Forcing Me to Be Reborn?!

Chapter 137: Chapter 118: An Appointment with Shen Qingning

This night, Cheng Zhu “died” in Zhang Qiqi’s world.

Anyway, after he sent the message saying he was going to sleep, he wouldn’t contact her anymore.

He definitely wouldn’t be sleeping; it wasn’t even midnight yet. How could he sleep at his age?

But as for staying in touch, forget it, I’ve got my own things to do.

Cheng Zhu had always had the little habit of keeping track of his finances, and today’s total turnover for “Youu Come to Play” was also logged into his phone.

“Actually managing to stabilize at fifteen thousand.” Cheng Zhu was extremely satisfied with this.

Even more so because today’s turnover had increased by five hundred compared to yesterday!

For a small claw machine arcade, achieving this level was indeed frightening!

The turnover for this month was probably close to that of “Persistent Visit” in its first month.

The old man now has two stores flying together, in short…never mind, there’s no abbreviation.

Cheng Zhu’s mood was very good now.

Not because he made more money again.

Small change, just small change~

Most importantly, Cheng Zhu was gradually finding the feeling of making money from the young crowd in ’14.

Today, while he was sitting at the cash register, he overheared a few students chatting.

From their conversation, they weren’t students from Technology University, but had come especially from Measurement College next door.

This was a good sign, indicating that “Youu Come to Play” had taken its first step in just 48 hours—breaking out of the Technology University campus!

Next, in addition to Measurement College, students from even further schools would probably follow the trend.

“Girls from Communication University, come and play!” Cheng Zhu laughed wickedly in his heart.

And you know, if a place is famous for having lots of beauties, then…there certainly won’t be a shortage of men coming to play the field!

Male customers would flock in!

With that thought, he even went out of his way to browse through Measurement College’s online forum.

Just as he expected, there were already quite a few posts about “Youu Come to Play.”

Plus, people are strange. The same location—if it’s farther from you, and more troublesome to get to, once you visit, it seems to take on more significance.

For students of Technology University, this is just a shop opened at the school gates.

For those from Measurement College, this is a shop from the neighboring university, and it takes a bit of effort to get there.

As a result, more people are willing to share it on various social media platforms after visiting.

After browsing for about ten minutes, Cheng Zhu logged off from Measurement College’s forum with satisfaction and even made a note of the names of several goddess-level female students from the college within those ten minutes.

His memory was quite miraculous. In his past life, he forgot the names of many girls he had close contact with.

But for these, whom he had never even met face-to-face, he could remember their names after just one glance.

— “On the Self-Cultivation of a Scumbag Man.”

…

…

The next day, Cheng Zhu had an unavoidable class, so he didn’t go to the store in the morning.

Yesterday, the shop hired a new employee named Chen Duoduo. While the name sounds childish, she was actually already 29.

Originally, the shop assistant Wang Wei wanted to bring her own cousin to the shop to work together, but Cheng Zhu declined.

In his plan, “Youu Come to Play” only needed up to three employees. After all, the shop is only so big, and a claw machine arcade doesn’t have that much work.

Most of the customers are there for self-service entertainment anyway.

But if you cousins came together to work, there’s a high chance you’d leave together.

Wouldn’t that leave the shop suddenly short-handed?

Cheng Zhu would eliminate such potential trouble from the start to save himself the hassle later.

Today, as usual, he and Lin Lu would chat on and off from morning to night.

After his earlier maneuvers, the energetic girl would say good morning and goodnight to him every day, as if they had entered into some kind of routine.

And just moments ago, Lin Lu sent him a WeChat message, informing him, “I forgot to tell you, I’m going to Shanghai today, will be leaving soon.”

“What for?” Cheng Zhu felt a sudden joy in his heart; didn’t this mean he could naturally just ask Shen Qingning out for dinner tonight?

The main task of dating Shen Qingning alone (✓)!

“My cousin works in Shanghai, and he’s getting married today, so the whole family is going,” Lin Lu replied.

Through earlier conversations, Cheng Zhu had figured out Lin Lu’s family situation.

Her family was similar to Shen Qingning’s, with plenty of impressive figures among the relatives.

The impressively connected relative of the Shen family was naturally Jiang Wanzhou’s. Both the Shen and Jiang families were famously wealthy in Hang City.

It was said that they had another cousin who worked in Beijing, but it wasn’t clear what he did.

According to Jiang Wanzhou and Shen Minglang, their cousin had a strange temper, often freaking out in the family group chat for no apparent reason, and it was unclear what he was up to.

Regarding Lin Lu’s cousin, it seemed like he worked in the financial industry.

Cheng Zhu had almost a hundred million in assets at a young age in his previous life and had naturally dealt with many people in the financial circle.

“The financial circle, well, how do I put it, in one word—chaotic!” he recalled in his heart.

There was a high proportion of scumbags and promiscuous people in this circle, a lot of people were very open, very open indeed!

Relationships between men and women were quite messy.

Of course, it could have just been Cheng Zhu’s own bad luck to have encountered so many. He had dealt with quite a few women in finance, so maybe that’s why he had this bias. It’s not intentional slander, haha!

As for Lin Lu’s cousin, she herself said, “My cousin, a pure scumbag, has settled down.”

“In the past, he was so wild! After meeting my cousin-in-law, he suddenly became steady. Maybe that’s what you call fate.” That’s what Lin Lu believed.

Others might have their own stories, but as for Cheng Zhu, he was certainly a philanderer.

Cheng Zhu, like him, would also feel tired of playing around after a while and start to settle down.

But that was just a phase.

It wouldn’t be long before he entered the cycle: the prodigal son returns, only to play the field again!

As Mu Xin wrote in “On the Way to the Past”: “How can the prodigal son return if he has gambled away even his own head?”

That’s also why many scumbags, after getting tired of playing around, would suddenly feel that they had met their true love. I’m going to give up the forest for this tree!

And then, some time later: Sorry, I just made a mistake.

— Ah! I must return to the forest!

“I’m different, my staple is not forgetting the original intention.” This was Cheng Zhu’s self-assessment.

…

…

Half an hour later, at the home of Lin Lu and Shen Qingning.

The voice actor girl had already changed into clothes suitable for attending a wedding banquet, carrying her bag and saying goodbye to Shen Qingning.

“Ningning, my dad is already waiting for me downstairs, so I’m going to head out.” Seeing her sullen friend, she asked, “Ningning, you seem to be in a bad mood, is it because I’m leaving?”

She immediately switched to a domineering lady boss’s tone, told Shen Qingning, “Woman, can’t you live without me for even one night?”

“Just go, I’m annoyed because my brother is arguing with Auntie again.” Shen Qingning pouted and told Lin Lu.

The “Auntie” she referred to was not a housekeeper but her stepmother.

“Ah?” Lin Lu was startled and said, “How come it seems like he throws a tantrum more than ten times a year?”

“Yeah!” Shen Qingning expressed her exasperation, “They are both so grown-up but still act like children.”

Rather than saying it was Shen Minglang arguing with his stepmother, it was more like Young Master Shen lashing out at his stepmother unilaterally.

She might not have done anything wrong, but Shen Minglang was particularly sensitive and irritable towards her.

Their mother passed away six years ago, and their father remarried last year.

In this year, Shen Minglang actually held little to no respect for his stepmother, or should I say, absolutely none.

But it’s understandable, considering his stepmother is only two years older than him.

That’s still considered pretty good. Some people’s stepmoms might even be younger than themselves…

Making it all confusing as to what to call them.

At this moment, Shen Qingning looked at Lin Lu and said, “Alright, hurry downstairs and don’t keep your uncle waiting.”

“Okay, I’m heading out then! WeChat me if you need anything~” Lin Lu waved goodbye, “Bye!”

“Bye bye bye bye.” Shen Qingning waved back.

After the energetic girl left home, their shared apartment suddenly became extremely quiet.

You can’t help it, Lin Lu was always lively, and without her, Shen Qingning would sometimes feel out of sorts.

She had no classes this afternoon, and her mood being so-so, sat on the couch watching TV.

She randomly found a show to watch, paying little attention.

Shen Qingning really didn’t like it when her brother argued with their stepmother.

Because every time she found out about it, she would inevitably be reminded of her deceased mother.

Like the saying goes: The departure of a loved one is not a sudden downpour, but a lifetime of dampness.

It’s just like that with family wounds—they can unexpectedly cut you up on occasion.

“Mum would be a five-year-old little girl by now, she must be very cute, right?” she thought.

This girl with long legs and a perfect leg shape that could be called “Leg Goddess,” was now sitting cross-legged on the couch.

She had placed a throw pillow on top of her knees.

As she watched the TV, her eyes became increasingly unfocused.

Until her phone’s ringtone sounded.

It was Shen Minglang calling.

“Hello, Ningning, are you having dinner with me tonight? I’m absolutely not going back home for dinner,” Shen Minglang spoke over the phone.

Shen Qingning: “…”

She hesitated for a moment before softly saying, “Alright, you decide the place, come pick me up tonight, I don’t feel like driving.”

“Got it!” Shen Minglang agreed.

After putting down her phone, Shen Qingning, clutching the throw pillow, no longer sat cross-legged, but slowly lay down on the couch, beginning to space out.

She was the type who, when in a bad mood, would just space out, not thinking about anything, not doing anything.

Gradually, she curled up on the couch, her long legs tucked and pressing the throw pillow up.

Just lying there, doing nothing, she felt pretty good.

Then, at three in the afternoon, Shen Qingning received a WeChat from Cheng Zhu.

“When is the monthly electricity bill for the shop settled?” He started with a legitimate reason to communicate with the female landlord.

If it were Lin Lu, he could have been straightforward: “Tonight, dinner, got it?”

Shen Qingning looked at the message he sent and replied with the fixed monthly date for settling the electricity bill at the sushi shop.

“Alright, I’m in the shop now, do you want to come over and play?” Cheng Zhu asked.

“Probably not. The shop is so busy right now, coming over might even interfere with your business,” Shen Qingning replied.

But honestly, for some reason, when she saw Cheng Zhu’s invitation, she really felt like going and almost agreed.

This puzzled her because usually, when she was in a bad mood she liked to be alone.

She felt somewhat uneasy.

Cheng Zhu knew that Shen Qingning wouldn’t come to the shop by herself.

But he thought that maybe Shen Qingning was also willing to spend time alone with him, but she might need an excuse.

“Business is booming thanks to you both. The location of this shop is absolutely perfect, meeting all my needs.

Lin Lu helped me supervise the construction, and the decoration came out well.

You helped with the promotion in the beginning, which was a great help,” Cheng Zhu began to lay the groundwork.

After laying out these words, knowing that Lin Lu was going to Shanghai today, he started typing rapidly:

“How about this, I’ll treat you both to dinner tonight!”