Chapter 15: The Extreme Product of the Rich Second Generation

  Wan Zhaohui, immersed in the mundane routine of collecting utility fees and water bills at night, didn't like the way teachers lectured on economics by rote. She often sat silently in class, gazing at the biographies of business magnates, deeply understanding that diligence was more important than intelligence. After a day's work, she would collapse onto her bed, exhausted from the physical labor, and fall fast asleep, without much thought to spare for her faint feelings towards Han Bin. Her days passed by in a fulfilling manner.

  At the end of sophomore year, Wang Chaohui's second sister married into a wealthy family that did business, although her husband was a typical prodigal son and looked like "Ge You". Wang Chaohui, who had been closest to her second sister since childhood, knew the reason for her hasty marriage. She deeply loved Yu Min, a young master from an official family with a grandfather as a bank president and a father as a credit director, but ultimately could not withstand the obstruction of his family and abandoned Wang Chaohui's second sister, who was beautiful but born into an ordinary working-class family. Her self-esteem suffered a severe blow, and she used only half a year to marry herself off and live in a luxurious house, driving a Honda as a wealthy young woman. When she appeared in front of Yu Min with gold and silver jewelry, venting her resentment, looking at Yu Min's melancholy eyes, she was also confused, not knowing whether she had won or lost, only that life had no turning back. Gradually, the second sister's temperament changed, and the intimacy between Wang Chaohui and her disappeared. From time to time, she used money to bring benefits and vanity to hurt Wang Chaohui's strong self-esteem. Originally, these feelings of humiliation were only felt in front of their grandparents, but now Wang Chaohui's second sister, who was like a biological sister, also deeply hurt her psychologically with money. Wang Chaohui hated this change, and for a moment, she was stirred up with irreconcilable resentment. She secretly vowed: I must make a lot of money!

  It's the Qingming Festival again, and Wan Chao Hui's family returned to the suburbs to pay respects to their ancestors. As she grew older, she became increasingly annoyed with these large family gatherings. Everyone came back from different parts of the city, but they didn't have a mindset of reunification. The economic reforms had given people opportunities, and her uncles who were in business had exceptionally good financial conditions. When they got together, it was only for battles on the mahjong table. Her aunts gathered to compare whose clothes were more fashionable, prettier, and more expensive. Her father was just a train driver, and the reputation of being an "iron rice bowl" was already outdated. Looking at her uncles who had achieved success in business, she felt even more resentful towards her father's depressed demeanor. What made it worse was that her grandfather didn't take her father seriously, rarely giving him a smile. However, when facing her uncles, he acted as if they were his masters. Wan Chao Hui's heart was filled with endless resentment. On one hand, she sympathized with her father; on the other hand, she hated his infidelity and his addiction to mahjong, which made him unable to earn a lot of money. Therefore, she once again warned herself: I must fight back this time.

  Second Uncle has always been fond of Wan Chao Hui, compared to his precious son Wan Ze Ming, Wan Chao Hui appears more clever and wise. During dinner, Second Uncle asked Wan Chao Hui to sit beside him, "Hui Hui, Ming Ming is about to enter junior high school soon, can you spare some time on weekends to tutor him?" Thinking that he would follow Second Uncle to learn business in the future, Wan Chao Hui agreed without hesitation, "Okay!"

  When Second Uncle was young, he worked as a clerk in the rural government agency. After his direct superior was defeated, he became the main target of attack. Unable to bear the infighting and exclusion, Second Uncle quit his job on impulse and opened a wine house in the prosperous area of the city. Gradually, his business grew bigger and bigger, and he made more and more money. He even used his connections to move his family's household registration from the suburbs to the urban area and bought a cheap piece of land to build a five-room, four-story private house.

  As Second Uncle and his wife were busy making money all year round, no one took care of Wan Zeming's studies, and his grades plummeted. Second Uncle had already asked many teachers to help him with his homework, but the mischievous Wan Zeming wouldn't listen. However, he was more obedient to his sister Wan Chaohui's democratic teaching methods, so he would listen to her words.

  Although Wan Chaohui didn't get into a good university after graduating from high school, her excellent grades during her junior and senior years were evident to all. Second Uncle tried to let her help with tutoring. So every Saturday afternoon, Wan Chaohui rushed to Second Uncle's house to tutor her younger brother Wan Zeming in chemistry, mathematics, English grammar, and other subjects that she remembered clearly. Wan Zeming also liked Wan Chaohui's encouraging teaching method, so he was very motivated to learn, and his grades gradually improved.

  That day, Wan Chao Hui took the bus to his second uncle's house as usual. On the way, he met a good friend from elementary school, Yi Jing. Wan Chao Hui spent his elementary school years in the suburbs. In the first year of junior high, in order to enjoy the benefits of his father's railway unit's "agricultural transfer" policy and allocation of welfare housing, his parents left their newly built three-story building unoccupied and moved the whole family into the city, squeezing into his father's cramped single-person dormitory.

  Along the way, Wan Chao Hui and Yi Jing reminisced about their childhood, chatting happily, and also mentioned other classmates from elementary school. It had been many years since they last saw each other, so they casually agreed to gather at Yi Jing's home that evening, with Yi Jing in charge of contacting the other close friends.

  Wan Chao Hui got off the car and rushed to his second uncle's house in a hurry, making time to give his younger cousin supplementary lessons.

  "Sister, Wang Jiawei is here!" Wan Zeming said mysteriously to his sister as he opened the door. Wan Chao Hui knew who Wang Jiawei was - he was the only son of a close friend of their second uncle's in business, and was the same age as him. He had two older sisters, and usually had common topics to talk about with Wan Zeming - both of them liked playing video games. Wan Zeming had once told Wan Chao Hui that Wang Jiawei's house was a six-story private mansion, each floor decorated very luxuriously. But in Wan Chao Hui's eyes, he was just a prodigal son - the university Wang Jiawei currently attended was one that his second sister's husband, who worked in the government, had spent 100,000 yuan to get him into through connections.

  As her younger brother went upstairs, at the door of the house, Wan Zhaohui saw Wang Guowei lying on the bed sleeping. As soon as he heard the voices of Wan Zhaohui and his siblings, Wang Guowei immediately got up and asked with a blush: "Hello!" Wang Guowei had met her once in Wan Zhaohui's second uncle's wine house, and the memory was still fresh in his mind, secretly delighted.

  "Hello!" Wan Chao Hui smiled faintly, politely greeting Wang Guo Wei. Wang Guo Wei looked refined and elegant, but his spirit was not high, appearing somewhat weak.

  During the two hours when Wang Guowei was tutoring his younger brother, Wang Guowei sat silently at the head of the bed listening intently. His actions made Wan Zhaohui suspicious - what did he come here for today?

  After finishing her homework, Wan Chao Hui started to clean up the clothes she had washed and changed into a fresh blue and white plaid dress. She stood in front of the mirror to re-style her hair, and Wang Guo Wei walked over, "This is my pager number, please contact me when you have time!" Wan Chao Hui took the piece of paper from Wang Guo Wei without changing her expression, but she was not surprised in her heart. What did he mean? Was it all a trick by her uncle behind her back? Did he want to repeat what her uncle had done before? She had heard her father say that her uncle's two sisters were very beautiful when they were young, so her uncle wanted to use the "beauty plan" to marry his eldest daughter to the son of Vice Mayor Zhang who was returning to the city. But her aunt refused, she had a boyfriend in middle school and didn't want to marry Vice Mayor Zhang's ugly and foolish son. Her uncle was angry with her for not understanding things, and he chased her around with a stick to try to achieve his goal through intimidation. The young and stubborn aunt did not compromise at all, so her uncle targeted his younger daughter instead. Wan Chao Hui's aunt had a gentle personality, but she loved beauty and didn't want to marry an ugly man either. She cried herself to sleep in the quilt. In this way, her uncle's plan was completely ruined.

  Nowadays, Wan Zhao Hui would even more disagree with using marriage to complete her second uncle's business development. She has always believed that relying on marriage is not the way to achieve success and happiness. After witnessing her second aunt's miserable married life with a good-for-nothing husband, Wan Zhao Hui became even more determined that she would not follow the same path. Her personality was even stronger than her second aunt's, once she made up her mind, no one could change it, it was harder to do so than climbing to heaven. She was someone who could truly live by the motto "it is better to be shattered jade than to be intact pottery".

  Wan Zhao Hui continued to comb her hair, trying to avoid the awkward conversation between the two. At this moment, her younger brother came in and said, "Sister, Jia Wei Ge, Dad called and asked us to go to the restaurant for dinner!"

  "Alright, I'll be fine right away!" Wan Chao Hui replied cheerfully.

  There were two "young masters" traveling together, Wan Zhaohui was not expected to walk, even though it was only half a station away. As soon as they left the door, Wan Zemings habitually hailed a taxi and asked Wan Zhaohui and Wang Guowei to get in and head straight to the wine building.

  In a small private room, Second Uncle ordered a table of delicious dishes. He was the only one talking, chattering non-stop about trivial matters, occasionally glancing at Wan Chao Hui and then at Wang Guo Wei, with a hint of slyness in his eyes. Wan Chao Hui immediately understood Second Uncle's intention, which was to deliberately matchmake her with Wang Guo Wei.

  "Second Uncle, I'm full! I have something to do, so I'll leave first!" Wan Zhaohui put down the bowl and chopsticks in his hand, took a paper towel to wipe away the remaining oil on the corner of his mouth, and smiled at Second Uncle.

  "Hui Hui, you've finished eating so quickly. You're not going to stay at our place tonight to help Mingming with her studies? Where are you off to?" asked Second Uncle hastily.

  "I've made plans with a few primary school classmates to gather tonight, and then I'll head straight to my grandfather's house to stay overnight! I'll come over again tomorrow!" Before Second Uncle could nod in response, Wan Chao Hui had already picked up his backpack and was heading towards the door.

  Looking at Second Uncle's disappointed look, Wan Chao Hui couldn't help but secretly laugh to himself: Hehe, I'm not falling for your trick!

  Relying on his faint memories, Wan Chao Hui found Yi Jing's home. The four childhood playmates, three girls and one boy, were already sitting together waiting for Wan Chao Hui's arrival. "You've really changed a lot since you grew up! You used to be a little yellow-haired kid, but now you're a stunning beauty!" said Wang Ying, who had always followed Wan Chao Hui around when they were young. The others nodded in agreement. Wan Chao Hui smiled and said: "Why mention me? Aren't you all also blossoming like lotus flowers?" Compared to the three girls' attire, Wan Chao Hui looked much more innocent. They had all graduated from vocational school and started working already.

  "Zuo Quan just happened to come back today, he will be here soon." Yi Jing said with a smile to Wan Chao Hui. Zuo Quan was also a primary school classmate of Wan Chao Hui for six years, his family was in the nearby area and was known far and wide as a "rich household". In the old society, they were born into a capitalist family. At the beginning of the reform and opening-up period, Zuo Quan's father borrowed money to buy a large truck, ran transportation, and soon became a "ten-thousand-yuan household". Later, he also set up a transportation company, acting as an agent for well-known trucks nationwide, and gradually became rich.

  In Zuo Quan's impression, he has always been calm and composed, with a demeanor similar to his father's. Before speaking, he would think carefully, but whenever he encountered the mischievous and cunning Wan Chao Hui, he would often be at a disadvantage. As a child, Wan Chao Hui had many novel and strange ideas, and everyone who played with her felt happy and carefree, including Zuo Quan, who would occasionally burst out laughing in front of her.

  By the time they reached sixth grade, some precocious girls began to develop special feelings for Zuo Quan. However, Wan Chao Hui remained oblivious, not caring about those girls' affections, which she knew were motivated by Zuo Quan's family wealth. In reality, Wan Chao Hui understood this as well, and Zuo Quan was even more aware of it, which is why he had a special affection for Wan Chao Hui.

  However, in Wan Chao Hui's eyes, she thought Zuo Quan wasn't smart enough, not cunning or clever like her. He often fell into her traps, and she found him uninteresting, unable to spark her curiosity. At that time, Wan Chao Hui was also influenced by the traditional values of preferring boys over girls, harboring resentment and disdain towards boys, leaving no room for affection or love.

  Recalling the fun things in his childhood, Wan Chao Hui's eyes unknowingly revealed a smile.

  "Hey, Zuoquan, our future big boss, you've finally arrived!" Gaoqiang exclaimed loudly with great enthusiasm when he saw Zuoquan coming. No wonder, among the four girls, he was the only boy, and they had been carefree in their childhood, but now that they were grown up, they felt a bit awkward, and finally seeing someone of the same kind made him feel relieved.

  "Wan Chao Hui! Long time no see!" Zuo Quan looked at Wan Chao Hui with joy, Wan Chao Hui smiled slightly, as a greeting. The two of them couldn't help but size each other up. Zuo Quan wasn't the handsome type, but his tall and sturdy build paired with a white dress shirt, black trousers, and black leather shoes gave off a stable and mature vibe, full of boss-like aura. Zuo Quan also looked at Wan Chao Hui with an appreciative gaze, pure and elegant, looking refined and dignified, with great poise!

  Zuo Quan is studying computer science at W University in this city, which was once Wan Zhaohui's dream school.

  Everyone chatted about the past, Wan Zhaohui felt that Zuò Quán's eyes had been staying on her all the time, and she felt that her heart was also subtly changing. This feeling is different from the excitement and vigilance when facing Lin Boyang, and even more different from the heartbeat and heartache when facing Han Bin. It is a sense of peace and freedom. However, she still hid her true feelings, maintaining a calm and composed demeanor, avoiding leaving any traces for others to see her concerns.

  Two hours had passed unknowingly, and it was already 10 o'clock in the evening. Everyone had to disperse reluctantly. Before parting ways, Zuo Quan invited everyone to his home next Saturday for a gathering. The others unanimously expressed their agreement. Zuo Quan gazed at Wan Chao Hui, who hesitated for a moment before smiling and nodding her head in agreement.