Zhang Yang Was a Seller

The dining room fell silent. No one but Zhang Yang had an appetite when they began lunch.

"Zhang Yang, why didn't you say something sooner?" Cheng Dongxue sounded angry. He had clearly noticed the problem long ago. That was why he had spoken to Cheng Hai when he saw Yang Su wearing the Sapphire Necklace.

"I tried to warn you, but no one listened. Even now that I've said it outright, I doubt anyone would believe me if we didn't need the money!" Zhang Yang sneered. This really wasn't his fault.

Zhang Yang knew Xu Yuan, too. She used to visit the Cheng Family often, eating and drinking at their expense, but he hadn't seen her there lately. The Sapphire Necklace had been a trap laid for Yang Su. Once Yang Su fell into it, Xu Yuan vanished.

Xu Yuan was about Yang Su's age. Both women were vain, loved money, and found glittering jewelry hard to resist.

Xu Yuan looked like a wealthy wife. Zhang Yang knew the truth, but the rest of the Cheng Family believed she was rich. Yang Su had even been proud to call her a friend.

Now the truth had come as a rude awakening. At the very least, Xu Yuan was no good person.

"No. Xu Yuan is my good friend. I have to talk to her and get this straightened out!" Yang Su was still naive enough to believe she could explain everything to Xu Yuan and recover some of the Cheng Family's losses.

Cheng Hai's face had been drawn ever since he came home. What worried him wasn't having a wife who squandered money. It was the financial crisis facing the Cheng Family's company.

Without the five million to keep it afloat, the company would be in serious trouble. And they had little time to find a solution.

"Zhang Yang, buy more groceries this afternoon. We're hosting a family dinner for relatives and friends." Cheng Hai had taken note of Xu Yuan swindling Yang Su out of more than three million, but that wasn't the most urgent problem. Even if they could get the money back, it would take a long, drawn-out fight. Neither he nor the company could wait.

"Dad, I have some money I can contribute." Cheng Dongxue knew she was part of the family. She had to do what she could to help them through this difficult time.

Zhang Yang stayed silent. Five million was a small sum to him, but it wasn't time for him to put up the money himself.

He knew what Cheng Hai had in mind: invite his children and a few important relatives over, then ask them for help.

Cheng Hai made the arrangements himself. Zhang Yang said nothing. He could have helped, but the Cheng Family still didn't trust him or think much of him.

"Dad, Mom, why not let Zhang Yang see if he can come up with something?" Cheng Dongxue suggested with a smile.

For one thing, Xu Buwei was carrying a hundred thousand in cash. How many people carried that much cash around?

"He..."

"That useless lump? He can buy groceries and cook, maybe, but what could he possibly do? We'll be lucky if he doesn't cause more trouble for the family. We're having guests for dinner tonight, so mind yourself."

Yang Su snapped at Cheng Dongxue, then took the chance to belittle Zhang Yang. She warned him that no matter what the guests said or how they mocked him tonight, he was to keep his mouth shut and take it.

"Fine. I'll keep my head down and say nothing. That's what I get for being your family's live-in son-in-law!" Zhang Yang grinned. He would play along. If they wouldn't let him take the lead, he would settle for being a supporting act—a clown for their amusement.

"Zhang Yang..." Cheng Dongxue called out helplessly. She had spent nearly every moment of the past few days with him and had seen what he could do. She didn't know how much money he had, but she believed he could intimidate certain people, like Xu Yuan. Since Xu Yuan had tricked Yang Su out of more than three million, perhaps Zhang Yang could turn the tables and trick a few million out of her.

Cheng Dongxue suddenly frowned. How could she have thought that? Was she being awful, imagining Zhang Yang as a crook and a con artist?

Cheng Hai turned and glared at Yang Su. She lowered her head.

He looked back at Zhang Yang. The man had become a mystery to him, and Cheng Hai began to question what had happened to Zhang Yang over the past few days.

He even worried Zhang Yang might flip the dinner table again tonight.

Zhang Yang had been trapped in the same day for a thousand years, and Yang Su had been swindled during that time. The Sapphire Necklace scam had happened before he broke free of the time loop. That was how he knew about it, including the crucial details.

The sale of the Sapphire Necklace had taken place right in the Cheng Family's home. Xu Yuan had delivered it herself.

But apart from his wife, Cheng Dongxue, suggesting that he help, no one believed in him. So he chose to stay quiet.

With so much happening at home, Cheng Dongxue promptly asked for time off. It was easy to get: Zhang Xuanyi agreed at once.

Even Lin Xiaofei took a particular interest in the family dinner. She skipped school to stay and help.

After lunch, the Volkswagen CC pulled away from the Cheng Family's old villa.

The Cheng Family had owned the villa before Zhang Yang married into the family. He had never asked exactly how long ago they had bought it. In any case, it had been cheap at the time.

"Where are we going to buy groceries?"

Cheng Dongxue had chosen to go with Zhang Yang. At home, she wouldn't know how to comfort her parents, and she had no desire to get caught in their argument.

"Zhang Yang's the expert on shopping."

Lin Xiaofei was teasing him, not mocking him. She had never thought poorly of Zhang Yang; she had only felt that a man ought to be stronger. But in bed, he had proved more than capable of bringing her to ecstasy. For Lin Xiaofei, that was enough from another woman's husband.

Besides, the Zhang Yang Lin Xiaofei knew was not the one Cheng Dongxue and the others knew. To her, he was a man no other could replace or compare with.

For now, Lin Xiaofei alone knew Zhang Yang's secret. She alone knew that he had a thousand years of life experience and accumulated knowledge, giving him abilities far beyond an ordinary person's reach.

"That's right. I'm the Cheng Family's nanny and housekeeper, after all." Zhang Yang grinned, his tone self-mocking.

Cheng Dongxue turned to look at him.

"Zhang Yang, you should find a job. You don't know how important steady work is for a man. Why don't we ask my second brother-in-law whether his design company is hiring?"

His self-mockery pained Cheng Dongxue. Besides, her second brother-in-law, Yang Gang, wasn't a snob and wouldn't look down on Zhang Yang. She firmly believed that, given a chance, Zhang Yang could still make something of himself.