WRA CH43

Chapter 43: Zhou Sicheng’s Peacocking Tactics

Xiang Zhen deposited his money at the bank and received a jug of peanut oil. He placed the oil into Fan Hao’s trunk, looking rather enviously at the bank’s promotional event offering free wormwood and zongzi wrapping.

However, his deposit amount was too small to meet the threshold for wrapping zongzi at the bank.

Noticing this, Fan Hao said, “Just give your husband’s name. He has deposits here.”

Xiang Zhen: “Really?”

Fan Hao thought to himself: Could that even be fake? What’s the big deal about wrapping an egg yolk zongzi? If you wanted to fetch the gold bars from the bank vault to wrap zongzi with, it would take just one word from your husband.

Xiang Zhen washed his hands and joined several aunties at the zongzi wrapping station.

Ever since his husband took over cooking duties, his own culinary skills had grown increasingly clumsy. The bamboo leaves slipped and slid in his hands, letting the white glutinous rice spill right out.

The aunties who came to wrap zongzi at the bank were not hurting for money. They wore jade rings on their fingers and lived comfortable, pampered lives, yet when it came to wrapping zongzi, each one they wrapped was textbook perfect, just like Auntie Guihua’s.

Though he also wore a ring on his finger, Xiang Zhen kept spilling rice everywhere, looking like a truly delicate wife whose ten fingers had never touched spring water.

An auntie began teaching him, and Xiang Zhen bit his lower lip, paying close attention.

The auntie: “Why are you packing two egg yolks when you’re just learning? One is plenty. Make it a bit smaller.”

Xiang Zhen: “I want to give my hubby a double-yolk zongzi.”

The auntie paused, then said, “Your husband must be very wealthy.”

Xiang Zhen nodded: “He is too wealthy.”

The auntie chuckled. Who on earth brought home such an innocent and honest college student? One shouldn’t flaunt their wealth so openly.

She lowered her voice and advised him, “Don’t add the wealth management manager on WeChat. Manager Wang knows how to lay on the emotional value thick. Watch out, or he’ll coax you into buying millions in insurance, and you’ll get scolded by your husband when you go home.”

Xiang Zhen nodded solemnly: “Then I won’t add him, lest Manager Wang gets scolded by my hubby.”

The auntie: ?

Did I say he would scold Manager Wang? I said he’d scold you!

Once the zongzi were steamed, Xiang Zhen took the two he had wrapped himself. The lobby manager even gifted him a bundle of wormwood.

Fan Hao had also wrapped up his duties for the day: inspecting the branch outlet and keeping Madam entertained.

He snatched up over a dozen bundles of wormwood at once: “Why be so stingy? His husband owns a giant villa.”

With a bountiful haul today, Xiang Zhen asked Fan Hao, “Manager Fan, do we still need to go wrap zongzi for the private banking clients?”

Fan Hao: “No need, that’s my job. The only private banking client you’re responsible for maintaining is your husband.”

Xiang Zhen: “Then you go ahead. I’m going to deliver zongzi to my hubby.”

Fan Hao: “You can see him now?”

Xiang Zhen: “I’ll just leave them at the door and go.”

Treating it like visiting an inmate in prison, Fan Hao thought. He said, “If you’re not going inside, I’ll drive you.”

This was Xiang Zhen’s second time visiting the Zhoufu Headquarters. To think this entire building belonged to his husband—it was so dazzling… no, so blinding.

Secretary Gao was already waiting at the entrance. He accepted the zongzi and traded President Zhou’s prepared lunch to Xiang Zhen; President Zhou would be plenty full just eating some glutinous rice and egg yolks.

“Madam, where would you like to have lunch?”

Xiang Zhen: “I-I’ll go back to the bank to eat.”

I really want to eat with hubby.

Fan Hao drove Xiang Zhen back, personally escorting him to the bank’s customer service department to be with Yu Yueyue and Liu Xiaofang. “Xiang Zhen, today Yu Yueyue will help you get familiar with the customer service workflow.”

Xiang Zhen: “Okay.”

Following President Zhou’s instructions, Fan Hao had quietly set the system to assign fewer incoming calls to Yu Yueyue so she could slack off and have time to properly talk sense into Xiang Zhen.

When it came to slacking off, Yu Yueyue never disappointed President Zhou.

The second she laid eyes on Xiang Zhen, her gaze zeroed in on the massive diamond ring on his finger. “Did your husband buy you a diamond ring? I’ve seen this design before—it goes for over two million! Ah! That thirty-yuan hair clip on your head couldn’t have originally cost three million, could it?!”

Xiang Zhen froze, suddenly feeling as though his finger was too heavy to lift: “Two million?”

Yu Yueyue: “The standard line is two million; a bespoke order bought by Zhou Sicheng definitely cost more.”

Xiang Zhen stroked the ring, gaining a whole new appreciation for his husband’s wealth. He took two deep breaths, not daring to think about it too deeply.

Resting her chin in her hands, Yu Yueyue sighed, “Rich people really have impeccable taste when styling their wives. Zhenzhen, you’re drop-dead gorgeous.”

Liu Xiaofang chimed in: “President Zhou has great taste.”

Xiang Zhen fluttered his eyelashes. “Stop praising my hubby. Yueyue, I’m more used to you calling him a cheapskate.”

Yu Yueyue narrowed her eyes. Had Xiang Zhen deliberately posted that 52-yuan red packet on Moments back then just to paint an image of a stingy husband so other people wouldn’t covet him? After all, Xiang Zhen was constantly boasting about how handsome his husband was, and many colleagues had been intensely curious about him. She had even overheard people in the restroom plotting to stake out and catch a glimpse of Xiang Zhen’s husband.

Ever since Xiang Zhen made that post, nobody was curious about his husband anymore; people only wanted to poach his wife.

If only Xiang Zhen were actually that shrewd.

Yu Yueyue: “You must keep a tight leash on Zhou Sicheng.”

Xiang Zhen: “I can’t watch him. I still feel like throwing up whenever I see him.”

“Even if you throw up, you still have to watch him! If I were you, as long as I had breath left in my body, I’d keep my eyes glued to him!” Yu Yueyue preached earnestly. “Marrying him is using the ‘early-rich to lead the later-rich,’ achieving common prosperity!”

“If he gives you half his wealth, that cuts his assets clean in half! Is there any faster way on earth to deal a crushing blow to a capitalist?!”

Xiang Zhen: “…” He didn’t want to deal a crushing blow to his husband’s assets; he wanted his husband to be the most formidable of all.

Yu Yueyue: “Being disgusted is really nothing. There was a netizen whose husband visited her once a month, beat her every single time, but gave her a million yuan a month. Even then, netizens and lawyers were advising her to endure it—money is hard to earn, and crap is hard to swallow.”

Xiang Zhen was shocked. Yao truly could not keep up with the trends of human society anymore.

Yu Yueyue: “Do you still love him?”

Xiang Zhen: “I love him.”

Yu Yueyue: “Then leave it to time. Love can shatter all shackles. Preferably not too much time, though, lest… well, never mind. President Zhou probably just loves that you don’t care about money.”

Xiang Zhen pondered for a moment and texted his husband.

[Xiang Zhen: Hubby, if I stay like this forever, will you divorce me?]

[Zhou Sicheng: Never.]

[Zhou Sicheng: Baobei, you are the most adorable idealist.]

[Zhou Sicheng: Wifey, the zongzi you wrapped were delicious, I ate them all. I’ll cook tonight, and dinner will be on the table. Make sure to eat plenty on your own.]

[Xiang Zhen: Hubby, when I fall asleep tonight, can you come in and hold me?]

[Zhou Sicheng: Remember to sleep early.]

[Xiang Zhen: I’ll go to sleep very early!]

Xiang Zhen set down his phone. “Yueyue, my hubby’s birthday is coming up. What kind of gift do you think I should give him?”

Yu Yueyue: “He doesn’t lack anything. Just give yourself as the gift.”

Xiang Zhen looked a bit lost. Myself? But they couldn’t even see each other; throwing up on his husband’s birthday would completely ruin the mood.

Ding, ding, ding. His phone suddenly sounded with several notifications.

Xiang Zhen looked down; Yu Yueyue had turned generous, sharing several web novels with him.

“Didn’t you say I wasn’t allowed to read these?”

Yu Yueyue: “Before, I was worried reading them would worsen your lovesickness and make you pour your heart and soul into a stingy man. Now, I fully support you being the pampered little wife of a domineering CEO.”

Xiang Zhen took a screenshot and sent it to Zhou Sicheng: “Hubby, can I read these?”

Afraid he would be bored alone at night, Zhou Sicheng naturally permitted it: “As long as they’re from a legitimate, green-rated website, read whatever you like.”

Yu Yueyue: “…” Zhen, you’ve already surpassed 99% of pampered wives!

After work, Xiang Zhen visited Manning first, giving him a bundle of wormwood and collecting the zongzi sent by Auntie Guihua.

Careless Auntie Guihua had mixed up the packages. One of the bags sent to him had a note attached reading: Bai Qi, wishing you well.

Dou Manning saw it too and analyzed, “He’s a snake.”

In the Yao autobiographies within the Guide to Adulthood, aside from Honeysuckle and Golden Leopard, there was also a snake. However, after finishing the two seniors’ grueling revolutionary tales and discovering the reason behind Xiang Zhen’s nausea, they hadn’t read further; after all, it was another Yao’s private business.

Xiang Zhen: “The 2012 edition of the Guide to Adulthood added a lot of new rules, like having to watch an episode of cartoons after dinner. That must have been written by this senior.”

Dou Manning admitted a bit guiltily, “I forgot to watch recently.”

Xiang Zhen’s eyelashes fluttered: “I forgot too. But since I don’t sleep with my hubby at night, no one will know if I don’t watch. You have to remember to watch.”

Dou Manning’s gaze darted away. It was precisely because he had been sleeping with Shen Ku that he forgot to watch.

Resting his chin in his hand, Xiang Zhen said, “Manning, to be honest, I kind of want to go back to the mountains.”

Dou Manning: “The mountains?”

Xiang Zhen: “The Greater Khingan Mountains. I don’t understand what went wrong with my body. Maybe if I return to the place of my birth, there will be a solution. My hubby is so pitiful, and I don’t want things to go on like this.”

Dou Manning: “But your husband is keeping an extremely close eye on you.”

Ever since Xiang Zhen entered this rental apartment, seven or eight bodyguards had been stationed outside the door, and drones were even hovering outside the windows.

President Zhou had thoroughly learned his lesson, terrified his wife would slip down a drainpipe and flee.

Yao had their own methods of escape, but that would far exceed the realm of human logic.

Xiang Zhen pursed his lips. In this bloodless war between the proletariat and the capitalist, both were terrified that the other would abandon the battlefield.

Xiang Zhen: “We’ll see. Going back might not even help.”

Xiang Zhen stood in front of his former rental apartment for a while, missing the warmth of ordinary life here.

Zhou Sicheng had offered to bring him back here, claiming he could pretend to be a driver for the rest of his life. But Xiang Zhen had no way to erase his memories.

An eccentric doctor had previously approached Zhou Sicheng, claiming he could alter cognition through surgery, only to be thrown out by Zhou Sicheng.

Xiang Zhen went home carrying a jug of peanut oil and a bundle of wormwood.

Zhou Sicheng’s house was enormous. Xiang Zhen carefully hung wormwood on every door, placing two extra bundles on Zhou Sicheng’s study door.

He finished the dinner his husband had cooked all by himself, opened a web novel, read for a bit, and went to bed, waiting for his husband to visit him in his dreams.

He had a restful, dreamless sleep.

The next day, Xiang Zhen sat up and looked around the empty bedroom, having no idea whether his husband had visited or not.

Xiao Kui Bao rolled over: “Baby Xiang Zhen, you’re awake! The first line every morning upon waking: Master is not a capitalist~”

Xiang Zhen felt terribly wronged. Had Zhou Sicheng held him or not?

[Xiang Zhen: Hubby, did you come last night?]

[Zhou Sicheng: Touch your bottom.]

Hmm? Xiang Zhen focused his senses, but felt nothing unusual. Reaching back to touch his rear, his fingers brushed against a sticker on his underwear.

He twisted around and peeled it off—it was a little red flower sticker that read [Five-Star Review].

A good review!

The corners of Xiang Zhen’s mouth curled up. He found a blank notebook and carefully pasted the little red flower inside.

Xiang Zhen got up to eat breakfast, then took advantage of walking the robotic Xiao Kui to wander around the villa, secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of his husband.

“Xiao Kui, help me find hubby.”

Xiao Kui Bao: “Master already left the house at 6:17 AM to make money!”

Xiang Zhen: “Why does he have to make so much money?”

Xiao Kui Bao: “To raise me, of course! I burn through tons of money! I spend 300 million every day!”

Shocked, Xiang Zhen forgot his sorrow: “Can you spend a little less? That puts so much pressure on my hubby to support the family.”

Xiao Kui Bao: “Can’t do that, Baby Xiang Zhen! Every time you talk to me, your hubby has to spend money!”

Xiang Zhen: “Then I won’t talk to you anymore.”

Xiao Kui Bao: “Master told me to tell you: it’s fine. You two don’t have children, so I am your child. When I grow up, I will make lots of money for you two.”

Xiang Zhen puffed out his cheeks. Capitalists really didn’t have it easy either; his heart ached for his husband.

In the days that followed, aside from receiving a five-star review sticker every morning and eating dinner cooked by Zhou Sicheng every evening, Xiang Zhen never saw Zhou Sicheng at all.

The psychologist had advised that their optimal state was separation, allowing time to dilute the capitalist image.

Until yearning fermented into a massive vortex, sweeping away everything in its path like a tornado.

Zhou Sicheng believed it; he had no choice but to believe it.

This was his final straw.

Zhou Sicheng endured for an entire month. The days he and Xiang Zhen had spent apart without seeing each other had now surpassed the days they had spent together.

On his birthday, Xiang Zhen had sent him a photo wearing only his dress shirt as a birthday gift. Zhou Sicheng had endured even that. When he snuck in at night to give out the review sticker, he didn’t lay a finger on his wife, who wasn’t wearing anything else, merely brushing his lips against him lightly, terrified of waking him.

Heaven ought to look upon him with favor now.

Xiang Zhen hadn’t vomited a single time that entire month.

This was an exceptionally positive omen. The psychologist said they could find an opportunity to meet.

With great ingenuity, Zhou Sicheng prepared a handsome, dashing entrance.

He was going to dazzle his wife.