My Co-renting Lady Boss
Chapter 360 - 0360: Old Master Zhou is Critically Ill

Chapter 360: Chapter 0360: Old Master Zhou is Critically Ill

"First in the school year?"

Chen Cang and the two girls exclaimed in shock, hurriedly looking up at the very top of the score sheet.

Tang Ming’s name indeed appeared at the number one spot, with a total score of seven hundred forty, more than fifty points ahead of Xia Wei’er, who was in second place.

"Damn."

Everyone was stunned, and then they stared at Tang Ming as if they had seen a ghost.

"This, this must be fake, right?" Chen Cang was the first to react, saying with a pale face:

"The total score is only seven hundred five, how could he possibly get seven hundred forty? It must be fake."

"Fake your grandpa." Tang Ming slapped Chen Cang hard, saying unhappily:

"My math and English are definitely perfect scores. As for the ten points I’ve lost, it must be because someone deliberately deducted points from my Chinese composition and comprehensive papers."

"Wow, Tang Ming is actually so awesome at studying huh."

Li Xiaoli exclaimed, her eyes shining as she stared at Tang Ming.

"It’s unscientific, way too unscientific. He sleeps all day; how could he score so high? Could it be that he already knew the test questions beforehand?"

Liu Mengting scrutinized Tang Ming incredulously, and Chen Cang also wore a face full of doubt.

How could Tang Ming, in his state, achieve such high scores? What about the students who study so hard – how could they bear this?

"Hahaha, poor fly! So by that logic, since Tang Ming’s score is so much higher than yours, you’ve lost, eh? Go ahead and bark like a dog."

Li Xiaoli immediately picked up the DV, shouting excitedly.

"My, my date with Mengting..."

Chen Cang howled in despair, and then he began barking, sounding pitiful. Being embarrassed was a minor issue; missing a chance to date Liu Mengting was enough to make him wish for death.

Fortunately, Chen Cang had already completely adjusted his attitude by now. No matter how ridiculous he looked in front of Tang Ming, he wouldn’t feel embarrassed and took it as entertainment. Considering the fates of the Zhou Family, the Qin Family, and the Ma Family, he deemed himself the luckiest.

"Tang Ming, you’re too incredible, how did you do so well?"

Xia Wei’er looked up to Tang Ming with admiration as she asked.

"I don’t know either, probably just luck!" Tang Ming chuckled, thinking to himself oddly:

"With the memory and intelligence of a martial master like me, studying is way too simple, especially foreign languages – that’s my strength."

After barking as per the bet, Chen Cang hurriedly left; he had to cancel the hotel and the flowers and all the other arrangements he made for the date, which wasn’t a small expense.

Xia Wei’er had to go home to help out and after a brief farewell, she also left.

"Wait a second."

Just as Li Xiaoli was urging to go home, Liu Mengting suddenly burst out laughing:

"Although it’s surprising that Tang Ming scored so well, it seems in addition to Chen Cang and me, there was someone else involved in the bet, right?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Liu Mengting and Tang Ming both looked at Li Xiaoli, Tang Ming’s gaze, however, landed on Li Xiaoli’s chest.

"Who, who else joined the bet? Call them out for me to see, eh."

Li Xiaoli’s face turned slightly red as she puffed out her chest and challenged.

"Zhou... Eh, why didn’t the fatty show up today?"

It was only then that Tang Ming realized Zhou Dafu hadn’t come to check the scores.

"The bettors haven’t shown up; the bet is off and doesn’t count, hey!"

Li Xiaoli shouted triumphantly.

"Sorry, I was late."

Just at that moment, Zhou Dafu hurried over.

"Heh, your creditor has arrived." Liu Mengting looked at Li Xiaoli, whose complexion wasn’t looking good, with amusement.

"This damn fatty, I didn’t beat him hard enough last time, hey."

Li Xiaoli irritably raised her fist and, realizing that Tang Ming was still staring at her chest, her face turned red with shame.

"Fatty, why did you only get here now?"

Tang Ming didn’t continue to press the issue of the gambling debt but instead asked Zhou Dafu with confusion.

"Brother Ming, my family is in trouble." Zhou Dafu also didn’t have the mind to dwell on the bet and said with a distressed look on his face.

"What happened?" Tang Ming was slightly startled.

"Did the Zhou family cause trouble for you and Auntie?"

"It’s not that, but there’s been big turmoil in the Zhou family. My dad told me to go back and check on the old man; he said the old man is not going to make it!"

Zhou Dafu said anxiously, after receiving the news he wanted to go back and check, but he was afraid Tang Ming would be angry. After struggling with the decision, he decided to come and discuss it with Tang Ming.

"What exactly happened? That old man shouldn’t be kicking the bucket so soon, right?"

Tang Ming furrowed his brow with suspicion, in his memory, Zhou Zhen was growing weaker day by day, but it shouldn’t be to the point of dying just yet.

A few days earlier, after meeting with Qin Aotian and Ma Tong, Zhou Zhen became severely ill and fell completely bedridden. After a doctor’s examination, the Zhou family was told to prepare for the old man’s passing.

As soon as the news of the old man’s critical condition spread, the entire Zhou family was thrown into chaos.

The Zhou family, with the old patriarch at the helm, was a Martial Arts Family. Once they lost his protection, they would be like fat prey ready for the slaughter. Moreover, with countless enemies made over the years, once the old man died, these foes would certainly not let the Zhou family off the hook.

Zhou Xianren, who received the news first, immediately began transferring wealth. He was selling off Zhou family assets on a large scale, liquidating them in preparation to flee.

When Zhou Xiande, the second in the family, discovered Zhou Xianren’s actions, not only did he fail to report it, but he also followed suit, frantically amassing wealth and selling off assets to secure his future.

Zhou Xianli, the third son, was the most decisive. After discovering what his older brothers were doing, he directly took his family abroad, cut all overseas business ties with the Zhou family, and set up his own household.

Although the Zhou family’s overseas assets weren’t as extensive as in Songlan City, they still constituted a vast fortune. Zhou Xianli had been managing them and now had shifted all overseas properties under his name, no longer needing to worry about the family’s enemies seeking revenge abroad, and he could live a carefree life overseas.

Seeing his brothers frantically seizing wealth, Zhou Xianyi was filled with a mix of sadness and anger, yet he was powerless to stop them. He wanted to intervene, but he lacked the strength to do so; instead, his elder brothers scolded him terribly and warned him not to touch any of the family’s wealth.

With no other option, Zhou Xianyi had no choice but to report the situation to the seriously ill patriarch.

Upon hearing the news, the old Zhou patriarch became furious. He immediately summoned the direct lineage of the Zhou family to his room for a family meeting.

In the room, the old patriarch, pale-faced and leaning against the head of the bed, looked at the sons seated before him and cursed through gritted teeth:

"A bunch of ingrates, I’m not dead yet, and you’re already dividing up the inheritance, wishing for my early demise?"

"Dad, don’t be angry, we’re just making early preparations." Zhou Xianren said with an awkward smile, quickly stepping forward to explain:

"The Zhou family has made too many enemies, and the tail is now too big to get rid of. We must deal with some assets to preserve the spark of our lineage."

"Yes, yes, as long as the green mountains are there, there’s no fear of running out of firewood. We can’t just watch the Zhou family go bankrupt; we have to think about future generations." Zhou Xiande also hastily agreed.

"Cough, cough, cough, so you say you are still considering the family’s best interest?"

The old patriarch was overcome by a severe coughing fit and started spitting out large amounts of blood: "And where are the third one and Zhou Haomin, why aren’t they present?"