Chapter 11: She Feels Like She’s Poor…

On the first day of military training for freshmen, the cafeteria was filled with an unprecedented number of students in military training camouflage uniforms. It was so crowded that there wasn’t even space to step.

Some underclassmen holding trays saw Fang Fuyi and Zhou Jianqing squeezed into a corner, standing without sitting down, and kindly asked, “Senior, why aren’t you eating?”

“Junior, you all eat first,” Fang Fuyi was stunned by the packed cafeteria for about three seconds before she recovered and spoke. “If I’m thirsty, ^[1]I’ll drink water. If he’s hungry, he’ll slap his face, That sentence is a sarcastic and humorous way of saying they don’t have food and are just enduring it. “I’ll drink … Continue readingI’ll drink water. If he’s hungry, he’ll slap his face.”

“…”

Before her family went bankrupt, Fang Fuyi and Zhou Jianqing didn’t have much contact, just an acquaintance.

She didn’t think their relationship was close enough to have a private conversation, but Zhou Jianqing came up with an excuse she couldn’t refuse: he said he would treat her to a meal and let her choose the place.

Considering there were no conflicts of interest between them and he didn’t need to set this up specifically for some reason, it seemed like he genuinely wanted to talk, so she agreed and went with him to the cafeteria.

The noise was deafening, the cafeteria full of green camouflage hats and the endless calls for food orders. Not only was it impossible to have a conversation, but it was also impossible to get any food. Both of them had classes in the afternoon, so they had no choice but to find another place to sit.

“Let’s order takeout. What do you feel like eating?”

Not forgetting the promise to treat her to a meal, Zhou Jianqing asked Fang Fuyi to open her payment code and transferred money for the meal, letting her choose freely.

Under the scorching sun, running around with someone she wasn’t very familiar with, Fang Fuyi was on the verge of losing her temper from the heat. But when she heard the sound of coins clinking as the transfer was made, her anger was instantly quelled, and a bright smile appeared on her face.

“What would you like to eat, Classmate Zhou?”

Just earlier, she had been suspicious of whether the Fang family was really bankrupt. Seeing how Fang Fuyi looked, she was now certain that they were.

“I’m fine with anything,” Zhou Jianqing politely requested, “If it’s convenient, could you please order an extra one? I’ll bring it over to Zhou Chong later.”

“Sure.” Considering the money, Fang Fuyi chose not to hold a grudge… for now.

Zhou Jianqing wanted to eat, that was fine. But Zhou Chong? She was almost tempted to dig up some dirty, wet soil from a corner and stuff it into the takeout box, kicking it three times before throwing it over.

For a lunch, the amount Zhou Jianqing provided was clearly more than enough.

Fang Fuyi ordered a lunch roughly equivalent in value, chose a seafood fried rice she often ate last semester, and then, after some consideration, ordered a box of duck leg rice with gutter oil worth 8.99 yuan for Zhou Chong.

The box for the duck leg rice was in a trendy national style, and the disposable chopsticks were wrapped in SpongeBob packaging. How nice, how cute.

The national trend is here, can’t stop him!

As soon as the order was placed, the delivery would take a while, and while waiting, Zhou Jianqing spoke first. “About you and Zhou Chong, I’d like to apologize on his behalf. It’s our family’s failure in raising him that caused you trouble.”

“I assure you, he will never trouble you again.”

Although the words weren’t perfectly smooth, at least his tone was sincere, and the fake, insincere smile he had earlier was now hidden, making his appearance somewhat acceptable.

“Mm.” Fang Fuyi nodded, acknowledging his words, but then quickly reconsidered, “You didn’t just invite me here to talk about this, did you? Are you doubting whether our family is really bankrupt or just pretending to be bankrupt?”

“There’s no need to doubt, it’s all true, just like what everyone else is saying.”

“And isn’t it because your family knows this, that’s why the engagement was called off?”

Engagements like this can exist without any real feelings, but the side that calls off the engagement as soon as the other party falls on hard times is always in the wrong. As for Fang Fuyi, Zhou’s family had no choice but to give her a little attention, turning a blind eye to the situation.

Zhou Jianqing didn’t respond much to Fang Fuyi’s not-too-pressing words. Out of humanitarian concern, he asked about her current situation: “How have you been lately?”

How has she been?

“Great, really great. There’s never been a time better than now!” She’s free, secure, able to do whatever she wants, has her own space, no longer needs to worry about pleasing others, and feels unburdened and carefree.

Fang Fuyi was stating the facts, but Zhou Jianqing couldn’t understand. He thought she must have gone crazy from poverty.

Originally, it was Zhou Jianqing who was supposed to marry Fang Fuyi. He had secretly arranged for the engagement to be transferred from him to Zhou Chong, thinking everything was settled and no longer his concern. But Zhou Chong… well, he really wasn’t a good person.

“Do you have a place to live?” Zhou Jianqing asked, feeling guilty, and couldn’t help asking a few more questions. “What are you planning to do next?”

Of course, Fang Fuyi had a place to live. Not only was she well-fed and clothed, but she had also moved into a new house with air conditioning. She planned to go to school, find a job, live well, and make money.

However, just as the words were about to come out, she stopped herself. She didn’t feel like she was close enough to Zhou Jianqing to share these things.

“Why bother asking so much? Do you like me?”

It was just an excuse to deflect, but her face certainly had the right to say such things.

Zhou Jianqing paused for a moment, observing Fang Fuyi’s mental state.

When people are awkward, they tend to act busy. He straightened his buttons, patted imaginary dust off his shoulder, then quietly rejected her guess, “Sorry, I’m not interested in younger girls.”

The implication being that he preferred older women.

Fang Fuyi, who was eight months younger than Zhou Jianqing, touched her chin thoughtfully. “Oh, so you like older women?”

Since they had once considered an engagement, Zhou Jianqing must have known all about her family’s background. Before meeting Fang Fuyi, he had thought that a daughter raised by the Fang family would likely pick up some of their habits and shortcomings, but after getting to know her, her personality was completely different from what he had imagined.

His thoughts had wandered too far.

Afraid of causing unnecessary misunderstandings, he decided to be straightforward and confessed that he had originally been the intended partner for the engagement.

Fang Fuyi had thought Zhou Jianqing invited her to dinner because he was a warm-hearted young man. After hearing what he said, she rolled her eyes and almost wanted to curse. “You didn’t want to marry me, so you pushed me into the fire?”

“I really thought you were a good person at first!”

“Sorry, I know I didn’t think things through properly.” Zhou Jianqing took the opportunity to clarify his intentions. “If you need anything, feel free to ask me. Whether it’s money or anything else, our family will do our best to compensate you.”

Upon hearing the word “money,” Fang Fuyi immediately stopped rolling her eyes, pursed her lips, and with a click of her tongue, her words shifted, “You share the same grandfather as Zhou Chong, but you’re actually quite a piece of work.”

Zhou Jianqing: “…”

It was hard to tell whether she was complimenting or criticizing him.

“However, if you’re really sincere about compensating me, then just transfer a hundred million to my bank account. That shouldn’t be too much to ask, right?” Her eyes suddenly locked onto his, and Zhou Jianqing could see a hint of expectation in her gaze.

Well, he thought she might refuse, but it turned out she was a bit too greedy.

Fang Fuyi, being overly greedy, only said this as a joke, and in the end, she didn’t accept any money from Zhou Jianqing. Instead, she asked him to help her find a part-time job that could alleviate her current financial pressure.

When people are in a panic, they try to grab onto a piece of driftwood as quickly as possible, hoping things will develop according to their expectations and trying to steer things back onto the right track.

Obviously, a job with a steady income was Fang Fuyi’s driftwood.

Fang Fuyi didn’t need Zhou Jianqing to pull any strings for her or go out of his way to help. She preferred to go through the normal interview process, so that if any future conflicts arose, this issue wouldn’t be brought up repeatedly.

It was a subtle psychological thing. She could happily accept Sheng Sui’s kindness and everything he gave her, but when it came to others, she was more cautious and guarded, being careful in her interactions.

Perhaps because some people just felt different in her eyes.

Having connections made moving forward much easier than blindly pushing ahead on her own—this phrase applied everywhere.

Zhou Jianqing worked quickly, much faster than she had expected. Before the last class of the afternoon started, Fang Fuyi had already received a message from him. He asked her to meet him at the school gate and said he had found a suitable part-time job nearby. He’d take her there to have a look.

It was the time when students were leaving school, and there was a constant flow of cars at the school gate.

When Zhou Jianqing came to pick her up after school, he drove a very low-key car, so understated that Fang Fuyi almost thought it was a fake taxi.

“What kind of place are you taking me to? Is it reliable? Don’t try to trick me, we live in a society with laws now. Watch out, I’ll call the police and report you!” As soon as Fang Fuyi opened the car door, she threw out those words, trying to show Zhou Jianqing who was in charge. But to her surprise, there was someone else sitting in the front passenger seat.

The woman had neatly combed hair, gold-framed glasses, a stack of contracts in her left hand, and a phone in her right hand, replying to messages. She was an elegant, beautiful woman.

When she saw Fang Fuyi getting in, the woman in the passenger seat put down her phone, her eyes curved into a crescent shape, and she turned around to greet her. “Hello, I’m Zhou Mian. I was out earlier, but now I’m having Zhou Jianqing take me part of the way back to the company.”

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything here?” She smiled.

“No, no,” Fang Fuyi waved her hand dismissively, fully distancing herself from Zhou Jianqing. “We’re just ordinary friends.”

The car behind them honked, urging the vehicle to move forward.

Fang Fuyi couldn’t help but feel curious about the suddenly appearing beautiful woman. Was Zhou Mian Zhou Chong’s sister? Zhou Chong with his attitude, his sister seemed so gentle… were they really from the same mother?

As she wondered, she glanced over at Zhou Jianqing, only to find that he was unusually silent, his eyes fixed on Zhou Mian, behaving very differently than usual.