to Wu Mangmang, she said, "You go change too. I’ll have the driver take you."
Take her where? To the blind date, of course.The blind date was set at a congee restaurant, an old establishment chosen by the other party, known for its decent dim sum and well-prepared congee.
Wu Mangmang had been there once before. The location was a bit out of the way, but it was surprisingly crowded, often requiring shared seating.
Given the World Health Organization’s recently released "list of possible carcinogens," which placed red meat in the same category as the pesticide DDT and the biochemical weapon mustard gas, Mr. Lin, sitting across from Wu Mangmang, directly skipped over her favorites like black pepper beef ribs, steamed chicken feet, and garlic spare ribs.
The dishes that arrived were all blanched vegetables—blanched choy sum and the like.
Mr. Lin had a fair, clean-shaven face and worked as a dentist.
High income, high education—just a bit of a cleanliness obsession, which wasn’t a big deal.
Wu Mangmang had been feeling a bit under the weather lately, with a toothache bothering her. If she could have a dentist boyfriend, it would save her the trouble of making appointments and waiting.
However, Mr. Lin felt that Wu Mangmang’s appearance seemed a bit too striking, and he happened to be too busy to keep a close watch on a beautiful wife, preventing her from straying. So, he maintained a somewhat aloof attitude.
Overall, Mr. Lin was a high-income, pragmatic man. Wu Mangmang actually appreciated this type of man—someone who knew what he wanted and what he could offer.
What was most commendable was that he was genuinely looking to get married through this blind date.
Just as the two were exchanging their views on marriage and relationships—with Mr. Lin expressing that he didn’t want too many children, one son and one daughter would be enough, and Wu Mangmang stating her hope to remain child-free—the waiter timely interrupted their less-than-friendly atmosphere.
"Sir, it’s too crowded now. We’ll need to share the table. Please understand," the waiter said.
Mr. Lin, seemingly a regular, nodded slightly to show his understanding.
Soon, other guests joined the table. First, a young couple, who, from their conversation, seemed to have found the place through an online food guide.
Shortly after, their large round table welcomed another single guest.
Wu Mangmang accidentally caught sight of the Great God sitting beside her while lowering her head to pour tea.
"Mr. Lu!" Wu Mangmang exclaimed in surprise.
Lu Sui, however, showed no surprise—he must have spotted Wu Mangmang when he arrived earlier—and merely gave a slight nod.
"Are you alone?" Wu Mangmang couldn’t help but ask.
Coming alone for congee—wasn’t that a bit too lonely?
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