Chapter 34: A Country Bumpkin from the Countryside

Translator: Tuiwen Editor: Tuiwen

“Oh, third brother and sister-in-law are here so early!”

Zhan Cheng proclaimed loudly once he saw the two. As he said this, he was holding the arm of a beautiful middle-aged woman and they were walking down from the second floor.

Li Ying also went up to help the beautiful woman. She smiled sweetly before she said, “Mom, this is third sister-in-law.”

So this was Zhan Cheng’s mother? In other words, Zhan Qi’s stepmother?

She looked so youthful like she was only in her forties. Her hair was delicately combed into a bun and was adorned with a jade hairpin. She wore a dark red cheongsam, looking dignified and elegant.

Her skin was very delicate. There were no wrinkles at all, but it looked a little unnatural. It was obvious that her skin was the result of frequent beauty treatments.

Zhang Xue walked over and looked at Fu Qing from top to bottom, before the corners of her mouth curled up into a smile.

“Yes, Cheng and Li Ying told me about you before. You’re Fu Qing, right?”

Fu Qing herself smiled politely and said, “Hello, Auntie.”

Because she was not Zhan Qi’s biological mother, Fu Qing could not call her mother. Moreover, she didn’t attend their marriage as his mother.

Zhang Xue frowned imperceptibly when she heard this, but the smile on her face returned quickly. She warmly invited Fu Qing to take a seat.

After an hour, everyone from the Zhan Family had arrived.

Zhan Yuv was the first to raise his wine glass, and his gaze swept across everyone present.

“Today is a family banquet. There are no outsiders, so there’s no need to feel restrained. Eat what you want to eat, say what you want to say, and don’t be a stranger. We’re all family! Come, let’s toast.”

“Cheers.”

Everyone stood up and downed the red wine in their glasses.

The atmosphere at the dinner table soon became lively, as everyone chatted all over the place.

The huge TV screen was broadcasting financial information. No one knew who turned the TV on, but since they were on the topic, everyone started to talk about financial securities and the like.

Fu Qing listened quietly as she ate. Although she was not knowledgeable in this aspect, she also wanted to learn more about finance.

Unbeknownst to her, Zhang Cheng had been observing her. Suddenly, he spoke up.

“Speaking of which, the recent rise in stocks has been pretty good. My total stock returns have already exceeded 30% .”

Zhang Xue’s eyes flashed with excitement as she followed. “Oh! My stocks have also risen. Look, even the news said that the current financial market is suitable for investments.”

Then, Zhan Cheng looked at Fu Qing with a grin. “Third sister-in-law, what about you? What stocks did you buy?”

“Oh! Um, me?” Fu Qing’s eyes widened in surprise — she hadn’t expected the sudden topic change. She smiled embarrassedly as she looked down. “I… don’t keep up with stocks or anything like that.”

Zhan Cheng and his stepmother exchanged a knowing look, and they saw the mutual disdain in each other’s eyes.

After all, she was just a country bumpkin from the countryside. Of course she couldn’t understand stocks!

Since Fu Qing didn’t know anything about stocks, Zhan Cheng knew it was the perfect opportunity to bring both Zhan Qi and her down. All he had to do was lure her into investing all of their wealth into stocks. If Zhan Qi was trapped in the stock market, he wouldn’t have much power to go against him.

“Stocks are very simple. All you need to do is invest some money into stocks and wait for some time. When the stock price rises, you can sell them for a profit. That’s all!”

Zhan Cheng smiled. “It’s so much easier than doing business.”

“Really?” Fu Qing couldn’t believe it. She turned to look at the people beside her for affirmation.

“How can it be that easy?”Zhan Qi, who had been eavesdropping into the conversation, sneered. “If it’s that simple, why are there so many people who committed suicide because of stocks?”

Zhan Cheng snorted disdainfully at this and retorted.

“That’s because they were too greedy. They don’t know when to pull out their investments. If they had pulled out before the price dipped, this wouldn’t have happened.” He said confidently. “You wouldn’t know since we haven’t been in contact, but look at my earnings now. This is my hard work over the years.”

He turned on his phone and opened the stock trading software to show everyone his earnings..