Can't Take My Eyes Off You

C 66-67

"Oh yes, you mentioned earlier that you wanted to give me a new phone. It's very generous of you, thanks," Lu Xingzhi said while picking up his chopsticks and began eating. He didn't take the one with Zhou Weiqi now though. Instead, after a moment of silence, he said slowly, "Give me a new one tonight. When Jiang Yao starts school, arrange someone to send her one."

The chopsticks in Zhou Weiqi's hand fell to the floor with a bang.

"My ears are working just fine, aren't they?" Zhou Weiqi howled with a sobbing face. "Xingzhi, Xingzhi, spare my life please! It's just nonsense, can you pretend I never said it, please?"

Upon Lu Xingzhi's indifference, Zhou Weiqi curled his arms around Lu Xingzhi and mumbled, "Xingzhi, Xingzhi, my good brother Xingzhi, you and our Brother Yueze are as rich as Midas, how can you exploit me like this?"

Liang Yueze glanced at Zhou Weiqi in amusement. He chuckled and blurted out, "You got served."

In the meantime, Luo Lauren started laughing hysterically. "I bet Weiqi's brain is turning into stone right about now."

"Ugh! Heartless woman," Zhou Weiqi rolled his eyes at Luo Lauren. He snorted after Lu Xingzhi flung his arms away. "Okay, fine, one is my brother while the other is my brother's wife. I'll give you the phones even if I have to eat with the church mice!"

After that, Zhou Weiqi smiled slyly. "Xingzhi, if I give you the phones, can I eat here for free forever?"

"Have you ever paid?" Lu Xingzhi arched his eyebrows and said in a rather high-pitched tone, "I didn't even know."

"Haha! Haha!" Luo Lauren laughed out loud. "Weiqi, you're the best example of dining and dashing! Isn't talking about money a slap on your own face?"

On the surface, Longteng Restaurant belonged to Liang Yueze, but they all knew that Lu Xingzhi had some shares in most of Liang Yueze's businesses, including this restaurant.

Liang Yueze was a businessman and the owner of various industries in the country. As Lu Xingzhi was in the National Guard, he never stepped forward in terms of businesses. Only this close group of friends knew the inside story.

In this room, everyone except for Lu Xingzhi were from wealthy and prominent families of dignitaries in Jindo. Any of these influential families were able to shake the economy in Jindo by a simple snap of the fingers.

Although the Lu family were a wealthy family in the south, it wasn't comparable when it came to a big city the scale of Jindo. Despite that, Lu Xingzhi became close friends with these wealthy people. There was five of them in this group of close-knit buddies. In terms of seniority, Lu Xingzhi was conveniently in the middle, being third eldest in the group. Liang Yueze was the eldest, followed by a mysterious man at the moment. Zhou Weiqi was the second youngest and Chen Xuyao was the youngest.

Because of Lu Xingzhi's friendship with these people, no one in Jindo dared to offend him. Everyone who bumped into him would respectfully greet him as Master Lu.

Among them, Liang Yueze, the eldest in the brotherhood, was a famous and successful business magnate in Jindo. His business empire had diversified into a wide array of industries and his companies had investments in many countries.

Beneath his success stories, not many knew about Liang Yueze's hardships in the early days of his entrepreneurship. Similarly now, not many knew that Lu Xingzhi had shares in many of his businesses.

Chen Xuyao was right. Liang Yueze and Lu Xingzhi shared similar personality traits and characteristics. They were both reserved and taciturn, but no one could ignore their existences. They were as intimidating as a pair of wild leopards napping in the wild. Even with their eyes closed, smart and alert people could sense the dangerous and terrifying aura emitting from them and would tread around them cautiously.

After being teased by Luo Lauren, Zhou Weiqi didn't flutter in rage at all. "We're brothers and since money is such a sensitive topic, it may hurt our friendship. Am I right, Big Brother?"

"Nothing is more fragile than money, including brotherhood." Liang Yueze threw the statement at Zhou Weiqi's face, then added after seeing his gloomy face, "If you come with your wife, children, or parents, whatever you order is on the house. The only exception is those girlfriends whose looks I can't even remember, let alone their names."

The corner of Zhou Weiqi's lips dragged downward, his frown added to a more sullen look. "Where do I find a wife and children? Big Brother, you are discriminating against loners now that you're getting married! It's not fair!"

"Okay, including fiancée," Liang Yueze counterproposed.

Lu Xingzhi thought about it and added, "Including the partner whom you're serious about and ready to get married to."

"I've decided to sever my tie with Brother Yueze and Brother Xingzhi! And you, Luo Lauren, don't laugh, I don't want to be your friend either! I want to hop on a plane and find comfort from Brother Haoyu 1 to heal my broken heart."

Zhou Weiqi pulled his chair away from Lu Xingzhi and Liang Yueze that he almost went out of the door. Then, he put his hands on the chest where his heart was, showing a sad and dejected expression.

"Go and try, I dare you," Luo Lauren sneered. "Careful though, you may end up being kicked back on the plane."

"Nah, Haoyu is very kind and nice, unlike you guys, a bunch of wolves in sheep's clothing," Zhou Weiqi snorted. He then picked up his phone and huffed, "I'm going to make an international call to Brother Haoyu and complain about how you all, including Chen Xuyao, bully me when he's not around!"

With the phone in his grip, Zhou Weiqi sprinted out of the room and into the empty corridor. Then, he sheepishly plastered his ear against the door and listened to the conversation inside the room. When he was certain no one was going after him, he touched the tip of his nose while grinning slyly. He unlocked his phone, looked through the contact history, and dialed the number that was called earlier.

The phone rang for a long time. Zhou Weiqi listened to the activities in the room gingerly while muttering for the person on the other end of the line to pick up.

Finally, someone picked up the phone. A very tender voice resonated from the other end of the line.

"Hello, Xingzhi?"

Zhou Weiqi was stunned upon the gentle voice. He didn't expect that Jiang Yao would call out Lu Xingzhi's name in such a soft and chocolate-like voice.

After a short while, Zhou Weiqi regained his composure and shouted into the phone, "Sister-in-Law, it's me, Zhou Weiqi! You must help me! Xingzhi is bullying me! He takes advantage of me and abuses me! Sister, I'm so miserable! Please, I beg you for mercy!"

Zhou Weiqi's intention was clear—he wanted the people in the room to hear his cry, hence, he howled at the top of his lungs.

On the other end of the line, Jiang Yao froze in confusion. The number displayed was indeed the same as the one that Lu Xingzhi had called from earlier. If the guy was addressing her as sister-in-law, the brother he meant must be Lu Xingzhi.

As she listened to the ramblings, she deduced that he was indeed being bullied by Lu Xingzhi, and that he had called her to complain simply because he couldn't defeat Lu Xingzhi.

When Jiang Yao thought of it, she imagined Zhou Weiqi to be as childish as a three-year-old boy and burst out laughing.

"Sister-in-Law, are you laughing?" Zhou Weiqi was in shock as the laughter echoed through the line. "Sister-in-Law, what about your empathy?"

"My hands are tied, can't you at least allow me to ease the tension by laughing?" Jiang Yao said as she muffled her laughter, but she still chuckled as she found it hilarious.