Chapter 4: You'll Pay for the Button

Jiang Zheng chimed in. "No wonder. On my way in, I saw a bunch of trust-fund kids driving fancy cars, taking photos with girls in the parking lot."

There was a clear line between heirs raised by top-tier families and those spoiled playboys.

Flashy hedonism like that didn't trigger even a flicker of dopamine for anyone in the private room.

Cheng Muqing said, "Why don't you have your wife come up and hang out? My wife can keep her company."

Inside the private room, the shifting light from the giant ornamental fish tank rippled across the ceiling as the fish swam.

He suddenly thought of last night.

Pu Rou, shaken up and down like a strand of waterweed in a fish tank.

Her lovely brows furrowed, her algae-like hair spread across the pillow...

Just that fragment of memory sent a tingling electric current through his skull.

"Sheng Kuang?"

Jiang Ling's card flashed in front of his eyes. "I'm talking to you!"

He stood up. "I'm going down to take a look."

Jiang Ling pressed him back down. "Don't. If you go down there, those little brats will lose their minds."

"I'll go for you."

*

The Glorious Club's owner was surnamed Jiang.

In Jing City, the top-tier entertainment industry was run as a family monopoly by the Jiangs.

The Glorious Club had strict membership requirements. Getting in meant entering the core social circle of the local political and business elite.

If Jiang Ling hadn't been a Jiang, she wouldn't have had the chance to hold her birthday party here today.

Lin Zhouzhou and Pu Rou delivered their gifts and birthday wishes, then found a spot at a comfortable distance to drink and chat.

Today's star, Jiang Ling, was surrounded like a moon among stars. After a glance at her phone, she suddenly shot up from her barstool.

"Holy crap, my brother says he's coming!"

The girls around her let out little gasps, and chatter erupted from every direction.

Lin Zhouzhou was a bit surprised too. She whispered to Pu Rou, "Every single one of these heiresses pretending to be her friend is just hoping for a chance to get close to her cousin."

Pu Rou didn't know this person existed. If she hadn't grown up with Lin Zhouzhou, she'd never have crossed paths with Jiang Ling.

Being at the very bottom of the food chain, she stayed out of it. "So, are we about to watch everyone show off their tricks?"

Lin Zhouzhou nodded like a pecking chicken, grabbing a handful of sunflower seeds. "Oh, today's great. Nobody's leaving empty-handed."

Pu Rou picked at some nuts too. The two sisters sat on the sofa like a pair of theatergoers.

A girl pulled out loose powder to touch up her makeup. "Sister Ling, if your brother's at the Glorious Club, are those other guys here too?"

Jiang Ling shot her a sideways look. "Whether they're here or not, what's it to you?"

The girl wasn't offended. She whined coquettishly, "Oh, I'm just curious."

Xiao Cheng, who was very close to Jiang Ling, nudged her shoulder. "So does Third Young Master Sheng know it's your birthday today?"

Jiang Ling smiled, a little shy.

Pu Rou and Lin Zhouzhou exchanged a look.

Pu Rou whispered, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lin Zhouzhou: "Looks like she's got a thing for your husband."

"The news about your marriage license probably hasn't spread yet. This is so awkward—why's she getting all shy in front of another man's wife?"

Having been properly married to Sheng Kuang for barely half a day, Pu Rou still felt a secret possessiveness rise from deep in her chest. Just as she was stewing in it, Jiang Ling called her name.

"Pu Rou."

She looked up. Jiang Ling was holding the phone she'd just hung up, her expression suspicious. "When did you get hooked up with my brother?"

Pu Rou blanked for a second, then quickly recovered. "I don't know him."

"Don't know him?" Jiang Ling let out a scoff. "But he specifically asked for you by name."

Murmurs rippled through the room.

A few of Jiang Ling's male friends were at the party. One of them tried to smooth things over.

"Young Master Jiang probably just knows her one-sidedly. After all, Miss Pu's beauty is famous."

Jiang Ling nodded. "Fair enough."

Pu Rou was still puzzling over why the usually sharp-tongued young lady would so readily acknowledge her looks, when Jiang Ling added,

"But pretty as she is, she's not the type those people would touch."

"So I'm really curious—why would my brother be interested in you?"

Pu Rou set the remaining nuts in her palm back on the shallow dish and asked calmly, "What type am I?"

Before Jiang Ling could answer, Xiao Cheng laughed first.

"What those people value most is a woman's family background, vision, and education. Someone like you—"

She turned to Jiang Ling and said it straight.

"Of course, before marriage, playing around is fine, right?"

Pu Rou's eyelid twitched.

These two women were far too eager to gild the powerful. Sheng Kuang didn't have an extra rib in bed compared to anyone else. He hadn't even shown up yet, and people were already casting him in gold.

"You two really don't know how to talk." Pu Rou stood and brushed the nut skins off her skirt.

"I'm leaving."

Xiao Cheng reacted first, grabbing her arm.

"Didn't realize you had such a temper. It's Lingling's birthday today. You just up and leave—where are your manners?"

Pu Rou shook off her hand. "Where are yours? You know it's Jiang Ling's birthday. Who the hell are you?"

Pu Rou had roughly figured out that Jiang Ling's brother and Sheng Kuang had some special relationship, and that a direct clash with Jiang Ling would inevitably drag Lin Zhouzhou into it.

So making her stance clear against Xiao Cheng was the better move.

Pu Rou usually seemed mild-mannered. No one expected her to be someone who wouldn't take a loss. Xiao Cheng was stunned for a moment, then her temper flared up in a flash.

"What did I say wrong? What, heard Young Master Jiang's interested in you and now you're putting on airs? A little too eager, aren't you?"

Pu Rou was about to open her mouth and ask after her mother.

Right then, the private room door swung open. A man walked in with an elegant air and gentle features. Without hesitation, his gaze locked onto her.

"Are you Pu Rou?"

The curse died in Pu Rou's throat. She took a deep breath and nodded.

The atmosphere in the room turned strange.

Curious, probing, excited looks darted between Jiang Ling and Pu Rou.

A man who'd been through plenty of battles, he immediately understood—coming down here himself to find her had probably caused Pu Rou some trouble.

"Someone asked me to bring you somewhere. Shall we go?"

Xiao Cheng's mouth fell open.

Jiang Ling had been sent by someone? Who had the clout to make him run an errand?

Jiang Ling's mind was a giant question mark too.

"Brother! You haven't even wished me a happy birthday."

Jiang Ling said, "Birthdays come every year. What's so special about it?"

Jiang Ling was on alert. "Who's asking for Pu Rou?"

Jiang Ling turned and held the door open for Pu Rou first. "Not something you need to ask about. Happy birthday."

The heavy door shut, instantly sealing off the noise and the suffocating atmosphere inside.

"Hello, Pu Rou. I'm Jiang Ling, a friend of Sheng Kuang's. You've probably guessed that."

He sized up the woman before him without being obvious about it.

Fair skin, slender figure, lush good looks—cold and pure at once. A real stunner.

"Hello."

Her voice was warm and delicate too. "Sheng Kuang didn't mention he was meeting friends tonight."

Jiang Ling: "It was a last-minute thing. He mentioned you were at a friend's birthday party, and I guessed it was Jiang Ling's. Didn't expect that when I called to ask, it really was."