Chapter 79: The National Male God’s Promise

Chapter 79: Chapter 79: The National Male God’s Promise

Gu Nuan Nuan remembered being floored by Yue Bin’s unusual hobby. She had heard of people collecting antiques, stamps, jewelry, or what have you, but she had never heard of anyone collecting chocolate. ’What’s so great about collecting chocolate anyway?’ So, she had paid special attention to what happened next.

After that episode aired, the heartthrob’s fans went wild. Many of them scrambled to mail him chocolate. Those with the means made special trips to buy some from all over the world, while those without bought them domestically. For a time, chocolate sales skyrocketed nationwide. Many quick-witted distributors even started a trend of proxy purchasing chocolate...

Of course, besides the fans who bought chocolate to send to the heartthrob, there were no shortage of others who took the opposite approach. They boldly declared that they weren’t afraid of ruining their figures for him and were willing to help him get rid of that roomful of chocolate.

Unfortunately, the heartthrob’s agent immediately came forward and announced that his chocolate was already spoken for.

It was said that because of a childhood promise, the heartthrob was very possessive of his room of chocolate. Even though he didn’t eat much of it himself, he wouldn’t allow anyone other than a "certain person" to touch it—not even his own nephews and nieces. Then, a short video, supposedly secretly recorded, was released online. The video showed a small corner of the display shelf in the heartthrob’s chocolate room. It was a fairy-tale castle constructed entirely from chocolate, complete with various figures and animals also made of chocolate...

Everyone who saw the video was amazed. ’Is that still chocolate? It’s practically a work of art, okay?’ Countless fans drooled as they cried out, "Don’t let it go to waste! Let us help you get rid of it..."

Soon after, another piece of news came out: The heartthrob, of course, wasn’t a wasteful person. To prevent the chocolate from expiring and going to waste, he had a new batch brought in every so often. Since many of the replaced chocolates were custom-made and one-of-a-kind, it wasn’t appropriate for them to circulate. So, the heartthrob had them directly handed over to professionals to be melted down, reshaped, and then anonymously delivered to children in various orphanages.

Gu Nuan Nuan still remembered how speechless she was after reading that news back then.

’Isn’t that just having more money than sense?’

But now, her perspective had changed a little. She felt that if the lovers in question finally got their happy ending, then all those actions could be considered incredibly romantic.

Resting her chin in her hand, she smiled as she replayed the day’s events in her mind. Details she had originally overlooked were now magnified one by one... ’It seemed like Yue Bin’s gaze held dissatisfaction and jealousy when he looked at me... What do I have that’s worth his jealousy? Unless it’s because...’ She was taken aback by her own speculation. ’No way, right? Could it be that the future heartthrob is actually a precocious child who already knows how to use his favorite chocolate to win a girl’s heart?’

Then she remembered the phrase, ’because of a childhood promise...’

"AH—"

Gu Nuan Nuan let out another cry of surprise. Today—today, she seemed to have witnessed with her own eyes and heard with her own ears the promise that the precocious heartthrob, Yue Bin, made to that "certain person"—

"You keep jumping at every little thing. What on earth is going on?" This time, Zhang Minzhen wasn’t going to let Gu Nuan Nuan off the hook so easily.

"It’s really nothing... Ha, actually, I overheard a boy confessing to his crush while giving her snacks. But the girl listened for a long time and didn’t get it at all; she was completely focused on the food he brought her." Gu Nuan Nuan tried to bluff her way through, but then she suddenly changed her mind.

"You were eavesdropping again." Zhang Minzhen chuckled. "How can there be a girl that obsessed with food? But don’t you go accepting things from boys, you hear me? Accepting gifts puts you in their debt. If a boy uses it as an opportunity to take advantage of you, you won’t even have a place to cry. It’s very important for a girl to protect herself."

Zhang Minzhen then added thoughtfully, "Do you know that girl? If you do, it would be best to give her a little warning."

"Mhm, don’t worry. But if that boy wanted to fool around, a lot of girls would probably go crazy with joy. You have no idea, he’s devastatingly handsome..." Gu Nuan Nuan said with a hint of regret. "But even if he wanted to, he won’t have the chance. He’s transferring soon."

"What is all this nonsense? Are all kids like this nowadays? Isn’t this a bit too early for puppy love?" Zhang Minzhen was bewildered. ’I need to keep a closer eye on my daughter from now on,’ she secretly decided, ’so she doesn’t follow a bad example and start dating too early.’

"Mom, you can’t call that puppy love. At most, it’s just a vague crush." Gu Nuan Nuan stuck out her tongue, feeling a little awkward discussing the topic with her mother.

Zhang Wei Qiang almost laughed listening to them, but he held it in and said with mock seriousness, "Whether it’s puppy love or a vague crush, don’t you get into that kind of stuff with your male classmates."

"Those little brats? I can’t be bothered with them," Gu Nuan Nuan said, rolling her eyes.

"Listen to you, as if you aren’t a little brat yourself." Gu Nuan Nuan’s tone made both Zhang Wei Qiang and Zhang Minzhen roar with laughter.

Gu Nuan Nuan paused for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh as well.

After the laughter died down, Zhang Wei Qiang began to ask Zhang Minzhen, "Did Gu Jinhua give you any more trouble today?"

"Nope. With you and Mom as my super-strong main fighting force, how would she dare?" Zhang Minzhen said proudly. "It just goes to show, people take advantage of the kind. After you and Mom put your foot down yesterday, when she saw me today, all she did was roll her eyes at me. She really looked like she couldn’t do a thing to me."

"She still dared to roll her eyes?" Zhang Wei Qiang was still a little dissatisfied.

"When she rolled her eyes, I just glared right back. You guys were so brave, how could I fall behind?"

"Well done, that’s how it should be." Zhang Wei Qiang laughed heartily.

"Mom, you were amazing! Keep it up in the future," Gu Nuan Nuan said, very pleased with Zhang Minzhen’s change. She didn’t forget to keep cheering her on.

"That’s right."

"Mhm, I won’t be so foolish anymore. From now on, I’ll treat people the way they treat me." Zhang Minzhen nodded repeatedly, smiling as she replied, even though the two people in front of her couldn’t see.

Yesterday, she had brought home meat buns, fish, and other meat, and as a result, the attitudes of her two older brothers and sisters-in-law, as well as her nieces and nephews, had clearly changed. This change left her with mixed feelings. She admitted she felt a bit uncomfortable about it, but she didn’t entirely blame them. In fact, it had moved her somewhat.

’Human relationships are fickle; isn’t it the same everywhere? Even I can’t completely escape convention. Don’t I also have my own way of measuring how close I am to people? So there’s no need to be too calculative with others, no need to expect too much, and certainly no need to be too disappointed. Anyway, the important thing in life is to be at ease with yourself and, as much as possible, let others be at ease too. When it comes to getting along with people, it all boils down to the simple rule of treating others as they treat you...’

Once Zhang Minzhen figured this out, her mindset shifted, and the knot in her heart naturally loosened. Although the news of her divorce was spreading like wildfire among the people at the co-op, and everyone was giving her strange looks due to Gu Jinhua and He Xiulin’s previous intentional misdirection, something had changed. Perhaps because the scene of Zhang Wei Qiang teaching Gu Lihuang a lesson at the co-op entrance had been too impressive, people only dared to gossip behind her back. No one dared to approach her with sarcastic remarks or misleading comments.

Being the subject of gossip was always uncomfortable.

Fortunately, Zhang Minzhen was a very resilient person. After a brief period of discomfort, she realized that no matter how upset she was, she couldn’t stop people from whispering. Gradually, she stopped caring so much about their gossip. ’As long as no one criticizes me directly to my face,’ she thought, ’I’ll just pretend it’s not happening.’