Chapter Eighty-Two: Lingerie No. 37

Liu Ruoyi was startled, quickly lowered her head, and focused on her meal in silence, her cheeks tinged with a flush. Long Fei chuckled, “Qian Ye, you’re the host today. I bet this meal costs at least several hundred yuan. Are you really not eating? If you don’t, it’ll just be wasted. We won’t stand on ceremony, then. Thanks for your generosity! Ruoyi, let’s eat to our heart’s content. Don’t mind her. If she’s not eating, we’ll just split her share, haha!”

“You—” Qian Ye was so infuriated by Long Fei that she almost stormed out, but catching the curious gaze of a waiter from afar, she managed to restrain herself and grudgingly picked up her chopsticks again.

Long Fei winked, “Didn’t you say you weren’t going to eat?”

Qian Ye snapped, “Mind your own business. I’ll eat if I want to, hmph!”

Not only would she eat, she was determined to eat even more. Why should she foot the bill and not get her share? Even if she burst from overeating, she would never let them enjoy themselves at her expense!

As the meal went on, Qian Ye’s attitude became rather peculiar.

When it came time to pay, it truly was Qian Ye who settled the bill. Long Fei, unconcerned about losing face in public, simply took Liu Ruoyi by the hand and left the restaurant ahead of her, unembarrassed despite the odd looks from the owner and staff.

The snacks in Qibao Ancient Town were renowned in Tianhai, and since they were already here, Long Fei was determined to let Liu Ruoyi have her fill. Without a second thought for Qian Ye, who had insisted on tagging along, Long Fei dragged Ruoyi toward the bustling snack street. As for Qian Ye, he couldn’t be bothered—she had invited herself as a third wheel, so who was to blame? Besides, she’d lived in Tianhai for nearly twenty years and had surely grown tired of these local treats.

Qian Ye stepped out just in time to see Long Fei ignoring her and hurrying off. She quickened her pace to catch up, muttering under her breath, “Faithless scoundrel! Little vixen!”

Tianhai was home to several fashion streets, one in nearly every district. These fashion streets fell into three categories: the first, such as Nanjing West Road, boasted high-end boutiques with cutting-edge designs and exquisite fabrics—naturally, at exorbitant prices; the second tier, like Qibao Ancient Town’s fashion street, featured more ordinary styles and decent craftsmanship, mostly second-tier brands at affordable prices; the third tier, exemplified by Qipu Road, offered cheap, substandard clothing.

It was early September, and summer in Tianhai was drawing to a close. Almost every clothing shop was holding sales. Along this street, at least eighty percent of the stores were sportswear brands—361 Degrees, Xtep, Kappa, Nike, Adidas, and other leading domestic labels, each with its own franchise. Despite their reputation, these brands weren’t particularly expensive—a full outfit rarely exceeded a thousand yuan.

That price seemed modest to Long Fei and Qian Ye but was a bit beyond Liu Ruoyi’s comfort zone. After being ushered into several shops, she kept shaking her head at the price tags. In the end, it was only under Long Fei’s insistent urging that she bought a few sets from 361 Degrees. They weren’t pricey but were presentable enough.

Naturally, Long Fei insisted on paying. Liu Ruoyi wanted to pay herself, but he wouldn’t hear of it.

No matter how stingy Long Fei might be, he wasn’t about to skimp in front of the girl he liked. But this generosity didn’t sit well with Qian Ye. Petulant, she decided she’d pick out the same outfits Liu Ruoyi chose, whether she liked them or not, and insisted that Long Fei pay for hers as well.

Heaven knows Long Fei didn’t want to pay for Qian Ye. She was his boss, after all—how could he let an employee treat her? He thought Qian Ye was being outrageous, but in the end, he had no choice but to surrender to her threats. She had plenty of ways to hold him hostage: she could tell Liu Ruoyi about Yang Danni and him, or reveal their own relationship, or even spill the embarrassing stories of him biting her backside and tending to her injuries.

Threats like these, Qian Ye had in abundance. Before Long Fei could hear her out, he quickly cut her off, wiping away sweat and dashing off faster than a rabbit—to pay, of course. Refuse? Unless he wanted to ruin his own reputation. He knew Qian Ye was capable of saying or doing anything, and if she followed through, what could he do? Kill her? Even that wouldn’t fix things—his hard-won image would be utterly destroyed.

Long Fei couldn’t help but think Qian Ye was truly shameless. If she wanted to threaten him, using Yang Danni would suffice—why drag herself into it, too? And to reveal the incident with her own backside? Wasn’t she afraid of ruining her own reputation? She was still an unmarried young lady—how would she ever find a boyfriend?

In the end, Long Fei could only describe Qian Ye in four words: despicable and shameless.

Seeing Long Fei grumble endlessly before paying but not even bat an eyelash during the transaction, Qian Ye felt oddly unsatisfied. She also noticed that Long Fei used a credit card, and not just any card—a diamond-level Swiss Bank credit card, with a rumored overdraft limit of one hundred million. Her family had a similar card, though not as exclusive, and she’d rarely used it. When her father, Ye Wentian, gave it to her, he’d mentioned it had a one-million-yuan limit.

A million yuan would be a fortune for most people, but for Qian Ye it was hardly anything—her annual pocket money easily exceeded that, which was perhaps why she’d never used the card.

After leaving the 361 Degrees shop, Qian Ye pulled Long Fei aside and asked suspiciously, “Where did you get that card?”

“It’s mine, why? Is there a problem?” Long Fei was surprised. “You recognize it?”

“Hmm, you didn’t steal it, did you?” Qian Ye retorted.

Long Fei wasn’t the least bit offended. “Steal? Why don’t you try stealing one yourself!”

“You—” Qian Ye was left speechless with anger.

Long Fei turned to Liu Ruoyi with a mischievous grin. “Ruoyi, do you want to buy some lingerie?”

Ruoyi’s cheeks flamed red, and she whispered, “No, thank you.”

A little annoyed, Long Fei turned away, only to see Qian Ye watching him gleefully, clearly enjoying the scene. Immediately, Long Fei donned a lascivious smile and said, “Little Qian, how about you? Want to buy some lingerie? I’ll pay!”

Qian Ye’s face turned ashen. Liu Ruoyi, realizing disaster was imminent, quickly tugged Long Fei’s arm—a clear warning not to provoke Qian Ye. The gesture didn’t escape Qian Ye’s notice.

No one knew what went through Qian Ye’s mind. Her face shifted from pale to white, then to red, and finally back to normal, while her eyes went from hatred and fury to calm. Then she laughed, “Let’s go, but you have to come in with me!”

Long Fei grinned, “Of course. If you want to model for me, I’ll gladly watch!”

Qian Ye thought to herself, Today, I’ll see just how bold you are.

Determined not to lose face alone, Qian Ye deliberately chose a large, bustling lingerie store, one filled with nearly a dozen women browsing bras and panties. Imagine the awkwardness when a man suddenly appears, staring lecherously at the bras. If one of the women happened to be hot-tempered, she might even slap him across the face—what a scene that would be.

With that in mind, Qian Ye marched in first, waving for Long Fei to follow. “Long Fei, hurry up! Aren’t you going to help me pick out lingerie?”

Her words drew every woman’s gaze toward Long Fei. Even with his thick skin, he couldn’t help but blush. If he didn’t go in, he’d break his earlier bravado; if he did, Qian Ye was clearly waiting for him to embarrass himself.

After a moment’s hesitation, Long Fei finally gave in to curiosity. Normally, he’d never have the nerve to enter such a store alone, but today, accompanied by two women—both beauties at that—it didn’t seem so bad. Even if Qian Ye’s figure was lacking, she still deserved the title of beauty. Liu Ruoyi, meanwhile, was both lovely and well-endowed, though she trailed shyly behind.

As soon as Long Fei entered, the atmosphere shifted. The other women frowned at the sight of a man intruding. With Qian Ye, a beautiful but flat-chested woman, and Liu Ruoyi, a stunning and voluptuous girl trailing timidly behind, the trio became the focus of everyone’s curiosity.

Long Fei’s presence caused the women, who had been happily browsing, to scatter—some waiting for him to leave before continuing, others simply making a swift exit. Of course, a couple of confident young women, proud of their figures, showed no concern and repeatedly asked the clerk if they had size 37 bras. People had heard of size 36, but could bras really be custom-made to that extent?