Chapter 314: Class Prejudice
Watching Qin Sitong walk away, Fu Ze chuckled. "Let’s go. Back to... back to my apartment near the company."
Fu Ze had originally planned to go back to the company, but then he remembered it was already after hours, so he changed his destination to the apartment where he usually stayed after work.
He called it an apartment, but it was about the size of a luxury flat. The lives of the wealthy are just so simple and unpretentious.
"Yes, President."
His driver, Xiao Zhou, expertly made a U-turn and headed toward the apartment complex where Fu Ze usually stayed.
Meanwhile, after Qin Sitong ran through the school gates, she could feel her face growing hot and flushed. She bought a popsicle from a small shop near the entrance to press against her cheeks and cool down.
While cooling herself down, she waited for the campus bus under the stop sign at the school entrance.
"Your popsicle is going to melt if you don’t eat it soon."
Qin Sitong had been using the popsicle to cool her face. While her temperature had dropped, the popsicle had also softened quickly.
"Oh! Thanks for letting me know. I wasn’t paying attention."
"It’s no problem. Do you have a fever? Do you want me to walk you to the school clinic?"
Qin Sitong’s face had been bright red just a moment ago, and the girl looked slightly concerned.
"No, it’s okay. It’s not a fever, I’m just hot. I’ll be fine after I eat this popsicle."
Qin Sitong tore open the popsicle wrapper. Sure enough, the popsicle inside had melted quite a bit, but it was still edible.
"Alright. Well, let me know if you start feeling unwell. I’m waiting for the campus bus too."
The girl’s expression was incredibly sincere. Qin Sitong nodded, her opinion of her soaring.
’These days, it’s rare to find a good person who would take the initiative to show concern for a stranger.’
’Whether she was being genuine or not, at least in this moment, the concern she felt was real.’
"Thanks, I’m really fine."
Qin Sitong tossed the popsicle wrapper into a trash can next to the stop and began to eat the mostly melted popsicle.
She had barely finished when the campus bus came rumbling up and stopped in front of them.
Qin Sitong took her campus card out of her bag, boarded the bus, tapped her card, and found a seat.
The girl who had been concerned about her sat down in the seat behind her, and Qin Sitong gave her a small smile in greeting.
"I’m a freshman this year. My name is Feng Chenchen. I don’t think I caught your name."
After sitting down, Feng Chenchen took the initiative to introduce herself to Qin Sitong.
"I’m a senior. My name is Qin Sitong."
"Oh, so you’re a senior! You could have fooled me, I thought you were a freshman like me."
An expression of surprise appeared on Feng Chenchen’s face when she heard Qin Sitong was a senior.
"Nope. I’m about to graduate."
...
By the time they got off the bus, Qin Sitong and Feng Chenchen had already exchanged WeChats and had become quite friendly.
After returning to her dorm, Qin Sitong sent Yun Zijin a message to let her know she was back safely. She also told her about meeting a freshman girl on the campus bus.
Seeing Qin Sitong’s message, Yun Zijin raised an eyebrow slightly.
’This Feng Chenchen doesn’t seem to be a problem, for now.’
’Still, it’s always wise to be cautious.’ Yun Zijin sent a message to Qin Sitong, warning her not to open up to people too quickly or to naively answer every question she was asked.
’Sometimes, you have to be mindful of social boundaries.’
If there was one thing about Qin Sitong, it was that she was very good at taking advice.
If Yun Zijin hadn’t mentioned it, she probably wouldn’t have thought about such things, but with the reminder, Qin Sitong would now be on her guard.
「Qingjin Pavilion.」
"Who are you messaging? You look so absorbed."
Lu Yunque had been watching Yun Zijin reply to messages for quite a while and couldn’t resist asking.
"It’s from Tongtong. Oh, right, did you know Fu Ze came to our milk tea shop today?"
’That wolf Fu Ze has latched onto my Tongtong and won’t let go.’ Yun Zijin was actually a little worried.
’For one thing, their family backgrounds are worlds apart.’
’With me and Lu Yunque, I could at least rely on my vast wealth to bridge that gap, but Qin Sitong has nothing.’
’And while I’ll always be by Qin Sitong’s side, I’m ultimately an outsider. It’s not my place to interfere in many things.’
As for Lu Yunque, he had an "I-knew-it" expression on his face when he heard what Yun Zijin said.
"Give me your analysis. If those two... if they were to try to be together, would the Fu Family try to stop them?"
"After all, not every wealthy family is indifferent to social standing. The Lu Family is more of an exception."
"Besides, by the time I met Lu Yunque, I’d already transformed from a Cinderella into a young billionaire. Our situation was different."
"The Fu Family... Grandpa Fu and Uncle Fu probably wouldn’t mind too much, but Fu Ze’s mother might be more particular about social standing."
Since it was another family’s business, it wasn’t Lu Yunque’s place to comment.
"Fu Ze’s mother... The classic mother-in-law problem. That’s a tough one."
Yun Zijin frowned slightly. If his mother were to intervene, she, as an outsider, wouldn’t have any grounds to criticize her. After all, Fu Ze’s mother would surely be acting in what she believed were his best interests.
"Why are you worrying about it? That’s Fu Ze’s problem to worry about."
"If he can’t even handle something like this, then I’d have to question Fu Ze’s competence."
"Hmph! She’s not *your* best friend, so of course you’re not worried. This won’t do! I have to nip any potential problems in the bud!"
Yun Zijin decided to rummage through her system’s inventory as soon as she got home, to see if there was anything she could use to give Qin Sitong an ’aura’ boost.
It was probably impossible to turn Qin Sitong into a high-society heiress overnight, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be boosted in other ways.
"Alright, alright, you worry about it. If there’s anything you need me for, just say the word."
"I’ll be on your side, no matter what."
’There’s that old saying: brothers are like limbs, women are like clothes. Well, he could stand to lose a limb, but he’d never go out naked. So, sorry, Fu Ze. He’d have to sacrifice his brother.’
"Don’t worry. When I need your help, I won’t hesitate to ask."
Lu Yunque smiled and put some more food on Yun Zijin’s plate.
"By the way, my grandmother has been saying for the past couple of days that she hasn’t seen you in a long time. She said you should ask her to hang out sometime when you’re free."
"Your landlady-grandma?"
The corners of Lu Yunque’s lips curled up when he heard her say "landlady-grandma."
If she hadn’t rented his grandmother’s house, they might not have gotten together so smoothly.
"Mhm. Your landlady-grandma misses you."
Yun Zijin: ...
"I’ve been so busy lately. The permits should be approved in a couple of days, and then I’ll have to get busy with the estate."
"It’s not just the estate, there’s also Mr. Tang Zhaosong’s lab."
"Don’t you have an all-purpose assistant? Do you really have to oversee the estate project yourself?"
"Mei Lin has enough on her plate already. The estate is going to be my home, so isn’t it natural for me to be more involved?"
"Well then... how about we go visit my grandmother at her place together whenever you have some free time? That way it won’t interfere with your schedule."
"That could work. I’ll check my schedule when I get back."
She needed to ask Mei Lin how the cleanup of the land in the South Suburb was progressing.
Everything the Xia family had built there before had to be demolished.
"Then it’s a plan. Just let me know when you’ve picked a time, and I’ll adjust my schedule."