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The food stalls outside the school opened at seven o’clock in the evening. Each of the small carts with uniform plaques looked simple, but they were a bit more pyrotechnic and friendly than those high-end and bright commercial buildings.
On weekends, there weren’t many people, it wasn’t as crowded as Tang Zhou saw when he came over last time.
He followed Fu Shen, those four, towards the barbecue stand.
Halfway there, Fu Shen suddenly stopped and said, “Liang Chen, you guys go first.”
After saying that, he turned his head and glanced at Tang Zhou.
There was a stall selling glutinous rice balls next to it. Tang Zhou understood tacitly and couldn’t help but bend his eyes.
He thought he wouldn’t be able to eat glutinous rice balls tonight, but he didn’t expect Fu Shen to remember.
Liang Chen had just talked with Fu Shen, knowing that he shouldn’t think wrongly, but seeing the two of them interacting in secret, he still couldn’t convince himself.
But he was certain that even if these two have something, it was definitely not the kind of 'sugar dating”.
After the three of them had gone far, Fu Shen took Tang Zhou to the stall and asked the owner for two servings of glutinous rice balls.
Luckily, there were fewer customers today, so there was no need to line up.
The owner was a middle-aged man with a simple and honest appearance. He glanced at the two of them, started to work skillfully, and praised: “This young man is really handsome and a top student of Jiangda. He has a promising future.”
The simple diction and the not-so-subtle compliment didn’t make Tang Zhou feel embarrassed, but rather his whole body relaxed.
Fu Shen replied with a smile: “Your family’s glutinous rice balls are delicious and affordable. Your business must be getting more and more prosperous.”
Under the business mutual boasting, the owner laughed in hehe and put a few more.
Tang Zhou’s stomach rumbled as the sweet scent of the soup was poured into the disposable paper bowl.
Fu Shen took the two servings of glutinous rice balls and half of his cheek was hidden in the shadows. In the midst of the smoke and fire in the downtown area, he appeared particularly gentle, “Let’s go and find Liang Chen and the others.”
“Mn.”
The barbecue stall was smoky. Tang Zhou endured the discomfort and sat down.
Pi Xiu asked, “What did you two buy?’
“Glutinous rice balls, right?” Li Fengyu continued, “Shen-ge likes that family’s glutinous rice balls a lot.”
Except for Fu Shen, no one else in their dormitory had a sweet tooth.
Pi Xiu joked with a smile: “Shen-ge can’t find fellow enthusiasts, so he pulled Tang-shen into the water1 ah.”
Fu Shen ignored them. He scooped up the soup and took a sip.
Contrary to what one might expect, Tang Zhou took the initiative to explain: “It tastes pretty good.”
Li Fengyu took a sip of beer and said with a laugh: “Shen-ge is so blessed to be able to find a kindred spirit2 like Tang-shen.”
Tang Zhou couldn’t help being curious when he heard them calling “Shen-ge” all the time: “Fu Shen is the oldest in your dormitory?”
He never noticed anyone’s age.
“Yes ah, Shen-ge is one year older than all of us.” Pi Xiu said casually, “Shen-ge said that he studied one more year in junior high school before he was admitted to senior high school.”
Tang Zhou: “…”
With Fu Shen’s learning ability, how could he need to repeat a year?”
It suddenly crossed in his mind the investigation email mentioned that Fu Shen’s maternal grandfather passed away when he was in junior high school, which hit him so hard that he had to take a year off from school.
Tang Zhou was in a trance. He sneaked a glance at Fu Shen. Seeing that he was still enjoying his food, as if he was unconcerned, he retracted his gaze and lowered his eyelashes.
The BBQ tray was quickly served, and above were the various kinds of skewers Tang Zhou couldn’t name at all. The taste of pepper and paprika was overwhelming, so people would have a big appetite.
He took a skewer of roast lamb, bit off a piece, and chewed it up slowly.
Honestly, it wasn’t delicious. The lamb wasn’t fresh and the taste was below average. The paprika somewhat irritated his throat. He quietly scooped a spoonful of the instant soup and swallowed it.
This could be a difficult task.
He couldn’t just throw it away after taking a bite, it’s wasteful and would hurt them.
Fu Shen approached at the right time and asked, “Are you full because of the glutinous rice balls?”
“Mn?” Tang Zhou hummed out in a nasal voice, unsure.
Fu Shen stretched out his hand in a very natural way, “Give it to me if you don’t feel like eating it anymore.”
Tang Zhou looked at him fixedly for a few seconds, then solemnly handed the lamb skewer to him. He breathed a sigh of relief, but there was a question mark in his mind.
Could it be that Fu Shen did this when he saw that he didn’t like to eat it?
Watching Fu Shen eat the skewer neatly, Tang Zhou felt grateful and a little uncomfortable.
He was so absorbed in watching that he didn’t know Fu Shen suddenly turned his face, raised his eyebrows and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Tang Zhou’s heart jumped, but it wasn’t visible in his face. In a panic, he saw the pepper powder on the corner of Fu Shen’s lips. Without thinking about it, he directly reached up and gently wiped it off, “There’s some stain.”
The atmosphere instantly froze.
Fu Shen’s eyes suddenly darkened, staring at him for several seconds in silence. Seeing him turning his face away and withdrawing his hand in a panic. He subconsciously grabbed his wrist.
With the other hand, he drew out a piece of paper and lowered his eyebrows to wipe away the dirt from his fingers.
Tang Zhou tried to retract back, but failed.
His cheeks were slightly hot.
Fu Shen wiped it very carefully, as if to clean the jade white fingertips without the slightest stain.
“Not bad.” Saying this, Tang Zhou pursed his lips.
Fu Shen paused slightly, and conveniently let go of his wrist, but the tissue was still in his hand.
What’s wrong with him?
The other three weren’t stupid. Pi Xiu laughed out loud and tried to ease this strange ambience, “Shen-ge and Tang-shen have a really good relationship! Before, I always heard people say that Tang Shen was high and cold, but I didn’t expect that he would be so caring, haha.”
The rest: “…” Shut up if you don’t know how to use your words!
Tang Zhou’s ears and cheeks were hot. He got up and said apologetically: “I suddenly remembered that I still have something else to do, enjoy your meal. I’ll go first.”
If he stayed any longer, he reckoned that he’d be on fire.
Fu Shen: “I’ll send you off.”
Tang Zhou shook his head. He pretended to be estranged and said, “Assistant Fu, I’ll give you a leave of absence tonight.”
The few stood up to watch him leave. The atmosphere was a little sluggish and awkward at the same time.
Pi Xiu raked his hair and said with a bitter face: “Did I say something wrong? Does Tang-shen hate me?”
He didn’t mean it, he was just trying to lighten the mood, but he messed up.
“Not really.” Fu Shen rolled the tissue in his palm, “He’s not that narrow minded.”
“Shen-ge,” Liang Chen changed the subject, “You won an award in Fancheng. Let’s celebrate tonight. Come on, cheers!”
Fu Shen happened to be in a messy mood, so he picked up a can of beer and poured it down with a grunt.
Driving back to the residence, Tang Zhou had calmed down.
He just got out of the car, but he was stopped by someone.
“Young Master Tang, the chairman asks you to come back.”
It was someone under the authority of the old man.
This was expected by Tang Zhou. He didn’t refuse, “I see.”
He entered the car once again and drove to Tang’s home.
Tang Zhen was complaining to Tang Zhihua. He endured the swelling pain on his face, his eyes full of sorrow, anger and grievance.
“Dad! Look what Tang Zhou has become now! He even beat his father at work! Our family’s face has been tarnished by him!”
Tang Zhihua leaned back in the chair, glancing lightly at his stupid son who looked like a pig’s head, his mind was in a mess.
He didn’t understand what happened to Tang Zhou, as if he had suddenly entered a rebellious period.
But no matter how rebellious he was, he shouldn’t beat his own father in public. Does his reputation still matter?
“What did you do to make him this angry?” Tang Zhihua believed that he knew the grandson he raised personally. Tang Zhou wouldn’t beat people for no reason.
Tang Zhen became angry at the mention of this.
“I didn’t do anything at all! He suddenly rushed into the office and not only beat me, but also scolded me for cheating and domestic violence. I cheated for so many years and haven’t seen him put half a farce. In addition, domestic violence, I haven’t seen Zheng Qiuyi for a year. Where did domestic violence come from?!”
Tang Zhihua: “….” His son was clearly scum.
This was probably his only advantage.
“I went to check. Zheng Qiuyi was hospitalized with a concussion, it was you who pushed her.”
Tang Zhen: “…”
He blinked and said inexplicably: “She was the one who argued with me unreasonably, I then pushed her a little bit. Who would have thought it would be a concussion. This is called domestic violence?”
And when did Tang Zhou have such a good relationship with his mother? This was obviously deliberately looking for a reason to beat himself up, d__n it!
Tang Zhihua’s eyes were half closed, “Whether it’s domestic violence or not, you did it.”
“It’s her——”
“Chairman, the young master is back.” Uncle Fang, the housekeeper, interrupted Tang Zhen’s words.
Tang Zhen immediately shut up and glared indignantly at the door.
Tang Zhou’s tall and elegant figure appeared in sight. Tang Zhen skimmed his mouth. If the disagreement between father and son was put aside, he had to admit that Tang Zhou was indeed the most suitable heir to the Tang family.
“Grandpa.” Tang Zhou called out, standing in front of Tang Zhihua, without even giving Tang Zhen a look.
Tang Zhen almost rolled his eyes in anger.
Tang Zhihua sighed softly, “Explain. ”
Tang Zhou: “It’s upsetting seeing him.”
“…”
“…”
Tang Zhihua and Tang Zhen were left speechless. After a long while, Tang Zhihua only frowned and said, “You have become more and more willful recently.”
“Which matter are you referring to?”
Tang Zhihua stared at Tang Zhou, “Are you still with that boy?”
Tang Zhou raised his eyebrows, “You’re not going to tempt him to leave me with a few millions, or find someone to threaten and intimidate him by force, do you?”
Tang Zhihua: “…”
Where did these strange ideas come from? Is he that stupid? So long as Tang Zhou still likes the man, does it make any difference? He didn’t need to take a little boy seriously, he didn’t even know the boy’s last name.
“Tang Zhou.” Tang Zhihua stopped wrangling with him, and said solemnly, “Make it clear tonight. What do you really want by doing this?”
Tang Zhou said abruptly with a serious expression: “Grandpa, I won’t get married.”
Tang Zhihua sighed and said: “If you don’t get married, how will you get an heir?”
“I won’t know anything after I die. Why do you care so much?” Tang Zhou said indifferently.
Tang Zhihua was well aware of Tang Zhou’s temperament. He knew that Tang Zhou wasn’t joking, but that was precisely why he had a hard time choosing.
He couldn’t let go of Tang Zhou as his successor, and he couldn’t let the Tang family’s business fall into the hands of others in the future.
“I didn’t raise you this big to hear you say these words.” Tang Zhihua’s face was finally chilling.
He felt cold inwardly.
Tang Zhou felt guilty, but still said firmly: “Grandpa, I can only say that if the Tang clan is handed over to me, I won’t disappoint you for so many years of cultivation. As for the rest, it’s impossible to promise.”
He was confident that he could carry forward the Tang clan before the end of his life. As for the affairs after death, it’s none of his business.
He could do his best for the Tang clan, but he didn’t want to lose his freedom.
Tang Zhihua calmed down after being extremely angry, and said with a sharp gaze: “What if I ask you to assist Tang Tianyang?”
Tang Zhou couldn’t marry and so it was inappropriate to be an heir, but he had to be a helper of the Tang clan.
Tang Zhihua didn’t think there was a problem with this kind of handling.
It’s a pity that Tang Zhou didn’t feel grateful.
“Grandpa, I don’t like to clean somebody’s mess.” He said with great seriousness, “Either I am in charge or I don’t care at all.”
Tang Zhihua slapped the table in indignitation: “Tang Zhou! You really want to kill me from anger! I have taught you all these years just to make you abandon your family business?!”
Tang Zhen also chimed in: “Tang Zhou, do you really want to be an ingrate? If you really don’t want to manage the family business, just say so. Is it necessary to make your grandfather furious?”
The noise of the three grandparents and grandchildren3 spread outside the room. Uncle Fang sighed helplessly.
Listening to Tang Zhou who calmly said: “The Tang family will prosper for another fifty years or the Tang family will decline in Tang Zhen’s hands. Grandpa, you choose one.”
If there was no Tang Zhen and Tang Tianyang’s rumpus operation in his dream, Tang Zhou was confident that he could expand his family business several times.
If in his dream, he wiped Tang Zhen and Tang Tianyang’s butts later and his grandfather handed the Tang clan to him, he was still confident that he could revive the Tang family.
It’s a pity that his grandfather would rather have the so-called “future heir” than give him the slightest chance.
He’s giving the old man a choice now.
There was silence in the study. After quite a while, an old and feeble voice came out.
“Tell Tang Tianyang to move in tomorrow.”
Tang Zhihua doesn’t believe that he can teach one Tang Zhou and can’t teach a second.
Tang Zhen’s pig-headed face flushed with excitement.
Tang Zhou’s heart sank abruptly, and he quickly fell into a lightless abyss.
1
metaphor to induce others to do bad things together.
2
a person whose interests or attitudes are similar to one’s own.
3
meaning the three generations of the family, Tang Zhihua, Tang Zhen and Tang Zhou.