Chapter 67: The One Getting Blackmailed Instead
Zhou Lin stayed silent and only smiled foolishly. Hu Tong, completely different from her shy behavior earlier, suddenly stepped in front of him and stared directly into his eyes.
"You really don’t have any feelings for her? Don’t avoid the question. Tell me honestly."
Did he have feelings?
Zhou Lin asked himself honestly. He was not some monk without desires. Facing someone like Zheng Qi, there was no way he could stay completely calm.
Men were visual creatures, and Zheng Qi was the kind of woman with an especially attractive appearance. As long as a man’s hormones worked normally, it was impossible to feel nothing at all.
The image of her leaving after giving him that steaming bowl of instant noodles a few days ago, and the moment today when they looked at each other upside down after bungee jumping...
All of it proved that his heart had already moved.
But Zheng Qi was someone who had seen the world and experienced many things.
And him...
He was honestly just a simple and ordinary man. Calling him old-fashioned would not even be unfair. Even though he had the title of deputy director, aside from the title itself, who in the company actually listened to him?
The reason he failed the graduate school exam was not because he lacked ability. And why did he choose this career afterward?
Because compared to dealing with people, dealing with computer programs was much easier.
His personality really did match Cheng Fei’s description perfectly.
Zhou Lin laughed at himself, then lightly tapped Hu Tong’s forehead.
"You’ve known her for less than an hour and you’re already trying to match us together. Do you even understand what kind of person she is?"
"Some things have nothing to do with time. You can tell at first sight."
"Heh. You’re going to talk about intuition again, aren’t you?"
Hu Tong stopped there. Since Zhou Lin did not want to continue the topic, she decided to leave it to time.
But there was still one thing she cared about.
"Brother... about Brother Lu Wei..."
Zhou Lin suddenly stopped walking and stared blankly ahead.
Was this trouble?
"I heard that he... When I went home this time, Aunt Qin and Uncle Lu seemed a little..."
After thinking for a moment, Zhou Lin felt it was still better to tell her the truth.
Hu Tong was not only his family. Because of their previous relationship, she had also been very close to Lu Wei. Lu Wei treated Hu Tong like a real younger sister and cared for her just as much as Zhou Lin did.
Hu Tong was honest and dependable. And because of her relationship with Lu Wei, she deserved to know the truth. The chance of her carelessly spreading the secret was almost zero.
Besides, being the only one carrying this secret felt stressful. He could treat this as... well, as a counterattack for Cheng Fei always making fun of him.
So he pulled Hu Tong slightly to the side.
"Actually... Old Lu is alive and doing fine."
"...What?!"
While speaking, Zhou Lin kept watching the people nearby. Whenever someone walked too close, he immediately shut his mouth tightly. He tried to explain things as simply as possible, only enough to make the situation clear.
It was not easy for him to explain, and even harder for Hu Tong to hear.
"He... she... is actually married now?!"
"Uh..."
Right when he reached the important part, Zhou Lin suddenly stopped himself. After thinking about it, he changed the part about Gao Ming “forcing” things.
In Hu Tong’s heart, Lu Wei was almost as important as family. Zhou Lin worried that if she became emotional, she might accidentally complain to Qin Yi and the others.
Gao Ming looked cold and a little cunning sometimes, but the word “bad person” really did not fit him. You could tell that from the time Cheng Fei ran away and was brought back.
Still, when a good person finally got angry, it could be terrifying.
Especially parents who loved their child deeply.
Anyone could imagine what would happen if parents learned their child had suffered grievances.
If things really got out of control, and Gao Ming lost face because of it, nobody knew how things would end.
So Zhou Lin told the version exactly like Gao Ming had planned, the version where Cheng Fei willingly agreed.
"After becoming a woman... I guess you could say she finally got what she wanted."
Hiss—
The moment Zhou Lin finished speaking, it felt like some immortal had poured chili powder straight into the gaps of his teeth. All he felt was pain.
There was technically nothing wrong with what he said, but deep down it still felt very strange.
Not only him. Even Hu Tong looked completely stunned.
Zhou Lin walked in front of her and waved his hand before her stiff, frozen face. Only then did she finally recover.
"My god... I never imagined Brother Lu Wei would actually..."
"He hid it really deeply. During all those university years, I never noticed anything. But honestly, after all this, things turned out pretty well. By accident, everything that was out of place got corrected. Fortune and disaster always depend on each other."
"Mm."
Hu Tong thought quietly for a moment.
"I want to visit her later. Is that okay?"
"Of course. But this whole thing is still too unbelievable. Remember, absolutely don’t tell other people."
Hu Tong smiled after hearing that.
"Don’t worry. I still haven’t told anyone about how you secretly stole Auntie’s money when you were little."
"I already paid your silence fee. You got games and grilled sausages from me. At the very least, you should follow basic loyalty rules, right?"
"Hehe."
"What are you two talking about so happily?"
Before the person even arrived, the voice came first.
The timing was perfect. Just as they finished discussing the secret, Zheng Qi returned.
The lively and cheerful Hu Tong from moments ago immediately changed back into the image of a quiet and well-behaved girl.
"Sister Zheng."
“It was only a short walk away, but it feels like I missed a lot.”
As Zheng Qi spoke, she wiped the sweat from her forehead. Her trip to the restroom could only be described as rushed and chaotic. Men and women both hurry when nature calls, but the difference between them was huge. When the urge came, there was no time to waste. But because of physical differences, women often had to deal with long lines whenever there were many people around. At moments like that, the only thing keeping someone going was willpower.
Zheng Qi also had a rather impatient personality. Even with the cool wind blowing, her forehead was covered in sweat. Then she looked at her face and saw her makeup was smudged so badly that it almost looked like a monkey’s red backside.
Women understood women best. Seeing that Zheng Qi did not bring makeup with her, and worried she would feel embarrassed if others saw her like this, Hu Tong offered her own cosmetics.
She took off her backpack and handed it over.
“Sister Zheng, if you don’t mind, you can use mine first.”
“Thanks...” Zheng Qi smiled. She quickly reached for the lipstick, but after one look her eyes froze. Then they lit up like she had seen something holy.
“Wow, this color number... it’s already discontinued!”
“Yeah... I had one saved in my collection. I was still half asleep this morning and accidentally opened it to use.”
“Little sister, you’re impressive. You can even get something like this!”
Zheng Qi looked at her with admiration, while Zhou Lin looked completely confused. Then the two women started talking about makeup products, and his expression quickly turned into boredom.
They chatted on the way back. They chatted after getting into the car. Even after dropping Hu Tong off at the North Campus of Yun University, they were still chatting.
The whole trip was filled with endless talk about bottles and jars of beauty products.
Creams, lotion, toner, essence, and all kinds of skincare items poured straight into his ears.
Listening to it gave Zhou Lin a headache, but... after glancing at Zheng Qi’s smiling face while she played with her phone, he felt more relaxed inside. If these things could make her happy, then he could tolerate them.
That day had been very enjoyable.
But the other two people were not having such a peaceful time.
Newlyweds were supposed to stay home being sweet together, or find some quiet place to enjoy their honeymoon.
Yet early in the morning, Gao Ming had already gone to the company, making coworkers who did not know the situation gossip endlessly. Cheng Fei had also dragged the two lovebirds who kept secretly flirting into the shop to help, making her complain non-stop.
Time quietly passed until late at night. In this season, ten o’clock was still the busiest time on the streets.
Miao Lei and Liu Zhi, the young couple, kept flirting and making loving eyes at each other. It made Cheng Fei, a single person at heart, feel extremely annoyed.
So she simply let them leave work early and told them to go somewhere else to enjoy themselves.
Once the honeymoon phase ended, she wanted to see if they would still act like this!
As for business, Cheng Fei was not worried. One person clearly could not handle the enthusiastic customers alone, but today she had help.
Not even three days after getting married, Gao Ming had surprisingly gotten off work early. Instead of going home, he came to Cheng Fei’s place and worked as a helper.
Thinking back to that morning, Cheng Fei remembered waking up to all kinds of nourishing soups. After that came endless hopeful looks and nonstop encouragement from Gao Ming’s parents.
She was honestly scared of those two. Otherwise, she would not have rushed out of the house right after such a major life event, making everyone around her feel confused by her sudden behavior.
Through this marriage, she finally understood a little better why Gao Ming’s relationship with his parents had turned out this way.
She also understood Gao Ming’s thinking. Compared to being tortured by family pressure, working for her was actually more comfortable.
But... this “part-time job” now felt like she had thrown a rock only to smash her own foot with it. It was also her own fault for being too greedy before, always blackmailing him for thousands and tens of thousands.
That sneaky guy Gao Ming clearly remembered everything.
Damn it! Compared to watching those two flirt in front of her... two hundred yuan an hour was still worth it. Cheng Fei gritted her teeth and shouted in her heart.
Worth it!
Anyway, if she survived these three years, she would become a rich woman worth tens of millions. She just had to grit her teeth and endure it.
Gao Ming narrowed his eyes and quietly watched Cheng Fei. One moment she was cleaning tables by the roadside, and the next she suddenly froze like a statue before raising her fist like she was planning something.
In any case, his danger alarm automatically activated.
This loach-like woman was indeed slippery. He really could not lower his guard around her.
What exactly was he doing all this for?
One wrong step led to more wrong steps. He could only blame himself for not thinking carefully before taking the first step. Now it was already too late to turn back.
There were fewer and fewer people on the streets. The clock hands moved slowly and both pointed to twelve.
The two returned to the apartment building openly, but sneaked back home like thieves.
They opened the door as quietly as possible. Cheng Fei completely changed her usual rough habits. Normally she would kick off her slippers onto the floor and hook them into the shoe cabinet with her foot. But now she carefully took them off by hand, squatted down gently, and moved so quietly it was like she was afraid of waking some sleeping beast.
Gao Ming understood why, but the awkward feeling inside him remained.
After changing shoes, they walked into the dark living room. Neither dared to turn on the lights, so they used their phones instead.
On the dining table were two bowls of soup giving off a smell too terrible to describe, along with a note.
“Remember to drink this after you come back.”
The two looked at each other. The scenes from that morning flashed through their minds again, and both suddenly felt sick to their stomachs.
“Drink it?”
“With such a huge bowl? No way!”
“So what do we do?”
“Pour it away!”
After using their phones to light the way for a while, the two silently looked at each other and nodded to encourage one another.
Then, like thieves, they carefully carried the huge bowls to the sink and quietly poured everything out.
Afterward, to erase the “evidence,” Cheng Fei lightly rinsed the sink with water. Then, while enduring the awful smell, she pressed her lipstick-covered lips against the edge of the bowl to leave a mark.
Ugh!
It counted as “drinking” it in a way, but the smell reaching her mouth almost made her throw up.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Cheng Fei glared at him angrily, grabbed Gao Ming’s bowl, and left it in the sink.
She did not even wash it. Leaving it there was already enough of an explanation.