Chapter 88: Unexpected Encounter – Chu Jinghui
Illya wandered into a boutique, browsing casually.
The shop was filled with small, delicate trinkets. Illya didn’t understand the purpose of most items, but he still liked them.
“Did you get those hair ties and clips you gave me from here?”
Chu Feng shook his head. “No, a similar store though.”
Illya looked at a mirror. “So many mirrors here!”
“Yeah.”
He picked up one to examine his reflection, then tried another.
“These mirrors are so clear!” he exclaimed, pulling faces at himself. “Even nobles in our world rarely have mirrors this nice.” Most nobles used polished bronze mirrors—decorated with gems, yes, but far less clear than these.
“This mirror makes my face look weird,” Illya said.
“That’s a slimming mirror,” Chu Feng explained. “Makes your face look thinner.”
Illya frowned. “Slimming mirror? Poor craftsmanship?”
Chu Feng shook his head. “Nope. It’s intentional.”
“Why? That’s not real at all.”
Chu Feng nodded. “True. But people like it.”
Illya: “…”
The boutique had all kinds of mirrors—round, square, big, small. Illya couldn’t decide.
“If you like them, get more.”
“Okay!” Illya beamed, grabbing a stack and placing them in the basket.
Chu Feng sighed. Here we go again…
Illya picked up a small round mirror and fiddled with it. “This one’s tiny. I’ll give it to Qinglan—she’ll love it.”
Chu Feng nodded to himself and thought, Probably. That convenience store owner he picked seems a bit vain. Then again, a lot of people in Crescent Moon Village are vain—it’s kind of understandable, considering how good-looking everyone there is.
“Buy more,” Chu Feng said. “We can give one to each of the village kids.”
Illya nodded. “Alright.”
Illya liked nearly everything in the boutique—he wanted it all. By the end, he was having a hard time choosing. Maybe because customers like him were rare, the store staff couldn’t stop staring. Sensing the awkwardness, Illya hastily grabbed a few more items and left.
Though none of the items were expensive individually, the total came close to 10,000 yuan.
“That guy was weird! Bought over a hundred mirrors—maybe he’s opening a mirror shop?”
“Why would someone stock up from us? Our mirrors aren’t cheap. He’d go broke!”
“Maybe it’s for warding off evil? I heard hanging mirrors can do that.”
“Not our kind of mirrors though…”
“And he bought tons of umbrellas too! Even if it’s raining, who needs that many?”
“Maybe he has a shopping addiction—like, can’t help himself once he’s in a mall.”
“Sounds about right.”
After a full day of shopping, Chu Feng and Illya had grilled fish at the mall.
“This is amazing! I didn’t know fish could taste this good,” Illya said with awe.
There was a river by Crescent Moon Village, and the villagers would eat fish when they were desperate, but the fish always smelled too “fishy,” and no one liked it.
Chu Feng smiled. “Glad you like it.”
“You people are really smart!” Illya said, resting his chin on his hand.
Chu Feng chuckled. “We do alright.”
“Do you know how to make this?” Illya asked.
Chu Feng shook his head. “Nope.”
Illya sighed in disappointment. “Really? You don’t?”
“Well,” Chu Feng said, “I can’t cook it, but I can try to get a recipe.”
Illya brightened. “Really? That’d be great!” The village wasn’t short on food anymore, but adding a new tasty dish would still be a bonus.
Just then, as Chu Feng ate, he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure outside the glass wall.
“Chu Jinghui.”
Illya looked up. “What’s wrong?”
Chu Feng shook his head. “Nothing. Thought I saw someone, but probably just imagining things.”
Afterward, Illya followed Chu Feng to the underground parking garage.
“Need help?” Illya asked as Chu Feng carried bag after bag.
Chu Feng shook his head. “No, this little bit doesn’t tire me.”
Since Illya was still injured, Chu Feng didn’t want him lifting anything. They’d already loaded a lot into the car earlier, and somehow ended up buying even more.
“Alright,” Illya said.
“Pop the trunk. The key’s in my pocket.”
Illya took the keys from Chu Feng’s pocket and opened the trunk. Chu Feng loaded the bags inside.
“Chu Feng!”
A voice called out from afar in the garage.
Chu Feng turned and saw Chu Jinghui.
They hadn’t seen each other since Chu Jinghui’s wedding. Compared to before, Chu Feng thought his cousin looked a bit worn down.
So that flash he’d seen earlier at the glass wall really was Chu Jinghui—not just his imagination.
Chu Jinghui looked at Chu Feng’s car and frowned. “New car?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Yep.”
“Not cheap,” Jinghui said.
Chu Feng glanced at the car. “It used up the last of my bonus.”
Chu Jinghui frowned. “Spending like that isn’t very responsible.”
Chu Feng nodded calmly. “True, I probably spent a bit too fast. But hey, I didn’t borrow money or rack up debt—no pressure yet.”
Jinghui’s expression shifted. He had taken out a loan to buy his car, so hearing Chu Feng talk like that felt like a jab.
Chu Feng glanced at the people standing beside Chu Jinghui and smiled. “Out for dinner with friends, cousin?”
Chu Jinghui nodded. “Yeah.”
Then his eyes landed on Illya. His expression flickered slightly.
He’d heard from Yan Ping that after Chu Feng won the lottery, he started acting smug—copying rich people by getting himself a boyfriend. Jinghui hadn’t quite believed it. But now, seeing Illya’s face… he started to believe it. Illya was really good-looking.
Illya yawned lazily. “I’m gonna get in the car, okay?”
Chu Feng nodded. “Sure.”
Chu Jinghui frowned. How rude. We’re still talking, and he just climbs into the car?
Illya sat in the passenger seat, watching Chu Feng through the window with big, expectant eyes.
Chu Feng glanced at Illya, then gave his cousin a polite smile. “It’s getting late. I’ll head out first.”
“Alright,” Chu Jinghui replied.
As Chu Feng drove off, the group next to Jinghui whispered:
“Was that your relative?”
“My cousin,” Jinghui said stiffly.
“Man, he’s loaded! Driving that BMW? And pretty good-looking too. Is he one of those rich second-gens? Is he married?”
“No, not married.”
“Wait, don’t you only have two cousins? One’s still in school, and the other’s… a delivery guy?”
Chu Jinghui nodded and said, “He used to be a delivery guy, but he won 3 million recently, so he quit.”
“Talk about luck! Winning a prize like that!”
“Three million! If I won that much, I’d quit too.”
“That car of his is really something!”
Chu Jinghui shook his head. “Winning 3 million and just spending wildly—he’s probably almost out of money already.”
He pressed his lips together, feeling uneasy. Ever since they were young, Chu Jinghui had always thought Chu Feng was beneath him. But after winning the lottery, everything seemed to flip.
He had worked hard for years, studied, and now had to work under someone else, dealing with bosses and office politics. But Chu Feng? He was living freely and carelessly. And now he even had a boyfriend. With their uncle and aunt gone, there was no one left to rein him in.
Part of him thought Chu Feng’s lifestyle was ridiculous—but another part of him felt jealous.
“That car cost nearly a million. At this rate, he’ll burn through it all soon. I’ve heard that winning the lottery burns through your luck. If you’re not careful, it ends in disaster.”
“Yeah, my mom knew someone whose family got four apartments in a demolition deal—worth five or six million. Before the houses were even finalized, she gambled it all away and got deep into debt. In the end, she killed herself.”
Chu Jinghui had always felt a little bitter about Chu Feng’s lottery win. But hearing this story made him feel better—he could almost picture Chu Feng being hounded by debt collectors.
Later, Chu Jinghui drove home.
Yan Ping sighed when she saw him. “Your wife’s still at her parents’ house.”
He nodded. “Yeah.”
Yan Ping rolled her eyes. “What is this, huh? Just married and already living apart. After taking so much money from our family too.” Did I get a daughter-in-law or an ancestor? Did we get scammed?
She sighed. “Find a time and bring her back. Lately, people keep asking about my daughter-in-law. I bragged too much before, and now I don’t know what to say.”
“I ran into Chu Feng today,” Jinghui said.
Yan Ping frowned. “That brat never answers his phone. Who knows what he’s up to.”
“He bought a new car. Cost over 800,000,” Chu Jinghui said.
Yan Ping’s eyes went wide. “What? Over 800,000?! That kid’s insane. How dare he drive such an expensive car!”
Chu Jinghui took a deep breath. “I ran into him at dinner today—he was driving it.”
Yan Ping frowned. “Didn’t he already have a car? Why buy another?”
She had actually been thinking about asking Chu Feng for a loan. Hearing he bought another car made it feel like her money had been spent.
Chu Jinghui frowned too. “Maybe he thought the old one wasn’t good enough.”
Yan Ping grumbled, “So now he’s picky, huh?”
