"I nеvеr realizеd thе littlе fох had such formidаblе skills."
Wu Mangmаng pausеd mid-stер, turning hеr hеаd to seе Ning Zheng leaning against the wаll bеhind a giаnt pоttеd рlаnt, smoking а сigаrеttе.
Ning Zheng fliсked his ash into thе рlant рot, took twо steps fоrward, and Wu Маngmаng shiftеd slightlу, thinking hе wаs about tо lеavе. Instеаd, he blеw a рuff оf smoke dirесtly intо her facе. "Why is Lu Sui getting involvеd with уоu agаin?"
Wu Mangmang соughеd twicе, fееling аssаultеd by а wаve оf deеp maliсe.
"Yоur skills in bеd must bе quite imрrеssivе, I suрpose?" Ning Zhеng's face slowly drеw closer tо hers.
"Arе yоu drunk?" Wu Мangmаng said coldly.
"How about the three of us try it sometime? It's not like we haven't played around before," Ning Zheng chuckled.
Wu Mangmang wished she had a drink in hand to splash in his face and sober him up. She pushed him away forcefully. "How old are you? Stop acting like a delinquent just because things aren't going your way.She even threw in a Cantonese phrase, "crazy".
Ning Zheng reached out to grab her, but Wu Mangmang twisted his wrist and, taking advantage of his unpreparedness and her own intent, pressed his hand against the wall.
"Don't mess with me!" she snapped. Although she had reconciled with a certain Mr. Lu, her temper was still far from settled.
The dressing room was fully equipped. Wu Mangmang leisurely touched up her makeup, applying mascara while mulling over Ning Zheng's words. She couldn't imagine Lu Sui ever having such a wild phase.
A threesome? Maybe she'd be interested in trying it herself.
After finishing her makeup, Wu Mangmang wasn't in a hurry to leave. She checked her social media feed, which was filled with exclamation marks.
She smiled, genuinely wishing she could see the expressions on these women's faces in person—it would surely be amusing.
A private message popped up on Weibo, from Lu Sui no less: "Still not coming out?"
Wu Mangmang pursed her lips and put her phone away.
But the next second, she turned her phone back on and carefully examined Lu Sui's username.
The road follows into the vastness
Wu Mangmang wasn't sure if this username had always been like this or if it had been changed recently. She was no longer certain whether the "road, a vast expanse of people" she had seen last time was just an illusion.
Men are truly despicable!
Wu Mangmang put her phone away again and headed to the restroom next door.
Restrooms were always hubs for gossip. Wu Mangmang stood inside a stall, forced to listen to the conversation of three women outside.
"Do you think Lu Sui is serious about that... what's-her-name?"
"Probably. What kind of occasion is this today? He opened the dance with her."
"Does that mean we'll have to put up with Liǔ Lèwéi's smug face from now on? It's so annoying to see her gloat."
"Not necessarily. Didn't you see that girl's eyes were swollen? She didn't even have time to fix her makeup and had to remove it instead. Just wait and see—the Lu family isn't so easy to enter."
"That's good. We'll get to see Liǔ Lèwéi's face slapped sooner or later. It'll be quite a sight."
After the three women outside finished laughing and left, Wu Mangmang finally opened the door and went to wash her hands.
Women, no matter how ladylike or refined they appear on the surface, still end up spouting meaningless gossip behind closed doors.
But now Ms. Liu was dragged into it too. Just thinking about it was irritating. Dating someone felt like the whole family was dating Lu Sui.
Ms. Liu's sense of heartbreak was even stronger than hers.
Wu Mangmang walked over to Lu Sui, who wrapped his arm around her waist as they mingled with the crowd. She felt a bit like a fox borrowing the tiger's might—she had never received so much attention before.
Everyone was so friendly.Everything she was interested in, the other person seemed to have studied thoroughly, making the conversation incredibly comfortable.
For a moment, Wu Mangmang felt that with her natural ease in social situations, she could probably have been a top-tier socialite even back in the Republic of China era.
Of course, when the party ended and people dispersed, clarity returned—it was just flattery.
But Wu Mangmang had to admit that attending the party with Lu Sui really boosted his appeal.
Especially when she outshone Long Xiujuan and her fiancé.
Although Wu Mangmang felt that taking pleasure in this seemed rather low and shallow, her vanity was satisfied beyond expectations, making it impossible not to feel delighted.
This led Wu Mangmang to make a major decision: next time, she must be the one to dump Lu Sui first. That way, when people in the future spoke of her legend, they would applaud.
Just like how she felt when she heard Lan Yue had dumped Lu Sui—how thrilling that was.
"Let's go," Lu Sui reached out to take Wu Mangmang's hand.
Wu Mangmang pulled her hand back slightly.
Although the gesture seemed a bit affected, since they had already cleared the air, living together again would surely lead to trouble.
But Wu Mangmang felt she wouldn’t be interested in losing her virginity anytime soon.
Mainly because, after more than a month apart and her experience with William, she felt a renewed sense of unfamiliarity toward Lu Sui.
"All the things you bought during the shopping festival have arrived. Peter said you should go unpack them quickly—who knows if any have expired," Lu Sui said.
Wu Mangmang immediately raised her hands in surrender. She had never met anyone who could pinpoint her weaknesses so accurately.
A room in the Lu residence had been specially cleared out for Wu Mangmang to store her packages. Though it was hard work, the person doing it was particularly happy.
The next day, Wu Mangmang should have slept until the sun was high in the sky, but her political tutor felt the time was tight and the task heavy, arriving at the Lu residence before eight in the morning.
Wu Mangmang had to reschedule with Wu Yong. Coincidentally, Dr. Wu wanted to spend Christmas with his girlfriend, which was exactly what she hoped for.
During a break in the tutoring session, Wu Mangmang had a brief chat with her tutor, who was in his forties. He didn’t hide his earnings or his popularity at all.
After asking about his approximate annual salary, Wu Mangmang even felt an impulse to change careers.
In short, this internationally top-tier exam skills tutor was definitely not someone you could hire today and expect to have free time tomorrow.
Wu Mangmang undoubtedly benefited greatly that day.
During dinner, Lu Sui asked about her progress. Wu Mangmang, shoveling rice into her mouth without looking up, muttered a "thank you."
Although, given her temperament, Wu Mangmang would normally resent Lu Sui’s domineering "giving without asking" behavior, she had genuinely benefited from it and couldn’t bring herself to blame him.
This man never cared what you thought. If he believed something was right, he would either do it or force you to do it.
After dinner, Wu Mangmang trudged listlessly to the living room and sat down.
The living room was filled with a festive atmosphere, decorated in reds and greens everywhere, creating a joyful and harmonious scene.
The Christmas tree was exceptionally tall, almost reaching the ceiling. Wu Mangmang glanced around and suddenly noticed many gift boxes under the tree.
Pink, blue, green—all tied with ribbons, clearly meant for her.
Wu Mangmang turned to look at Lu Sui. He tilted his head slightly, signaling for her to go ahead.Wu Mangmang immediately knelt on the floor and began unwrapping the gifts.
All the essentials for writing were there—from fountain pens to journals, along with a new laptop, and of course, no shortage of clothing and accessories.
Only someone like Mr. Lu could casually toss million-dollar jewelry on the floor like that.
After unwrapping all the gifts until her hands grew sore, Wu Mangmang carefully counted them and realized Lu Sui had given her at least ten different hats.
She touched her hair, which had grown out and now looked a bit plain, then turned to glance at Lu Sui. Was he subtly hinting at something?
"Who helped you pick these gifts? They didn’t put much thought into it—does the mall only sell hats and nothing else?" Wu Mangmang shifted her position, kneeling on the carpet in front of Lu Sui.
"Does the young lady not like them?" Peter, who had been standing nearby, stepped forward. "Yesterday, the young master and I spent the whole afternoon at the mall. Every item was carefully chosen by him."
Wu Mangmang looked up at Peter. This butler had a way of standing so unobtrusively beside you that he seemed to blend into the wall like a painting, which was why Wu Mangmang often overlooked this dutiful steward.
She smiled and turned to Lu Sui. "Uncle, I think you should give Peter a raise."
Lu Sui ruffled Wu Mangmang’s hair. "He gets one every year."
Wu Mangmang leaned against Lu Sui’s leg, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. "Do you have a problem with my short hair?"
"No, but I think you might have one yourself," Lu Sui replied.
How could he tell?
Wu Mangmang’s hair was naturally good quality. She rarely permed or dyed it, usually keeping it straight.
But anyone who had grown out their hair knew that straight hair looked its worst when it was neither short nor long. Even someone as pretty as Wu Mangmang couldn’t escape the drop in attractiveness.
A perm might have helped at this stage, but unfortunately, Wu Mangmang couldn’t bring herself to do it.
She was taken aback by Lu Sui’s attentiveness. "How did you notice?"
"Back when you were more vain, you’d fuss with your hair every ten minutes (as if afraid no one would notice). You don’t do that anymore," Lu Sui said.
Was that really how it was? Wu Mangmang hadn’t even realized she had such habits.
"And before, whenever you passed anything reflective, you’d instinctively stop to check your reflection. You don’t do that now either. Nothing else about you has changed except your hair, so I guessed you must be unhappy with your current hairstyle," Lu Sui explained.
"You could actually change careers. You might become the next Henry Lee," Wu Mangmang praised.
Wu Mangmang tried on all the hats right in front of Lu Sui, and surprisingly, every single one looked great on her. Mr. Lu’s taste was still impeccable.
Old Peter stood not far away, watching Lu Sui and Wu Mangmang laugh and chat, and couldn’t help but wipe his eyes.
There had never been such a festive atmosphere during holidays before. This was the first time since the previous owner passed away that the Lu residence had a Christmas tree again.
A little later, Lu Sui moved to his study, and Wu Mangmang was dragged along with him—she was used to it by now.
She had a feeling Lu Sui suffered from a kind of companionship craving. Upon closer thought, aside from bathing and using the restroom, he seemed to prefer keeping her within sight at all times.Wu Mangmang spread out the gifts she had just unwrapped on the floor of Lu Sui's study, carefully arranging the logos to make them as visible as possible. She then lay down sideways in the middle, asking Lu Sui to take a photo of her.
She posted the photo along with another one taken earlier under the Christmas tree with the unopened gifts, sharing them on her social media and Weibo to stir up envy.
"Unwrapping gifts until my hands are sore—what should I do?"
Such playful antics kept Wu Mangmang excited and entertained for the entire evening.
"Next time, could you not go for these old-school private customizations?" Wu Mangmang complained to Lu Sui while scrolling through her social media feed.
Most people couldn’t even tell the price or origin of such gifts.
For Wu Mangmang, the thrill of receiving gifts lay in seeing people online circle each item, noting the brand, model, and price.
She would rather have a branded bracelet worth 40,000 than a million-dollar one with no recognizable origin.
However, judging by the gifts Wu Mangmang continued to receive from Lu Sui afterward, it was clear he had no intention of listening to her.
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