DLWAV CH120

“Ruize?”
“Why are you here?”

Zhang Qingyan was still the first to react.

After all, this place was not somewhere they could afford to consume.

Most importantly, she felt the middle-aged man on Ao Ruize’s right looked somewhat familiar.

But in the next second, Mother Yan’s voice rang out: “Governor… Governor Wu?”

A flash of realization suddenly crossed Zhang Qingyan’s eyes. Wasn’t the middle-aged man on Ao Ruize’s right the very Governor of Wu Province she often saw on the news?

Governor Wu looked equally surprised and bewildered: “Madam Yan?”

In his impression, Mother Yan had always been an elegant and generous lady, but right now…

The expression on Mother Yan’s face completely froze.

Only then did Zhang Qingyan and Mother Yan realize—wait, how could Ao Ruize/Zhang Qingyan’s brother be together with a figure like Governor Wu?

Right at that moment, Governor Wu’s phone rang.

The call was from his secretary.

Governor Wu: “…What? Vice Governor Zhao is looking for me? Alright, I’ll head back immediately.”

After hanging up the phone, he turned directly to Ao Ruize: “I am truly sorry, Mr. Zhang. I have an urgent matter to attend to and cannot accompany you any longer.”

“On behalf of the 53 million citizens of Wu Province, I once again express my sincere gratitude to you.”

Ao Ruize reached out and shook his hand: “It was just a small effort, nothing worth mentioning.”

“Please go ahead, Governor Wu.”

After saying that, Governor Wu hurriedly left.

Governor Wu was actually this polite to Ao Ruize?!

Zhang Qingyan and Mother Yan were completely dumbfounded.

Ao Ruize walked straight toward Zhang Qingyan and answered, “I was having a meal here with some friends.”

To be exact, Governor Wu was treating them to a meal.

Because a few days ago, a riot broke out in a ghost den in Wu Province. Through Director Wang’s introduction, Governor Wu sought him out.

Just like when he helped Director Wang and the others before, he casually gave him a magical artifact, which ultimately successfully suppressed the riot.

Friends?

Ao Ruize and Governor Wu were actually friends—

Looking again at the people around him: Sun Jianhong of the Haishi Sun family, Director Wang of Hailu Daily Chemicals, President Zhao of Songyang Technology, Marquis Li of the Capital’s Li family…

And these people—none of whose power was lower than the Yan family’s—were all gathered around Ao Ruize.

Clearly, they all treated Ao Ruize as the figure of highest respect.

But wasn’t Ao Ruize just a useless bum who graduated only a few years ago, hadn’t found a job since graduation, had recently even stopped looking for one, and was just freeloading and waiting to die at Zhang Qingyan’s house?!

Mother Yan’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.

Right at that moment, Boss Li’s voice rang out again: “Also, wasn’t that group of thugs from the Zhao family taken care of by Old Brother Sun and me?”

“And little sister Qingyan—Director Wang, didn’t you personally have people transfer her directly to your head office?”

Director Wang added, “As for the necklace little sister Qingyan is wearing, it seems only I and the Second Miss of the Song family in the Capital ordered it domestically. So this necklace should be the one I gave to little sister Qingyan.”

“Of course, if the Second Miss of the Song family also had the honor of meeting Mr. Zhang and subsequently gave the necklace she had to little sister Qingyan, then that’s a different story.”

After speaking, they all looked at Mother Yan: “So why is it that all these things, coming from Madam Yan’s mouth, have suddenly become the Yan family’s credit?”

They were genuinely curious—what gave Mother Yan this level of confidence?

Hearing this, the surrounding customers instantly sat even straighter.

They originally thought this was a good show of a scheming woman trying by any means necessary to marry into a wealthy family, only to be publicly torn apart by the wealthy madam.

But the truth of the matter turned out to be the wealthy madam wishfully assuming her son’s girlfriend was a scheming woman, so she came looking for trouble to teach her a lesson, only to end up kicking an iron plate…

Thinking of this, more and more people pulled out their phones and started filming Mother Yan.

Mother Yan was completely bewildered.

Weren’t those things done by Yan Qi?!

They were actually all done by Director Wang and the others!

—Thinking about it, it was obvious. How could Director Wang and the others possibly joke about such matters?

In other words, Zhang Ruize was no ordinary person at all.

—He might not even be someone their Yan family could afford to offend.

Zhang Qingyan was also completely bewildered.

Was this still the Zhang Ruize she knew?

Because every single scene unfolding before her eyes proved that her brother’s identity was extraordinary.

Otherwise, why would that distinguished Mr. Sun help their family deal with Zhao Cheng and his gang of thugs?

Otherwise, why would Director Wang proactively transfer her to the head office and give her such an expensive necklace?

But what extraordinary identity could Zhang Ruize possibly have?

Wasn’t he just her brother?

Born into an ordinary rural family in Li Province, started elementary school at six, graduated university at twenty-one, lived at her house for two years, still hadn’t found a stable job…

Most importantly, Ao Ruize had never told her about any of this.

And as if guessing what she was thinking, Ao Ruize only said: “I had a miraculous encounter when I first started university… and recently, I’ve finally achieved some success in my studies…”

“The reason I didn’t tell you the good news right away is that I divined your future marriage might not be very smooth.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Mother Yan beside them.

So the identity of the culprit he was referring to—the one who would cause Zhang Qingyan’s future marriage to be less than smooth—was self-evident.

Right at that moment, Yan Qi rushed in, panting heavily: “Mom, what are you trying to do…”

However, in the next second, his footsteps slowed down, ultimately stopping beside Mother Yan.

“Aunt Wang, Uncle Zhao…”

On one hand, he was confused as to why Director Wang and the others were all here at this time.

On the other hand, he didn’t want to argue with Mother Yan in front of so many people; that would cause her to lose too much face.

Only then did Mother Yan finally snap back to reality.

What should she do now?

Apologize to Zhang Qingyan?

Mother Yan’s face completely froze.

No, she couldn’t do it.

Right at that moment, Ao Ruize spoke up again: “I thought about it. If the Yan family knew my current identity, you might not be able to clearly see their true nature. If they didn’t reveal it after you got married, that would be fine. But if they revealed it then, it would be too late for you to regret it.”

The expression on Zhang Qingyan’s face slowly faded.

That’s right. The most important thing right now was no longer the issue of Ao Ruize’s identity.

It was the fact that Mother Yan, simply because she was an ordinary person, had blatantly humiliated her in front of so many people.

—Just like how Ao Ruize and his friends booked a private room to eat here.

Yet when Mother Yan wanted to meet her, she chose the lobby.

Don’t tell her Mother Yan did this because she “liked the lively atmosphere.”

—She did it entirely to make her lose all face in public.

If Ao Ruize hadn’t happened to be here today, if Ao Ruize hadn’t happened to possess the power to make others treat him with caution, Mother Yan probably would have truly succeeded.

They say that when you marry, you don’t just marry a man, but the family behind him.

But a mother-in-law like Mother Yan truly completely turned her off.

Thinking of this, the expression on Zhang Qingyan’s face vanished entirely.

Mother Yan’s face, however, contorted completely.

Because although Ao Ruize said those words to Zhang Qingyan, his words, inside and out, were completely humiliating her—he had seen through them long ago. From beginning to end, he had never taken the Yan family, nor her, seriously. In his eyes, her actions today were nothing more than a clumsy farce used to enlighten Zhang Qingyan.

When had she ever suffered such humiliation?!

But to make her retaliate—

Looking at the people standing behind Ao Ruize, the words that reached her throat simply wouldn’t come out.

Because she wasn’t stupid. Her son, Yan Qi, and Director Wang’s second son were good friends, and when Yan Qi saw Director Wang, he would affectionately call her “Aunt Wang.” Yet just now, when Director Wang mocked her, she hadn’t given Yan Qi—or the Yan family—even the slightest bit of face.

Therefore, she had ample reason to suspect that if she dared to say those words, the people behind Ao Ruize would eagerly scramble to stand up for him.

It could be said that however arrogant and overbearing she had been just now, that was exactly how humiliated she was at this moment.

So Mother Yan’s face instantly contorted even more.

Yan Qi wasn’t stupid either. Of course he saw Mother Yan’s wariness toward Ao Ruize, and he also saw Ao Ruize’s utter disdain for Mother Yan.

He suddenly felt a bit panicked in his heart, so he couldn’t help but try to grab Zhang Qingyan’s hand.

But Zhang Qingyan directly shook off his hand.

Yan Qi’s face froze as well.

Zhang Qingyan simply said: “I think it’s necessary for me to reconsider our relationship.”

Saying that, she turned to look at Ao Ruize again: “Let’s go back first.”

Naturally, Ao Ruize wouldn’t refuse: “Alright.”

“Qingyan, Qingyan…”

Yan Qi immediately started to chase after her.

But he was quickly pulled back by Mother Yan: “Stop right there—”

“Haven’t I lost enough face already?!”

Looking at the surrounding faces, which were not lacking in mockery, Mother Yan knew that for the next half a month, their Yan family would be the laughingstock and after-dinner gossip of Qianshi’s—and even Wu Province’s—high society.

Yan Qi was also completely bewildered, veins popping on his forehead: “Mom, what on earth is going on here?”

Mother Yan pulled him along and walked outside. It wasn’t until they got into the car that she spoke viciously: “Don’t you understand yet?”

“That girlfriend of yours isn’t some ordinary little white-collar worker at all. Her background runs deep. All this time, she’s been playing us for fools—”

She didn’t believe for a second that before this, Zhang Qingyan completely didn’t know Zhang Ruize’s identity. After all, they lived under the same roof; how could Zhang Qingyan not know Ao Ruize’s situation?

Hearing this, Yan Qi couldn’t help but frown.

In fact, if today’s incident hadn’t happened, Zhang Qingyan truly wouldn’t have known how powerful Ao Ruize currently was.

After all, recently she had either been working overtime every day or trying to smooth things out with Yan Qi. Besides occasionally chatting with Ao Ruize when she came back at night, she hadn’t really seen him much at all.

So even though she now knew Ao Ruize’s power, upon suddenly seeing the wolfberry tree waving its branches—one wiping the table, one boiling water, and one mopping the floor—Zhang Qingyan couldn’t help but clutch her chest and gasp for air.

She felt that even if Ao Ruize told her right now that he had a partner, she wouldn’t be surprised anymore.

Because compared to the fact that Ao Ruize was actually raising a sprite, that was completely not worth mentioning.

Then she belatedly realized: “Wait, is this the wolfberry tree I raised?”

“Wait again, those wolfberry leaves we’ve been eating… didn’t they grow from it?!”

Ao Ruize nodded.

Zhang Qingyan: “…”

Known: She raised this wolfberry tree.

And: It has now become a spirit/sprite.

Therefore: She had eaten her own child… and it was quite delicious, so much so that she kinda wanted to eat it again.

The wolfberry tree: “…”

It instantly grew more than ten branches right there on the spot, pinched them off itself, and piled them on the table.

Zhang Qingyan: “…”

Baby, you’re too considerate.

So ten minutes later, Zhang Qingyan and Ao Ruize were drinking freshly cooked lean meat soup with wolfberry leaves.

Only then did Ao Ruize ask: “What do you plan to do next?”

Zhang Qingyan instantly fell silent.

It was quite a while before she picked up the slightly cooled soup and took another sip: “Sorry, I want to observe a bit longer.”

Although she had fallen out with Yan Qi’s mother, she still held a glimmer of hope.

After all, Yan Qi hadn’t made any mistakes in principle yet.

Of course, at this point, it was more about her wanting to prove she hadn’t misjudged him.

Naturally, she would still face the gap between herself and Yan Qi directly and work hard to become more outstanding.

She just hoped Yan Qi wouldn’t let her down.

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