My Virtual Girlfriend-Chapter 169 Lu Man Gets Furious

The manor was ablaze with lights, the green trees shaded the grounds, contrasting sharply with the pitch-black sea, appearing just like the Immortal Realm.

The car slowly came to a stop in front of a luxurious villa that resembled a small castle.

Two rows of people dressed in black were lined up in front of the house, standing in a formation akin to an umbrella.

As the stretched Lincoln came to a halt, one of them quickly stepped forward and respectfully opened the door.

Out sprang a girl dressed in a judo uniform, shouldering a white backpack. She wore her hair in a ponytail and looked both confident and carefree.

Upon seeing her descend from the vehicle, the two rows of black-clad people promptly bowed and chorused, "Welcome home, Young Miss."

If Chen Yan were here, he would definitely recognize her as... Zhao Ying.

Evidently used to such a spectacle, Zhao Ying nonchalantly waved her hand before running into the villa, chirping like a little bird.

The doors of the villa swung open, revealing an elderly housekeeper with a kind face.

Seeing Zhao Ying dash in with a cheer, she smiled and said to Zhao Ying, "Miss, the master is waiting for you in the study."

Hearing the housekeeper’s words, Zhao Ying casually tossed her backpack to her, replying, "Got it. I’m on my way."

The housekeeper was clearly accustomed to the young lady’s temper, so she deftly caught the backpack, hung it aside, and led Zhao Ying to the study.

Upon reaching the study, the housekeeper knocked on the door, and a warm voice resounded from within, "Is it Brother Ying returning? Come in."

The housekeeper respectfully stepped aside, while Zhao Ying nonchalantly pushed open the door, giggling, "Dad. You wanted to see me?"

Inside the study was a middle-aged man with a round face who looked cheerful and amiable, clearly easy to get along with.

He beckoned Zhao Ying with a smile as she poked her head in.

Bounding into the room like an exuberant husky, Zhao Ying approached.

The middle-aged man stood up, took a good look at his daughter from head to toe, and beamed, "Very good, very good. You’ve grown taller and a bit plumper."

After hearing this, Zhao Ying huffed and struck a few fitness instructor poses, retorting, "Dad. I haven’t gotten fatter. I’ve gotten stronger, okay?"

It’s unclear why she, a girl, would be happy about getting stronger.

But her father didn’t mind and nodded with a chuckle, "Right, you got stronger."

Then he inquired, "How’s it going? Are you getting used to martial arts training in the mountains?"

Zhao Ying nodded, "It’s great. Master taught me a lot."

With that, she raised her hand and announced, "Dad! Let me show you the martial arts I’ve learned!"

The middle-aged man hastily gestured, "No, no. Ever since you were little, you’ve been performing whenever you learn something new. At five, you smashed my Zisha pot, at seven, you shattered my lion’s head statue, at eleven, you banged up my rosewood desk."

"If you break something else for me, my frail heart can’t take it."

However, Zhao Ying completely ignored her father’s words. Her dark eyes scanned the room’s furnishings, clearly looking for something that would split easily.

Seeing his daughter getting carried away again, the middle-aged man quickly changed the subject, "Enough looking. Let’s talk about something serious."

"How is it? Are you getting along well with your Uncle Qingtian’s kid?"

Stopped by her father’s comment, Zhao Ying paused and after a moment’s thought, said, "It’s pretty good. I think he’s nice. Not as arrogant as the others in the family."

The middle-aged man nodded, musingly responding, "That’s to be expected. After all, the environment they grew up in is different."

"This task was specially entrusted to you by your Uncle Qingtian; you have to handle it well."

Zhao Ying dismissively waved her hand, "Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of it. It’s just looking after someone, right? I’m the best at that."

Finishing her sentence, she excitedly raised her hands again and said, "Dad! Let me just perform a little!"

"Ah! Don’t touch that! That’s a Ming Dynasty porcelain I just bought!"

"Ah! Not that either. That’s made of golden-thread sandalwood!"...

After frolicking with his daughter for a while and once she finally smashed something relatively inexpensive and hopped off to boast to her mother, the middle-aged man finally heaved a sigh of relief.

Once his daughter left, the man tenderly picked up the chair that had been split, then sat at his desk deep in thought.

The Zhao Family had spanned four generations, growing incredibly vast since its humble beginnings.

Counting direct and collateral relatives, there were nearly a hundred people, not including extended family members.

Although his branch of the family was strong, securely managing the Zhao Group’s affairs in Qindong Province, it hadn’t had the power to helm the company. Therefore, he had thrown his support behind the most popular branch.

Unexpectedly, the ultimate victor of this generation turned out to be Zhao Qingtian.

After Zhao Qingtian took control of the Zhao Group, he didn’t oppress his branch, but they still suffered losses.

Thus, he had been looking for ways to ameliorate these losses over the years.

Later on, the middle-aged man recalled the unexpected revelation of Zhao Qingtian’s illegitimate child.

Being from the same family, the man was rather well-informed.

He knew that Zhao Qingtian had always felt guilty about the child but hadn’t been able to officially acknowledge him due to family rules and not yet being completely secure in his position.

After contemplating it for a long time, he decided to send his daughter to help support and care for the illegitimate child, dealing with matters as needed.

It wasn’t a particularly utilitarian idea; he just hoped that one day, if Zhao Qingtian were to act against his branch, perhaps the emotional bonds...

Considering his knowledge of Zhao Qingtian, he believed that the illegitimate child would one day return to the Zhao Family.

By then, Zhao Qingtian would be aware of everything he had done over the years and might bear some goodwill for it.

Thinking of Zhao Qingtian’s illegitimate child reminded the middle-aged man of several of Zhao Qingtian’s other outstanding children.

He felt a twinge of melancholy.

It was uncertain whether the Zhao Family would once again descend into disorder when the time came.

Pondering this, the man gazed wistfully out the window and let out a long sigh...

...

The night passed without incident, and the next day, Chen Yan stuck to his normal workday routine: getting up, washing up, going to work.

Upon arriving at the company, he noticed the lights were on in the clay sculpture studio.

Chen Yan peeked in, and there was Boss Qiao Qiao, already at work early, diligently molding little clay figures.

It seemed that last night’s bonus had indeed given her quite a bit of motivation.

Chen Yan didn’t want to disturb her, so he returned to his own office.

While attending to official business, Chen Yan pondered: now that his relationship with Boss Qiao Qiao had progressed further, should he consider giving her some gifts?

Previously, when their relationship was that of mere friends, she wouldn’t accept expensive gifts.

Now that they’d kissed and touched, perhaps she would accept something more valuable?

After all... she had accepted the bonus.

Chen Yan mulled over the possibility... perhaps it was worth a try. He could find a pretext to see if her affection for him had indeed grown to the point where she would accept an expensive gift.

His thoughts then drifted from Boss Qiao Qiao to Lu Man.

Hmm... Although Boss Qiao Qiao was an ordinary girl and thus there was a limit to how much he could spend on gifts for her, Lu Man was a celebrity!

His relationship with her was also not lesser than with Boss Qiao Qiao, so could he also give her some extravagant gifts?

Thinking about this... Chen Yan felt it might be a good idea!

As for the reason, it was simple... just celebrate with them claiming his assets had broken the billion mark!

Of course, separately...

While Chen Yan was considering this, suddenly his phone began to sound incessantly with a "ding ding ding."

And the ringing was relentless, continuous, without pause.

Chen Yan quickly grabbed his phone in surprise, eager to see what was going on.

He saw that it was a barrage of WeChat messages.

Upon opening WeChat, Chen Yan saw they were all from Lu Man.

Lu Man had not sent any other kind of message.

Just a continuous stream of "knock head..." gifs.

Chen Yan hastily sent a "?" to curb her endless stream of emojis.

Receiving Chen Yan’s response, Lu Man sent back a "smile" emoji.

Yes, the one that seems like it’s cursing someone out.

Chen Yan was covered in question marks, wondering what had upset Lu Man.

He asked, "What’s wrong?"

Lu Man’s response came almost instantly, "Have you disappeared these past few days?"

Chen Yan, "Nope..."

Lu Man, "Then, is your phone broken?"

Chen Yan replied, "Not at all..."

Lu Man, "Oh. Then surely you must have run out of phone credit!"

By now, Chen Yan was filled with question marks, "Nope... What’s the matter?"

After sending this last message, it took a full two seconds before Lu Man replied.

"Swish~"

A voice message...

Chen Yan tapped the message, and instantly, Lu Man’s yelling could be heard from the speaker, "So if you haven’t disappeared! Your phone isn’t broken! And you don’t owe fees! Why haven’t you contacted me!"

"Are you cultivating my broken heart again!"

Chen Yan...

Chen Yan slapped his forehead.

He remembered the past few days had been spent accompanying Boss Qiao Qiao, indeed somewhat neglecting Lu Man.

And on reflection, he had just smoothed over their relationship and made progress before he stopped paying her attention.

Thinking about it...

Lu Man’s feeling irate did seem understandable.

But the deed was done. How should he resolve this?

An outright apology? Or explain the situation?

Chen Yan... wasn’t quite that foolish.

He thought for a moment, then suddenly it occurred to him to leverage Lu Man’s masochistic tendencies, along with his previous plan.

Hmm... perhaps he could combine the two, after all.