Forced Me to Regress, Huh?

Today, Shen Qingning and Lin Lu both looked exceptionally beautiful.

Shen Qingning, the cold and elegant beauty, seemed to favor black clothing. Today, she wore a black short-sleeved top with a white collar, and beneath the collar, there was white chiffon for decoration.

The top was cropped, but instead of revealing her slender waist, she chose to wear a pair of white high-waisted, wide-legged pants.

In fact, it was not always true that the tighter the clothes, the longer the legs would appear.

For someone like her, who had heaven-defying long legs, these high-waisted, wide-legged pants accentuated her proportions.

In addition, Shen Qingning didn’t wear many accessories, just a Van Cleef & Arpels bracelet on her left wrist.

But because she had naturally fair and smooth skin, any accessory she wore seemed to shine brighter, almost as if it added a touch of brilliance to her appearance.

As for Lin Lu, standing beside Shen Qingning, she wore a white Miu Miu dress.

This youthful, girlish brand was indeed a perfect match for her.

She wore a pair of white Mary Jane shoes that featured pearl accents from the same brand. The shoes had metal chains on top, and the buckles were adorned with prominent pearls.

Those Mary Jane shoes really should be paired with white socks, Cheng Zhu thought.

The four of them entered the private room together and quickly attracted the attention of everyone inside.

Cheng Zhu looked around. Most of the people in the room were men. Including Shen Minglang, there were already five seated.

There were only two women, both with influencer faces. One of them was sitting next to Shen Minglang, likely his date for the evening.

In fact, she was really a small influencer.

“Hey.” Shen Minglang stood up and pulled out a chair for Shen Qingning, inviting her to sit.

Although he was the birthday boy today and had the highest status, some things had long become a habit for him.

After Shen Qingning sat down, she looked at the small influencer sitting nearby.

This woman, who had tens of thousands of followers on Weibo and had licking dogs sending private messages every day, didn’t dare to make eye contact and silently looked away.

The small influencer was dressed quite like a socialite, but when a fake socialite met a real young lady, she was still subdued by the latter’s presence.

Shen Minglang introduced everyone to each other enthusiastically.

When he introduced Lin Lu, the males present became incomparably focused.

They had known Shen Minglang for a long time and knew they had no chance of becoming his brother-in-law.

But this new girl looked unbelievably sweet!

When they heard she was a voice actress, their excitement only grew.

A woman with a versatile voice? Wonderful!

Then they found out she was not only Shen Qingning’s best friend but also her classmate. Didn’t this mean she was still a university student?

Shit! She’s a gem, a real gem! Cheng Zhu looked at their expressions and felt as though wolf howls were already ringing in his ears. “Awoo, Awoo!”

So he plopped down directly beside Lin Lu, and Jiang Wanzhou could only sit on his other side.

Shen Minglang walked behind the two with a smile and started making introductions.

He first patted Jiang Wanzhou’s shoulder. “CEO Little Jiang, I won’t say much about him. He’s a bit boring.”

Jiang Wanzhou slapped his hand off his shoulder and silently rolled his eyes.

Then Shen Minglang introduced Cheng Zhu. “As for this guy, he’s my closest cousin, the one I told you about, the one who bet on a 0-0 draw in the World Cup finals!

“Awesome. Damn, even when I think about it now, it still blows my mind!”

All eyes turned to Cheng Zhu. Since he had come in with Lin Lu and was sitting beside her, people weren’t sure what their relationship was.

But if it were Cheng Zhu, he would analyze the situation based on the two birthday presents they brought.

If they were a couple, they would probably have brought only one gift together. After all, from the birthday boy’s earlier introduction, it didn’t seem like their relationship was close enough to warrant separate gifts.

Of course, this was just a reference point.

Everyone sized up Cheng Zhu, and the two influencers thought he was quite handsome. His face had sharp, well-defined angles, and his eyebrows arched slightly, giving him a bad-boy vibe.

However, his clothing was quite casual, and none of his items appeared to be branded goods.

“Is he wearing… Metersbonwe?”

“No way, no way?”

In the influencer world, many people judged others by appearance.

Both of these women were the type who enjoyed mingling with rich second-generation heirs, so they were quick to gauge a man’s background from the surface.

Sitting directly across from Cheng Zhu was a slightly fat man.

Based on Cheng Zhu’s knowledge of the rich second-generation crowd, he knew that the probability of posers appearing among the fatter crowd was relatively higher.

Their physical shortcomings often led them to compensate by flaunting their wealth, attempting to fill the gap left by their insecurities about their appearance.

With a smile, the fat man turned to Shen Minglang and asked, “Brother Lang, what does your cousin do? Playing together means we’re friends. The more we get to know each other, the better we can help each other out in the future.”

Hearing this, Cheng Zhu only found it amusing.

He knew all too well that some second-generation heirs liked to brag endlessly and make themselves sound impressive, but in reality, they had little say in their family businesses.

The more arrogant and boastful they were, the more likely this was the case.

Help each other out, huh? Do your parents even listen to what you say?

Such words were just another way of probing Cheng Zhu’s family background.

The fat man had heard from Shen Minglang that Cheng Zhu had spent 12,000 betting on a 0:0 scoreline. But seeing him in person today, he thought that Cheng Zhu looked plain and wasn’t wearing anything expensive.

But this question really stumped Shen Minglang.

“Damn, I really don’t know!” He was straightforward and had a wide circle of friends, so he didn’t care about such things.

Cheng Zhu answered candidly, “My family runs a small restaurant.”

To his surprise, Jiang Wanzhou suddenly said, “The food at Cheng Zhu’s restaurant is really good. Shen Minglang! Hurry up and call the waiter to bring the food. I’m starving! I’m telling you, this restaurant might not be as good as Cheng Zhu’s. You have no eye for picking places.”

Although Shen Minglang and Jiang Wanzhou often bickered, he was actually very fond of his younger siblings.

As soon as he heard that his cousin was hungry, he grumbled but still went ahead and urged the waiter to bring the food.

While Shen Minglang was talking to the waiter, Jiang Wanzhou crossed his legs, looking rather enchanting, but his tone was quite unfriendly as he said to the fat man, “Liu Hongjing, we’re all friends, so we should help each other more in the future. I think what you said is absolutely right. Business at my family has been slow this year. Could you talk to your parents and ask them not to delay the factory rent? It would really help if they could pay it sooner.”

When Liu Hongjing heard this, his chubby face immediately stiffened.

His family owned a factory, but it wasn’t large enough, so they rented it out. Then his family rented a vacant factory from Jiang Wanzhou’s family.

It was actually Shen Minglang’s father who had made the connection between the two families.

This year, Liu Hongjing’s family business wasn’t doing well, and they were struggling with cash flow.

But it would be unbelievable if Jiang Wanzhou’s family were short of money!

With a whole street of shops and three large factories, the rent alone amounted to a terrifying sum every year!

Liu Hongjing opened his mouth several times but didn’t know what to say. His face turned purple. This damn sissy, why is he so aggressive today? What’s wrong with him?

Shen Minglang pretended not to hear anything.

It was his father who had made the connection and arranged the factory rental. Now that they were behind on rent, it made things awkward for everyone.

Although it had only been delayed by a month, and they would probably pay the money back eventually, why was this guy, who owed rent, jumping around in front of the landlord?!

At this moment, two of Shen Minglang’s friends walked into the private room, arriving late.

A few people immediately heckled them, wanting them to drink a punishment shot. The atmosphere changed.

During the meal, Lin Lu felt that the men sitting across from her were too boring. One moment, they talked about cars, the next about real estate prices, and then stocks…

She couldn’t care less about any of it.

It was way more interesting at Jin Sha last time, the voice actress thought.

She felt that Cheng Zhu’s conversations were far more entertaining than theirs.

And, well, he was also much better looking.

After the meal, Shen Minglang began organizing the second event. He had booked a karaoke room and invited everyone to sing and drink together.

The group walked to the parking lot. Liu Hongjing and a guy with glasses beside him looked at Cheng Zhu to see what car he drove.

Cars were something men paid attention to, so it was normal for them to take a few glances.

In the end, they only saw Cheng Zhu getting into Jiang Wanzhou’s Mercedes-Benz G-Class.

After getting into the car, Jiang Wanzhou didn’t forget to remind Cheng Zhu, “Let me tell you in advance. Shen Minglang’s friends are all the type who party hard with him. They can drink like crazy!

“Let’s not stay too late later. Just play for Shen Minglang’s sake. Otherwise, you’ll likely be hugging a toilet bowl all night.”

Cheng Zhu looked at him and asked, “How do you know? Have you drunk with them before? You seem to have lingering fears.”

“Yeah, that bunch of animals can really drink! And I can’t stand it when people push me to drink. I end up blacking out,” Jiang Wanzhou replied.

“Okay, got it.” Cheng Zhu made a mental note. Then he added, “We’ll leave whenever Lin Lu leaves.”

Jiang Wanzhou turned to look at him in surprise. “Don’t tell me you really fucking want to hook up with Sister Lu?”

“Yeah,” Cheng Zhu replied.

“You actually admitted it!” Jiang Wanzhou shot back, “Didn’t you act all pretentious last time and say I should call you brother-in-law in advance?”

“Yep, I’m going after your cousin too.”