Chapter 786: Chapter 785: I Have Money, I’m Willing

Lu Mian leisurely pulled out a pair of earphones from his pocket, sorted out the cords, and inserted them into one ear.

“I’m not close to her.” His tone was cold and distant to the extreme.

“You child…” Fu Man sighed, shaking her head. “Your sister has changed since the past. She even sent a VCR to boost your popularity after knowing you were on the show. Mianmian, can’t you let go of your prejudices?”

After Fu Man said this, she looked up to see Lu Mian had already put the other earphone in as well.

It was clear he didn’t want to listen to her.

Lu Mian was stubborn, solitary, and arrogant–Fu Man had long known this.

After so much had happened, his character hadn’t changed at all.

“Never mind.” Fu Man stepped aside to let Lu Mian pass, a trace of disappointment in her eyes.

Lu Mian gave her a cold glance and took a step out before suddenly speaking indifferently.

“Madam Fu, I’m not your biological child, am I?”

Fu Man’s expression froze, and before she could say anything, Lu Mian had already strode away with cold determination.

The middle-aged woman stomped her feet in anger behind him, “Lu Mian, you were carried by me for ten months before birth. To say such things, do you even have a conscience!”

There was no reaction from the other party. Fu Man felt it was meaningless and tiredly returned to the elevator entrance.

At this moment, there was no need for her to go up anymore, as Lu Xinnuan and Pei Wenda, along with others, had come out of the elevator.

“Mom!”

Lu Xinnuan, dressed in her school uniform, came over, and Fu Man draped a coat over her shoulders. The others took the opportunity to say their goodbyes to Xinnuan.

Pei Wenda’s family had a driver to pick him up. After exchanging a few perfunctory pleasantries with Fu Man, he left.

Lu Xinnuan walked out of the studio building arm in arm with Fu Man.

“Mom, someone sponsored ‘Extreme Brain’ with fifty million, saying it was for my sister.” Lu Xinnuan brought up this matter with great concern before adding, “But the director said they probably sponsored it because of me.”

“That’s great then. Can’t the sponsor just support your program instead?”

“That’s what I was thinking too. But right now, I don’t have the sponsors’ contact information, and I don’t know if my sister has it either…” Lu Xinnuan said softly, restraining her emotions.

Fu Man laughed, “That’s easy, I’ll ask Lu Mian when I have a moment.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

—-

On Monday morning,

Sui Yuan came to the classroom and began to check the contents of her desk drawer thoroughly, even carefully examining a stack of test papers as if looking for something.

Zhang Yanyan came over to sit beside her and asked with concern, “Yuan Yuan, what are you looking for?”

“A set of math test papers. Mianmian specifically borrowed them from Professor Geng Yuxiang of Qing University.” Sui Yuan had been looking for a while and had not found them. She thought she had left them in the dormitory but having not found them there either, she thought they might be in the classroom. But they were not there either.

“Did you lend them to someone else?” Zhang Yanyan offered to help her look.

“I just finished them and hadn’t gotten around to organizing them, so I didn’t lend them out.”

Zhang Yanyan flipped through a few pages and muttered softly, “Could someone else have taken them? Professor Geng Yuxiang’s papers are precious!”

Before Sui Yuan could respond, Jiang Yingyue suddenly turned her head from the front row and glared at Zhang Yanyan.

“You can eat food indiscriminately, but you can’t spout nonsense indiscriminately. Who knows where she put them, don’t just bite people whenever you open and close your mouth!”

Zhang Yanyan was confused.

“I’m just asking, why are you getting so worked up? Could it be you who took them?”

“Zhang Yanyan, are you sick? What do I need her test papers for? Would you like to search my stuff then?!” yelled Jiang Yingyue, sounding both sensitive and vulnerable, even standing up in anger.

Sui Yuan quickly held Zhang Yanyan back, “Forget it, I’ve already finished them anyway.”

Zhang Yanyan shook his head, not wanting to stoop to Jiang Yingyue’s level.

“It’s okay, Yuan Yuan. As long as you thoroughly understand all the key knowledge that Lu Mian compiled, it’s enough for you to get first place!”

Sui Yuan nodded seriously.

Jiang Yingyue pursed her lips and turned her head away.

Sui Yuan patiently put the textbooks and test papers back into the desk cubby, while Zhang Yanyan helped beside her.

“By the way,” Sui Yuan suddenly asked in a soft voice, “have you noticed any strangers in the school these past few days?”

“Strangers?”

“I always feel like they are watching me…”

Zhang Yanyan scratched his head, “I don’t think so. Outsiders aren’t allowed to come into the school, right…”

“Oh.” Sui Yuan nodded, feeling that she might be overthinking.

—

Lu Mian finished school at noon and walked towards the direction of the Jincheng No. 1 residential complex.

As she was getting on the elevator, someone hurriedly chased up from behind and called out “Mianmian”.

Lu Mian looked back somewhat annoyed and saw Fu Man, who was gasping for air and holding her waist, saying, “Mom has finally caught up with you.”

The elevator doors opened.

Lu Mian entered expressionlessly, and Fu Man followed right in.

“Mianmian, you usually live here?” The middle-aged woman looked around the luxuriously decorated elevator, which was a much higher standard than the old complex where their whole family rented.

“How much does this cost a month?”

Lu Mian did not answer, her eyes clouded with irritation, her expression proud.

Fu Man chased after Lu Mian all the way to the eighth floor and even followed her into the apartment.

Lu Mian, preoccupied with other matters, didn’t stop her.

As soon as Fu Man set foot in the apartment, she was shocked by the size of the area at first glance.

She stared incredulously at Lu Mian’s cold silhouette, “Mianmian, have you been living here all along? Isn’t it too wasteful?”

In the past, their whole family lived in a small annex of a two-room house, where they also faced contempt from others.

If they had known earlier…

Fu Man suppressed the assumptions in her heart.

Lu Mian changed into her slippers, tossed her black backpack aside, and glanced sideways at Fu Man. With her arms crossed over her chest, she wore a sarcastic smile.

“I have money, I can do what I want.”

“You…” Fu Man suddenly remembered what Lu Mian had said back at the chess academy. She said, “I can give you however much money, however much glory you want,” and the middle-aged woman shuddered intensely.

She didn’t know where Lu Mian’s money came from, but she had to admit that Lu Mian was living much better than the three of them.

Considering the size and location of this apartment, it must cost at least ten thousand a month.

If those arguments had not happened, would their family…

Fu Man quickly took her gaze away from lingering in the room, knowing that she actually had no right to fantasize about anything.

“Mianmian, don’t get me wrong,” Fu Man said, standing awkwardly by the door.

Lu Mian gestured towards the shoe cabinet, and it was only then that she dared to change her shoes and step inside.

Lu Mian sat on the couch in boss-like posture, showing no intention of playing the host, and coldly spoke while fidgeting with her phone, “If there’s something you want, just say it.”

These past few months, Fu Man had been trying hard to learn how to be a knowledgeable, cultured celebrity mother, but in front of her eldest daughter, all her pretenses seemed to be effortlessly seen through by her.

Gathering a bit of courage, Fu Man walked over and sat down beside the couch.

“Mianmian, can I ask you about a sponsor?”

Lu Mian narrowed her eyes, not used to sitting so close to Fu Man, and her gaze lingered on the woman’s hair for a few seconds, her pupils dimming slightly.

“What sponsor?”

Fu Man was eager, “The sponsor who invested in your ‘Extreme Brain’ show!”