Chapter 11

"I read Easy Weekly." Weng Shao fixed Pei Xingze with his deep, shadowed eyes. "That was your handiwork, wasn't it?"

Though he phrased it as a question, Weng Shao's expression seemed to say: You did it.

Crisp applause echoed through the empty restaurant. Having rented out the entire place, Pei Xingze said unhurriedly, "You're even smarter than I expected."

"Can we eat somewhere else now?" Weng Shao got straight to the point. "I'm hungry."

When they got back into Pei Xingze's car, Weng Shao watched the streets slowly recede beyond the window. Pei Xingze suddenly spoke. "It seems I didn't do anything."

He had done nothing, yet the initiative had somehow shifted into Weng Shao's hands.

"Not at all," Weng Shao praised him calmly. "You thoroughly demonstrated your financial strength and your ability to get things done."

Night had just fallen, and neon lights from both sides of the street slid across Weng Shao's face, rendering his features increasingly refined and dyeing his already dark, profound pupils even deeper.

Pei Xingze quietly admired Weng Shao's composure, as though everything were under his control. Only then did he realize. "You guessed long ago that I would come looking for you, didn't you?" His voice was soft and lingering, carrying a trace of intimacy, like a feather lightly brushing past Weng Shao's ear.

Weng Shao folded his hands over his knees. His expression suddenly turned focused, his dark eyes meeting Pei Xingze's directly. At that moment, Pei Xingze clearly saw his own reflection in Weng Shao's ink-black pupils.

"Of course." Weng Shao heard his own voice ring through the quiet car. "After all, like President Pei, I have long admired you from afar."

Author's Note:

Chapter 11

The restaurant Pei Xingze chose this time was a private dining establishment in the city that was not open to the public. Converted from a Western-style mansion in the bustling city center, it stood by the river amid pleasant scenery.

This was probably Weng Shao's first time in a place like this, so he revealed just the right amount of restraint and discomfort. But once the meal began, the dining etiquette he had spent a long time learning after returning to the Weng family in his previous life betrayed him completely in every gesture.

Pei Xingze, who had been observing him without showing it, smiled faintly and placed a freshly peeled shrimp into Weng Shao's bowl with serving chopsticks. "Their boiled shrimp is pretty good. Try it."

After saying that, Pei Xingze ladled Weng Shao a bowl of soup. It was lily, Chinese yam, and perch soup, simmered to perfection. Clear and delicious, it calmed the mind, nourished the brain, strengthened the spleen and stomach, and replenished the liver and kidneys. It was perfect for a high school graduate who had just finished a major examination.

Weng Shao thanked him gently. He first ate the shrimp Pei Xingze had peeled for him, then slowly drank the bowl of soup in small sips.

It was midsummer. Even with the air conditioning cooling the private room, after drinking that bowl of soup, Weng Shao still felt his pores open and a light sweat break out.

The tiny, sparkling beads of sweat made his skin seem even cooler and fairer. Beneath the crystal chandelier, he appeared to be covered in a jade-like glow.

Pei Xingze's gaze unconsciously fell on Weng Shao's lips. Perhaps because he had just had a bowl of soup, the pale, thin lips from the video had gained a touch of color and looked much healthier. More interestingly, Weng Shao truly seemed to regard this meal as an ordinary dinner rather than a social engagement, barely speaking throughout.

Pei Xingze deliberately reined himself in as well. He did not say much, but he kept peeling shrimp and crab for Weng Shao. The servers could have done those things, but for some reason, Pei Xingze did not call anyone over. He peeled one after another with great interest, feeding more than half of them to the young man he had just met.

The private room was quiet, with only the occasional clink of cups, plates, bowls, and chopsticks. Yet the atmosphere between Pei Xingze and Weng Shao was not awkward in the slightest. Instead, an unspoken understanding quietly lingered and flowed between their lips, teeth, bowls, and chopsticks.

After several rounds of tea and dishes, Weng Shao finally finished eating. He glanced at Pei Xingze, who was still peeling shrimp, and went straight to the point. "How does President Pei intend to support me?"

"Are you always this cold?" Pei Xingze pulled out a wet wipe and cleaned his hands. Then he waved those well-defined hands in front of Weng Shao, smiling. "This is the first time I've peeled shrimp for a man."

"Your technique is quite good." Weng Shao glanced at the large hand waving before him and praised sincerely, "President Pei has very nimble hands."

Pei Xingze waited patiently for a while, but no second sentence came. He could not help asking in surprise, "That's it?"

A smile surfaced in Weng Shao's eyes. "What else?"

"You're so sharp-tongued that even reporters can't outargue you. I thought you'd praise me a little more, at least until I was over the moon." Pei Xingze smiled at Weng Shao. "Though the moment I saw you, I was already over the moon."

"I'm honored that I can be so pleasing to President Pei's eye." Weng Shao poured Pei Xingze a cup of tea. "I'll use tea in place of wine to thank President Pei for treating me to a meal."

The double meaning successfully amused Pei Xingze. "You really know how to talk."

"I can talk even better. Unfortunately, I'm insignificant. No matter what I say, the public won't hear it." Weng Shao poured himself another cup of tea and said regretfully, "They can only hear what certain people want them to hear."

His pointed insinuation was clearly about how the Weng family had sent reporters to harass him at the examination site, yet refused to release the interview video. Fortunately, Pei Xingze had stepped in at the last moment. Otherwise, the interview Weng Shao had worked so hard on might have been tossed into some forgotten corner to gather dust.

"They were frightened by you. Weng Group is a listed company. Weng Yingjie and his son can't just stand by and watch the group's reputation be tarnished." Pei Xingze turned his teacup in his hand, studying Weng Shao with interest. "But how did you guess that Weng Zhen would send reporters to block you on the day of the National College Entrance Examination?"

Weng Shao gave the same answer as before. "Because Weng Zhen is just that disgusting."

"Weng Sui spread the video online because he wanted to incite netizens to condemn me. Unfortunately, he was one move short. He never expected that while the mantis stalked the cicada, there would be you, President Pei, waiting behind as the oriole. The moment Easy Weekly's report came out, I knew the Weng family wouldn't let it go. If they wanted to protect Weng Group's reputation, they could only find a way to deal with me."

There were two ways to deal with Weng Shao. One was to buy him off, acknowledge his identity, and fund his education. The other was to bribe reporters to smear him, make him the target of public condemnation, destroy his reputation, and eliminate him at the source. In his previous life, the Weng family had used both methods at once. Blinded by familial affection and money, Weng Shao had nearly lost half his life.

But in this life, Weng Shao had cursed out the Weng family right at the banquet, in front of all the neighbors and relatives. He had gambled that Weng Yingjie would never swallow that insult. Sure enough, after Easy Weekly published its report, the Weng family did not choose to placate him. Their next move was therefore easy to predict.

"I didn't know exactly what Weng Yingjie and Weng Zhen would do, but if they wanted to ruin me, acting on the day of the National College Entrance Examination had the highest chance of success."

Weng Shao spoke with ease and confidence.

Across from him, Pei Xingze could not conceal the admiration in his eyes.

From any reasonable perspective, Weng Shao was merely a student who had just graduated from high school. Compared with the wealthy and accomplished Weng Yingjie, the boy came from humble circumstances, had little worldly experience, and had never even left the city in all his life. Who could have imagined that such an ordinary-looking youth could calculate a businessman like Weng Yingjie, who had dominated the business world for decades, so thoroughly? He had even inferred from a single Easy Weekly article that someone intended to use him against the Weng family.

"That old fox Weng Yingjie must really be blind," Pei Xingze could not help sighing. "He ignored a son as clever as you, yet went to such lengths to raise those two idiots."

Weng Shao replied with a smile, "If he weren't blind, how would I have had the chance to receive President Pei's support?"

"No, not support." Pei Xingze personally poured Weng Shao a cup of tea and corrected him with a smile. "Cooperation."

"Whatever you plan to do next, I'll fully cooperate with you." Pei Xingze's attitude was equally frank. He believed in trusting those he employed and not employing those he doubted. Since he had decided Weng Shao was intelligent, he was more than willing to hear what an intelligent person had in mind.

"The Weng family sending people to interview me gave me a little inspiration." Weng Shao modestly credited the Weng father and son. "Since they can send reporters to interview me, could I possibly accept an interview from a television station as well?"

"Preferably a talk show with high ratings and social influence. Such programs have broad reach and generate a lot of discussion. When it comes to social issues and trending topics, they can draw widespread public attention from every angle..."

"If possible, I'd like the program to air after the National College Entrance Examination scores are released. I'll appear as a Jinghai University student. On the program, I'll share my experiences from this period and recommend the notes for each subject that I'll soon be publishing to the many students out there."

Weng Shao believed his study notes could help students master high school knowledge more effectively. Once this year's examination results came out, that would be fully demonstrated.

By then, even if he did not say a single bad word about the Weng family, netizens following the matter would know how a tiny sum of money the Weng family had been stingy about had nearly ruined such an outstanding student. Not to mention all the little tricks they had pulled while he was preparing for the exam—on that point, he believed Pei Xingze would be more than happy to provide evidence.

"The more ruthless they were before, the harsher the backlash will be afterward." Breathing in the curling fragrance of tea, Weng Shao spoke calmly.

Pei Xingze smiled in understanding. "It seems you already had everything planned out. Even without me, the Weng family wouldn't have gotten anything from you."

Weng Shao raised his cup with a smile. "President Pei, you flatter me. I'm merely a gun. You are the one holding it."