A life of financial freedom

Far away in New York, Chu Fang received a call from his father.

He thought for a moment and replied, "Donate it."

He had left that high school after graduation, and since Chu's father still worked there, he should contribute.

Chu Fang couldn't be solely righteous in poverty or benevolent to all in success; he could only compromise, offering a helping hand to those around him in need.

That was all.

"How much to donate?" Chu's father asked.

"Is thirty million enough?" Chu Fang hesitated.

"Enough, more than enough."

"Then that's settled."

After the father and son finished talking, Chu's mother snatched the phone: "When are you two coming back home?"

"Uh... in two or three days," Chu Fang said uncertainly.

"Oh~~~" Chu's mother sounded a bit disappointed. "You must come back home soon; it's chaotic outside."

Chu Fang comforted his mother and then ended the call.

He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, overlooking the city below. The prosperity of New York was on full display, even more so under the night sky.

Chu Fang watched for a while, then turned around and lay directly on Zhong Tingyue's soft legs.

At that moment, Zhong Tingyue was video-chatting with friends in the domestic design circle, sharing their thoughts on the competition entries.

Zhong Tingyue's beautiful eyebrows furrowed slightly as she saw her husband's restless hands. She slapped them away, but he didn't stop.

"Mr. Chu."

"You continue your video chat; don't mind me."

Zhong Tingyue muted the video call, her eyes fixed on Chu Fang.

"Mr. Chu, I'm getting angry."

"But what if I just want to bother you?"

"Then I'll be angry."

"Ugh..." He wriggled around like a maggot. "Ms. Zhong, please forgive me. I feel deeply sorry and ashamed for my behavior. But if I don't bother you, I feel uncomfortable. Between you being uncomfortable and me being uncomfortable, I made the choice that's most beneficial to you, after all, you once said that seeing me uncomfortable makes you feel even worse than if you were uncomfortable yourself."

"Silver-tongued!" Zhong Tingyue rolled her eyes, displaying her annoyance. "I forgive you."

"Then can you forgive me one more time?"

"What do you mean?"

Chu Fang stood up, put one foot on Zhong Tingyue's shoulder, and said in a deep voice, "Kneel!"

Zhong Tingyue was video-chatting with her friends. Although she had muted the audio, the video was still on. Everyone on the call saw Chu Fang's 'mighty and domineering' act.

Everyone laughed.

The corners of Zhong Tingyue's mouth twitched.

Sometimes she really wanted to call the police.

After a bloody battle in the room, Chu Fang finally lowered his head and apologized.

"I was wrong."

This wasn't because Chu Fang was afraid of Zhong Tingyue and chickened out, but because when a man lowers his head, a woman will also lower her head, just in different ways.

One is words, the other is actions.

Late at night, Chu Fang held Zhong Tingyue in his arms and softly asked, "Ms. Zhong, are you confident in winning an award?"

"What do you think, Mr. Chu?"

Chu Fang put his right hand where it should be and said earnestly and seriously, "Whether you're confident or not, I don't know, but I have a place to hold."

"Get lost!"

She kicked Chu Fang in the face.

... ...

After three days of artwork exhibition, it was finally the awards ceremony.

Before the awards ceremony, Chu Fang took Zhong Tingyue to a clothing store in New York to pick out beautiful clothes.

"Am I ugly?"

"No, you're not ugly," Chu Fang shook his head. "Tonight is the awards ceremony, and if you win an award, you'll be the center of attention, so of course, you have to dress beautifully, generously, and appropriately. More importantly, you'll become a star in the interior design world."

"Ah, I don't think it's important."

Chu Fang said with a serious face, "It's not important to you, but it is... important to me!"

Is there a difference between the ordinary Zhong Tingyue and the star Zhong Tingyue?

Yes, there is!

Soon, Zhong Tingyue walked out of the dressing room, wearing a moon-white Chinese-style knotted shirt on her upper body, paired with a smoky gray knee-length pleated skirt, which covered her knees perfectly, revealing only slender calf lines, shimmering softly under the light.

Her face was bare, with only her engagement ring on her finger, but every move exuded subtle elegance.

Chu Fang's eyes widened.

Wang Dachui was even a little embarrassed and said, "Ms. Zhong, I want to..."

"No!" Chu Fang's face was serious as he pulled Zhong Tingyue behind him, preventing his Ms. Zhong from being impacted by decadent culture. "She's mine."

Wang Dachui muttered, "You're stingy. I'm also a woman, and from the perspective of you men, I'm quite pretty, so why not?"

Although Wang Dachui's name was quite rustic, she was indeed good-looking according to male aesthetic standards, with blonde hair, blue eyes, and long legs, and her figure was even better, with balanced proportions.

"Did I say I was a man?" Chu Fang retorted. "How dare you judge my gender? Do you believe I'll sue you for discrimination?"

The United States is indeed a place of outstanding people. After being here for two or three days, Chu Fang had already learned 'magical counterattacks'.

Just do it.

After choosing the clothes, night had already fallen, and then the four of them headed to the awards hotel.

Arriving here, many designers had already arrived.

"Teacher Zhong, you're here." As soon as they arrived, a middle-aged man and woman walked over.

"Teacher Chi, Teacher Wu," Zhong Tingyue nodded with a smile.

The International Design Awards invited one hundred designers, and naturally, Zhong Tingyue wasn't the only Chinese participant. These two were other Chinese designers who had been invited.

"Teacher Chu, you really like Teacher Zhong, following her every step of the way," Teacher Chi said.

"Not really," Chu Fang replied.

"I really envy you two," Teacher Wu also said.

They not only envied their love but also envied Chu Fang's assets.

Only with money could he accompany Zhong Tingyue all the way to New York, stay in a luxury hotel in New York, and afford two bodyguards...

Thinking of this, Teacher Wu felt heartache.

On his first day here, he was very curious about everything around him and took a photo with a local foreigner. The foreigner was very enthusiastic and invited him to dinner, then took him to a deep alley and robbed him.

He even wanted to go through the 'back door'. Fortunately, there were kind people, otherwise, his innocence would have been gone...

After exchanging pleasantries, Teacher Chi and Teacher Wu left to greet other designers.

"Why do you designers like to call others 'teacher' so much?" Chu Fang asked.

"It's a form of respect."

"It's a bad habit."

"Teacher Chu is right."

Chu Fang: "..."

Before the awards ceremony began, there was a short meal time. The designers who arrived held wine glasses and gathered in groups of three or five with their colleagues, chatting and laughing from time to time.

It was like the gatherings of the upper class depicted in TV dramas.

Chu Fang and Zhong Tingyue couldn't participate and could only sit on the edge, watching these people chat.

"Hypocritical!" Chu Fang judged.

"Mr. Chu is much more hypocritical when he's socializing."

When it came to socializing, her Mr. Chu was the expert, turning black into white and playing people around.

"You're scolding me."

"I'm sorry."

"I forgive you."

The two sat and chatted.

Chu Fang asked, "Ms. Zhong, do you think you can win an award?"

Zhong Tingyue pursed her lips and shook her head: "No."

In this circle, she was just an unknown person, and she was so young, with no qualifications or outstanding works. Being invited this time was already a great fortune, let alone expecting to win an award.

She didn't even think about winning an award this time; she was just participating.

Chu Fang stroked his chin: "I think you can win an award."

"Are you kidding?"

"I'm serious."

"Mr. Chu, don't comfort me."

"I'm not," Chu Fang said. "Don't believe me? How about we make a bet?"

Zhong Tingyue became interested: "What do we bet?"

"Whoever loses owes the other a favor."

"Deal!"

Zhong Tingyue would naturally not refuse such a one-hundred-percent bet.

"Excuse me, both of you..." They were betting when a voice came from behind. Looking back, an old white man with a head full of silver hair had excited eyes and spoke broken Chinese, "I want to participate too."