It was 9 o’clock at night right now, and there was nothing but silence at the movie set.

  Xu Wei was still a little weak from her surgery. She initially did not want her kids to know what she had gone through, but her desire to talk about it forced her to create a WeChat group, and the desire grew even stronger after Lu Yumo pressed on.

  Gentle and virtuous Big Weiwei, [Collective excision of human accessory organs.]

  Fu Zhi thought something had happened to Xu Wei. Her heart was in her throat for a moment, but when she saw her message from the group chat, she fell silent.

  She knew where her mother was going, but her brother could not see it through. He was shocked when he saw the message and he hastily replied, [What is that? Why is it so serious? Why didn’t you tell me earlier? What did the doctor say? How are you doing and where are you now?]

  Gentle and virtuous Big Weiwei, [I’m at home right now, and the doctor said that I need to recuperate at least half a year before I can completely recover.]

  Lu Yumo, the great fire wielder, [Mom! We can’t live without you! As long as you accept the treatment and follow everything the doctor says, I’m willing to be a vegetarian for three years! I will pray at the Bodhisattva every day so that you can recover faster!]

  Lu Jingqing, [Have you skipped biology class again recently?]

  Lu Yumo, the great fire wielder, [How did you know? Did you send Fu Zhi or Ye Jiu to keep a watch on me? How much did you pay them, double it and I’ll tell you my daily schedule!]

  Lu Jingqing, [I’m confiscating your allowance for this month.]

  Then, he mentioned Xu Wei, [Did you just get a haircut?]

  Xu Wei then sent a few photos of herself to the group.

  Gentle and virtuous Big Weiwei, [Am I pretty, honey? I saw that Zhizhi has short hair when she’s a kid, so I asked the barber to give me the same haircut! And he said we look like mother and daughter!]

  Lu Yumo, the great fire wielder, [Just like how you played with my feelings, the barber is stringing you along to make you happy so that he can get you to pay him the money.]

  Gentle and virtuous Big Weiwei, […]

  Lu Jingqing, [Lu Yumo, can you change your name? It sounds so odd.]

  Lu Yumo, the great fire wielder, [I thought you didn’t like my previous name?]

  Lu Jingqing, [Change it now, or I will report you.]

  Lu Yumo, the pure love hottie, [Sigh, you’re really such a demanding person.]

  Lu Jingqing, […]

  Lu Yumo, the delicate and feeble beauty, [A beauty will never be alone. If you love me, say it out loud. Don’t give me that response. Now, tell me, which one do you really like?]

  Gentle and virtuous Big Weiwei, [He likes someone like me.]

  Lu Yumo has a small waist and long legs, [Jealousy has blinded you, so let dad speak.]

  Lu Jingqing did not say anything and asked Xu Wei to kick him out of the group.

  Lu Yumo, who had a small waist and long legs, was short of money lately, and he was hoping that his father could give him some support. He did not know that his parents had kicked him out of the group, and it was only when he realized he could not send any message into the group that he found it out.

  He became speechless. He shrugged indifferently and sent a message to his classmate.

  [Is there anybody here? Let’s come out and go to the hot pot restaurant. I will eat the lamb slices, while you guys can drink the soup. By the way, only those with good table manners are invited. As for those who would fight for the lamb slices with me like Fu Zhi, you guys can stay at home and sleep.]

  At the same time, Lu Jingqing wrote an 800-word essay to praise Xu Wei’s beauty before uploading it to the group.

  Xu Wei was so happy that she was grinning from ear to ear, and Fu Zhi could clearly notice the shy delight from the voice message that she sent into the group.

  Piqued by her curiosity, Fu Zhi took a look at Lu Jingqing’s essay. Other than Borges’s poem, she did not see anything special, so she could not fathom why Xu Wei would behave like this.

  Fu Zhi let out a sigh. Just when she was about to quit the group to give some personal space for her parents, Lu Jingqing’s message came in.

  It was only then she realized that Lu Jingqing had sent her a few messages about an hour ago.

  [Photo]

  [How do I look? Do I look good?]

  [Where are you now? Why are you not answering my call and replying to my messages?]

  [Do you still remember that I’m your boyfriend? Why is it so hard for me to get you to reply to my message?]

  Fu Zhi clicked into the photo that Li Nanli sent to her.

  He was wearing a black suit in the photo and he was killing off the cigarette on an ashtray. Behind him was the endless night sky.

  Looking at the photo, Fu Zhi had a feeling that he was not happy right now.

  During that time, she was busy shooting the trailer with Luis, so she did not see his message.

  She thought for a while, and she figured that she should praise her boyfriend more.

  As such, she opened up Lu Jingqing’s 800-word essay, made some changes to it before sending it to Li Nanli.

  [Please check.]

  #

  The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise  

  Chapter 477: Li Nanli Brags About His Perfect Relationship - 1

  Li Nanli was inside his study right now, and the room was brightly lit. He was holding a cigarette between his fingers and there was a wisp of smoke swirling in the air. He opened up the document containing the essay and killed the cigarette.

  At the same time, Gu Yanqi’s voice came through the video call on the computer. He seemed like he was working out just now, for his breathing was heavy. He continued their conversation as he said, “Can you help me to put in some good words for me with Fu Zhi? Money is not a problem at all…”

  However, Li Nanli was not listening to him. Keeping his head low, he flipped through the essay and a grin slowly materialized on his face as he reached the last page of the essay.

  He could see that Fu Zhi had put a lot of effort into the essay and the frustration in his heart disappeared.

  Fu Zhi sent a rabbit emoticon to him and asked, [It’s late. Are you not going to sleep yet?]

  Li Nanli felt his heart had melted.

  What he did not know was that the essay was not written by Fu Zhi but Lu Jingqing, and as an affectionate man who cherished his wife a lot, whenever he wrote a love letter for Xu Wei, he would throw in plenty of terms and phrases that suggested his yearning of spending the rest of his life with her.

  LI Nanli stroked his phone and then he raised his head to look at his computer. Let’s put the matter aside for the time being. You’re noisy.”

  Gu Yanqi was stunned. Then, before he could say anything in return, Li Nanli hung up the video call and made a call to Fu Zhi.

  Very soon, Fu Zhi answered the call.

  It was rather noisy in the movie set, and Li Nanli could vaguely hear Feng Bo shouting and spewing vulgarity through the phone.

  He frowned a little and asked, “Where are you now?”

  Fu Zhi was sitting behind Feng Bo. Li Nanli’s voice was drowned out by Feng Bo’s voice, so she could not hear what Li Nanli was saying.

  “Hold on,” she said before rising to her feet.

  She went to a corner and told everything that happened in the movie set to Li Nanli. When Luis came out of the dressing room with his agent, the first thing he saw was a young lady standing in front of a window.

  At her back were the lights of the city. The night sky was full of stars, and the moon was exceptionally bright tonight. Luis had no idea why but he suddenly had an urge to create a poem.

  He liked everything about China, including the girls in China. Unlike the girls in his country, most of the girls in China were pretty like dolls and they could always evoke his desire to protect them.

  “Luis?” His agent looked dubiously at Luis.

  Luis turned around and replied, “You go ahead first. I have something to talk to Ms. Fu.”

  His agent knew Luis inside out, so he knew what Luis was going to do. He felt she was familiar but he could not remember where he had seen her before. He rummaged through his brain, and it took him quite a long while before he finally remembered seeing Fu Zhi’s name on Weibo.

  Then, he said to Luis, “Mind your manners. She’s the investor and she is definitely the same as those oriental dolls that you met in the past.”

  Luis just nodded his head in reply as to say yes. He pulled a rose out from a vase and approached Fu Zhi. “Ms. Fu.”

  Fu Zhi turned around, and Luis made eyes at her. Fu Zhi did not know what he was doing, but she did not like it. She brought her brows together in a tight frown and said in a chilly voice, “What’s the matter? Your eyes hurt?”

  Luis was stumped.

  Since Luis was one of the casts for her movie and they had just finished making the trailer, she did not want to go through the trouble of recast the play and repeat everything again if he really went blind. As such, she paused for a moment and continued, “Take a taxi at the gate and go straight for one kilometer. Turn right on Rong Hua Street and you will find Yu City General Hospital on your right-hand side. Go into the hospital and tell the nurse that you’re looking for Dr. Li. The sooner you receive treatment, the higher the chances of you getting healed. Don’t worry too much and don’t feel guilty about bringing trouble to the crew. I will certainly deduct your money for delaying the shooting.”

  Something in Luis’s brain snapped. It was only now he realized how dense Fu Zhi was, and how difficult it was to make a move on her or to make her understand how he felt about her.

  That said, he refused to give up just like that. He held the rose between his lips, and Fu Zhi just did not know what to say.

  She felt he was being melodramatic, but what she did not know was that Luis could be even more melodramatic. When he saw that Fu Zhi did not have any reaction towards him, he spun 360 degrees, placed his arm on the windowsill beside Fu Zhi, and looked down at her.

  Then, Fu Zhi grabbed her scarf to cover her face and lowered her head to continue her conversation with Li Nanli.

  “The moon is beautiful tonight,” Luis said.

  ‘So?’ Fu Zhi thought inwardly.

  Luis then gave the rose to Fu Zhi and continued, “It’s getting late. May I have the honor to invite you for dinner? After dinner, I will send you home.”

  His voice wafted into Li Nanli’s ear through the phone, and Li Nanli squinted his eyes dangerously.

  It seemed to him that someone was making a move on his girlfriend again, and he began to wonder if he should ask his mother to transfer another million to her bank account or not.

  After all, the only thing that could get Fu Zhi’s attention was not gifts or luxury goods but money.

  With that thought in mind, he sent a text message to Huo Ningxin.

  ——

  Flower and a date.

  No matter how dense Fu Zhi was, she could see through Luis’s attention right now. She wrapped the scarf even tighter around her face and said, “I don’t want to.”

  “You don’t want to eat at night?” Luis pressed on, “That’s fine, then. How about we go have some wine at a bar?”

  “I have wine at home.”

  Most of the people would give up at this point, but Luis was not an ordinary person. He was tenacious and he was someone who would not give up unless he got something he wanted. Grinning from ear to ear, he said, “That’s great to hear, Ms. Fu. Since you have wine at your home, why don’t we go to your home instead?”

  “I’m sorry,” Fu Zhi replied expressionlessly, “I don’t have a home.”

  Luis was speechless.

  Li Nanli nodded in satisfaction about his girlfriend’s attitude.

  As the main investor of the movie, Fu Zhi felt that she should take care of the psychological and mental status of her crew. She did not want to hurt Luis’s feelings, so she said to him in a polite way, “You’re way too old for me, and I don’t like you.”

  Before Luis could say anything, Li Nanli, who was on the other side of the line, was stumped when he remembered that he was 5 years older than Fu Zhi.

  Refusing to back away, Luis continued, “I can clearly see that you have a thing on me when we’re shooting the scene just now. Everyone keeps saying that eyes are the window to the soul, so I know you have fallen for me as well…”

  His face was serious and his voice was stern as he moved on, “Although I’m someone in the Never-Marry Group, if you can inspire me to write poetry, I can make an exemption for you and marry you.”

  Fu Zhi did not know what to say at all.

  ‘Nope. You don’t want to.’

  Luis continued, “Don’t just look at the surface! As long as we love each other, age is not a problem at all!”

  “I have a boyfriend,” Fu Zhi replied.

  “I know. Ye Shiyun, right? If you like it, I can settle for a three-way relationship as well,” Luis said, “The only demand I have is please don’t leave me alone. I don’t like loneliness. All three of us can sleep on the same bed. I will sleep in between you two and hold both of your hands.”

  Both Fu Zhi and Li Nanli were stunned. Their brains were blank, and they just did not know what they should say at all. It took Fu Zhi quite a while to come around to her senses and said, “I don’t like you.”

  “No, you like me.”

  “No, I don’t like you.”

  “No, you like me.”

  ‘Alright, then. Since you’re being such a nuisance, then don’t blame me.’

  With that thought in mind, Fu Zhi grabbed the ashtray from the windowsill and crushed it with one hand.

  Luis was shocked.

  Before he could say anything, Fu Zhi waved at her assistant and said, “The sky is getting dark, and I think it’s good timing to send him off to Africa to be a miner.”

  *

  It was only now that Luis realized he had messed with the wrong person. His blood turned cold and right now, he just wanted to get as far away as possible from Fu Zhi.

  The driver from the Lu Family had arrived at the movie set. Perhaps he was very satisfied with Fu Zhi’s attitude, Li Nanli’s voice was gentle as he said, “You’re going to Myanmar this week, right? I will go pick you up.”

  Fu Zhi said something in return and hung up the call. She heaved out a sigh of relief, and she felt she should learn more from her father when she thought about the essay that her father wrote.

  Before she exited the WeChat group created by Xu Wei, she mentioned her father and said, [I’ll be going to Myanmar this week. I’ve already told my school.]

  Everyone in the group fell silent.

  Lu Jingqing, [??? You’re in the group as well??]

  Addiction, [Yeah? I’ve been here the whole time.]

  Xu Weiwei, the gentle beauty, [I let her in! I want her to praise me!]

  Lu Jingqing, [@Xu Weiwei, the gentle beauty. Zhizhi is not good at praising others. Kick her out so that we can have the entire WeChat group for both of us only.]

  Xu Weiwei, the gentle beauty, [Are you sure about that, hubby?]

  That said, Xu Wei still removed Fu Zhi from the WeChat group.

  *

  At the Li mansion.

  After Fu Zhi had hung up the call, Li Nanli then saved the document containing Fu Zhi’s essay into his phone. He also saved another backup on a USB stick and locked it in the safe.

  Li Nanli stroked the picture of Fu Zhi on the screen saver of his phone.

  It was a picture of her speaking on the stage in a yellow dress. He got the photo from the forum of No.1 High School.

  Li Nanli was in a good mood right now, and he had an urge to tell everyone about it.

  However, most of the people were not active on WeChat Moments at a time like this, so very few people would see his post. He thought for a while, and he suddenly had an idea when he saw his contact list in his WeChat.

  The contact list was short. Most of them were the shareholders and executives of his company as well as some business partners.

  Li Nanli created a WeChat group and invited all of them.

  Everyone in the group was dumbfounded as they did not know what Li Nanli was going to tell them.

  After that, Li Nanli sent the document containing the essay to the WeChat group.

  Li Nanli, [Everyone, please take a look at this document.]

  Everyone clicked into the document, and they all were even more confused after they read the first sentence.

  ‘What the? Is President Li confessing his love to us?!’ All of them thought inwardly.

  #

  The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise  

  Chapter 478: Li Nanli Brags About His Perfect Relationship - 2

  The night was getting darker.

  The moon was hanging high in the sky and the lights in the mansion were bright. Holding his phone in his hand, Li Nanli came out of the study and sat on a couch.

  The shareholders and the male employees in the WeChat group were scared and they did not know what they should do.

  At the same time, Gu Yanqi, who got invited into the WeChat group as well, made a call to Jiang Jinshu.

  However, perhaps Jiang Jinshu was working on other things right now, he did not pick up Gu Yanqi’s call. It was only when he had finished reading the documents and picked his phone that he saw Gu Yanqi’s messages.

  Gu Yanqi, [Have you seen the document in the WeChat group?]

  Gu Yanqi, [I think this is a code red situation. Fu Zhi might have broken up with Li Nanli, and he’s here looking for his second target!]

  Gu Yanqi, [???]

  Gi Yanqi, [Why aren’t you replying to my messages? Are you secretly taking screenshots of my text messages to send to Li Nanli? How can you betray me?!]

  Gu Yanqi, [If you’re not dead, can you please say something?]

  Jiang Jinshu was speechless. He clicked into the WeChat group and took a look at the document containing the essay. The corner of his lips quivered as he read through the essay and he had the urge to wash his eyes with water.

  [I’m calming down.]

  When Gu Yanqi received his text message, he immediately sent a voice message to him.

  “Have you read it?” Gu Yanqi lit up a cigarette. He was on his way back to the Li mansion right now, and he had another 10 minutes before arriving at the mansion. However, he had no idea why but he could not shake off the sense of hesitation and panic that rose from the bottom of his heart.

  The wind was strong and he was scared. “Has Nanli finally gone insane?”

  “Well, we don’t have to worry so much if he has only gone insane,” Jiang Jinshu said.

  “Didn’t you suspect that Fu Zhi broke up with him? I think your conjecture is not entirely baseless.”

  Although Fu Zhi was a good-for-nothing girl, Jiang Jinshu could clearly sense the difference in strength between him and Fu Zhi.

  “You see, he likes Fu Zhi so much, so there’s a good chance that he could not accept it when Fu Zhi broke up with him. That’s why he’s looking to have a one-night stand with us.”

  Gu Yanqi felt his heart was in his throat when he heard what Jiang Jinshu had said, “Are… are you sure about that? Well, you might be right about him being unable to accept the fact that Fu Zhi broke up with him, but there are more than 100 people inside the WeChat group. There’s no way he’s looking to have a one-night stand with each of us.”

  “You don’t understand. This is called widen your options. As long as someone takes the bait, it’ll be his victory.”

  Gu Yanqi became speechless.

  “But no one in the group takes the bait yet. I’m going back to the Li mansion right now, and I’m really scared. The moon is extremely bright tonight, and what if he turns into a werewolf and forces me? I don’t want to give my first kiss to him!”

  “There are three things which are unfilial, and to have no posterity is the greatest of them.” Jiang Jinshu said as he took a look at his current location. He was in Myanmar right now, so he did not have to worry about getting dragged onto the bed by Li Nanli. He felt relieved and he continued, “Right? Just don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”

  “Don’t worry? How can I not worry?” Gu Yanqi replied, “I’m his friend and I’m more than willing to help him when he’s in trouble, but that doesn’t include sleeping with him! What should I do?”

  “If you’re really worried about it, one thing you can do is tighten your belt and get yourself dressed up nicely.”

  Gu Yanqi did not know what to say.

  Although there was a slim chance that Li Nanli would suddenly appear in Myanmar, considering how rich Li Nanli was, nothing was impossible. Therefore, Jiang Jinshu thought for a while and decided to write an 800-word essay that said something like although they were good brothers and he was willing to help him at all cost, he would never fall in love with him and he would not sleep with him.

  Jiang Jinshu did not put his essay in a document and he just sent it as a text message into the WeChat group. The moment his message was sent, Li Nanli removed him from the group. Not only that, but he also told Liu Mi to send Jiang Jinshu to Africa.

  The rest of the people in the WeChat group were shocked to their cores when they saw Jiang Jinshu’s fate for refusing to be the almighty and powerful Li Nanli’s bed partner.

  A certain senior executive in the WeChat group took a look at his wife, who was sleeping soundly on the bed, and thought about his kids…

  Feeling the burden of life on his shoulders, the man wiped the tears off his eyes and said resolutely, [President Li, pick me! I can do it!]

  As if a stone had dropped into a lake and caused a series of ripples, the moment he sent his message to the group, a few middle-aged men also chimed in.

  [I can do it as well, President Li.]

  [President Li, my lips are tighter!]

  [President Li, if you don’t mind me asking, how much money are you going to pay us? Well, my body is too weak to stand the racket. I might need to go to the hospital afterward, so I hope you can understand.]

  Li Nanli was both stunned and dumbfounded when he saw their messages.

  He only wanted them to praise how much his girlfriend loved him, so he did not know what had gotten into their heads and why they were behaving so strangely.

  ‘Did their brains fail to develop properly before they’re born?’

  Li Nanli kicked all of them out of the WeChat group and he even began to wonder if he should fire all of them.

  There were only 90 members left in the group, including Gu Yanqi, who was crying like a giant baby in the snow.

  He had always had a soft heart. He always faced the difficulty of rejecting other people, and he kept carrying all the problems on his own.

  The WeChat group went silent for a few seconds straight. Before Liu Mi could come out and save the day, a certain employee of the Li Corporation asked carefully, [President Li, I remember you have a girlfriend, right? Is this the love letter she wrote for you?]

  ‘Oh, bugger,’ Liu Mi swore inwardly.

  As expected, Li Nanli pulled at the wool blanket on his body and asked,[What makes you think so?]

  Feeling motivated, the employer became even more confident and began charming Li Nanli up, [This is because I can see that the author has put a lot of effort into the essay. Each and every word that she uses is filled with her love for you, and besides from your girlfriend, I’m afraid only your mother can love you like this!]

  Li Nanli was stumped for a moment before he replied, [You’re right. She loves me to the bone. She has never asked me for a single penny after she gave me a treatment. She is the first to come to help when people around me are injured. She has given me a red packet before, and she has bought candies for me before. She voluntarily joined the International Physics competition so that she could be good enough for me. She hates when a woman comes close to me, and she even competed with a woman and nearly broke her skull when she went to the capital last time.]

  The crowd was speechless, bereft of words.

  ‘So? What has it got to do with us?’

  It was only now that they realized Li Nanli was showing off his girlfriend’s love to them. Although they were speechless for his action and they all felt he should go to bed right now, they still went along with him and said, [Wow! Your girlfriend really loves you a lot, President Li!]

  [I’ve never seen such a beautiful love story before in my life. Promise me, President Li. You two must stay with each other till death do you apart, or I’ll never believe in love again!]

  [President Li is the best man in the world, and your girlfriend has chosen the right person!]

  …

  The people in the WeChat group praised the love between Li Nanli and his girlfriend in glowing terms for a few minutes straight until the last shareholder of the company ended the entire conversation with a wish of his own.

  After the WeChat group had come to complete silence, Li Nanli then sent 10 red packets containing 2 yuan to the group.

  The crowd did not know what to say, and they all began to wonder if the Li Corporation was on the verge of bankruptcy or not.

  Well, Li Nanli felt embarrassed as well, but there was nothing he could do. After all, he had to save his money for his girlfriend.

  Gu Yanqi was one of the people who successfully got the red packet. He felt relieved after he realized he had misunderstood Li Nanli for wanting to sleep with him. He heaved out a sigh and said, [It’s getting late, so why don’t we all go to bed now?]

  Then, just when Gu Yanqi wanted to say something again, he realized the red exclamation mark next to his messages.

  System notification: You are no longer a member of this group.

  Gu Yanqi was baffled.

  Li Nanli sent another 100 red packets containing 2 yuan to the group again. He let out a sigh and continued, [It’s indeed getting late, but I’m sure you guys won’t mind me taking some time to talk about my girlfriend with you guys, right?]

  The crowd did not know what to say. Before any of them could say anything, Li Nanli continued, [I originally thought that I would double the bonus for this month for those who’re willing to stay up late and talk about my girlfriend with me, but… since Gu Yanqi said that you guys are tired, so let’s just adjourn.]

  The crowd was stunned when they all saw Li Nanli’s text message.

  ‘Of course, we’re willing to spend the night with you! Gu Yanqi is nothing and he can’t represent all of us!’

  [No, no, no, no! We’re very interested in knowing the things between you and your girlfriend, President Li!]

  [We’re more than willing to listen to your story, sir!]

  …

  As such, Li Nanli continued, [Where were we just now? Oh yeah, my girlfriend even said something like she doesn’t even have a home in order to reject other men.]

  Li Nanli went on for 3 hours straight till the small hours of the next morning.

  They did not know if he was born with such a talent, Liu Mi felt that he would be wasting his talent if he did not work as a writer.

  For younger employees, staying up for a whole night was nothing for them, but it was not the same case for some of the older executives and shareholders in the group. Money was not their priority anymore, and they just wanted to sleep.

  On the one hand, Li Nanli lamented that they were not able to witness the great love between Fu Zhi and him, while on the other hand, he summed up his experience and said that perhaps next time he should brag about his love in advance so that more people could learn about it.

  Those older employees and shareholders, who could barely keep their eyes open, nodded their heads and said that they were willing to listen to the great love story between him and Fu Zhi again in the future.

  Li Nanli said it would not be long afterward, and the crowd had nothing to say.

  Although it would be a torture process, they all felt it was worthwhile so long as he paid them double.

  Li Nanli had Liu Mi compile a list of employees who praised the love between Fu Zhi and him and double their pay.

  Liu Mi had to spend an entire night compiling the list and he sent it to Li Nanli the next morning.

  The number of members still active in the WeChat group dropped from 90 to 30. One of the employees, whose name was Wang, was admitted into hospital after being beaten by his wife as she suspected him of cheating on her after seeing him staying up all night staring at his phone.

  Liu Mi then asked, “Wang asked me to ask you, is this considered a work injury?”

  “Yeah,” Li Nanli said. He had just returned home from a run. He went to the restroom to wash his face before he continued in a flat voice, “You have the list with you, right? Give it to Gu Yanqi. He’s going to pay for it.”

  Gu Yanqi was eating his breakfast on the couch, and he was stunned when he heard what Li Nanli had said.

  “Why does it have to be me?”

  ‘My company is on the verge of bankruptcy right now, and I don’t have any money left!’

  “Here’s the reason. Zhizhi and I are moving towards the next stage of our relationship. She loves me to her core right now, so it’s only a matter of time before we get engaged and eventually married to each other. Therefore, I have to save up money for her and our kids in the future.”

  He paused for a moment before continuing, “Besides, didn’t you get the red packet that I sent into the group yesterday?”

  ‘So?’

  Li Nanli lifted his eyelids, looked at Gu Yanqi, and continued, “You took my red packet, so I don’t see anything wrong for you to lend me some money.”

  ‘There’s only 2 yuan inside the red packet!’ Gu Yanqi shouted inwardly. Then, he asked, “So when will you pay me back?”

  “Ten years later,” Li Nanli said, “Just take it as I lend the money from you for my son. A dutiful son is obliged to pay his father’s debt, and not the other way round, so he will give you back the money after he grows up.”

  Gu Yanqi was stumped.

  He felt like he was having a dream. Ever since Li Nanli got to know Fu Zhi, he was getting more and more like her.

  *

  On the other side of the city, No.1 High School in Yu City.

  The snow did not stop after Christmas. Unlike the summer holidays in previous years, winter break was close to the end of the year, and students at school were so unmotivated that they couldn’t muster much energy to study.

  Director Liu waited every day in front of the school to catch students who were late or tried to skip classes.

  Although Fu Zhi did not like going to school, she still attended the school every day.

  When she reached her class, Su Xing was looking worriedly at her phone in her seat.

  As Fu Zhi sat down in her seat, she asked, “Hey, are you okay?”

  Su Xing had not been coming to the school a lot recently, and Fu Zhi was worried about her.

  She looked at Fu Zhi with a sad face. Initially, she wanted to tell her about the Taobao shop that Mu Chenxi recommended to her. The medicines in the shop were too expensive and her friend could not afford it. However, when she thought that there was nothing Fu Zhi could do as well, she shook her head and forced a smile on her face. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

  Fu Zhi knew that she was lying to her. Her eyes were red around the rims and there were tears in her eyes, so she was definitely not fine. However, Fu Zhi was not good at comforting other people, so she just frowned and handed her a paper towel.

  Then, she patted Su Xing’s shoulders and said, “Don’t cry. Crying is bad for your health. The yin energy will invade your body and it can cause a series of issues such as heart disease.”

  Su Xing was flabbergasted. She opened her mouth and said, “Is… Is it that serious? Then, will I die?”

  “It’s hard to say,” Fu Zhi replied matter of factly.

  Su Xing felt devastated as if it was the end of the world.

  Song Fang, who sat behind them, heard their conversation. Although he was not a doctor like Fu Zhi, he had read a lot of good phrases from the internet. As such, he craned his neck forward and chimed in, “Shakespeare once said that no one in the world is worth crying for, and the one who is worth crying for, will never make you cry.”

  Su Xing said, “I clearly remember that it’s one of the internet buzzwords.”

  “That doesn’t matter. Xingxing, you probably should take a rest right now. Look at your eyes. They are so red, and I’m sure you have done your best,” Song Fang said as he got a cup of warm water for Su Xing.

  The bell rang, and Fan Gaoda came into the class to start the lesson.

  Seeing that Su Xing was still not in a good state, Fu Zhi said, “Don’t cry first. Fan Gaoda is here, so I can’t comfort you right now. You can save your tears until later when we go for lunch. I can comfort you at that time.”

  Su Xing did not know what she should say.

  The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise  

  Chapter 479: The Ski Resort Belongs To Xu Wei And Fu Zhi - 1

  Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

  Fu Zhi and Su Xing decided to go to the newly built ski resort near the Lu Mansion.

  Thirty minutes or so later, the car from the Lu Mansion stopped outside the fancy restaurant in the ski resort.

  Fu Zhi, Su Xing, and the others came out of the car, and Su Xing looked at the ski resort. She had heard that the ski resort had been built by a pair of investors. It was a big project, and the quality of the equipment in the resort was one of the best in the world.

  Su Xing took a look at her bank account balance on her phone. Her voice was hoarse because she had been crying just now. She pitched her voice low and said, “Zhizhi, it seems to me that this restaurant is a bit pricey. I’m kind of short of cash lately, so why not wait until next month? If I cannot make ends meet, I will sell my blood and treat you to a meal here.”

  “You don’t have to sell your blood…” Fu Zhi said. “This ski resort is open to all the families in this residence for free.”

  She paused for a moment before adding, “Besides, I helped the manager of this restaurant when I ran into him the other day. In exchange, he told me that I could bring my friends to have a meal here whenever I wanted to.”

  If it were an ordinary restaurant, it went without saying that Fu Zhi would never have come, as she was a choosy eater. However, this restaurant was different. Although it had only been established a short while ago, it had already become one of the top restaurants in Yu City, and their sweet and sour pork ribs were one of the best Fu Zhi had ever had.

  After listening to what Fu Zhi said, Su Xing immediately ordered. “I want two bowls of rice then!”

  Fu Zhi and Su Xing were walking ahead, while Song Fang was following them. “But we don’t have a reservation. The last time my dad wanted to bring my mom over here for skiing and dinner, the manager said that they only entertain customers with a reservation.”

  Lu Yubai turned around and asked Fu Zhi, “What did you help the manager with?”

  After all, he remembered that when they had been to Country M to participate in the International Physics competition, the Chinese restaurant they had gone to would only entertain customers with reservations, and it was also one of the top restaurants in the world. However, in the end, it turned out that this was one of Fu Zhi’s restaurants.

  “Yes. We don’t have to make a reservation.”

  As for the help she’d mentioned just now, she did not know how to answer, so she just kept silent.

  The door to the restaurant was opened by the waiter.

  As soon as they stepped into the restaurant, they were greeted by a waft of sweet fragrance. The restaurant was lavishly decorated but it was not overly dramatic.

  The ski resort only entertained 100 guests every day.

  After the lobby manager finished entertaining a couple, his eyes glowed when he turned around and saw Fu Zhi and Lu Yumo. He hastily went up to them and greeted them. “Ms. Fu, Mr. Lu, you guys have brought your friends over? Come on in. Let me know what you want to eat, and I’ll order the kitchen staff to make it for you!”

  Song Fang had no idea why, but the smile on the lobby manager’s face reminded him of the tail-spinning dog meme that he kept seeing on the internet these days.

  Then, Fu Zhi told the lobby manager that Zhou Zihan, Su Xing, and Ye Jiu were her classmates, while Lu Yubai and Lu Yumo were students from another class. The lobby manager seemed even more excited as he quickly answered, “I’m really sorry that you had to explain this to me. I will not forget it, and please don’t forget to come to the restaurant again next time so that I can return the favor.”

  “Don’t mention it. It’s not a big deal after all,” Fu Zhi said.

  The eyes of the lobby manager bulged as he shook his head and said, “No! How can you say that? Of course it is a big deal! This is part of my job. Anyway, the lobster delivery will arrive tomorrow, so you must bring your family or friends here. Otherwise, I will feel bad about myself.”

  The crowd did not know what to say.

  Fu Zhi pressed her lips firmly and said, “Thank you then.”

  The lobby manager saluted Fu Zhi and replied, “Don’t mention it! It’s my duty to serve you anyway!”

  Fu Zhi was speechless.

  #

  The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise  

  Chapter 480: The Ski Resort Belongs To Xu Wei And Fu Zhi - 2

  The lobby manager led them to a table next to a window. After he handed the menu to Fu Zhi and Lu Yumo, he said, “Is it the same strawberry cheesecake milk tea for you two?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Change it to mango for me this time,” Lu Yumo added.

  The lobby manager lifted his head to look at the eldest young master of the Lu Family, and his hand holding the walkie-talkie froze. “I remember that Miss Fu is allergic to mangoes, right? With all due respect, don’t you think it is not proper to order a mango drink at our ski resort?”

  ‘Why is it not proper? She is allergic to mangoes, but I’m not, so why can’t I order a mango drink?’ Lu Yumo thought inwardly.

  Before he could say anything, the lobby manager continued, “Besides, we don’t have mangoes in the ski resort.”

  Originally, the ski resort was a gift for Xu Wei and Fu Zhi, so everything had to be built according to their preferences. As for Lu Yumo’s preference, it was not within the scope of consideration.

  Lu Yumo was speechless. “Are you telling me that you can’t get me a single mango in such a big ski resort?”

  He now had every reason to believe that the lobby manager had something against him, but he could not have it out with the lobby manager.

  After all, the ski resort did not charge them for the meal, and besides, the service at this ski resort had always been excellent.

  Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Lu Yumo turned around and ordered a mango milk tea through his phone.

  The lobby manager saw what he was trying to do through the corner of his eyes. He smiled apologetically at Lu Yumo and said, “I’m sorry, Mr. Lu. According to the rules of our resort, mangoes are strictly prohibited, so there are only two options for you right now: Either you order another drink, or you can order a mango milk tea, but I may have to ask you to leave the resort.”

  Lu Yumo was speechless.

  ‘Or maybe you and Fu Zhi should leave the resort?’

  The lobby manager did not look at Lu Yumo anymore after he had finished speaking. He turned around and said to Fu Zhi with a smiley face. “What do you want to eat today, Ms. Fu?”

  Although Fu Zhi was adopted, the lobby manager did not know why but he felt Fu Zhi really looked a lot like Xu Wei, and the more he looked at her, the more he liked her. That’s why he kept wanting to give Fu Zhi something, but at the same time, he was worried that Fu Zhi might realize something. After all, the profession of the Xu Family needed to be kept a secret. Plus, the Lu Family had always thought that the Xu Family was poor, and if Madam Lu really learned something, considering her way of doing things, she would certainly shout until the whole world knew about it.

  As such, the lobby manager felt so sad that he wanted to cry whenever he thought that Fu Zhi and Lu Yumo had to be so polite although they were basically eating at their own home.

  After Fu Zhi had finished browsing through the menu, the first thing she saw after she raised her head was the lobby manager’s teary eyes. She was stunned for a moment and she was wondering if it was because she had ordered too much food. Just as she was going to cancel the plate of coca-cola chicken wings, she heard the manager speak to his walkie-talkie, “Add another 10 of our specialties into the order list. It seems to me that the food in No.1 High School is bad. Look at Ms. Fu and Mr. Lu, both of them are so skinny.”

  Fu Zhi felt the lobby manager was a bit strange and she had no idea why she captured a sense of familiarity from the way he spoke.

  She did not know how to explain it, but she felt the way he spoke was similar to how He Min and the others talked to her. They all liked to stuff food to her, and they all treated her like a pig.

  The lobby manager went away to pick up a phone call after he had finished speaking.

  At the same time, a group of students from Hang Yuan who had gone to the front desk again to negotiate with the waiter saw the situation and frowned, “That’s Fu Zhi, right? Why are they in this restaurant?”

  Wu Zhiyou then cast her eyes in the direction of their line of sight. When she saw Fu Zhi and her gang, she seemed rather distraught as she asked the front desk, “Didn’t you say this resort doesn’t entertain customers without reservations? Then, why can they dine here?”

  “Yeah, right. We won’t say a thing if the Lu Family is richer than the Wu Family, but the reality is that they don’t! Why can they dine here, while we have to wait for so long? If you don’t give us a proper explanation, we won’t let you off the hook so easily.”

  “Exactly. We have been waiting here for more than an hour, yet they can just go in the moment they arrive, not to mention that their table is next to the window. Besides, how can you guys give them the meal for free, while we have to pay for the meal ourselves? Don’t you think it’s not appropriate?”

  The girl at the front desk remained expressionless and stood as straight as a ramrod as she listened to their stream of complaints.

  She could not understand why they were so angry. First, they were not from the Xu Family, and second, their families were not as rich as the Xu Family.

  They thought this was a public ski resort, but what they did not know was that this was actually Xu Wei and Fu Zhi’s garden.

  It was not part of the girl’s responsibility to entertain this bunch of people. She calmly and slowly pulled a machete out of the drawer and slapped it on the table. “You guys are still inside your mother’s womb when I was working in my grandfather’s slaughterhouse. Try me out if you don’t believe me.”

  The crowd was stunned. They did not expect the girl would pull a machete out all of a sudden.

  Just when they were thinking of the scene where they were slaughtered like a pig in their brains, another waiter came forward and pulled the girl to one side.

  Since Wu Zhiyou and her gang knew Fu Zhi, he comforted, “Please wait at the lounge area for a while. I will talk to my manager.”

  Then, he went into a small room and told the manager about everything through a walkie-talkie.

  The manager was taking a picture of Fu Zhi to send to Master Xu. When he heard the things the waiter said, he thought for a while and replied, “They said they are from the same school as Ms. Fu? Let me ask Ms. Fu first. Just hold on and wait for my instruction.”

  After that, the manager brought the milk tea to Fu Zhi and her gang. He told her about Wu Zhiyou, and it was only then Fu Zhi realized they had come to the restaurant as well.

  She looked towards Wu Zhiyou, but the latter turned her head away and harrumphed in a condescending manner.

  Then, the manager continued, “So what do you think about them? Do you want to let them in?”

  ‘What do I think about them?’

  Fu Zhi thought about the day when Wu Zhiheng went shopping with her, and she figured that Wu Zhiyou might be the same as her brother as well.

  Therefore, she commented, “She wears a ten-dollar hat on a five-cent head.”

  Then, she turned to look at Zhu Wenjie, who was shivering behind Wu Zhiyou, and Chen Shan, who nearly rammed himself into a door when he tried to run away after seeing her.

  “Do whatever you want with them.”

  In any case, this was not her ski resort, so she figured that she should not stop them from earning money.

  The manager then led Wu Zhiyou and her group to the table behind Fu Zhi.

  There were only a few meters between two tables.

  The manager implicitly hinted that Fu Zhi was the reason they could dine here.

  A few boys from Hang Yuan had mixed feelings.

  “We’re used to being treated as guests of honor in the capital, so why can’t they do the same in Yu City?”

  “You can’t blame them. After all, Yu City is a small town, and they don’t understand the greatness of our families.”

  “Why can’t Fu Zhi let us in early? Why must she make us wait for so long outside? Is she looking down on us?”

  “A bunch of idiots,” Wu Zhiyou chimed in, “If you think she’s looking down on you, why are you sitting here, then? If you don’t want to stay here, then leave. Otherwise, just suck it up, and stop acting like a b*tch.”

  A few girls around Wu Zhiyou nodded and added, “That’s right. You guys are so petty-minded. Even Fu Zhi is manlier than you guys.”

  The boy’s expression changed. Initially, he wanted to leave, but when he thought that Ouyang Ya might be here with Wu Zhiheng, he swallowed the humiliation and stayed.

  After Wu Zhiyou had sent a text message to her brother, she handed the ice cream she ordered to Fu Zhi.

  Looking at Fu Zhi’s quizzical gaze, she lifted her chin proudly like a peacock with open feathers and said, “This is for you. If you don’t want it, then just throw it into the dustbin. I won’t take back anything that I’ve given.”

  “Okay,” Fu Zhi replied flatly.

  Wu Zhiyou then stormed back to her seat. Although she said she didn’t care, she kept darting glances at Fu Zhi and she only heaved out a sigh of relief when she saw Fu Zhi finally ate the ice cream she gave her.

  Lu Yubai noticed her reaction. He frowned slightly, but he did not say anything.

  Very soon, all of the dishes were served. They were served even faster than the few customers who came in earlier than them.

  Lu Yubai could not hold himself anymore. After he took some rice, he looked at Fu Zhi and pitched his voice low. “Tell me honestly, is this restaurant really not yours?”

  Fu Zhi took a pork rib into her plate and replied, “Nope. I don’t have the intention of opening a restaurant in Yu City yet.”

  ‘Yet? That means you have a lot more restaurants in other cities?’

  Lu Yumo turned his body sideways to look at Lu Yubai. “Why do you keep thinking that she’s the owner of this restaurant. She doesn’t have much money and she has used up most of her savings for the movie. She’s poor now, so there’s no way she can afford to open a restaurant.”

  ‘Oh, you don’t know. The girl sitting here is like Bertie Bott’s Every Flavour Beans from Harry Potter. You will never know what you will get next.’

  “If the restaurant is not hers, why is the manager being so nice to you and her?” Lu Yubai asked.

  “He’s not being nice to Zhizhi and me only. He’s nice to my entire family. Maybe he’s a good guy?”

  There were no good guys in the world of business.

  Lu Yubai looked speechlessly at Lu Yumo. Then, he remembered the radiation-protection glasses he saw from the video when Fu Zhi was having a video call with Madam and Master Xu the last time. A bold idea rose in his head and he asked, “Is there a researcher from the Xu Family? The kind that makes a lot of money?”

  When Lu Yumo heard what he had said, he put the corn in his hand down and said, “What are you talking about? Look at me and look at my mom. Do we look like we’re very smart to you? We get our intelligence from our parents, so looking at my mom and me, I don’t think there’s any researcher in the Xu Family.

  “Besides, just like my mother, my grandpa and my grandma go square dancing and sweep the street every day. They are just manual laborers, so how is there any possibility they have the time to do research?”

  The lobby manager nearly tripped himself when he heard Lu Yumo’s first comment about the Xu Family. Then, he fell directly on the floor after he heard Lu Yumo’s second comment about the Xu Family.

  He felt that it was fine if Lu Yumo blackened his own name, but he did not have to pull the entire family down with him.

  A waiter came up to the manager and helped him up from the floor.

  “What happened? Why did you suddenly fall down?”

  The lobby manager wiped the invisible tears from his face and said, “This is really saddening. How can he be one of the Lus with his level of intelligence? Could it be that they took the wrong baby?”

  —

  Lu Yumo continued to talk about how difficult the life of the Xu Family was in the countryside. It took the lobby manager a lot to hold himself back from going up to Lu Yumo and told him that the Xu Family was unusually wealthy.

  #

  The Mysterious Heiress: Researcher In Disguise