In the end, Xia Qing forced a smile and said:
"Bai Li, even though we broke up, we're still friends, aren't we?"
"I'm about to get engaged — what's wrong with celebrating together as friends?"
"Don't tell me you still can't get over me?"
Hearing Xia Qing's words, Bai Li had only one thought: is this woman out of her mind?
"Friends? Who said we're friends?" He leaned back in his chair, eyes full of mockery:
"Why would I go celebrate your wedding? To celebrate you finally finding some sucker to pick up your baggage? Or maybe…"
He paused, his gaze sweeping over the elegant Chanel-style tweed jacket she was wearing, his tone light and breezy:
"You'd wear your wedding dress the night before the ceremony and sleep with me?"
The words landed, and the air went quiet for two full seconds.
Xia Qing's face instantly flushed a deep, livid red — a mix of shame and fury — and the hand she pointed at Bai Li was trembling:
"You…"
"Stop your 'you, you, you.'" Bai Li cut her off immediately, giving her no chance to get a word in:
"Don't think I don't know what you're scheming. Shoving that invitation card right in my face — aren't you just trying to show off your so-called glamorous life?"
"Save it. I'd rather spend that time taking my three girls here to play at the claw machine."
Just as Xia Qing was about to explode on the spot, a slightly pudgy figure came huffing and puffing over.
"Qingqing, how does buying bubble tea take this long? I thought you'd gotten lost."
The newcomer was a middle-aged man around forty, on the shorter side. His Mediterranean-style hairline had been carefully combed over, but it still couldn't hide the barren wasteland on top of his head.
He wore a tight Armani T-shirt, his belly fat stretching the logo slightly out of shape.
He walked up beside Xia Qing and wrapped a chubby arm around her waist.
Xia Qing's body stiffened for a moment.
The greasy, sweaty smell unique to pudgy middle-aged men hit her nostrils, sending a wave of nausea rolling through her stomach.
If not for the several liquor and tobacco wholesale shops in his name and his reasonably decent assets for a small county town, she wouldn't have given a man like this a second glance.
"You… why are you here?"
"What's wrong, Qingqing — did I come at a bad time?"
Her instinct was to pull away, but knowing Bai Li was watching from across the table, she forced down her disgust and instead leaned into the man's arms.
Even so, her eyes darted around, unable to meet Bai Li's gaze, and she felt an inexplicable sense of having cheapened herself.
Bai Li looked at this "perfect couple" in front of him and nearly burst out laughing.
He had figured that even if Xia Qing was going for money, someone as proud as her would at least find someone halfway decent-looking.
He hadn't expected her taste to run this heavy. Never mind calling this guy a fiancé — dye his hair white and you could pass him off as her uncle, and people would believe it.
"So this is your type now." Bai Li rubbed his chin, clicking his tongue: "Mature. Stable."
Xia Qing caught the sarcasm in his words and stiffened her neck:
"None of your business! Lao Wang treats me well — he's attentive and caring. That's worth a lot more than some pretty-boy who's all talk!"
The man called Lao Wang also sensed something was off, but a seasoned operator like him had skin thicker than a city wall.
He let out a sly chuckle, reached down and patted the keychain hanging at his waist, deliberately letting the prominent Mercedes logo catch the light, then pressed the unlock button.
Beep beep—
Across the road, the headlights of a white Mercedes C260 flashed twice.
"Young man, that's not quite right," Lao Wang said, squinting with the air of a worldly elder dispensing wisdom:
"A middle-aged man like me is reliable. The most important thing is financial stability!"
"These days, can love put food on the table? If you're still making a woman pay for her own ride on a date, now that's embarrassing — don't you think?"
As he spoke, he cast a pointed glance at Bai Li, oozing self-satisfaction.
Before Bai Li could respond, Chen Tingting beside him erupted first.
As a top-tier wild girl, the one thing she couldn't stand in this life was this kind of pompous, loaded old man.
"Oh please, the way you talk, people would think you were driving a Rolls-Royce."
Chen Tingting rolled her eyes and looked Lao Wang up and down with the disdain of someone inspecting a slab of pork.
"Ma'am, your taste is truly something else. Going for an old man like this — is it his age you're after? His refusal to shower?"
"He's so fat — on your wedding night, won't you have to lift three rolls of belly fat before you can even find the little fella down there?"
Pfft—
Lin Xiaoshuang, who had been drinking water, couldn't hold it in — she spat it all out.
Lao Wang's face instantly turned a deep, livid red, his smile frozen in place.
Li Jiaxin wasn't about to stay quiet either. She delivered a cold, cutting follow-up:
"Actually, it's a great match. Your husband isn't greedy for money, and you're not shallow about looks — a match made in heaven."
"Besides, your fiancé — he's got less hair than you do, hasn't he?"
"Ha, yes, yes, exactly!" Lin Xiaoshuang wiped her mouth and nodded furiously.
The three girls traded barbs in perfect sync, cranking the mockery all the way up to maximum.
Lao Wang shook with rage, pointing at them and trying to say something, but when his eyes landed on their faces, that fury strangely deflated a little.
Damn, these three girls are actually pretty cute.
That fresh, dewy collagen glow — no amount of expensive skincare could replicate that kind of youthful radiance.
Especially the one in the high school girl uniform. Those legs were really something.
The dirty thoughts in Lao Wang's mind instantly stirred to life.
He'd been running the county town scene for years — what kind of woman hadn't he seen?
But these wild girls, fresh and vibrant like this, were genuinely appealing.
He tossed his thinning hair back with what he imagined was a suave flourish and flashed a greasy smile.
"Little ladies, you're still young — you don't understand. Your thinking is too immature."
Lao Wang said earnestly:
"What future is there following a pretty boy like that? No money — you'll be eating the wind."
"You think a few hundred bucks is big money now, but when you grow up you'll realize that kind of cash is pocket change."
As he spoke, he let his lecherous gaze wander over the three girls:
"When it comes to men, you need someone like me. Rich, and… what's the word? Ruggedly charming! You know? This uncle has what you call bad-boy good looks."
"Ugh — what the hell is 'bad-boy good looks'?"
Chen Tingting made an exaggerated gagging gesture:
"Mister, your skin is thicker than a pig's hide — watch out for the butchers on the street come New Year's."
"Besides, so what if our big brother doesn't have as much money as you right now? He's only twenty-five! You're practically halfway in the ground!"
"Exactly!" Lin Xiaoshuang hugged Bai Li's arm and lifted her chin proudly:
"I think our big brother is the best in the whole world! He's going to be ten thousand times richer than you someday!"
"We're only nineteen — we'll outlast you just by waiting!" Li Jiaxin concluded coldly.
That line — "we're only nineteen" — hit like a sledgehammer, driving straight into both Xia Qing's and Lao Wang's chests.
Youth is the greatest capital of all — an overwhelming, unreasonable advantage that no amount of money can buy.
Xia Qing looked at those three bright, youthful faces, then glanced at the flabby man beside her, and the crushing sense of contrast shattered what was left of her composure.
"Lao Wang! Let's go!" She couldn't stand another second of this. She stomped her foot hard and turned to leave.
Lao Wang had no desire to stick around either — after all, being called out for his "little fella" by three young girls to his face left him with nowhere to put his dignity.
"Hmph! A bunch of country bumpkins who've never seen the world!" He threw out one last toothless insult and scurried off after Xia Qing.