Chapter 143: You’ve Got Some Nerve

On the way back that afternoon, Zhang Yang drove while listening to his cousin’s excited chatter through the phone’s speaker.

“Bro, sister-in-law is so good to me. Guess what she bought for me today?”

“What did she buy?” Zhang Yang asked with a smile.

“She gave me a Gucci dress-more than thirty thousand! She even wanted to give me a watch too, but of course I couldn’t accept that…” Song Yumeng said with a laugh over the phone.

“Bro, with such a good sister-in-law, I feel more and more that you really have to hold on to her. Don’t mess this up.”

“You were bought over that quickly?” Zhang Yang found it rather amusing.

“Yes! Especially since her younger sister-the one called Bei Jiajia-was tagging along, and she didn’t get a single thing either, yet she didn’t complain at all. That’s really strange.” As she spoke, Song Yumeng couldn’t help muttering.

Zhang Yang blinked but didn’t answer.

How could Bei Jiajia have any objections? Considering how much money he had spent on her before, how much he had invested in that cheap little sister-in-law.

Of course, the money spent on Bei Jiajia could also be considered an investment. He wasn’t some philanthropist with money to burn-there was no way he would just spend endlessly without getting something in return.

“By the way, bro, it’s fine that I accepted the gift, right? If it’s inconvenient for me to take it, you see…” After saying so much, Song Yumeng asked a little uneasily.

“Just accept it without worry,” Zhang Yang replied with a smile.

“Oh right, we’re going out for dinner tonight. Are you coming?” his cousin asked again.

Hearing the noisy laughter in the background of the call, Zhang Yang felt that he’d better not interrupt his cousin and her constantly mentioned “sister-in-law.”

“You girls go ahead. Have fun,” Zhang Yang said casually.

He pulled the car over to the roadside. Originally, he planned to go straight home, but unexpectedly he saw a post on Le Yue’s social media.

The post showed Le Man standing in front of a fitting mirror in a dress, her slender back looking elegant.

Caption: Wishing my beautiful sister a happy birthday-may every year be like today, forever eighteen.

“So it’s her birthday and she didn’t even tell me. Even if it’s just a small birthday.” Zhang Yang checked Le Man’s social media, which showed no sign of it at all. He hadn’t expected to discover it through Le Yue’s post instead.

If he hadn’t seen it, that would be one thing. But now that he had, there was no way he could pretend not to notice.

Without hesitation, Zhang Yang called to order a Black Swan cake. Then he turned the car around, stopped by Bvlgari, and casually bought a Bvlgari DIVAS’ DREAM necklace for less than a hundred thousand.

A gift wasn’t about the price-it was about the thought.

Besides, a birthday gift under a hundred thousand for a small celebration was still quite presentable.

By evening, the cake-priced at four nines-arrived. It was a lime cheese white-grape wine caviar flavored cake delivered by the Black Swan courier.

Zhang Yang got into his car and headed straight for the apartment where Le Man was currently staying.

Evening fell.

Lights were on in Le Man’s home, and a cake had already been placed on the table.

“Sis, it’s your birthday. Why didn’t you tell Zhang Yang?” Le Yue asked curiously while inserting candles into the cake.

“It’s just a small birthday. There’s no need to mention it.” Le Man smiled lightly.

“Nonsense. You clearly care about it.” Le Yue suddenly hugged her sister’s arm. “Look, we were planning to go out for dinner, but after you saw my post, you suddenly decided to stay home. Want to know what I think?”

Hearing this, Le Man’s face turned slightly red.

“You were hoping Zhang Yang would see my post and suddenly appear in front of you. Right?” Le Yue analyzed everything clearly.

“Sis, am I right?”

Le Yue looked at her with a meaningful smile.

“You’re just guessing nonsense.” Le Man snorted softly and lightly hit her sister.

Le Yue had helped cook a few dishes for dinner, and they also ordered several dishes by phone. Soon night fell completely outside.

The two sisters sat there looking at each other.

“Sis, I’m getting hungry. I think the chance that Zhang Yang saw it and came over is pretty small. Why don’t we just eat?” Le Yue said while pressing her stomach and looking at Le Man.

Le Man had been distracted while waiting.

Hearing Le Yue’s words, she snapped back to her senses.

“Let’s… wait a little longer,” she said, slightly flustered.

Le Yue sighed but didn’t say anything.

Time passed minute by minute. Le Man kept checking the time and glancing toward the door.

There was no movement at all.

A trace of disappointment flashed in her eyes.

“Forget it. Maybe we should just-”

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

In an instant, Le Man’s eyes lit up with joy.

“I’ll get it,” Le Yue said with a smile, noticing the change in her sister’s expression, and walked toward the door.

Moments later, at the entrance.

“Zhang Yang! It really is you. My sister was just talking about you.” Le Yue beamed when she saw the tall figure outside. “Come in, come in.”

Without hesitation, she pulled him inside.

“You haven’t eaten yet?” Zhang Yang walked in with both hands full and immediately saw the unopened birthday cake and a table full of untouched dishes.

“We were just about to-” Le Man began, standing up from the table.

“Ah, sis.” Le Yue interrupted directly. “Zhang Yang, my sister was actually waiting for you the whole time-”

“Le Yue, just stop talking…” Le Man’s face flushed red.

Zhang Yang walked forward with a smile and lifted the items in his hands.

“Looks like I came at the perfect time. Le Man, happy birthday.”

“Black Swan cake!” Le Yue spotted the cake immediately, her eyes lighting up.

She quickly took it and placed it on the table.

“This one is called Made for Each Other, right? It’s almost ten thousand! Zhang Yang, you’re really generous.”

She even took out her phone to photograph the cake.

“You’ve spent too much,” Le Man said softly, her eyes full of warmth.

“Oh right, I also picked this for you.” Zhang Yang looked at the gentle woman in front of him and took out the Bvlgari necklace he had bought. “Not sure if you’ll like it.”

Le Man froze, staring blankly as Zhang Yang revealed the gift.

The 18K rose gold necklace sparkled brilliantly. The pear-shaped red tourmaline and small diamonds complemented each other beautifully.

In short-it sparkled.

“This…”

Before Le Man could speak, Le Yue let out a scream.

“Bvlgari! Zhang Yang, you even bought my sister Bvlgari? You treat her so well!”

Zhang Yang casually pulled Le Man closer and placed the necklace around her smooth white neck.

Her neck truly resembled that of a swan-slender and graceful. With the nearly hundred-thousand-yuan necklace on it, her elegance seemed to rise to another level.

“Looks good,” Zhang Yang said after adjusting it and examining it carefully.

“Really?” Le Man asked with a faint blush.

“Don’t believe me? Come see for yourself.” Zhang Yang laughed and led her to the mirror. “Tell me if it looks good.”

The reflection showed elegance and natural grace combined. Beautiful-there was no other word for it.

Le Man gazed at her reflection in the mirror for a moment before suddenly turning to look at Zhang Yang.

“Why are you looking at me instead of yourself?” Zhang Yang asked with a laugh.

“I have a gift for you,” Le Man said with a smile.

“I get a gift too?” Zhang Yang was slightly surprised. “What is it?”

“It’s a birthday kiss, idiot.” Le Man teased softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on tiptoe. “Close your eyes.”

Zhang Yang instinctively closed his eyes and immediately felt a soft, sweet warmth against his lips.

Not far away, Le Yue watched with envy.

“So you’re showing off affection right in front of me.”

She glanced at the empty jewelry box and shopping bag on the table and casually looked through them. A receipt slipped out onto the table.

She picked it up and looked.

“Almost a hundred thousand?” she gasped.

Zhang Yang had spent nearly a hundred thousand on her sister’s birthday gift?

That sincerity was really something. And her sister had been worried earlier that he wouldn’t even come.

“Right, how could I not show this off?”

She took a photo and considered sending it directly to Song Yumeng, but then decided against it.

Instead, she posted it publicly.

After all-joy shared is joy multiplied.

As for whether others might get jealous after seeing it, that wasn’t her concern.

She pressed send.

At a restaurant near the Bund, three girls sat together, the atmosphere lively.

“Sister-in-law, this meal is definitely on me. No one is allowed to fight me for the bill.” Song Yumeng patted her chest proudly, her youthful boldness on full display.

“Alright, alright. You can treat us then.” Bei Wei smiled and nodded.

“Then I’m ordering something expensive.” Bei Jiajia joked from the side.

“Go ahead. Even if I can’t pay, I still have my brother. There’s no way we can’t afford it,” Song Yumeng declared confidently.

“Alright, so you’re bringing up your brother now?” Bei Jiajia laughed. “Then I really can’t bring myself to fleece you.”

Girls always have many shared interests, and the most common one is shopping.

After spending the whole day shopping together, although the three girls differed by a few years in age, they had already become very close, calling each other sisters.

After placing their order, they chatted and joked with each other, and the atmosphere was especially lively.

“Sister-in-law, if I have time next time, I’d like to go to Rongcheng too,” Song Yumeng said, holding Bei Wei’s arm, her eyes full of longing.

“Of course, you’re welcome anytime,” Bei Wei replied with a smile as she looked at the young cousin.

Song Yumeng felt delighted. She took out her phone and the three of them took a group photo together.

If I post this photo, someone in the family will definitely ask questions. I’ll keep them guessing-I won’t tell them this is my future sister-in-law, she thought to herself, and casually posted it.

After posting on social media, of course she was hoping for likes and comments.

So as soon as the post went up, Song Yumeng immediately started refreshing it.

Then…

The first like came from her aunt, Song Wenqin.

Aunt: Playing in Shanghai? Did you meet up with your cousin?

Song Yumeng felt pleased, thinking, Aunt, you probably don’t even know who’s in this photo.

She quickly sent her aunt a private message.

“Aunt, guess who’s in this photo?”

“I know. Xiao Bei, right?” Song Wenqin replied without hesitation.

Song Yumeng blinked. “So my aunt already knows about this? How boring. I was planning to keep it a mystery.”

She was just about to put her phone away when she suddenly saw that Le Yue had liked her post.

Immediately, she felt a little guilty.

Le Yue was still happily dreaming about having a handsome brother-in-law, yet here she was secretly having dinner with the real sister-in-law-and at the same table was even a younger sister-in-law.

Should I tell Le Yue the truth? At least that way she won’t get her hopes up for nothing.

Thinking about this, she suddenly paused when she saw a post Le Yue had made a few minutes earlier.

A surprise that comes late is always the biggest one.

The photo showed an exquisite Black Swan cake, a Bvlgari shopping bag, and two figures embracing in the distance.

As she looked at it, Song Yumeng was completely stunned.

Was this really happening?

Her cousin hadn’t come to dinner tonight-he had actually appeared at Le Yue’s sister’s place to celebrate her birthday? He even gave her a gift?

And she had just felt guilty a moment ago.

“What’s wrong?” Bei Wei noticed Song Yumeng’s strange expression and leaned closer with concern.

Song Yumeng snapped back to her senses and hurriedly placed her phone face-down on the table.

“Nothing, nothing. Oh, sister-in-law, the food’s here-let’s eat.”

Bei Wei felt a little puzzled but didn’t think too much about it.

Soon the three of them began eating dinner. Only Song Yumeng seemed somewhat distracted.

Late at night, Le Man’s birthday celebration ended very late.

“Well… I’ll go stay somewhere else tonight,” Le Yue said very knowingly.

Zhang Yang and Le Man exchanged a glance.

“Forget it. Your sister might… not be very convenient tonight,” Zhang Yang said with a meaningful tone while holding Le Man gently.

“What are you talking about?” Le Man scolded softly. Then she noticed her younger sister’s strange expression and immediately turned around and walked straight into her room.

In the blink of an eye, only Zhang Yang and Le Yue were left in the living room.

“It’s getting late. I’ll head off. Go check on your sister,” Zhang Yang said to Le Yue.

“Alright, Zhang Yang, I’ll walk you out,” Le Yue replied.

Outside the apartment, Le Yue accompanied Zhang Yang to the door.

“Oh right, Zhang Yang, today I saw Yumeng having dinner with a few girls. Does she have friends in Shanghai?” Le Yue asked curiously.

“Ah? Oh, yes, she has some friends,” Zhang Yang blinked and nodded.

“No wonder. Her friends are all really pretty,” Le Yue said with admiration. “Then drive carefully on your way back.”

“Alright. Go back inside,” Zhang Yang waved and got into his car.

Once inside the car, he casually opened WeChat.

The first thing he saw was a message from his cousin.

“Bro, you really… have some nerve. You actually went to celebrate Sister Le Man’s birthday tonight? And you even gave her a gift. Now I know why you didn’t come to dinner.”

Zhang Yang looked at the message and could practically feel his cousin’s shock through the screen.