Forced Me to Regress, Huh? - Chapter 6: Narrow Thinking

“A few hundred? Who are you looking down on? Start at ten thousand for me,” Cheng Zhu said with a grin, casually dropping a warning.

Jiang Wanzhou didn’t take it seriously, thinking he was just joking around. He continued to struggle to maneuver the Mercedes-Benz G-Class with his small arms.

It was only then that Cheng Zhu noticed the watch on Jiang Wanzhou’s wrist.

A Vacheron Constantin.

Had it been the old Cheng Zhu, who hadn’t seen much of the world, he wouldn’t have known the value of this watch and would have thought that it was damn ugly, not even comparable to his digital watch.

You are a mere country bumpkin who stole your dad’s watch.

Whereas I am a trendsetter, leading the fashion scene at school.

In reality, this watch was a gift from Jiang Wanzhou’s mother for his 18th birthday. As for his father, he had given him a Porsche 911, but Jiang Wanzhou didn’t like driving it, feeling that it didn’t match his domineering CEO demeanor and made him look more like a rich kid.

Later, when Cheng Zhu made it big, the first luxury watch he bought for himself happened to be a Vacheron Constantin. He liked the name of the series and the unique shade of blue on its dial. This series was called Overseas.

The bar that Jiang Wanzhou’s cousin owned was called Hidden.

His cousin believed that opening a bar in such a prime location but with a name like Hidden had a certain cool factor.

After parking the car, Jiang Wanzhou brought Cheng Zhu inside with familiarity and took a seat at the bar counter.

During the World Cup, business at bars was undeniably booming.

Moreover, it was now July 13th, and the finals of the 2014 World Cup were at 3 a.m. on July 14th.

As a result, Hidden was already full of patrons.

Cheng Zhu listened to the conversations around him. Most of them were about soccer.

Of course, quite a few were complaining about how much money they had lost betting on the World Cup this year.

After the two of them sat down, a female bartender approached and greeted Jiang Wanzhou. “Hello, Little CEO Jiang.”

She wore a fitted bartender uniform that accentuated the height of a certain part.

Cheng Zhu glanced at her and quickly surmised that this bartender was likely the bar’s main attraction.

She clearly knew Jiang Wanzhou, the boss’s cousin, and initiated a friendly chat with him. At the same time, she didn’t neglect Cheng Zhu either and even introduced herself to him, saying that her name was Yezi.

When Yezi was chatting with customers, she liked to lean forward slightly over the bar, with her upper body resting casually.

Women who worked in the nightlife scene knew exactly how to project charm.

Cheng Zhu knew that many bartenders earned commissions, and they liked to engage with customers.

Of course, if some customers were rich enough, well, in addition to engaging with customers, they could also… engage with each other.

Jiang Wanzhou had thought Cheng Zhu might be a little out of place since it was his first visit to a bar.

But unexpectedly, he seemed like a fish in water. With just some small talk and a few jokes, he had Yezi laughing uncontrollably, and her uniform buttons were in imminent danger.

Since it was Jiang Wanzhou’s treat today, Cheng Zhu didn’t even bother to look at the drink menu. Instead, he pointed at the row of Hibiki 21 Year Old placed in the most conspicuous position of the back bar and jokingly asked if they could open a bottle.

The bottle looked ordinary, but the price was anything but.

Jiang Wanzhou couldn’t tell if Cheng Zhu actually knew the whiskey’s value or if he was just pointing randomly.

Just as he was about to agree, Cheng Zhu picked up the drink menu and ordered a cocktail with a flashy name, not mentioning the whiskey again.

“I just said it casually. Even if you really want to open a bottle, at least wait for me to get a job here so I can earn a commission,” Cheng Zhu said with a cheeky smile.

Jiang Wanzhou rolled his eyes at him and said in annoyance, “Dream on. I’d just return it with a bottle from my home’s wine cabinet tomorrow. Don’t even think about making money off this.”

Cheng Zhu gave him a thumbs up. “Impressive! Really impressive! How can you say such cold words with that warm and friendly face?”

Yezi watched from the side and felt that they were flirting. She realized she was beginning to develop a bit of a shipper’s mentality and even found herself wanting to root for them.

The boss’s cousin is pretty, and his friend has a charming bad-boy vibe. They really look like a good match, Yezi thought.

Campus rich kid and school bully, ahhhh! she screamed in her mind.

Cheng Zhu had no idea what Sister Yezi was thinking. If he knew, he would probably do everything he could to take her down. Then it would turn into a scene of:

“This is what you get for looking at people with fujoshi (women who like boys’ love) eyes! This is what you get for looking at people with fujoshi! This is what you get for looking at people with fujoshi eyes! Hmm?”

The cocktails were quickly mixed, and Yezi slid the drinks, which cost only a few yuan but sold for dozens, towards the two of them.

Then she glanced at the entrance and smiled. “Little CEO Jiang, your cousins are here.”

Cheng Zhu didn’t think much of it at first, but when he noticed Yezi used the ‘cousins’, he paused slightly.

The college he later attended was Zhejiang Sci-Tech University in Hangzhou. Jiang Wanzhou’s female cousin was Cheng Zhu’s senior, a year older than him and very famous on campus. She was considered a goddess in the hearts of countless people and an absolute wealthy beauty.

When Jiang Wanzhou came to see him at the university, he had also invited his cousin to join them for dinner.

He didn’t know if Jiang Wanzhou was serious or just joking, but he had mentioned privately that his cousin had never been in a relationship. He had even asked Cheng Zhu if he wanted to pursue her.

But Cheng Zhu thought about the social class she belonged to. Just a single piece of clothing could cost more than several months of his living expenses. He simply couldn’t afford to pursue her.

Looking back now, he felt he had been too hasty.

How ridiculous. Only those without money expected you to support them. Those with money were the ones doing the supporting. Think about this issue carefully. Why bother with machismo here?

As the saying goes: When you meet a good person, start a family first; when you meet a noble person, build a career first.

—In other words, when you meet a rich woman, establish both a family and a career.

Damn, wasn’t my thinking too narrow? Cheng Zhu mused to himself.

At that time, he had only said, “What’s the matter? You want to call me brother-in-law?”

He felt that was an immature thought.

As for now, he often had some… overly mature thoughts.

Of course, Cheng Zhu knew that during college in his past life, with his slightly charming bad-boy looks and a body comparable to that of an athlete, he could easily attract ordinary pretty girls. However, with Jiang Wanzhou’s cousin’s status, the chances were still slim.

At this moment, Cheng Zhu turned to look at the bar’s entrance and found many male customers uniformly looking at the door.

Some of them were familiar with the bar’s owner, Shen Minglang. However, others were drawn to the woman beside him.

Her name was Shen Qingning, standing at least 1.68 meters tall. She wore a black knee-length dress, revealing a pair of smooth and well-proportioned calves.

The neckline of her dress was adorned with a small circle of tiny pearls, but the whiteness of the pearls paled in comparison to her alluring fair skin.

She was the typical cold beauty. Under the bar’s lightly, she looked even more delicate and tender.

Most importantly, her demeanor exuded a cold and aloof elegance, giving off an aura that suggested she was not easily approachable.

Cheng Zhu noticed a detail.

While many beautiful girls would act oblivious or avoid eye contact when being looked at by men, Shen Qingning was different.

She scanned the bar with a sweeping gaze.

As this cold and aloof beauty looked around, several men who had been admiring her quickly looked away.

Her aura is so strong. She’s as cool as ever. Cheng Zhu sighed inwardly.

In his mind, women like her not only turned the heads of men but also women.

In fact, Shen Qingning was very popular among girls at Sci-Tech University—ah! Sister, you’re killing me!

As for Shen Minglang, his appearance was… omitted.

Shen Minglang and Shen Qingning walked over to Jiang Wanzhou and greeted him. “Hey, isn’t this Little CEO Jiang?”

“Get lost! You’re annoying!” Jiang Wanzhou rolled his eyes at him.

When his friends called him Little CEO Jiang, he felt pleased. But when his cousin called him this, it was irritating.

But it was clear that their family had a good relationship.

In Cheng Zhu’s family, the connections among relatives were quite ordinary.

His family had a typical class-divided dynamic.

Relationships were not based on seniority but rather on economic status and social standing.

Moreover, the more ordinary or even struggling a family was, the more likely it was to behave this way.

Shen Minglang glanced at Cheng Zhu and asked Jiang Wanzhou, “Is this the good friend you mentioned to me?”

After Jiang Wanzhou nodded, Shen Minglang raised his left hand, revealing his watch, a Patek Philippe Nautilus, known as the ‘Steel King’. He shook hands with Cheng Zhu and said flamboyantly, “Shen Minglang, Jiang Wanzhou’s most revered cousin.”

When he said this, he seemed to have completely forgotten that Jiang Wanzhou had told him to get lost just moments ago.

“You’re his good friend, so just call me Cousin.”

“Sure, Cousin. I’m Cheng Zhu,” Cheng Zhu introduced himself casually.

“Okay, Cousin.” Shen Minglang said, not bothering to remember Cheng Zhu’s name.

After all, in a social gathering like this, a title was enough since they might not interact again after tonight.

Still, Shen Minglang was quite warm and hospitable. Smiling, he said, “High school graduates know how to smoke, right? Yezi, cut me two cigars.”

The bar had cigars for sale, and some customers specially ordered them.

However, some people smoked out of habit, while others felt that smoking a cigar made them look cool.

As soon as Shen Minglang finished speaking, Shen Qingning’s gaze fixated on his face.

She clearly didn’t say a word, but as her brother, Shen Minglang coughed lightly and immediately changed the topic. He said, “Yezi, send the cigars to table A03. They’re my friends there, ahem.”

Only after Shen Minglang felt the gaze on his face move away did he grin cheekily and pat Cheng Zhu on the shoulder. “Haha. Did you really think I was going to treat you to a cigar? Cousin, you shouldn’t smoke at your age, understand?”

“Got it,” Cheng Zhu replied with a smile, playing along with his act.

As Cheng Zhu felt Shen Minglang’s hand on his shoulder, he turned his head to deliberately get a closer look at the watch on Shen Minglang’s wrist.

He suddenly recalled that luxury watches were still relatively affordable these days. Unlike later, when popular models from brands like Patek Philippe and Rolex would be generally priced above their retail value, with some even fetching multiple times the price on the secondary market!

This was one way to make money.

Why did some wealthy people keep getting richer?

Take Shen Minglang for example. He bought a watch to show off, but after a few years, he would realize, “Hey! If I sell it now, I’ll actually make a profit!”

“What’s up?” Shen Minglang raised his wrist. “Checking the time?”

“No. It’s cool,” Cheng Zhu complimented the watch directly.

Shen Minglang’s face instantly lit up.

It was strange. Because the compliment came from a freshly graduated high school student, it felt especially sincere.

When people in his circle praised it, Shen Minglang would feel that they were acknowledging the watch’s price. But when a high school student praised it, it was as if he was acknowledging his taste and style!

Jiang Wanzhou, watching from the side, was shocked. Why do I feel that he’s easily manipulating my cousin?

Shen Minglang, feeling that his taste had been affirmed by the student, smiled and waved his hand. “Don’t sit at the bar. Come with me to A01. That’s the spot I reserved for myself. Yezi, his drinks are my treat today.”

Then he pointed at Jiang Wanzhou. “You can pay for your own.”

Jiang Wanzhou rolled his eyes.

Just like that, the four of them went to A01 and sat down.

Jiang Wanzhou and Shen Minglang sat on either side of Cheng Zhu.

Directly across from him sat Shen Qingning, his future cold and aloof senior sister.

Under the dim lighting of the bar, he had to admit that this future senior sister was indeed a campus goddess, affirming her beauty.

Jiang Wanzhou seems to have mentioned she’s quite talented, proficient in piano and ballet.

Being a goddess was one thing, and having long legs was another. But on top of this, she was a long-legged goddess who could do a full split.

Yet she carried such a cold and aloof expression.

This only improved his mood tonight. Who would like having a bunch of unattractive girls sitting at their table?

Mom and Dad have always wanted me to become an outstanding person. Clearly, I’ve already achieved four-fifths and become a perverted person.

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The text has 很出色的人 and 很色的人, which is [very] outstanding person and [very] perverted person. Four-fifths is having four out of the five same characters.