Free Web NovelChapter 39: Chapter 25: Cousin Jing Jichuan, a 120,000 Meal
They say you shouldn’t meddle in other people’s decisions, otherwise when things go wrong, you’ll be the one they hold responsible.
Jiang Li stopped paying attention to their investment talk and focused on her food.
Zheng Qi, however, saw Jiang Li return and asked curiously, "Jiang, how come I never heard you got married? Did you not invite any of our college classmates?"
Before Jiang Li could answer, Zhong Mufeng chimed in, "Forget college classmates, she didn’t even invite her coworkers. It was just a few close friends and family."
Jiang Li gave a sheepish smile and didn’t say anything.
The truth was, she had only wanted to register the marriage, but Zhao Sinian had insisted. He said that according to his family’s customs, you had to hold a wedding ceremony. Otherwise, it wasn’t considered a real marriage, and people would laugh at them.
That was why they hadn’t invited many people—it was basically all members of the Zhao Family.
Her father, Jiang Bowen, was an only son, and she was an only daughter. Both her paternal and maternal grandparents had passed away, leaving her with just one uncle.
As luck would have it, her uncle and aunt were on a business trip abroad on the day of the wedding. Only her cousin attended. If her uncle and aunt had been there, she never would have been able to just grab Shen Yanzhi and leave like that.
Zhong Mufeng clicked her tongue. "If I weren’t her best friend, she probably wouldn’t have even invited me."
Jiang Li laughed and quickly changed the subject. "Zheng Qi, you seem to be doing well for yourself these days, huh?"
Zheng Qi grinned. "It’s alright. I’m in social media, just a small-time content creator. I make enough to get by."
Jiang Li was a little surprised. She never would have expected Zheng Qi to become a content creator.
Then again, this was the age of the internet.
If you managed to make it big, you could earn more money than most people make in a lifetime.
"I really admire people who do that." Setting down her bowl and chopsticks, she pulled out her phone. "What’s your account handle? I’ll give you a follow."
Suppressing her excitement, Zheng Qi copied her account handle and sent it to Jiang Li. "I just sent it to you on WeChat."
Jiang Li nodded, copied the handle, and pasted it into TikTok. When she saw the follower count, she held up her phone in astonishment. "This is what you call a ’small-time creator’?"
She had several million followers, and her likes were approaching one hundred million.
Zhong Mufeng glanced over curiously, then sucked in a sharp breath. "You’re being pretty modest."
Zheng Qi chuckled and scratched her head. "I just got lucky."
Jiang Li glanced at the content. Zheng Qi was a streamer who promoted agricultural products to support farmers. Basically every video had hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of likes. Her fan engagement seemed pretty strong.
She tapped the follow button. Just as she was about to put her phone back in her bag, she saw a WeChat message from Shen Yanzhi.
One had been sent ten minutes ago, the other, three minutes ago.
TiAmo: I’ve finished up on my end. Are you and Zhong Mufeng done with your outing? Do you need me to come pick you up?
TiAmo: You’re at a class reunion?
Jiang Li bit her lip. ’How did Shen Yanzhi find out?’
After a moment’s thought, she called him. "Hey."
Shen Yanzhi’s voice was rich and magnetic. "Are you done eating?"
Jiang Li paused. ’Is he putting on that voice on purpose?’
Then she shook her head. ’Shen Yanzhi can’t be that bored.’
She glanced at the food still left in her bowl. "Not yet."
After a brief pause, Shen Yanzhi asked, "Do you need me to come pick you up?"
Jiang Li refused without a second thought. "No, it’s fine. I’ll just have Qingbao give me a ride home later."
’Why pass up a free ride?’
Besides, Zhao Sinian had just been here and caused a scene. If Shen Yanzhi showed up too, she would definitely become the main topic of gossip among her classmates.
She did not want to be the center of attention.
Shen Yanzhi sounded a little disappointed. "Oh," he said. "Then when will you be back? Are you eating at home tonight?"
The next activity on the agenda was karaoke, but neither she nor Zhong Mufeng planned on going.
It wasn’t that they didn’t like to sing, but there were too many people, and they didn’t know most of them very well.
"I should be," she replied.
Shen Yanzhi’s voice sounded a little more cheerful. "Alright, I’ll go pick up some groceries in a bit. Is there anything you’re craving?"
Jiang Li thought for a moment before rattling off a list of dishes. "Poached spicy pork slices, sweet and sour pork tenderloin, and braised bullfrog."
Only after she finished listing the dishes did it dawn on her. "Three dishes... isn’t that a bit much for just the two of us?" she asked.
Xie Wan and the others had their own staff meals and wouldn’t be eating with them.
"It’s fine," Shen Yanzhi said casually. "I’ll just make smaller portions of each."
Jiang Li bit her lip. "Won’t that be a lot of trouble?"
"Not at all," Shen Yanzhi replied instantly.
For Jiang Li, nothing was ever a bother.
The corners of Jiang Li’s lips curled up in a smile that felt harder to suppress than the recoil of an AK. "Okay, I’ll be back early then."
"Okay. I’ll be waiting for you at home."
’I’ll be waiting for you at home!!!’
