Chapter 82: I Am Not a Good Man!

Bai Bing looked at Wang Zheng with a face full of suspicion, as if she were looking at an idiot. She truly could not understand how he could still manage to smile under such circumstances. At this moment, Bai Bing had to admit that she didn’t really understand Wang Zheng at all. He was simply too difficult to fathom.

“What are you smiling about?” Bai Bing asked in confusion. Lin Xiaolei had just gotten into another man’s car, and yet Wang Zheng was smiling? Had he lost his mind? Given up on himself? In Bai Bing’s eyes, Wang Zheng was never the type of man to surrender to despair.

“I’m not smiling!” Wang Zheng said, the corners of his mouth curled up, his gaze fixed on the road not far away.

“You are smiling!”

“Fine, I’m smiling. What can you do about it?” Wang Zheng shifted his gaze to Bai Bing.

“You...!” Bai Bing was so angry from arguing with Wang Zheng that she was at a loss for words. Yes, he was smiling—so what? Who said he wasn’t allowed to smile? Looking at the smile on Wang Zheng’s face, Bai Bing simply couldn’t understand. As the car was about to drive off, Bai Bing grew impatient. She suddenly grabbed Wang Zheng’s arm, hurried to the roadside, and hailed a taxi to follow after the S500 ahead.

What was this? This was the eunuch being more anxious than the emperor himself!

“What were you laughing about just now?” Bai Bing asked Wang Zheng.

“I laughed because I was happy.”

“Happy? She just left with someone else and you’re happy about it?” Bai Bing looked at Wang Zheng as if she hated iron for not becoming steel, unable to guess what was going through his mind.

“Heh, I was happy because when I saw Lin Xiaolei get into another man’s car, my heart didn’t ache.”

“Your heart didn’t ache? What’s there to be happy about? I really don’t understand your words.” Bai Bing asked in confusion, seeing Wang Zheng still smiling, as calm and leisurely as ever, while she was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, almost ready to fight for justice on his behalf.

“If my heart doesn’t ache, it means I never truly cared. And if I never cared, all the troubling questions are easily resolved. Turns out, the role of a bystander suits me best.” After so many years of inhuman living in Africa, Wang Zheng had grown numb to matters of the heart. For someone who killed people even in his dreams, what use was love?

Since returning to Jinghua City, Wang Zheng had been troubled several times because of these women. He thought the feelings he’d lost had returned, but just now, upon seeing Lin Xiaolei get into another man’s car, he realized—as Bai Bing had said—a normal person would be anxious or angry, yet he felt nothing. In fact, he felt a sense of relief. Perhaps, for him, seeing someone’s true colors was a happier thing.

He was grateful—grateful that he hadn’t invested any feelings in Lin Xiaolei, grateful nothing had happened between them. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to chat so freely with Bai Bing now.

“Are you really okay?” For Bai Bing, Wang Zheng’s words were too deep to understand, so she took them as nonsense, mere self-deception.

“I’ve decided!” Wang Zheng suddenly announced loudly, startling Bai Bing beside him. “I’ve decided to buy a car!”

“Really? That’s wonderful!” Bai Bing exclaimed with delight. “Do you know why Lin Xiaolei got in someone else’s car? Because you don’t have a car. If you did, she would have gotten in yours!”

Bai Bing had long been troubled over the matter of buying a car. She’d tried all sorts of arguments earlier and still hadn’t convinced Wang Zheng. She never expected him to bring it up himself—this was the best news she’d heard in a long time. If she’d regretted giving Wang Zheng Lin Xiaolei’s file before, now she was grateful she had. Because she gave him the file, he went out for a walk; because he walked, he came to Yong’an Tower; because he came to Yong’an Tower, he saw what happened; and it was precisely because of that S500 that Wang Zheng now wanted to buy a car.

At this point, Bai Bing no longer cared whether Wang Zheng was really okay; she was completely caught up in the joy of car shopping. She was already busy calculating what kind of car they should buy. Considering Wang Zheng’s wealth, she unconsciously raised her expectations. The mid-range cars she once dreamed of were now out of the question. Now, Bai Bing set her sights on luxury cars, even ultra-luxury cars—at least something over a million, surely?

No!

The S500 cost over a million, so they should get something worth over two million, to utterly outshine that bald-headed Huang Wei! Yes, that was it. Mansions, luxury cars, diamonds—those were the three things women loved most. Bai Bing grinned foolishly, completely immersed in fantasies of owning a luxury car. She’d already imagined the taxi seat beneath her as the President of the United States’ Cadillac.

The S500 stopped outside a luxury restaurant. By the time Wang Zheng’s taxi pulled up, Lin Xiaolei and Huang Wei had already gone inside. The parking lot and the cars coming and going were all high-end; the sudden arrival of a taxi even made the security guards at the door look on with prejudice.

Wang Zheng nudged Bai Bing, who was still daydreaming. “I don’t have any small bills for the fare.”

“Oh.” Since Wang Zheng had already agreed to buy a car, Bai Bing’s mood was so good that a few dozen yuan was nothing in her eyes.

Inside, the restaurant was elegant and full of retro charm. The tables and chairs were all in an antique style, separated by screens, and large red lanterns hung high, making it look like the mansion of a powerful ancient official. In one corner, a beauty in a cheongsam was playing the pipa, the melody rich and beautiful.

Though the place was crowded, it was not noisy; everyone spoke softly, their words clear to each other, yet the pipa’s music could still be heard.

A beautiful woman in a red cheongsam approached Wang Zheng and Bai Bing, but before she could speak, Wang Zheng walked straight to a table and sat down—just on the other side of the screen from Lin Xiaolei.

Besides Lin Xiaolei and Huang Wei, another man sat at the table—not one of the other two company bosses from the tea business. From what Lin Xiaolei had mentioned before, Wang Zheng could guess this must be someone who could help her expand. He wondered what direction Lin Xiaolei had decided to pursue.

“Sir…!”

“Shh.” As the waitress began to speak, Wang Zheng put a finger to his lips, and the meaning was clear. The waitress was left a bit deflated. Wang Zheng wasn’t ignorant of etiquette; if he just sat there and didn’t order, that wouldn’t do, so he took the menu and casually ordered three dishes from the specialties section, just to smooth things over.

“They’re next door?” Bai Bing whispered, having been too preoccupied with her luxury car dreams to notice Lin Xiaolei’s whereabouts. Or perhaps she’d already forgotten about Lin Xiaolei entirely.

Wang Zheng nodded slightly, then shifted his chair, leaning as close to the screen as possible, using his extraordinary hearing to eavesdrop on the conversation beyond.

Having snapped out of her car fantasy, Bai Bing also remembered Lin Xiaolei. Wang Zheng had said he’d never cared for Lin Xiaolei, so Bai Bing had lost interest in her too. But to pass the time and to have a chance to push her car-buying suggestions, Bai Bing decided to perform—imitating Wang Zheng’s posture as she listened in.

“President Lin, this is Liu Jin, Chairman of Haihua Real Estate, the real estate tycoon of Jinghua City. There’s a saying in the industry: if Obama wanted, Chairman Liu could sell him the White House! That’s his boast!” Huang Wei said with a laugh.

“Chairman Liu, it’s an honor. Though I’m not in real estate, your reputation precedes you…” Lin Xiaolei replied with empty flattery, much of it mere sycophancy.

But these days, people love hearing nice words, especially when spoken by a beautiful woman. How could “bursting with joy” even begin to describe the feeling?

On this side of the screen, Bai Bing covered her mouth and giggled, glancing at Wang Zheng. “I didn’t realize Lin Xiaolei had such a sweet tongue. Is that how she fooled you back then—so you’d help her?”

“Nonsense. With you glued to my side every step, do you really think I could lose my way?” Wang Zheng retorted with annoyance. But from the conversation next door, Wang Zheng had already confirmed one thing—Lin Xiaolei really was planning to enter real estate.

Real estate was indeed a hugely profitable industry, as everyone knew, but it was also highly risky. When the financial storm swept the globe, wasn’t real estate the hardest hit? And to want to leap into real estate at a time like this—Wang Zheng didn’t know whether to admire her courage or call her reckless.

In his eyes, Lin Xiaolei had been completely blinded by success, unable to distinguish between reality and dreams. And Huang Wei was no saint, either—being with him was already a danger.

Lin Xiaolei, you’d better be careful, or in the end, the one who buys you with money will be me, Wang Zheng. When that time comes, you won’t even be worthy of my appreciation.

You’ll just be a plaything.

And I, Wang Zheng, am no saint either.