Lai Feifei had a very distinct fragrance on her body, the scent stirred a hint of excitement within Li Zhiyan.
"I know."
Lai Feifei muttered as she downed another glass of liquor.
For someone like Lai Feifei, who drinks once a month, for thirty days straight without skipping, even during her period—
Liquor might as well be her plain water.
"Li Zhiyan, be honest with me. Did you get involved with your Aunt Shen?"
"Knowing her personality, I've never seen her so serious about asking me to do something like this."
"Fess up! Did you book a room last night or not?"
"At 42, can your Aunt Shen resist a young guy like you?"
Li Zhiyan: "..."
At this moment, Shen Hongmei looked obviously flustered, as though someone had hit her sore spot.
Last night, they had both genuinely gotten drunk.
She didn't remember a thing.
"Say one more thing and I'll rip your mouth apart!"
Watching Shen Hongmei's fierce, about-to-explode demeanor,
Lai Feifei finally toned it down a bit.
"Which mouth do you plan to rip apart, huh?"
"I think you could just kiss mine to pieces."
Shen Hongmei seriously felt a violent urge to slap this crazy woman, but she also knew this was simply how Lai Feifei always was.
"Are you two seriously not together?"
"You didn't take Li Zhiyan under your wing?"
"No!"
Lai Feifei stretched her leg onto the hotpot table.
It was then that Li Zhiyan finally noticed the woman was wearing a short skirt paired with black stockings, and a pair of sexy red-bottomed high heels.
Although she was only 160cm tall, Lai Feifei had amazing body proportions.
Her legs were strikingly long, and the edge of the stockings revealed a glimpse of her snow-white thighs.
Li Zhiyan subconsciously swallowed hard.
Ever since what happened last night,
he felt as though he had inadvertently stepped into the world of mature women.
This circle was entirely different compared to that of the young.
"So if you're not sponsoring this little pretty boy."
"Sponsor me instead."
"Xiao Yan, do Auntie's legs look good to you?"
"Nowadays young people are all about black-stockinged legs, aren't they?"
"Come, feel them."
"If you like them, Auntie's legs are all yours tonight."
"I even have a pair of seamless, tear-away-style black stockings back home. If you're into that, Auntie will wear them for you!"
Since the unexpected incident last night, Li Zhiyan was now filled with an uncontrollable surge of excitement.
This woman's words were ridiculously uninhibited.
Yet he also knew, as tantalizing as those black-stockinged legs were, that if he actually indulged,
it would undoubtedly mean she'd never speak to him again.
Even though this drunk flirt kept teasing him, she always maintained a safe distance with him.
Which made Li Zhiyan realize that Lai Feifei wasn't really a simple-minded person.
"Take your foot off, are we eating or not? Smells awful!"
"Hmph, who says they stink? You have no idea how many people dream of licking these feet."
"Xiao Yan, pour Auntie a glass of wine."
Li Zhiyan picked up the red wine on the table and poured another glass for Lai Feifei.
"Aunt Lai, isn't it bad for you to drink this much alcohol?"
"It's fine, your Aunt Lai can't sleep without alcohol; I need it every night to pass out."
Taking a sip from the wine glass, Lai Feifei gently bit her lip afterward.
That gesture was utterly seductive.
Her alluring aura felt so effortless and natural.
"Xiao Yan, what was your major in university?"
"I studied…"
Before Li Zhiyan could finish his sentence, Lai Feifei cut him off.
"Forget it, what you studied doesn't matter. Nowadays, even Master's degree holders work as delivery drivers."
"Auntie will recommend you a position at the Changlong Group."
"Internship salary starts at five thousand yuan, three-month probation period."
Li Zhiyan didn't know much about this Changlong Group, but the five-thousand-yuan internship salary certainly tempted him.
Even with his cheat skills, until he achieved true financial freedom, he still had to tread carefully.
In reality, Li Zhiyan had suffered setbacks before; once he stepped into the real world, he realized society was far more brutal than he had ever imagined.
"What does Changlong Group do?"
"I couldn't spell it all out for you. The corporation has loads of departments—e-commerce, livestreaming, supermarket supply chains—you name it."
"You're going to interview for a position in downstream supplier development; Auntie's already set you up with someone dependable."
At first, Li Zhiyan felt this didn't align with his professional background.
But upon reflecting on how even Master's and PhD holders weren't aligning with their supposed career paths either, he stopped overthinking.
After all, an internship that offered five-thousand-per-month wages truly wasn't easy to come by.
"All right, thank you, Aunt Lai."
"Hahaha, why thank me? Thank your Aunt Shen instead."
"Thank you, Aunt Shen."
Li Zhiyan finally pieced it together—it was Shen Hongmei repaying him with a favor.
If it hadn't been for him last night, she really would've been taken advantage of by that sleazy middle-aged man.
"By the way, Aunt Lai."
"What's with you saying you're my landlady?"
"Send me a message."
When Li Zhiyan messaged the "landlady" saved in his WeChat contacts, Lai Feifei pulled out her phone.
To his disbelief, she actually had received his message.
"Auntie has several properties; contracts are signed online nowadays, and it just so happens you signed onto one of mine."
"But we never met in person. It was only when Hongmei tried to pair you up with me today…"
"That I realized I'm your landlady."
"What a coincidence."
"Have you read that story about a struggling high schooler and the landlord Mrs. Hu?"
Li Zhiyan: "..."
In truth, despite being influenced by countless netizens and their outrageous jokes, Li Zhiyan always considered himself fairly open-minded.
But after meeting his landlady, he realized he was far too conservative.
"Let's contact each other via WeChat later."
"Your interview is guaranteed."
After settling his employment arrangement,
The hotpot finally started boiling. Shen Hongmei grabbed some sliced meat from the nearby shelf and began tossing it into the pot.
"Hey, Hongmei, stick with the clear broth hotpot."
"Otherwise, your little boyfriend might end up suffering tonight. Poor guy might get a spicy surprise instead of anything fun."
"It's tough on him in the beginning, but later on, the real challenge lies with you!"
"Reap what you sow!"
Unable to take it anymore, Shen Hongmei pinched Lai Feifei's thigh.
"Keep it down, you shameless hussy!"
"Fine, fine, I'll keep quiet…"
"Hongmei, are you really not in a relationship with him? You didn't sponsor him either?"
Watching Shen Hongmei's visibly awkward expression, Li Zhiyan tried to step in: "Aunt Lai, there's truly nothing going on. Last night Aunt Shen got drunk, and someone tried to take advantage of her—I saved her, that's all."
"I see, a hero saves the damsel."
"The young colt rescues the old carriage!"
"Hongmei, have you heard that viral phrase online—'young colt pulling the old carriage'?"