Sure enough, as soon as the two best friends entered the private room at Qingfeng Pavilion, a renowned place for blind dates, four out of five men had their eyes glued on them. The remaining man's gaze was even more explicit, practically caressing the contours of Yang Yuran's well-shaped body.
Zhou Yuanyuan tapped the table lightly, and the men's gazes became somewhat more gentlemanly.
"Introduce yourselves one by one from left to right," Zhou Yuanyuan prompted.
She didn't like this kind of meat market dating, so she was quite direct in her speech.
Being part of the top social circle in Hangzhou, the men were already well aware of her family's status, and they made the smart choice to indulge the 'little sister,' following her arrangement.
The man on the far right went first, "Hello, I'm Cao Hailing. Last year, I just received my CFA and FRM certifications, and my father operates a brokerage firm in Hong Kong and Macau."
He deliberately paused, lowering his voice, "We can get first-hand information on quality Hong Kong or U.S. stocks."
After proudly introducing himself, he narrowed his eyes, sending an ambiguous look towards Yang Yuran.
Yang Yuran smiled and nodded, giving him the false impression that she approved.
The second man began his introduction, and with Cao Hailing having set the precedent for boasting, the second man casually mentioned his own family's advantages, as if he couldn't wait to include his uncles' wealth under his name, too.
Once the men's competitive desires were ignited, they found it hard to stop before securing a beauty to take home.
By the time the next three men finished their introductions, they had practically created a new class of billionaires. Zhou Yuanyuan wasn't really listening anymore, silently making choices for her friend based on her insider knowledge.
It was the turn of the fifth man, who, unlike the rest, was not rash, but took out a prepared asset statement from his bag, placed it next to Yang Yuran, and introduced himself calmly.
"Hello, Yuran. My name is Yin Tianzhao, 26 years old. My parents passed away early, and at the beginning of this year, my grandfather handed over the executive rights of the company to me. When you marry me, you will get a house worth 60 million British pounds in the UK. After we have a child, I will transfer 5% of my company shares to you."
Zhou Yuanyuan, who was starting to feel a little drowsy, suddenly perked up. She had heard her father mention the Yin Family, and Yin Tianzhao's introduction matched what she knew. The key point was that this man was willing to make a real financial commitment, which was much stronger than the previous four 'big talk brothers.'
She kicked Yang Yuran's leg under the table, hinting: a premium stock had appeared, seize the opportunity.
After kicking several times with no response from her friend, she turned her head to see Yang Yuran resting her chin in her hand, gazing helplessly at Yin Tianzhao with enchanting fox-like eyes, cooing flirtatiously.
"Senior, are you here to make trouble?"
Upon hearing that coquettish voice, Yin Tianzhao's spine stiffened immediately, and struggled to maintain his seriousness, "Yuran, my lawyer is outside the private room; I can call him in at any moment to give you a legally protected document."
Yang Yuran pursed her lips, fell silent for a moment, turned her head away to avoid their gazes meeting, and softly refused, "Senior, stop wasting your time on me. You deserve someone better."
The next second, the stunning woman ignored Yin Tianzhao's heart shattering in his eyes, and her smile blossomed again as she happily chatted with the other four men.
After a delightful half-hour chat, Yang Yuran blew each of them a kiss, making a tempting promise, "Let's keep in touch in the future, okay?"
With their eager agreements, she slung her crossbody chain bag over her shoulder and, holding Zhou Yuanyuan's hand, left the private room.
Walking down the corridor, Zhou Yuanyuan couldn't help but voice her concern and asked, "I think Yin Tianzhao is quite good, why did you reject him?"
Yang Yuran hooked a stray lock of hair behind her ear with her pinky, speaking carelessly, "My family's mess is there for all to see, and I really don't want to be bound by a relationship. Why should I go and harm a good man?"
Listening to her friend's self-deprecating words, Zhou Yuanyuan felt a mix of frustration and pity, and squeezed her hand tightly, overturning the somber sentiment.
"Stop joking around, I believe we will both be happy and find someone who truly loves us,"
"Having Yuanyuan is enough for me. When I'm old and have no one to rely on, I'll be clingy with you every day."
Yang Yuran shamelessly tightened her grip on Zhou Yuanyuan, seeking a promise: "Come on, Yuanyuan, promise me that no matter if you get married or not, you'll include me in your retirement plans."
"Go away!" Zhou Yuanyuan struggled to pull her hand free, but all three attempts failed.
"I'm not dying yet. I'm looking forward to being pampered by my dear Yuanyuan when I'm old,"
The best friends bickered as they walked out of the private room area, when suddenly Zhou Yuanyuan stopped in her tracks.
Yang Yuran followed Zhou Yuanyuan's gaze to an elegant seat not far away. Before she could make out anything clearly, Zhou Yuanyuan pulled her to the sofa diagonally opposite the elegant seat.
With their backs to the man and woman engaged in conversation, they both sat down on the couch. The beads curtain just happened to provide cover, and Yang Yuran raised her hand to beckon a waiter, ordering two cups of Da Hong Pao tea, and they began to play the role of an eavesdropping team along with Zhou Yuanyuan.
"You are just a stepson of the Zhou family, Old Zhou won't give you the power to run the company. But I do quite like your looks. You'd better get together with me sooner rather than later. What I can give you is definitely more than what the Zhou family can. With me, at least you'll get freedom and respect, which is better than being with other wealthy women. They play a bigger game than I do, and they get tired more quickly,"
The assertive voice didn't bother to lower its volume, sounding like a queen declaring her domain as she recruited a favorite.
The woman named Ba Lipu was known to Yang Yuran because she had dealt with her overseas, where Ba's family ran a sizable study-abroad agency.
When Yang Yuran first entered Stanford, she realized there was a good deal of money to be made in this line of work as many of her fellow students were eager to pursue further education. Holding valuable resources but lacking a formal license, she reached a deal with Ba Lipu's family.
She poked the furious Zhou Yuanyuan with her finger and mouthed the question: Is your brother on a blind date with Ba Lipu?
Zhou Yuanyuan quietly hummed in agreement, clenching her little fists, looking ready to storm out and hit someone any second.
Yang Yuran blinked in confusion. From what Ba Lipu said, Qin Muyu seemed to be a penniless stepson, and his situation wasn't much better than hers—always in danger of being 'sold off' by the Zhou family to obtain some tangible benefits.
Then who was it that chartered the plane last time? Just a coincidence?
Turning her thoughts, sorrow came from within. She had to admit she was worse off than Qin Muyu. Zhou Yuanyuan's father, at least out of old acquaintance, treated Qin Muyu decently on the surface, not forcing him outright. As for the character of the arranged dates, it was truly a matter of perspective, mainly dependent on what Qin Muyu wanted.
On the other hand, being Mr. Yang's only daughter and reduced to this... Sigh, she had her own grievances that were hard to articulate.
Zhou Yuanyuan patted Yang Yuran's shoulder, prompting her to turn her head back and look at her friend.
In Zhou Yuanyuan's eyes flared two emotions—hatred and helplessness—intense and contradicting each other.
Yang Yuran quickly grabbed Zhou Yuanyuan's arm, preventing a scandalous news story from happening.
"Yuanyuan, don't get agitated yet. Your brother is still at the choosing stage. Besides, interfering on his behalf isn't going to help and could even backfire. Right now, your priority should be to go home and convince your dad to drop the idea,"
Analyzing the situation at its root, she strove to bring Zhou Yuanyuan back to reason.
Zhou Yuanyuan suppressed the hatred in her eyes that wanted nothing more than to bury Ba Lipu alive and nodded to reconsider: "Alright, I'll stay calm and not do anything that would trouble my brother. I just lost it a moment ago, I can't stand seeing my excellent brother being insulted."
However, the next second, she made a request that gave Yang Yuran a headache.