Chapter 5: Sorry, we're just colleagues

Zheng Qian pulled a bank card out of his pocket that looked tattered and worn—the kind that had clearly been inserted into ATMs countless times, showing all the marks of time.

After a moment of astonishment, the salesperson brought the machine over and swiped the card.

[Spent 88,888. System cashback of 888,880 received.]

Seeing the tenfold cashback, Zheng Qian felt even more composed. Sure enough, coming to this place hadn't been a waste; after a single transaction, 880,000 had landed in his account.

Before this, let alone 88,000, if someone had asked Zheng Qian to open a bottle of wine costing eighty yuan, his heart would have ached for a while.

As for now, he didn't need to worry; whatever he spent, he got ten times that amount back in cashback.

Zheng Qian wondered if he could order a few more Dragon Sets tonight, so he could buy a villa in full with cash tomorrow.

Since he could swipe for a Dragon Set without even blinking, how could he possibly be a sucker? The salesperson felt foolish for having just tried to help Zheng Qian save money by recommending some cheaper wines.

Facts proved that if Zheng Qian had no money, it would be impossible to gather four high-quality girls like these to accompany him.

He had misjudged the situation.

"Brother, please wait a moment; I'll go arrange everything for you right away!"

At this moment, Qin Xueli finally noticed that the card Zheng Qian swiped wasn't a credit card. It was a debit card!

Between shopping, dinner, and the Dragon Set he had just ordered, Zheng Qian had already spent 100,000 yuan.

If it were a credit card with a small limit, someone trying to show off in front of girls might cash it out, put the money into a debit card, and then pull that out to pay, proving it was a debit card. Unless... Zheng Qian had opened many credit cards at once.

But the probability of such retaliatory spending was low, because even if he had opened many credit cards, it was unlikely he could afford such lavish spending. A Grand Dragon Set, 88,888—at the end of the day, it was just a few bottles of wine, which didn't seem like something Zheng Qian could pull off.

There was only one highly likely possibility. That was that Zheng Qian had come into a windfall—a huge one. It was very likely that after being dumped by his ex-girlfriend, he had felt disheartened, bought a lottery ticket, and won!

Upon seeing Zheng Qian wave his card and swipe for a Grand Dragon Set, a new glimmer of intrigue appeared in the beautiful eyes of Ai Qingyue, Xinxin, and Angela.

This man didn't seem as pathetic as she had imagined? He was actually quite handsome when he swiped that card!

Although the three of them often came to this kind of bar, very few people were truly willing to order a Grand Dragon Set unless they were genuinely wealthy—the kind who could order three or four sets in a single night.

Even Angela had only ever had two Small Dragon Sets. To order a Grand Dragon Set the moment he sat down—what a generous gesture!

Qin Xueli clearly noticed the changes on her three friends' faces. Subconsciously, she leaned closer to Zheng Qian and took his arm; to others, they looked like a couple deeply in love.

Zheng Qian's heart tightened. Why had Qin Xueli leaned over so proactively, and why was she so close?

He glanced at her other three friends and understood.

The Favorability of all three had gone up. Ai Qingyue [Favorability +20], Xinxin [Initial 5, Favorability +20, Current Favorability 25], Angela [Initial 5, Favorability +25, Current Favorability 30].

Ding-ding-ding~ The music came to an abrupt halt. Dry ice fog began to release. The spotlights of the entire venue shone onto Zheng Qian's booth.

The Dragon Set was brought to the booth by several beauties in skimpy outfits, swaying their bodies as they walked.

The salesperson quietly called over two burly security guards to stand by Zheng Qian's booth to protect his safety at all times. The salesperson also stood at the very edge of the booth, ready to obey Zheng Qian's orders at any moment.

Regarding this, Zheng Qian had only two words in his heart: "Prestige!" It was so impressive!

Seeing this scene, some of the socialites who often frequented Red Rose thought Zheng Qian was a new face and even had the impulse to go over to the booth to strike up a conversation. Zheng Qian was definitely a wealthy man!

But when they saw four girls sitting next to Zheng Qian, they dismissed the idea. Sure enough, wealthy men were a scarce resource, and he had brought girls with him.

Huh? Angela is here too? Can someone of that caliber really latch onto such a big spender?

Some of the socialites were particularly unconvinced by Angela. But they had no choice. After all, she had gotten there first; if they went over now, it was unclear if Zheng Qian would even look at them, and they would likely end up in a hair-pulling fight with Angela and the others.

"Want to play dice?" Xinxin suggested first. Among them, everyone except Qin Xueli was a master at playing dice; it would be too easy to get someone drunk.

"Sure, I don't mind." Zheng Qian waved his hand.

The group started playing dice. Although this game relied mostly on luck, it also involved some skill. Take Zheng Qian, for example; he had never been to a place like this, so he just shook the dice randomly or shook them for a long time, but he ended up losing more than he won and was forced to down a few drinks in a row.

Even Qin Xueli, who usually didn't drink, downed three glasses.

Zheng Qian felt that this 88,888 wine didn't seem like much. It didn't even taste as good as regular malt whisky. The 88,888 price tag probably only accounted for a small portion of the actual alcohol; in reality, what the bar was selling was the prestige he had just experienced.

The spotlights, the dry ice, the beauties—making everyone's eyes temporarily focus on you; they were selling vanity. Although he wasn't very vain, his women were. Look at them, one by one, acting so incredibly happy.

After a few rounds, everyone started opening up. Angela asked, "Lily, when did you two start dating? I saw you were single just last week."

Oh no. Qin Xueli cursed silently. Angela's words had a hidden meaning. She didn't know how to answer; earlier, when they met at the entrance of Red Rose, she had maintained a non-committal attitude and brushed it off.

Should she say they were dating, or that they weren't? If Qin Xueli said she and Zheng Qian weren't dating, her three friends would likely snatch Zheng Qian away from her. She hesitated about whether to assert her claim in front of her friends; after all, she had set up the gathering, and she was the one who had brought Zheng Qian.

"You might have misunderstood. Lily and I are not dating; we are just colleagues relaxing after working overtime."

"Oh, I see, so that's how it is." The three of them naturally didn't quite believe Zheng Qian's words. Spending so much money on someone without dating—at the very least, he must be interested in Qin Xueli.

Qin Xueli was speechless. Would it kill you to say you were pursuing me! You dog of a man, your emotional intelligence is just too low!

Zheng Qian didn't care what they thought. He had no intention of pursuing any of them; Qin Xueli was just a tool for him to farm money. As for whether he was interested in Qin Xueli, of course he was, but he had no romantic feelings for her, nor did he want to pursue her. It was just that Zheng Qian lusted after Qin Xueli's body.