Chapter 41: Seizing the Initiative

Lunch was served at one o’clock in the afternoon.

Sun Xiaorui had been busy in the kitchen for over an hour to prepare a total of eight dishes.

She was from Anhui province, so the dishes she cooked belonged to the southern cuisine style, which wasn’t too different from Chen Feng’s taste.

Overall, her cooking skills were quite impressive, which came as a pleasant surprise to Chen Feng.

After all, in today’s society, there weren’t many young women who knew how to cook, and those with excellent culinary skills were even rarer.

A young woman who was both beautiful and a good cook could only be described as a rare treasure.

And just like that, Chen Feng had encountered one, and she had even come to him willingly.

Just for her cooking skills alone, Chen Feng suddenly felt that a salary of fifty thousand was a real bargain.

After lunch, the two of them sat together in the living room, watching TV and eating snacks, feeling very relaxed and at ease.

About an hour later, Sun Xiaorui mentioned that she needed to go to her company to formally resign and handle the handover procedures.

Chen Feng, of course, had no objection.

As soon as she left, Chen Feng also went out. He was going to buy a lottery ticket.

He did a quick search on his phone and soon found the nearest lottery station.

It wasn’t far, only two or three kilometers away. Chen Feng decided to walk, treating it as a stroll.

He arrived at the lottery station a little over ten minutes later.

There weren’t many people in the shop at the moment, only five or six. Chen Feng went straight to the counter and said to the owner, “One hundred Super Lotto tickets with a five-times multiplier, and another one hundred with the supplementary bet, also with a five-times multiplier. All machine-picked.”

“Alright. Just a moment.”

One thousand plus one thousand five hundred, a total of two thousand five hundred yuan. The lottery station owner wasn’t too surprised by this; it wasn’t uncommon for people to spend thousands or even tens of thousands on lottery tickets at once.

In total, it was only 40 lottery tickets, and they were printed out shortly after.

After a quick glance at the tickets to confirm the multiplier was correct, Chen Feng put them away and turned to leave. He was very neat and efficient, as if he had just bought a pack of cigarettes.

In fact, many people bought lottery tickets like they bought cigarettes. Some people even quit smoking specifically to save money for lottery tickets.

This was a very down-to-earth part of everyday life.

Of course, in recent years, many people said that buying lottery tickets was like paying an “idiot tax.”

There was some truth to this, and some not. The truth was that the prize drawings weren’t very transparent, especially with the winners’ faces being covered by all sorts of masks during prize collection.

The part that wasn’t true was that in real life, there were indeed a very small number of lucky winners.

As far as Chen Feng himself knew, someone from his hometown had won over seven million yuan a few years ago, which caused a huge sensation at the time. After the news leaked, the entire family moved away overnight.

This happened within his own social circle, so it couldn’t be fake.

However, one thing was certain: the odds of winning a grand prize were incredibly low.

If it weren’t for the fact that Chen Feng was now convinced his luck was off the charts and he didn’t mind spending the two thousand-plus yuan, he definitely wouldn’t have bought tickets like this.

Leaving the lottery station, Chen Feng slowly walked back.

After walking for a few minutes, a car suddenly stopped beside him.

A jolt went through Chen Feng. He quickly jumped back a few steps before looking over with a wary expression.

The window of the black sedan rolled down, revealing Wang Yue’e’s face.

“Can I talk to you?” Wang Yue’e said to Chen Feng with a complicated expression.

Seeing her, Chen Feng’s expression changed. However, seeing that there seemed to be only two people in the car, just Wang Yue’e and a driver, he felt slightly more at ease.

“What do you want from me?” Chen Feng asked, knowing full well what it was about. In fact, he didn’t want to talk to her at all. What was there to talk about?

Wang Yue’e, however, appeared to be in a good mood, patiently saying, “It’s about Xiaowen. I want to have an open and honest talk with you.”

Her approach could be considered starting with courtesy before resorting to force. Recalling the two men from last time, Chen Feng knew he couldn’t avoid this, so he said, “Alright. There’s a coffee shop over there. I’ll go first.”

There was a coffee shop just across the street.

Wang Yue’e glanced over and nodded, “Okay, let’s go there.”

After speaking, she decisively opened the car door and got out.

One after the other, they crossed the road and entered the medium-sized coffee shop. There were hardly any customers inside, making it a suitable place for their conversation.

They sat facing each other at a table by the window.

Chen Feng ordered an osmanthus oolong tea, and Wang Yue’e ordered a lemon tea.

“Xiaowen is very angry right now. She even wants to kill you, did you know that?”

As soon as the waitress left, Wang Yue’e suddenly dropped this bombshell.

Chen Feng, however, was not intimidated. He nodded and said, “I know. Although I don’t think I did anything wrong in this matter, I did hurt her in a way.”

Wang Yue’e frowned slightly. “Let’s not talk about that for now. I heard from her that you have photos of you two together. What do you plan to do with them?”

Chen Feng said casually, “I don’t plan to do anything with them. I can only say that as long as you don’t threaten me, these photos will never be leaked.”

Wang Yue’e’s expression turned cold, and her tone became serious. “I want you to completely destroy those photos and sign a non-disclosure agreement with us.”

Chen Feng couldn’t help but find it amusing. “On what grounds are you asking me to do that?”

Wang Yue’e said sternly, “On the grounds that I can have you thrown in prison.”

Chen Feng laughed and shook his head. “An attitude like yours isn’t suitable for negotiation.”

Wang Yue’e frowned. “I know you’re not short on money, but you should also be aware of Xiaowen’s family’s influence in Xiuzhou. For now, Xiaowen and I have kept this from her family. If her family finds out, I can assure you, things will get very, very ugly for you.”

Hearing this, Chen Feng’s heart tightened slightly. He had known that Zhang Jingwen had a background, but he had only thought she had a sponsor and that her agency was powerful.

Now, hearing what Wang Yue’e said, it seemed Zhang Jingwen’s own family was also very powerful.

So that was it!

However, Chen Feng definitely couldn’t compromise on this matter. Signing a non-disclosure agreement was one thing, but he was afraid of leaving leverage in their hands.

Right now, he was the one holding the leverage over them.

He couldn’t give up the initiative.

“I can promise you to destroy the photos. But I won’t sign any non-disclosure agreement with you. It’s not that meaningful to sign it anyway. If I really wanted to leak them, I would have done it sooner or later, don’t you think? But I can assure you, I will absolutely not leak them. I’m not that despicable.”

Wang Yue’e stared at Chen Feng without speaking.

After a moment, the waitress brought their two teas, placed them on the table, and left.

“I’ll give you one day to think about it. You must give me an answer by this time tomorrow. Otherwise, I regret to inform you that you will die a miserable death. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

After saying this in a harsh tone, Wang Yue’e stood up to leave.

But Chen Feng called out to her, “Wait. You haven’t even had your tea. Since you ordered it, you should at least have a sip.”

With a look of disgust, Wang Yue’e was about to speak when Chen Feng continued, “I gave a copy of the photos to a friend of mine. The reason is that I was afraid you might do something to me. If he can’t contact me, he will release the photos.”

Wang Yue’e’s expression froze. She sat back down and glared at Chen Feng. “What exactly do you want?”

Chen Feng shook his head. “I don’t want anything. I already told Jingwen that the photos are just for keepsakes. As long as I’m fine, they will definitely not be exposed. She has a great future ahead of her, after all.”

Wang Yue’e took a deep breath, picked up the lemon tea in front of her, took a few large gulps, and then slammed it down. She stared at Chen Feng and said, word by word, “I’m warning you, if those photos are leaked, there’s only one outcome for you, and that is death. Don’t think I’m just trying to scare you. Since you’re an obsessive fan of Xiaowen, you should know about her family’s background. I can only say that you are playing with fire.”

Chen Feng sighed helplessly. “I have no choice. It’s precisely because I know how powerful her family is that I’m protecting myself this way.”

Wang Yue’e gave Chen Feng a deep look, then abruptly stood up and walked away without another word.

This time, Chen Feng didn’t call her back. Watching her leave the coffee shop, a slight smile appeared on his lips.

In the end, he had managed to keep the initiative in his hands.

As for how powerful Zhang Jingwen’s family was, although he was a little wary, it didn’t matter that much. He just needed to live well for the time being.

As long as Zhang Jingwen’s side didn’t bother him, a few months should be enough. By then, his ashes might already be buried, so why would he be afraid of her family?

---

---

Another chapter is complete. Shall we proceed with the next one?

We could also take a moment to update our glossary with the new characters and locations mentioned. Or, if you’re interested, we could discuss the implications of this confrontation on Chen Feng’s future decisions. Let me know what you’d like to do.