Chapter 391: Flattery Backfires

Yang Hui was about to call out to her when he saw her pick up her phone to make a call. He decided to wait for her to finish.

Following behind, he heard her say into the phone, “Uncle Zheng, I’ve transferred another 140,000 to your account. With the 60,000 from last time, the total of 200,000 has now been fully sent.”

“Don’t worry about it. I said 200,000, so it’s 200,000. Please accept it. It’ll be a weight off my mind. After all, if it weren’t for your support, I wouldn’t have been able to earn this 200,000 in the first place.”

Yang Hui gradually understood. So, she had paid back the money the Zheng Family had supported her with. He very much approved of this. ‘But why didn’t she tell me she was out of money? She even went and sold her jewelry instead. Does she not know that I’m so poor, all I have is money?’

After ending the call, Huang Lingyu suddenly felt a wave of relief. For years, especially after explicitly rejecting Zheng Lei, the weight on her conscience had often kept her up at night. She had used 140,000 from the Zheng Family and had now paid back 200,000. While this couldn’t erase the debt of gratitude entirely, she no longer felt so guilty toward the Zheng Family.

“Lingyu.”

Huang Lingyu stopped in her tracks and suddenly laughed. ‘Am I hearing things? There’s no way Yang Hui would be here on a sweltering day like this.’

“What are you spacing out for?”

‘Ah, who else would talk to a girl in that tone?’ This time the voice was crystal clear. She quickly turned around. Tall, handsome, with those charming eyes… who could it be but him?

“I… I thought I’d misheard you. What are you doing here?”

“It’s this hot, and we’re just going to stand here and talk?”

This commercial street wasn’t an indoor shopping mall, and it felt like a steam basket outside. He looked up and saw a Lao Feng Xiang jewelry store just ahead. “Let’s go take a look,” he said to Huang Lingyu.

She didn’t see what was so interesting about a jewelry store, but since Yang Hui was heading that way, she naturally followed. Huang Lingyu had no idea that Yang Hui had been right behind her when she sold her jewelry and had seen the whole thing.

On such a hot day, the store was nearly empty, so a sales associate had plenty of time to help them. Yang Hui pointed directly at Huang Lingyu and said, “Show her a bracelet and a necklace.”

“Of course, sir. Would you like to see our Diamond Necklaces?”

Yang Hui shot her a look. ‘Do I look like an idiot? What are those little diamond chips even worth? Gold jewelry sells better than diamonds these days. The craftsmanship has gotten much better, making gold pieces just as exquisite, and they hold their value. Their sales are way better than diamonds.’

Huang Lingyu remained silent, but she knew. ‘He must have seen me sell my jewelry. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be this pointed about it, buying me the exact same things I just sold.’

The sales associate asked what weight he was looking for. Yang Hui smiled faintly. “Whatever. As long as it suits her.”

The sales associate’s eyes lit up; she knew this customer wasn’t worried about the price. She glanced at Huang Lingyu, initially thinking of recommending a 40-gram solid gold bracelet. It was heavy, engraved with auspicious patterns, and blended traditional and modern styles, but it was better suited for someone with a thicker wrist or a customer who prioritized sheer weight.

Looking at Huang Lingyu’s delicate wrist, she reconsidered. ‘If I recommend that one, he’ll think I’m blind.’ Instead, she chose a gold bracelet from the “Three Lives, Three Worlds” collection. “Miss, would you like to try this one? It’s an interlocking three-ring design, symbolizing ‘past, present, and future lives’.”

Huang Lingyu glanced at it. It was engraved with a star pattern—fashionable without being tacky. She already had a Cartier Protective Talisman Bracelet, which, in terms of design, was far superior. What truly moved her was the name and meaning of this collection. ‘Three Lives, Three Worlds… that’s nice.’

Yang Hui knew at a glance she’d taken a liking to it, so he chose it. The sales associate then helped her pick out a 20-gram necklace from the “Soaring Phoenix” collection.

Buying this necklace was purely to replace the jewelry she’d sold. ‘As actual accessories, these aren’t nearly high-end enough,’ Yang Hui thought. But there were no luxury boutiques on this street, so he had to make do. At the same time, he wanted to test out the spending-rebate BUFF the system had given him.

The two pieces of jewelry weighed a total of 55 grams. Based on the current price of gold, the final cost came to 58,000 yuan.

Huang Lingyu silently did the math. ‘Didn’t I just take a huge loss? I got 26,000, and now we’ve spent 58,000.’ But she knew Yang Hui’s personality; if he decided to buy her something, there was no refusing him.

The moment the payment went through, Yang Hui checked his system’s notification panel. As expected, a message had arrived:

[DING! Host has spent 58,000 yuan on Huang Lingyu. Spending-Rebate BUFF activated. Rebate amount: 29,000 yuan. The funds have been deposited into the Host’s bank account.]

‘It really works.’ He suddenly realized he could use this BUFF to farm money at incredible speed. For instance, he had just spent 58,000 on gold. If Huang Lingyu took it to a professional gold buyer, she could probably get close to 50,000 for it. Meanwhile, his actual cost was only 29,000.

‘But if I had Huang Lingyu do that, she’d definitely think I was a lunatic. Who buys something for 58,000 only to immediately sell it for 50,000?’ And so, Yang Hui abandoned this “path to riches.” ‘Besides,’ he thought, ‘farming unemployment points makes me money much faster. My sights are set on the sea of stars. Why would I get bogged down in this tiny little ditch?’

Leaving the Lao Feng Xiang store, he asked Huang Lingyu what had brought her to this area. When he learned her apartment was nearby, an idea sparked. ‘It’s been a few days… I could probably steal a kiss.’

Huang Lingyu was sharing the apartment with others. It was a three-bedroom place, and her two roommates were also her colleagues.

As soon as he entered the apartment, Yang Hui could see the potential for awkwardness. Colorful lingerie was hanging on the balcony. ‘Good thing her two roommates aren’t home,’ he thought. ‘It’s summer, so everyone’s wearing less. If you just bring a guy home, they’re bound to be unhappy.’