The Wei Family sure moved swiftly—by the end of September, Wei Xudong was already in sight.
What surprised her was that Wei Xudong didn’t move into the Wei Family’s mansion; instead, he rented a one-bedroom apartment in the same building.
When Wei Xudong carried his luggage into the one-bedroom place, he kept telling himself it was just a temporary stay.
Once he had enough money in his hands, he would definitely move, definitely to a house with a sea view.
It had to be a luxury residence of at least a thousand square feet; he wouldn’t settle for dwelling here, but for now, he was living in this one-bedroom apartment.
In the past, a room this size wouldn’t have even matched the scale of his bedroom, and now it was all-encompassing, which really irked him.
However, there was no choice, as his funds were limited and he still needed to enter the stock market to make money.
After hastily organizing his belongings, he prepared to go out for dinner—he could pack his suitcase, which was already a big improvement.
"Once I make money, I definitely have to hire a Filipino maid," Wei Xudong stated again, resolved to work hard at making money.
As Zhang Li and the others entered the elevator, Wei Xudong looked up and greeted them, "Hello there."
Zhang Li turned her head to look and wasn’t too surprised, "Hello."
Wei Xudong had thought she would ask why he was here and had prepared his response accordingly.
What he didn’t expect was that after Zhang Li said her initial greeting, she would remain silent throughout.
It really made him uncomfortable. Why didn’t she ask? Why wasn’t she curious? "Aren’t you curious as to why I’m here?"
"That’s your business; I have no desire to know the affairs of strangers." The reasons for Wei Xudong’s presence here could be deduced with a little thought.
Zhang Li knew that Wei Xudong, the lad, definitely wanted to use some impressive answer to surprise her.
No matter how many thoughts Wei Xudong had, Zhang Li parried them with her words, "I’ve come to Harbor City University as an exchange student."
"I’ve also entered the stock market to trade stocks. I will definitely perform better than you." Wei Xudong planned to set up his stock market account. At home, he had done his research and had a target in mind to start with.
To make money in the stock market, huh? Zhang Li got it. She came to study at Harbor City University and traded stocks in Harbor City; Wei Yan must have used these facts to provoke Wei Xudong.
The face-conscious Wei Xudong wouldn’t be willing to admit he was inferior to her; he surely wanted to prove himself.
Zhang Li continued nonchalantly with an indifferent "oh," her expression and voice unchanged.
Wei Xudong had discussed with Wei Wei at home, thinking that Zhang Li, knowing he had come to Harbor City University as an exchange student and entered the stock market, might be shocked in some way.
But who could have expected that Zhang Li would remain completely unchanged throughout, leaving him quite dejected. He had prepared for so long, contemplating how to suppress his opponent.
With the opponent showing no reaction, Wei Xudong kept taking deep breaths, trying not to get angry, "You’re really cool, no reaction at all."
"Are you chickening out?" Wei Xudong followed Zhang Li, incessantly provoking her.
Looking at the person hopping about, Zhang Li was truly curious, "If you want to compete with me, then let’s compete."
"After all, I have nothing to lose. Performing well is expected of you, considering you grew up under an elite educational system."
"The educational resources you’ve had access to are countless times better than mine."
"I relied entirely on my own research and analysis when trading stocks; no one gave me pointers."
"But it’s different for you. After all, you had the privilege of being coached by renowned teachers, by professionals."
"If you don’t perform well enough and end up less impressive than me, you will really lose face."
"I didn’t perform as well as you did, which is normal, since I’m self-taught, and you’ve had prestigious teachers to guide you."
"To put it bluntly, we’re just ordinary folks. We don’t get access to a lot of information."
"But who are you? You’re the eldest son of the Wei Family, the heir to Wei’s fortunes. Your social networks are much broader than mine."
"You could find out about things I had no idea existed."
"Having the right moment, location, and people, you’ve seized a good deal of advantage."
"If even then you can’t win," Zhang Li shook her head helplessly, "then you’re simply a lost cause."
"Alright, let’s go eat." Arriving at their regular diner, she knew it was definitely not to Wei Xudong’s taste. Of course, she also didn’t want to have a meal with some young master."
Wei Xudong patted his stomach. Fine, he was hungry too. Peeking into the restaurant, although it didn’t meet his standards, it was at least pretty clean.
Forget it, let’s see how the food this stubborn girl enjoys tastes. With the money he had on hand right now, he couldn’t afford a fancy meal anyway.
When he made some money, he would definitely dine at a ritzy restaurant.
Zhang Li ordered her favorite beef brisket rice set, Yang Xue chose an egg rice meal with an additional dish of pork trotters.
The two sat down to discuss things they encountered at school. Although they were not in the same major, they usually had lunch together and spent most of their time either in the library or a classroom.
After all, the school had air conditioning, which helped save on electricity bills.
This way, they each knew a bit about the other’s classmates, and some little talk was enough to understand what was being discussed.
"Do you mind if I sit here?" Wei Xudong scanned the room and quickly located Zhang Li’s table.
Zhang Li curled her lips, "What a nuisance."
"This is a public place. Sit if you want to." Zhang Li remembered they were out of fruit at home, "Shall we go buy some fruits later, and maybe some vegetables?"
They didn’t eat out all the time; occasionally they would have meals at home, "Let’s get some beef brisket, get the big hock."
That way, they could start cooking it that evening and enjoy a delicious soup the next night for dinner.
"Right, we’ve run out of dried scallops." Yang Xue really liked dried scallops, and it was a must to restock them at home.
"Sure." Zhang Li took out her notebook and wrote down all the items they needed to buy.
Wei Xudong listened to their discussion about shopping and sneered. She was really a vulgar woman to be talking about such mundane matters.
He truly didn’t understand. How could Wei Yan find someone like Zhang Li appealing? Could blood ties really be so important?
He really should have Wei Yan come here to take a good look at Zhang Li’s true nature, and see if he could still be so fond of her.
Zhang Li, of course, saw the disdainful look Wei Xudong gave her, but she pretended not to notice.
No matter if the young master lives in an ordinary room or eats ordinary food, the pretentiousness deep in his bones remains unchanged.
Yang Xue didn’t appreciate the way Wei Xudong was sizing them up either. If Zhang Li was truly his sister, as a brother, shouldn’t he be concerned that his sister’s life was nowhere near as good as his own?
Instead, he looked down on Zhang Li. Meanwhile, her friend was composed, completely indifferent to his gaze.
Zhang Li swiftly finished her meal and they left together. Wei Xudong hurried after them but could no longer see the two women’s figures.
Hmph, they probably knew of his downfall and wanted to hide from it.
But no matter how much she tried to conceal it, what’s ingrained in her bones would absolutely never change.