Zhao Yiming’s lips curled into a smirk as he slowly rose from his seat. His fingers adjusted his collar like a CEO in a drama scene about to announce a hostile takeover as he approached the mother-daughter table.
"Excuse ?" Zhao Yiming said casually, voice smooth but edged with steel.
"I can’t hear you mocking my friend over there. Mind raising your voice a little more?"
The mother didn’t flinch. Her eyes narrowed, her expression twisted into sothing smug and poisonous.
"What more should I say? Your friend doesn’t have any manners."
She gestured blatantly toward Xinya.
"Look at all the food she’s hoarded and how she eats—it’s like watching a bumpkin at her first buffet."
Other diners paused mid-bite, crab legs halfway to their mouths, ears perked and eyes shifting toward the scene. The quiet peeling of seafood was now background music to live drama.
Zhao Yiming kept calm, though the vein at his temple twitched.
"Bumpkin, huh?" he said slowly. "Well, you should know—we paid the sa price to be here as you did."
The daughter scoffed.
"And? Money can’t buy class. Even if you drown her in jewelry and teach her how to hold cutlery, she still stinks of poverty."
The entire section of the restaurant seed to freeze.
Even Zhao Yiming—who thought he’d heard the worst—stood stunned for a mont. That wasn’t casual mockery. That was venom. Pure disdain for soone’s status.
’The hell is wrong with them...?’ he thought, fists clenched tight under the table, heart pounding.
Before he could act, Xinya stood up.
She walked over, calm but fierce, and stood right beside him.
"Let’s go, Zhao Yiming," she said loudly, making sure her voice carried.
"They’re just a pathetic mother and daughter duo who hate their own miserable lives, so they mock others to feel better."
The daughter slamd her hands on the table, furious. "You little—!"
But Zhao Yiming was already moving.
Without a word, he stepped forward, grabbed his wallet, and pulled out his black titanium card. He slapped it down.
Then ca a thick wad of crisp banknotes, then the dramatic toss of his apartnt keys—landing right on their table with a solid clack.
Then he leaned forward with a cocky smirk and said coolly:
"Poor?" He chuckled.
"Lady, I could buy your whole bloodline and still have money left over for dessert. Hell, I could pay you to lick the floor clean and you’d say thank you."
The mother’s mouth opened in shock, her face flushed red with fury and humiliation.
The woman blinked, lips parting in offense.
But Zhao Yiming wasn’t done.
He spun on his heel, grabbed his water glass, and banged it hard with his spoon—clink! clink! clink!—until the entire restaurant turned toward him.
He raised his voice with theatrical flair.
"Everyone! Today’s bill is on ! Eat all you want, drink all you want—every table here is free... EXCEPT for theirs!" He pointed right at the gossiping duo.
"They mocked my friend," he said with fire in his chest, "Called her poor, classless. Let’s see who’s ’poor’ now, shall we?!"
Gasps echoed across the room. A waiter almost dropped his tray. A child clapped. A bald man cheered.
Zhao Yiming stood tall, a proud general in the battlefield of pride and seafood. At first, he didnt want to do this much, but hell that pair of mother and daughter annoyed the shit out of him.
While the mother and daughter duo could only clench their fists and stare down at the floor in sha, too embarrassed to even lift their heads...
Lao Xinya stood frozen in place.
She didn’t know what to say. It was the first ti in her life a man had defended her to this extent.
Her heart beat wildly, her face flushed a deep red—especially when Zhao Yiming took her hand gently and led her back to their seat.
He smiled warmly at her. "Continue eating what you like, Xinya. You don’t have to worry about people like that anymore. I’ve already humiliated them with my wealth."
"Ah... yeah..." she mumbled, still flustered, then awkwardly returned to her mountain of seafood.
But sothing blood quietly in her chest. Respect—warm and growing, wrapping around her heart like ivy. Zhao Yiming wasn’t just soone rich and eccentric. He had dignity. He had fire.
And, without her even realizing it, he had earned a place in her heart.
---
After the al, the two of them wandered down a more modern and bustling shopping district.
Neon signs, brand stores, stylish cafes—the contrast from Lianwu Street was stark. Zhao Yiming made a ntal note of the layout, the traffic, the vibe.
’This is the competition,’ he thought. ’I’ll make Lianwu rise again. Better than this.’
Beside him, Xinya quietly licked a small matcha ice cream cone, her steps calm, matching his pace. She seed at peace now, comfortable just walking beside him.
Until her eyes caught a young father handing his excited little daughter a big stick of cotton candy.
The girl squealed in delight, hugging her dad with her tiny arms, her feet hopping with joy.
Zhao Yiming noticed her gaze linger. "Do you want one?" he asked softly.
Xinya jolted, then quickly shook her head. "Oh—no, no. I’ll get fat if I eat too much sugar."
But her eyes didn’t lie. They were still on the father and daughter.
"I just..." she started, then hesitated, before continuing with a weak laugh, "I just rembered. My dad promised to buy cotton candy one day. But... he was always too busy with work. And when he stopped working, he was too busy drowning in booze."
Zhao Yiming stopped walking for a second.
He didn’t expect her to bring up her father—especially when she’d always avoided the subject.
"...Do you still hate him?" he asked, voice barely audible.
"Yeah. I do," she said quietly. "But I also hate the fact that I know I would’ve forgiven him... if he just apologized. Just once. But he never did. Not even until the day he died. He didn’t dare to face ."
Her voice was calm, but her eyes... they were sowhere far away.
Zhao Yiming felt sothing deep and sharp in his chest.
Guilt that churned into regret.
His smile faltered, turned bitter. He had no right to say anything. The cowardice of Lao Chen—the man who should’ve been there—was now etched into her forever.
"Ah—sorry," she suddenly said, forcing a smile. "Didn’t an to bring the mood down."
Then, as if flipping a switch, she looked ahead and pointed, "I want those famous fried buns from that stall over there. You coming?"
"...Yeah." Zhao Yiming nodded, matching her smile. "Let’s go."
The rest of their day passed with laughter, street snacks, a shared milk tea, and even a movie. From outside, it looked like a perfect day—two people with bright chemistry and matching smiles.
But beneath it all, a weight pressed against Zhao Yiming’s chest like a stone.
The lie between them.
The truth he couldn’t say.
No matter how happy she looked... no matter how much she laughed today...
He knew deep down, it was still his failure.
When he got back to his apartnt, silent and blank-faced, the system chid softly in his vision:
---
[Ding!]
[You completed two quest: Do What She Likes and For the Sake of Daughter!]
[Rewards Received: $35,000 | 25,000 AP | 35 Lao Xinya Friendship | 35 Lao Xinya Trust]
[New Perk unlocked!]
[Slapping With Wealth: when you face slapping soone with your money and status, your wealth will add by $1000]
[Warning! Perk slot is full!]
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