"What? The balance is insufficient? Are you kidding me? Sheng Jie shouted at the waiter, who had just come over and informed him about the rejected payment.
Sheng Jie figured that this must be a joke. After all, even though he didn't have any money, An Qi surely did! Moreover, An Qi not only had money, but she also had an exclusive VIP membership card to the establishment.
He knew this because, when the two of them had come in, the front desk staffer said that they had to process the membership cards upon entrance as a standard policy. An Qi did not hesitate before graciously pulling out a card and calmly saying, "Here you go."
At that time, Sheng Jie felt embarrassed. He started to imagine how his Lady Boss would swipe her subsidiary no credit limit black card in the future, the one that Boss Leng would surely give her.
Then, when they swiped the card, the front desk staff members had not said that anything was amiss. It was only when they had finished their dinner that they were informed of this supposed insufficient balance. This place was too much!
"This must be a mistake, right? An Qi is a member of the Hairui family. Why would she not be able to pay? Moreover, why would you wait so long to inform us of this?" All of this made Sheng Jie quite anxious.
He knew that if Leng Yuchen found out about this, he would not be pleased. In fact, if Leng Yuchen were to find out about this, he could afford to buy the whole clubhouse, let alone a single membership, then allow An Qi to fire these incompetent staffers and have sole access to the clubhouse to do whatever she wanted!
"I'm sorry, but because this card is an overseas card, there is a delay in the confirmation of the payment due to the different banking hours and time zones. We found out about the insufficient balance only moments ago, and we came to inform you of it as quickly as possible thereafter," the waiter replied.
Fortunately, this meal could be charged to Mr. Leng's card, and if An Qi and the rest were unable to pay, they would just need to simply walk away. Although he was slightly relieved upon realizing this, Sheng Jie still could not shake the frustration that he felt over how the whole situation had been handled.
"Well, I want you to call your manager over here, as I feel like you are bullying us!" As Sheng Jie was insisting on speaking with the manager, Dong Manman gently calmed him down, then persuaded him to give up on this hotheaded idea.
"Well, anyway, we're almost done with our meal. Besides, An Qi's still hurting from her injury. Shall we leave now?" Leng Jin asked.
At the moment, Leng Jin and Wu Linzhi were deep in thought. After all, they did not expect Yu Hao, who had suffered a thousand cuts from knives, would have the courage to attack An Qi. After they left, they planned to find Yu Hao and teach him a lesson!
Meanwhile, Sheng Jie was still feeling unhappy, and he returned to insisting on talking to the manager. He just could not accept the fact that he and An Qi had been treated unfairly.
"An Qi, please explain. If necessary, you can even show them the balance on that card now!" Sheng Jie turned to An Qi and requested that she prove her sufficient means.
"Huh? Let's not do that right now." An Qi grinned awkwardly. She was clearly embarrassed as she admitted, "Actually, what they said is the truth. My account that first card is linked to really has no money in it."
Sheng Jie then asked in surprise, "What are you talking about? Did you check that card properly? Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?"
Sheng Jie did not believe what he had just heard. He clenched his fist and pounded it on his chest, constantly urging An Qi to confirm it again and again.
"Hey, it's no big deal! I have a membership card here too, so you can charge straight it to my account. I don't like to see my friends embarrassed." Wu Linzhi finally understood that all of the trouble was just about the payment for the meal, so he stepped up to offer to cover it.
"It's not a matter of money!" Sheng Jie emphasized. "It's about our honor! An Qi, show them! Prove that we do not have a fake card!"
"But... We kind of do..." As An Qi pouted her lips, she looked so cute.
She then explained, "When I stepped inside, I saw the price list that was posted in the lobby. I thought, 'Gosh, that's highway robbery!' So, when they asked for my membership card, I gave them a card from Paris that is connected to an empty bank account instead. Anyway, we are just having a simple meal, so we won't be spending so much money..."
Sheng Jie could hardly believe his ears. As he usually followed behind Leng Yuchen, he had seen all kinds of people. But, he had never seen anyone like An Qi, who was so thrifty-minded, even though she was the second generation of an extremely rich family!
As he looked at her in wonder, he thought… Elder sister, also known as Lady Boss and fairy girl, you can be thrifty, but why do this without my knowledge?
After all of the trouble you caused after not to attending a high-class event with Boss Leng, you make such a scene! If news of this news, it would embarrass Boss Leng…
Unlike Sheng Jie, An Qi was not at all agitated at the current situation, she simply found the waiter, then walked over to him and said, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I do think it's a waste to pay for a membership card that I don't normally use. Please, rest assured, we will leave now."
Upon hearing this, the waiter released a huge sigh of relief. After all, he knew that An Qi and Sheng Jie were friends of Mr. Leng's and Mr. Wu's, and he would not dare defend them because of it. Hence, if they chose not to leave and caused a bigger scene, the waiter couldn't possibly throw them out!
An Qi turned around and patted Sheng Jie on the shoulder as she said, "Hey, Cinderella, it's midnight. The crystal shoes are gone, we've awakened from the dream. It's time to go home."
Sheng Jie sniffed and acted as if he was the most restrained version of Cinderella in history as he surveyed the surroundings. He felt that Dong Manman was the only person who could accept him, as she herself was a rather self-indulgent person, so he reflexively held Dong Manman's wrist as he bowed his head and prepared to leave.
Dong Manman was a first-class fashion designer in China. So, she was used to helping support male models as tall as Wu Linzhi. However, she did not mind assisting a petite and lovely man like Sheng Jie for a change.
It was only when the five of them walked out of the Sawei Clubhouse that Dong Manman suddenly became hostile and threw Sheng Jie's hands off of her wrist. She then went straight over to An Qi and asked angrily, "Sister, shouldn't you have told me earlier about your brilliant idea? I almost thought I'd have to sell myself just to pay that bill!"
An awkward silence followed her joking yet somewhat inappropriate joke. After all, no one wanted to hear such a private matter, especially coming from Dong Manman!
Moreover, when Sheng Jie had held Dong Manman's wrist just now, he had accidentally seen her high-waisted, granny underwear through her sheer skirt. It was so strange to think that Dong Manman, who had designed countless pairs of sexy underwear, was actually wearing a flesh-colored pair of granny underwear under her sheer skirt! It wasn't really an outfit that inspired men to line up for her!
At that moment, Leng Yuchen arrived in a hurry at the iron fence that was just outside the clubhouse. He focused all of his attention on An Qi, and although he found the two people behind An Qi to be an eyesore, it seemed that because they were following behind An Qi, it made them less displeasing to him.
"Qiqi, I did not drive here. How do you intend to get back? I'll go with you." Dong Manman quickly composed herself and realized that she had to squeeze into the same car as An Qi because she had used up all of her money.
Moreover, in order to avoid suspicion, Dong Manman had told Leng Jin and Wu Linzhi that An Qi still lived in her home. So, in order to make her story more convincing, it made sense for her to leave in the same car as An Qi.
"Oh, I'd better take Sheng Jie's car then." An Qi replied as she gave Dong Manman a look of gratitude.
Neither of them sought Sheng Jie's consent, but just bid goodbye to the others, opened the doors of Sheng Jie's car, and got inside.
"Okay, it is getting late. Let's get together another day." Wu Linzhi leaned on the window and said goodbye to An Qi reluctantly, while Leng Jin stood off to the side and waved to An Qi through the window.
After all, they had a more important task to attend to tonight...