A Young Woman's Heart

Since she's already a rich woman, finding a handsome man would be incredibly easy, wouldn't it?

When I went downstairs, the dinner had already begun. Servants pushed carts and placed refreshments on the tables. There were many seats in the hall; some people preferred sofas, while others preferred wooden chairs. No one was alone; everyone was chatting and smiling with others.

This is the social occasion for the upper class.

This was the first time Zhou Yong had met him.

Well, even though everyone was smiling and very polite, he felt inexplicably depressed.

Tian Tingchan's mood was probably similar to his, because she was also frowning slightly at this moment.

"Miss Zuo, you've arrived." A middle-aged man, about the same age as Zuo Ziya's father, smiled at her. "It's been several years since I last saw you, and you've become even more beautiful."

"You too, still so energetic," Zuo Ziya replied politely.

"This is my son..."

"Hey," Zuo Ziya's father interrupted him, "Let's not use such demeaning formalities at this banquet, haha!"

"Haha, look at me, I almost forgot. You don't like this kind of formality, Miss Zuo. Look, this is my son. He just returned from studying abroad. You young people might have some common topics to discuss."

"Hello." Zuo Ziya nodded to the young man.

Unlike the spoiled rich kids Zhou Yong had imagined, the latter bowed very politely: "It's our first meeting. Your beauty is like a lily among roses, outstanding and pure."

Zhou Yong got goosebumps from hearing those cheesy words.

"Who are these two?" Of course, they didn't ignore them.

"This is my friend. This is Tian Tingchan, who is studying at Zhejiang Medical College. This is a friend of my friend, who is still in high school."

Hello.

"Hello……"

Then came another round of tedious pleasantries.

Everyone was indeed very polite, but Zhou Yong just couldn't get used to it.

Speaking of which, Gao Yuan is also from a wealthy family, but he doesn't have this kind of 'problem'.

It seems that even among wealthy people, there are still differences between individuals.

However, it also depends on the underlying foundation.

Like the Gao family, they are newly wealthy and are engaged in relatively new industries.

Zuo Ziya's family is clearly an old-fashioned "aristocrat." Although China no longer allows the existence of noble families, this description is not inaccurate.

They either come from scholarly families with a long and distinguished history, or they have close relatives who hold government positions.

Or perhaps they are big bosses in the economic sector.

After finally being freed, Zhou Yong carefully took some expensive-looking food, sat down in a corner, and slowly savored it.

He discovered that many of the food portions were small, and that the food was taken away when there was only a little left.

For example, he had just tried to get the last two pieces of venison jelly, but the waiter took them away.

After that, another new dish was served.

"That's too extravagant..." Zhou Yong muttered to himself.

At that moment, classical dance music filled the hall, and many men invited the women to dance with them. Zuo Ziya was naturally invited as well.

Not all men intend to dance, but most young men find a young woman as their backup dancer.

Tian Tingchan couldn't escape it either, and was also invited by an elegant gentleman.

"Beautiful lady, I think you wouldn't refuse my invitation to dance with me, would you?" he asked with a touch of narcissism.

"..." Tian Tingchan seemed to want to refuse, but after looking at Zuo Ziya, she nodded helplessly. After all, this was her family's banquet, and she couldn't be so disrespectful. "Okay, but I can't dance."

"Oh? Hehe! It's normal for modern women not to learn these things. It's okay, it's very simple, I'll teach you slowly."

……

Chapter 292 Strolling through the streets at night

The banquet ended at 9 p.m.

The guests all bid farewell to the host and departed.

Their cars were parked in a nearby parking lot, so the road was quite lively as they walked and chatted, continuing the conversation from the banquet.

Tian Tingchan and Zhou Yong went in another direction—there was no parking lot from this side, of course, because they didn't need to go to a parking lot; they were just going to take the bus.

On a summer night, crickets chirped incessantly in the grass, their sounds echoing gently along with the croaking of frogs that rose and fell along the shores of West Lake.

"Walk with me for a bit," Tian Tingchan said, pausing briefly at the bus stop before turning to Zhou Yong.

"Huh? Oh... okay." Zhou Yong scratched his head, then walked past the bus stop and continued walking. "Don't you want to take the bus?"

"Eating too much might make you carsick," Tian Tingchan joked seriously, though in reality, she hadn't eaten much to maintain her composure and elegance.

At first, Zhou Yong was a bit reserved, but since no one paid any attention to him later, he would take a little bit each time, sit down and eat for a while. He ate for several hours, which was inefficient, but he managed to fill his stomach after a few hours. Now he felt bloated and wanted to walk around to digest.

"Ha, Brother Chan, you didn't eat much either, did you?" Zhou Yong laughed loudly, startling several black crows that hadn't walked much along the roadside into the air with a 'whoosh'.

“It’s not too little.” Tian Tingchan smiled. “Actually, I don’t like these kinds of banquets.”

"Then why did you come?"

"But Zuo Ziya is my only friend."

"Oh...damn, so I don't count?" Zhou Yong pointed at himself and exclaimed dramatically, "Wow, I'm not even considered a friend? I'm so sad. Brother Chan, I'm taking the bus now, you go by yourself!"

"Hmm... of course you don't count." Tian Tingchan's lips curled into a slight smile. "You're my little brother."

"Oh, little brother, so, big brother, who are we going to chop up tonight?"

Tian Tingchan was amused by him, while Zhou Yong scratched his head sheepishly, feeling a little smug.

After a pause, Zhou Yong continued, "Actually, I was quite surprised. This kind of dinner party at a wealthy family's house is different from what I imagined."

"Why is it different?"

"Based on my years of experience listening to TV dramas, and having read some romance novels that girls like to read, I thought I would be stopped by security guards as soon as I entered."

"That's a waiter."

"Yeah, pretty much. They'll definitely stop them and say something like, 'You're dressed so shabbily, you're not allowed in.'"

"Your school uniform isn't exactly tattered, is it?" Tian Tingchan tilted her head and looked at him.

"Well, basically it just makes you look like you're from the bottom of society." Zhou Yong scratched his head. "That way you'll be looked down upon by others, then you'll be kicked out by the waiter, and then you'll bring your friend, only to find out that it's the host of the banquet. The waiter will be so scared that he'll immediately kneel down, and then the host will fire him or something."

"That sounds quite interesting."

"Ha... I think it's just so-so, but it was really enjoyable when I first started watching it. It's that feeling of making people who look down on you kneel down and apologize to you within minutes."

"The little guy's way of achieving spiritual victory," Tian Tingchan commented.

"Then I thought that once I went in, some men would harass me, or someone would continue to look down on me, deliberately mock me, or something else would happen..."

"Pfft, how can anyone be so rude? Even if they are, they keep it to themselves."

"So it's quite surprising. I didn't expect it to be so normal. Those rich kids don't seem to be so dissolute, unlike the ones in TV dramas who are full of annoying vibes."

"You should at least put on an act, you're not some nouveau riche."

“Anyway, all the rich people in TV dramas are like nouveau riche… especially in romance dramas.” Zhou Yong coughed and imitated, “They’re always saying things like ‘I can crush you with one finger’ or ‘I’ll give you a million, leave my daughter’.”

"You watch quite a few TV dramas, don't you?" Tian Tingchan's eyes crinkled into a smile.

"Tsk, I find it all rather awkward. Maybe it really is like you said, it's all for ordinary people, to satisfy their fantasies, which is a kind of Ah Q mentality, right?"

Have you read Ah Q?

"Of course, this is a classic story by Lu Xun. I've read it in the bookstore."

"The mental victory method, at least makes me happy, which is better than being miserable if I get nothing at all."

"Uh... I think this is too fake."

“Knowing yourself too well can sometimes make life exhausting,” Tian Tingchan said softly, touching the collar around her neck.

"Hey, it's better than not knowing your own limitations, right?" Zhou Yong chuckled. "At least I won't suffer more because of the contrast between fantasy and reality."

"I always feel like you're insecure?"

"Cough... As an ordinary person, I don't have much to be proud of, do I?" Zhou Yong scratched his head and casually plucked a weed from the roadside.

"You have your strengths too."

"Is there?"

"Yes, I have."

"For example...?"

"At the very least, he is a person with a strong sense of justice."

"Tch, what's the use of a sense of justice? When something happens, you're the first one to be used as cannon fodder. You never get any good things, and you always get blamed for all the bad things."

Why be so pessimistic?

"Sigh... I'm starting to lose faith in the idea that good deeds are rewarded. If that were true, why are there still more bad people?"

Tian Tingchan remained silent, seemingly unable to refute him with her own life experiences.

"Hey Chan, why do you live alone? Why don't you live on campus? That room is way too cramped."

"I don't like crowds." Tian Tingchan shook her head.

"Oh... a small house is fine, at least it's quiet. Uh... aren't you planning to go home?"

"I have no home anymore, I am an orphan now."

"Hey, don't be so self-deprecating..." Zhou Yong chuckled awkwardly. "So, what are your plans for the future?"

"Become a nurse."