Chen Pingjiang had just opened his eyes in the morning when he saw a dark shadow at the head of the bed.
He was startled, then looked closer and realized it was Yan Yan, sitting by the bed reading a book.
"Why are you here?"
Yan Yan was dressed like a girl next door, her purple high-neck slim-fit sweater accentuating her slender waist.
"Uncle and Auntie went traveling. I was afraid you'd be bored alone at home, so I came to keep you company."
"But shouldn't you be at work today?"
"No, you're the most important."
Chen Pingjiang laughed,
"Is your little mouth smeared with honey? Come on, it's cold outside, come lie down."
With that, Chen Pingjiang opened the quilt.
Yan Yan's face reddened, but she still obediently took off her outer pants and, dressed in her thermal top, slipped into Chen Pingjiang's quilt.
"The house has floor heating, it's actually not cold."
"There's a kind of cold called 'I think you're cold.'"
Chen Pingjiang held Yan Yan, his hand slowly reaching her hip and beginning to caress it.
"I didn't expect you'd actually be wearing long johns."
"How could I not wear them? If I didn't, my mom wouldn't let me leave the house. She'd say I'd get old cold legs when I'm older."
Chen Pingjiang's large hand became increasingly restless, suddenly slipping directly into her long johns.
Yan Yan's body tensed.
As the two were pressed very close, almost stuck together, she could naturally feel Chen Pingjiang's intimate part pressing against her.
His morning reaction was strong, and with Yan Yan walking straight into the tiger's mouth, Chen Pingjiang wouldn't let her go.
About an hour later, the two finally got up.
Empress Dowager Xu and Chen Guangming went to Hainan for vacation; in their words, it was a bit warmer there.
"Mr. Chen, Yan Yan, your meal has been brought to the cinema. Eat quickly, or it will get cold soon."
"Okay, Aunt Liu."
The nanny's way of addressing Chen Pingjiang and Yan Yan was quite interesting.
Initially, to avoid confusion, she called Chen Guangming "Master," Chen Pingjiang "Young Master," and Yan Yan "Young Mistress."
However, Chen Pingjiang found it uncomfortable no matter how he heard it; it wasn't the feudal era anymore.
But she couldn't call him "Master" directly, as that would conflict with Chen Guangming.
Calling him by his name wouldn't show respect, especially since Chen Pingjiang was, strictly speaking, the head of this household.
In the end, Chen Pingjiang decided she should call him "Mr. Chen" and Yan Yan by her nickname.
After lunch, Chen Pingjiang took Yan Yan shopping.
It was about a half-hour drive from Mount Zijin to Deji Plaza, which was also Dongjiang's earliest high-end luxury shopping mall.
Don't underestimate Deji; although it can't beat Beijing's SKP, it is still the king of East China, with sales consistently ranking in the top three nationwide.
Unfortunately, Deji's 12-million-yuan restroom had yet to be completed.
Unlike other wealthy individuals who might be greeted by a manager as soon as they entered a luxury store, even wealthier people might not need to visit at all; managers would bring the latest seasonal collections directly to their homes.
Chen Pingjiang and Yan Yan were incredibly low-key.
Neither of them had much interest in so-called luxury goods; in Yan Yan's opinion, they were not as good as canvas bags.
Their main purpose for this trip was to buy a set of couple's rings at Cartier.
A rope was set up at the entrance of Cartier, limiting the number of people entering the store.
Chen Pingjiang and Yan Yan were not in a hurry.
Wearing baseball caps and sunglasses, Chen Pingjiang wasn't afraid of being recognized.
Li Fu and another bodyguard, Zhou Yishi, stood one at the entrance and the other accompanying Chen Pingjiang into the store.
Zhou Yishi was considered "unofficial personnel."
He had accompanied Chen Pingjiang on several previous trips to the United States.
After returning to China, Chen Pingjiang kept him on to assist Li Fu with his work.
However, there was a distinction in their closeness.
Li Fu, as Chen Pingjiang's earliest bodyguard and driver, was allowed into Chen Pingjiang's home, but Zhou Yishi was not.
If it weren't for shopping at the mall today, he wouldn't have been needed.
Li Fu stood ahead of Chen Pingjiang, entering the store a step earlier.
After entering, he first looked around, not going to the counter, but standing not far from the entrance, his eyes keenly fixed on the queuing crowd.
A sales associate smiled and gestured for Li Fu to go inside, but Li Fu didn't even look at her.
As the sales associate was wondering, she saw Li Fu move, subtly following beside a couple wearing baseball caps and sunglasses.
The sales associate's eyes lit up.
A big catch!
So heavily disguised and with a bodyguard, they must be celebrities.
Although curious about which celebrity it was, her good professional ethics kept her from being overly gossipy.
The two had a clear objective, heading straight to the couple's rings counter.
They picked up a classic pair of LOVE collection rings and left, with Li Fu staying behind to swipe the card.
"I'll take you to buy a bag."
Yan Yan smiled and shook her head,
"I don't want to."
Chen Pingjiang said,
"You have to buy one even if you don't like it. You'll need one when you accompany me to dinners or meet clients. Also, let's get their contact information later, so we won't have to come to the store anymore; we can just have the staff deliver things to our home."
As soon as Yan Yan entered the store, she tugged on Chen Pingjiang's sleeve.
"Haven't I seen that girl before? Is she your classmate?"
"Who?"
Chen Pingjiang looked back curiously, also quite surprised.
He didn't expect to see an acquaintance here.
From a distance, Cong Nini saw a man and a woman, heavily disguised, who looked at her after entering the store.
However, that couple was assigned to another colleague, so she didn't approach them.
But to her surprise, after a while, she heard the girl call her name:
"Cong Nini?"
Just then, the man pulled off his sunglasses and waved at her.
"Huh!?"
The more Cong Nini looked, the more familiar he seemed.
Wasn't that Chen Pingjiang?
The two didn't keep in touch much now.
She couldn't just casually walk into Chen Pingjiang's workplace like before, and everyone was interning in different places at the moment.
Seeing that captivating figure again made Cong Nini a little excited.
The only slight imperfection was that Chen Pingjiang was accompanied by his official girlfriend.
"How wonderful it would be if it were me standing beside him."
After walking closer, Chen Pingjiang asked curiously,
"Why are you working here?"
Cong Nini said,
"The salary is high. I didn't pay much attention in class, so when I looked for a job, it was either sales or sales, or a receptionist. I can't exactly work at a KTV, can I? At least here, the chance of being harassed by old men is lower, and the salary is good."
Chen Pingjiang would never have imagined that Cong Nini, who was always so concerned about her image, would become a sales associate.
It seemed she had really changed a lot.
"Hello, Senior,"
Cong Nini greeted Yan Yan openly.
"Hello, I just happen to want to look at bags. Why don't you show me around?"
Chen Pingjiang teased,
"The Cong Nini I remember would come here to shop, but I really didn't expect her to work here."
Cong Nini smiled wryly, rolling her eyes.
"I have to work, right? Otherwise, what would I eat? Plus, I like bags; even if I don't buy them, I'm happy just looking at them here."
Chen Pingjiang smiled faintly,
"That's a good excuse."
With Cong Nini accompanying them, Chen Pingjiang went to sit calmly to the side.
The other sales associate who had been with Yan Yan, upon hearing that she was Cong Nini's classmate, immediately lost interest in the two.
What kind of spending power could a mere student have?
"They're yours. I'll take the next customers."
Cong Nini quickly said thank you.
Chen Pingjiang took in the entire scene.
He didn't expect that after four years of university, Wang Lei was still the same Wang Lei, but Cong Nini was no longer the same Cong Nini.
The old Cong Nini would probably have gone gold-digging by now.
Yan Yan, with her keen perception, had clearly seen the expression on the sales associate's face who had just left.
"I want this one, this one, this one, this one..."
Under Cong Nini's incredulous gaze, Yan Yan casually pointed seven or eight times, then smiled and said,
"Wrap them all up."
"No, Senior, these are very expensive."
"I know."
"But you're buying so many, you couldn't even carry a different one every day."
"I'm helping you boost your sales."
"Wuwuwu, I could literally cry."
Cong Nini hadn't expected Yan Yan to have such intentions and was incredibly touched.
Chen Pingjiang, watching from the side, shook his head and chuckled.
Yan Yan's methods were truly impressive.
When Cong Nini walked to the cashier with a pile of large and small bags, the cashier exclaimed,
"So many? All checked out?"
"Yes!"
Cong Nini raised her head, a proud expression on her face.
She had only recently started working here and had never been a sales associate before.
She had no resources at all; if it weren't for her good luck and good looks, it wouldn't have been her turn to get this job.
Before today, her sales performance was at the bottom.
Many people were drawn by the commotion at the cashier, seeing the pile of large and small bags on the counter, all wondering which local tycoon was spending money so carelessly.
The sales associate who had just walked away was so regretful that her intestines turned green.
After the card was swiped, Li Fu stepped forward and picked up all the packaged bags.
"Give me your phone number. Next time, if there are any nice clothes or skirts, send them to your class monitor's home."
Cong Nini nodded repeatedly,
"Okay, okay."
After speaking, Cong Nini turned back and winked at Chen Pingjiang.
"I acknowledge this 'boss.' From now on, I'll willingly call her 'boss.'"
Others might not understand, but how could Chen Pingjiang not understand?
There was a hidden meaning there.
It meant that Yan Yan was the "main one," and she, Cong Nini, was willing to be the "other one."
What the hell was this?
His good classmate still had a heart set on dragging him down.
After getting in the car, Chen Pingjiang asked curiously,
"You don't like luxury goods, so why buy so many? Is it just because she's my classmate?"
Yan Yan nodded,
"For your sake, to show some support."
Meanwhile, when the people in the Hermès store saw the couple leave hand-in-hand, with the bodyguard carrying a pile of large and small bags behind them, they all rushed up.
"Nini, who were those people? So rich?"
"I heard they were your classmates? Rich second-generation?"
"I've worked here for so many years, and I've never seen anyone buy so much in one go."
"..."
Cong Nini, who was usually somewhat ostracized, suddenly perked up.
The elation she felt was beyond words; it was truly exhilarating.
"My classmate doesn't like luxury goods; she deliberately took care of me when she saw me working here. By the way, manager, my classmate said that when you have time, you can bring some of the seasonal new arrivals to her home for her to see. Is that okay?"
The manager nodded,
"Of course, that's fine. Most people don't get this treatment, but for her, it's definitely not a problem."
"Oh, okay. Her home is in Zhongshan Villa. I'll take a colleague with me later; otherwise, I can't carry that much alone."
(End of chapter)