Jiang Ye opened WeChat to check his balance and sent a message to his closest buddy in the dorm, Fang Wei:
"Old Fang, urgent help needed, lend me 50,000. If that's not possible, 500 will do."
Fang Wei: "......"
Jiang Ye: "......"
A few seconds later, a notification popped up: Fang Wei has transferred 500 yuan to you.
Jiang Ye accepted it immediately and sent a voice message: "Thanks, buddy! You're the best! I'll give you a surprise when you come to Shengtian."
Fang Wei: "It better not be a dinner at your place, where I lose 500 and still have to give a gift."
Jiang Ye: "Kidding? When you come, don't kneel and call me dad begging for mercy!"
Fang Wei: "Begging you to pay me back, huh?"
Jiang Ye clicked his tongue, lamenting how the world has changed and brotherhood has become as thin as paper.
He immediately contacted the car rental service to extend the rental for another day, reducing his funds to 400 yuan.
At six in the evening, Jiang Ye parked the BMW 5 Series at the familiar intersection near the Music Academy.
As dusk fell and the city lights came on, he continued with his unlikely Plan B—waiting for a chance.
Hoping to meet another girl like Ye Cheng who was "perceptive" or at least could "mistake the car," he idly pulled out his phone to check the price of tights on an online store.
Ye Cheng's teasing earlier in the day had given him a new idea.
Directly asking her for money might be difficult, but if he could use her "misunderstanding" of him to guide her into buying some particularly expensive tights and then gifting them to him, wouldn't that cashback come rolling in?
There was nothing wrong with this logic, right?
After some searching, Jiang Ye was dazzled by the various brands and prices.
Especially the "Balenciaga" he had mentioned earlier, with prices ranging from 19.8 to 2000, the variance was huge.
He recalled that woman seemed to use an iPhone 14, so her spending level should be average. Even if she did have it, it was likely the 19.8 with free shipping kind, and tenfold cashback would only be 198, not worth it.
So, he opened Ye Cheng's WeChat.
Jiang Ye: "Hey, have you left yet?"
Ye Cheng quickly replied: "Not off work yet, almost, what's up?"
Jiang Ye: "What I said earlier about those lettered black tights was a joke."
Ye Cheng: "Hmm? Really?"
Jiang Ye: "Yeah, just teasing you. It's cold now, don't wear that, you'll freeze."
Ye Cheng: "Oh, you're quite considerate."
"Check this out, 'Victoria's Secret' sheer-look tights, 300 yuan. I read the reviews, and the girls say it's very warm, you won't feel cold wearing it directly. If you buy it now, it'll arrive tomorrow."
Ye Cheng: "......"
Ye Cheng: "Aren't you ordering here? Maybe you should see a psychologist?"
Jiang Ye: "Isn't this for your own good? This one's thick, perfect for the current season!"
Ye Cheng: "Ha, you're just afraid the thin ones will smell, right?"
"......"
Jiang Ye's heart skipped a beat, and he tossed his phone onto the passenger seat.
This woman really doesn't know how to chat!
Time flew by, and over the next three hours, Jiang Ye's "waiting for a chance" yielded little.
Four girls got into the passenger seat, and two more knocked on the window.
Among them, Jiang Ye estimated two had a charm score of about 80.
He tried the usual "buying water" test, but unfortunately, these two girls were completely clueless.
Jiang Ye pondered for a while and finally understood.
These girls had a clear purpose for being here: quick cash.
It's not that they lacked perception or were unwilling to "invest small for big returns," nor were they stingy about spending a few bucks; they simply didn't think in that direction.
Their mindset was straightforward: "What can I get from you," not "What can I do for you to get more."
Plan B was thus declared a complete failure.
The only good news was that during this process, he unexpectedly picked up a drunken Ye Cheng, a lucky break.
Seeing it was about time, Jiang Ye drove to Millennium Bar.
The Millennium Bar had a small facade, with a decor leaning towards an artsy light industrial style, more like a quiet bar for friends to gather, not a noisy club.
He found a parking spot at the entrance and sent Ye Cheng a WeChat message: "I'm here."
While waiting, he got bored and started checking out the other cars parked at the bar entrance.
BMWs, Mercedes-Benz, Infiniti...
There were indeed quite a few expensive cars parked, with a particularly eye-catching Porsche Cayenne among them. This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
He pulled out his phone, opened an image recognition app, and started taking pictures of the cars to check their prices.
"BMW 5 Series, over 400,000... Mercedes-Benz E-Class, 600,000... Oh wow, this BMW 7 Series, nearly a million... Lexus LS, also in the million range... Porsche Cayenne 4.0T Hybrid, wow, 2 million..."
Jiang Ye clicked his tongue as he checked, these cars were indeed luxury vehicles beyond the reach of ordinary families.
But somehow, he felt something was missing.
In novels, the protagonists' opponents or side characters often drove Maybachs, Bentleys, Rolls-Royces, or at least a top-spec Audi A8.
These cars, while nice, somehow felt... a bit low-end?
Was it because the consumption level in Shengtian was just like this?
Or was it that the real big shots wouldn't personally come to such places to wait, and those hanging around here were actually second-tier options or spare tires?
Eh?
Was he being treated as a spare tire by that woman?
Just as he was lost in thought, the bar door opened, and a group of more than ten people came out, laughing and chatting. Most were fashionably dressed young women carrying various styles of bags, with only two guys among them.
Jiang Ye instinctively looked towards the bar and quickly locked onto a somewhat familiar figure.
Unlike her drunken mess last night, Ye Cheng was clearly dressed up today.
She had a standard oval face, fair and bright skin, and long hair cascading down to her waist like a waterfall.
Her eyebrows were long and slender, with slightly upturned corners, carrying a natural allure. Her nose was high, and her lips were lightly colored with a bit of glossy lip gloss.
Wearing... wearing...
Damn! Isn't she cold?
She was wearing a hollowed-out knit top, seemingly with only a camisole underneath, black shorts, and black over-the-knee socks, with Martens boots on her feet.
In contrast to the other girls in coats, sweaters, and long skirts, her outfit was particularly eye-catching.
Ye Cheng glanced around at the entrance and quickly spotted Jiang Ye's BMW, running over and getting in.
Outside, her classmates pointed and whispered, not sure what they were talking about.
Ye Cheng rolled down the window, waved at them, then turned to Jiang Ye: "Let's go."
As he started the car, he couldn't help but glance at her outfit that seemed to let the wind in everywhere: "Uh... aren't you cold, girl?"
Ye Cheng gave him a sideways glance, continued to wave elegantly at her classmates outside, but as soon as the car hit the main road, she hugged herself tightly, curling into a ball, her teeth chattering:
"Quick, quick, quick! Turn up the heat! I'm freezing to death!"
Jiang Ye: "......"