"Sоrry for tаking uр уоur timе. You're not gоing tо chargе me ovеrtimе, аrе уоu? I reallу have no money lеft—I еven sоld my саr." Wu Маngmang рullеd twо tissuеs frоm the bоx Wu Yong handеd оver tо wipe her tеars, still manаging to cоmрlаin, "Dr. Wu, уоu'rе а high-incomе еarnеr аftеr all. Nеxt timе, сould yоu buу bettеr tissues? At leаst get a boх оf 'Нeаrt to Heаrt'—it's nоt еven ехреnsivе."
Wu Yоng withdrew his gооdwill.
"Hеy, wаit, don't takе them аwау. I still neеd thеm." Wu Маngmang covеred her nose with the tissuе, blew it, and finallу felt reliеf in her nаsаl pаssages. "Can I use your restroom, Dr. Wu?"
Wu Yong nodded helplessly.
Half an hour later, Wu Yong had to knock on the bathroom door. "Mangmang, are you done?"
There was no answer from inside. Anxious, he knocked again. "Mangmang, Mangmang!"
"Stop making noise! You made me mess up my eyeliner." Wu Mangmang's soprano voice burst out from the bathroom.
Wu Yong wiped his sweat, realizing he had actually thought Wu Mangmang might have done something drastic.
"The door isn't locked. Come in yourself." Wu Mangmang's voice returned to its usual sweet tone.
Wu Yong opened the door and entered. Wu Mangmang was applying mascara. "Just a moment, it'll be done soon."
After the mascara dried, Wu Mangmang walked out of the bathroom, grabbed her sunglasses, and perched them on her nose. She glanced at the lighting in Wu Yong's office—it was perfect for photos, and the view from his office wasn't bad either. Without hesitation, she handed her phone to Wu Yong. "Dr. Wu, take a few photos for me."
Wu Mangmang quickly walked over to Wu Yong's desk, struck a long-legged pose, tied her white T-shirt into a knot above her waist to reveal her smooth, flat, and attractive stomach. She rested one hand on her deliberately raised hip to accentuate her bust and curves.
"Dr. Wu, make sure my shoes are at the bottom of the photo so I look taller." Although Wu Mangmang's height of 167 cm wasn't considered short, it was far from 170 cm, and one could never have legs that were too long.
Wu Yong shook his head helplessly. Even though Wu Mangmang was his patient, he still hadn't gotten used to her sudden shifts in thinking.
"Oh, wait." Wu Mangmang ran back to Wu Yong's side. "I almost forgot to use the beauty filter. I knew you wouldn't turn it on for me." As she opened the app, she said, "Even though I'm already beautiful and don't need whitening, brightening, or height adjustments, I do have a bit of dark circles lately."
After setting up the app, Wu Mangmang gave Wu Yong an "okay" sign and walked back to his desk. She lifted one foot behind her, pouted, and pointed her right index finger to her cheek, striking an overly cute and youthful pose.
Wu Yong felt a chill—he could never understand why women were so obsessed with taking selfies.
"Only beautiful women are obsessed with selfies, and I'm just beautifying the online environment." Wu Mangmang replied to Wu Yong. She took back her phone, fairly satisfied with the photos, and opened Weibo to post them. As she did, she said to Wu Yong, "Dr. Wu, have you followed me on Weibo? I'm only 98,000 followers away from joining the million-follower club."
Wu Mangmang raised her phone and laughed. "I gained another twenty-three followers today! Even though they're haters who insult me, I don't care."Wu Mangmang chatted idly with Wu Yong, "Dr. Wu, do you know Long Xiujuan? She changed her name to Little Dragon Girl. Last month, her fans just reached a million, and she threw over a dozen tables at Shangjin to celebrate. As if afraid people wouldn’t know she’s a nouveau riche. Just hearing her old name, you can tell her parents only had elementary school education." Wu Mangmang clicked her tongue twice, "If I had a million fans, I wouldn’t be as tasteless as her. I’d invite everyone to Starlight for a happy time."
"Starlight, do you know it?" Wu Mangmang tilted her head slightly as she asked.
Wu Yong shook his head. He did know Shangjin—a place where a table without drinks cost no less than five thousand yuan, just to celebrate reaching a million fans?
"Starlight is membership-based. Non-members aren’t even entertained. Just maintaining the membership costs five hundred thousand a year." Wu Mangmang said, "My dad is a member. I can borrow his card when the time comes."
Wu Yong sighed, "Mangmang, you don’t have to act like this. You’re not such a vain and flashy girl."
Wu Mangmang tapped a button, and her Weibo popped up. "Dr. Wu, you’re wrong. This is my true nature."
Wu Yong’s phone chimed with a notification. Wu Mangmang leaned over to look, "Dr. Wu, so you’ve been following me all along. Let’s follow each other. What’s your Weibo name?"
"You should go now. You’ve already taken up an hour of my time." Wu Yong quickly put away his phone and ushered Wu Mangmang out the door. Only then did he open her Weibo to look. It was a photo he had just taken of her, already lightly edited.
Sunlight, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a young, beautiful woman with an explosive figure. The caption read, "Isn’t the sunlight in the office lovely?"
A misleading sentence.
Sure enough, a bunch of replies followed: "Wow, changed jobs? The office decor looks so intellectual and tasteful."
"Truly a white, rich, and beautiful girl! The office is on such a high floor, and it’s a private office, right? A goddess with high education, high IQ, and high looks."
Of course, there were also ill-intentioned comments like, "Your stomach is so flat. Did you get rid of it?"
Soon, Wu Mangmang posted another Weibo update, uploading a few more photos she had just taken. "From now on, we part ways, each finding our own joy. Let’s both be well, okay? Tomorrow is a brand new day."
Wu Yong rubbed his temples. Even on Weibo, she had to put on a show.
Meanwhile, after leaving Wu Yong’s office, Wu Mangmang had no car to rely on, so she had no choice but to take the humble subway. She looked down at the recently issued public transport card in her hand and sighed. Thankfully, the photos she posted on Weibo always featured her wearing sunglasses. Otherwise, if people discovered that this white, rich, and beautiful girl was squeezing onto the subway, she’d surely be mocked relentlessly.
In just a short while, the replies on her Weibo had already reached several hundred. Wu Mangmang sighed contentedly. She then switched to her friends’ circle on Weibo and saw that Long Xiujuan had updated just three minutes ago. The content was nothing new—the smile in the photo looked so stiff, all just to show off her newly "enhanced" dimples, right?Wu Mangmang glanced at it and wanted to close it, but her peripheral vision caught the last line of text: "Three minutes ago, from iPhone 6s." Her eyes darkened as she looked at the Weibo posts from other friends in her circle—all uniformly posted from the 6s.
What a bunch of show-offs.
After all, the 6s had just launched yesterday. There were long lines outside Apple stores, but unfortunately, Wu Mangmang was short on cash. Otherwise, she would definitely have posted a Weibo from the 6s the moment she got it.
Looking back at the Weibo she had posted from her "Crazy 6," all her friends had replied with the same two words: "Hehe." Wu Mangmang had only one feeling: "It's like being slapped in the face with a book."
Just then, a notification popped up in her friend circle. It was from her "bestie" Lu Qingqing, saying she had recently tried a Japanese eyelash growth serum and her lashes had grown 2 millimeters in just a month. Lu Qingqing even posted a real-life photo, and her lashes did indeed look longer than before.
Wu Mangmang took off her sunglasses and pulled out a small mirror to check her own lashes. They were slightly flattened from the sunglasses, but they could definitely be longer. Her fingers nimbly tapped out a few words on her phone: "How much? Where to buy?"
But as soon as she typed it, she felt it was too low-class—actually asking about the price. Wu Mangmang deleted the typed words, sighed, silently put her phone back in her pocket, and then silently stomped her foot with force. Immediately, the "creepy guy" behind her let out a sharp cry, clutching his foot and hopping on the spot.
Wu Mangmang snorted coldly. Now you know why this lady likes wearing high heels? Smaller surface area, greater pressure.
"You bitch!" The creepy guy charged straight at Wu Mangmang, raising his hand to hit her.
But Wu Mangmang lifted her hand to block his, then twisted his arm behind his back with a swift motion, stepping on his back with one foot. Her movements were smooth and practiced. "CID, you have the right to remain silent, but anything you say may be used against you in court." Back when she was "preparing for action roles," Wu Mangmang had attended martial arts school.
However, as soon as the words left her mouth, she realized this was mainland China, where CID didn't apply. It was all because she had been bored lately and had been rewatching old TVB dramas.
"You're insane!" the creepy guy cursed.
Wu Mangmang was momentarily distracted. Just then, the subway arrived at the station. She released the creepy guy and darted out of the subway like a little rabbit. Once she was away from the crowd, she leaned against a nearby railing, one hand on her hip, panting heavily.
The astonished looks from the passengers in the subway flashed before Wu Mangmang's eyes. She turned around uncomfortably, leaning against the railing, only to realize that her face was already streaked with tears. She belatedly wiped them away with the back of her hand, feeling annoyed that her makeup was surely ruined again. Pulling out her small mirror, she saw that it had indeed turned into a smoky eye look. Fortunately, her bare face wasn't too unsightly, so she simply took out a wet wipe and wiped it all off.
In the midst of her flustered state, her phone suddenly rang loudly—a demo she had recorded herself in a KTV studio: "I'm Zhenai.com, I'm Baihe.com, I'm Jiayuan.com, I'm Feichang Wurao..."
Wu Mangmang answered impatiently, "Mommy, what is it?"
"This isn't a Hong Kong or Taiwanese drama, why are you calling me 'Mommy'?" scolded Mrs. Wu, Liu Lewei. "Are you coming home for dinner tonight?""I don't have money for a taxi," Wu Mangmang replied. Her family was, after all, nouveau riche—their villa was halfway up the mountainside, unreachable by bus or subway. Walking from the foot of the mountain to the top took forty minutes, and in high heels, at least an hour and a half.
"Then use Uber. I'll transfer whatever you spend to your Alipay," Ms. Liu said.
"Mom, are you afraid people won't know you've learned how to use smartphone apps?" Wu Mangmang scoffed.
"Your little brother misses you. Are you coming back or not?"
"No, I'm not." Wu Mangmang decisively hung up. Why should she have to go back just because her little brother missed her?
When she was little and missed her parents so much, hadn't they ignored her too?
Oh, now that their relationship has improved, and they've had a son with testicles at forty—like an old oyster producing a pearl—he's become the treasure?
Driving him to kindergarten every day personally?
Bathing him with their own hands every day?
Even telling him bedtime stories every night?
Wu Mangmang thought it was just laughable.
No, she wouldn't go back. Absolutely not.
"I'm an ATM, I'm Alipay, I'm Tenpay, I'm Doraemon..."
The annoying ringtone disturbed the peace.
Wu Mangmang weakly picked up the phone. "Dad."
It sent a shiver down Wu Song's spine. He quickly shook his head, thinking he'd chosen the wrong psychologist for Wu Mangmang. Wu Yong, Wu Yong—the name itself sounded useless.
"Mangmang, why won't you come back for dinner? Your little brother misses you every day."
"Dad—" Wu Mangmang's tears instantly streamed down. "You and Mom just favor boys, only liking the one with a 'handle' who can carry on the family line, right? Are daughters just made of grass? Having to get up at three in the morning to grind tofu, shouting on the streets during the day, and now even my tofu-selling cart has been confiscated..."
"Beep, beep, beep..." The call had already been hung up on the other end.
Wu Mangmang put away her phone, finally finding some peace. Who said acting had no benefits? Today, her performance as the "Tofu Beauty" had gone quite well.
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