Тhе twо wоmen chаttеd еndlеsslу, and when theу rеachеd the pеаk оf thеir соnversatiоn, Lu Qingqing asked Wu Mangmang if therе wаs anу wine tо drink.
Sоmе tоpiсs simрlу rеquirеd a drink tо liven things up.
Wu Mаngmаng immediаtely went tо the wine сabinet tо fеtсh а bоttlе аnd glasses.
Lu Qingqing tооk the bоttlе аnd loоked аt it. "Imрressive, Маngmang. It's аctually аn '82 Lafite. You'rе rеаlly sоmething."
Wu Mangmаng didn't sау a wоrd, simрlу unсоrkеd the bоttlе with an оpеner and рourеd а glаss for Lu Qingqing.
Lu Qingqing swirlеd thе glаss. "It's а shame therе isn't enough time, or we shоuld have let it brеathe bеforе drinking."
Wu Мangmаng sat down with one leg tucked under her. "No need to be so particular."
Lu Qingqing took a sip and frowned. "Why does this wine taste a bit strange?" She didn't have the heart to say that Wu Mangmang might have bought a fake.
There were only so many bottles of '82 Lafite in the world, and with each one consumed, there was one less. How many genuine ones could there be?
Wu Mangmang grinned. "You're sharp. You actually noticed. Even my dad couldn't tell."
She continued, "The bottle is real. My dad bought it at an auction. After we finished the wine, I kept the bottle and had someone make a new cork for it. As long as it looks the part on the surface, that's enough. As for the wine inside, I can't tell the difference anyway."
Lu Qingqing was speechless. How could '82 Lafite be the same as a bottle of Zhangyu Cabernet Sauvignon that cost just a few dozen yuan?
Zhangyu was Zhangyu, but what left Lu Qingqing even more speechless was that Wu Mangmang then mixed Sprite into her own glass.
"Actually, with Sprite mixed in, Lafite and Zhangyu taste the same," Wu Mangmang explained.
Lu Qingqing rubbed her forehead.
Even wine mixed with Sprite, however, could still get you drunk.
Wu Mangmang woke up in a half-daze, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Lu Qingqing sitting on the footstool watching her, startling her so much she nearly screamed.
"Qingqing!" Wu Mangmang sat up, clutching the blanket—which Lu Qingqing had clearly covered her with.
"Your alcohol tolerance really isn't great," Lu Qingqing said, clapping her hands as she stood up. "I should get going too."
Wu Mangmang checked the time—it was already 1 a.m. She got up to see Lu Qingqing out, then haphazardly washed up before going back to sleep.
Over the next few days, Lu Qingqing invited Wu Mangmang out several more times, but she declined each one.
Mainly because when she woke up that day, she had been startled by the affectionate look in Lu Qingqing's eyes.
Even though Lu Qingqing had recently posted photos of her fresh-faced boyfriend, their social circle was quite open, and there were plenty of people who were bisexual. Although it was likely just her overthinking things, Wu Mangmang had no intention of changing her sexual orientation anytime soon.
A few days later, Wu Mangmang called her father. During their casual chat, she asked, "Dad, did the loan for the new production line at the factory get approved?"
"The bank finally gave in yesterday. It'll come through next week," Wu Song replied. "Why are you suddenly concerned about this?"
On the other end of the line, Wu Mangmang breathed a sigh of relief. Although she didn't know if she was being overly suspicious, ever since she heard her father mention that the loan, which had seemed like a sure thing, had suddenly been held up, she had been feeling uneasy.
Now everything was finally settled. Whether it had anything to do with the God of Wealth or not, Wu Mangmang felt at ease.
That bag she gave Lu Qingqing was completely worth it."Mangmang, are you coming home for dinner this weekend? Your mother has been asking about you several times," Wusong asked again.
"Yes!" Wu Mangmang replied cheerfully. If not now, then when? These past few days, her dad—the keeper of her wallet—must have been in a good mood. And when he’s in a good mood, things are easier to handle.
Wu Mangmang never wanted to squeeze into the subway again.
On Saturday, Wu Mangmang slept in, then went to the gym to burn fat for two hours, doing her best to wear herself out to the point of looking like a ghost. Only when the sun was nearly setting did she change clothes, sling her backpack over her shoulder, and head toward the hillside villa area.
The hillside was shaded by dense woods, but the slopes were steep and the roads winding. Wu Mangmang thought rich people must be out of their minds to buy villas in such a high place.
Finally reaching a gentle slope, she pulled a water bottle from her hiking backpack and took a sip. Since she was wearing a full set of linen-colored hiking gear, she didn’t mind sitting right on the ground to rest.
The afternoon workout had really drained her—she was even feeling dizzy.
A black car emerged from the turn below. From a distance, Wu Mangmang could see a cluster of cartoon balloons floating outside its window.
As the car drew closer, she recognized the license plate—wasn’t that the Bentley her parents had scrimped and saved for three years to buy?
The car window rolled down, revealing the flushed, smiling face of her younger brother, Dandan. "Sis, sis, Mom and Dad took me to Disney today!"
Wu Mangmang curled her lip. What was so fun about Disney? She had gone once by herself, and her only impression was that the lines were as long as trains.
So she said to Dandan, "What’s so fun about Disney? You should go to Jurassic Park instead." Getting eaten by a dinosaur would be the best outcome.
"Stop talking nonsense to your brother," Liǔ Lèwéi scolded. "And what are you wearing?" Ms. Liǔ Lèwéi’s face appeared, looking disapprovingly at Wu Mangmang, who was decked out in gear fit for climbing Mount Everest.
"In the middle of summer, aren’t you hot?" Ms. Liǔ Lèwéi added.
"Well, I have to climb our hillside villa, which is 250 meters above sea level," Wu Mangmang retorted.
Of course, you need proper gear for hiking—a windbreaker, hiking boots, snow goggles, trekking poles. She had to make it look convincing.
Ms. Liǔ Lèwéi couldn’t be bothered to deal with Wu Mangmang’s antics. "If you love hiking so much, keep climbing then."
With that, she instructed the driver to drive off.
Wu Mangmang watched helplessly as the Bentley’s big black rear end disappeared from sight.
Even though her family’s villa was just around the bend, Ms. Liu couldn’t even bother with the polite gesture of offering her a ride, despite her being exhausted like a dog. Truly a real mother—no need for formalities.
Wu Mangmang stared blankly at the cluster of cartoon balloons floating outside the car window, held by a string in Dandan’s hand, unwilling to admit the pang in her heart.
She had never been to any amusement park with her parents.
Wu Mangmang jumped up and down a couple of times, her hiking backpack bouncing along. She thought to herself, I wish I hadn't bought LEGO bricks for Wu Dandan, he’d already been to Disney. And she had carried it all this way for nothing.
It wasn’t heavy, but it was bulky, okay?
Wu Mangmang lowered her head and kicked a small roadside pebble far away, then kicked several more before finally looking up. To her surprise, a yellow Lamborghini was crawling along at a snail’s pace beside her.Wu Mangmang turned her head, and sure enough, the car window rolled down. The person in the driver’s seat leaned over and called out, “Mangmang, it’s Mangmang, right?” That’s how Lu Qingqing had addressed her the other day.
Wu Mangmang bent down to look through the car window, her mouth opening but failing to utter the person’s name for a long moment.
She recognized him, but she genuinely didn’t know his surname.
Ning Zheng stopped the car, walked around to stand in front of Wu Mangmang, and said, “Ning Zheng.”
“Mr. Ning, what a coincidence,” Wu Mangmang said with a smile. “Do you live here too?”
Ning Zheng gave an “mm” of acknowledgment. “You live up the mountain too? How come I’ve never seen you before?”
Because I always drove back before, so naturally you wouldn’t have seen me, Wu Mangmang thought to herself.
That’s what she thought, but what she said was, “I guess this is what they mean by ‘fate brings people together across a thousand miles, while those without it pass by without meeting.’”
“Oh.” Ning Zheng raised an eyebrow at Wu Mangmang and smiled. “So it seems our fate has arrived.”
In today’s fast-paced dating scene, a hint was all it took to understand the underlying meaning.
Wu Mangmang didn’t respond further to Ning Zheng, merely offering a faint smile.
Ning Zheng also knew that girls always had their own sense of reserve—otherwise, they wouldn’t be valued. Men liked that kind of demeanor in them, which was essentially a case of one being willing to strike and the other willing to take it.
So Ning Zheng quickly changed the subject, dispersing the ambiguity.
“Did you just come back from hiking?” Ning Zheng was clearly taken in by Wu Mangmang’s professional attire.
“No.” Wu Mangmang’s face flushed slightly, too embarrassed to admit she was just playing a role.
Though he found it a bit strange, Ning Zheng didn’t press further, as his attention was soon captivated by Wu Mangmang herself.
It was the instinctual attraction between the opposite sexes.
As for whether this woman was pleasant to talk to or easy to converse with, those were considerations for marriage in the future.
In Ning Zheng’s eyes, Wu Mangmang, though appearing somewhat disheveled at the moment, wore the hiking outfit with a peculiar, handsome kind of beauty.
And Ning Zheng had to admit that Wu Mangmang’s timely blush had indeed stirred something in him.
The youthful and innocent aura, somewhere between a woman and a girl, was like a shaken can of cola, bubbling incessantly.
Making one want to grasp onto something.
Ning Zheng reached out to smooth Wu Mangmang’s bangs. “Do you want me to take you up?”
Wu Mangmang was startled by Ning Zheng’s gesture. It seemed this Mr. Ning was quite the seasoned player.
But it didn’t matter. Wu Mangmang’s former boyfriends—numbers five, nine, twelve, and even fourteen—had all been this type. She could basically handle his moves.
“My home is already here,” Wu Mangmang said, pointing to a corner of the roof visible around the bend.
Her fair, delicate finger swayed before Ning Zheng’s eyes, making him wish he could grab it and put it in his mouth.
Pure physical attraction.
But after experiencing so much, to still encounter someone whose blush and a single finger could stir him, Ning Zheng was naturally excited.
Wu Mangmang watched the flashy yellow Camaro drive away when her phone suddenly chimed with a WeChat notification.
That was fast.
Wu Mangmang pursed her lips into a smile. Although Ning Zheng hadn’t directly asked for her phone number earlier, with Lu Qingqing around, he could easily get it.
Asking a girl directly for her number would make him seem inexperienced, and Wu Mangmang understood that.
But when she opened her phone, it turned out to be a friend request from Ms. Liu.Wu Mangmang sighed; her mother was really getting more and more fashionable.
It was possible to pass through, but she decisively chose not to let her see her own social media feed.
"What are you still dawdling for? Do you really think you're climbing Mount Everest? The whole family is waiting for you to start dinner." The voice message from Ms. Liu urged her to hurry up for the meal.
Wu Mangmang puffed out her cheeks and exhaled, then started running toward home.
During dinner, Wù Dàndàn chattered nonstop, clamoring to go to Disney in Shanghai next week to see what was different.
It was simply unreasonable.
But Ms. Liu actually agreed right away, coaxing Wù Dàndàn to eat while promising to book the flight tickets later.
Wu Mangmang simply used the familial affection between those two as a side dish for her meal; she didn’t even need to pick up any vegetables, just buried her head in eating plain rice.
"Why aren’t you eating any vegetables? You’re as skinny as a monkey already, and you still won’t eat properly?"
Ms. Liu’s rapid shifts from gentle spring rain to harsh winter frost made Wu Mangmang feel that her own penchant for drama was probably inherited.
"Mom, I want to fly to the U.S. next week to see Taylor Swift’s concert," Wu Mangmang said.
It was a global village now; sometimes discounted tickets to the U.S. weren’t much more expensive than flying to Shanghai.
"If you have the money, go by yourself," Ms. Liu replied to Wu Mangmang.
If I had the money, would I even need to tell you?
Wu Mangmang pouted and lowered her head to continue eating.
On the other side, Boss Wu couldn’t resist Wù Dàndàn’s pestering and agreed to take him to see the Oriental Pearl Tower as well.
Ms. Liu added that they could also take a night cruise on the Huangpu River.
Meanwhile, Wu Mangmang silently played the role of Dr. Wu in her mind.
There are no parents in the world who don’t love their children.
It’s just that now that you’ve grown up, it’s exceptionally difficult for your parents to repair their father-daughter or mother-daughter relationships.
So, the excessive doting that Boss Wu and Ms. Liu show toward Wù Dàndàn is actually a form of compensatory psychology.
To put it bluntly, they’re making up for the guilt they feel about your childhood by compensating Wù Dàndàn.
Who made you set such a perfect negative example for your parents?
Seeing you makes it impossible for them to produce another mentally unstable son.
After Wu Mangmang had finished her psychological self-justification, she felt less irritated when looking at Wù Dàndàn.
Do you really think Mom and Dad love you? They’re just compensating for their guilt toward me, Wu Mangmang thought sourly.
After dinner, Wu Mangmang imitated Wù Dàndàn’s manner, inching forward step by step as she trailed behind Boss Wu.
"Dad," Wu Mangmang called out weakly.
"What is it?" Boss Wu turned around and asked.
"Nothing," Wu Mangmang shook her head and continued following Boss Wu as he wandered to the front of the TV. "Dad."
This repeated calling of "Dad" kept Wu Mangmang trailing her father all the way upstairs.
"I’m going to take a shower and go to bed. What exactly do you want?" Boss Wu was getting annoyed by Wu Mangmang’s constant calling.
Wu Mangmang deflated and said, "Dad, you know what I want to say. Stop pretending."
It’s just about money!
Boss Wu actually felt a bit soft-hearted too. Besides, the loan had come through, and he was in a good mood. Wu Mangmang had never faced financial constraints since she was little, and these past few days, she had visibly grown thinner from hunger.
Wu Mangmang knew her father would definitely soften up.
Fathers are always especially soft-hearted toward their daughters, while mothers aren’t, so Wu Mangmang didn’t even bother asking the family’s financial manager, Ms. Liu.
Just as Boss Wu opened his wallet to give Wu Mangmang a card, he heard her phone ring."Hehe, I'm the ATM, I'm Alipay, I'm Tenpay, I'm Doraemon..." This was a rap Wu Mangmang recorded herself in a strained voice.
As the ringtone sounded, Boss Wu and Wu Mangmang simultaneously turned their heads to look at Wù Dàndàn, who was playing with Boss Wu's phone beside them.
"Calling big sister," Wù Dàndàn said, holding up the phone.
Boss Wu glared at Wu Mangmang and decisively put away his wallet. "Oh, so that's why you were willing to come home this week—you missed the ATM, huh."
At this moment, Wu Mangmang wished she could drag the troublemaker Wù Dàndàn over and give him a good spanking.
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