When the two women started talking, they simply had no end. Finally, when the conversation reached its peak, Lu Qingqing asked Wu Mangmang if she had any alcohol to drink.

Some topics required alcohol to enhance the mood.

Wu Mangmang immediately went to the wine cabinet and brought back wine and glasses.

Lu Qingqing took the bottle and looked at it. “Not bad, Mangmang! It’s actually 1982 Lafite – you’re quite generous.”

Wu Mangmang said nothing and directly took the corkscrew to open the cork, pouring Lu Qingqing a glass.

Lu Qingqing held the wine glass and swirled it. “Too bad there isn’t enough time, otherwise we should let it breathe before drinking.”

Wu Mangmang sat down with one leg tucked under her. “I’m not that particular.”

Lu Qingqing took a sip and frowned. “Why does your wine taste a bit strange?” She really didn’t have the heart to tell Wu Mangmang that she had bought fake wine.

There were only so many bottles of 1982 Lafite in total – drink one and there’s one less. How could there be so many authentic ones?

Wu Mangmang laughed cheerfully. “Impressive! You actually tasted it. Even my dad couldn’t tell.”

Wu Mangmang continued, “The bottle is real – my dad bought it at auction and after we finished the wine, I kept the bottle and had someone make a new cork. As long as it looks authentic on the surface, that’s fine. As for the red wine inside, I can’t tell good from bad anyway.”

Lu Qingqing was utterly speechless. How could 1982 Lafite be the same as a thirty-yuan bottle of Changyu Cabernet?

Zhang Yu was one thing, but what made Lu Qingqing even more speechless was that Wu Mangmang also added Sprite to her own glass.

“Actually, with Sprite added, Lafite and Changyu taste the same.” Wu Mangmang explained.

Lu Qingqing held her forehead.

However, even red wine mixed with Sprite could still make one drunk.

Wu Mangmang woke up in a half-dreaming state, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Lu Qingqing sitting on the footstool watching her, which nearly made her scream.

“Qingqing!” Wu Mangmang sat up hugging the blanket, which Lu Qingqing had obviously covered her with.

“Your alcohol tolerance is really poor.” Lu Qingqing clapped her hands and stood up. “I should go too.”

Wu Mangmang looked at the time – it was already 1 AM. She got up to see Lu Qingqing out, hastily washed up, and went back to sleep.

Over the next few days, Lu Qingqing asked Wu Mangmang out several more times, but she declined them all.

Mainly because when Wu Mangmang woke up that day, she was startled by Lu Qingqing’s affectionate gaze.

Although Lu Qingqing had recently shown off photos of her young male boyfriend, their circle played rather openly, and there were plenty of bisexual people. Although it was very likely she was overthinking it, Wu Mangmang had no plans to change her sexual orientation for now.

Wu Mangmang calculated the time and called her father after a few days. During their casual chat, she asked, “Dad, did the loan for the factory’s new production line get approved like you mentioned last time?”

“The bank finally gave the green light yesterday, and it’ll come through next week.” Wu Song said, “Why are you suddenly concerned about this?”

Wu Mangmang breathed a sigh of relief on the other end of the phone. Although she didn’t know if she was being too suspicious, she had been worried ever since hearing Wu Song say that the loan that was supposedly a sure thing had suddenly been blocked.

Now everything was finally okay. Whether it was related to the financial god or not, Wu Mangmang was finally at peace.

That bag for Lu Qingqing was completely worth it.

“Mangmang, are you coming home for dinner this weekend? Your mom has been asking about you several times.” Wu Song asked again.

“Yes!” Wu Mangmang replied readily. If not now, when? Her father, who served as her wallet, must be in a good mood these days. Good mood made things easier to handle.

Wu Mangmang never wanted to squeeze onto the subway again.

On Saturday, Wu Mangmang slept in, then went to the gym to burn fat for two hours, trying to work herself into a pitiful state before changing clothes and heading to the hillside villa area with her backpack as the sun was setting.

The hillside was shaded with trees, but had many slopes and steep paths. Wu Mangmang thought rich people must have had their brains addled to buy villas in such high places.

Finally reaching a gentle slope, Wu Mangmang pulled out her water bottle from her hiking backpack and took a drink, then sat down on the ground to rest – wearing a full set of flax-colored hiking gear, she didn’t mind getting dirty.

The afternoon workout had really taken too much out of her, and her eyes were getting dizzy.

A black sedan came around the bend below, and from far away Wu Mangmang could see cartoon balloons floating outside the car window.

When the car got closer, Wu Mangmang looked at the license plate – wasn’t that the Bentley her parents had saved up for three years by scrimping and saving?

The window rolled down, revealing her brother Dandan’s rosy, smiling face. “Sister, sister! Today Mom and Dad took me to Disney!”

Wu Mangmang pursed her lips. What was so fun about Disney? She had gone once by herself, and her only impression was that the queues were so long they looked like trains.

So Wu Mangmang said to Dandan, “What’s so fun about Disney? You should go to Jurassic Park instead.” It would be best if you got eaten by dinosaurs.

“Stop talking nonsense to your brother.” Liu Lewei scolded. “What kind of outfit is that?” Ms. Liu Lewei’s face also appeared, looking disapprovingly at Wu Mangmang, who was fully equipped for what could have been an Everest expedition.

“Aren’t you hot in this summer weather?” Ms. Liu Lewei asked again.

“Don’t I have to climb to our hillside villa at 250 meters above sea level?” Wu Mangmang replied.

Mountain climbing naturally required complete equipment – windbreaker, hiking boots, snow sunglasses, hiking poles. She had to make it look convincing.

Ms. Liu Lewei was too lazy to deal with the eccentric Wu Mangmang. “If you love climbing so much, then keep climbing.”

She then directly told the driver to drive on.

Wu Mangmang watched helplessly as the Bentley’s big black rear end disappeared before her eyes.

Although their villa was just around the corner, Ms. Liu didn’t even extend the courtesy of a false invitation for her to get in the car when she was exhausted like a dog. Truly a biological mother – no formalities needed.

Wu Mangmang stared blankly at the cluster of cartoon balloons floating outside the car window, the strings held in Dandan’s hand, unwilling to admit her heartache.

She had never been to any amusement park with her parents.

Wu Mangmang jumped in place twice, her hiking backpack also bouncing, thinking she should have known better than to buy Lego blocks for Wu Dandan. He had already been to Disney, and she had carried them this far for nothing.

Although they weren’t heavy, they were quite bulky!

Wu Mangmang looked down and kicked a small roadside pebble far away, kicking several before looking up to see a yellow Bumblebee Lamborghini moving at turtle speed beside her.

Wu Mangmang turned her head, and sure enough, the car window rolled down. The person in the driver’s seat leaned out. “Mangmang, it is Mangmang, right?” That’s what Lu Qingqing had called her that day.

Wu Mangmang bent down to look through the car window, opening her mouth but unable to say the person’s name for a long time.

She recognized the person but didn’t know his surname.

Ning Zheng stopped the car and walked around to Wu Mangmang. “Ning Zheng.”

“Mr. Ning, what a coincidence.” Wu Mangmang smiled. “Do you live here too?”

Ning Zheng hummed in response. “You live on the mountain too? How come I’ve never seen you before?”

Because I used to drive home, so naturally you wouldn’t see me, Wu Mangmang thought to herself.

That’s what she thought, but Wu Mangmang said aloud, “I guess this is what they call ‘fate brings people together across a thousand miles, while lack of fate keeps them apart even when face to face.'”

“Oh.” Ning Zheng raised his eyebrows and smiled at Wu Mangmang. “So you’re saying our fate has arrived.”

Modern fast-food relationships – hear the strings and know the elegant meaning.

Wu Mangmang didn’t respond to Ning Zheng’s words, just smiled faintly.

Ning Zheng also knew that girls always had their own reserve – otherwise they wouldn’t be valuable. Men just liked this kind of attitude, which could be considered one willing to hit and one willing to be hit.

So Ning Zheng quickly changed the topic, dispelling the ambiguity.

“Did you just come back from hiking?” Ning Zheng was obviously also intimidated by Wu Mangmang’s professional gear.

“No.” Wu Mangmang’s face reddened a bit, embarrassed to say she just liked to act.

Although Ning Zheng found it a bit strange, he didn’t ask further because his attention was quickly drawn to Wu Mangmang herself.

This was the instinct of opposite-sex attraction.

As for whether this woman spoke pleasantly or whether they could chat well – those were considerations for future marriage.

In Ning Zheng’s eyes, although Wu Mangmang looked somewhat disheveled at the moment, the hiking outfit gave her a strange, handsome beauty.

And Ning Zheng had to admit that Wu Mangmang’s timely blush indeed stirred his desire.

The youthful and pure aura between woman and girl was like a shaken cola bottle, constantly bubbling out.

Making one want to grab onto something.

Ning Zheng reached out to brush Wu Mangmang’s bangs. “Want me to give you a ride up?”

Wu Mangmang was startled by Ning Zheng’s action. It seemed this Mr. Ning must be an experienced player in the field of love.

But that was fine. Wu Mangmang’s former boyfriends number five, nine, twelve, and even fourteen were all this type of player, so she could basically counter their moves.

“My house is already here.” Wu Mangmang pointed to a corner of roof visible around the bend.

The fair, tender finger waving in front of Ning Zheng’s eyes made him want to grab it and put it in his mouth.

Pure sexual attraction.

However, after experiencing countless encounters, being able to see someone whose blush and single finger could still arouse him naturally excited Ning Zheng.

Wu Mangmang watched the flashy Bumblebee leave, and her phone suddenly chimed with a WeChat notification.

That was fast.

Wu Mangmang smiled with pursed lips. Although Ning Zheng hadn’t directly asked for her phone number earlier, with Lu Qingqing around, he could easily get her number.

Directly asking a girl for her number would make him seem low-class. Wu Mangmang understood this.

But when she opened her phone, it was actually a message from Ms. Liu requesting to add her on WeChat.

Wu Mangmang sighed. Her mother was becoming more and more fashionable.

She could accept the request, but she decisively chose not to let her see her Moments.

“What are you still dawdling for? Do you really think you’re climbing Everest? The whole family is waiting for you to start dinner.” Ms. Liu sent a voice message urging her to dinner.

Wu Mangmang puffed out her cheeks and exhaled, then ran toward home.

During dinner, Wu Dandan chattered non-stop, clamoring to go to Shanghai Disney next week to see what was different.

Simply unreasonable.

But Ms. Liu actually agreed directly, coaxing Wu Dandan to eat while promising to book plane tickets later.

Wu Mangmang treated the mother-son bonding as her dinner entertainment, not even needing to pick up dishes, just burying her head in plain rice.

“Why aren’t you eating vegetables? You’re skinny as a monkey and still not eating properly?”

Ms. Liu’s face-changing speed – one moment gentle as spring rain, the next moment stern as winter frost – made Wu Mangmang think her own acting disorder must be hereditary.

“Mom, I want to fly to America next week to see Taylor Swift’s concert.” Wu Mangmang said.

It was a global village now. Sometimes special airfare to America wasn’t much more expensive than flying to Shanghai.

“If you have money, go yourself.” Ms. Liu replied to Wu Mangmang.

If I had money, would I need to tell you?

Wu Mangmang pouted and continued eating with her head down.

On the other side, Boss Wu couldn’t resist Wu Dandan’s pestering and agreed to accompany him to see the Oriental Pearl Tower.

Ms. Liu said they could also take a night cruise on the Huangpu River.

Wu Mangmang silently played Dr. Wu in her mind.

There are no parents in the world who don’t love their children.

Now it’s because you’ve grown up, making it extremely difficult for your parents to repair the father-daughter and mother-daughter relationships.

So Boss Wu and Ms. Liu’s excessive indulgence of Wu Dandan is actually a form of compensatory psychology.

To put it bluntly, they’re compensating Wu Dandan for their guilt about your childhood.

Who told you to set such a good negative example for your parents?

Seeing you makes them unable to bear creating another problem child.

After Wu Mangmang finished her psychological preparation, looking at Wu Dandan wasn’t so irritating anymore.

You really think Mom and Dad love you? That’s just them compensating you for their guilt toward me, Wu Mangmang thought sourly.

After dinner, Wu Mangmang imitated Wu Dandan’s style, shuffling step by step behind Boss Wu.

“Daddy.” Wu Mangmang called weakly.

“What’s up?” Boss Wu turned around.

“Nothing.” Wu Mangmang shook her head and continued following Boss Wu to the TV area. “Daddy.”

This repeated calling of “Daddy” led Wu Mangmang to follow her father upstairs.

“I need to shower and sleep. What exactly do you want?” Boss Wu was getting annoyed by Wu Mangmang’s calling.

Wu Mangmang said deflated, “Dad, you know what I want to say. Stop pretending.”

It’s just about money!

Boss Wu was actually softening a bit. Besides, the loan had come through and he was in a good mood. Wu Mangmang had never been restricted financially since childhood, and these past few days she had visibly lost weight from hunger.

Wu Mangmang knew her father would definitely soften.

Fathers were always especially soft-hearted toward daughters. Mothers weren’t, which is why Wu Mangmang would never beg their family’s financial manager, Ms. Liu.

Boss Wu had just opened his wallet to get Wu Mangmang a card when he heard Wu Mangmang’s phone ring.

“Hey hey, I’m an ATM, I’m Alipay, I’m Tenpay, I’m Doraemon…” This was a rap Wu Mangmang had recorded herself with a silly voice.

When the ringtone sounded, both Boss Wu and Wu Mangmang turned to look at Wu Dandan, who was playing with Boss Wu’s phone.

“Calling sister.” Wu Dandan held up the phone.

Boss Wu glared at Wu Mangmang and decisively put away his wallet. “Oh, so that’s why you were willing to come home this week – you missed your ATM.”

Wu Mangmang wanted nothing more than to drag the troublemaking Wu Dandan over for a beating.