In the end, Shen Qingning didn't agree to Lin Lu's request to stay over and drove back to her own place.
At around ten o'clock that night, since the bar's business was indeed mediocre, a bored Shen Minglang took the initiative to send a message in the group chat:
"Little brothers and sisters, did everyone get home safely?"
Jiang Wanzhou loved snapping back at him the most and replied directly, "It's been over an hour and only now you're asking? You're really considerate. I'm practically about to reach Modu already."
TL:
It's a popular nickname that literally means "Magic City" or "Demon City." It's widely used in Chinese internet slang and casual conversation to refer to Shanghai, emphasizing the city's cosmopolitan, modern, and somewhat enchanting/mysterious character.
In this context, Jiang Wanzhou is being sarcastic - they've been traveling for over an hour and Shen Minglang is only now asking if everyone got home safely, so they're joking "I'm practically about to reach Shanghai already" (meaning they're almost home or have been traveling a long time).
Looking at WeChat, Cheng Zhu grinned.
In a group chat, an active atmosphere was very important. Luckily, those two were perfect atmosphere-builders. There was no need for him to personally jump in and stir things up.
Lin Lu had a livelier personality and wasn't as reserved as Shen Qingning. She was definitely going to join the group chat.
Everything went exactly as Cheng Zhu had expected.
Just like that, everyone chatted in the group, joking around on and off, for over an hour.
"As a regressor, you have to be one step ahead in everything." This was Cheng Zhu's personal requirement for himself.
"College is going to take many years."
And here they were—before school even started, he was already getting ahead by coming into contact with valuable resources like beautiful senior girls.
Of course, he repeatedly warned himself:
"Don't be fooled by Lin Lu's cute appearance!"
"Who would've thought that beneath such a sweet exterior was an extremely terrifying… figure!"
Men were truly strange creatures. They might get dizzy from naked-eye 3D, but they would never get dizzy from 36D.
"I'm still in my growth phase. Over these four years of college, I can't afford to be weaned."
…
Time always passed quickly on days filled with chatting.
Shen Minglang had no idea that this newly acknowledged cousin of his wasn't just chatting with him in the group, but was also privately chatting every day with Ye Zi, the bartender who worked for him.
Through Ye Zi, Cheng Zhu had already learned that business at Wine Hidden hadn't been great lately, and it had started declining after the World Cup ended.
As a bartender who earned commission, Ye Zi was now under financial pressure.
She had been subtly and not-so-subtly expressing one thing to Cheng Zhu:
"I'm short on money. I need to make money."
Cheng Zhu knew clearly that many girls who worked in nightlife carried loans on their backs.
As for why someone so young would have loans—there were many reasons.
"For example, plastic surgery, or breast augmentation," he thought.
Men might not understand it and wonder if there were really that many people like this.
The truth was—there really were, and a lot of them. Loans for cosmetic surgery had even formed a full-fledged industry chain.
"Speaking of it, when chatting between men and women, if the woman is willing to reveal her needs to you, that's actually a pretty good signal," Cheng Zhu thought.
But he had no extra thoughts about Ye Zi, nor would he spend money on her. He still needed to keep his money making more money.
That said, Cheng Zhu was more than happy that she was short on cash.
After all, if he was going to do e-commerce, he would definitely need to take product photos.
If he was doing apparel, he would need models.
"Thinking about it carefully, Ye Zi is actually quite suitable," Cheng Zhu was no longer satisfied with just having her take buyer-show photos for him.
—Man, your name is greed!
Of course, if Ye Zi wasn't willing to take the job, that was fine too. She had plenty of resources and could definitely introduce suitable candidates to him.
"With QQ-style products like ours, it's not easy to find models, and the fees are higher than normal clothing shoots."
"But in reality, it's just taking some photos. You can even edit them later. Whether they're professional or not doesn't really matter."
"Going through normal channels would just be burning money for no reason."
Operating the way he was now was actually quite good.
Putting his phone into his pocket, Cheng Zhu headed to Yunlai Restaurant.
It wasn't mealtime yet. He wasn't going there to eat—he was going to watch *Balala the Fairies* with Little Youzi.
"That cliffhanger from yesterday's episode was really damn evil!" he cursed inwardly.
Along the way, he felt that this summer was unbelievably hot. Just a few steps had him sweating all over.
By the time he reached the restaurant, he was stunned.
It wasn't mealtime yet, and Old Cheng wasn't busy in the kitchen. Instead, he was sitting on a dining chair, scooping half of a chilled watermelon with a spoon.
He and Xu Yun had been an old married couple for years, yet they were still feeding each other—disgustingly affectionate.
"Damn it, eating watermelon without calling me?" Cheng Zhu roared inwardly.
A summer without chilled watermelon was incomplete.
And their whole family believed that watermelon tasted best when scooped with a spoon.
Of course, Cheng Zhu was already used to his parents not calling him when they ate watermelon.
It had been emphasized many times—Little Youzi was raised like a princess. At best, Cheng Zhu was just an armed guard.
What, does a security captain have that many complaints?
Old Cheng and Xu Yun didn't even look at their son when he entered.
Naturally, Cheng Zhu's gaze fell on his little sister.
Little Youzi was sitting cross-legged on a chair, propping half a small watermelon on her fair, tender legs. She held a big spoon in her little hand, scooping out chunks of watermelon nonstop and placing them into a large bowl.
When she saw Cheng Zhu arrive, she immediately set the half watermelon down on the table, lifted the big bowl high above her head with both hands, and even added sound effects for herself:
"Ta-da!"
"Big brother, you're here! The watermelon is for you—I've been scooping it for a long time!"
Cheng Zhu's family status really was the lowest, but sometimes he had privileges like this.
—Privileges bestowed by Princess Little Youzi.
He glanced down at the half watermelon on the table and thought to himself, "She scooped only the middle part—the sweetest bits."
Cheng Zhu didn't refuse. He really did eat from the bowl and didn't touch what was left in the half watermelon.
He knew very well that you shouldn't refuse a child's kindness. She was still young—she wouldn't understand that you were doing it for her own good. She would only secretly feel sad.
After the icy, chilled watermelon went down, Cheng Zhu looked at the blazing sun outside and suddenly felt that this summer wasn't so hot after all.
He had originally thought that going to Guanyun County to look for suppliers in this weather was inhuman labor.
Now he felt it wasn't that bad. At worst, he could just eat chilled watermelon again when he got home.
On the TV, *Balala the Fairies* started playing again.
Every time the magical girls transformed, Little Youzi would excitedly jump up and wave her arms around, as if she could transform too.
Cheng Zhu—a 182-centimeter-tall, school-bully-faced delinquent—would loudly voice-act for his sister from the side:
"Balala Energy! Sha-luo Sha-luo, little fairy, full-body transformation!"
Old Cheng and Xu Yun stared at their foolish son in shock and couldn't help muttering softly, "He didn't seem like this before, did he?"
Little did they know that the current Cheng Zhu didn't care about anyone else's gaze at all.
He only cared whether Little Youzi was smiling brightly.
…
…
That night, after returning home, Cheng Zhu sent Wang Anquan a message.
"We're heading to Guanyun tomorrow."
"Received!" Wang Anquan replied instantly, full of anticipation.
After all, Brother Zhu had said that it was a paradise for men.
That night, Wang Anquan—a sturdy boy with a bit of teenage acne—had a bit of trouble sleeping. After he finally fell asleep, he dreamed a series of youthful, reckless dreams.
The next day, under the blazing summer sun, the two boys packed their luggage and boarded a high-speed train.
Just after sitting down, Cheng Zhu saw Wang Anquan holding his phone, typing happily, his grin nearly stretching to his ears.
"Who are you chatting with that makes you so happy?" Cheng Zhu frowned, already having a guess.
"With Rongrong. Brother Zhu, I feel like I might start dating Chen Rongrong," Wang Anquan said.
"Heh. Have you installed GPS? Do you know your own positioning?" Cheng Zhu let out a laugh.
"Brother Zhu, what do you mean? I don't really get it," Wang Anquan said, confused.
"It's not important. I'll just ask you—what made you get this feeling?"
"We've been chatting really well these past few days. She used to never reach out to me first, but these days she keeps messaging me. She even asked just now if I'd boarded the train yet." He smiled, already starting to feel sweet.
"Didn't you tell me a few days ago that Chen Rongrong was hot and cold with you? Sometimes the chat went great, sometimes she wouldn't reply to your messages for half a day."
"Y-yeah, kind of," Wang Anquan admitted.
Cheng Zhu looked out the window. His tone was light, but his words struck heavily at Wang Anquan's heart:
"When the water temperature suddenly turns hot and cold while you're showering, you know what that means—someone else is sharing the water resources with you."
TL:
I feel for you Brother Wang. Me too, me too.
If you want to read ahead, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup