“Hm?”
Ji Yanli turned to look at Xia Feifei, completely baffled, but she had already gone inside and closed the door.
Since he hadn’t heard her clearly, he was too embarrassed to keep asking. He went to the kitchen for some water, then returned to his room to sleep.
Early the next morning.
After the gathering the night before, his clothes had gotten dirty. He realized he was very close to the address Xia Feifei had given him.
Not liking the damp feeling of his clothes, Ji Yanli simply had his driver take him there.
So today, with no change of clothes, the first thing he did when he woke up was message his assistant and ask him to bring some over.
Since it was still early, and he didn’t want to disturb Xia Feifei in the other room, after sending the request for his clothes, he added another message:
“Yu Fei, when you get here, don’t knock. Just message me.”
Once he’d sent it, Ji Yanli put his phone aside, returned to the screen, and began reviewing the day’s schedule and some reports.
It was more than ten minutes later when a notification appeared on the screen: Yu Fei had arrived.
Ji Yanli got up and opened the door. The moment it swung open, he gestured to Yu Fei to keep quiet.
“Presi—”
Yu Fei swallowed the first syllable before it could fully escape. He respectfully handed over the garment bag, and as soon as Ji Yanli took it and turned away, he hurried after him into the room.
His eyes kept wandering around the small apartment, which looked more like a model home.
He still hadn’t figured out why their President Ji would choose to stay in this bare little place instead of his private villa when Ji Yanli suddenly stopped a short distance away. Yu Fei hastily looked away, lowered his head obediently, and waited for instructions.
“Yu Fei, why don’t you wait downstairs—never mind. Stay here for a few minutes. I’ll be right back.”
Ji Yanli had been about to send him downstairs, but paused. It seemed pointless for just a few minutes, so he changed his mind.
Before going into the bedroom, he added, just to be safe, “Stay put. Don’t wander around.”
After changing quickly, Ji Yanli was about to make his escape with his assistant when he opened the door and found himself face-to-face with Xia Feifei across the hall.
That’s right. In those few minutes, Xia Feifei had gotten up to use the bathroom. When she opened her door, she saw a strange man in the living room.
She was trying to stay calm and decide whether to run or call for help when the door opposite hers opened. There stood Ji Yanli, sharply dressed in a suit.
“Your… friend?”
Looking at Ji Yanli, Xia Feifei’s tone was decidedly unfriendly.
She was providing room and board, but that didn’t mean he could invite friends over without telling her.
“Yes, he’s my friend.”
Ji Yanli was clearly taken aback. Hearing her displeasure, he hurried to explain, “Ms. Xia, I came over in a hurry last night and didn’t bring a change of clothes. It was an unusual situation; I didn’t mean to disturb you. I’m sorry. I’ll be more careful in the future.”
“Fine. Don’t let it happen again.”
With him being so apologetic, Xia Feifei didn’t feel she could say much more. But just as she finished speaking, her attention was drawn to the small leopard emblem on the collar of Ji Yanli’s clothes.
If she wasn’t mistaken, a large part of her wardrobe back in Rong Nation consisted of custom-made pieces from this brand.
Golden Leopard: global bespoke couture, a company that made clothes specifically for the wealthy and nobility. They only took orders by collection, with every garment priced in the seven figures to start. Their service was strictly one-on-one, and they didn’t accept individual orders.
Xia Feifei took a few steps closer. Her sudden reach made Ji Yanli instinctively step back, but when she touched his collar to straighten it, he held himself still and resisted the urge to retreat.
Her small hand straightened his collar. After running her fingers over the emblem to make sure it was genuine, she said without thinking, “That’s a nice outfit. I bet it wasn’t cheap.”
“Of course, Sister-in-law. You’ve got a great eye. This is Golden Leopard—”
“An imitation.”
Ji Yanli cut Yu Fei off, warning him with a glance before turning to Xia Feifei. “It’s a knockoff of some brand called Golden Leopard or Silver Leopard. Three hundred and ninety-nine a piece. Not bad quality, right?”
“Oh! Is that so? It really is quite good.”
Xia Feifei didn’t call him out on the lie, but her opinion of Ji Yanli dropped straight below zero.
There was nothing wrong with living off someone else. What was unbearable was someone who did that while insisting on putting on airs.
“Um, Ji… Ji Yanli, it’s getting late. Maybe we should get on with what we came here to do.”
Yu Fei didn’t know exactly what was going on, but even if he’d never eaten pork, he’d surely seen a pig run.
He watched plenty of short dramas and videos online. He just hadn’t expected his Young Master Ji to pull something this melodramatic.
He thought it was ridiculous, personally, but he respected the choice—and was doing his best to play along.
“Right. All right, Ms. Xia, I’ll get to work. If you need anything, just message me.”
Watching the two of them leave, Xia Feifei immediately began thinking about switching partners.
This A-grade looks rating was certainly worth every penny—maybe even a spectacular bargain.
But the man himself was all flash and no substance, and far too slippery. How could someone with no relationship experience like her possibly handle him?
No, no. The best of the thirty-six stratagems was to run. If she couldn’t handle him, she could at least switch to someone else, right?
With that thought, Xia Feifei immediately took out her phone and called a service representative at Worry Relief Hall.
“Hello, you’ve reached Worry Relief Hall, employee number 008. How may I help you?”
“Hello. I’d like to ask what the procedure is for switching male companions.”
“Ma’am, you’d like to switch male companions? May I ask what’s made you want to switch, and what you’re looking for in the next one?”
“Well, it’s like this…”
The two began a back-and-forth, and the process went smoothly, step by step, until Xia Feifei gave her name. Then the person on the other end abruptly hung up.
What?
While Xia Feifei was still stunned, the other party suddenly called her back. This time, a man’s voice came on the line, and before she could say a word, he launched into a string of apologies.
His apologetic tone was enough to extinguish whatever temper she had left.
“Never mind. It’s fine. Let’s just go through the process first. Once that’s done, we still have to get the divorce certificate and—”
“No!”
The man cut Xia Feifei off before she could finish. He hurriedly explained that they didn’t offer any way to switch boyfriends, and that she couldn’t get divorced either.
He also said that the contract she’d signed was for one year, and that ending it early would mean paying a penalty ten times the amount.
Ten times. That was only two million.
Just as Xia Feifei was preparing to take the loss, pay up, and accept her fate, the man on the other end of the line suddenly changed his tune.