"Clunk!!!"

   "Clunk!!!"

    ............

   "Clunk!!!"

   "Vrummmmm!!!"

    "Brother Wei, are you sure this car is allowed on public roads?", Liu Fengying asked loudly as Jiang Wei tried to maneuver the car back into traffic, the noises from the vehicle making a normal conversation impossible.

   "Of course. The person who sold it to me said the car passed its technical inspection two months ago with flying colors...", Jiang Wei reassured her, wrestling with the steering wheel as if driving a truck, as the car lacked power steering and was much harder to control.

   "Most likely in a place not marked on the map...", Liu Fengying added, doubting that the technical inspection was done by professionals.

   "Ha, ha! Sister Yingying, our country is very vast. It's only natural that not all places can be marked on the map, otherwise it would be too confusing. Besides..."

   "Clunk!!! Clunk!!! Whack!!"

   Unfortunately, Jiang Wei's new car was a very jealous type, and it didn't like the driver paying attention to others while driving, so it started making even louder noises to prevent him from speaking.

   "Ugh... We'll talk more in detail after we reach our destination. Today, your big brother will take you to the best restaurant..."

   ........................

   Fortunately, the restaurant Jiang Wei wanted to take Liu Fengying to was only 4-5 kilometers away, so they managed to reach their destination before the car started to fall apart.

   After they entered the restaurant and seated themselves at a table, Jiang Wei told Liu Fengying to order anything she wanted without any worry, assuring her that he would cover the bill. Therefore, Liu Fengying ordered three meals, which, although not among the most expensive, were very filling.

   Seeing how much food Liu Fengying ordered, Jiang Wei felt sorry for her, thinking that she must be very hungry because she didn't eat enough to save money. So, he swore in his mind to take Liu Fengying out to a restaurant at least once a week from then on.

   "Don't look at me like that... I'm not a stray dog. It's just that lately, I've been more hungry...", Liu Fengying said after she saw the pity for her in Jiang Wei's eyes.

   "No, no, you've got it wrong! I'm just emotional because I haven't seen you in a long time...", Jiang Wei averted his gaze as he didn't want to make Liu Fengying feel uncomfortable.

   Seeing her cousin's awkward attempts to protect her pride, Liu Fengying gave up trying to convince him that she had been doing well lately because she knew that no matter what she said, she wouldn't be able to make him believe it, so she decided to change the subject.

   "So, what's the reason you're driving that old car? Did you play truth or dare or something?"

   "No..., I bought it on my own initiative...", Jiang Wei replied, starting to lose his self-confidence after realizing that his cousin seemed to consider his gesture childish.

   "Oh, to each their own tastes...", Liu Fengying excused him, not the type to discriminate against someone for their preferences.

   "No, no... I don't drive this car because I like it, but just to protest...", Jiang Wei quickly said, not wanting his cousin to think he was weird. "I don't know if you remember, but when my older brother turned 20, he received a car worth 1 million ruans from my father, so I expected to receive the same. But it's been over two months since my birthday, and my father hasn't shown any signs of intending to buy me an expensive car... so I thought I'd show everyone how stingy he is by driving the cheapest car I could find..."

   Hearing Jiang Wei's explanations, Liu Fengying had to admit to herself that her cousin was not the type to shy away from trouble and that he was capable of losing 800 to ensure that his opponent would lose 1000.

   Even though Jiang Wei's plan seemed rather foolish at first glance, Liu Fengying couldn't deny that it was quite effective. She was pretty sure that once Jiang Wei's father found out that his son was driving a car that looked like it came from a junkyard, he would be furious because not only would he be embarrassed, but there was a good chance that the value of his company's stocks would suffer, as people would start to wonder if their businesses had suffered and they had run out of money.

   Liu Fengying was aware that the conflict between Jiang Wei and his father was not triggered by an expensive car, but because Jiang Wei wanted to help her in the fight for her mother's inheritance, which led to Jiang Wei's accounts being frozen by his parents, who didn't want to enter into conflict with her father to avoid jeopardizing the businesses they collaborated on, Jiang Wei's only income in the last year being the salary he earned working part-time in his family's company. Taking all this into consideration, Liu Fengying couldn't say she wasn't impressed by how far her cousin was willing to go for her, which made her see him in a favorable light even though most of his plans were childish and not very useful to her.

   "So, what's the reason you didn't go to school today? Are you all right? Knowing that you had to be at school at this time and with your change of look, I almost didn't recognize you...", Jiang Wei changed the subject, not wanting to give Liu Fengying a chance to start analyzing his plan.

   "Don't worry, Brother Wei. I'm perfectly healthy. Well. maybe I had a minor accident a week ago, but the reason I insisted on taking such a long medical leave is that I had some things to sort out..."

    Hearing that Liu Fengying had an accident, Jiang Wei started to examine her from all angles, but to his relief, he found no trace that she was injured.

   "Thank goodness you're okay, although I hope in the future you won't forget to contact me if you have an accident. I'll go through hell and high water to come and help you... Anyway, Sister Yingying, I'm glad I met you today because I wanted to talk about something. I found out that in two weeks, my sister will be returning from abroad to open a branch of her company in the country. I'm sure that if you contact her and tell her everything that's happened to you, she'll do everything in her power to help you fight against Liu Yichen..."

   Seeing Jiang Wei's enthusiasm, who had sworn many times in the past that he would stand by her in the fight against her father no matter what, Liu Fengying didn't really know how to break the news that she no longer intended to obtain the company founded by her mother.

   "...Brother Wei Wei, there's no need to burden Sister Lan with my problems. Anyway, I no longer intend to try to obtain the inheritance left by my mother...", Liu Fengying eventually said in a calm tone, hoping that Jiang Wei would be influenced by her attitude and not start to get agitated.

   Unfortunately, Jiang Wei wasn't the type of person to be easily influenced.

   "What? But why? What happened? Sister Yingying, did Liu Yichen find a way to blackmail you?", Jiang Wei started to shout, attracting the attention of everyone in the restaurant to them.

   "Calm down, Brother Wei. Nobody is blackmailing me..."

   Seeing that Liu Fengying really didn't seem affected by what she said, Jiang Wei started to become even more confused.

   "Then what happened? Don't tell me you want to make peace with him?", he asked again, this time in a calmer tone.

  "Don't worry, I don't intend to do that. I assure you that Liu Yichen will end up with nothing but his underpants. I'll make sure he loses everything! However, I won't achieve this by attempting to take over the company, but by driving him into bankruptcy...", Liu Fengying replied, her eyes reminding Jiang Wei of the tiger that used to scare him in childhood when visiting the zoo with his parents.

   "Sister Yingying, I assure you that I'll stand by whatever you plan to do... but I want to remind you that killing someone is punished with life imprisonment...", Jiang Wei blurted out, afraid that Liu Fengying might consider committing a crime if her plans didn't succeed to satisfy her thirst for revenge.

   "Well, only if there's evidence..."

   Hearing Liu Fengying's words, Jiang Wei could only try to convince himself that she was joking to protect his mental health.

   "Ha, ha, Sister Yingying! You always know how to tease me...", he began to laugh, but in his mind, he was already praying that his cousin wouldn't turn black in the future.

   For the rest of the time they waited for their ordered food, the two avoided talking about their problems, focusing their discussion on the latest events that happened to their mutual acquaintances and what was happening in the world.

   When the waiter brought the food and saw how full the table was, Jiang Wei couldn't imagine how Liu Fengying would manage to eat everything she had ordered and thought he would have to talk to the waiter to bring her some containers so she could take the leftovers. Well, what followed proved to Jiang Wei that he still hadn't seen enough in life, as his cousin transformed in front of him into a hungry shark seemingly capable of devouring even him after finishing all the food on the plates.

   'It's not even lunchtime yet, and she's already this hungry? Maybe she didn't eat anything in the morning... No, even if she hadn't eaten anything until now, it doesn't explain where all this food is going...', Jiang Wei thought, unable to find any explanation for what was unfolding before him.

   No matter how little he had seen of the world, even Jiang Wei knew that it wasn't wise to tell a girl she eats too much, so he pretended not to see anything and started to eat his own food without looking at Liu Fengying until he didn't hear any more utensil noises, a sign that she had finished eating.

   "So, how was the food? I guess you liked it...", Jiang Wei opened the discussion again, his words drawing a squinty look from Liu Fengying.

   "Oh, you mean I ate too much? Are you afraid I'll surpass 100 kilograms?"

   "How is that possible? To me, you've always been the most graceful... even more graceful than a swan, no, not a swan... a ballerina!", Jiang Wei immediately denied the accusations Liu Fengying made, cursing himself in his mind for not being able to choose his words better.

   "Haha, I was just teasing you... Anyway, it's true that lately I've been eating a bit more. Ever since I started exercising, my appetite has increased a lot...", Liu Fengying reassured him, finding Jiang Wei's awkward compliments very amusing.

   "Sister Yingying, I think if you don't make me stutter when you meet me, you can't sleep peacefully at night...", Jiang Wei complained, not understanding how his cousin, who used to be as quiet as an angel in childhood and used to hug him every time she saw him, had come to enjoy teasing him so much.

   Since Jiang Wei had to be at college by 12 o'clock, the two only had a few minutes left to chat after they finished eating, and then, after Jiang Wei paid the bill, they left the restaurant and headed towards where Jiang Wei had parked the car.

   "Sister Yingying, do you need me to take you somewhere?", Jiang Wei asked after spinning around the car twice to make sure it was intact.

   "No, thank you. This hill isn't big enough for two tigers..."

   "Ha, ha! You're right! Two tigers, indeed... Anyway, before you go, I want to give you something...", Jiang Wei said, taking a card out of his wallet and handing it to Liu Fengying. "Well, you know I'm not very good with gifts, so I've put 50,000 ruans in an account for you to buy whatever you want until next month when it's your birthday..."

   Liu Fengying was aware that the reason Jiang Wei decided to give her money as a gift wasn't because he was too lazy to buy her something, but because he knew she wanted to save enough money to be able to sue her father. Considering that he didn't have access to his parents' money, the fact that he managed to gather such a sum of money to offer her without expecting anything in return was clear proof that Jiang Wei really cared a lot about her.

   "Thank you, Brother Wei...", Liu Fengying said, then she gave him a hug, which moved Jiang Wei to tears.

   "...Alright, Yingying. I have to go. That old professor goes crazy when someone enters the classroom late...", Jiang Wei said after Liu Fengying retreated, quickly getting into the car so as not to give Liu Fengying a chance to start teasing him again.

   "Clunk!!!"
   "Clunk!!!"
   "Bang!!!"

   "Vrummmmm!!!"

   Watching the departing car, Liu Fengying had to admit that Jiang Wei's gesture really impressed her, realizing that she had never enjoyed such familial affection in both of her lives.

   'He is truly a good person. But in a world where kindness is seen as a weakness, he'll face many challenges in life. Well, then it will be my turn to stand by him...'

   With this thought in mind, Liu Fengying set off again towards the traditional medicine store, her good mood being in harmony with the weather of that day, where the sun managed to shine undisturbed even though it was surrounded on all sides by clouds.