Financial Crisis

"I'm full..."

"Me too..."

A woman's stomach could only hold so much; it was better to eat small meals often. And Zhang Yang's performance just now had been more than enough to count as a feast.

"Zhang Yang, how did you do it?"

They sat down by the tea table, where Su Xiner prepared tea. Zhang Yang's wife, Cheng Dongxue, was the first to ask. She had been married to him for years, yet she had never known he could take on ten men without suffering a scratch.

All three women wanted to know. Three pairs of eyes fixed on Zhang Yang, waiting for an answer.

At that moment, only one person besides Zhang Yang knew his secret: he had been trapped in the same day for a thousand years. That person was Lin Xiaofei, whom he had slept with that day.

Lin Xiaofei was a good actress. She widened her eyes too, looking to Zhang Yang for an explanation.

Zhang Yang grinned and answered truthfully. "What if I told you I've lived for a thousand years? Over that time, I've learned a lot, including martial arts."

"Oh, come on... If you don't want to tell us, don't make up something like that. We're not three-year-olds, and you're not some thousand-year-old Demon."

Cheng Dongxue was the first to question him—and the first to disbelieve him.

Lin Xiaofei smiled knowingly. Zhang Yang was bold enough to tell the truth, but no one believed a word of it.

"Mr. Zhang, that would make you a god!"

Su Xiner did not believe him either. If his story were true, then gods existed—and Zhang Yang was one of them.

"Zhang Yang, stop making things up. Tell us the truth!"

"Oh, I'm actually a lay disciple of Shaolin Temple. I came down the mountain to settle my worldly ties."

They would not believe him when he told the truth, so he might as well spout nonsense. They would not believe that either.

"Does that mean I married a monk? Amitabha, what a sin..."

"Hahaha..."

The three beauties shook with laughter, their chests rising and trembling. Zhang Yang watched and swallowed hard.

At least Zhang Yang had finally shown what he was capable of today, and Cheng Dongxue felt safer with him by her side.

The four of them drank tea together. No one came to bother Su Xiner, and as for her job, it seemed Zhang Yang had been right: not only would she avoid punishment, she would even receive credit.

Time was impossible to grasp. In the blink of an eye, several more days had passed.

At the Cheng Family home, Zhang Yang remained as unwelcome as ever. If anything, Yang Su mocked and belittled him more than before because he had overturned the table at her birthday banquet. She showed no gratitude for the White Jade Hairpin he had given her.

Of the Cheng Family, only Cheng Dongxue knew what Zhang Yang had been doing outside the house. Lin Xiaofei knew too.

Their treatment of him kept Zhang Yang silent. He did not tell anyone else.

While the Cheng Family's mockery of Zhang Yang grew worse, Yang Su and Cheng Hai had begun arguing. The cause was the Sapphire Necklace Yang Su had bought without consulting him.

Zhang Yang got out of bed at ten in the morning, woken by the shouting in the living room. Cheng Hai and Yang Su were still arguing over the Sapphire Necklace.

The moment Yang Su saw Zhang Yang leave the bedroom, she turned her anger on him.

"You good-for-nothing! All you do is sleep. Do you even know what time it is? Don't we need groceries? Don't we need to eat? Get out and buy some food!"

Her words were harsh, but Zhang Yang was used to them. He let them wash over him as though she were talking about someone else.

"Useless!" Cheng Hai cursed too. He sounded exhausted; they had been arguing for most of the morning.

Lin Xiaofei had no classes that morning and had hoped to sleep in, but the shouting had woken her as well. She got up and happened to run into Zhang Yang.

"Auntie, there's no need to be so harsh. Zhang Yang isn't that bad. At least..."

Lin Xiaofei nearly blurted out that Zhang Yang was good in bed. She caught herself just in time, the words sticking in her throat.

"What isn't bad about him? He's useless, he has no proper job, and he calls himself a man? What has he ever done for the Cheng Family all these years? He hasn't contributed a thing."

Yang Su would not listen. Lin Xiaofei had tried to talk sense into her countless times, and every time she had failed. This time was no different.

Holding a glass of water, Zhang Yang walked slowly toward Yang Su and glanced below her pale neck. The Sapphire Necklace's pendant rested against the fair skin of her cleavage.

The corners of Zhang Yang's mouth rose in a sly smile. "The necklace is fake!"

"What did you say?" Yang Su snapped.

Zhang Yang did not answer. He headed straight for the front door; he had groceries to buy.

"Fake?" Cheng Hai flared up too. Their argument had started because Yang Su had spent over three million on the necklace. If it was fake, how could he not be furious?

Zhang Yang left, but Lin Xiaofei was still there. She watched the battle he had sparked with a single sentence grow fiercer by the moment.

She stared, openmouthed and speechless. What kind of son-in-law did that? He had made no effort to reconcile them. Instead, he had poured oil on the fire.

A necklace alone might not have caused an argument in the Cheng Family. One that cost over three million might—but even that was not the real reason.

"Take off the necklace!" Cheng Hai was usually somewhat henpecked, but this was different. It could drag the Cheng Family into a bottomless pit.

"Why should I? I bought it as a birthday present for myself!" Yang Su had lost her composure.

Cheng Hai thought back to her recent birthday banquet. Both Chu Yaotian and Ling Junsheng had said the White Jade Hairpin Zhang Yang gave her was worth a fortune, and both had praised his eye for quality.

So if Zhang Yang said the Sapphire Necklace was fake, Cheng Hai had reason to suspect it. They had to take it off and have it checked. Besides, the Cheng Family needed money.

"Do you know what the Cheng Family is facing right now? The company is in financial trouble. We need money!" Cheng Hai was thoroughly furious.

"What financial trouble?" Yang Su raised her voice even further. She did not believe him. She thought it was just an excuse to take her Sapphire Necklace.

"You're too vain. You always have to keep up with everyone else. The company has a five-million-yuan shortfall. If we don't cover it soon, it'll go bankrupt." Cheng Hai's voice suddenly dropped.

Yang Su fell silent. Right there, she called the company's finance department.

"Finance department? Is the company having financial trouble?"

"Yes, Mrs. Cheng."

"How much?"

"Five million!"

Yang Su put down her phone, her expression stricken. Her life as a wealthy wife might be coming to an end. If the company went bankrupt, she would lose everything.

"How did this happen?" Yang Su murmured, lowering her head.

"When you run a company, business has its ups and downs. Sometimes you make money; sometimes you lose it. That's normal. I'd set aside five million for emergencies, but you took more than four million of it. Some went on your birthday, and now there's barely any money left in the account."

Cheng Hai no longer had the strength to argue. He dropped into a chair, looking as though his soul had been drained from him. There was nowhere he could raise five million yuan on such short notice.