Wang Ningkai and Wang Xiaoyan’s high-profile return to the village naturally drew a great deal of attention from the villagers. Wang Xiaoyan’s manner made it obvious at a glance that she was wealthy. She complained about this and that, not much different from Lisa before her. The difference was that the first one had truly been a princess, while this one was merely a sparrow that had flown onto a high branch and turned into a phoenix; at heart, she was still a sparrow. The villagers who had come to see whether Wang Ningkai really had found another rich girlfriend quickly lost interest once they saw Wang Xiaoyan and went home. Wealth was all well and good, but bringing back another hard-to-please young madam meant there would be no shortage of arguments if they ever married. Madam Li was busy cultivating a good relationship with Wang Xiaoyan as her future mother-in-law. Even when Wang Xiaoyan complained that the food her future mother-in-law cooked was not good, Madam Li still praised her for being refreshingly straightforward.
Old Madam Wang was smiling too, saying the girl was wonderful, pretty, and frank, exactly the kind of girl she liked. She even kept her own temper in check, never realizing that behaving this way would only make Wang Xiaoyan look down on them even more. There would be plenty for them to suffer later.
Eventually, Wang Xiaoyan complained that the house felt too stuffy, so Madam Li and Old Madam Wang immediately told Wang Ningkai to take his girlfriend out for a walk.
“Ningkai, your mom and grandma are pretty interesting.” Wang Xiaoyan enjoyed being fawned over by others. Her family had actually been very poor when she was young. They had only started becoming well-off after she graduated from middle school and spent three years working, which was only five or six years ago. She had suffered a little during those three years, and once her family had money, she began trying to imitate the behavior of truly wealthy people, never realizing she looked like a poor imitation of all of them at once.
“They’re only acting like that because they like you. My mom and grandma don’t think much of ordinary people.” Wang Ningkai’s reaction was fairly bland. He did not like the way his mother and grandmother behaved. It only made others look down on them. But since the person involved was his own girlfriend and they were doing it for his sake, he kept his displeasure to himself.
“Of course. I’m lovable wherever I go.” Wang Xiaoyan gave him what she thought was a playful wink. “So I like your mom and grandma too.”
Wang Ningkai smiled. Sometimes Wang Xiaoyan really was lively and cute. Otherwise, if all he cared about were the benefits her family could bring his company, he would not have wronged himself by dating her. In the end, most men still cared about a woman’s looks, just as women cared about a man’s. If Wang Ningkai were ugly, Wang Xiaoyan would never have taken a fancy to him either.
“Isn’t that the car that almost caused us to crash?” Wang Xiaoyan suddenly spotted the silver sedan parked outside a nearby house and recognized it immediately.
Wang Ningkai followed the direction of her finger and looked over, surprise appearing on his face. He recognized the car too, but what startled him was that it was parked outside his youngest uncle’s house. “How could that be?”
“Come on. Let’s go take a look.” Wang Xiaoyan immediately grabbed Wang Ningkai’s arm and started toward the car to confront its owner. Since the owner was from Guanjia Village, she had nothing to be afraid of.
“Wait.” Wang Ningkai hurriedly pulled her back.
“What?” Wang Xiaoyan turned around unhappily.
“That’s my youngest uncle’s house.”
“Your youngest uncle?” Wang Xiaoyan immediately thought of Wang Cheng and sneered. “Even better. We can settle old and new grudges together. I’d like to see what your cousin is capable of.” With that, she ignored Wang Ningkai and walked over on her own.
Wang Ningkai was afraid she would cause a scene and embarrass both families, so he immediately followed. But when he approached the silver car, he suddenly noticed something was wrong. Most men loved cars, and he was no exception. Now that he was close, he realized the vehicle was actually a Maybach worth around ten million yuan. Wang Ningkai’s expression changed. If that was true, then its owner was not someone they could afford to offend.
Inside the living room, Wang Cheng was talking with Chu Yifeng when they suddenly heard a flurry of hurried footsteps outside. A furious woman strode in. One glance was enough for both men to recognize Wang Ningkai’s new girlfriend.
Wang Xiaoyan first cast Wang Cheng a contemptuous look, then her gaze landed on Chu Yifeng and surprise flashed across her face. She realized she recognized this man. He seemed to be the same one who had been buying shoes with Wang Cheng last time. She immediately demanded in an accusing tone, “You’re the owner of that silver car outside?”
“Barging into someone else’s home without permission. Which family are you from? Do you have no manners?” Wang Cheng acted as though he had never seen her before. He was only slightly surprised that she had come looking for Chu Yifeng. With that attitude, she clearly was not here to make friends. She looked more like she had come to pick a fight.
“Who are you saying has no manners?” Wang Xiaoyan snapped.
“You already answered the question yourself. Do I still need to say it? Unless you think I was talking about Eldest Cousin?” Wang Cheng’s gaze shifted toward Wang Ningkai, who had only just walked in. The latter looked somewhat embarrassed.
“I don’t want to argue with you. I didn’t come here for you today.” Wang Xiaoyan knew she could not outtalk him, at least showing that much self-awareness.
Wang Cheng drawled, “This is my house, and people with no manners aren’t welcome here. The door’s behind you. Don’t let me keep you.”
“You!” Wang Xiaoyan’s face flushed red with anger at his attitude and tone. Without another word, she tried to rush over and teach him a lesson, only for Wang Ningkai to react quickly and grab her. Wang Xiaoyan turned on him furiously. “Wang Ningkai, let go of me.”
“Enough. Stop making a scene. Come outside. I have something to tell you.” Wang Ningkai lowered his voice beside her ear. Without waiting for her to react, he put on an apologetic expression and said to Wang Cheng, “Wang Cheng, I’m sorry. Xiaoyan didn’t know this was your house. She only wanted to find your friend. There may have been some misunderstanding. I apologize on her behalf. Come visit us when you have time. We’ll be going now.”
“You’re hurting my arm. What can’t you say right now?” Wang Xiaoyan’s face twisted, clearly unwilling to cooperate.
Wang Ningkai did not want to explain in front of Wang Cheng. For once, he acted forcefully. After saying what he needed to say, he practically dragged her outside. Wang Xiaoyan’s cursing gradually faded into the distance. A nouveau riche was still a nouveau riche. No matter how nicely dressed they were or how convincingly they tried to imitate refinement, they still could not hide the vulgarity and coarseness underneath.
Wang Cheng was completely defeated by Wang Ningkai’s outrageous girlfriend. He did not know much about Wang Xiaoyan and had originally assumed she was the same sort of person as Lisa. After these two encounters, however, Lisa was clearly several levels above her. No matter how disdainful Lisa might be, she would never casually spew profanity, and her behavior still carried something of a well-bred young lady’s poise. Wang Xiaoyan, on the other hand, was simply a village girl wrapped in gold. The crudeness in her bones had not changed at all. Wang Cheng finally understood Wang Ningkai’s taste. Apparently, having money was enough.
“How did you end up having some misunderstanding with her?” After the two left, Wang Cheng asked Chu Yifeng. The whole thing made no sense.
“This is only the second time I’ve seen them,” Chu Yifeng said calmly. He also wanted to know when exactly he had supposedly developed a misunderstanding with them.
“That’s strange.” Wang Cheng rubbed his chin. If this were about the rumors from a few days ago, too much time had already passed, and he had never told Chu Yifeng about the matter. It was impossible for Chu Yifeng to have secretly done something behind his back. Even if he had, Eldest Uncle’s family could not possibly have remained so calm. The only explanation was that they had come looking for trouble.
Wang Ningkai dragged Wang Xiaoyan out of Wang Cheng’s house. They had barely gone a few steps when she shook off his hand. Her expression plainly said, If you don’t give me an explanation I’m satisfied with, this isn’t over. The longer Wang Ningkai spent with her, the more vulgar he found her behavior. With Lisa as a comparison, Wang Xiaoyan was practically being compared straight into the mud.
“What exactly did you have to tell me that you had to drag me outside first?” Wang Xiaoyan shouted angrily.
“If I hadn’t pulled you out just now, you would have offended someone we can’t afford to offend.” Wang Ningkai frowned and tried his best not to lose his temper with her.
“Someone we can’t afford to offend? Are you trying to scare me? Or are you trying to protect your cousin?” Wang Xiaoyan did not believe him.
Wang Ningkai could not be bothered to explain at length. He pointed at the silver car behind her. “Do you know what kind of car that is? Do you know how much it costs?”
Wang Xiaoyan turned around. She knew nothing about cars. How would she know what model it was?
Wang Ningkai knew she would not be able to answer, so he told her, “That’s a Maybach worth around ten million yuan. Anyone with a net worth under a hundred million could never afford one. Do you think you can afford to offend someone like that?”
Wang Ningkai knew perfectly well that he could not, which was why he had immediately dragged her outside. He had no intention of letting his family get dragged down because of Wang Xiaoyan.
Forget a hundred million; even ten million was a figure Wang Xiaoyan’s family could only look up at from afar. Calling her family nouveau riche sounded impressive, but in reality, they were only somewhat better off than ordinary people. In the eyes of the truly wealthy, a sports car worth five or six million alone would be enough to crush them.
Wang Xiaoyan’s expression changed. “Really? You’re not lying to me?”
“What would I gain from lying to you?” Seeing that she still did not believe him, Wang Ningkai began to look impatient.
Wang Xiaoyan bit her lip. She knew Wang Ningkai would not lie to her for no reason. She had thought she could throw her weight around for once in a tiny rural place like Guanjia Village, only to nearly pick a fight with someone she could not afford to offend. She was deeply unwilling to let it go. “How does that cousin of yours know someone so rich?”
“Who knows? In any case, if you run into him again, you’d better not provoke him. My family and his aren’t on particularly good terms right now either. If something happens, I won’t be able to protect you.” Wang Ningkai only hoped she would stop doing stupid things.
“I know.” Wang Xiaoyan stamped her foot and answered unwillingly.