Chapter 25: Only 88,000 for the Fiancé to Shop?

Chapter 25: Only 88,000 for Her Fiancé to Go Shopping?

The private dining room at the Chinese restaurant was quiet.

The lights were replicas of ancient Ming Dynasty lanterns, casting a soft glow over the bowls, dishes, and cups.

Shen Yubai took the seat at the head of the table, casually gesturing for Wen Yu and Lou Xuemeng to sit on either side of him.

He poured a cup of hot tea for Wen Yu, steam curling up and blurring the look in his eyes.

"Take a look at the menu, order whatever you want." He pushed the menu in front of Wen Yu, his tone soft, like he was coaxing a kid.

Wen Yu took the menu, flipped through a few pages, then looked up at Lou Xuemeng and asked quietly, "Xuemeng, what do you want to eat?"

Lou Xuemeng sat to Wen Yu's right, gripping the long chopsticks, her fingers squeezing tighter.

She said "whatever" out loud, but her eyes were locked on Shen Yubai across the table.

Shen Yubai was saying something to Wen Yu, his profile lit by the lamp, carving out a soft, gentle line.

Lou Xuemeng studied Shen Yubai's face: his brow wasn't all that high, his nose was straight, and his jaw was defined but not sharp enough.

Lou Xuemeng's chopsticks started tapping against the bowl.

Tap, tap, tap.

This face was way off—zero chemistry.

Lou Xuemeng's lips turned down. This guy wasn't as handsome as her cousin.

Shen Yubai was buttoned-up and put-together, like a book where you know every word, but reading it all together is just boring.

What gives?

Lou Xuemeng's chopsticks tapped again, harder this time, with a sharp clink.

Wen Yu shot her a sideways glance and whispered, "Xuemeng, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." Lou Xuemeng looked away, forcing a faint smile. "My hand slipped."

Shen Yubai didn't notice, chatting with Wen Yu about school, his voice low and patient. "Are you keeping up with your classes?"

Lou Xuemeng's eyes flashed with annoyance as she watched him pick up a slice of osmanthus lotus root and drop it into Wen Yu's bowl.

Wen Yu nodded, poking at the lotus root with his chopsticks. "It's okay, except calculus is kind of hard. The teacher goes too fast."

"Calculus really is tough." Shen Yubai took a sip from his teacup, his tone hitting just the right note of empathy. "I almost failed calculus in college too. I got an upperclassman to tutor me and barely scraped by."

Wen Yu's eyes went wide. "You almost failed too, Yubai?"

"Of course I did." Shen Yubai smiled. "I'm human, not a machine."

Wen Yu laughed at that, a light, soft sound, along with the ticking of the watch on his wrist.

Wen Yu was still wearing the watch Gu Junhan gave him, and Shen Yubai's eyes lit up for a split second.

Lou Xuemeng, though, kept watching from the side and suddenly spotted a brooch on Shen Yubai's chest.

A lily, sterling silver, with a tiny pearl set in the middle of the bloom.

Lou Xuemeng stared at the brooch, her teacup frozen mid-air, forgetting to put it down.

She'd seen this brooch before—at a place she shouldn't have been, on someone she shouldn't have thought of.

The underground carnival in Xizhou—Mr. Mask.

As things clicked into place, Lou Xuemeng suddenly realized someone had ulterior motives.

Wen Yu thought Shen Yubai was a really nice guy, nothing to complain about.

After the meal, Lou Xuemeng left, and Shen Yubai invited Wen Yu to the mall.

As they walked in, they happened to pass the women's clothing section.

The salesgirl inside recognized Wen Yu as the guy who'd bought a bunch of dresses last time.

She came over all excited and said, "Hi, we've got new stuff in. Wanna take a look?"

Wen Yu's ears went red. He shook his head. "Wrong turn."

Just then, Shen Yubai's phone rang, and he stepped aside to answer it.

Wen Yu had drunk a lot of water, so he headed to the mall bathroom.

A faint sandalwood smell hung in the air.

He stood at the sink, turned on the tap, and let the cold water run over his fingers, washing off some of the stickiness.

He flicked the water off his hands and was about to turn around.

Behind him, a door pushed open.

Wen Yu didn't think much of it, figuring it was just some random person.

He dried his hands and turned to leave.

Before he could take a step, his shoulder slammed into a wall of chest.

Wen Yu instinctively stepped back half a step, his lower back hitting the sink's edge. The cold marble pressed into him, making his whole body go rigid.

He looked up, his eyes tracing the man's jawline until they met a pair of way-too-familiar eyes.

Gu Junhan's eyes curved a little, corners tilting up, sharp high brow, straight nose, thin lips curled in a faint smile.

"You—" Wen Yu's voice stuck in his throat.

"On a date with your fiancé?" Gu Junhan leaned in lazily, one hand on the sink, the other casually sliding around Wen Yu's waist.

Wen Yu shook his head, boxed in with nowhere to go.

"It's not a date," Wen Yu's lips trembled without him meaning to. "Just, uh, just looking around."

Gu Junhan let out a low chuckle that echoed in the cramped bathroom.

The guy didn't back off, instead leaning in another half inch, his nose almost touching Wen Yu's earlobe.

"Why not go shopping with your good buddy instead?" Gu Junhan's tone suddenly changed, like a big dog whose owner had been ignoring him. "Wen Yu, are you not treating me like a friend?"

Wen Yu shook his head vigorously, his eyes wide open, eager to explain, starting to panic, "No, that's not it!"

"The engagement is next week... Yubai-ge told me some stuff about it." Wen Yu looked at those unfamiliar eyes, "It's not, like, a real date or anything."

The cold white overhead light cast their shadows on the floor, overlapping like a silent hug.

"Well, well," the man lowered his head, his lips almost brushing against Wen Yu's ear, "So Little Treasure's got a fiancé now."

Every time Wen Yu heard Gu Junhan call him "Little Treasure," his ears felt like they'd been burned by fire.

Suddenly, the bathroom door opened.

Wen Yu finally found his voice, "You... let go of me first."

"Alright." Gu Junhan's voice was way too gentle.

Gu Junhan looked down at Wen Yu, his gaze trailing from Wen Yu's eyes down to his still-red earlobes.

"Getting engaged next week," Gu Junhan spoke softly, "Looks like your fiancé didn't mention he's got a first love."

"First love?" Wen Yu was puzzled. Isn't that, like, a soap opera cliché?

"But whatever, Little Treasure seems to like being someone else's..." Every word out of Gu Junhan's mouth seemed like a test.

Wen Yu bit his lower lip, "It's fine, as long as we can get this marriage alliance done."

"Besides, Yubai-ge is so good, he won't be mean to me."

Gu Junhan remained silent.

Wen Yu said his fiancé was waiting outside, then bolted without looking back.

Once outside, Wen Yu saw that Shen Yubai was gone. He got two messages on his phone.

[Yubai-ge: Wen Yu, something came up, I'm heading out. Go buy yourself whatever you want.]

[Transfer: 88,888 RMB]

Wen Yu called Lou Xuemeng and told her about it. Lou Xuemeng was cracking up, "The mighty Shen Group, and it only gives its fiancé 88,000 to shop with?"

"So damn stingy. Wen Yu, you sure your fiancé even cares about you?"

Lou Xuemeng blurted it out without thinking.

Wen Yu shook his head, "I think that's a lot, honestly. I could buy so much with that."

Lou Xuemeng fell silent, then suddenly remembered something, "Didn't you say some friend of yours made you wear women's clothes?"

"Go check the prices on those women's clothes. Aren't they, like, a hundred grand each?"

"That friend of yours is pretty decent, footing the bill and all. And that watch you're wearing—didn't that also come from that friend of yours?"

"Guess how much that thing costs?"

Wen Yu thought for a moment, "Also like a hundred grand?"

Her voice on the other end turned serious, "That's a worldwide limited edition—forty-seven million!"

Wen Yu was stunned. Forty-seven million?

All the clothes he was wearing didn't even amount to a fraction of that watch.

He had never even seen a car worth forty million at the Wen residence.

Poverty had limited his imagination.