Yu Xiaoru noticed that Zhou Ziwei's face was turning red and white as he looked at her, and she couldn't help but feel a little worried.
For some reason, the moment she saw Zhou Ziwei, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if she had suddenly met a long-lost relative.
But after carefully examining the other person for a few moments, she was quite certain that she had never seen this young man before, who looked unwell and had no health issues, and that he should have no connection to her whatsoever.
Despite this, Yu Xiaoru still helped Zhou Ziwei, who looked like he was about to collapse, and made him sit in the empty chair next to her.
Li Yifeng saw this and quickly ran over. He turned to look at Yu Xiaoru, and although he was somewhat amazed, he didn't pay much attention to her.
He and Yang Hongtao were best friends and roommates in college, so naturally he knew Yang Hongtao's girlfriend, Yu Xiaoya.
However, Yu Xiaoru was admitted to Zhongdu University a few years after he graduated from university. By then, Li Yifeng had already returned to his hometown in Yunnan, so he naturally had no chance to see Yu Xiaoru.
Since Yu Xiaoru and her sister don't look alike, Li Yifeng didn't recognize who Yu Xiaoru was at all.
"Ziwei, what's wrong? Did you get carsick on the way? Why don't you... go back to your room and get some sleep?"
Li Yifeng knew Zhou Ziwei's abilities; he single-handedly crippled four armed thugs with his bare hands. Therefore, he never regarded Zhou Ziwei as a sickly person, which is why he made the connection to motion sickness.
"I'm fine...you don't need to worry about me."
Zhou Ziwei shook his head and said, "Brother Li, you should go back first! I just have a few words to say to this foreign friend."
Seeing that Zhou Ziwei's complexion looked much better, Li Yifeng didn't say anything more, nodded, and turned back to his seat.
Zhou Ziwei then turned to the arrogant foreigner sitting opposite Yu Xiaoru and said in fluent Italian, "Mr. Wilson, is that right? Hehe... When you return to Italy, please give my regards to your mother, okay?"
Volume 1, Rebirth of a Prodigy, Chapter 95: Melting Down the Disguise
Upon hearing Zhou Ziwei speak fluent Italian, both Yu Xiaoru and the foreigner were momentarily stunned.
After all, Italian is not a very common language in China. They never expected that in an ordinary hotel, they would meet someone who could speak such fluent Italian. In fact, Zhou Ziwei's Italian was even better than Yu Xiaoru's, a professional translator who graduated from a foreign language department.
The foreigner had only dared to sit there and make unrestrained comments about the quality of Chinese people because he thought that no one but Yu Xiaoru would understand what he was saying. Now, he suddenly realized that the nouveau riche he had just criticized as tasteless and immoral could actually speak Italian, which made him feel extremely embarrassed.
Then, upon hearing Zhou Ziwei inquire about his mother, he quickly stood up, his posture respectful, and with a slightly puzzled expression, replied, "Thank you, thank you for inquiring about my mother... Oh... Sir, are you and my mother acquainted?"
“No, no, no…” Zhou Ziwei shook his head repeatedly and said, “I’m not familiar with your mother. I’m just saying hello out of politeness. Oh… since you’re so happy for me to greet your mother, then I might as well also greet your grandmother and maternal grandmother.”
"Thank you, thank you!" The foreigner, oblivious to the nuances of the Chinese language, assumed that the greetings to his mother and the other women in his family were simply a matter of courtesy. He nodded hastily and said, "You're too kind. I will certainly pass on your greetings to them, and... I will also tell them how warm and friendly the Chinese are!"
Yu Xiaoru sat there stunned for a long time before finally bursting into laughter. Her bright, crescent-shaped eyes glanced at Zhou Ziwei, and she muttered to herself, "How can this kid be so wicked! Hehe... But it seems only a wicked person like him can handle this despicable foreign devil!"
Zhou Ziwei exchanged a few more words of nonsense with that foreigner, indirectly cursing him in return. After receiving a few sincere blessings from the foreigner, he stood up, turned around, and winked mischievously at Yu Xiaoru.
I glanced down and saw that Xiao Ru had a plate of fried steak in front of her, just like that foreigner.
Moreover, the steak was only cut twice along the side to expose the blood inside, and it looked like it was only medium-rare or medium-well cooked.
Upon seeing this, Zhou Ziwei frowned. He had taken care of Yu Xiaoru during her years of university in Zhongdu, so he knew her eating habits very well. He knew that this meal was most likely ordered by that foreigner, otherwise Yu Xiaoru, who rarely ate meat, would certainly not eat such rare beef.
Aren't foreigners generally more respectful of other people's eating habits? How come this guy is forcing Yu Xiaoru to eat such disgusting food?
Zhou Ziwei grew angrier the more he looked at the foreigner, but he couldn't openly go up and beat him up. So he had to suppress his anger for the time being, clapped his hands and called over a waiter, whispering a few words in the waiter's ear.
At first, the waiter looked embarrassed and kept shaking his head. However, when Zhou Ziwei took out a large wad of cash and stuffed it all into his hand without counting it, the waiter immediately left with a big smile on his face.
Zhou Ziwei had been considering whether he should do what he had done with Li Yifeng, lying that he was Yang Hongtao's friend in order to get close to Yu Xiaoru and also find out about his parents' current situation from her.
However, upon closer reflection, it still felt inappropriate. After all, Li Yifeng had returned to Yunnan after graduation and only knew a little about his old classmate's affairs through online chats. It wouldn't be difficult for Zhou Ziwei to fool him.
Because of her sister and her close relationship with Yang's parents while living in the Yang family, Yu Xiaoru knew almost everything about Zhou Ziwei's past life. If Zhou Ziwei claimed to be just an ordinary friend of Yang Hongtao, it would be easier to fool her. But if he claimed to be a very good friend, Yu Xiaoru would absolutely not believe him.
Originally, it wouldn't have been a problem for Zhou Ziwei to inquire about his parents' health as Yang Hongtao's ordinary friend. However, the problem was that he simply couldn't explain how an ordinary friend could recognize Yu Xiaoru! In addition, Li Yifeng was right there. If he said that he was just an ordinary friend of Yang Hongtao, then the lie he told Li Yifeng earlier would be exposed again, which put him in a very difficult position.
Left with no other choice, he had to leave it at that for the time being.
When Zhou Ziwei returned to his seat, Li Yifeng immediately gave him a thumbs up with admiration and said, "Wow...brother, you can even speak such complicated gibberish...uh...but I really couldn't tell what language you guys were speaking. It definitely wasn't English. Although I can't speak that gibberish fluently myself, I can understand a little bit of it."
Zhou Ziwei smiled slightly and said, "It's Italian. I only learned a little bit before."
"Hmph...showing off!"
Liu Xiaofei, who was standing to the side, suddenly pouted and, quite unusually, gave Zhou Ziwei a two-word evaluation.
She also couldn't understand Italian, and had no idea how that foreigner had belittled Zhou Ziwei and insulted the Chinese. She just thought that Zhou Ziwei, this playboy, probably saw that the girls there were pretty and had gone over there to show off his talents. Needless to say, his purpose was to pick up the girls!
Liu Xiaofei didn't know what was wrong with her. She clearly disliked this young master a hundred times and was always on guard, afraid that Zhou Ziwei would suddenly reach out his terrible claws to her.
But when she saw Zhou Ziwei making unwanted advances towards another girl right in front of her, she felt a pang of sadness and a strange feeling in her heart.
Of course... Liu Xiaofei would never think that she had any feelings for this young master, much less that she was jealous. She was probably just a little resentful that she was outshone by another woman in terms of looks and temperament.
Zhou Ziwei didn't care about Liu Xiaofei's sarcasm at all. He just smiled and said, "Yes... I'm just too showy. I don't know how to be low-key at all. I think I'm amazing just because I can speak nine foreign languages. Sigh... Actually, why do we, as good Chinese people, have to learn the languages of foreigners?"
"Bullshit!" Liu Xiaofei couldn't help but mock Zhou Ziwei as he talked more and more outrageously. "If you're really that capable, you'd probably be the Minister of Foreign Affairs for our country!"
Zhou Ziwei chuckled. Of course, he wouldn't brag to Liu Xiaofei. Among the more than one hundred remnant souls he had merged with, at least twenty or thirty of them were intellectuals who had achieved some level of education in their previous lives. These people knew one or two foreign languages to varying degrees. In addition, there was one travel company translator who knew four foreign languages. Therefore, it was not difficult for Zhou Ziwei to master nine foreign languages.
However, Zhou Ziwei would never mention these things to Liu Xiaofei. He simply smiled and said, "Who says a foreign minister has to be fluent in foreign languages? Haven't you seen on TV that when heads of state receive foreign guests, each of them has an interpreter behind them? In fact, in some formal occasions, even if you can understand and speak the foreign guests' language, you can't speak it yourself. You have to speak your own mother tongue and then have the interpreter translate it for you. This involves national dignity! So... even if a foreign minister can speak eighty foreign languages, it's useless because he doesn't have the opportunity to speak them! And someone like me... even if I can speak ninety foreign languages, I'm only destined to be someone's interpreter!"
"Pfft... I'd never believe you!"
Liu Xiaofei pursed her lips forcefully, glaring at Zhou Ziwei with utter disdain, unaware that the cold facade she had deliberately cultivated to guard against him was slowly crumbling away without her noticing…
Volume 1 The Rebirth of a Prodigy Chapter 96 A Conflict Caused by a Plate of Dumplings
As they were talking, the waiters began to bring up the dishes the three of them had ordered.
Seeing the fruit salad and freshly squeezed juice she had ordered laid out in front of her, Liu Xiaofei unceremoniously picked up a spoon and began to eat them in small, ladylike bites.
She had been driving all day and hadn't eaten much at noon, so she was actually quite hungry now.
Liu Xiaofei's family was of average means, but she had been to these kinds of Western restaurants a few times. She felt that the Westerners' understanding of food was too backward and rudimentary. Apart from steak, it seemed that there was nothing else in the Western restaurants that she could eat.
As a 21st-century beauty, in order to maintain her perfect figure, she can only keep her distance from meat, and dares not touch it even if she craves it.
At this moment, Liu Xiaofei was eating a bland fruit salad when she saw the two men opposite her eating lobster and steak with gusto, their mouths greasy. She immediately felt a surge of anger.
To resist the temptation of this food, they had no choice but to turn their heads away, deliberately avoiding looking in their direction.
As Liu Xiaofei turned her head, she immediately felt a familiar and wonderful fragrance wafting over on the wind.
She was slightly taken aback when she smelled the fragrance, because in her memory, this scent should never appear in this kind of setting! Was she so hungry that she was dizzy and her sense of smell had failed her?
Liu Xiaofei sniffed a few more times, and the aroma became even stronger. She quickly looked up and followed the direction from which the fragrance was coming, and sure enough, she saw a waiter from a Western restaurant carrying a plate of steaming dumplings.
Thanks to the scent recognition training she received at the police academy, Liu Xiaofei was 100% certain, even at such close range, that the waiter was carrying a plate of vegetarian dumplings with a filling of three kinds of seafood that most young and beautiful girls would love!
In a formal Western restaurant, a waiter unexpectedly brought out a plate of authentic Chinese dumplings, which immediately stunned all the guests in the restaurant. They stopped eating and stared at the plate of dumplings.
I wonder who is so talented as to come to a Western restaurant to eat dumplings!
The waiter quickly walked over to Yu Xiaoru and stopped, gently placing the plate in front of her and saying respectfully, "Please enjoy your meal."
Then he stepped aside.
"Wait a minute..."
Yu Xiaoru was clearly confused. Pointing to the steaming, fragrant dumplings in front of her, she asked, "This... I don't think I ordered this! You... are you sure you're not mistaken?"
“No mistake…” The waiter quickly turned around, pointed at Zhou Ziwei, and said, “That gentleman ordered this plate of dumplings for you, and the bill for this plate of dumplings has already been paid…”
"It's him!"
Yu Xiaoru looked up at Zhou Ziwei, only to see that Zhou Ziwei still had his back to her, wielding his knife and fork, enthusiastically devouring the curry steak on his plate, as if he didn't care about her presence at all.
Yu Xiaoru wanted to stand up and greet Zhou Ziwei, but after hesitating for a moment, she sighed softly and did not take the initiative to speak to Zhou Ziwei again.
In her opinion, Zhou Ziwei must be a knowledgeable and thoughtful person. Just by glancing at the plate in front of her, he could tell that she didn't like steak or even Western food.
However, he noticed it but then specially sent someone out to buy him a plate of vegetarian dumplings with three kinds of seafood filling, which was a bit like offering help for no reason.
Yu Xiaoru possessed a naturally charming and adorable appearance, and from childhood to adulthood, countless boys had pursued her. So, things like today, where a complete stranger would inexplicably appear in public and shower her with attention, were nothing new. Therefore, Yu Xiaoru naturally categorized Zhou Ziwei as one of these frivolous suitors. She had initially felt a vague sense of familiarity with Zhou Ziwei, but now she dared not have any further contact with him, lest he mistake her feelings for him and become even more persistent!
Yu Xiaoru, however, didn't hesitate to have the waiter return the steaming plate of dumplings.
It's just a plate of dumplings, and they haven't explicitly said anything to her. If she insists on refusing to accept it, that would be too unreasonable.
If that person really brings up this plate of dumplings later, Yu Xiaoru can simply return the plate to him. This plate of dumplings would only cost twenty or thirty yuan at most in a dumpling restaurant. As for how much tip that person gave the waiter to buy the dumplings, Yu Xiaoru has no say in that!
Because Zhou Ziwei hadn't ordered anything expensive or rare for Yu Xiaoru, although Yu Xiaoru was a little wary of him, she didn't refuse his kindness. After the waiter put the plate down, she opened the sterilized chopsticks that came with the dumplings and picked up a dumpling that was wrapped like a gold ingot and put it in her mouth...
"Smack—"
Just then, the foreigner sitting opposite Yu Xiaoru suddenly slammed his hand on the table, glared angrily at Yu Xiaoru, and said, "Miss Yu, aren't you going a bit too far?"
Yu Xiaoru was slightly taken aback upon hearing this, and asked in confusion, "Mr. Wilson, I don't understand what you mean..."
Wilson, his face grim, said, “What do you mean? That’s exactly what I was going to ask you! I think you understand… My project with your company is still in the evaluation stage! And is this how you, the representative sent by your company to accompany me on this evaluation, treat your partner? Humph… What have you done with me these past few days? I asked you to go to the hot springs with me, and you made excuses; I asked you to go to the sauna with me, and you said you had low blood pressure; I asked you to go to the nightclub with me, and you said you were dizzy… Now I asked you to have a steak with me, and you again made excuses that you weren’t hungry and dragged your feet for ages without taking a bite. But that pretty boy just ordered you this plate of garbage food, and you ate it with such relish! Is this how your company sends you to accompany your partner?”
Yu Xiaoru paused again, then replied angrily, “Dear Mr. Wilson, I think you’ve misunderstood. I’m just the company’s foreign language translator, not your personal secretary. Accompanying you on this business trip as the company’s representative is already somewhat overstepping my bounds. I’m currently coordinating with the company. Until the company president gives a reply, I can only accompany you on behalf of the company during the formal business trip, providing language translation and assisting you in recording key data. As for your leisure and entertainment… I’m sorry, I cannot meet your requirements. As for the steak you just ordered for me… I’ve already clearly stated that I don’t like Western food, and I especially don’t like meat. You insisted that I try your Italian-style steak. Now I can tell you very clearly… no matter how delicious your Italian steak is, I will never like it… Thank you!”
This foreigner had lived in China for a period of time before. Although his Chinese was quite awkward, he could understand about 80-90% of what others were saying when they were speaking Chinese.
Therefore, even without Yu Xiaoru translating the waiter's words, he could tell that the plate of dumplings was ordered by Zhou Ziwei for her.
Although he hadn't figured out the hidden meaning in Zhou Ziwei's greetings to the women in his family, he knew from Yu Xiaoru's sly smile that he had probably been tricked by that sickly pretty boy.
He was already feeling annoyed, and when he saw Yu Xiaoru happily eating the dumplings that pretty boy had ordered for her, he became even angrier.
Wilson's initial request for Yu Xiaoru to accompany him on the inspection tour was clearly not out of any good intentions. He thought that with his status as a foreign investor, it would be easy for him to take advantage of a lowly female translator in China, a third-world country. In fact, he had done similar things more than once before, and he never encountered any trouble in doing so.
But to everyone's surprise, Yu Xiaoru refused to listen to him. In the past few days, apart from accompanying him to some business trips, she never complied with any of his extra requests, leaving Wilson with no chance to make a move. This naturally infuriated him, and he had been holding back his anger for a long time. Now, he finally took advantage of Zhou Ziwei's plate of dumplings to vent his frustration!
Volume 1 The Rebirth of a Prodigy Chapter 97 Lingerie Show
"Smack—"
Although Zhou Ziwei had his back to Yu Xiaoru, he had been paying attention to what was happening here. Now, hearing Wilson's shameless nonsense, he was so angry that his face turned white. He slammed his knife and fork on the table and wanted to stand up and teach that foreign devil a lesson.
However, he was no longer a child and knew that while acting impulsively might bring momentary pleasure, he also had to bear the consequences.
That foreigner is, after all, a foreign investor. If Zhou Ziwei were to get angry and teach him a lesson here, he would probably be thrown into jail in less than five minutes.
That's just how frustrating it is; after all, they're foreign investors! Local governments are usually very nervous about attracting foreign investment and developing the local economy, and they can't even get their hands on investors like Wilson normally. So, if they've been harmed on their land, they naturally won't dare to take it lightly.