Chapter 5: Sorry, Just Colleagues

Page 1 of 3

Zheng Qian pulled out a worn, tattered bank card from his pocket—one that clearly had been frequently inserted into ATMs, bearing the marks of time.

The salesperson, momentarily stunned, still brought over the machine and swiped the card.

[Spent 88,888; system cashback 888,880; amount credited.]

Seeing the tenfold cashback, Zheng Qian felt even more composed. This place was definitely worth coming to—spend a bit and get eight hundred eighty-eight thousand back.

Before, even spending eighty-eight thousand was unimaginable; just opening a bottle of eighty-yuan wine would have made Zheng Qian cringe.

But now, it didn’t matter—spend as much as you want, and get ten times the cashback.

Zheng Qian thought about whether he could open a few more sets of the Divine Dragon tonight and then pay in full for a villa tomorrow.

Others might barely bat an eye opening a Divine Dragon set, so he couldn't be a pushover. It was a good thing the salesperson had tried to save him money by recommending cheaper wine.

The truth was, if Zheng Qian didn’t have money, there was no way he could gather four quality girls like this to accompany him.

He had misjudged the situation.

“Sir, please wait a moment, I’ll arrange everything for you right away!”

At this moment, Qin Xueli finally noticed Zheng Qian’s card wasn’t a credit card—it was a debit card!

Between shopping, dining, and the Divine Dragon set just purchased, Zheng Qian had already spent 100,000 yuan.

If it were a low-limit credit card, one might withdraw cash to put into a debit card to prove it’s a debit card when spending, just to impress girls.

Unless... Zheng Qian had several credit cards.

But such reckless spending was unlikely—even with many credit cards, such a grand expenditure was rare.

The Divine Dragon set at 88,888 yuan was just a few bottles of wine; this wasn’t something Zheng Qian could casually afford.

There was only one likely explanation: Zheng Qian had come into a sudden fortune—a large one.

Perhaps after being dumped by his ex-girlfriend and feeling despondent, he bought a lottery ticket and won!

Ai Qingyue, Xinxin, and Angela’s eyes sparkled with renewed interest as they saw Zheng Qian swipe his card for a Divine Dragon set.

Maybe this man wasn’t as pathetic as they had thought?

He looked quite handsome when swiping the card!

Though they often came to such bars, few were willing to open Divine Dragon sets unless they were truly wealthy, capable of opening three or four sets in one evening.

Even Angela had only tried the smaller Divine Dragon twice.

To sit down and immediately order a full Divine Dragon set—such generosity!

Qin Xueli clearly noticed the change in her three friends’ expressions and instinctively leaned closer to Zheng Qian, linking her arm through his. To onlookers, they appeared like a young couple deeply in love.

Zheng Qian’s heart tightened—why was Qin Xueli suddenly so close, and so intimate?

Page 2 of 3

Glancing at her other three girlfriends, Zheng Qian understood.

Their favorability toward him had just surged.

Ai Qingyue [Favorability +20]

Xinxin [Initial 5 points, Favorability +20, Current 25]

Angela [Initial 5 points, Favorability +25, Current 30]

Ding ding ding~

The music halted abruptly.

Dense dry ice fog began to roll out.

Spotlights focused on Zheng Qian’s private booth.

The Divine Dragon set was delivered by a few scantily clad beauties, swaying their bodies as they approached the booth.

The salesperson quietly called over two burly security guards who stood by Zheng Qian’s booth, ready to protect him at any moment.

The salesperson remained at the edge of the booth, awaiting Zheng Qian’s commands.

Zheng Qian’s only thought was: this was pure showmanship!

Such grandeur!

Some flirtatious girls who often frequented the Crimson Rose, seeing this scene, thought Zheng Qian was a newcomer and even felt an urge to approach his booth.

Zheng Qian was definitely rich!

But upon seeing four girls sitting with him, they abandoned the idea.

Sure enough, wealthy men were rare; this one even brought girls along.

Wait—Angela was here too?

How did someone like her manage to latch onto such a big spender?

Some girls felt particularly resentful toward Angela.

Yet they could do nothing.

After all, Angela had first dibs. Approaching now might not only be ignored by Zheng Qian but could end up in a messy confrontation with Angela and her friends.

“Dice game?” Xinxin was the first to suggest.

Among them, except for Qin Xueli, everyone was skilled at dice games—getting someone drunk was too easy.

“Sure, I don’t mind,” Zheng Qian waved his hand.

They began playing dice.

Though luck played a large role, skill was involved too.

Zheng Qian, having never been to such a place before, rolled the dice haphazardly—sometimes quickly, sometimes long—but mostly lost, ending up forced to drink several rounds.

Page 3 of 3

Even Qin Xueli, who usually didn’t drink, had downed three cups.

Zheng Qian thought the 88,000-yuan wine was just so-so—nothing better than ordinary malt whiskey.

The 88,000 was mostly just for the scene.

Spotlights, dry ice, beauties—all eyes temporarily focused on you; it was selling vanity.

Although he wasn’t much of a vain person... the women around him certainly were.

Judging by their gleeful expressions, they were as happy as could be.

After a few rounds, everyone’s conversations opened up.

Angela asked, “Lili, when did you two start dating? I saw you were single just last week.”

Crap.

Qin Xueli inwardly panicked.

Angela’s question was loaded.

She didn’t know how to respond; just now at the Crimson Rose’s entrance, she had been evasive.

Should she say they were dating or not?

If Qin Xueli said she and Zheng Qian weren’t dating, these three girlfriends might try to steal him away.

She hesitated—should she assert her claim here, since she introduced Zheng Qian and brought him here?

“You might be misunderstanding—we’re not dating, just colleagues. We came out to relax after overtime.”

“Oh, I see.”

Naturally, the three didn’t quite believe Zheng Qian.

If they weren’t dating, why was he spending so much money? At the very least, he must be interested in Qin Xueli.

Qin Xueli was speechless.

Why couldn’t he just say he was pursuing me?

What a clueless man—his emotional intelligence was too low!

Zheng Qian didn’t care about their opinions. He had no intention of pursuing any of them; Qin Xueli was merely a tool to help him spend money.

As for whether he was interested in Qin Xueli, of course he was—but not emotionally. He had no desire to chase her.

Zheng Qian was simply attracted to Qin Xueli’s body.