Chapter 11

"Never care about how bad bad people are. How bad he is has nothing to do with you. You just need to live better than he does." Cheng Lang patted Shen Huaiyu on the shoulder. Looking at Shen Huaiyu, who seemed to understand but not quite, he said solemnly, "The best way to defeat someone isn't to destroy him. It's to reach heights he can never attain, to leave him so far behind that he isn't even qualified to look up at you."

Although Shen Huaiyu did not quite understand why Cheng Lang would say that, the moment he heard those words, he suddenly felt his blood surge.

After feeding Shen Huaiyu a bowl of inspirational nonsense, Cheng Lang saw that it was nearly eight o'clock. He patted Shen Huaiyu on the shoulder to snap him out of it. "All right, go to class first."

Chapter 11

At noon that day, Cheng Lang received the bank statements from the period when Shen Huaiyu had been arranging his parents' funerals, along with an itemized list Shen Huaiyu had compiled from memory.

"What are you going to do?" Shen Huaiyu looked at Cheng Lang somewhat blankly. "What do you need me to do?"

"Study hard and improve every day," Cheng Lang said. "And practice your Tea Whisking skills some more. We'll shoot a promotional video this weekend."

After sending Shen Huaiyu off, Cheng Lang followed the itemized list and inquired about the procedures and prices for funerals in the city. Just as he had expected, based on Shen Huaiyu's list, the entire funeral should have cost no more than four hundred thousand at most—even calculating with prices ten percent above market rates.

Cheng Lang then pretended to be a customer looking to buy a burial plot and contacted the sales consultant at the cemetery where Shen Huaiyu's parents had been buried. He found out the usual price for a plot of the same specifications.

After learning everything, even Cheng Lang, who always had money on his mind, could not help clicking his tongue.

"That old bastard really squeezes every last drop out of people," Cheng Lang sneered. He was no gentleman, but he believed in making money the right way. He despised people who took advantage of a disaster to cheat orphans out of their money.

"...I heard your uncle is holding a calligraphy and painting exhibition this weekend." Cheng Lang said, "Find out the time and location. We'll go meet him."

Shen Huaiyu looked at the price list Cheng Lang had brought back and nodded heavily.

Cheng Lang asked again, "Did you see Professor Tan today?"

Shen Huaiyu nodded again. "I did. Just like you told me, I told him about how my uncle pressured me into selling him the house at a low price, then turned around and sold it to President Lu at a high price. Professor Tan didn't say much, but he asked me very carefully about everything that happened." Including some details about the funeral arrangements.

"That's only natural," Cheng Lang said. Given Professor Tan's status, he would not make rash comments about a family scandal involving the reputation of a good friend. But since Professor Tan had asked, it meant he intended to investigate.

Besides, when it came down to it, Professor Tan had also been one of the people used in this matter. Cheng Lang believed that with Professor Tan's proud temperament, once he verified the truth, he would never stand by and do nothing.

"What should we do now?" Shen Huaiyu looked at Cheng Lang. He was clearly beginning to depend on him.

"Go to work." Cheng Lang tapped his watch. "It's already past seven. The bus definitely won't get us there in time, so let's take a taxi."

Because it was evening rush hour, traffic was a little congested. By the time they arrived at White Jade Capital, it was exactly eight o'clock. Cheng Lang changed into his waiter's uniform as quickly as possible. The moment he rushed into the dance floor, he was stopped by the procurement department manager.

"Boss Cheng sure is busy every day!" The procurement manager sat at the bar with a glass of whiskey on the rocks beside him. His long fingers tapped lightly against the counter.

"I heard from Chen that you had something you wanted to discuss with me?" The procurement manager's surname was Chen. He was just over thirty, dressed in a tailored suit, and the Rolex on his wrist alone was worth over a million. He always wore a pleasant smile, but at the moment, Manager Chen was somewhat annoyed.

Early that morning, he had received a call from Chen, asking him to look after someone and use the procurement department's channels to order a few cases of goods.

Ever since Chen Hai became the procurement department manager at White Jade Capital, this sort of thing had happened often. Manager Chen had not thought much of it and readily agreed over the phone. He had assumed this newly appointed headliner, who had gone through Chen's back door, would soon come looking for him. Yet Manager Chen waited from day until night without seeing so much as a shadow of the new headliner. In the end, he had to stay behind and work overtime before he finally managed to wait for this late-arriving headliner.

What an attitude!

Cheng Lang was sharp-eyed. With one glance, he could tell that the procurement manager was in a bad mood. His eyes shifted, and he immediately understood what Manager Chen was upset about. Speaking of which, this really had been his oversight. When asking someone for a favor, he should have taken the initiative. Instead, he had carelessly left the god of wealth waiting all day.

"I had planned to contact you this morning, Brother Chen." Cheng Lang explained with an apologetic expression, "I didn't expect Chen to bring this up with you himself. Chen is truly a good man. Coming to work at White Jade Capital, I really ran into a benefactor. Unfortunately, not everyone is as lucky as I am. Let me tell you about my classmate..."

As Cheng Lang spoke, he rattled off the whole mess with Shen Huaiyu's family to Manager Chen at top speed. "...That's why I wasn't able to contact you right away, Manager Chen."

Manager Chen also had a fiery temper. After hearing Cheng Lang's account, he was instantly furious. He immediately shared Cheng Lang's indignation. "This isn't your fault. No one could stand something like this. Isn't this just making money off the dead? Isn't he afraid that the kid's parents will come looking for their money in his dreams at night?"

"Exactly! Good people are hard to come by these days. I'm lucky to have benefactors like Chen and Brother Chen helping me. My classmate is unlucky. Even relatives bound to him by blood can't be relied on."

Many things came down to saving face. After Cheng Lang flattered him while putting down the other party, the little resentment in Manager Chen's heart vanished without a trace.

"You're going to seek justice at his uncle's calligraphy and painting exhibition this weekend. Do you want me to send a couple of people with you? It would save you two kids from being bullied."

"No need." Cheng Lang shook his head. "How could I trouble Manager Chen with my personal matters? I'm already extremely grateful that you're willing to help me with this. To be honest, I opened this milk tea shop with that classmate of mine. It's just to earn enough for food. I'm fine—I'm an orphan, with only myself to feed. But he has a younger brother in the hospital in a vegetative state. The medical bills alone cost over two hundred thousand a month. Sigh!"