Chapter 86: Ling Hanrui
"Oh, I'm still writing. It's going alright now. The royalties are a bit more than my salary, so it's barely enough to get by." Li Bin casually brushed him off and waved over a waiter to order.
Since they were here for a late-night snack, he was going to eat well. Li Bin couldn't be bothered to waste his breath on a show-off like Cui Tianjiao. All he wanted to do now was dig into a good barbecue.
He had been completely drained by Qiao Shanshan this afternoon, and all Li Bin wanted now was to have a proper hotpot to replenish his strength. Then, he'd go home, have another round with Wan Wan, and properly train her bedroom skills some more.
"Oh? Hehe... So you really are a novelist. What a braggart. You can actually earn a salary just by scribbling stuff online? Don't tell me you think people only make two or three thousand a month these days? Take me, for example. Not counting various other benefits, my monthly salary is fifteen thousand. Can you match that?" Cui Tianjiao scoffed in utter disbelief.
"Ah? You make fifteen thousand a month? Well, I misspoke then." Li Bin scratched his head, looking a bit embarrassed.
Li Bin really wanted to say that he had indeed misspoken. He had made 2 million this month, so saying it was a little more than a salary was far too modest.
But this money was earned by sleeping with women and training his wife, so Li Bin figured there was nothing to brag about.
Chatting with a vain man like Cui Tianjiao was truly boring.
It was better to quickly shift the topic to Ling Hanrui, sow some discord between the couple, and lay a good foundation for his next move on her.
"Huh? Wan Wan, isn't this a Cartier watch? Wow! It's the Balloon Bleu, my favorite model!! Is this authentic or a replica? When did you become so extravagant! To buy such an expensive watch!"
Just then, Ling Hanrui happened to notice the Cartier watch on Wan Wan's wrist. She grabbed Wan Wan's wrist, her face full of astonishment, and examined it enviously.
"How could I ever afford that! It was Li Bin. I don't know what got into him, but he secretly bought one for me. My heart aches at the cost!" Wan Wan said honestly, carefully taking the Cartier watch from her wrist and handing it to Ling Hanrui.
"Li Bin bought it? Then it's probably a replica. Hanrui, if you like it, I can buy you one. I saw a friend selling them on WeChat; one with diamonds is only three or four thousand." Cui Tianjiao glanced at the watch with disdain, already convinced it was a fake.
"It's authentic!" Ling Hanrui examined it closely for a moment, then looked up at Wan Wan and Li Bin in surprise. "Wan Wan, your husband really splurges on you! A watch that costs over forty thousand, and he actually went for it!"
Ling Hanrui was a watch enthusiast, obsessed with luxury goods and famous watches, especially Cartier.
A few of her colleagues at the hospital owned the same authentic and replica models, so Ling Hanrui quickly identified that this watch was definitely the real deal.
There was one most obvious difference between an authentic Cartier and a replica: the pin shaft on a fake is coarser, while the authentic one's central circumference is fine, uniform, and smoothly polished.
The one on Wan Wan's wrist was clearly exquisitely crafted!
Even the font on the back of the watch face was polished with great precision.
A replica could never achieve this level of detail.
"Are you insane? Spending over forty thousand on a watch? With that kind of money, wouldn't it be better to save up for a nice car?" Cui Tianjiao, seeing the envy and jealousy on his wife's face, immediately retorted with a scoff.
This is my chance!
Seeing the displeasure flash in Ling Hanrui's eyes, the corner of Li Bin's mouth curled into a slight smile. He immediately said, "Xiao Cui, that's where you're wrong. Everyone pursues different things. You like cars, but you can't force others to like them too, can you? The value of an item isn't determined by what you think, but by what the wife thinks. My Wan Wan likes watches, so I buy her watches. If she liked cars, I would work my ass off to earn money and buy her a car. As long as my Wan Wan likes it, then it's the right thing, and it has value."
This entire spiel was something Li Bin had learned from internet.
Now, using it to destroy the relationship between Ling Hanrui, who had a strong feminist mindset, and the unromantic Cui Tianjiao, was perfectly appropriate.
Besides, internet was full of articles designed to drive a wedge between men and women. Li Bin had read plenty of them for research when he was writing a satirical novel.
Hearing what Li Bin said, a light of agreement immediately flickered in Ling Hanrui's eyes. Her gaze towards Li Bin had grown several degrees warmer.
[Affinity with Ling Hanrui: +10 (-35 Vigilance)]
"Nonsense! What kind of twisted logic is that! How can a watch be more valuable than a car? No matter how expensive your watch is, it's just over forty thousand. My BMW cost three hundred and eighty thousand!" Cui Tianjiao was getting agitated, provoked by Li Bin's challenging look.
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