The speaker might not have meant it, but the listener definitely took it to heart.
Wu Mangmang’s heart skipped two beats, wondering if “Uncle” knew about her condition.
But then she thought it impossible. Only her family knew about this illness, plus Wu Yong. But if Wu Yong dared leak her condition to outsiders, he could forget about keeping his medical license.
However, Wu Mangmang then thought that when her father went to plead for her, he might very well have mentioned her “mental illness” to gain sympathy—this wasn’t impossible either.
Wu Mangmang was lost in thought when Lu Qingqing pushed her again unexpectedly.
Lu Qingqing sighed inwardly. Usually Wu Mangmang seemed like a clever girl—why was she spacing out so frequently today?
Although Lu Qingqing knew that her uncle’s face could indeed make women lose focus in this looks-obsessed world, Wu Mangmang shouldn’t be like this. Hadn’t she suffered enough?
Wu Mangmang had now come to her senses and quietly asked Lu Qingqing, “What’s the God of Wealth’s surname?”
Only then did Lu Qingqing slap her forehead, realizing she’d forgotten to tell Wu Mangmang this. “Lu.”
Wu Mangmang quickly tried to remedy the situation: “Mr. Lu, everything that happened last time was this lowly one’s fault. This lowly one was blind and couldn’t recognize Mount Tai. You, sir, are magnanimous—please don’t be angry. It’s really not worth getting upset over this lowly one. If you hurt your body with anger, though the injury is yours, the pain is in my heart.”
Wu Mangmang was performing again. If she added horsehoof sleeves and a “Yes, sir!” she’d look exactly like a little eunuch before the emperor.
She actually knew that speaking this way in the current situation might add fuel to the fire, but if she could control her words and actions, she wouldn’t need to see a psychologist.
According to Wu Yong, this state of hers was using acting to cope whenever she encountered situations she wanted to escape from, because actors were always playing other people’s roles. Since she hadn’t actually experienced the real situation, she didn’t need to cry, laugh, or suffer for the character’s life.
Once the scene was cut, the emotions were put away too.
Before Wu Mangmang finished speaking, a man sitting to the right of Uncle God of Wealth laughed out loud. “Do young girls nowadays all speak so interestingly?”
If you looked at Wu Mangmang without prejudice, her performance addiction could indeed be called a form of humor.
Because of this laughter, Wu Mangmang was especially grateful to this man she hadn’t noticed at all before. He not only defused her embarrassment but also eased the atmosphere.
Wu Mangmang looked carefully and realized this laughing gentleman was actually quite handsome—the rugged type of handsome. He had a crew cut that looked very sharp, and though the laugh lines at his eyes revealed his not-so-young age, they also indicated he was someone who loved to laugh.
People who love to laugh are usually easier to get along with and usually have good luck.
Wu Mangmang’s sharp eyes observed that at the entire mahjong table, he had the most chips piled in front of him.
This kind of man Wu Mangmang shouldn’t have overlooked—he was exactly the image of Mr. Right in her mind.
His behavior was very elegant, indicating good breeding. His custom-made leather shoes showed his economic strength was certainly extraordinary. His physique gave women a great sense of security—if not taking on four opponents, he could definitely take down two or three thugs.
This man satisfied both a beauty’s admiration for heroes and a gold-digger’s desire to cry in a BMW.
Yet she had actually overlooked such a near-perfect man.
It was only because Uncle God of Wealth was too eye-catching.
Sitting there motionless, yet full of drama from head to toe.
So although Wu Mangmang was briefly distracted by the gentleman with the pleasant laugh, her attention quickly returned entirely to the God of Wealth.
“Qingqing, you’re becoming more and more unreliable, bringing just anyone here,” Lu Sui said lightly, his eyes returning to the mahjong table.
This left Wu Mangmang with her face turning red instantly, so hot it could fry an egg, her mind seeming to boil and bloom.
This was probably what “having no face to show” meant.
Miss Wu Mangmang had never heard such words in her entire life.
She was actually a pampered child too. Although her parents didn’t manage her much when she was young, they were always generous with money.
From elementary school on, Wu Mangmang had always been the “rich beauty” of her class, treating the whole class to ice cream and birthday cakes.
She had a bunch of followers behind her, maintaining this star-like status all the way through university.
Even without mentioning the silver that couldn’t stay hidden in her purse, Wu Mangmang’s face alone was enough for her to enjoy more preferential treatment than others.
Wu Mangmang was, after all, the campus beauty of G University, even voted the most beautiful campus beauty in history on the campus BBS.
Not until today was Wu Mangmang awakened by a splash of cold water, realizing that in front of some people, she was actually nothing. Her appearance and family background that she was so proud of weren’t worth mentioning in the other party’s eyes.
It seemed she really needed to start cultivating both inner and outer qualities.
Lu Sui’s light remark immediately made the atmosphere awkward.
Ning Zheng looked at Wu Mangmang, this poor little thing, with some sympathy.
People like them—what kind of beauties hadn’t they seen? The feeling of being amazed had disappeared many years ago.
But at this moment, looking at Wu Mangmang, Ning Zheng inexplicably felt this little girl was stunningly beautiful.
Just a simple white T-shirt with the front half tucked into jeans—the ordinary dress of little girls who thought they were trendy nowadays.
The jeans were deliberately distressed with several holes at the knees and thighs, which could also be called trendy.
White canvas shoes, studded backpack.
The breath of youth came rushing forward, quite attractive to men like them who were trying hard to return to youth and grasp their fading years.
But what attracted Ning Zheng most was Wu Mangmang’s expression.
Her face first showed some confusion, as if she hadn’t yet recovered from being humiliated like this.
Then came burning shame and anger, yet her eyes were very stubborn, trying hard to express something like “I don’t care, you don’t count, you’re the one who can’t recognize gold inlaid with jade.”
But in reality, the poor little thing’s self-esteem had been viciously smashed to the ground.
Looking hurt all over, yet pretending to be strong with a “you can’t hurt me” attitude.
Such awkwardness, shyness, bright eyes, flushed cheeks, rapid breathing, heaving chest—all made one feel amazed.
But amazement aside, sympathy aside, in front of Lu Sui, Ning Zheng was unwilling to contradict his words.
What was unexpected was that although Lu Qingqing’s face became very ugly upon hearing this, and she looked somewhat fearful, she didn’t just leave with Wu Mangmang. Instead, she continued pleading: “Uncle, Mangmang truly came to apologize. She already knows she was wrong.”
Wu Mangmang hadn’t expected Lu Qingqing to be so loyal.
This was definitely worthy of being called righteous. She hadn’t expected that their “mutual liking” friendship would make Lu Qingqing work so hard to help her.
Actually, Wu Mangmang had long seen that the God of Wealth was someone who said what he meant and meant what he said. No one present was willing to risk offending him by contradicting his words.
That Lu Qingqing could do this took no less courage than blocking machine guns or blowing up bunkers.
Seeing this, Ning Zheng had to help Lu Qingqing give Lu Sui a way out, otherwise the two little girls would definitely be scared to death. “They’re just kids, they look quite pitiful. How about giving them a chance?”
Lu Sui looked at Ning Zheng and smiled inexplicably.
Although Ning Zheng couldn’t read the meaning in Lu Sui’s smile, he already knew Lu Sui wasn’t really bothering with the little girl—he just didn’t like being disturbed.
That made sense too. Lu Sui naturally preferred quiet and lived like an ascetic monk, even abstaining from desires.
He went to Tibet once a year, and everyone always thought he’d return dressed like a lama, but he was still living in the mundane world.
“Come, come, help me draw a tile,” Ning Zheng said sideways to his female companion.
The beautiful companion extended her freshly manicured hand, twisting her waist and swaying her hips as she drew a tile, her body language so rich it was amazing to behold.
But it was useless—she drew a useless tile that was immediately claimed by the opposite player after being discarded.
Ning Zheng’s companion pouted, and he gently patted the back of her hand. “No matter.”
The ladder had been offered to Wu Mangmang. Her fate, or her father’s small furniture factory’s fate, now depended entirely on her card luck.
Ning Zheng put his arm around his companion’s shoulder and said to Lu Sui, “How about letting the little girl draw a tile for you?”
Lu Sui neither agreed nor disagreed, but leaned back in his chair, making some space.
Lu Qingqing gently pushed Wu Mangmang and whispered behind her, “Uncle doesn’t like being touched.”
Wu Mangmang was fortunate she was wearing a T-shirt and jeans today, which would help ensure no part of her body or clothing would touch Uncle God of Wealth.
Wu Mangmang walked to Lu Sui’s side, chest out and stomach in, wishing she could suck in her stomach until her front touched her back. She didn’t even dare breathe out warm air, only holding her breath as she reached out. Without any superfluous body language, she drew a tile with lightning speed.
As if deeply afraid others wouldn’t let her draw a tile.
This clean efficiency not only made Ning Zheng chuckle, but even the serious-faced Shen Ting sitting opposite Lu Sui smiled.
Wu Mangmang was also a mahjong player—in university, she often lost her living expenses to her roommates.
Though somewhat intentional, poor card luck was also a fact.
At this moment, Wu Mangmang didn’t dare turn over the tile to look. She only felt it with her thumb on the face-down tile—it seemed to be a “Wan” character, but she couldn’t tell exactly which number.
Wu Mangmang lowered her eyelids and stole a glance at Lu Sui’s hand.
Good heavens, not only was it a clean suit of Wan characters, it was also seven pairs, with three 9-Wan tiles already in hand, waiting for just one more 9-Wan tile.
But looking at the discarded tiles on the table, there wasn’t a single Wan character, showing that the other three players all needed Wan tiles. Even so, they dared to play such a hand—what nerve.
“Hurry up and turn it over for us to see. Lu Sui has lost a car today—let’s see if you can help him turn things around,” Lawyer Jiang Baoliang said.
Wu Mangmang had no choice. She couldn’t feel exactly which Wan it was anyway. Whether it was a dragon or a worm depended on this one tile. She closed her eyes and with the courage of burning bridges, flipped the tile over and placed it on the table, her palm reluctantly leaving the tile surface.
Complete silence surrounded them. Wu Mangmang waited five seconds without any movement and had to lift her eyelids, squinting as she looked at the tile.
“Wow, it’s 9-Wan, it’s 9-Wan, it’s really 9-Wan!” Wu Mangmang immediately jumped up with a smile, hugging Lu Qingqing and bouncing up and down.
Lu Sui revealed his hand.
Ning Zheng laughed, “Looks like the little girl brings you good luck.”