Chapter 505: Surviving
"But I advise you to give up!"
Ding Deyou said proudly, "With my daughter's standing, she's destined to marry into a wealthy family. A poor kid like you should stop daydreaming!"
"Exactly! Have you looked in a mirror? A toad wanting to eat swan meat? What a joke!" Wang Haixia immediately chimed in.
Seeing the two of them ganging up on Zhao Dong, Ding Lan finally couldn't sit still any longer.
"Mom, Dad, that's enough!" she pleaded. "Zhao Dong has helped me before. He's not the useless man you claim he is. If you say one more word about him, I'm going to get angry!"
"Ding Lan! Are you trying to anger me to death?" Wang Haixia snapped. "He's trash, and you're defending him? Have you lost your mind?"
"Enough!" Ding Lan snapped, her eyes widening in fury. "Mom! If you keep talking like that, I really will get angry!"
Ding Lan was already resentful that Wang Haixia had forced her to break up with Zhao Dong. Now, that resentment was boiling over. She was genuinely furious.
Seeing his daughter was truly livid, Ding Deyou hurriedly tried to smooth things over. "Alright, alright, we'll stop talking, okay?"
"You just spoil her!" Wang Haixia glared at her husband but said no more.
Ding Lan turned to Zhao Dong, her expression full of guilt. "I'm so sorry, I..."
"It's nothing. I didn't take it to heart," Zhao Dong replied with a calm smile, his demeanor serene. With his current status, he was long immune to the insults of such common folk.
However, seeing how indifferent Zhao Dong was, Ding Lan felt a sharp pang in her heart.
They say there's no hate without love. If he's so unconcerned, does that mean he's truly forgotten all about me?
Her eyes filled with bitterness. "It's getting late. You probably haven't eaten yet, have you? Let's go have dinner together. Consider it my apology."
"There's no need," Zhao Dong said, shaking his head. "Your parents clearly don't like me. I'd rather not impose."
"Zhao Dong! Please, just give me a chance to apologize!" Ding Lan begged, her eyes turning red.
Seeing her like this, Zhao Dong's heart softened. "Alright, but will your parents agree?"
Ding Lan turned to them and declared, "I'm taking Zhao Dong to dinner. If you don't agree, we'll just go by ourselves!"
"Go by yourselves!?" Wang Haixia's expression changed, and she was about to lash out. What a joke! A young man and woman, out for dinner alone at night. What if something happened?
However, Ding Deyou quickly grabbed her arm. "Calm down," he whispered. "This Zhao Dong is probably planning to pester our daughter relentlessly. If we eat with them, we can teach him a lesson and make him understand his place, right? It's better to make him back off willingly than to let them sneak around and get into trouble!"
"Hmm, you have a point," Wang Haixia nodded thoughtfully, no longer objecting.
Ding Deyou then smiled at his daughter. "Of course, you can. Since you want to bring him, your dad certainly won't refuse."
Hearing this, Ding Lan didn't overthink it, assuming her parents had simply decided to compromise. She turned to Zhao Dong. "My parents have no objections. Shall we go?"
"Alright," Zhao Dong nodded helplessly and followed her out.
Although Ding Lan's parents had spoken quietly, their words had not escaped Zhao Dong's sharp hearing. He didn't care about their schemes, of course, but the constant buzzing of flies could still be irritating. He just wanted to get this meal over with so he could go find Qing Yu.
Soon, the group arrived at a restaurant still within the lantern festival area. The establishment boasted luxurious, traditional Chinese decor, and the servers all wore expensive, handmade cheongsams. They took a seat by the window, where they could see the bustling crowds of the festival outside.
A server respectfully handed them the menus.
Behaving like a true nouveau riche, Ding Deyou made a show of brazenly ordering a slew of dishes. After the smirking server departed, Ding Deyou shot a taunting sideways glance at Zhao Dong. "Zhao Dong, you probably didn't get much of a pension after being discharged, did you? I bet you've never eaten at a place this nice."
"Let me tell you, you'd better eat your fill today. Every dish here costs several hundred. The ones I just ordered came to a full 3,000!"
"Heh, why are you even telling him that?" Wang Haixia scoffed. "For a pauper like him, what's the difference between fine delicacies and steamed buns with pickled mustard greens? It all tastes the same."
"HAHAHA... You're right, you're absolutely right! HAHAHA..." The pair cackled in unison.
Ding Lan was mortified.
Zhao Dong, however, was sneering inwardly. What pathetic nouveaux riches. Getting so smug over a mere 3,000? Back in the day, when powerful families like the Su and Huo Families invited me to a casual meal, they had top chefs preparing dishes that cost at least 100,000! Even then, they wouldn't dare claim their food was worthy of my notice. And these two are treating this 3,000-yuan swill like a treasure? Nouveaux riches will be nouveaux riches. They'll never understand what true refinement is.
Zhao Dong simply smiled and said nothing.
Wang Haixia, however, wasn't done with him yet. She continued her passive-aggressive lecture, "Look, Zhao Dong, it's not that Auntie looks down on you. But people are like dishes. A certain dish belongs on a certain plate. Think about it. Can you serve a simple dish like cabbage here, no matter how well you cook it? That's why a person needs to know their place. Don't aim too high, fantasizing about things you can never have. You'll only exhaust yourself. Understand?"
Without waiting for a reply, Wang Haixia shifted gears. "Forget the food, let's talk about men. People talk about settling down and building a career, but in today's society, what woman would be with a man who doesn't have one? In this day and age, a man without a career is worse than dog shit! He's just a laughing stock, you understand?"
Wang Haixia's lecture went in one of Zhao Dong's ears and out the other. He found her ignorance amusing. Therefore, he just smiled faintly and ignored her.
Seeing that her words didn't seem to affect Zhao Dong, Wang Haixia's expression darkened.
This bastard just doesn't know what's good for him! It seems a gentle approach won't work. I'll have to get rough.
With this in mind, Wang Haixia changed her tactic. "Zhao Dong," she said directly, "since you claim to be in business, why don't you tell Auntie how much you have in savings?"
Zhao Dong smiled placidly. "Not much, but enough to get by."
"Heh, I knew you didn't have much saved up," Wang Haixia jeered. "Money is for improving your quality of life. If all you do is eat steamed buns and pickled greens, then a thousand in savings is surely enough. But can you call that living? That's not living. That's just surviving!"