"Can you come out and talk?" Liu Li pleaded. "Come with me for a bowl of noodles. If you can't eat, just watch."
Half an hour later, the two met at an elegantly decorated noodle shop. Lu Chen's eyes lit up when he saw Liu Li. Holy crap, dressed so sexily in public, isn't she afraid of running into bad guys?
Lu Chen remembered this was the first time he'd ever seen Liu Li dressed so sexily.
She wore a black, tight-fitting, see-through dress—the kind that's completely openwork. Although there were some lace trims along the stripes, her white skin and dark purple underwear were still faintly visible as she moved. She also wore light makeup, making her even more alluring.
She was stunningly beautiful!
Even the minor celebrities he'd dated before couldn't compare to Liu Li's radiance.
Liu Li was pleased to see Lu Chen's eyes glued to her. She sat opposite Lu Chen in a booth at the noodle shop. The men passing by couldn't help but glance at her, even the noodle server almost spilled his soup after staring at her for a few too long. The most obvious area they were eyeing was her beautiful legs, clad in black, peeking out from under her short skirt.
Lu Chen was exasperated. Seeing Liu Li dressed so flamboyantly and being stared at by other men felt like a piece of his own flesh being torn away. He stood up, went over and sat next to Liu Li, pushing his butt towards her: "Hey, sit a little closer, I'll sit here!"
"Why are you sitting here? Who sits here?" Liu Li asked, puzzled.
Lu Chen said with a serious face, "I'm just covering your private parts. Didn't you see those men's eyes practically devouring you? Dressed like that, tsk tsk, don't go to places teeming with perverts, or I'll just have to watch you get torn to pieces!"
Liu Li smugly replied, "Sorry, I dressed like that precisely to go to places teeming with perverts!"
"Huh?" Lu Chen was stunned. "What did you say?"
Liu Li's plan for tonight was this: eat noodles at a noodle shop first, then go to a nightclub to dance. That's why she was dressed so provocatively.
Lu Chen exclaimed, "Li-jie, you're clearly trying to attract attention! Going to a nightclub to dance, are you kidding me? You're really pushing yourself too far!"
Liu Li said quietly, "Honey, I turned twenty-six yesterday. For twenty-six years, I've been very well-behaved, rarely even going to karaoke. Can't I even celebrate a little at a nightclub?"
Lu Chen was stunned: "Yesterday was your birthday?"
Liu Li nodded: "It was my birthday. I originally wanted to spend it with you, but so many things happened. Birthdays shouldn't be postponed, but I still wanted to go to a nightclub, dance a bit, and let loose to celebrate my 26th!"
"You should have said so earlier!" Lu Chen slapped his thigh: "In that case, Li-jie, don't worry, eat your noodles well. Once you're full, even if it's a mountain of knives or a sea of fire, I'll go with you! I'll protect you!"
Liu Li chuckled: "A mountain of knives or a sea of fire? It's not that serious!"
"Of course there are!" Lu Chen said seriously. "You're already beautiful, and dressed so sexy and alluringly. Like I said before, you're bound to run into a lot of perverts at the nightclub. Perverts are fierce! I'll have to do everything I can to protect you!"
"Hmph, perverts?" Liu Li couldn't help but pinch Lu Chen's hand. "I think you're the biggest pervert!" Saying this, she remembered what happened in the lounge.
After finishing their noodles, besides the noodle shop, the two decided that for the nightclub, they'd go to Golden Coast. It was the most famous nightclub in Yunzhou City, and they heard it was very expensive—an entrance fee of 800 yuan, of course, including drinks and snacks.
The two weren't in a hurry to go, so they walked. Passing through many busy streets and under numerous streetlights, Lu Chen stopped in front of a beautifully decorated shop.
Above the shop was a light blue sign with four large, beautiful characters: "Sea Time."
The background of the four characters was light blue waves, adorned with many pearl lights. The pearl lamps, shimmering and sparkling, looked as if they were floating on the sea.
This was a specialty store for natural pearl jewelry.
Lu Chen grabbed Liu Li's arm and pulled her inside.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Liu Li asked, puzzled.
"It's my birthday!" Lu Chen said matter-of-factly. "How can I not buy you a present for your birthday?"
The pearl jewelry in this Sea Time store was truly beautiful: pearl necklaces, pearl earrings, pearl brooches, pearl belts… even pearl-encrusted lingerie and such.
The people who came to buy jewelry here either exuded the noble air of the rich and handsome or the domineering presence of the nouveau riche.
In no time, Liu Li was dazzled by the sights. She had never been to a place like this before. She was usually too busy with her business to even browse a clothing store, let alone come to a place like this.
Look here, even the cheapest pearl jewelry costs several thousand, and that's for pieces with only one or two pearls. They usually cost tens or hundreds of thousands. There are even black pearl necklaces that cost three or four hundred thousand. Liu Li felt a little guilty. She tugged at Lu Chen's arm and whispered, "Chen, things here are too expensive. Don't buy anything here. If you want to buy me a gift, there are many stalls on the street selling garnet bracelets for a few dollars each. I'd be happy if you sold them to me!"
Lu Chen replied seriously, "No way! I just earned that 20,000 yuan 'compensation for emotional distress.' How can I not buy you something nice for your birthday? Besides, if I buy you something expensive, you'll be more grateful and willing to give yourself to me! Maybe tonight you can do whatever you want with me!"
The last sentence was spoken very softly, but it made Liu Li gasp, her face flushed red. She punched Lu Chen's chest and whispered, "You brat, that's too much! I'll get you a pair of scissors!"
Lu Chen chuckled, "Then tell me, if I buy you something more expensive, will you be more grateful and more likely to throw yourself at me?"
"Get lost!" Liu Li smacked Lu Chen's shoulder again. "As long as you're good to me and stop making me angry, I... even if you don't buy me anything, I'm willing..."
Her voice trailed off at the end.
"Huh? Huh? What did you say?" Lu Chen asked, bewildered.
"I'm ignoring you." Liu Li rolled her eyes at him.
However, under Lu Chen's insistence, Liu Li agreed to buy him a gift here. However, she limited it to two thousand yuan. "Pah!" Lu Chen said, "What can two thousand yuan buy? Even if I spend all twenty thousand, it's still twenty thousand! Money can be spent and then returned, I just want to have fun!"
A hint of the arrogance he once had as a young master of a powerful family surfaced. Back in Jiaying City, when he was still the playboy of a martial arts family, twenty thousand yuan wouldn't even cover Lu Chen's daily expenses.
"You really don't treat money like money," Liu Li chided. Just then, a gruff, arrogant voice suddenly came from the side: "Twenty thousand yuan is nothing! What a country bumpkin! Coming here to show off with just twenty thousand yuan? You think you can win over a beautiful woman with that little bit of money? Tsk tsk, a toad trying to eat swan meat!"
The voice belonged to a middle-aged man.
Lu Chen was immediately annoyed. He turned his head and saw a man around forty years old, looking like a wild boar. He wore a platinum necklace thicker than his thumb, and eight of his ten fingers were adorned with dazzling diamond rings. He looked like a nouveau riche.
Moreover, he was holding a young, beautiful woman in each of his thick arms. If Liu Li was dressed sexily enough, these two women were even sexier, both wearing tight dresses that clung to their curvaceous bodies. Neither of them were wearing bras, and two small, bean-like breasts were clearly visible on their chests.
However, in terms of looks, they were at most two-thirds as beautiful as Liu Li.
Just by looking at the shape of their breasts bulging under their clothes, the experienced Lu Chen could tell that the other two had used silicone implants, while Liu Li's were about the same size, but all natural!
This was one of the key differences between a goddess and a succubus.
Lu Chen stared at him disdainfully: "I say, Mr. Wild Boar, go use your stinking money to pick up your dinosaurs. Do I need to use money to please a beautiful woman? She loves me so much; even if I don't buy her anything, she'll still be with me!"
As he spoke, mimicking the Wild Boar man, he reached out and put an arm around Liu Li's slender waist, pulling her close to him. Then, he sweetly asked her, "Right, beautiful?"
Liu Li played along perfectly. Although a little shy, she decided to let Lu Chen hold her, even using her soft arms to cling to him like a little bird, saying, "Yes, handsome, even if you don't spend a penny, I'm all yours."
Lu Chen chuckled smugly, glancing at the boar-like man with disdain, and said, "See that?"
"Damn it!" the boar-like man was about to jump up and down, "Kid, you want to mess with me, huh?"
Lu Chen curled his lip, "Who are you? Me, mess with you? It's cooler over there, go over there, okay!" He pointed to the air conditioner in the corner, then continued to hold Liu Li's waist, walking towards the counter.
A figure flashed before their eyes, a strong smell of body odor wafted over, and the boar-like man blocked their way. His fleshy face twitched three times, and he glared at Lu Chen with a menacing look. When he looked at Liu Li, his eyes gleamed with lust.
He chuckled and said, "Beautiful lady, what's the point of just clinging to a gigolo? The most despicable people in this world are gigolos who live off women! Here's the deal: if you come with me, I'll give you 200,000 a month, better than doing any work for you!"
As he spoke, he patted his chest. "I, Zhu Nengzhang, run a tin mine in Yunzhou City. You should know that these days, people like me who can operate mines are all capable. I have money, tons of money. As long as you serve me well, I'll give you more than 200,000 a month. How about it?"
Liu Li looked at him with disdain, gave a cold snort, and pulled Lu Chen away. It was clear she wasn't buying Zhu Nengzhang's act.
Lu Chen turned his head and laughed, "Mr. Wild Boar, your name is hilarious, Zhu Nengzhang. Not bad, not bad, pigs really do grow a lot. Who gave you this name? It's practically prophetic! Hahaha!"
Zhu Nengzhang was enraged. With a shout, he lunged forward, reaching out to grab Lu Chen's shoulder. Lu Chen was prepared; how could he be grabbed? He twisted around, holding Liu Li, turning half a circle, and Zhu Nengzhang's grab missed.
Lu Chen, holding Liu Li, also twisted around, now facing Zhu Nengzhang. He said coldly, "What? You want to fight me? A bumpkin is a bumpkin, no matter how much money you have. Always resorting to violence. Do you think your family knows about your impulsiveness?"