DLRAS Chapter 22.2

Chapter 22.2

Zheng Yucheng pressed his straight lips tightly together, his jawline hard, as if biting down on his teeth.

If eye blades could become real, then by the time Huo Niansheng walked away, his back would already have been stabbed through several times.

Now only the two of them remained in the sky garden, facing one another from a distance. The air seemed to congeal in silence.

Zheng Yucheng felt irritable. All the smoothness and frustration of the day had piled up in his chest. Tiredly, he scrubbed his face hard with one hand.

Still, Chen Wengang was the first to move. He draped the bow tie around his neck, looped it once around the collar, adjusted it, and pulled the ends together to retie a bow. Without a mirror, he could only do it by feel, so it was not as neat as before.

But it did not matter. The event was about to end anyway.

As though nothing had happened, he asked Zheng Yucheng, “Going back?”

Zheng Yucheng took out a cigarette case from his pocket. “I’m having a cigarette.”

Chen Wengang nodded and said gently, “Then I’ll go downstairs first.”

With the cigarette between his lips, Zheng Yucheng suddenly grabbed his wrist with great force. “Can’t you listen to advice just once?”

“I heard from Baoqiu—don’t misunderstand, I asked her what happened tonight and she let it slip.” Zheng Yucheng frowned. “That man surnamed Huo has been flirting with you, hasn’t he? He’s always sending you this and that. A person like him knows how to act. He puts on the show of some grand romantic. Haven’t we seen enough rotten men like that among our old classmates? Weren’t you the one who despised them most?”

“When they’re chasing you, they send flowers and diamonds, coax you into obedience, and once they’ve got you, they zip their pants and say goodbye. Do you think Huo Niansheng doesn’t know that routine too?” It was as if a basket of stones blocked Zheng Yucheng’s chest. “Do you know what people in the circle have been laughing about recently? When someone orders public-relations girls to flatter him, he doesn’t even care. Why? Because he’s bored now. He just wants to find a few clean ones to play with!”

“I wouldn’t know,” Chen Wengang said. “After all, that is your circle.”

“What do you mean, ‘your’ circle?” Zheng Yucheng said. “If you’re angry, just say so. Today I truly had no way of stopping He Wanxin from coming through those doors. I know I handled it badly, and that you’re unhappy, but…”

“I spoke carelessly. Finish your cigarette and come down soon.”

“Wengang!”

Chen Wengang gave him no more response. Without slowing his steps, he disappeared behind the rose wall.

Zheng Yucheng remained where he was, looked down at the cigarette in his hand, and struck a light with restless irritation.

On one side there was He Wanxin pressing him relentlessly. On the other, Chen Wengang could not tolerate even a grain of sand in his eyes. Caught between them, Zheng Yucheng felt trapped.

And there was irony too—the irony of his own cowardice and weakness, because the two things had never been weights that needed comparing in the first place.

Zheng Yucheng could accept Chen Wengang remaining somewhere within sight, the two of them each stepping back and becoming friends again.

Privately, he could not deny he still held out hope that, once the time was right, he might win him back.

But instead, Chen Wengang seemed ready to smash the pot beyond repair, willing to throw himself away on some playboy—

What exactly was he thinking?

The cigarette tip glowed under the flame. Zheng Yucheng took a drag. Smoke spread into his lungs, bitter and offering no comfort at all.

After only two puffs, he threw the cigarette to the ground and crushed it out under his shoe. A little later, he bent down again, picked it up, and tossed it into the trash.

Zheng Yucheng stood beside the pool for quite a long time. When he returned to the banquet hall, the auction had already been over for a while.

The whole celebration had reached its end, and the guests were leaving one after another.

Old Master Zheng and Mrs. Zheng were nowhere in the hall now, nor were Zheng Baoqiu and Chen Wengang.

The only people Zheng Yucheng saw were Zheng Maoxun and Mu Qing, and those were precisely two people he did not much want to deal with. Sweeping a glance over them without interest, he turned away instead.

For one brief moment, Zheng Yucheng felt that everything was meaningless. Everyone was meaningless. Everything was meaningless.

He leaned against the wall in indifference, watching the hotel staff move back and forth around him as they cleared the banquet hall.

What he could not have imagined was that at this very moment Chen Wengang was being stopped by Qi Tongzhou.

Qi Tongzhou had only come today to tag along, but unexpectedly beauty had dazzled him blind. The friends he had arrived with had already gone, and he had made up an excuse to linger behind. After waiting and waiting, his efforts had not been in vain: at last he had finally seen the man of his dreams again.

This time, he summoned his courage and went forward. “Wengang, in the future, could I ask you out to hang out sometime?”

Chen Wengang’s attitude was friendly and impossible to fault, but Qi Tongzhou’s own face was already heating up. “I mean—as friends. Last year I went to Europe for a year of study abroad, so I started university one year later than Zheng Maoxun and the others. Oh, I’m also at Jinda. I’ll enroll next semester.”

“Then we’ll be schoolmates,” Chen Wengang said with a smile. “If there’s ever anything you need help with, just say so.”

“Great.” Qi Tongzhou said happily, “Just… well, as long as you—uh, you all—don’t find me troublesome.”

And just like speaking of Cao Cao, the man himself showed up—

Zheng Maoxun had come over to urge Chen Wengang on. “You still not leaving?”

Then he saw Qi Tongzhou and looked surprised too. “You haven’t gone back yet either?”

“Soon, very soon.” Qi Tongzhou coughed. “I’ll go to the front desk first and ask them to call me a car.”

He had been brought here by Zheng Maoxun in the first place, so Zheng Maoxun said, “Why call one? We can give you a ride. It’s only a slight detour for the driver.”

The bustle was over now. One luxury car after another was slowly pulling out from the hotel garage.

At last it was the Zheng family’s turn to head home.

That day the household had brought two sets of cars and drivers in total. Naturally Zheng Bingyi got into the one he was used to taking.

The others followed him in, while Zheng Maoxun, because he intended to drop off his friend, naturally walked with Qi Tongzhou toward the other car.

Since they had to make a detour, they assumed this car would be theirs alone.

Qi Tongzhou had just closed one door when, unexpectedly, Chen Wengang immediately pulled open the other side and leaned his head in. “Sorry, that one’s full. Do you mind if I squeeze in with you?”

In reality, the Lincoln Zheng Bingyi and the others were in was an extended one, so saying there was no room was only an excuse. He was avoiding Zheng Yucheng.

Zheng Maoxun naturally did not mind.

And as for Qi Tongzhou—he was so delighted his heart was practically blooming. He hurriedly shifted inward to make space.

Halfway through the drive, Qi Tongzhou’s curiosity became impossible to suppress. He badly wanted to ask what exactly had been going on in the bizarre atmosphere at the auction.

That contest of pride had burned through seven million. Anyone would be curious.

Since it concerned Chen Wengang’s private business, Zheng Maoxun kept his mouth shut. Besides, he himself was curious too.

So two pairs of eyes both turned toward Chen Wengang.

But Chen Wengang only smiled. “At least it ended with a good result. People with money should fulfill a bit more social responsibility.”

Qi Tongzhou guessed then that it was not convenient for him to say. So he laughed twice and said, “That’s true. But really, after that, the mood for the later lots got completely stirred up. Didn’t you notice? Quite a few items went for high prices. I heard half the charity funds from tonight are going to an ocean conservation organization?”

“About half is for that use,” Chen Wengang said.

Qi Tongzhou feigned further interest and asked for specifics. The other half of the charitable funds would be distributed proportionally among concrete projects—for example, through several long-term partner foundations, donations would be made to nursing homes and welfare homes, and the Zheng Group itself had also set up certain scholarship funds.

Zheng Maoxun yawned as he listened. “How do you remember every single thing so clearly?”

Chen Wengang laughed at him in return. “It’s your own family company’s business. How can you not know?”

“It’s not a project I’m in charge of. How could I possibly carve every detail into my brain?” Zheng Maoxun said, then his eyes shifted. “Alright then—if I ask you right now exactly which welfare homes got donations, and you’re not allowed to look at your phone, are you telling me you can still recite the list even though you’re not the person in charge?”

The driver’s surname was Wang. Uncle Wang was talkative, and when he heard this, he laughed and cut in from the front seat. “That won’t stump Wengang. Why wouldn’t he know? He goes to do volunteer work there every one or two weeks.”

“What… seriously?” Zheng Maoxun’s understanding of the world was shaken.

“Why would I lie to you? Your father knows too. If you don’t believe me, go ask him.”

“But how come I’ve never seen it?”

Uncle Wang laughed heartily. “That just means you haven’t been paying attention! Do you expect him to report to you every time he goes out?”

With Uncle Wang invoking Zheng Bingyi as proof, then this clearly was not some joke.

Chen Wengang only smiled and did not pick up the thread, looking modest and low-key.

But inside Zheng Maoxun, something twisted uncomfortably again.

Was it because Chen Wengang had been doing this for years and he knew absolutely nothing about it?

Was it because Chen Wengang had once again earned favor in front of his father?

Or was it because he could not be sure whether Zheng Yucheng had also been sharing in that favor—and whether everyone had been hiding it from him?

Or perhaps if there was someone beside you who seemed perfect in every way, then it truly was hard not to feel a little jealous.

Qi Tongzhou did not think nearly so much. But the filter over his eyes was certainly thick—one layer piled on top of another.

For rich young masters like him and Zheng Maoxun, born with golden spoons in their mouths, even in school their classmates had compared things like how much money their families donated to charity each year. It was a symbol of wealth, a proof of family standing. Their parents had taught them from childhood: a family that does good accumulates blessings. Whether it was for reputation or virtue, donations were normal and routine.

But if you asked Qi Tongzhou what projects exactly his family had donated to, or what the structure of those projects was, he could not tell you either.

As for people he knew who were willing to do such things personally—well, from primary school through middle school, their schools had indeed required volunteer hours and organized practice activities, but for a herd of adolescent wild horses that had been the least cool thing in the world. It was already good enough if they did not spend all their effort trying to slip away.

And yet at this moment, Qi Tongzhou selectively forgot all that. “If there’s ever a chance, could you take me along? Actually, I’m really interested too.”

Chen Wengang said, “Sure. You’re welcome.”

Zheng Maoxun practically rolled his eyes out loud.

Qi Tongzhou’s heart was all sunshine, and he pretended not to hear a thing.

Early the next morning, only Old Master Zheng and Chen Wengang woke at their usual hour.

At the breakfast table, only the old man and the young man sat there eating.

Mrs. Zheng rarely got up early to begin with. Most days, her breakfast was enjoyed in bed on a small tray table, with servants bringing it to her bedroom. The younger generation did not have the right to be lazy in that way, but today they were all sleeping in—after all, yesterday had been exhausting.

The butler Old Lin brought in the newspapers. The news release about the Zheng Group had already been published.

After looking at it for a while, Zheng Bingyi suddenly asked Chen Wengang with some concern, “You’ll graduate in another year. What are your plans?”

Chen Wengang answered him, “I plan to study for a master’s degree.”

Zheng Bingyi knew he had always wanted to continue his studies. “A higher degree is a good thing.”

After thinking for a moment, Chen Wengang decided to tell him in advance. “Godfather, the direction I want to apply for is sociology.”

At this, Zheng Bingyi removed his reading glasses, put the newspaper aside, lifted those eyelids dry as old tangerine peel, and fixed him with a stern look.

Certainly, in this society there were research topics worth studying in every area—the state of migrant labor, the aging population, juvenile crime issues… But studying those had nothing whatsoever to do with holding a post in a large shipping group.

Unless he had already decided he did not intend to go any farther down his current path.

Zheng Bingyi asked, “Why don’t you want to continue with business management? Or even business in general would be good. It would help your career development later.”

Chen Wengang set down his chopsticks. “I know this decision is a little abrupt. Changing fields has a certain degree of difficulty, and it also affects my future career direction. But I’ve thought it through carefully. I’m still more interested in scholarship and academic work. I hope you can understand.”

At some point Old Lin had gone out, and there was no third person left in the dining room. It was a conversation no one else knew about.

“You’ve really thought it through?” Zheng Bingyi also put down his cup, then joked half-seriously, “I was originally planning to have you go into the family office after graduation, or maybe I’d save the general assistant position for you. I hadn’t decided yet. I was going to let you choose for yourself. But you’re dismissing me before I even make the offer.”

The family office managed the entire family’s capital operations—it guarded the purse of the family wealth. As for a young general manager’s assistant, after a few years of training that person would most likely become a senior executive, or even be promoted directly to general manager of a branch company. It was not impossible at all.

“That’s not it,” Chen Wengang said quickly. “I know your arrangements were made with my best interests in mind.”

“Alright. In the end we’ll still go according to your own wishes. If you suddenly change to this major, does that mean you have to start all over from the beginning again?”

“I’ve already been in touch with professors. Sociology itself is a typical interdisciplinary field. It connects with economics, political science, management, psychology, and so on. If I choose the right research direction, my current academic background won’t be useless.”

Zheng Bingyi did not oppose him outright. He only told him to think about it more carefully, and that if the opportunity arose, he could introduce him to a few members of the university board.

Chen Wengang respectfully thanked him.

Outside the window, the weather was excellent.

The sunlight was bright and dazzling.

The temperature was a little high now, but the flower room was kept at a constant warmth and humidity, so sunning oneself inside was still extremely pleasant. Tempted, Chen Wengang brought his laptop into the flower room, used the school library’s search system to gather literature, and began preparing early for next semester’s graduation thesis.

The fragrance of flowers flowed quietly around him. Leaning back in a wicker chair, he thought about how he had at least tentatively revealed his intentions to Zheng Bingyi. Although nothing was finalized yet, he still felt lighter inside.

That good mood lasted until he received a message heavy with resentment—

“To all group members: I understand that everyone is terribly busy, but no matter what, please remember that we are still in the same group. If your noble selves could perhaps make time to arrive punctually at Meidi Café in the South District today and submit the assignment, your group leader would be deeply grateful.”

“Also: if you truly don’t want the grade, then there’s no need to come. You needn’t trouble yourselves to reply either. Best wishes.”

Chen Wengang stared at it for a moment and, for what must have been the first time in ages, felt guilty.

…There was such a thing?

The sender was named You Ying, a classmate in the same department—a girl, if he remembered correctly. Chen Wengang pulled up his notes and only then discovered that at the start of term, the professor of Introduction to Economic Law really had assigned a case study project and divided the students into groups. This female classmate was indeed their group leader.

Group assignments were the thing university students hated most. The person leading always worked alone, and the lazy ones always coasted and played dead.

Chen Wengang had never imagined that one day he would be the one coasting. But he really had forgotten.

In truth, it had not been deliberate. When he was reborn and came back, nearly half the semester had already passed. The professor had not brought it up in class, the other group members had not pressed him either, and by sheer misfortune he himself did not remember that in his previous life such an assignment still existed. So it had somehow slipped through entirely.

Since that was the case, it was no wonder someone else was angry.

He sent back an apologetic reply, saying he would be there in half an hour, quickly packed up his computer, and went upstairs to get the car keys.

So You Ying temporarily held down the fire in her belly, planning to let it out in person once he arrived.

In fact, that message had been sent to Chen Wengang alone. It was the first warning. The second would have named names directly.

But looking across the table at the other two group members who were still dragging their feet, she had a headache too. Not one of them was easy to deal with.

Truthfully, when she had first learned that her group consisted of one girl and three boys, her heart had already sunk.

Not because she discriminated, but the odds of things going badly when working with male students did seem somewhat higher.

In order to protect her credits, she had taken the initiative to become the group leader—the one who would have to put in the most work—and had also spoken harshly from the start: in a group assignment, everyone had to participate to some degree. Freeloaders were absolutely unwelcome. In the end, no one was allowed to hand in some rotten mess and drag down everyone else’s grades.

At the time, with a stern face, she had laid down the harsh words first. And what had two of the boys then done?

Oh yes—they had patted their chests and promised:

Right, right, we think the same way. We hate people who slack off too. Our group definitely won’t be like that. We’ll definitely do a good job.

And what happened in the end?

Exactly the same as always. They were still cramming at the deadline.

The fact that they had shown up at all was already something. There was still one who had not appeared at all.

Yet the one You Ying felt most disappointed in was Chen Wengang.

He had not promised anything, and she was not familiar with him, but at least she knew his grades were among the very best. That had made her harbor a little lucky hope—since he was also a top student, then at the very least he should be somewhat reliable, right?

Now she gave up that final sliver of fantasy and resigned herself.

The three of them clicked awkwardly at their mice in front of their laptops.

You Ying had already finished her own share long ago. The other two were now sharpening their spears at the last moment. The three briefly discussed the general reporting strategy, but Chen Wengang still had not arrived.

Then suddenly one of the boys started complaining instead. “Guess we were just unlucky to end up in a group with someone like that.”

You Ying thought to herself that he should go find a mirror and take a look at his own face first, but aloud she only asked, “What do you mean?”

The other leaned over and said, “You don’t know? He’s got tons of dirt on him in our department—no, in the whole school.”

“I don’t know that much about that,” You Ying said. “I only know he often gets scholarships.”

“He doesn’t know how much he’s been riding on… certain advantages. So don’t praise his grades too much. Who knows if they’re even real?”

“Exactly. Who knows how much backdoor dealing there is. Other people rely on their fathers. He can rely on his godfather. Even the dean has to nod and bow when he sees that godfather of his. He’s always drinking tea and golfing with university board members. If they’re handing out scholarships, who else would they give them to?”

“Where did you hear all this?” You Ying asked. “You even know who his godfather is?”

One of the group members pulled up a forum post on his phone. “Wait, what? You really never browse the campus forum?”

“No. I’m busy. Don’t have time.”

“Then just look at this summary post.”

You Ying took his phone and skimmed a few of the linked threads.

The second group member said, “Well? Doesn’t it feel like your eyes have been opened?”

“Hold on, let me sort this out. This ‘Young Master Z’—is that… Zheng Yucheng?”

“Yeah. Don’t you remember how it caused quite a stir when school started? Everyone was saying the young master of Zheng Group was in our college.”

You Ying asked, “So you’re saying Chen Wengang’s godfather equals Zheng Yucheng’s father, the chairman of Zheng Group?”

“Exactly. He was taken in by their family. But the craziest thing is, the two of them aren’t just ordinary either.”

“What kind of relationship?”

“He and Zheng Yucheng went to the same university, same major, same department, same class—like they were stitched together. People say they were together for years. Actually, not just people say it. It’s basically confirmed. Look at the last link.”

“I saw it. Let’s set that one aside for now.” You Ying handed the phone back. “I don’t really believe the rest. How could a real son lose to a godson? I’ve won some of those scholarships too. I remember Chen Wengang was on the public list every time because if my name was there, his was too. Zheng Yucheng wasn’t nominated all that often. So if, according to you, there really is favoritism—why not just rig it directly for Zheng Yucheng instead?”

Support me on Ko-fi