The night was deep, and the Maybach sped through the bustling streets.
The lighting in the car was a little dim. Qi Luozhou’s cool, pale skin looked especially striking in the dark, which only added a few degrees of abstinent, seductive charm to him.
After Shen Wanwan got into the car, she handed him the shopping bag.
“Gift.”
Qi Luozhou’s lips curved, and he asked with interest, “What is it?”
His voice no longer sounded as cold as it had earlier.
Shen Wanwan didn’t want to explain. She only drawled lazily:
“Reimburse me.”
“I kept forgetting to give it to you.”
Qi Luozhou took out a black card.
Thin, but with no credit limit.
Shen Wanwan already had one, her father’s, but that didn’t stop her eyes from lighting up at the sight of this one.
She lifted her chin and reached out to take the card.
Their fingertips brushed. His were slightly cool.
She asked very seriously, “Can it max out?”
Qi Luozhou chuckled.
“Let’s hope not.”
“Hey—” Shen Wanwan puffed her cheeks. “Isn’t this the moment where you’re supposed to say ‘Sure,’ or ‘It won’t max out,’ or something equally full of nonsense?”
“Mm. Sure. It won’t max out.”
Qi Luo-zhou smiled faintly. His beautiful peach-shaped eyes curved, and his long, thick lashes lowered slightly like butterfly wings.
Shen Wanwan spaced out for a second, suddenly wanting to touch his lashes.
She took the initiative to explain: “Just now, Su Tingxuan was pestering me on his own. I didn’t respond to him at all.”
“Mm.” Qi Luo-zhou replied lazily. “Is this you giving me a demonstration?”
Shen Wanwan shot him an approving look.
“Mm.”
“This is something you don’t need to worry about.” Qi Luozhou suddenly leaned forward a little, the smile on his lips deepening, his voice low and husky:
“In the entertainment industry’s Ten Most Virtuous Male Artists ranking, the number one is me.”
Just then the car drove out from a shadowed area. The light from a streetlamp shone in through the window, illuminating his exquisite face.
His thin lips were slightly upturned, brown eyes glimmering with amusement, staring straight at her.
Shen Wanwan was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter, caught off guard by his sudden bragging.
—Cocky.
She pressed down the upward tug at her lips and calmly met his gaze.
“Mm. Best if you stay virtuous.”
The two exchanged a tacit smile.
At home, Shao Yuye was wearing a black tank top, dark-blue boxing gloves on both hands, pounding the human-height sandbag until it thudded loudly.
When Shen Wanwan pushed the door open, his fist had just swung out hard, the breeze it created lifting the loose strands of hair beside her cheek.
Shen Wanwan spoke calmly: “Where’s all this anger coming from?”
Her voice wasn’t loud, but it made Shao Yuye freeze instantly.
Sweat dampened his long hair. He panted lightly and reached up to tear open the Velcro on his gloves.
“Just annoyed.”
“Mm?”
“Just that stupid red-carpet mess.”
Shao Yuye tossed the gloves onto a rack, walked out of the gym, and grabbed a bottle of cold water from the fridge.
He had received the StarShow gala invitation long ago. As GML’s Asia-Pacific spokesperson, the brand had enthusiastically promised to sponsor two haute couture looks.
But then they suddenly said that considering he had just gone through a scandal, even though the whole internet pitied him, his current ‘pitiful’ image didn’t match the brand’s tone. So the deal they had already finalized suddenly got stonewalled.
But Shao Yuye was still a top-tier star.
Since GML refused, he soon got an invitation from another brand, CY. Though slightly lower in prestige than GML, CY at least had a friendly attitude.
Even though everything was resolved, the irritation still lingered.
He had heard the fashion circle was ruthless toward the weak and deferential to the strong, but he didn’t expect to experience it so vividly.
After hearing all this, Shen Wanwan narrowed her eyes: “Which brand?”
“Forget it.” Shao Yuye didn’t want to dump his bad mood on his sister, “It doesn’t matter. It’s already handled.”
“Say it.”
He wanted to let it go; she absolutely did not.
The netizens who called her ‘petty and vengeful’ weren’t wrong.
“GML.”
In truth, Shao Yuye hadn’t taken GML’s sudden refusal too personally.
What he disliked was their excuse, implying he had deliberately acted pitiful to manipulate public sympathy, flipping his public persona from ‘irritable cool guy’ to ‘nationwide sweetheart little victim.’
It felt disgusting to hear.
“I got it.”
Shen Wanwan nodded faintly and gestured for Shao Yuye to look at her spoils from the night.
Smiling brightly, she pushed a red velvet box toward him.
“Wear this at StarShow.”
“What is it?”
Shao Yuye opened the box, and was momentarily blinded by the dazzling diamond.
He squinted, and then saw clearly that inside was a leaf-shaped brooch.
A single whole diamond, glinting with a crisp green hue under the light.
The center was three-dimensional with smooth, polished facets, while the edges were slightly sharp, transitioning cleverly through long, step-cut diamonds. The carefully designed leaf surface extended naturally and gracefully.
Perfectly fitting its name.
—’Vitality’.
The moment Shen Wanwan laid eyes on it, she immediately felt it suited her brother perfectly.
“Do you like it?”
“It looks good.” Shao Yuye trusted her taste completely.
“How much was it?
“Brother will reimburse you!”
Shen Wanwan’s attention was fully on showing off her spoils. She pulled out a few more pieces: “I bought several. What does your formal outfit look like? Let me see which one matches best.”
But Shao Yuye still stuffed a card into her hand.
Everything he owned was on that card.
“From now on, use my card. Buy whatever you want!”
Having received two cards in one night, Shen Wanwan took the second one and sweetly replied:
“Thank you, Brother!”
Shao Yuye felt his heart bloom instantly and ran off to call Brother Li.
Hey—
Isn’t this what they call ‘getting a pillow right when you’re sleepy’?
Brother Li had still been stressing about accessories that afternoon.
The moment he picked up, Shao Yuye didn’t bother with suspense:
“I’ve got the brooch.”
Brother Li immediately became alert. “What brooch? All your accessories have to be approved by the brand. You can’t just wear some random no-name thing, after all…”
He grumbled while opening the photo Yuye sent over.
The bright, pure diamond in the picture made Brother Li let out a chicken-like scream—
“What?!”
Such a big diamond?!
So big it almost looked fake…
After a moment, Brother Li, totally lacking worldly experience, asked, “You didn’t just scoop this up from some street stall, right?”
This had once caused a small incident.
This respected idol was wearing a ten-yuan tank top bought from a street stall. It wasn’t that people disdained cheap prices; the career fans were mostly worried that such casual choices would hurt his commercial value.
Fans were heartbroken all over again and nearly organized a donation drive to buy him clothes.
Several competitors also put out tons of gossip pieces mocking him as a fallen top star.
If not for the studio repeatedly clarifying that Shao Yuye wasn’t that poor, that he could afford expensive clothes, and Brother Li posting a nicely dressed photo of him every day, the fans wouldn’t have stopped.
Logically speaking, Shao Yuye shouldn’t be doing things like this anymore.
But that diamond on the brooch was too big. Could it be moissanite?
The moment he said that, Shao Yuye was instantly offended.
“What nonsense! My little sister bought this for me! My sister!
“And even if it was from a street stall, so what? If my sister bought it, even if she scooped it up from a street stall, I’d love it.”
He was so angry he said it twice. On the other end, Brother Li finally relaxed.
Oh.
Shen Wanwan bought it.
Brother Li was instantly at ease.
That Young Lady would never possibly fall to the level of picking things from a street stall.
So that brooch must be something good.
“Tsk, how much must this cost…”
“No idea.”
Shao Yuye has no concept of money.
He did go through a period of hardship, but it was all mental hardship.
The company provided meals, and after entering the talent show he quickly shot to fame. In a sense, his luck had always been pretty good.
“Alright then.” Brother Li saved the photo. “I’ll check with CY tomorrow.”