Tea-flavored Romance

"Of course I can help you win, but is that satisfying? The best revenge is for you to defeat them with your own strength!"

"Here, I'll give you some starter capital. You can pay me back after you win... Good luck, I believe in you!"

Jiang Muyu was deeply moved upon hearing this. Looking at the extra balance in her phone wallet, her fighting spirit began to burn brightly again.

"Yes, brother-in-law, with those words from you, I acknowledge you from now on! Wait for me to win back! Wait for me!"

Master Ning: "..."

So you only approve of me if I pay you? Kids these days have such warped values!

"While it's crucial to seek revenge through your own strength, you can't fight against overwhelming odds. Muyu, you need to find a way to bring both sides' fighting power to the same level!"

"Brother-in-law, what you mean by that is..."

“Three people playing Dou Dizhu (a card game) makes it easy for your brother and his friends to get the upper hand, but four people playing mahjong makes it much easier to fight back,” Master Ning suggested. “Why don’t we invite your sister Manyue to play mahjong together?”

"Brother-in-law, you might be a genius! No wonder you managed to trick my brother into playing with poop!" Jiang Muyu exclaimed excitedly. "Wait for me to come back, wait for my triumphant return, brother-in-law!"

Ning Yuan: ? (Details omitted)

Although I'm not entirely sure whether Jiang Muyu's words are true or false, for the sake of my own plan, I'd better not worry about so many details...

And so, the shrewd and calculating Master Ning began his patient wait. But in the end, it wasn't Jiang Muyu who arrived, but rather that unlucky old man, Jiang Mufeng.

"Brother-in-law... Waaaaah... Sister Manyue has gone crazy... My brother Jiang Chaoyun and I have lost all our New Year's money... Waaaaah... I heard from Jiang Muyu that you can provide dream funding? Could you...?"

"Borrowing money, is that it? No problem, no problem. I love investing in the dreams of young people." Master Ning replied with a smile, "Is this much enough?"

"Enough, enough! Don't worry, brother-in-law, I'll definitely win this time!"

"Keep going, I'm waiting for the day you turn things around."

Around the time the two unlucky guys came to borrow their second round of angel investment, Jiang Xihua at the poker table noticed something was wrong. She frowned slightly and asked calmly, "Where did you two get so much money to lose?"

"Um... well... Jiang Chaoyun and I do have some savings..." Jiang Mufeng replied guiltily, "but after this round, we'll be almost broke..."

"Yes, yes... Haha... Sister Manyue is really amazing..."

"Where did you get your money?" Jiang Manyue repeated the question, her tone already sounding slightly impatient to Jiang Mufeng and Jiang Chaoyun.

“It was Jiang Muyu who borrowed it first!” Jiang Mufeng immediately turned into a tainted witness and testified.

"You bastard, I only borrowed it once, unlike you two who borrowed it two or three times... and I can pay it back, but you two can't pay it back at all, you just want to freeload off Brother Xiao Ning."

"I didn't! I just paid off my debts in other ways!"

"Freeloading is freeloading, and you're talking about it so confidently! I despise you! You two are clearly treating Brother Ning like a sucker! You've even deceived his feelings!"

These words seemed to chill the room's heating system. Jiang Mufeng looked at his sister in alarm, then turned his gaze to a certain calm and collected demon king:

"Sister Manyue, please don't be angry...we were wrong..."

"Yes, we were wrong." This time, even Jiang Muyu, sensing the situation was turning against her, lowered her head. Jiang Manyue remained silent for a moment, then continued drawing and playing cards as if nothing had happened.

"It's nothing, you guys just borrowed money from him, what does it have to do with me? Why would I be angry... Dongfeng..."

"..."

A moment later, a calm, devilish whisper and several heart-wrenching wails echoed from the upstairs room:

"All the same color, double the high gate, one draw, five... Check out."

Jiang Mufeng: "???"

Jiang Muyu: "???"

Jiang Chaoyun: "???"

Some women outwardly claim that it has nothing to do with them being scammed or taken advantage of, but then secretly help their younger cousins ​​quit their mahjong addiction...

"Sister Manyue, please shake my hand, I really can't afford to lose that much money..."

“You’ve won all my living expenses for the second half of the year… I was wrong, I was really wrong. I shouldn’t have asked Brother Xiaoning for money in the first place… I’ll go apologize to him right now.”

"Waaaaah... I'm never playing mahjong again..."

A while later, Master Ning, who had been waiting anxiously, suddenly received a transfer record from Miss Manyue. Upon seeing the amount, he was shocked to find that it was the Dream Fund he had previously lent to those kids.

Don't try anything funny.

After leaving behind this warning message, Jiang Xihua blocked Ning Yuan again, sending him back to the dark room. He only came out briefly before falling back into darkness.

Master Ning: Damn it! This money offensive didn't work on him. I thought I could at least use this opportunity to get back the money and get myself out of the dark room! Who knew Miss Manyue would be so unethical, blocking me after transferring the money!

We need to think of another way!

Chapter 343: Epilogue (Part 1): Frost and snow cover my hair, and I've reached the point of white hair.

With this in mind, Master Ning scurried through a small gate separating the backyards of the Jiang and Gu families and entered the Jiang family's backyard once more. He easily made his way to the second floor, only to find three dejected men, their eyes brimming with tears, listlessly tidying up the mahjong tiles on the table. Upon seeing Master Ning, they trembled in fear and quickly declared that they had no money left.

Ning Yuan waved his hand to indicate that he wasn't there to ask for money. He glanced around, seemingly not noticing Manyue's figure, then lowered his voice and asked Jiang Mufeng and the other two:

"Where is your sister Manyue?"

"Go back to your room... What do you want to do?"

"I have something to discuss with your sister Manyue. You all need to go somewhere else for a while," Master Ning said mysteriously. "Here are the red envelopes for you... After you've divided them, don't go around here for a while... Understand?"

Jiang Mufeng and Jiang Chaoyun nodded vigorously, accepted the hefty bribe, and turned to leave. Only Jiang Muyu, the little girl who rarely betrayed Miss Manyue, remained hesitant and conflicted. However, thinking of her empty wallet, she quickly convinced herself, grabbed the red envelope, and said tragically:

"Brother-in-law, this is my first time... please don't let me down..."

"..."

Little girl, are you implying that the FBI is going to break down my door?

Master Ning, looking exasperated, quickly dismissed the few onlookers, cleared his throat, and knocked on Miss Manyue's door:

"Full Moon, I need to talk to you."

"It's late, let's talk about it tomorrow."

"This is serious business!" Master Ning said solemnly, "Did you just give me money?"

"..."

Ning Yuan couldn't see the girl's expression through the door, but from the brief silence in the room, he could deduce that Miss Manyue was probably considering opening the door.

As Master Ning had predicted, the door opened the next second, and Jiang Manyue, dressed in home clothes, appeared before Ning Yuan. Her soft, girlish demeanor slightly softened her sharp edge as the Tea Emperor, and her red lips and bare face looked exceptionally alluring under the warm light.

Looking at such an alluring face, Master Ning recalled the scene of him and Jiang Manyue embracing and kissing deeply on New Year's Eve. However, the joy in Jiang Xihua's eyes was not there at the time; instead, there was a slightly cold anger.

What are you trying to say?

Seeing that the young lady had finally decided to open the door, Master Ning quickly braced himself against the doorframe to prevent Jiang Xihua from slamming the door shut and leaving at the slightest provocation: "Of course I'm here to settle accounts with you... Look, you told me not to lend them money, and then you even returned all the money I gave you... But you only returned the principal, what about the interest?"

"You borrowed the money for no more than two hours. What kind of loan shark calculates interest by the second?"

"Of course, it's my Dream Fund here," Master Ning said with a smile. "A business has to make a profit, right? Otherwise, why would I be a sucker?"

"Go find them yourself."

“They have no money,” Master Ning said bluntly. “You have money, and I only want your money.”

"How much interest?" Jiang Xihua asked expressionlessly.

"Three dollars and twenty-one cents... Bank transfer only, cash not accepted."

The girl glanced at him, took out her phone to transfer money to him, but the transfer slipped as soon as she stepped out of the dark room. She pretended to throw the scumbag back into darkness, but Master Ning grabbed her wrist with lightning speed:

"There's still interest!"

"How much is left?"

"It's not much, just chat with me for a while and we'll settle the bill," Ning Yuan said. "You stepped on me during the New Year's Eve dinner today, didn't you?"

"The space was too cramped, I couldn't see clearly."

"..."

Look at what you're saying... Do you think I could have accidentally stepped on something so badly that it almost ruined my foot?

"Look, you've admitted you stepped on my foot. It's hard to say whether there will be any aftereffects... To make sure I won't have any dangerous periods in the future... you have to let me be able to contact you anytime to claim compensation."

What do you want?

"Can you unblock me on all my social media platforms?" Master Ning said shamelessly, "I don't think that's an unreasonable request..."

"No way."

"Okay, okay! Then at least one phone number will do... I promise I'll only call you when I need to, and I'll never send you random text messages!"

Jiang Manyue hesitated slightly, seemingly feeling that such tight security, leaving no loopholes, would be detrimental to her reclaiming the throne of the Heavenly Emperor. So she acquiesced. Master Ning, seeing the remarkable results, excitedly added, "Well… you see, although the phone number has been unblocked… what if my wound reopens at night and I don't have time to call you? Wouldn't that be troublesome? How about I stay at the Jiang family's house tonight? I think your bed is quite large…"

"hehe."

Jiang Manyue sneered twice, silently clenching her fists. Seeing that Emperor Jiang was taking an attack stance, Master Ning quickly muttered, "It's not that I can't sleep in your bed, but I can sleep on the sofa, okay?"

"No."

"A rare moment of reunion... Manyue, can you bear to leave me without being able to have a proper talk with you?" Master Ning took a step closer to the girl, gazing down at Manyue's beautiful face so close to his own, his eyes filled with an indescribable longing.

"Full Moon... We haven't had a calm conversation in a very long time... I know I was wrong, but could you please give me a little chance?"

"Life is too short. I want to spend more time with you doing things we've never experienced before, instead of being separated by distance and longing for each other, unable to let go even when we're old."

"But you still haven't changed your mind, have you?" Jiang Manyue asked softly after a moment of silence. "I also have no intention of changing my mind, and it may never change in this lifetime."

"But……"

"Go back, it's late, you should go back home." Jiang Manyue interrupted Ning Yuan, her eyes full of complicated emotions. She didn't even have time to hear Ning Yuan's reply before issuing the order to leave, as if she was afraid that Ning Yuan would see her struggle and strangeness.

She pretended to be indifferent to Ning Yuan, but this was also a kind of trouble for her. She wanted to completely let go and forget everything that had happened in the past, but when she heard Grandpa Gu tell her to be with Gu Guanxue, she couldn't help but step on his foot.

She clearly had no grounds or reason to be angry; this behavior was even completely contradictory to her attitude. Yet, she did it anyway.

For no reason, yet she felt inexplicably angry. She was annoyed by the way Ning Yuan and Gu Guanxue interacted, just like the resentment she felt when Gu Guanxue took away her favorite toy in the past. Admittedly, Ning Yuan did an impeccable job of restoring her beloved grandfather Gu's health through some unknown means, but she still seemed very unhappy.

She didn't discuss it with him beforehand, and she didn't come to him immediately after finishing... These all seem like reasons for her to be angry, but none of them seem to be.

All of this can ultimately be summarized in one sentence: she voluntarily gave up her status as a girlfriend, but didn't completely lose her mindset as one.

Jiang Manyue had never seen herself so contradictory before. Later, her conversation with Grandpa Gu at his bedside helped her sort out her thoughts a little: I'm not wrong, it's him who should be the one to change!

But before that... you still have to be angry, and you still have to vent your emotions.