Chapter 23: Let You Continue Pretending

He Haoxuan glanced at Lin Shaozhen and sneered, “Why would we have trouble finding this place? We're locals, after all. You're the ones from the countryside—if anyone would get lost, it’d be you.”

He knew well enough Lin Shaozhen was deliberately making things difficult for them, and he had no intention of being polite in return.

Hearing this, Lin Shaozhen flew into a rage, slamming her hand on the table as she stood up. “So you’re He Haoxuan, Qingying’s live-in son-in-law? I heard you used to be a laborer somewhere out of town?”

“Ah, Shaozhen, you know I’m married?” Li Qingying cried out in surprise.

Lin Shaozhen secretly thought to herself: I've always kept tabs on you. With your family lacking a son, you had no choice but to bring in a husband to marry into your family. That husband is a good-for-nothing, working menial jobs in other cities, poor—otherwise, he wouldn’t have stooped so low as to marry into the Li family.

Rumor had it that just a few days ago, Li Qingying had been suspended from her position as general manager of the Baili Group, which made Lin Shaozhen all the more eager to return to Qingshan City and humiliate her.

“I heard it from others, Qingying. You really let me down. When I got married, I invited you to Lanmen City to celebrate, even treated our classmates to free food and drinks for two days. But when it was your turn, you didn’t invite us at all?” Lin Shaozhen jeered.

Li Qingying’s expression changed. At the time, she’d felt deeply ashamed to marry He Haoxuan—how could she possibly announce it openly?

But the more she tried to keep it a secret, the more everyone seemed to know. Many people considered it a joke, and word had spread through their circle: Li Qingying had a worthless, live-in husband, idle and shiftless, not even as good as a pig or a dog.

Seeing Li Qingying’s discomfort, He Haoxuan quickly said, “Well, we were traveling abroad at the time, met quite a few foreign tycoons—so we just didn’t have the time.”

Lin Shaozhen burst out laughing. “Qingying, your laborer husband is quite the braggart, isn’t he?”

Li Qingying, too, felt that He Haoxuan was fond of boasting—couldn’t he just say less?

Across the table, Liang Jie watched Li Qingying closely, his thoughts turning wicked. He hadn’t expected that his wife’s old classmate would grow so beautiful—he was positively jealous of that useless He Haoxuan. If only he could have a taste himself, he wouldn’t mind spending a little money.

With this in mind, Liang Jie said to Li Qingying, “Qingying, go ahead and order. Get whatever you like—don’t be shy. My family is very influential in Lanmen City, worth several hundred million.”

Lin Shaozhen looked at her husband gratefully. Not bad at all—he knew just how to show off at the right moment and further humiliate Li Qingying. The more impressive her own husband was, the more useless He Haoxuan seemed by comparison.

Glancing at He Haoxuan’s outfit, she guessed it couldn’t be worth more than a few hundred, just some domestic brand. And as this was a French restaurant, she’d purposely asked the waiter to bring menus written only in French, hoping to see Li Qingying and her husband at a loss.

Lin Shaozhen stood up and beckoned forward. A French waiter approached and asked what they would like to order in French.

Li Qingying frowned and asked, “Can’t you speak Chinese?”

Lin Shaozhen interjected, “Qingying, have you never been here before? The Sky Restaurant prides itself on its authentic French atmosphere—speaking French is part of the fun. Speaking Chinese here is so old-fashioned.” She turned to the others. “Can you read the menu? If not, we can help you order—we read French just fine.”

In truth, Lin Shaozhen had already asked the waiter about the dishes and knew exactly what to order. All she had to do was point, and the waiter would take care of it. But if Li Qingying couldn’t read the menu, she might end up ordering hot water as a dish, making herself the laughingstock.

Seeing Li Qingying’s embarrassment, He Haoxuan smiled and said, “Honey, let me handle this—it’s a small matter.”

He took the menu, glanced over it, then looked up at Lin Shaozhen. “Are you paying for this meal?”

“Of course,” Lin Shaozhen said haughtily, holding her head high. “As if I’d let some laborer foot the bill! He Haoxuan, even Qingying can’t read the menu—how could you? Give me the menu and let me order for you.”

She had it all planned out: she’d order cheap dishes for Li Qingying and her husband, while she and her husband enjoyed the finer fare—just a few thousand yuan’s worth.

He Haoxuan sneered, “Why wouldn’t I be able to read it? I’m just afraid if I order the expensive dishes, you’ll regret it.”

“Qingying, just look at your worthless husband. Can’t he stop boasting for once? I get goosebumps from all this nonsense. Pretending to know what he doesn’t—it’s shameless!” Lin Shaozhen snapped.

She’d meant to humiliate Li Qingying, but hadn’t expected He Haoxuan to be so thick-skinned—it was spoiling her plans.

Li Qingying also felt her husband exaggerated too much, but since Lin Shaozhen was openly trying to disgrace her, she knew He Haoxuan was just trying to save her face. She couldn’t blame him for that. Besides, he might not be capable, but at least he stood up for her whenever someone tried to bully her.

He Haoxuan asked, “Who’s boasting? Are you letting me order the expensive dishes or not? If you can’t afford it, just say so—I’ll order the cheap ones.”

Liang Jie was getting angry too. Especially since he hoped to win over Li Qingying as his mistress—how could he back down in front of her? “Order whatever you like. I’ll pay.”

“That’s right, my husband is so capable and wealthy—he wouldn’t care about the cost of a single meal,” Lin Shaozhen chimed in, nestling against Liang Jie, her face full of pride.

With Liang Jie’s promise, He Haoxuan had no intention of letting this opportunity slip by.

He waved the waiter over and pointed to several dishes and bottles of wine on the menu, placing his order. Having spent time in many countries, he was fluent in several languages—French was nothing to him.

The waiter hesitated, then asked in French, “Are you sure you want to order these dishes?” He even showed the written order to Liang Jie and Lin Shaozhen.

But neither of them understood a word of French—they were only here to put on airs and humiliate Li Qingying. When the waiter asked, they could only nod in agreement.

He Haoxuan deliberately said to them, “Why don’t you order something, too? Or don’t tell me you can’t read the menu?”

“Of course we can,” Lin Shaozhen said immediately, ordering the dishes she’d asked the waiter about earlier.

After jotting it all down, the waiter asked again in French, “These dishes are very expensive. Are you sure you’d like to proceed?”

Liang Jie and Lin Shaozhen exchanged helpless glances—they had no idea what the waiter was saying. But they were too embarrassed to ask him to speak Chinese; after all, they’d been the ones to insist on French in the first place.

He Haoxuan smiled at the waiter. “Oui,” he said in perfect French.

Seeing his fluent reply, the waiter offered no further comment, bowed, and took his leave.

“Hey, He Haoxuan, what did you just say to the waiter?” Lin Shaozhen asked, puzzled.

“I spoke to him in French. You didn’t understand?” He Haoxuan countered.

“Of course we did! We travel to France all the time. Unlike you two—you’ve never even set foot in France. And Qingying, you only got to be general manager of Baili Group for half a year before being dismissed. How pitiful.”