Chapter 401: Deciding to Take Li Ruobing Home

Chapter 401: Deciding to Take Li Ruobing Home

Wu Jiao never got the chance to say it.

The phone was suddenly whisked out of her hand. She looked up, and of course it was Wu Chen. The moment he lifted it to his ear, she grabbed for it.

“Give it back…”

Wu Chen raised his other hand as though he were about to reach for her hair, and Wu Jiao flinched away on reflex.

“Hi, Mom,” Wu Chen said into the phone.

“Huh? Xiaochen… Is it true, what your sister just said? You’re seeing someone?” Zhang Xiujuan sounded eager, full of motherly concern.

“Yeah,” Wu Chen said.

“Since when? Why didn’t you tell me? How old is she? Is she from around here? How did you two meet? Honestly, you never tell the family anything. Dating someone is a big deal…” Zhang Xiujuan was talking much faster than usual, firing off one question after another, with a touch of reproach for her son.

She really was a little excited.

Her son was good-looking and had always done well in school. He hadn’t dated in middle school or high school, and Zhang Xiujuan had actually been proud of that. Studying mattered more at that age, after all. But he hadn’t dated in college either. He simply didn’t seem to know how… Wu Jiao had brought it up at home more than once, and even used it to needle him whenever the two of them squabbled.

That had left Zhang Xiujuan a little worried.

Her son had only just graduated, so there was no hurry for him to marry. Still, “my son doesn’t know how to talk to girls” was something she had definitely filed away.

Which was why she was a little excited now.

“…Prettier than a celebrity? She doesn’t need to be that pretty, you know. A girl that pretty can make you uneasy. What really matters is her character… Xiaochen, say something.”

Zhang Xiujuan finally ran out of breath.

“I’m listening to you, Mom,” Wu Chen said with a smile.

“What are you listening to me for? You talk!” she said.

“It’s not something I can explain in a few sentences, and I’m busy right now, Mom.” He was smiling as he said it. “How about this. I’ll come home at the end of the month and bring her back so you can meet her.”

“B-bring her home? That soon?” Now Zhang Xiujuan was the one caught off guard. Wasn’t that much too fast?

He hadn’t even been working a full month yet!

“How long have you two been together, and you’re already bringing her home? I’m warning you, Xiaochen, you’d better be serious about this. Don’t be careless and end up treating the girl badly, or I’ll deal with you myself… I know you’re not that kind of boy, but dating is serious business. Have you even talked it over with her? You can’t just…”

She was off again.

“Mom, don’t worry… I’m at work right now. Don’t worry about it. I’ve got to go. You’ll meet her in a few days.”

“Well… go on, then. Do a good job… We’ll leave it there.” Zhang Xiujuan paused, then added hastily, “You’re definitely bringing her, right?”

“Definitely,” Wu Chen said.

“All right. I’ll talk it over with your dad and we’ll get things ready… work out how to host her… Go on, get back to work.”

And that was that.

Plenty had been said. Yet Wu Chen hadn’t actually given away a single real piece of information.

He hung up.

He turned to Li Ruobing. She pressed her lips together and asked softly, “You’re taking me home?”

“Mm.” Wu Chen smiled and nodded.

She pressed her lips together again. She was smiling, but something in her expression had subtly shifted.

The two of them had never actually discussed this.

She didn’t know whether he’d had it in mind all along or had only just decided. As for the idea itself… naturally she had no objection whatsoever. But she did feel the tiniest bit nervous.

Li Ruobing had always gone her own way, and she hadn’t gotten along with her own family for years. But precisely because she cared so much about Wu Chen, she would care about his parents too.

“Give me my phone…”

While Wu Chen and Li Ruobing were talking, Wu Jiao lunged for it again, and missed.

Wu Chen hadn’t even taken his eyes off Li Ruobing. He simply lifted his hand, and Wu Jiao came up empty.

“What were you up to just now? Trying to get Mom to lecture me?” He turned to his sister.

“No… Just give me my phone first.” Caught out, Wu Jiao softened her tone. She was still a little afraid he’d tell her off.

“No?” Wu Chen asked.

“Really, no! Bro! Big brother! My dearest big brother, give it back. I was wrong, okay?” Wu Jiao surrendered, apologized, and turned on the charm all in one smooth motion. She’d had a lot of practice.

Wu Chen handed the phone back.

The instant she had it, though, Wu Jiao wrinkled her nose and gave him a mock-fierce look. Then she promptly put some distance between them, grabbed her bag, and headed for the lounge Li Ruobing had pointed out earlier.

“Xiaoxue, come help me.”

She didn’t forget to bring Chen Xue along.

Chen Xue, who had been biting back a smile the whole time, followed her.

The two girls whispered as they went. Just before Wu Jiao disappeared into the lounge, Wu Chen caught something along the lines of “my brother is so annoying.”

The lounge door closed.

“Your sister’s quite the little troublemaker, isn’t she?” Li Ruobing said, turning to him.

“She only dares act like that with me. With other people she wouldn’t, and wouldn’t know how.” Wu Chen smiled, took two steps, turned, and sat down on the sofa.

Li Ruobing came over and sat beside him. She leaned into him and rested a hand on his shoulder.

“The way you are with your sister…” she began, studying his profile.

“What about it?” He smiled at her.

“Nothing, really. It’s just very different. You really seem like a big brother…” There was more behind the words than she said.

“What do you mean, seem? I am one.” Wu Chen laughed.

“Mm-hm.” She nodded and left it there.

What she had really meant was that the way he treated Wu Jiao was completely unlike the way he treated anyone else. It felt more real. Not that he’d been false before, exactly. Only… there was always something about him that was impossible to read.

“So what did you and my sister talk about? And why buy her such an expensive bag?” Wu Chen asked her.

Just idle talk.

A few minutes later.

Ring, ring…

Wu Chen’s phone. He took it out, glanced at the screen, and answered.

“A-Tai.”

“Brother-in-law, you busy?”

“No. Go ahead.”

“This morning, Ding Ruilong’s old man met with my dad…”

Li Ruobing had been leaning close, her head tilted toward the phone. But the moment she heard the two families had met, she lost all interest. The name Ding Ruilong alone was enough to turn her stomach.

“I’ll go check on them,” she murmured.

She stood and headed for the lounge to see whether Wu Jiao’s hair was sorted out.

Once she’d gone, Wu Chen got up too. One hand in his pocket, he walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window and gazed out at the view as he listened.

“…It’s pretty much settled. The Ding family’s taking responsibility for the club fire. For the club burning down and all the related losses, they’re willing to pay one billion yuan in compensation…” Li Ruotai sounded distinctly excited.

The club had been slated to burn anyway. This money was practically free!

Wu Chen had told him earlier to ask the Ding family for a billion at minimum. Li Ruotai hadn’t expected them to actually get it!

Wu Chen wasn’t the least bit surprised.

The Ding family wanted an alliance with the Lis far too badly. And though the truth about the fire hadn’t come out yet, however the investigation went, there was no getting around the Ding family’s people. Under those circumstances, paying sooner or paying later made no difference.

They had to pay.

“Got it,” Wu Chen said when he’d heard it all.

“Brother-in-law,” Li Ruotai said again.

“What?”

“Well… about the Ding family’s compensation. My dad and I talked it over. Since this is money we ‘made,’ Dad’s idea is that you and I split it fifty-fifty. Five hundred million each. How does that sound?”

Wu Chen’s eyebrow went up.

He had to hand it to Li Maoren. The man really knew how to conduct himself.

People capable of great things had always known when to be generous.

“No problem,” Wu Chen said.

He accepted.

The money wasn’t coming out of the Li family’s pocket anyway. It was the Dings’. Pulling a small maneuver and taking the Ding family for five hundred million felt rather satisfying.

“Great. It’ll probably be a few days before we can transfer it to you… Oh, right, brother-in-law, you free tonight? You’re at my sister’s, aren’t you? I think I heard her just now. I’m leaving Donghai tomorrow morning. Let’s all get together tonight and have dinner…”

“Mm…” Wu Chen considered it.

By rights, he wasn’t free. His sister was here, and he needed to have dinner with her tonight. But Li Ruotai was leaving. Having Li Ruobing skip seeing her own brother off so she could eat with Wu Chen’s sister clearly wouldn’t do.

“I’m free,” he said after a moment. “But I need to warn you about something.”

“Huh?” Li Ruotai panicked at once.

Why a warning, all of a sudden? He hadn’t done anything!

“My sister’s here, and she’ll be eating with us tonight. Watch yourself. Go easy on the drinking, keep a low profile, and don’t scare her,” Wu Chen said.