Chapter 19: In the Rain

I'm singing in the rain, just singing in the rain~

What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again~

The rain kept falling; Li Cheng pushed his bike without an umbrella, softly humming a song from the old movie "Singing in the Rain," his already waterlogged, partially delaminated shoes scuffing against the bricks.

He had originally invited only Han Letian and Mu Yulu to the hotpot restaurant for his birthday; since neither could come, there was no point in going anymore.

But was this day really that bad?

Someone had sung him a birthday song, he’d eaten birthday cake, and he still had some money in his pocket to buy slightly more expensive snacks—like premium chocolate.

Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re gonna get. Li Cheng was still easy to please.

Vroom—

The roar of an engine drew nearer; a bright red four-door sports car sped into the street, its loud, blaring noise drawing glances from passersby.

The young driver sported striking gradient green short hair, wore a Moncler silver-reflective jacket, his left hand out the window, lazily tapping the door with a platinum-ringed palm, city lights streaming through his Ray-Ban sunglasses.

The Ferrari Roma four-door coupe, with a 3.6-liter twin-turbo V8 engine, length 5056mm, width 1974mm, 0–100 km/h in 3.5 seconds—like a leopard pacing through the jungle.

Each time the young driver tapped the accelerator, making the sports car roar, the two boys in the back would cheer excitedly; Luo Zhengxin, sitting in the front passenger seat with a bandage on his nose, would also smile.

“This car isn’t the best, but I bought it because the four-door version is longer and more elegant than the two-door. By the way, Zhengxin, you’ll turn eighteen next year, right?”

The green-haired young man—Luo Zhengxin’s cousin Lu Zhicong—enjoyed the admiring glances, smiling lightly: “When you do, come to my place and pick out a car from the garage—I’ll give it to you.”

“Whoa—”

The two followers in the back simultaneously exclaimed in envy—they were wealthy second-generation kids too, but nowhere near Luo Zhengxin’s level, let alone Lu Zhicong, whose every gesture radiated aristocratic poise.

This Roma four-door sports car alone cost over 2.3 million yuan, not counting optional upgrades.

The followers were still minors; even if they turned eighteen, their parents might not spend that much on such an expensive “toy.”

“Thank you, cousin.”

Luo Zhengxin grinned happily, the irritation from his sudden stomachache at the mall earlier fading.

He looked out the window and saw Li Cheng’s figure by the roadside, pausing in surprise.

“Your friend?” Lu Zhicong noticed his cousin’s expression and asked casually.

“Uh…” Luo Zhengxin hesitated, but the two followers in the back, sensing the tension, answered smoothly: “Classmate from the basketball court—had a little conflict.”

They wouldn’t be so stupid as to expose how Luo Zhengxin had been humiliated and knocked bloody in the nose by a basketball.

But Lu Zhicong, raised in privilege since childhood, read their expressions easily—he guessed his cousin had lost face on the court.

He immediately sneered, slowly steering the sports car to the roadside, aligning it beside Li Cheng.

“Hey, buddy.”

He rolled down the window and whistled at Li Cheng: “Your shoes are coming apart.”

Li Cheng turned his head at the whistle, saw the four in the car, and understood.

Trying to win back face off the court? How childish.

“Thanks for the heads-up.”

Having seen a broader world and finding this amusing, Li Cheng smirked, parked his bike by the roadside, walked casually into a sports store, and bought a pair of affordable athletic shoes.

The rain still fell, so he didn’t change shoes right away; instead, he wrapped the shoebox in a plastic bag and kept pushing his bike slowly.

Such calm, unhurried behavior made the four in the sports car pause.

The two followers couldn’t resist jeering at Li Cheng, while Lu Zhicong’s smile vanished, his lips curling downward.

As a scion of a wealthy family, he firmly believed the fruits of generations of his ancestors’ hard work could never—and should never—be surpassed by so-called “common elites” in a single generation.

Lu Zhicong despised those self-proclaimed geniuses who claimed superior intellect and looked down on men like him.

Why?

Why?!

My car costs what your family’s house does! My watch is worth what you’d earn in a lifetime of toil!

Fuck, acting all high and mighty? Putting on airs?

Lu Zhicong lightly pressed the accelerator, pulled alongside Li Cheng, and shouted: “Hey, buddy, want a ride?”

Seeing no response, Lu Zhicong shouted again: “Your bike won’t make it home in this rain, right? Why not call your parents to pick you up?”

Li Cheng turned his head slightly, gazing at the man with calm indifference—as if looking at an insect.

Before Lu Zhicong could react, the follower in the back couldn’t hold back, instinctively leaning out the window: “You little—”

Vroom!

The deep, rumbling engine roar made him flinch back instinctively.

All four in the car, along with passersby on the sidewalk, turned toward the sound.

It was a car that had elegance carved into its bones—pitch black, length 5316mm, width 1978mm, 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 engine. Its silver winged emblem glistened in the rain.

A Bentley, limited edition—roughly a million yuan more expensive than the Roma.

The car glided past the sports car with calm poise, slowed, and stopped beside Li Cheng.

Thud.

The driver’s door softly popped open; out stepped a female butler in a tailored suit, her hair tied in a neat ponytail, as if stepped from a manga. She opened an umbrella, walked to Li Cheng’s side, took the plastic bag holding the affordable shoes from his hand, and smiled warmly: “Young master, please get in the car.”

Inside the sports car, the followers couldn’t believe their eyes; Luo Zhengxin gaped; Lu Zhicong’s half-raised smile froze.

The butler opened the rear door; the rich scent of leather upholstery mixed with warm air conditioning, dispelling the chill of the rainy day.

Shao Wangshu, dressed in a white dress, reclined on the tilted seat, hidden from the sports car behind; her smile was bright and innocent as she silently gave Li Cheng a “V” sign.

Li Cheng couldn’t help smiling, stepped into the car, and sat beside Shao Wangshu.

Thud.

The butler gently closed the door, one hand holding the umbrella, the other folding the muddy bike and placing it, along with the affordable shoes, into the spotless trunk.

Tap tap tap.

She stepped over puddles on the sidewalk, not glancing once at the sports car behind, and returned gracefully to the driver’s seat, started the engine, and merged into traffic.

(End of chapter)