Chapter Ninety-Six: The Clown Is Only Me!

Tian Fang froze again. Hearing that the price might rise by another million or more, an inexplicable wave of jealousy and resentment rose in her heart.

But she still held back her temper and glanced at Lu Hongmei with a somewhat sour expression. “I really didn’t expect this, sister. Muxue actually bought you such an expensive ring. She’s made friends with some powerful tycoon, hasn’t she?”

Since she saw that neither of the couple seemed to know the price, she naturally assumed the ring had been bought by Chen Muxue.

And where would Chen Muxue have gotten the money and influence to buy this Starlight Ring?

To put it bluntly, she must have relied on her looks and latched onto some big shot.

“This wasn’t bought by Muxue. It was... it was bought for me by Su Zheng!”

After some hesitation, Lu Hongmei finally told the truth. But this was the first time she had ever said that Su Zheng had bought something for her, and even she herself found it strangely unreal.

“Su Zheng?”

Tian Fang and Xu Jinlan both stared blankly at first, then their expressions turned to disbelief. That useless nobody could actually afford such a huge diamond ring?

“Madam, if your son-in-law was able to order this diamond ring from us, then he certainly is no ordinary man.”

The young man spoke tactfully.

Then he took out his business card with utmost deference and offered it to Lu Hongmei, bowing his head as he handed it over. “If he ever needs anything in the future, he can call me directly. I’ll do everything in my power to serve him.”

“Good, good, of course.”

Lu Hongmei took the card delightedly.

“Su Zheng, heh. I never expected he’d really amount to something after all.”

Xu Jinlan spoke in a bitter, sour tone, feeling a suffocating tightness in her chest as her mood soured instantly.

“Well, he is young. It’s only natural that he’d have a little ambition, hehe...”

Chen Jianguo, mindful of his own pride, rarely stepped in to help Su Zheng speak up, smiling as he smoothed things over.

After that, when Tian Fang and Xu Jinlan pressed for details about what business Su Zheng was currently in, Chen Jianguo brushed them off with vague, lofty-sounding nonsense.

The young man left, but the bombshell he had brought with him still left the four people present dizzy and dazed.

Tian Fang and Xu Jinlan lost all desire to linger at the Chen household. After stating the purpose of their visit, they rose to leave in obvious discomfort.

It turned out that Tian Fang’s second daughter was marrying the son of a wealthy merchant family in Qingyang, and they had come to invite Chen Jianguo and his wife to the banquet.

After witnessing Su Zheng’s grand gesture with their own eyes, they were even more insistent that Su Zheng and Chen Muxue attend as well.

Su Zheng, who had remained in his room the entire time and not shown himself, merely shook his head and smiled when he heard all this, taking it as nothing more than a bit of amusement.

“Su Zheng, where did the ring on your mother’s hand come from?”

After seeing the guests out, Chen Jianguo hurried to the doorway of the room and asked in a cold voice.

Su Zheng was about to explain, but Chen Jianguo gave him no chance. He went on warning him in his own way: “I don’t care whether you stole it or snatched it. Just don’t drag our family into this. If it really came from some improper source, I suggest you turn yourself in right away and don’t bring trouble onto us.”

“But don’t take that ring back for now. Whatever happens, you deal with it yourself. Don’t expect me to clean up your mess!”

Having thrown out those words, Chen Jianguo didn’t even wait for Su Zheng’s reaction. He turned at once and strode away, as if afraid Su Zheng might demand the ring back.

He didn’t care in the slightest where Su Zheng had gotten the ring from. As long as he had profited from it, that was enough. In any case, Su Zheng and his daughter were bound to divorce sooner or later.

Su Zheng couldn’t help but shake his head and smile. His father-in-law really was something else.

Lu Hongmei, however, was even more blatant. She was all the more worried that Su Zheng would hear how much the ring was worth and demand it back, so that very afternoon she moved into the hotel Tian Fang was running, claiming she had gone there to help prepare for the wedding.

As for Chen Jianguo, he claimed there was too much going on at the shop and that he needed to stay there for the next few days. At the same time, he called Chen Muxue and told his daughter to go to the hotel after work to find Lu Hongmei, clearly unwilling to let Muxue go home and be alone with Su Zheng.

And just like that, Su Zheng was left alone in the house.

In the afternoon, Li Yanze personally delivered several dozen stalks of Crimson Glow Grass. Coincidentally, Su Zheng had planned to use this time at home to brew medicinal liquid and strengthen himself.

After multiple enhancements to his constitution, Su Zheng’s physical condition was already far beyond that of ordinary people. Though he still looked lean on the surface, the force within him churned like a vast ocean. To say he had undergone a complete transformation would not be an exaggeration.

This time, Li Yanze brought even more Crimson Glow Grass, and on top of that he transferred the one hundred million in cash back to Su Zheng, saying that the money had been won by Su Zheng in the bet and he could not accept it.

He also made it clear that when Su Zheng had cured President Jiang earlier, he had done the Li family a great favor. These Crimson Glow Grass stalks were simply the Li family’s small token of gratitude for everything he had done.

Unable to refuse, Su Zheng accepted the one hundred million in cash with composure. Only after Li Yanze left did he begin brewing the medicinal liquid.

This time, besides the Crimson Glow Grass, he also purchased several other precious herbs according to the information recorded in the Eighteen Volumes of the Heavenly Physician. He put them all into the medicine pot together and began to simmer them.

When Su Zheng finally drank the prepared medicinal liquid, he immediately felt a distinct change.

Beyond the growing fullness of the power inside him, his skin expelled large amounts of foul, filthy impurities through sweat. He felt clear and refreshed, as if both inside and out had undergone some mysterious transformation.

Su Zheng carefully sensed the state of his body. A look of delight appeared on his face, because he knew that, strictly speaking, he had now completed a true metamorphosis.

His inner power was profound and abundant, his spirit, energy, and vitality all full to overflowing. Externally, he had the bearing of a jade-faced gentleman and eyes bright as stars, exuding a faint, warm elegance, distinguished and extraordinary.

Time passed in the blink of an eye.

The next day was the wedding of Tian Fang’s second daughter.

Su Zheng tidied himself up a little at home, trimmed his hair and stubble, then found the only outfit he owned from the day he married Chen Muxue—a shirt and a dark navy suit—and changed into it before standing in front of the mirror.

The man in the mirror had fair skin, a lean and handsome face, sword-like brows slanting into his temples, and eyes as bright as stars. He looked spirited and striking.

Soon after, Chen Muxue called him and told him to arrive early.

Su Zheng took a taxi and headed straight for the wedding venue.

Chen Muxue was already there. At that moment she was standing a little dazedly amid the bustling scene before her, her heart faintly unsettled.

Because it was a wedding, festive red paper cutouts had been pasted at the entrance to the neighborhood and in many places inside it. More than a dozen cars were parked below the apartment building, and several staff members carrying video cameras and still cameras were walking into the building while discussing the specific sequence of events for when the groom arrived.

Thinking back to the scene of her own wedding to Su Zheng, as a woman she felt both envy and a complicated ache.

She had once been the little princess cherished like a jewel in the Chen family, doted on by both grandfather and grandmother. Yet because of the arrival of Su Zheng’s family, her grandfather had actually betrothed her to Su Zheng.

And the wedding that had belonged to her had been cold and lonely. The strange mockery and sly smiles in the eyes of those who came to congratulate them had been forever etched into Chen Muxue’s memory.

“Muxue, you’re here?”

At that moment, a bright voice rang out, carrying a trace of excitement.