Chapter 118 The CEO’s Divorced Wife’s Gentle Knife (17)

Chapter 118 The CEO's Divorced Wife's Gentle Knife (17)

"Tang Qing, Li Zhou's Love Points for you increased today. It's now at 53."

As soon as she got home, the system immediately updated the current progress of the romantic pursuit strategy. "Heh heh, seems like the meal you sent today really hit the spot for Li Zhou."

"Zhong Jiaze's Love Points for you have also increased. It's now at 41."

Right after Di Shi left, Tang Qing casually ordered a delivery service to send Lawyer Zhong an identical meal, complete with the same sticky note. Both male leads received the same treatment, maintaining perfect equality.

"That sticky note of yours was quite effective. According to my data, Li Zhou has been analyzing Zhong Jiaze's social media post for a long time."

With the Love Points secured, the system was thrilled. During the meal, Li Zhou's Love Points were at 50, but after seeing Zhong Jiaze's social media post, they increased by another 3 points.

Perhaps it was a man's competitive streak—President Li seemed particularly bothered by this.

Just as the system was about to share more updates, the doorbell suddenly rang.

It was Zhong Jiaze.

Lawyer Zhong had come over on his own, bringing two bottles of fruit wine. He spoke gently to Tang Qing, "A client gifted me these. I remembered you had beer in your fridge last time, so maybe you'd like to try this?"

"This one tastes sweeter. You might prefer it."

Compared to his first visit, Zhong Jiaze seemed much more relaxed, directly placing the fruit wine on Tang Qing's dining table. "Consider this my thanks for today's meal."

"Tang Qing, the food at noon was delicious. Thank you."

As he said this, Zhong Jiaze's gaze remained fixed on Tang Qing. The usually composed lawyer seemed unusually approachable today.

"It's nothing. I should also thank you for the grand opening floral arrangement you sent me."

Tang Qing was dressed in simple loungewear, her hair casually tied into a messy bun. Tilting her head, a few strands of hair fell onto her shoulders. Zhong Jiaze noticed—Tang Qing was really fair-skinned...

"Tang Qing, if I remember correctly, next Wednesday will be the 31st day of your and Li Zhou's divorce cooling-off period."

Abruptly changing the subject, Zhong Jiaze asked casually, "Have you and Li Zhou agreed on when to go to the civil affairs bureau?"

Tang Qing froze for a moment before shaking her head. "Not yet."

"I'll wait for Li Zhou to notify me."

Without pressing further, Zhong Jiaze stood up to leave. "Well, rest early."

It seemed like he had come just to deliver the wine.

Tang Qing politely closed the door. Strangely, Lawyer Zhong didn't leave immediately. Instead, he stared intently at the digital door lock for a long time, his expression unreadable, his true thoughts unclear...

Before the day to visit the civil affairs bureau arrived, Tang Qing first received an invitation to a high school reunion.

Because of this gathering, the long-inactive high school group chat suddenly became lively. Originally, Tang Qing planned to ignore this event unrelated to her romantic pursuit strategy, until she saw her name mentioned in the chat:

"Everyone should be coming, right? Is Tang Qing coming? Hahaha, I saw her on TV recently—she's the CEO's wife now!"

"Of course she'll come! After marrying into wealth, shouldn't she share some tips with us old classmates on how to marry into money?"

The envious tone in the speaker's words was unmistakable. Tang Qing clicked on the person's profile picture—the face wasn't familiar.

The system also leaned in. "Why does this person sound so passive-aggressive? Let me check who it is."

"It was your high school's sports committee member, Li Yuan. He seemed to have it in for you back then..."

With that, flashes of the original heroine's memories surfaced in Tang Qing's mind—her high school self, always wearing a faded uniform, timid and meek, with middling grades.

Li Yuan and his group of athlete types had loved picking on her back then. To them, Tang Qing was little more than a way to break the monotony of their dull high school life.

The mocking laughter, the inexplicable pranks...

"After all these years, his mouth is still so foul?"

The system piped up, "Maybe just forget it. It's not really related to our mission of winning over our target anyway..."

Just as it was about to persuade Tang Qing not to attend, the system suddenly pinpointed the location of the reunion and exclaimed, "Wait, you should go! Tang Qing, the place where your reunion is being held—Li Zhou will be there that day too."

"Li Zhou is hosting a client at the same venue..."

Tang Qing raised an eyebrow. "What a coincidence."

"Talk about lucky timing."

On the day of the reunion, Tang Qing chose a simple, rustic-style dress that exposed her fair, slender limbs, making her appear even more petite and vulnerable-looking.

Standing in front of the mirror, her demeanor was gentle, completely unassuming.

Before even arriving, she heard Li Yuan's voice—unchanged after six years, just as obnoxious as ever.

"Come on, let's toast to our class beauty! Still as pretty as ever!"

"Hey, why the refusal? Looking down on me now?"

"Guys, what do you think? This is the good stuff I had a friend bring back from Yunnan. Way better than the local brands, right?"

As Tang Qing walked in, Li Yuan was passing out cigarettes to their old classmates, completely oblivious to the frowns on the faces of the female students in the smoke-filled room.

"Well, well, if it isn't our Mrs. Li!"

"Mrs. Li honors us with her presence—though she's dressed a bit more modestly than I expected!"

Spotting Tang Qing immediately, Li Yuan raised his voice, drawing everyone's attention to her standing at the entrance. Despite the rumors of her marrying into wealth, her outfit wasn't as fancy as they'd imagined.

"Sorry I'm late."

Her voice was just as soft and gentle as they remembered. From school days onward, Tang Qing had always seemed like a pushover—even when Li Yuan had bullied her, she'd never fought back, just took it quietly.

She took a seat casually, but the others' eyes stayed glued to her.

They were too curious—Tang Qing had married the Young Master of the Li family.

Just what was life like in the upper crust?

Li Yuan was the first to approach, a cigarette hanging from his mouth, still lit, as he grinned. "Tang Qing, you said it yourself—you're late. Don't you owe us a drink for being late?"

"I'm driving."

She refused the drink outright, her tone still mild but her refusal clearer than before.

Li Yuan's smile turned forced, his expression shameless. "Damn, money really changes people, huh? Even your attitude's different now."

"Tang Qing, seems like life as a rich wife treats you just fine—so fine you can't even be bothered with your old classmates!"

Li Yuan had drunk quite a bit before Tang Qing arrived, and now his face was flushed with an unnatural redness. He had planted himself in Tang Qing's seat, refusing to budge.

Staggering unsteadily, several times the cigarette in his hand almost burned Tang Qing's clothes...

As expected... trash will always be trash, even after six years.

"Li Yuan, it's been six years since I last saw you."

"You're still just as awful..."