The saleswoman hesitated for three seconds before instinctively sizing up Lu Xingyan. She couldn’t help it; he had just seemed too obsessed earlier, and she hadn’t even considered he might be here to buy a car. But after a quick assessment, he looked like an ordinary college student at best, perhaps one with a decent family background, wearing trendy but not overly expensive streetwear brands. Could a few college students afford this?
But then again, this was Beijing. Who didn’t have money here? A few million for a car was just a drop in the bucket for the wealthy. Having worked in luxury car sales for years, she knew not to underestimate certain customers who didn’t fit the typical spending profile.
Still, she smiled. “Let me introduce you to our models for this year…”
Lu Xingyan interrupted, “Let her introduce. I’ll buy if she does.”
The saleswoman paused.
Shen Xingruo, drawn by the commotion, glanced over and met Lu Xingyan’s gaze.
Shen Xingruo said, “…”
Lu Xingyan smiled and walked past the saleswoman towards her. “What are you doing here?”
Shen Xingruo looked surprised.
Although she had a lot to say, she also knew this wasn’t the time for chitchat. She glanced at the saleswoman behind him and said softly, “I’m covering for my roommate part-time. It ends at six. You can browse around first, and I’ll find you when it’s over.”
Shen Xingruo wore high heels, but when facing Lu Xingyan, she still had to tilt her head slightly.
Lu Xingyan bent down and tidied her hair. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay here.”
“But…”
Lu Xingyan interrupted, “Introduce me to this car. If you do a good job, I’ll buy it. Don’t just stand there; sit in the passenger seat and explain.”
This wasn’t an international car show where cars were only displayed and not sold annually. There was no reason not to let him sit in and try it out.
The saleswoman hesitated for a moment, then nodded at Shen Xingruo.
Shen Xingruo had been standing in heels for half a day, and her legs were numb. If she could sit for a while, she wouldn’t refuse. However, although the saleswoman didn’t take Lu Xingyan’s words seriously, Shen Xingruo did. As she sat in the passenger seat, she asked, “You want to buy this car?”
Lu Xingyan replied with a grunt, “Yeah. My dad gave me money a long time ago, and I still haven’t decided which one to buy. But I think this one suits you. It has that… very cool feeling, you know.”
Shen Xingruo said nothing.
At that moment, the saleswoman approached with some brochures, ready to introduce Lu Xingyan to the details.
Lu Xingyan frowned slightly, growing impatient. “Sis, no need for introductions. I’m not here to freeload. I said I’m buying, so I’m buying. If you don’t believe me, check it. Jiang Che, my cousin, sold the One-77. You know who he sold it to. With a One-77 in hand, why would I steal a DB11?”
“My girlfriend can’t wear high heels and has been standing for so long her legs are numb. Let her rest a bit. I’ll talk to her, figure out the paperwork, how long the waitlist is—and sort that out. I’ll just handle the card swiping. Is that okay?”
The One-77, indeed, was in the possession of Jiang Che, the CEO of Jiangxing Corporation. After all, there were only a few of them in total, each costing tens of millions, and it was hard not to remember such a high-profile purchase. The saleswoman was stunned into silence.
Shen Xingruo had taken some time in the past few days to look at information about this brand, so she had some impression of the car models and prices. A two to three million car didn’t seem particularly expensive to her, but when Lu Xingyan had talked about getting a sports car right after getting his driver’s license, she had felt it was a bit ostentatious for a freshman.
But now, hearing about Jiang Che’s flamboyance, she felt that Lu Xingyan was quite down-to-earth. A sports car was just a sports car, and this Aston Martin was one of the best-selling models, with pretty good value for money. At least it was much more cost-effective than the One-77. And he had always resented the fact that Xu Chengzhou could achieve top scores and still afford to drive around Australia in luxury, while he, with his 985 exam results, could only afford to take taxis occasionally and even had to ride the subway. He was almost at the point of waiting on the roadside for a motorbike.
That evening, Su Jiao received a call from Haoge. His attitude had made a complete 180-degree turn, becoming incredibly affable and immediately launching into a long string of incomprehensible words. Su Jiao listened for a while, then struggled to make sense of it. “Wh-what? My friend’s boyfriend… bought the Aston Martin I was standing by?”
“Yeah!” Haoge enthusiastically described the wildly exaggerated rumors circulating at the car show to Su Jiao. “Do you know who your friend is? Her boyfriend’s family even has a One-77! Do you know what a One-77 is? Well, you don’t need to know. Just know it costs forty-seven million!”
“And do you know why he bought this car today? It’s because he wanted his girlfriend to rest. He said his girlfriend was tired from wearing high heels! What the hell kind of fantasy story is this?”
Su Jiao was bewildered.
She knew Shen Xingruo and her boyfriend came from well-off families; otherwise, they couldn’t easily afford the expenses of a long-distance relationship. But this… this buying a car to rest, it was quite fantastical.
Su Jiao said, “Haoge, Haoge, you must be mistaken. How could this be possible?”
“How could it not be true?! It’s true!”
Rumors are indeed quite magical.
Lu Xingyan indeed wanted to buy the car because he felt it complemented Shen Xingruo well, but the DB11 was already within his range of choices before this. If Shen Xingruo had been standing by a One-77 today, he would have stayed quiet even if he didn’t have the money.
Su Jiao limped along the road to the library to return books, feeling light-headed. After returning the books, she bumped into the sophomore senior from Guomao who was pursuing Shen Xingruo.
This senior had been pursuing Shen Xingruo since military training last semester and had never stopped.
Many people had pursued Shen Xingruo, but most, after learning she had a boyfriend, tactfully withdrew. Only this senior, perhaps thinking himself handsome, talented, and used to be popular with girls, refused to give up. He showered her with gifts, causing Shen Xingruo no small amount of trouble.
Despite his expertise in dealing with girls, Shen Xingruo remained unaffected. He then tried to win over her roommates, and they, unable to resist, helped him deliver gifts several times.
Now, employing the same tactic, the senior wanted Su Jiao to help him deliver a gift.
Still in shock, Su Jiao couldn’t quite grasp what he was saying, but as he quieted down, she looked at the gift—a delicate collarbone necklace.
Pausing, she met the senior’s gaze, her eyes suddenly clear as she earnestly advised, “Senior, I suggest you not bother. Shen Xingruo doesn’t lack these things, and she wouldn’t accept them.”
The senior asked, “Then what does she lack? Tell me, and I’ll buy it for her.”
How clueless.
Su Jiao’s gaze wandered, then she looked back at the senior, her eyes distant. “She’s tired from wearing high heels. Can you buy her an Aston Martin to rest?”
What nonsense.
Turning back to the senior, she said, “If you can’t, you should take a break yourself.”
The senior was speechless.
Shen Xingruo hadn’t expected Lu Xingyan to come to Beijing on a whim, and she only remembered to ask when they were at the hotpot restaurant, “It’s just for a day. How did you manage to come here? When are you going back?”
Lu Xingyan replied while ordering, “Tomorrow morning. I didn’t want my dear girlfriend to get angry, so I came to cheer you up.”
Shen Xingruo retorted, “When was I ever angry?”
Seeing her refusal to admit it, Lu Xingyan became agitated. “Didn’t you tell Li Chengfan last night that if I kept drinking, you’d break up with me? As soon as I heard that, I sobered up almost instantly. I wanted to find a washboard and have you punish me remotely.”
The nearby waiter was struggling to contain his laughter.
After ordering the dishes and returning the tablet, Lu Xingyan joked, “Our family’s discipline is strict, handsome. Don’t go for those good-looking but treacherous types. If things don’t go their way, you won’t even know what crime you’ve committed.”
Shen Xingruo took a sip of lemon water, her eyes coldly observing his lively antics.
Once the waiter confirmed the order, she suddenly said to him, “Let’s skip the ‘mandarin duck’ hotpot and switch to spicy butter instead. His head won’t fit into a ‘mandarin duck’ pot.”
The waiter?
Shen Xingruo set down her lemon water. “Live scalding, a form of capital punishment in our household code.”