Jiang Yu and Shen Xinyi were both dumbstruck.
No, hang on, sister.
You can pull a move like that?
You were the one who got in the back first. If you weren’t going to sit up front, were the two of us supposed to?
Good grief.
You must be desperate for a man, pulling a trick like that!
That was what the two of them were thinking. Naturally neither was going to say anything against Zhang Ruowei with Zhao Ming right there — but Jiang Yu had her phone out, laying into her in the group chat.
Zhang Ruowei read the messages on the sly and typed back, smiling. “Settle down, settle down. Your big sister is teaching you how to land a man. Watch and learn.”
Jiang Yu: “Shameless.”
Shen Xinyi: “No shame at all.”
Zhang Ruowei: “That’s enough out of you two. Any more nonsense and when we get back to the dorm this empress will have you disciplined. /threat/ /threat/ /threat/”
She locked her phone, put it back in her bag and opened the conversation herself. “Where did Xu Ye say we’re eating tonight?”
“The IFC. Over by the Oriental Pearl Tower.”
“Oh.”
“Where have you all been in Shanghai?”
“The Bund, Ocean Park, Shiliupu Wharf, the museum, Yu Garden… that’s about all so far.”
Zhao Ming asked, “You’ve never been to Happy Valley?”
“No. We only have time in the holidays, and in the holidays the tickets are expensive.”
Hearing that, Zhao Ming thought: there’s the opening.
He said quickly, “I’ve got a way to get VIP tickets for Happy Valley — the kind where you don’t have to wait in line. Whenever you want to go, just tell me and I’ll take you.”
“Really? Those tickets must be expensive, though.”
“Not expensive. And anyway, when we go out there’s no sense in you girls paying. I’ll get it, obviously.”
“That’s too much.”
“It’s nothing.”
Listening to Zhao Ming and Zhang Ruowei go back and forth, Jiang Yu got goosebumps all over from sheer secondhand embarrassment.
Zhang Ruowei. Zhang Ruowei.
Didn’t we go to Happy Valley on New Year’s Eve last year?
And you actually say you’ve never been?
Does your conscience not hurt at all?
Shen Xinyi listened to it in a daze.
So this is what high-level dating looks like?
……
Twenty-five minutes later Zhao Ming finally met up with Xu Ye in the underground parking garage at the IFC.
The location being what it was, the first and second floors were almost entirely luxury brands — Vacheron Constantin, Prada, Hermès, Dior, and so on and so on. Any label the public had heard of had a flagship store there.
They got in the elevator, and Xu Ye took them straight to a restaurant on the fourth floor called Yongfu Zunxian.
The food there was handsome to look at and good to eat, but the portions were small. It was enough for the girls; Xu Ye thought a stir-fry at a street stall was more satisfying.
The meal wasn’t the point of the evening, though.
Once he had eaten his fill, Xu Ye asked outright, “Zhao Ming wants to do karaoke tonight, his treat. You’re all free?”
“We’re free.”
They all shook their heads. Zhao Ming’s eyes stayed on Zhang Ruowei the whole time, and she came back with a question of her own. “Is the KTV far from here?”
“Not far,” Zhao Ming said quickly. “It’s close by. And when we’re done Xu Ye and I will see you all safely back to the dorm.”
Only then did Zhang Ruowei nod and agree.
So once dinner was dealt with, the whole group followed Zhao Ming to a KTV nearby.
Zhao Ming had barely walked into the lobby before a staff member came straight over to meet him. “Director Zhao. You’re here.”
“Give me a deluxe medium room. Two extra servings of snacks and fruit plates. No alcohol.”
“Right away. This way, please.”
The staff member took Zhao Ming to the front desk to book it, then led them to a room with its own bathroom and bar.
Xu Ye sent the girls and Qin Zhiwei in first, then took hold of Zhao Ming and steered him toward the restroom.
Zhao Ming didn’t understand at all. “There’s a bathroom right in there. What are you dragging me out here for?”
“Are you a dumbass?”
“Fuck. What did I do to you?”
Xu Ye was exasperated. “You walked in just now, jackass, and the staff looked at you like you were their own father — eyes lighting right up. Anybody with the slightest ability to read a room could see you’re a regular here. Think about it. Do respectable people come to places like this all the time?”
“Christ.”
“Your old man gives up on you. I think you’d better just stay single like a good boy. Handed a chance and you still can’t manage it.”
Zhao Ming grabbed hold of him, his face falling. “Then… then what do I do now?”
“Tough.”
“Don’t be like that. Think of something. Is there any way to fix it?”
Xu Ye put out a hand. “Did you pay with the membership card for this place just now?”
“Yes.”
“Give me the card.”
“Huh?”
“Are you giving it to me or not?”
Zhao Ming caught on and hurried to find it in his wallet. One look at how many VIP cards were still in there and Xu Ye started swearing. “Last time I was at your company you said you were going to give me all the cards for the clubs and bars and KTVs. And you damn well kept this many for yourself?”
Zhao Ming really was in a state by this point. For all his calculating, he had not calculated on giving himself away this fast, and he hurriedly pushed every VIP card in it into Xu Ye’s hands.
Xu Ye took them and pocketed them without the least ceremony, and only then said, “Zhang Ruowei is not stupid. She’ll have worked this out already. If she doesn’t care about it, that means she isn’t interested in you. If she asks you roundabout whether you come to places like this often, that means she does care a little. When she does, whatever you do, answer it properly.”
“What do I say?”
“Say it’s for work. Say you come to places like this to entertain business contacts.”
Zhao Ming said blankly, “That’s what it is.”
“I don’t care whether it is or not. If she asks, that’s what you say.”
“All right.”
“Go back in, then. I’m going to take a leak.”
Zhao Ming didn’t think any more of it and went back the way he had come. Once Xu Ye was in the restroom he got his phone out and sent Zhang Ruowei a message. “Remember to find a chance to ask Zhao Ming later whether he comes to places like this often.”
She answered quickly. “How do you know that’s what I was going to ask him?”
“Of course I know you.”
“Actually — was it you who told Zhao Ming I was wearing all white today, and that’s why he wore all black?”
“Mm.”
“I knew it. There’s no such thing as a coincidence like that. So he’s liked me since the first time we met?”
“I think he’s out of his mind too. But judge it right — if you overplay it and he can’t take it later and breaks up with you, that’s not my problem.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got him wrapped right around my finger.”
(End of Chapter 300)