Chapter 333

Chapter 333

After crossing over more than ten years ago, Lu Mingzhu considered herself worldly and experienced, yet she had never encountered a woman as bold as this.

At the time, she was with her father.

They weren’t in her own home or the Lu family mansion, but in a newly opened restaurant called Golden Carp Gate Restaurant, where they had reserved a private room in advance.

Mr. Lu had previously dined at Golden Carp Gate with business associates and found their sweet-and-sour carp quite delicious. While not exactly fine dining, he thought his youngest daughter, who adored sweet and sour flavors, would enjoy it. Since she had come to visit him, he decided against dining at home and took her out to try the restaurant’s signature dishes. He never expected Wang Baozhu would seize the moment.

No one knew how long she’d been stalking Mr. Lu.

Lu Mingzhu and her father were only halfway through their meal.

Wang Baozhu, wearing a tight, nearly see-through white dress, reeking of booze, cheeks flushed and eyes glassy, stumbled in and threw herself at Mr. Lu. When he dodged, she didn’t stop her outrageous behavior—instead, she stripped down naked. “Mr. Lu, you’ve seen all of me. My virtue is ruined. You must take responsibility!”

She spoke crisply, utterly convinced of herself.

Mr. Lu was revolted, and even Lu Mingzhu was floored.

“Don’t look,” Mr. Lu covered his daughter’s eyes and loudly called for the bodyguards to remove her.

He’d let it slide before out of respect for Wang Xingcai, but now he deeply regretted it.

So father and daughter could talk privately, they hadn’t brought bodyguards to their table. Instead, they had booked the opposite private room for the guards to dine in, leaving the door open so they could keep an eye on Mr. Lu and Lu Mingzhu.

The waiter had also quietly withdrawn after serving the meal.

But Wang Baozhu’s appearance was too sudden, giving no one time to react.

Even though the bodyguards moved swiftly, rushing over, they were no match for how fast Wang Baozhu stripped. It was as if she had prepared in advance—once she untied her belt, her dress simply fell open.

Lu Mingzhu pulled her father’s hand away from her eyes. “Dad, shouldn’t it be you covering your eyes? Let me help you.”

Standing on tiptoe, she reached up to cover his eyes.

However, Lu Mingzhu took the opportunity to scrutinize Wang Baozhu and was surprised to find that her figure was actually quite good.

All the right curves, a slender waist, and skin that was fair, smooth, and delicate—no wonder she was dead set on bagging Mr. Lu. She must have believed her assets were sufficient.

After all, Mr. Lu’s reputation as an infamous womanizer had once resounded throughout Shanghai!

Wang Baozhu’s eyes were hazy as she slurred, drunk out of her mind, “Mr. Lu, why won’t you look at me? Am I not beautiful? I truly admire and adore you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Without removing his daughter’s hand, Mr. Lu directly ordered the bodyguards, “Deliver her to Wang Xingcai!”

“Don’t touch me!” Wang Baozhu dodged the bodyguards.

She lunged at Mr. Lu again, only to be Lu Mingzhu swiftly kicking her back. “Wang Baozhu, please respect yourself. A lady shouldn’t play games with her virtue.”

The bodyguards swiftly pinned Wang Baozhu to the ground.

Seeing her struggle violently, one of the bodyguards knocked her out with a quick chop to the neck. Once she went limp and fainted, they bundled her up in her own dress and carried her out to deliver her to Wang Baofeng’s home.

Wang Xingcai had recently been staying at Lu Mingzhu’s Peak mansion, and they weren’t about to let Wang Baozhu dirty it up.

Wang Baofeng wasn’t home, nor was Lin Xianglian.

The staff panicked and called Wang Xingcai right away to report what happened.

Wang Xingcai was playing chess with He Yun, with Ceng Mei and Mrs. Ceng sitting nearby. The four of them were discussing the state of various industries in Hong Kong when Wang Xingcai's face turned ashen upon hearing the news.

He Yun, who caught a snippet of the conversation, raised an eyebrow in equal disbelief.

Ceng Mei and Mrs. Ceng exchanged glances.

They thought Wang Baozhu’s public love confession to Old Man Lu was bad enough, but this was beyond imagination. Guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, huh?

"What on earth is she trying to do?" Wang Xingcai didn’t even bother to bid farewell to He Yun and immediately took a car to the small villa on Barker Road.

The distance was short, and he arrived in no time.

When he found out Wang Baozhu was still out cold, his expression darkened.

The spinster maids dared not utter a word.

They’d seen how Wang Baozhu looked when they brought her home—her nightgown had been put on by them.

The bodyguards filled them in and instructed them to call Wang Xingcai.

Wang Xingcai ordered a maid to bring a basin of ice water and followed her into Wang Baozhu’s bedroom. He grabbed the basin and dumped the ice water on her face, yet it still didn’t wake her.

Fed up, he gave up on her and told the maid, "Pack her things and send her back to Shanghai."

"Why?" Lin Xianglian entered just in time to hear this.

She wasn’t happy.

Earlier that day, she had gone to Daming Film Company to see Fu Yulin but was met with a polite brush-off. The more he turned her down, the harder she fell.

Wang Xingcai fumed, "Ask your little princess what the hell she’s done!"

"Baozhu’s always been a good girl. What could she have done?" Seeing the soaked bed, Wang Baozhu’s face covered in water and ice, her hair drenched, Lin Xianglian gasped, "Darling, have you lost your mind?"

She then scolded the maids, "Get moving! Dry her hair and change her clothes—now!"

Only then did the maids step forward to assist.

Since their daughter was now grown, Lin Xianglian pulled Wang Xingcai outside. "Darling, if Baozhu has done something wrong, you should teach her properly as her father. Why lose your temper like this? What if she gets sick? You’d regret it!"

"I won’t," Wang Xingcai said coldly. "She’s going back to Shanghai tomorrow."

Lin Xianglian objected, "The whole family’s put down roots here. Are you sending her back alone to suffer? Do you not know how life is in the mainland? Money’s useless there, and you can’t even get basics like you can here. No matter what she’s done, she’s your own daughter. You can’t just cut her loose. By the way, what exactly did she do?"

"She stripped bare in front of Lu Yanzhi and threw herself at him. Tell me, is she insane?" Wang Xingcai never dreamed Wang Baozhu would do such a thing.

If he had mistreated her, it might make sense, but Wang Baozhu had never lacked for money growing up.

She’s had luxury her whole life—gourmet food, designer clothes, you name it.

Only in the past two years had he been stricter, and that was because she publicly declared her love for Mr. Lu in the newspapers.

Lin Xianglian brushed it off outright. "That can’t be true."

Sure, she’d married an old man herself, but she didn’t want her daughter to follow the same path. With her pedigree, Wang Baozhu could easily marry some young hotshot from a good family.

Wang Xingcai scoffed, "If she’d shout her love in the papers, who knows what’s next?"

Not even he knew whether Wang Baozhu understood what her actions meant. It meant no decent family would take her as a bride.

Lin Xianglian looked at Wang Baozhu, who had woken up, changed clothes, and walked over, in disbelief. "Baozhu, tell me it's not true, right? You didn’t undress in front of Mr. Lu."

Wang Baozhu still had a drunken look on her face as she leaned against the staircase railing. "Dad, what you should do now is make Mr. Lu take responsibility."

Wang Xingcai’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

Lin Xianglian quickly said, "Baozhu, you're drunk. What nonsense are you talking? How old is Mr. Lu? He's about the same age as your father, with a houseful of children, each one a force to reckon with. If you marry into that family, you wouldn’t even know how you'd die. Don't follow in the footsteps of that Dong Cuijun—after serving Mr. Ye, she wound up with nothing."

Though she got hundreds of thousands in cash, compared to the Ye family's wealth, it was a drop in the ocean—not even worth mentioning.

Wang Baozhu giggled uncontrollably, completely ignoring her parents' words. "I'm not like Dong Cuijun. My dad and Mr. Lu are good friends. Even if he doesn’t care for me, he’ll respect my father’s standing. Didn’t you see how he didn’t do anything to me earlier? That proves he has feelings for me. No matter what, he can't just leave me with nothing—after all, I'm an untouched maiden, willing to marry him and take care of him in his old age, more filial than his own flesh and blood. It’s a blessing he’s earned over lifetimes."

Wang Xingcai trembled with rage. "Lin Xianglian, listen to this! This is the daughter you brought up!"

"Baozhu!" Lin Xianglian went deathly pale. "Where did you get these ideas?"

Wang Baozhu kept laughing. "I learned them from you!"

Seeing her daughter like this, Lin Xianglian turned ghostly white.

Wang Xingcai nearly had a heart attack and dropped dead right there. He stumbled a few steps, barely caught by the maids in time, but he still felt dizzy and faint, panicking Lin Xianglian into rushing him to the hospital.

The family still relied on Wang Xingcai to make money!

Lin Xianglian had no time to deal with her daughter and followed him into the car.

Meanwhile, He Yun and Ceng Mei were at home pretending to comfort Mr. Lu—really just ribbing him. After such an incident, Lu Mingzhu and Mr. Lu had no appetite for dining out and returned directly to their mansion on the hilltop, only to get mercilessly teased.

Mostly at Mr. Lu’s expense.

"Old Lu, what’s it like getting chased by a young thing?" Ceng Mei nudged him. "From now on, Old Wang won’t dare show his face here for chess or mahjong after this."

All Wang Xingcai’s fault.

If Lin Xianglian hadn’t gained enough benefits from him, would Wang Baozhu have followed her example?

Mr. Lu snapped, "Wanna know? Fine—tomorrow I’ll sic a dozen girls on you. Then you can find out."

Mrs. Ceng laughed. "Mr. Lu, I’m still here, you know."

"Then rein your man in," Mr. Lu retorted.

"Old Ceng, don’t laugh at others when you’re no better. Back in your heyday, you had just as many young lovelies after you as Mr. Lu," Mrs. Ceng said, giving her husband a sidelong glance.

Who cares about plain looks?

With wealth and power, plenty wouldn’t let him off the hook.

Ceng Mei quickly pledged his loyalty. "My dear, I never wavered. None of those floozeys could hold a candle to you—still gorgeous and sweet after all these years."

Mrs. Ceng snorted. "Glad you remember who’s boss."

Otherwise, she’d have divorced him ages ago.

She’d always put herself first, never letting herself get shortchanged.

Lu Mingzhu perked up with interest, "Do you think Godfather Wang will ship Baozhu off? Let’s all guess."

"He will," said Mr. Lu Yanzhi, who knew Wang Xingcai quite well.

But He Yun said, "He didn’t say ‘would’ or ‘wouldn’t’—just that it wouldn’t happen."

And indeed, he was right.

Wang Xingcai wanted to send Wang Baozhu back to Shanghai to avoid further embarrassment in Hong Kong. Wang Baofeng agreed, but Lin Xianglian opposed it, and Wang Baozhu refused outright, even going so far as to slit her wrists in protest.

Blood was everywhere.

The maid shrieked when she found her.

Lin Xianglian nearly lost her mind from fright and immediately rushed her to the hospital, where a timely blood transfusion saved her life.

So the plan to send her away fizzled out.

Lin Xianglian thought Wang Baozhu would calm down, but instead, she pressured Wang Xingcai to approach Mr. Lu Yanzhi and demand that he take responsibility for her.

"I *will* be Mrs. Lu," Wang Baozhu declared from her hospital bed, her face ghostly pale yet tinged with feverish spots, her dark eyes unfathomable. "Not only will I be Mrs. Lu, but you must also make him leave all his property to me."

Wang Xingcai stared at her in shock. "You’ve lost your damn mind!"

"Make it happen, and it’s not delusion—it’s destiny," Wang Baozhu retorted, reaching to tear off the bandages on her wrist. "If you refuse, I’ll die right here in front of you."

Lin Xianglian seized her wrist. "Baozhu, stop this nonsense."

"This isn’t nonsense," Wang Baozhu said, her gaze fixed on the gray-haired Wang Xingcai. "You’re too old to prop up Mom and me now. I’m just finding someone else to rely on. Why won’t you agree?"

"He’s as old as I am," Wang Xingcai said.

"But Mr. Lu takes good care of himself. He doesn’t look like a man in his seventies—he even seems younger than when you met Mom. He’s got class—something most men can’t touch." Wang Baozhu always had her reasons. "And he’s wealthy. Even his pocket change outshines your life’s work."

Wang Xingcai couldn’t believe his ears.

This girl kept rewriting his idea of her, becoming more and more unrecognizable.

Lin Xianglian pleaded tearfully, "Just give her what she wants, Master! We can’t go through another suicide scare."

Even though she disapproved of Wang Baozhu’s choice, she had to relent after her suicide attempt.

"If she’s hellbent on dying, I won’t stand in her way," Wang Xingcai said coldly. "But if you think I’ll swallow my pride and ask Old Lu to marry this daughter of yours, over my dead body!"

Wang Baozhu’s actions had burned through his last shred of patience entirely.

Hearing this news, Lu Mingzhu barely blinked.

Raised in that twisted household, Wang Baozhu had grown into someone so warped she’d left sanity miles behind.

Next to her, Dong Cuijun looked downright wholesome.

What a nightmare!

Dong Cuijun's warped dating standards actually appeared normal when contrasted with Wang Baozhu's behavior.

Since Wang Baozhu's clothes-shedding incident occurred at Golden Koi Gate, where word travels fast, Wang Zhongzhao heard about it while dining out and took some schadenfreude. However, the thought of his own daughter marrying Li Qingyun—just as shameful—killed his urge to tease Wang Xingcai. Grumbling, he headed out to collect rent.

Only fat rent checks could lift his spirits.

After collecting rent, he planned to get some roast goose over rice before heading home, only to bump into Fu Yulin buying roast goose—a full two birds, no less.

Wang Zhongzhao asked curiously, "Your company stop serving chow?"

He remembered Fu Yulin lived and ate at the company despite owning a building gifted by Lu Mingzhu.

Fu Yulin turned and greeted him with a smile, "Well's martial arts instructor can't get enough roast goose. I’m going to see how Well's coming along with her Yang Family Spear training and thought I’d bring some along."

Wang Zhongzhao raised an eyebrow, eyeing him up and down, "A female instructor?"

"Yes," Fu Yilin replied frankly.

Wang Zhongzhao gave him a thumbs-up, "Hope you score."

"Thanks," Fu Yulin accepted graciously.

Carrying the roast goose to Lu Mingzhu’s home, he found Yan Bin teaching Well boxing after school.

Her movements were bold and decisive, fluid yet powerful.

Having worked at the Lu household for less than half a month, with good food and clothing, her cheeks had visibly filled out slightly, though her figure remained slender and toned.

To Fu Yulin, she was drop-dead gorgeous.

He adored Yan Bin’s firecracker energy—a rare quality he seldom saw in other women.

"Well, is your aunt not home?" Fu Yulin asked.

Without breaking form, Well replied, "She went to visit Grandpa He."

Lu Mingzhu was at He Yun’s home, signing a contract with a Malaysian publisher. She presented them with her full set of titles published in Hong Kong—only works under the pen name Zhi Wei, nothing else.

The publisher was after her for the martial arts fiction market.

The Malaysian publisher, surnamed Zhu, was a well-fed businessman of Chinese descent. He treated He Yun with great respect and smiled at Lu Mingzhu, saying, "I’m a huge fan of Zhi Wei’s novels. I never expected the author to be so young and beautiful—no one would believe me if I told them."

His Mandarin carried a heavy accent.

Lu Mingzhu responded gracefully, "I'm counting on you."

"No trouble at all," he assured her. Nothing sweetens a deal like profits.

After signing the contract and securing Zhi Wei’s publishing rights, the publisher made small talk with He Yun before politely taking his leave.

He Yun then brought something else up with Lu Mingzhu.