Zhou Weiqi returned to his senses and explained, “Nah, I just think she looks pretty when she is smiling, just like how I appreciate your beauty. Besides, she’s not my Qiuhe, alright!”
“Thanks for the compliment.” Jiang Yao chuckled dryly. She then asked Lu Xingzhi, “When do you plan to release Mr. Zhou?”
“Tomorrow.” Lu Xingzhi looked at Zhou Weiqi. “Initially I wanted you to make the decision, but I realized that it might take too long to wait for your verdict. I don’t have the patience for it, so I gave the decision-making right to someone else.”
“Brother Lu…” Zhou Weiqi sighed.
“Excuse me for being blunt, but you can’t even compete with Zhou Ning’s pet dog in the Zhou family.” Lu Xingzhi did not mince his words. Yet, they were the truth. “If your father decides to keep you in the Zhou family, I’ll be very surprised.”
Zhou Weiqi did not speak, he kept his head down and munched on the cookies served.
What could he say? He was always disregarded and left behind; what else could he hope for?
“Get out of my way after you’re done eating.” Lu Xingzhi got annoyed looking at Zhou Weiqi’s sour expression.
Realizing that he was third wheeling here, Zhou Weiqi grabbed a handful of cookies, took a swig of tea, and walked away.
The afternoon sun was very bright, causing Jiang Yao’s face to flush a bright red. She leaned on Lu Xingzhi’s shoulder after Zhou Weiqi’s departure and said, “We should call Weiqi back. We three can play a game of cards.”
Seeing Lu Xingzhi actually reaching for his cell phone, Jiang Yao quickly stopped his hand and said, “I was just joking, you took it seriously?”
Lu Xingzhi did. It was not a big deal though, as it involved the simple act of giving Zhou Weiqi a call.
“Mrs. Zhou and Zhou Ning must be livid at us now.” Jiang Yao could not stop thinking about Zhou Ning’s expression, she thought it looked funny. “Weiqi and Xuyao asked me yesterday why I wasn’t angry, even Chen Feibai asked me the same question too. Do you know what I told them? Well, they need a favor from me. It’s only a matter of time before they’ll have to put themselves down and beg for my help. I did not expect them to get on their knees though, good thing Zhou Ning mentioned it herself.”
Seeing the pathetic reactions of Mrs. Zhou and Zhou Ning had Jiang Yao in a very chummy mood. She was reminded of the way they treated Zhou Weiqi yesterday and felt really pleased to see how the tables have turned.
“So, the five hundred thousand is Weiqi’s?” Jiang Yao asked.
“For Weiqi to leave the Zhou family, they would take back everything he had that was given by them.” Lu Xingzhi knew very well what the Zhou family would do. Even though they did not provide much for Zhou Weiqi, Lu Xingzhi wanted to at least get some compensation for all the hardships and injustice Zhou Weiqi faced all these years staying in the Zhou family.
“Five hundred thousand is not a lot of money, yet neither is it a small sum,” Jiang Yao said. “For an ordinary household, five hundred thousand is an amount of money they can only ever dream of having, just like my parents who are farmers. They can never earn that much even till the end of their lives. Yet for the Zhou family, it is nothing more than a mortgage for a villa or a loan for a luxurious vehicle.”