Chapter 1050 — A Gradual Swindle

Sun Jingyan knew exactly what sort of man Wu Chengtian was: a glory-hound, mad for credit and applause. Put nicely, he liked to be the center of attention; put bluntly, he liked to show off and posture. Perhaps that isn't a terribly ladylike word for a girl to use, but there was no harm in thinking it.

Earlier, Feng Xiaoxiao had played along with Wu Chengtian's act at every turn, until she had molded his image into that of a truly formidable business tycoon — a man who raked in fortunes by the day and didn't even deign to glance at five million. Sun Jingyan understood perfectly well why he had been bragging to her face: he wanted to strut in front of her, so that she would look up to him in awe.

But the scheme had failed. Sun Jingyan knew precisely what he was, and besides, she had no taste for brainless egotists like him. She preferred clever men — and, of course, men who actually had the strength to back it up.

As matters stood, Wei Zhao satisfied the first requirement; whether he possessed real strength, however, remained to be seen.

In Sun Jingyan's eyes, Wei Zhao was nothing more than a candidate being vetted for the post of boyfriend, so she did not care in the least about whatever was going on between him and Feng Xiaoxiao. She hadn't made up her own mind yet; there was no need to enter into any contest.

Even had she made up her mind, Sun Jingyan still had no confidence that Wei Zhao could win her family's approval, so under the circumstances she was all the less inclined to react. As far as she was concerned, from the very day she ran away from home only two paths had lain open to her in love. The first was to find a man strong enough — stronger even than Wu Chengtian — to shut those relatives of hers up for good.

The second was to find a man she truly loved, live with him in secret, and lead a life that could never see the light of day; at the very least, this relationship could not be made public. Making it public would cost Sun Jingyan nothing in itself, but she feared the family would take their revenge on that man in the dark.

And that would be the same as ruining someone else.

To keep that from happening, should she choose the second path, Sun Jingyan would willingly renounce her name and standing, content to be a lover in the shadows; at the very least, on the surface she would have to let that man keep a normal, complete family, if only to blind the Sun family's eyes.

As for eloping and the like, it had never even occurred to her — it simply wasn't realistic. The Sun family's connections and watching eyes were everywhere; you could hide for a while, but never for a lifetime. Sooner or later it would all come out, and by then the trouble would be enormous.

Sometimes Sun Jingyan would feel deeply sad. With both parents gone, her standing in the Sun family was the sort that neither the grandmother's side nor the uncle's side could be bothered to love; had the old master of the Sun family not still been alive and partial to her, her uncles and aunts would long since have driven her into a dead end.

Doing business in Songshan City — without Old Master Sun's tacit consent, she would have been hauled back ages ago to be wed to Wu Chengtian. How could she ever have waited for the man to come chasing after her himself?

So in Sun Jingyan's heart there was a natural revulsion toward Wu Chengtian, to say nothing of any affection. Now that he was being put in his place in front of Feng Xiaoxiao, she was only too glad to watch. If only Feng Xiaoxiao came along every day to deflate him, until he couldn't show his face in Songshan City — that would be perfect!

At this moment Wu Chengtian's face had flushed scarlet, and for once he had no idea how to answer. Yes, he was something of a hothead — but even a hothead knew that money was a good thing.

The wooing fund he had brought from the Wu family this time amounted to a mere ten million, and now five million had dropped into his lap in a single stroke. He was feeling wonderfully pleased with himself, scheming to spend those five million on a proper display — and display he did, only it failed to produce the effect he had expected. In his reckoning, five million ought to have bought him several such shows. Now look at this: one show and it was all spent. The posturing was getting a bit too expensive.

At this rate, ten million wouldn't even buy two of them.

But the words were already out. To go back on them now would cost him not only his image; what worried him far more was that Feng Xiaoxiao might be angry this time and refuse to play along with his showing off ever again — and then how was his dashing, heroic image ever to shine?

Thinking this, Wu Chengtian could only clench his heart and part with the money. He gritted his teeth, then put on a breezy smile and said to Feng Xiaoxiao, "Sure thing, sure thing — it's only five million, isn't it? A trifle! Give me your card number and I'll transfer it to you right now."

"Haha, I told you so! Brother Chengtian is ever so generous. A man like you — whoever marries you is going to be a happy woman, happy she'll probably die of it!" Feng Xiaoxiao exclaimed, complimenting him with delight.

Only, the words came out a shade too ironic: dying "of happiness." And no mistake — whoever married Wu Chengtian really would have to die! Nothing had even happened yet and he had already given away five million; over the long run, wouldn't he give away an entire fortune? Who would dare marry such a man?

Sun Jingyan caught the irony in it and could not help finding it highly amusing. This Feng Xiaoxiao really was a shrewd one — pocketing the profit and still playing the innocent. Even more amusing was that the fool Wu Chengtian hadn't noticed a thing; he sat there grinning from ear to ear: "Haha — don't you go falling for your big brother. Big brother's heart is already spoken for."

Wu Chengtian was thoroughly pleased with Feng Xiaoxiao's flattery, laughing the while as he phoned in the transfer.

Sun Jingyan stole a glance at Wei Zhao and found him perfectly composed, as though this sort of thing were an everyday occurrence. She could not help frowning slightly to herself, and her curiosity about Wei Zhao deepened all the more.

Five million meant nothing to the Sun family, naturally — but to the Sun Jingyan of today it was nothing short of a staggering sum. Her trading company didn't even clear five million in profit over an entire year, and yet Wei Zhao's woman had coaxed five million out of the man without breaking a sweat, while Wei Zhao himself didn't seem to care in the least.

Was he putting on a brave face, or did he truly not regard that sum as worth a glance?

Judging from her looks, Feng Xiaoxiao must have been born into a reasonably well-off family — but not a fabulously wealthy one, otherwise she would never have been tempted by Wu Chengtian's five million.

And yet Wei Zhao disdained it. This pair of theirs really was rather strange.

Sun Jingyan drove into the parking lot of the Brilliant Starlight Grand Hotel and tossed the car into whatever empty space came along.

It was still morning, and hardly anyone dined here at this hour. Most of the cars in the lot belonged to the hotel's own guests, scattered two and three at a time — nothing many. The four had no sooner gotten out of the car than a doorman came over and ushered them into the hotel lobby.

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