CH 7

Of course Liu Weizhi knew who Luo Wencheng was. A little over three years ago, a big drama involving a real and a fake prince of the Luo family, the richest family in Haining, had shocked the whole city.

The story goes that the mistress of Luo Kaifang happened to go to the countryside to visit relatives when she was pregnant. Somehow, the labour started early and she gave birth to a child in a small hospital halfway through the journey. It might have been too busy at that time, and the child was stolen by human traffickers as soon as he was born..

The mistress had not become the wife yet, and losing her son meant that her dream to become a wealthy man’s wife was shattered. So not only did she not dare to reveal what happened, she also asked her confidants to urgently search for a newborn child. At that time, there were many newborns in the hospital, so they created chaos and stole the child of a migrant couple.

The job of making the plum tree wither in place of the peach tree (substitute one thing for another) was done well. The migrant couple had no roots in the local area. They thought their child was stolen by human traffickers. They didn’t suspect anything else at all, and the stolen child was brought back to the Luo family. His identity was never doubted, and the mistress also used this child to become the real Mrs. Luo.

This child was Luo Wencheng. He grew up in the Luo family until he was seventeen. During this time the former mistress died prematurely, leaving only the nanny to know the truth. The nanny then fell ill and before she died, she ran to the Luo family to tell them the truth so that she would not have to suffer the torment of her conscience anymore.

The news caused an uproar in the Luo family. Luo Kaifang started looking for his biological son everywhere. It took more than half a year to finally find him. The real prince was picked up and returned home. The fake prince was naturally in an awkward position. There were rumours that Luo Wencheng fell out of favour and took it very badly; in the end, he drove his car drunk and tried to kill Luo Wenjun. Unexpectedly, Luo Wenjun remained unscathed, but Luo Wenjun’s adoptive sister had her leg broken.

Luo Wencheng was underage at the time, and it was an internal dispute of the Luo family. It was not impossible to exempt him from punishment as long as appropriate activities were carried out. However, Luo Kaifang felt sorry for his son who had suffered for seventeen or eighteen years outside. It also happened to be a time of strict political scrutiny, and the head of the Luo family wanted the honour of being a model civilised businessman, so he placed righteousness before family and personally sent the fake son he had raised for eighteen years to prison.

Although Liu Weizhi had not long been in Haining for long, he had inquired about all the big and small events here.

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A few days ago Luo Wencheng was released from prison and seemed to have gone to the Luo family to make a scene. Liu Weizhi looked at the young man in front of him. Luo Wencheng was quite different from what he had imagined.

He smiled at Luo Wencheng and said, “So you’re Luo Ershao, one of the Four Young Masters of Haining, how nice to meet you.”

Luo Wencheng’s face flushed and he said with a bitter smile, “There is no such thing as Luo Ershao. I came here to apply for a job because I saw that you were recruiting.”

A trace of surprise and doubt flashed in Zhao Jianping’s eyes, and he said in disbelief: “Are you here to find work? You don’t know how to bartend, what are you going to do in the bar? Come on, follow me, you have your brothers, do you need to be shy?”

Luo Wencheng didn’t let him pull him away, “I can’t rely on you, I’m a big man and I have to support myself.” He said to Liu Weizhi, “Manager, I see that the job ads say that one must be over 1.75 and have good looks. I meet these requirements. Do you think you can give me an interview opportunity?” He smiled bitterly again, “Of course, if you don’t accept people who have been in prison…”

He had looked for a number of jobs in the past few days, but either they disliked his low education and lack of experience, or they saw that he had been in prison and rejected him without another word. With an ugly and useless resume, Luo Wencheng found himself struggling as he tried to enter the society. If it wasn’t for that, he wouldn’t have found this bar.

Liu Weizhi smiled and said, “What a coincidence, our bar wants to recruit a group of waiters to have a new look. It doesn’t matter what they did before, but the work of the waiters is not as simple as serving dishes. They have to be smart and quick, able to handle guests, and able to take a lot of flak. Can you?”

Overjoyed, Luo Wencheng said hurriedly, “Yes, yes, I will work hard!”

Zhao Jianping was even more surprised. Was this really the Luo Wencheng he knew? Had he suffered too much in prison? He was like a new person; never mind his old snooty arrogance, now he looked like he would jump up, wag his tail and call anyone his master if he was given a bone.

Zhao Jianping was amazed and a little disdainful, but more than that, he was happy that the young prince of the Luo family who had been so conceited before had finally become so humble and cowardly.

With this in mind, he didn’t think there was anything abnormal about Luo Wencheng; instead he felt that this was how Luo Wencheng should be without his status.

Zhao Jianping pretended to persuade him a few more times, but Luo Wencheng insisted on fending for himself, so Zhao Jianping asked Liu Weizhi to take good care of his brother and made an appointment to come back to see Luo Wencheng later.

Luo Wencheng watched Zhao Jianping’s back as he walked out of the bar. His smile gradually faded and his gaze became quiet and still.

If he hadn’t lived a lifetime, he would have been fooled by Zhao Jianping.

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Back then, when he was Luo Ershao, his old man was the richest man in Haining, his elder brother was a young talent, and they both spoiled him so much that in the city Luo Wencheng was the boss of the rich second and third generations and the leader of the playboy group. Everyone who met him had to call him “Ershao” obediently. Naturally, there were many people who tried to get close to him, to please him and to be his sidekicks. Zhao Jianping was one of them.

However, Zhao Jianping was lucky; the Zhao family and the Luo family were relatively close and the two of them practically grew up together. At that time, Luo Wencheng could be said to have no subtlety at all. Whoever treated him well, he treated them well in return. As for Zhao Jianping, he really treated him as a brother.

Even if Zhang Dong and Wei Xingheng were later added to form the so-called “Four Young Masters of Haining”, in Luo Wencheng’s eyes, no one was comparable to Zhao Jianping.

But in Zhao Jianping’s eyes, he was the eldest son of the Zhao family, the future heir, while Luo Wencheng was just a young master raised by the Luo family, a straw bag (a good-for-nothing). But because the Zhao family was not as powerful as the Luo family and Luo Wenhao didn’t pay him any attention, he could only try to please Luo Wencheng, hoping to get on Luo Wenhao’s boat.

Who could know the resentment in Zhao Jianping’s heart?

In his previous life, Luo Wencheng was thrown under the flyover by Luo Wenjun and went to Zhao Jianping for help when he was cornered. Zhao Jianping enthusiastically took him in, and also brought Zhang Dong and Wei Xingheng to give him advice. They said that they only recognised Luo Wencheng as their brother in their hearts. They said that Luo Wenjun grew up in a slum and the lowliness in his bones couldn’t be washed away. They said that few people in their circle looked up to Luo Wenjun.

They also said that Luo Wencheng had been the part of their circle for so many years, his connections were excellent, and if he reconnected, he would still be the same Luo Ershao as he had been before, and Luo Wenjun would be nothing in front of him.

Luo Wencheng was also foolish enough to be persuaded and listen to them, and went to work as a waiter in the small bar they opened in partnership.

The bar was also on the same street and there were usually a bunch of second-generation idlers who spent their time there. Zhao Jianping and the others tricked Luo Wencheng into apologising to his former “friends” and bowing his knee because it was “a means of regaining their friendship and approval”.

When Luo Wencheng was a teenager, he used to rely on the Luo family as his backing. He made fun of and offended ninety out of a hundred people he knew. They all came back to see him making a laughing stock out of himself  and settle scores with him. And even those who hadn’t crossed paths with him before, once Zhao Jianping and the others announced his origin, all wanted a taste of what it would be like to be served by the former head of “Four Young Masters of Haining”.

Luo Wencheng had money thrown in his face every day and dragged to accompany the customers to drink. And he had to drink as much as people wanted him to, and to endure as long as people wanted to humiliate him. He himself was not a good drinker and had a big reaction to alcohol. It was almost unbearable in just half a month. When he realised that Zhao Jianping had been lying to him from start to finish, he wanted to escape…

“Luo Wencheng?”

When Luo Wencheng came back to his senses, Liu Weizhi smiled at him and said, “Since Zhao Jianping entrusted me to look after you, let’s skip the interview. Let the head waiter train you later, can you start work today? There’s a one-month trial period though.”

“Thank you, Manager, I’ll do a good job.” Luo Wencheng said hurriedly. He had some mixed feelings about Liu Weizhi. No one knew that this chubby and kind-looking man was actually one of Lu Jiuye’s people, and “Golden Glory” was actually the property of Lu Jiuye. It was here that Luo Wenjun had hugged Lu Jiuye’s tight.

And that was why Luo Wencheng came here.