Zhao Ruilong laughed triumphantly, his gaze sweeping around the restaurant.
Suddenly, his eyes stopped, his sight passing over several tables and landing on the couple by the window.
More precisely, it landed on the man who was cutting his steak with his head down.
Zhao Ruilong's lips curled up, he released the hand he had around Xiaoya, and strode over.
"Oh, isn't this Special Assistant Fang?"
Zhao Ruilong's voice was loud, carrying a sarcastic tone, instantly breaking the peace on Fang Ming's side.
Last time, Fang Ming had bumped into him while holding Gu Qinghe.
Although, out of respect for Qin Xiao, Zhao Ruilong could choose not to trouble Fang Ming, running into him today, if he didn't humiliate Fang Ming a bit, he would feel like he was losing out.
Fang Ming put down his knife and fork, wiped his mouth with a napkin, a flawless professional smile on his face.
"Young Master Zhao, what a coincidence, I didn't expect to run into you here."
"It is quite a coincidence."
Zhao Ruilong sized up Fang Ming, maintaining a mocking expression: "You've gotten rich? To actually come to a place like this to spend money? You won't run out of money to pay later, will you?"
His mocking tone was obvious even to a fool.
He had already learned about Fang Ming's salary from Qin Xiao; a meal here easily cost over a thousand, which was not something an ordinary office worker like Fang Ming could casually afford.
"Young Master Zhao, you jest," Fang Ming said, his expression unchanged. "I still have enough money to treat my girlfriend to a meal."
Zhao Ruilong squinted, glanced at the Gucci bag in front of Chen Qian, pulled a cigar from his pocket, and his bodyguard immediately bent down to light it.
He exhaled a puff of smoke, its scent extremely pungent amidst the cool aroma of the high-end restaurant.
"A bag over twenty thousand, a Western meal for several thousand, tsk tsk, your entire month's salary, after rent and utilities, all spent on a woman, huh? What for?"
As Zhao Ruilong spoke, he deliberately tightened his arm around Xiaoya beside him.
Xiaoya was like a startled quail, yet she enjoyed the vanity of being embraced by a rich young master, her eyes darting away, not daring to look at Fang Ming.
She clearly recognized Fang Ming and Chen Qian as the couple from the Gucci store earlier.
"For the thrill of it, I guess."
Fang Ming's expression remained calm as he took a sip of red wine. "Ordinary people have their own ways of living. I can't compare to Young Master Zhao; the scraps he casually throws out are enough for ordinary people to live on for a lifetime."
"Heh, you're quite open-minded, kid."
Zhao Ruilong saw that Fang Ming was neither humble nor arrogant, completely lacking the embarrassment and anger he had imagined, and instantly felt bored.
He pouted and muttered to himself, "Well, he's a simp, so as long as he gets what he wants, spending a month's salary is worth it."
"Forget it, I'm not going to waste time with you, kid. Let's go, darling, we'll go to the private room. Brother will show you what real spending is, and after dinner, I'll buy you a few more expensive things."
"Then, brother will let you experience what it's like to overlook Rong City from the large floor-to-ceiling window in that private room, and practice your singing. The violin music here is too soft; brother wants to hear something more exciting..."
Xiaoya's face immediately flushed red, and she playfully punched Zhao Ruilong's chest, half-reluctantly following him away.
Zhao Ruilong's arrogant laughter echoed in the hallway, carrying a blatant sense of class superiority.
Fang Ming watched their retreating figures, his expression calm, his eyes deep.
Zhou Yuan was a delivery driver, and not only did he have a beautiful girlfriend, but she was actually stolen by a top-tier second-generation rich kid like Zhao Ruilong?
You know, Xiaoya's looks weren't top-tier, so why would Zhao Ruilong take an interest in her?
Did Zhao Ruilong have some special fetish? Or was it... that Zhou Yuan really was a protagonist?
"What are you looking at? They're gone," Chen Qian muttered softly, a hint of complexity flickering in her eyes. "Young Master Zhao's words were unpleasant, but he... really is rich."
"Rich people's money isn't just given away for free."
Fang Ming came back to his senses. "Let's eat quickly. After we're done, we can go for a walk together. After all, opportunities like 'putting on a brave face to appear wealthy' don't come around often."
...Encountering Zhou Yuan and Xiaoya having a disagreement at the Gucci store was just a small interlude, and running into Zhao Ruilong and Xiaoya at Lanmeng Western Restaurant was even more unexpected.
As an outsider, Fang Ming didn't take it too seriously.
After dinner with Chen Qian, they strolled around for a bit, then went to Chen Qian's house to pick up two outfits and stockings before heading to a hotel to check in.
Why go to a hotel instead of staying at home?
Because Chen Qian's home was in the villa area prepared by the Qin Family for their trusted subordinates, where Chen Qian's parents lived, which was inconvenient.
As for Fang Ming's home, it was too small to be comfortable.
So, for Fang Ming, the feeling of relaxing completely in a hotel with air conditioning and a hot shower was the most comfortable.
Chen Qian kept her promise, wearing a JK uniform and black stockings, cooperating with Fang Ming's every move.
This... was a pleasant night.
The next morning.
"Phew! That was truly damn comfortable!" Fang Ming had slept well, feeling refreshed and full of energy as he stretched.
There's no place like home, and even a hotel in Rong City made Fang Ming feel like he was home.
Looking at the meager balance of just over three thousand yuan left in his bank card, Fang Ming for the first time felt the price of an ordinary person living a high-end lifestyle.
Although Chen Qian wasn't the female lead, she was definitely high-end. An ordinary person like him, without enough opportunities, would probably only be able to go to places like KTVs if he wanted to experience something similar once.
"I must find a way to acquire some 'legal' assets," Fang Ming muttered to himself.
Although he had a good amount of money, and using it privately was fine, using it under Qin Xiao's nose was clearly not an option.
Fang Ming was not one to sit idly by. After going to work as usual, he directly found Qin Xiao and explained the situation: he couldn't afford to support his girlfriend anymore, so could Qin Xiao introduce him to some freelance work?
Upon hearing Fang Ming's words, Qin Xiao also reacted.
In his previous life, Fang Ming was content with just himself, and a salary of six or seven thousand was perfectly sufficient, so there was no need for him to betray Qin Xiao.
In this life, he had given Chen Qian to Fang Ming. If he didn't find a way to satisfy Fang Ming's desires, Fang Ming might be bought over by others.
Was this digging a pit for himself?
After much deliberation, Qin Xiao decided to give him a chance.
"You want to make money?" Qin Xiao said faintly, his voice betraying no emotion.
Fang Ming nodded awkwardly. "Young Master Qin, you know, my family's mess hasn't been cleaned up yet, and now there's Chen Qian, this money pit. I'm truly overwhelmed..."
Qin Xiao chuckled softly, took out a box of cigars from his drawer, cut and lit one.
Then, from the mountain of documents, he pulled out a yellow paper bag, and with a flick of his wrist, the bag slid across the smooth mahogany desk to Fang Ming.
"Open it and take a look."
Fang Ming didn't hesitate, picked up the paper bag, and untied the white string sealing it.
Inside were only a few photos and two pages of A4 printed materials. The photos were secretly taken with a telephoto lens.
The first one was of an old man in a white lab coat, wearing thick-rimmed glasses, with graying hair.
Although he looked unremarkable, one could feel his scholarly and meticulous aura even through the photo.
The second photo showed a little girl with a pink backpack and twin pigtails, looking about six or seven years old, smiling sweetly with a missing front tooth.
The third photo was of a slightly plump old woman carrying a vegetable basket, holding the little girl's hand while crossing the street.
Fang Ming quickly scanned the text on the documents.
Liu Changqing, male, 58 years old, Chief Formulator at Yunlan International, Director of R&D Department, currently responsible for the core ingredient improvement and quality control of 'jade dew'.
Home Address: Unit 2, Building 4, Jinxiu Garden Community, Room 601.
Family Members: Wife: Wang Xiulian, 56 years old, retired teacher.
Granddaughter: Liu Duoduo, 6 years old, first-grade student in Class 3, Rongcheng Experimental Primary School.
Seeing this, Fang Ming generally understood.
Qin Xiao, this guy, really was thinking the same thing as him—trying to pull the rug out from under someone?