In the high-end clothing store, when Lin Xu came out of the fitting room wearing the tenth outfit and spun around in front of Ji Tingyang to ask for his opinion, he was already beginning to regret his impulsive decision.
The interval had been too long, and he had forgotten just how enthusiastic Lin Xu was when shopping for clothes. Every time they went out to look at the latest season's offerings, she would try on clothes for half a day before buying everything.
When he was a child, he could sit and wait while playing with toys, but now it seemed his patience was running thin.
Seeing Lin Xu brimming with excitement, with no sign of finishing any time soon, Ji Tingyang took out his phone to look over a document sent by his secretary during the spare moment.
Before long, he heard a commotion nearby.
"What's wrong with your staff? I already told you to reserve this dress for me. Why did you sell it to her?" A woman with short hair scolded the store employees in a fit of anger.
The staff member wore a troubled expression, "Miss Xu, our staff already explained to you earlier that our store does not offer reservation services, purchases can only be made on the spot."
The woman with short hair knew the store's rules, so she had hurried over as soon as she heard the skirt had arrived, but to her dismay, someone else had gotten to it first.
Thinking of how the skirt was a limited edition, and the only one in the country, her anger surged, "I spend millions in your store every year. Is this how you treat your customers?"
Without caring for more, the short-haired woman snatched the desired dress from the pile of clothes Lin Xu was waiting to check out and tossed it to the clerk, "Hurry up and process the payment for me."
Lin Xu was stunned by the woman's audacity.
The employee hesitated, "This miss was about to buy that…"
"Look at her, dressed all shabby. Everything on her is…" The short-haired woman scrutinized Lin Xu, her tone laced with disdain, "Twenty-year-old outdated designs. Can she even afford it?"
Lin Xu didn't really care for the skirt. She would have been willing to let her have it if she had spoken politely, but the woman was utterly lacking in manners.
Lin Xu tugged at the corner of her mouth and pulled the skirt back towards her, pointing to the pile of clothes in front of her, "I'll take all of these. Charge it to my card."
She handed over her Black Card from her purse.
The employee's face lit up with delight; selling all these clothes would take care of her sales targets for the month. She eagerly reached out to take it.
The short-haired woman froze for a moment. This bank card seemed all too familiar… As she thought this, she had already snatched the card to examine it closely.
Credit cards usually bear the owner's name, and she immediately looked at the name, which was spelt in the Roman alphabet as Ji Tingyang's.
She remembered, she had seen the card in Wen Li's hands before.
"I was wondering how a pauper like you could afford these clothes. It turns out you've stolen someone else's credit card."
"Credit card fraud is illegal." The short-haired woman sneered contemptuously, glancing at the nearby employee, "What are you waiting for? Call the police, now!"
"What?" The employee, looking between the composed Lin Xu and the arrogant woman, was quite baffled for a moment.
Lin Xu tucked her hair behind her ear, remaining serene, "This card is indeed mine."
The short-haired woman seemed to hear a hilarious joke, "The name on it clearly reads Ji Tingyang."
Lin Xu, "That's right, Ji Tingyang gave it to me."
"That card was obviously given to Wen Li by Ji Tingyang!" The woman exclaimed while pulling out her phone, ready to call the authorities.
Seeing her causing trouble, Lin Xu's expression showed her annoyance, and just as she was about to retort, a voice from behind her preempted.
"What's going on?"
Ji Tingyang came up beside Lin Xu and noticed her frowning, seemingly in a bad mood.
Thinking she might have encountered some trouble.
"Nothing, just ran into someone causing a disturbance." Lin Xu snatched the bank card back from the short-haired woman and handed it to the clerk again, "Go ahead and check out."
The clerk snapped out of it and nodded repeatedly, "Right away, I'll go get it!"
As she passed by the short-haired woman, the clerk glanced at her disdainfully.
What stealing a bank card, that man was none other than President Ji himself! Utter nonsense, she almost lost such a big sale because of it.
When Ji Tingyang appeared, the short-haired woman just froze in place until the clerk had left before she came back to her senses.
She smoothed her hair and greeted him with a smile, "President Ji, so you are here."
Lin Xu looked at Ji Tingyang and raised an eyebrow, "You know her?"
If such an uncultured individual was a friend of her son, she would definitely have to educate him on the basic principles of making friends.
Ji Tingyang just glanced at her and quickly looked away, saying coldly, "I don't know her."
Lin Xu saved herself a lecture.
The smile on the short-haired woman's face fell, and she hurriedly tried to salvage the situation, "President Ji, I am friends with Wen Li, we've met before at the club."
At the mention of Wen Li, Ji Tingyang's movements froze for a moment, and he looked at her again.
The short-haired woman felt a surge of joy, thinking he had remembered her, but before she could speak, Ji Tingyang simply uttered a faint "Oh," and ignored her.
The clerk was very efficient at checking out, and in no time, all the clothes were neatly packed.
Dozens of bags, arranged neatly on the table.
Lin Xu tilted her chin, motioning for Ji Tingyang to take them and walked out ahead of him.
Ji Tingyang seemed experienced, giving the clerk the address to deliver everything to the villa, then strutted his long legs to catch up with Lin Xu.
"The club she just mentioned, it wouldn't happen to be a nightclub, would it?"
"It's a leisure club opened by a friend."
"That's a relief, if you dare go to a nightclub and get into trouble, don't expect to come back home."
"...I wouldn't go."
Their casual conversation drifted away as they left, and it was only then that the short-haired woman came to her senses, quickly pulling out her phone to make a call.
The phone was quickly answered, and a sweet voice said, "Hello?"
"Wen Li, I just saw Ji Tingyang at the mall, and guess what, he was actually shopping for clothes with another woman. What's with him, isn't he supposed to be head over heels for you? Isn't he supposed to do as you say?"
Another woman?
The first person Wen Li thought of was Lin Xu, and she felt a bit surprised.
She knew Ji Tingyang was extremely busy with work every day, and yet, this busy Ji Tingyang actually took time off work to go shopping with Lin Xu?
While Wen Li was still in shock, the short-haired woman continued, "Didn't Ji Tingyang give you a Black Card before? How come it ended up in that woman's hands?"
Wen Li subconsciously replied, "I gave it back to him."
She didn't want to use Ji Tingyang's money.
Then, the short-haired woman's voice exploded through the phone like fireworks, "You gave it back to him?! Are you crazy? He's willing to spend money on you and you refuse it, are you still hung up on that poor guy?"
"He can't even afford a bouquet of flowers, what kind of life can he give you? A love without material aspects is like sand falling through fingers, don't you understand that?"