Chapter 57 Part 2 一 After Ruan Yōu fiercely tore up Cheng Guyuan’s photo.
In previous years, when others celebrated the New Year and posted on social media, Ruan Yōu would sit alone at the dining table, open a TV series or a movie, eat while watching, and finally raise a glass alone.
There might be people in her social circle who couldn’t celebrate the New Year due to various reasons, but they were fundamentally different from her.
They simply couldn’t celebrate the New Year, but she, in this world, had no one to spend the New Year with.
Jiang Huai seemed to be the same.
Perhaps he didn’t actually like money that much.
He used to like money because it could help him reclaim his mother’s family business, but now he might only like it because only money can accompany him.
Ruan Yōu sighed lightly, put down her milk tea, and picked up her bag. “I know what to buy. Let’s go!”
Lu Xuan quickly grabbed her bag and followed.
She didn’t know where they were going, but following Ruan Yōu couldn’t be wrong!
Ruan Yōu and Lu Xuan’s car stopped in front of the largest discount market in the city.
Countless people come here to buy New Year goods on the eve of the Lunar New Year.
People come and go in front of the main gate, happily entering or leaving with big red bags.
Lu Xuan got off the car and looked at the crowd in front of her in astonishment: “Where is this?”
Ruan Yōu: “This is the place for buying New Year goods.”
During her freshman winter vacation, Ruan Yōu lived alone. During the New Year, she tried every means to decorate her dormitory to create a festive atmosphere and make herself happy.
But at that time, she hadn’t joined the industry yet and was financially tight. Even if she had savings, she was reluctant to spend extravagantly, so she searched online.
She was recommended this big market.
In the market, there were nuts, melon seeds, and other snacks for sale, as well as things like New Year couplets and window decorations.
In addition to New Year goods, there were many everyday trinkets.
Lu Xuan bought a sugar-coated hawthorn on a stick and happily followed Ruan Yōu in the bustling market.
Ruan Yōu took good care of her and asked, “Don’t you feel crowded?”
The little princess probably hadn’t been to a place like this before.
The market was crowded, and the air didn’t circulate as freely as outside.
Lu Xuan shook her head like a rattle drum, smiled gracefully, and her round eyes sparkled, “No, it’s not as crowded as you think. I find it very interesting here, with so many people.”
Although Lu Xuan had been spoiled by her parents since childhood and had everything she wanted, her parents had educated her well. Lu Xuan was known as the little princess and sometimes displayed a bit of princess syndrome, but most of the time, she was cute and easy to talk to, with many sisters in the circle.
In her life, being comfortable was the most important. She could carry a two million yuan handbag or a hundred yuan stylish canvas bag. She didn’t need luxury goods to show her status.
Whether she walked the red carpet or walked in the rural muddy fields, she was seen by others as a confident and lively little princess.
Here, it’s bustling with people, an atmosphere of festivity that Lu Xuan has never experienced before for the New Year.
It seems that only here can she finally understand the true meaning of the Lunar New Year. Coupled with the wide variety of goods, Lu Xuan finds it interesting, and she naturally falls in love with this place.
The princess’s preferences will not change because of the price.
If she thinks this place is good, then it must be good. She doesn’t care about other people’s opinions.
Lu Xuan has this kind of confidence and pride.
Ruan Yōu smiled and led her inside.
They walked through several streets, and under Lu Xuan’s playful demands, they bought various flavors of melon seeds. When they saw gold coin chocolates wrapped in shiny golden paper, Lu Xuan happily pulled Ruan Yōu’s hand and said, “Should we buy some for Uncle Gu? He will definitely be very happy to see them.”
Ruan Yōu: …
That’s not going to happen.
They walked and stopped along the way, and it took nearly an hour to reach their destination一a shop specializing in selling couplets, window decorations, and maneki neko figurines.
The whole body of the orange-red maneki neko was adorable. Its little cat face was solemn, and its stiff little hands swayed back and forth, exuding an awe-inspiring cuteness.
It seemed to be saying solemnly一
“I am attracting wealth, I am attracting wealth.”
Most of the cats had smiling faces, but there were only a few solemn maneki neko1.
Ruan Yōu picked a solemn version of the maneki neko and then turned to Lu Xuan and said, “Do you want to give him a small porcelain statue or a poster of the God of Wealth?”
This gift is not expensive, and it perfectly meets Gu Fuchen’s requirements; Jiang Huai will like everything about money, and there is no reason why he would not like the God of Wealth or the maneki neko.
Lu Xuan nodded happily.
She bought a small porcelain statue and a poster of the God of Wealth, only spending eighty yuan.
This is definitely the cheapest gift she has ever given, yet it required the most effort.
Lu Xuan has never walked this far to give a gift before.
It’s three o’clock in the afternoon. After buying the gifts, it was still early.
Ruan Yōu remembered what Mom and Dad said: If there’s no dinner at home today because the family chef is taking a break. After buying the presents, she didn’t rush home and went to a hot pot restaurant with Lu Xuan to eat together.
The hotpot restaurant was on the pedestrian street, still a while away from the restaurant, so Ruan Yōu and Lu Xuan took the opportunity to stroll around nearby.
There was a doll store in the department store on the pedestrian street that Lu Xuan quite liked.
Ruan Yōu accompanied her to the 7th floor to take a look.
Unexpectedly, they ran into Cheng Guyuan there.
Cheng Guyuan finally had a few days off.
Because of the initial user’s involvement with the Cheng family, he had incurred the anger of the Cheng family. His father and sister’s attitude towards him had changed drastically recently. During the previous New Year, other relatives would bring a stack of autographed photos for him to sign and give to their friends’ children.
But this time, the Cheng family’s relatives had some grievances, and no one asked him for help.
Because of the initial user, the entrepreneurs who used to be friendly with the Cheng family silently distanced themselves from them. Their cooperation with the Cheng family also became cautious. Although it didn’t reach the point of severing ties, there were definitely some impacts.
Cheng Guyuan’s father and sister unanimously believe that all of this is related to Cheng Guyuan’s previous ambiguous relationship with Yu Chi in the entertainment industry.
Yu Chi was caught, and Jiang Wei suddenly fell from power. There must be someone behind the scenes orchestrating this, otherwise, the scandals wouldn’t have appeared so concentrated. The mastermind behind it all is likely a member of the top wealthy family or even Jiang Huai himself.
Now that Yu Chi and Jiang Wei have fallen, the person behind it is still not satisfied and is blaming Cheng Guyuan, who has a connection with Yu Chi.
Cheng Guyuan has been having a difficult time recently in the Cheng family.
For a long time, Father Cheng has always believed in Cheng Guyuan’s sister, who brings great benefits to the Cheng family. The relationship between Cheng Guyuan and his father has been good. However, Father Cheng doesn’t want his son to join the company and compete with his sister for power. He doesn’t let Cheng Guyuan get involved in anything related to the Cheng family.
Gradually, due to various reasons, Cheng Guyuan heart became filled with anger. He no longer wanted to stay at home as a young master and resolutely decided to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. The family relationship reached a freezing point and did not improve for a long time, only showing slight signs of improvement in the past month.
Just when things were starting to turn around, Cheng Guyuan was suppressed on the campus live variety show <Our Youth>, which directly affected Cheng’s company stock. Cheng Guyuan’s sister was busy and overwhelmed during that time, but Cheng Guyuan felt no guilt and was only focused on how to make his path as a novel’s protagonist smoother.
Father Cheng talked to Cheng Guyuan, hoping that he would leave the entertainment industry to reduce the negative impact on the family and even offered to let him start as a deputy general manager in Cheng’s subsidiary company.
Cheng Guyuan was not satisfied with this position. What he wanted was the entire Cheng family.
After refusing his father’s request, the family relationship became shaky.
Cheng Guyuan was full of confidence, knowing that he would become the one in power in the future, even surpassing Bozhan and suppressing Gu Fuchen tightly, following the plot progression slowly like in a novel.
Until the initial user appeared.
This person came aggressively and has already affected Cheng Guyuan’s development in the entertainment industry. He hurried back to the Cheng family hoping to gain their support, but unexpectedly, he caused even more misery to the Cheng family.
Now the people in the Cheng family have a lot of grievances against him.
Cheng Guyuan came to the department store to accompany his nephew and niece to buy dolls in order to repair the family relationship.
And one more important point.
Soon he will participate in the second season of <The Heirs>, which is a very popular variety show. In the novel, after appearing on the second season of <The Heirs>, not only did his popularity soar, making him an unrivaled top star in the entertainment industry, but he also gained recognition from the shareholders of the Cheng family for his abilities.
In the variety show, it is essential to have segments where they interview family members.
He must make his parents and sister praise him extravagantly on the show.
After the variety show ended, the shareholders will praise him endlessly.
A group of middle-aged shareholders neither believed in nor liked Cheng Guyuan’s sister.
There was a woman who sat in a higher position than them, bossing them around and giving orders all day, which made them very displeased. Compared to the woman, they preferred Cheng Guyuan.
Cheng Guyuan nodded lightly when he met Ruan Yōu at the toy store.
He knew that Ruan Yōu was from a wealthy family, and there was a high possibility that she had connections to Gu Youqian’s wife’s family. He wasn’t foolish enough to oppose her.
But ten years later, even the mighty Gu family fell.
Not to mention Ruan Yōu’s family.
And by then, he would become a more dazzling presence in the business world than Gu Fuchen.
A faint smile appeared on Cheng Guyuan’s lips.
Right now, he needed to navigate the current crisis cautiously.
The change in the plot didn’t bring him much danger. So far, apart from the absence of a romantic storyline, his path as the male lead didn’t go astray. Everything was going according to plan.
Cheng Guyuan firmly believed that as long as he didn’t actively provoke trouble like Yu Chi, he wouldn’t end up in the same situation as Yu Chi.
Yu Chi was eager for quick success and instant benefits, but he wasn’t.
“After buying it, let’s go home,” Cheng Guyuan said to his nephew and niece.
Ruan Yōu noticed him.
To be honest, she wasn’t happy to see Cheng Guyuan’s composed appearance.
Everything about the dream of the novel quickly came to mind.
All of Gu Fuchen’s glory was replaced by this person.
What was even more infuriating was that Gu Fuchen’s excellence in the novel was merely used to highlight Cheng Guyuan’s superiority.
When Cheng Guyuan was excellent, the whole world knew it; however, Gu Fuchen’s legend came to an end after he went abroad for medical treatment. Sadly, nobody knows what Gu Fuchen looks like.
All the fame, all the praise, were given to Cheng Guyuan.
What qualifications did this inferior person have to compare with his brother?
Ruan Yōu felt a tightness in her heart.
Lu Xuan also noticed Cheng Guyuan.
She leaned closer to Ruan Yōu and whispered, “Is he Cheng Guyuan?”
Ruan Yōu: “How do you know?”
“Today, he dominates the hot search on Weibo.”
. ↩︎
Ahem. I’m actually a proud owner of the exact maneki neko hehehe.