Trembling At A High Altitude

Li Teng didn't make a sound but looked at his mother with an "keep spinning your tales" expression.

"Yin Yin is in her second year of university this year, studying music. She said her father wanted to train her by letting her choose a primary school to volunteer at. She would go there every three to four days, equivalent to social practice or doing charity.

"It so happened that she chose our school, and our school has only one music teacher—me.

"At first, I didn't know her identity. I just noticed that this young lady was somewhat ditsy with a good sense of music, dressed well, was pretty, sweet-talking, and even occasionally brought me little gifts, so I rather liked her and wanted to recruit her as my daughter-in-law.

"To recruit her as a daughter-in-law, of course, I need to understand her family background. Family environment and education are very important—it couldn't be a total mess, right?

"Today, with only the two of us in the office, I found an opportunity to indirectly ask her about it. After half an hour of incessant pestering from me, she couldn't stand it anymore and told me the truth, saying she didn't have a boyfriend and her dad is Liu Qian.

"I asked, 'The same name as the city's richest man, Liu Qian?'

"She said, 'No, my dad is the city's richest man, Liu Qian.' After that, she showed me the photos of her and her father in her phone's album and told me she had only told me about this and asked me to keep it secret for her.

"I was completely dumbfounded.

"In the next moment, I thought of something extremely important.

"My son is unmarried, she is unmarried...

"If, I mean if, I could recruit her as my daughter-in-law, wouldn't our family become Liu Qian's in-laws? Your dad's medical bills would be taken care of, your sister's prosthetic needs would also be met, your mom's heart condition would be gone, your happiness for a lifetime..."

"Mom, are you awake?" Li Teng couldn't help interrupting Mother Li.

Not to mention the likelihood of the city's richest man's daughter coming to a primary school for social practice, let alone daring to disclose her identity to someone she wasn't familiar with.

Even if she wasn't lying, and really was the rich man's daughter.

Then, Mom, do you think with your son's current status, could the rich man's daughter possibly fancy him? Would she agree to your matchmaking?

As for the photos in the cellphone album...with today's advanced Photoshop technology, creating such photos is as easy as flipping one's hand.

Not to mention Photoshop, even face-swapping in videos has become flawless.

"I know you don't believe it! But let me finish!" Mother Li's tone was undeniable.

"Go on." Li Teng resignedly said.

"If a person doesn't even have the courage to try something before doing it, then success is definitely impossible. At least by actively trying, there is a possibility to turn the situation around, right?" Mother Li encouraged Li Teng.

"A salted fish that turns over is still a salted fish." Li Teng reminded Mother Li.

"Enough of your sarcasm! So, seizing the opportunity, I brought it up to her, telling her I have a son. He might be a bit of a homebody, not handsome, with a not-so-great personality, and not really good at making money, but he doesn't smoke or drink, has a nose and eyes, all limbs intact, no disability, and is mentally normal most of the time, so I wanted her to meet you and see if the two of you could have a destiny together..." Mother Li continued.

Li Teng held his forehead.

Like mother knows son, aside from being handsome, you do have a good understanding of your son, huh...

The problem is, with your son being like this, how thick-skinned must you be to propose marriage?

"Do you know what? She agreed to my proposal! We've set it for tonight at 6:30. Just one hundred meters into the street diagonally opposite the school at KFC. I have her cell phone number; you go there early to wait, and contact her on the phone when the time comes," Mother Li said, sending a phone number to Li Teng.

"The rich man's daughter, set a date for a blind date at KFC?" Li Teng couldn't help but scoff again.

Now the true story was pretty clear.

This girl must be no ordinary girl, Photoshopping herself as Liu Qian's daughter, flaunting this identity everywhere, even resorting to deception.

He happened to meet Mother Li who is slightly delusional.

The two hit it off, hence this blind date.

Next, what will the girl con Mother Li into buying for health protection or getting into some investment?

Something like 'Hello everyone, I am the reincarnation of Qin Shi Huang, I have 3000 tons of gold and 300,000 Qin soldiers sealed in Shaanxi, now for just 399 yuan you can unseal it!

If you send me the money, the day I unseal it, I will make you my godson! Designate someone as Crown Prince! The rest as princes and dukes! Interested parties, direct message, no reply otherwise.' something like that?

Well, let's take a trip to KFC and tell her that although Mother Li might be naïve, Li Teng is a very shrewd, high-IQ son. I advise her to give up any thoughts of defrauding money early on!

...

Mother Li had given him two thousand yuan because she wanted Li Teng to buy some clothes, get a haircut, and shave his beard to look sharp when meeting Liu Yin.

But Li Teng was already convinced that it was a scam, so he obviously wouldn't spend such unjustified money.

If it weren't for a sick family member, he would have saved all his earned money in his sister's account; he actually wanted to save up to buy the latest PSOX2 gaming console with VR equipment.

A whole set cost over eight thousand yuan!

As a game video uploader with no popularity, all sorts of new gaming consoles were essential for his work.

Not to mention Li Teng was a gaming enthusiast himself, eagerly anticipating and longing for the various immersive new games in the PSOX2.

If he couldn't even afford his essential work gear, how could he possibly spend money on clothes or a haircut?

That would be a waste of money! That was irresponsible!

Only spending money on games was the right way to go!

After being forcibly kicked out by Mother Li, Li Teng ran to the subway station and spent the afternoon playing mobile games using free Wi-Fi.

Around 6:10 PM, Li Teng finally took the subway to the vicinity of the elementary school where his mother worked and found that KFC.

By the time he arrived, it was exactly 6:30 PM.

During mealtime, the KFC was already full.

Looking at this noisy, low-end environment, Li Teng scoffed again.

The daughter of the richest man? In this kind of place?

Mom, how naive and gullible must you be to believe such nonsense?

He opened WeChat, found the phone number Mother Li had given him, and called it.

"Hello, good evening."

A female voice came from the other side.

The voice was quite pleasant.

Sounded youthful, and even a bit naive.

Typically, female scam artists have nice voices.

Especially such naive-sounding voices, they have a fatal attraction to nerds.

Like… some Biluo.

"Hello, this is Li Teng. Where are you?" Li Teng walked further inside while looking around.

"I'm…" A few meters away, a little girl in cartoon clothes stood up by a window facing the street, speaking on the phone, her eyes meeting Li Teng's.

"I'm by the window, wearing… a shirt with a rabbit pattern…" The little girl's voice came through both the phone and from a few meters away.

Looking at the little girl, Li Teng was slightly dazed.

She was… too pretty, right? That naive and cute type of pretty, instinctively making one feel pity and wanting to hug her, and pull at her…

Stop, stop, stop!

Li Teng vigorously shook his head.

What was this, some kind of spell?

Well, this little girl's face did look really pretty, but with current makeup technology being so advanced, who knew if she would turn into a different person after removing her makeup?

Typically, female scam artists are most willing to invest in their appearance; how else could they train nerds into obedient dogs, happily handing money over to them?

Dressed in a cartoon rabbit pattern too, this female scam artist really knew the minds and weaknesses of nerds!

"Liu Yin?" Li Teng approached her, examining Liu Yin from a close distance again.

She seemed… somewhat familiar?

How weird, have I seen her somewhere before?

"Yes, please sit." Liu Yin seemed somewhat shy, her voice noticeably panicked as she gestured toward the seat opposite her.

This female scammer must be feeling guilty seeing him so calm, right?

"What would you like to eat?" Li Teng continued to stare at the scammer, putting intense psychological pressure on her.

"I've already ordered, anything else you want? I'll go get it." Liu Yin responded to Li Teng.

Li Teng looked down and only then noticed the table was already laden with various foods.

In front of him were three burgers, drinks, fries, chicken nuggets, and chicken legs, all present.

Wow, this female scammer really doesn't hesitate to spend when it's about scamming money, huh?

Of course, it wouldn't cost much in a place like this.

Li Teng didn't hesitate, picking up a burger and taking a big bite.

His eyes still fixed on Liu Yin across the table.

Liu Yin, feeling watched, seemed somewhat uneasy. She sipped her Coke through a straw, pretending to look outside the window.

Neither of them spoke.

"Liu Qian's daughter, Liu Yin?"

Li Teng broke the silence.

"Yes."

Liu Yin glanced at Li Teng and quickly shifted her gaze away.

"Heh."

Another long silence followed.

Through this period of observation, Li Teng had confirmed something.

That was that the girl opposite him wore hardly any makeup, at most a light makeup.

Which meant if she was this beautiful, it wasn't because of makeup, then there was only one other reason.

She must have had plastic surgery.

Otherwise, it would be unexplainable.

Because in Li Teng's opinion, it wasn't possible for a normal girl to be this beautiful.

"I... I've been doing social practice recently, working with Teacher Zhang, and Teacher Zhang has been really good to me."

While Li Teng was preparing to start his second burger, Liu Yin broke the silence.

The Teacher Zhang she mentioned was none other than Zhang Liangying, Li Teng's mother... who shared a name, but not the fame, with a certain celebrity.

"Oh." Li Teng responded with a single word, continuing to devour his burger.

Liu Yin wanted to say something more, but seeing Li Teng's indifferent attitude, she decided against it.

She began looking at her phone.

At this moment, Li Teng's phone rang.

It was a call from Mother Li.

"How's it going? Have you met her?"

"Uh-huh."

"Is she pretty?"

"Not bad." Li Teng glanced at Liu Yin again.

"Try to initiate some topics and chat with her! I'm not sure what you young people are into these days, but you ought to know, right? Don't just sit there silently! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! If you miss it, you'll regret it for the rest of your life!" Mother Li kept emphasizing to Li Teng.

"Got it."

"Don't forget to exchange WeChat contacts!"

"Got it."

Li Teng hung up.

Liu Yin was still looking at her phone.

"My father used to drive." After finishing the third burger, Li Teng patted his belly and initiated another topic.

"Oh." Liu Yin put away her phone and sat upright, looking at Li Teng.

"A year ago, he had a car accident. He hurt his waist and almost became paralyzed, barely maintaining self-care abilities with medication. My sister was also in his car, and both of her legs were amputated below the knees.

"Since it was his fault, we had to compensate the other party. All our money went to the settlement, and we are still indebted to relatives for hundreds of thousands," Li Teng shared about his family's situation.

Thinking of scamming my mom's money? Better find another place to scrounge! There's nothing left to take from my home, don't waste your time.

"Oh." Liu Yin continued to listen attentively.

"My mom likes to indulge in unrealistic fantasies, and her mentality isn't quite normal,"

Li Teng went on.

"Oh?"

"She's told you about my situation, right? Though I'm a bit of a homebody, not very handsome, have a bit of a difficult personality, don't really earn much, but at least I have all my limbs intact and mentally stable... well, that's not very accurate,"

"Ah... ha?"

"I'm actually not very mentally stable, and I have a strong inclination toward violence!" Li Teng grinned, showing a toothy smile.

Although he never fought, nor had he ever killed anyone, he had been having dreams where he would go around fighting and killing, and the ways of killing were particularly brutal.

Does that count as a violent tendency? Probably does.

"Teacher Zhang didn't introduce you like that, she said although you're a bit of a loner, you're very handsome, have a bright personality, are very filial, thoughtful, caring, kind-hearted, and full of love, just prone to saying some contrary things..." Liu Yin also smiled.

"Heh."

The two fell into silence again.

Li Teng began eating again, finishing everything in front of him, then reached for the food in front of Liu Yin.

Liu Yin, presumably bored, took out her phone again.

"Alright, it's about time we made things clear, let's just lay it all out on the table," Li Teng said after finishing three burgers, chicken nuggets, chicken legs, fries, and drinking a Coke, and after wiping his mouth, he raised the issue with Liu Yin.

"Ah..." Liu Yin put away her phone.

"Tell me, using a few photoshopped pictures, claiming you are Liu Qian's daughter, what exactly is your motive?" Li Teng looked straight into Liu Yin's eyes.

"I... I really am Liu Qian's daughter, I didn't photoshop." Liu Yin sounded very insecure and spoke in a small voice.

"How can you prove it?"

Li Teng was relentless, dealing with a female scammer; you can't be polite just because she's pretty.

"You don't believe photos, so... would you believe a video?" Liu Yin hesitated but suggested it.

"There are so many face-swapping apps these days." Li Teng scoffed.

"Then... then how can I prove it?" Liu Yin was helpless.

"I've done some research online. Liu Hui is Liu Qian's eldest daughter, and also your sister. She's very extroverted, likes to play with social media, and posts all sorts of bizarre statements...

"Get your sister to post a tweet with your picture, saying you're her biological sister, then I'll believe you." Li Teng put forth a proposal to Liu Yin.