What do I do if he suggests going back to his hotel?
The thought was quietly consuming Xu Lu. A man like Chen Qi — genuinely attractive, genuinely wealthy, with no obvious red flags — was the kind you might encounter once in a lifetime, if you were lucky.
Most rich second-generation men came with a catch. Either they had the money but looked like they'd been assembled from leftover parts. Or they were already married. Or they were the type who'd fully committed to a lifestyle of vices — gambling, drinking, everything else.
Someone like Chen Qi — looks, character, charm, and financial firepower all in one package — she genuinely couldn't think of another example.
Chen Qi caught her thoughts and felt no particular urge to push. He had no interest in forcing anything. What he wanted was the kind of thing that built gradually — tension that reached a breaking point on its own, naturally and completely, without anyone having to nudge it over the edge.
Besides, Xu Lu's restraint was precisely why her relationship count was only two. From a certain angle, that was exactly the quality that made her worth pursuing.
"Let's head to Yida Plaza after this."
"Yida? What for?" Xu Lu asked.
"More clothes."
After dinner, they made their way to the Louis Vuitton store where Xu Lu worked.
As they stepped off the escalator onto the third floor, Zheng Fangyue — the Hermès salesgirl from next door — blinked in disbelief.
Isn't that the guy from last night? He came in, bought a few things, and he's already got Xu Lu on his arm?
Xu Lu guided Chen Qi through the doors of the LV boutique with her hand in the crook of his elbow. Zhang Jie — the colleague who'd been covering her shift — spotted them immediately and came forward with a warm smile.
"Lu Lu! Today's your day off — what brings you in?"
"Chen Qi wanted to pick up some more clothes."
This man treats Louis Vuitton like a market stall — just walks in and buys whatever.
"Lu Lu, I'm sure Mr. Chen doesn't need us hovering. You go ahead and take care of him."
"You're busy, Zhang Jie. I'll stay with him."
Chen Qi turned to Xu Lu. "If you see anything you like, grab it. We'll settle up together at the end."
Xu Lu knew he meant it. He had the means to back it up.
She was an LV employee — she knew better than anyone how expensive the pieces were. In all her time working there, she'd only bought three items herself, using her staff discount and saving up carefully. The white floral dress she'd been wearing all day was one of them.
"You're too good to me, big brother."
Chen Qi's own approach to shopping was straightforward — if it fit and looked reasonable, he bought it. Xu Lu had excellent taste, and she'd hold pieces up against him without him even trying them on; a quick check in the mirror was enough for him to say yes.
Three T-shirts, two pairs of casual trousers: ¥100,000.
"Big brother, what do you think?"
Xu Lu stepped out of the fitting room in a black spaghetti-strap mini dress. Her shoulders were bare and smooth, the silhouette of the dress doing everything right for her figure, the hem hitting at a length that made her legs look like they went on indefinitely.
"Stunning."
"Then I'll take this one."
"No."
"What?"
Xu Lu's expression flickered. She'd thought he was pulling back — but the dress wasn't even that expensive, certainly less than the caviar they'd had at dinner.
"One isn't enough. Get a few more," Chen Qi said.
[Xu Lu's favorability +5. Current favorability: 30.]
"Big brother, you can't just pause like that — you nearly gave me a heart attack," Xu Lu said, giving him a look of playful exasperation.
Shopping for women and shopping for men were two entirely different activities. Chen Qi's process was: does it fit? Yes? Sold. Xu Lu's process involved the dress, then the question of whether it matched her hair, her usual makeup, her existing wardrobe, the occasion she might wear it to, what shoes would pair with it—
Chen Qi couldn't contribute meaningfully to any of that. His job was to stand nearby and deliver a continuous stream of:
"That one's great."
"Get it."
"If you like it, it's yours."
He'd always wondered what it would feel like to say that. Now he knew. It felt incredible.
"You really are the best, big brother!"
Xu Lu lit up like a child on her birthday and threw herself into the racks with genuine enthusiasm.
An hour and change later, she'd chosen five pieces. Total: ¥160,000.
Zhang Jie was ringing them up at the register, piling on the compliments as she went.
"Mr. Chen, a man your age with this kind of success — Lu Lu's found someone truly wonderful. The two of you are going to have a beautiful life together."
"Zhang Jie!"
Xu Lu went pink. They were nowhere near that stage — saying something like that was wildly premature. She glanced at Chen Qi out of the corner of her eye, unsure what he'd say, caught between anticipation and nerves. Rich guys were notoriously hard to read.
"She's right, though," Chen Qi said. "A girl like Lu Lu — I'd be lucky to have the chance to take care of her."
"You're terrible," Xu Lu said softly, turning away.
[Xu Lu's favorability +2. Current favorability: 32.]
Money truly is the great equalizer, Chen Qi thought. The same line from a broke man gets you a slap. From a wealthy one, it gets you a blush.
"Lu Lu, let me walk you home."
Xu Lu tucked her hand into his arm. "Big brother, I want to stay and catch up with Zhang Jie for a bit."
"That's fine. I'll head back — I'll come find you tomorrow evening."
He had a pretty good idea of what "catching up" meant. She was going to debrief the entire day with her colleagues: every detail, every price tag, every moment.
"Message me when you get back."
After Chen Qi left, the three of them clustered together instantly. Xu Lu began at the beginning — everything she and Chen Qi had done, everything he'd spent. Zhang Jie and Xiao Jing listened with the focused attention of people hearing a particularly gripping story.
"¥25,000 caviar — one tin each?"
Zhang Jie couldn't begin to imagine what that tasted like.
"And did you two... you know?"
"Zhang Jie, we only met yesterday. How could anything happen that fast? Even if he spent ¥200,000 on me, I'm not just handing myself over after two days."
Xiao Jing jumped in enthusiastically. "If you won't, I will!"
"You little —"
Zhang Jie snorted. "Xiao Jing, give it a rest. Did you notice last night when he walked into the store? He didn't even glance your way — went straight for Lu Lu. Our Lu Lu's face, figure, presence — you won't find a second one like her in this entire plaza."
Chen Qi hadn't done a full sweep of the third floor's salesgirls — but for the record, Zheng Fangyue from Hermès next door had a charm rating of 90, which put her in the same tier as Xu Lu. She'd simply had a significantly higher relationship count, which had cost her the selection.
On the entire luxury floor, there were only two women at 90 points. The rest of the building didn't come close.
"Lu Lu, a catch like this one — you have to hold on. Men this good don't stay available for long."
"I know."
Today alone: that Ferrari salesgirl Zhang Li had gotten Chen Qi's WeChat. Zhou Yali from La Mer had tried to get it and been intercepted. There was competition, and Xu Lu was well aware of it.
"You don't think he might be some billionaire's secret son, do you?" Xiao Jing mused. "When he came in that first night, he was wearing cheap clothes. Then two days in a row he's back buying designer gear, buys a car outright — if he were a proper rich kid, he'd already have a car, right?"
It was a little soap-opera for a theory. But when you thought about it, it wasn't entirely unreasonable.
"Actually..." Xu Lu picked up the thread. "When he was filling out the paperwork at the dealership, he wouldn't give his home address — said it was inconvenient. And he's been staying at the Hilton the whole time. No permanent base."
The three of them arrived at a conclusion: Chen Qi was the illegitimate son of one of Donghai City's top-tier wealthy families — and he'd only recently been brought back into the fold.
"Lu Lu, if that's true, and you land him — you'd be the young mistress of a Donghai dynasty."
"It's not that simple. Not every girl gets to be a Wei Xue."
Every woman had imagined that life at some point — waking up inside old money, everything provided, nothing wanting. But genuine elite families were a small and exclusive circle, and wanting it was nowhere near enough.
Beauty, figure, background, education, strategy — and the final ingredient that could neither be manufactured nor predicted: luck.
Measured against the daughters of actual wealthy families, Xu Lu had one real advantage: her looks. Everything else was a mismatch. But her luck had held so far. Zheng Fangyue from the Hermès counter, who was every bit as striking as she was, had been Chen Qi's first stop the night he arrived — and he'd walked straight back out.