Chapter 332 - 229: It’s You I’m Scolding

Chapter 332: Chapter 229: It’s You I’m Scolding

"I find this young man over here quite interesting. I’ll go have a word with him."

With that, he smiled and moved to the adjacent table, lowering his head to whisper in Zhang Liang’s ear.

"Hello, young man. I’m Xiaomei’s second uncle-in-law, and I work in the regional secretariat. You know, you can’t force love. You’ve seen my niece, haven’t you? She has a good life now, a great future ahead of her. If you truly like her, shouldn’t you want what’s best for her?"

Liangzi looked at this well-mannered man in his thirties. He knew this must be the person who helped Huang Xiaomei get into the Red Professional school. He had once been grateful to him, but now all he felt was an indescribable revulsion. ’If this man had never shown up, wouldn’t Xiaomei and I be married by now?’ he thought.

Sighing, Liangzi lowered his voice as well. "I know. I won’t bother her anymore. I’ll let her go."

"Good. Thank you. In that case, you should leave now."

Cheng Fuhai breathed a sigh of relief. His biggest fear was Liangzi causing a scene in front of so many people. After all, the diners here were either conference attendees or regional cadres. A commotion would have terrible consequences.

"Leave?"

Liangzi was stunned to hear the man tell him to leave. ’I’ve already said I’d let her go,’ he thought, ’so why is he still trying to kick me out?’

"Yes. Since you’ve promised not to pester her, you should leave. Our family will cover all your expenses for this trip. We’ll find you later."

"Heh heh."

Liangzi couldn’t help but laugh in anger. ’Sounds nice, saying they’ll cover everything,’ he thought. ’But he’s kicking me out without even asking where I’m staying. How’s he going to "cover" it? Burn ghost money for me?’

"I haven’t eaten yet. I’m waiting for a friend. We’ll leave after we finish our meal."

"You... Don’t make me have you thrown out!"

Cheng Fuhai was starting to get anxious. He’d thought he had convinced the kid, but it turned out he was determined to stay. If this kid caused trouble after Zhao Wenming arrived, things would get even more complicated.

"Excuse me, who are you planning to have thrown out?"

Suddenly, a young man’s voice came from the side. It sounded polite enough, but the mocking undertone made Cheng Fuhai uneasy. He turned his head and saw a man in a military-style woolen overcoat standing beside him, smiling at him. Except the expression on his face had nothing to do with a real smile.

"Why are you looking at me? I’m asking you a question. Who are you planning to throw out?"

Zhao Wendong had just returned with his food when he spotted Huang Xiaomei and Zhao Zhitian at the other table. As he reached his brother’s side, he heard this man threatening him, and an irrepressible rage flared up inside him.

"I’m throwing *him* out! What about it?"

Cheng Fuhai noted the man’s impressive attire and didn’t want to cause any extra trouble. However, in front of his family, he couldn’t back down. He stood up and spoke coldly. He truly disliked how Zhao Wendong was looking down on him, but unfortunately, being only one meter seventy, he was still a head shorter than Zhao Wendong even after standing up.

"Heh heh, on what grounds are you kicking him out?"

"On the grounds that this is not a place he should be!"

"Is that so? I say you can’t make him leave."

They went head-to-head, their voices unconsciously growing louder. Nearby, Zhao Zhitian, who had just been scolded by his mother, couldn’t hold back any longer. He also stood up and glared at Zhao Wendong.

"Who do you think you are? I’m going to throw him out today!"

After speaking, he glanced at Huang Xiaomei, his expression complicated. He wasn’t a fool. Recalling the shouting he’d vaguely heard that afternoon, he had already formed a guess. But his pride as the son of the regional logistics director made him direct all his anger toward Zhao Wendong and Liangzi.

"Go ahead and try, you fucking idiot!"

Zhao Wendong didn’t hold back, cursing at him directly.

"What... what did you call me?"

Zhao Zhitian stared at Zhao Wendong in disbelief. He had never been cursed to his face like this in his entire life.

"Heh heh, didn’t you hear me? Liangzi, tell him what I called him."

Liangzi also stood up and gave Zhao Zhitian a slight smile. "Listen up. He called you a fucking idiot."

At that moment, Liangzi’s old swagger returned. He was no longer the heartbroken Zhang Liang, but the Nine of Bamboo in Wendong’s hand, the hooligan from Qianjin Commune who stood on par with Zhang Dadan. He could endure grievances himself, but when Dongzi stepped up, he had to stand with him. Because that was his brother, his big bro.

Zhao Zhitian was completely stunned. It was as if a pack of barbarians had suddenly invaded a civilized society; he had never seen anyone start cursing so freely. He clenched his fists, ready to charge, but when he met Zhao Wendong’s ice-cold eyes, a chill ran down his spine. He instinctively stopped and started calling for backup.

"Hey, you! Get over here!"

The commotion had already drawn the attention of everyone nearby, and the cafeteria staff were no exception. Seeing Zhao Zhitian waving at him, one of the staff members hurried over.

"I suspect these two aren’t qualified to eat here. They’re freeloading."

Zhao Zhitian said, pointing at Zhao Wendong and Liangzi.

"Comrades, could you please show me your room keys?"

The staff member, who naturally recognized Zhao Zhitian, the son of the logistics director, played along. He looked at Zhao Wendong and Liangzi, holding out his hand for their keys.

Zhao Wendong caught a glimpse of a group of people entering at the doorway. He just smiled, completely ignoring the staff member. He abruptly turned, sat back down, and motioned for Liangzi to sit as well.

"Come on, eat up. They have boiled meatballs today. This stuff is made of real meat, it’s delicious. Hurry up and eat, we won’t get to if we get thrown out."

Liangzi knew Zhao Wendong all too well; he knew instantly that his friend was up to no good. He played along and sat down. The two of them started eating the food Zhao Wendong had brought, ignoring everyone else around them. At the nearby tables, some people couldn’t help but chuckle. Whether Zhao Wendong and his friend had snuck in or not, their sheer nerve and composure were just too amusing.

"Hurry up! Go get people to throw them out!"

Zhao Zhitian roared at the staff member. The man nodded and was about to run off to get help when he saw a group of people walking toward them. The one leading the way was none other than the director of their guesthouse. He immediately rushed over.

"What’s going on? What’s happening over here?"

The guesthouse director wore a furious expression. The senior leaders were right behind him. ’Isn’t having trouble now just a slap in my own face?’ he thought.

"Director, Director! A couple of guys who don’t belong here snuck in to get a free meal, and they refuse to leave! I was just about to call for security."

"What?"

The director flew into a rage. ’Which two bastards are trying to screw me over at a time like this!’ he fumed internally.

"Let’s go see who dares to cause trouble in the regional administration’s guesthouse! You, go get the security department."

He then turned to the people behind him with an apologetic, cautious smile.

"My apologies, leaders. We’ve run into an unexpected incident. Allow me to handle it first."

The regional logistics director, Zhao Wenming, nodded with a grim expression.

"Mm. Grain is so precious these days. Many families can’t even get a full meal for the New Year. How can we let unqualified people waste our logistics department’s precious food by freeloading? We’ll go with you. This must be handled seriously."

Then he turned to the man in the center of the crowd, Regional Commissioner Wei Dongliang, and said with a smile, "Commissioner, it’ll just take a moment before we go find Secretary Zhao Wendong. How about we deal with these two bad elements first?"

The guesthouse was under his jurisdiction, and losing face in front of Wei Dongliang was a huge embarrassment for him. He directed all his anger at the two freeloaders, escalating their crime to being "bad elements"—a charge whose severity could be interpreted in many ways.

Wei Dongliang glanced toward the scene of the disturbance, catching a faint glimpse of the corner of a military-style woolen overcoat. He shot a knowing look at Zhao Wenming and gave a noncommittal nod. "We’ll do as Comrade Wenming says."