dmims Chapter 35 The Temptation of a Rich Husband
Chapter 35 The Temptation of a Rich Husband
"Son, have you eaten enough? Your mother loves this fancy stuff. If you haven't eaten enough, I'll have Secretary Zeng take you to the beach for something delicious." Zhang Zhishan coaxed, trying to get Yu Li involved as well.
"How can you eat food from the beach? It's all rotten stuff. Zihao has a piano competition in a few days; you can't afford to get sick!" Yu Li smiled at Zhang Zihao. "It's getting late. Shall we have the driver take you back to Beijing? You don't have to practice these next few days if you don't want to. Rest up; Mom is waiting for you to win the championship the day after tomorrow!"
"Yes, yes, it's cold too, don't catch a cold." Zhang Zhishan chimed in perfectly. "Zeng Jia, come back with me, I'm worried about Zihao going alone."
"Why are you worried about my driver taking you? Zihao isn't a child anymore. It's not proper for him to always have a female secretary by his side. Xiao Wang, you go back with him." Yu Li still remembered the grudge that Zhang Zihao had held against Zeng Jia as soon as he showed up today.
Even though Zeng Jia was dissatisfied, she could only pretend to be dead in silence. She secretly sent a message to Zhang Zihao, telling him to quit while he was ahead. Once these two troublemakers were gone, the three of them could do whatever they wanted.
But Zhang Zihao was being stubborn today and completely ignored her.
Zhang Zhishan and Yu Li argued for three more rounds. Then, Zhang Zihao slammed his chopsticks down and stood up abruptly. "You two busy people, do you even know what day it is today?"
Yu Li frowned, clearly displeased with the way he spoke to her.
Zhang Zihao pointed to the tip of his nose, "It's my sixteenth birthday today! I've been waiting all day, and neither of you remembered?!"
He sneered, turned around, opened the door to the private room, and left without looking back.
"Zihao!" Yu Li's voice cracked.
Zhang Zhishan took two steps to chase after him, shouting, "Stop right there!" But he was nowhere to be seen. Zhang Zihao had vanished without a trace.
Zeng Jia was completely stunned. She hadn't expected it to be Zhang Zihao's birthday today. So he wasn't here to see them at all; he knew their parents would be there, and he really wanted the whole family to be together. This kid seems carefree and irresponsible, but he's actually very thoughtful. The psychological trauma he's suffered will probably never be erased.
Zeng Jia quickly chased after them, also wanting to escape the scene. Wang Haowen immediately sprang up and followed, not wanting to watch the two fight any longer.
Zhang Zihao hailed a car on the roadside without even glancing at the two of them. Zeng Jia stared at the car's rear, shaking her head and sighing, "This heart is so broken, it's probably beyond repair."
Wang Haowen couldn't help but mutter, "These two dads have so much money they could bury someone alive, yet they live such miserable lives, what's the point?"
"What's the point? You want to win, don't you want to win too? You just tricked him into visiting a popular actress on set to get the job done. Don't you realize he's only sixteen? He's still a child!"
"Tsk!" Wang Haowen clicked his tongue. "Isn't that what the job requires? You have to take orders to make a living!"
Zeng Jia raised an eyelid. "Work requires it? Then tell me, work or me, which do you choose?"
Wang Haowen's eyes were rather complicated: "Zeng Xiaojia, they just made their son run away because of his dramatic outburst, and you want to follow suit and have a fight too?"
Zeng Jia was momentarily speechless, feeling quite disheartened. She always felt that Wang Haowen's words and actions didn't match. He said he only wanted to get married, buy a house, and marry her, but what was his reality?
Wang Haowen changed the subject: "Did you call your parents? You should book the tickets soon, right?" He wanted to ease the tension.
Zeng Jia just wanted to lie on the ground for a while. "When do I have time? I've been dragged here like a sandwich filling since early this morning."
Wang Haowen was also too exhausted to keep his eyes open. Both of them were burdened with legal troubles and parted ways with their respective "masters".
Zeng Jia stayed with Zhang Zhishan through that lavish and superficial drinking party, and the next day, she returned to Beijing with dark circles under her eyes. Wang Haowen also went back to Beijing, met with his doctor at the hospital, and then rushed back to Aranya to make Yu Li's meticulously planned luxury salon a resounding success, bringing it to a perfect close.
Yu Li's move to capitalize on this "traffic" was truly brilliant, and with her first round of financing secured, she was beaming with pride. When Zhang Zhishan returned to the company, he still maintained that "refined CEO" facade in front of outsiders, but as soon as he closed his office door, he slammed the documents down with a deafening thud, as if they had dug up his ancestral graves.
"Tonight! Get that meeting with Chairman Li earlier, and speed up that mess with XJ too. Are you trying to wait until Chinese New Year to collect your lucky money?!"
"Bring those old men from the planning department over for a meeting tomorrow morning at 9:30. Let's see what kind of garbage they've come up with! Are they trying to fool us?!"
"I'm meeting with the operations department at 11:00 AM. You must have all three plans (A, B, and C) on my desk by 3:00 PM. There's also a sales department meeting at 1:00 PM; everyone must be there. If even one person is missing, I'll hold you responsible!"
"Mr. Zhang..." Zeng Jia forced a smile and mumbled, "Tomorrow afternoon is the Zihao Piano Competition finals..."
Her voice trailed off as she spoke, her heart pounding. This troublesome woman could forget even her own son's birthday, let alone this one.
However, in Zhang Zhishan's logic, making money and having a son were arguably on the same level. After Zhang Zihao ran away that night in Anaya, he felt somewhat uneasy. To compensate for the "missing fatherly love," he generously transferred 100,000 yuan of his allowance to Zhang Zihao.
Simple, direct, and effective—Zhang Zihao received it instantly.
Zeng Jia knew the amount. That night, she was worried that Zhang Zihao was heartbroken, so she texted him to ask, "Are you home yet?" Zhang Zihao immediately sent her a screenshot of 100,000 yuan, along with the comment: "Sis, can you put this into a fixed deposit for me? My mom watches my card like it's a thief's. I have to ask permission even to buy a bag of spicy strips!"
Zeng Jia stared at the string of dazzling zeros in the screenshot, her back teeth almost grinding to powder, her eyes gleaming with envy. But then she thought, what did this money buy? Loneliness and isolation. She wouldn't even take this "blessing" for free.
She admitted that she loved money, but compared to this kind of "orphan built on money," she would rather listen to her parents nagging her to "wear long johns" over the phone. Thinking about it this way, she seemed to be even greedier than Zhang Zihao, wanting both money and love.
So what if you're greedy? In Beijing, if you're not a little greedy, you won't even have a decent meal.
Upon hearing the words "piano competition," Zhang Zhishan's brows furrowed instantly. He remained silent for a full two minutes before taking a deep breath, his voice tinged with the tragic grandeur of someone who had "sacrificed a hundred million for their son": "Pass the word down: all schedules for tomorrow afternoon are to be moved to the evening. Have the sales department work overtime!"
After giving his orders, he didn't forget to scold Yu Li, "Tell me, it's just playing the piano, why make such a big fuss? It's all his mother's fault, insisting on doing all this fancy stuff!"
Zeng Jia didn't dare to chime in, and could only silently light a candle for her brothers and sisters in the sales department in her heart.
A couple's life is always a mix of sunshine and rain; Zhang Zhishan's mood was -100%, while Yu Li's was naturally radiant and beaming. Her son's piano competition finals were undoubtedly another stage for her. "Xiao Wang," she said, "order the biggest and most impressive cake ever. For the flowers, get 999 imported Ecuadorian pink diamond roses—it'll look very grand. Send the invitations to Chairman Su, Chairman Zhao, Chairman Li, and Chairman Wang again, making sure the tone is warm and friendly. Also, ask Chairman Zhao if we can invite those popular actors from the film crew to come and show their support. If they're willing to grace us with their presence, I'll host a banquet for them tonight!"
Yu Li fiddled with the pigeon-egg-sized diamond ring on her hand, as if she were planning a grand awards ceremony. In fact, she had already arranged the rankings for the piano competition; the gold medal had to go to Zhang Zihao, and her son, Yu Li, could never come in second.
Wang Haowen scribbled notes in his notebook, his mind racing as he tried to put on a good show: "President Yu, would you like to go with President Zhang tomorrow?" After all, they couldn't ruin their "model couple" image. If they went separately from their son's competition, who knows what kind of juicy gossip would be added to the gossip columns.
Yu Li raised an eyebrow and said matter-of-factly, "Of course we'll go together. Go ask them over there and set a time."
Just as Wang Haowen was about to nod, Yu Li suddenly changed the subject, "Hey, that Secretary Zeng... hasn't been catching up with you lately, has she?" She dragged out the word "catching up" in a long, cloying way.
Wang Haowen's heart skipped a beat. Why were they asking about Zeng Jia? He maintained a composed facade, forcing a dry laugh: "I've been so busy these past few days, I haven't had a chance to think about her."
Yu Li recalled Zeng Jia's petty and narrow-minded manner when she was at Anaya, and a mocking sneer curled at the corner of her lips: "She's from a small place in Northeast China, only fit to wallow in Zhang Zhishan's mud. Little Wang, you did a fantastic job organizing the Anaya event this time. Chairman Wang has praised you to me several times, saying you have a bright future..."
She paused deliberately, her expression full of admiration for Wang Haowen, "When you went to Shanghai together last time, didn't you meet her niece who came back from France? She hopes you two can get to know each other better."
Wang Haowen's scalp tingled, and the hairs on his body stood on end. That rich young lady? One night with her would be enough for him.
He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace: "Mr. Yu, please don't belittle me! What am I, from a humble family, compared to everyone else in Beijing? Marrying a princess would be like bringing a living Buddha into the world. Please spare me, I want to live a few more years!"
Yu Li was amused by his exaggeratedly timid demeanor and gave him a light tap with her finger: "Don't underestimate yourself. People value your abilities; you're a rising star!" She patted Wang Haowen's arm affectionately, "Work hard, there will be plenty of opportunities, understand?"
Wang Haowen wore a smile on his face, but his heart was pounding. He had also figured it out; ever since he returned from Anaya, the way the directors looked at him had changed. Especially that Director Wang, every time they met, he would greet him with a beaming smile, asking all sorts of questions, his eyes practically sizing up a rich bachelor, one with 24K pure gold trim!
But all he wanted was to honestly work hard with Yu Li to make money and marry that fiery Zeng Jia as soon as possible. The role of a wealthy family's son-in-law was too hot to handle; he really couldn't play that part. Wang Haowen quickly made an excuse to slip away and then went to talk to Zeng Jia. The two went over each other's stories and confirmed that they would accompany this "model couple" to put on a show of perfect harmony the next day at noon.
After arranging the time, Zeng Jia was incredibly anxious, her heart pounding like a rabbit's. She asked Wang Haowen about the scale of the event: cakes, flowers, celebrity appearances—the spectacle was so grand it seemed like RMB was spread all over the red carpet. If her boss only brought two palms, wouldn't he be utterly inferior?
Her eyes darted around, and she pulled out her phone, sending Zhang Zihao a WeChat message: "Little rascal, what do you want after the competition? I'll go and bargain with your dad! This is a golden opportunity, don't miss it! You won't get another chance like this!"
Zhang Zihao replied almost instantly: I don't want anything! Just wait to take me in, I'm all set!
Zeng Jia stared at the line of text on the screen, her mind filled with questions: Take him in? What's this kid up to?
When she sent another message, it was as if she had fallen into a black hole and disappeared without a trace.
Zhang Zihao started pretending to be dead.
Zeng Jia gritted her teeth, staring at her phone screen. Could this brat be planning to confess after the competition that he's going to climb Mount Everest? What other tricks could he possibly pull? She racked her brains but couldn't figure it out, so she simply threw her phone down and thought, "Whatever."