Chu Muwan and the sales assistants present were amused by her reaction.
Qin Yige resignedly put away her phone, "Sister Muwan, you might as well kill me than make me do this!"
"There's no other way, men like this. You can try it if you don't believe me."
"..."
After leaving the jewelry store, Qin Yige returned home with the tourmaline ring. She couldn't figure out until dark why she had to learn "tea-speak" to appease Shang Sheng!
In Chu Muwan's words, she wasn't trying to appease Shang Sheng, but to deal with Chen Ling.
"... Forget it, don't think about it!"
Just as she was worrying about dinner, she received a call from Shang Sheng.
"Where are you?"
Qin Yige, who had been practicing "tea-speak" all afternoon, slumped on the sofa and blurted out, "Of course, I'm at home, big brother!"
"..."
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone.
Shang Sheng took the phone away from his ear and looked at the number. He hadn't dialed the wrong number.
He calmly put the phone back to his ear, "I'll be downstairs in ten minutes. Wait for me downstairs."
"What are you taking little sister to do, big brother?"
"..." Shang Sheng rubbed his temples. "I've booked a restaurant."
"Which restaurant did big brother book?"
Shang Sheng didn't answer her question and instead asked, "Qin Yige, the card I gave you this afternoon doesn't work?"
"It works, big brother."
"... If it works, then speak properly!" Her constant use of "big brother" made him uneasy. Tonight, he had to guard against her causing trouble and intentionally setting him up.
Qin Yige rolled her eyes. What an unromantic old man, no wonder he's been single for 27 years!
Her voice returned to normal, "Got it. Do I need to change?"
"Whatever you like."
"Bye-bye."
After ending the call, Qin Yige thought for a moment and decided to take a quick shower.
It was already more than ten minutes later when she came out of the shower. She checked the time and realized she was seven minutes past the agreed time with Shang Sheng.
She didn't care, let him wait downstairs!
What's wrong with a man waiting for his wife for a bit?
Just as Qin Yige was drawing her eyebrows, she received a call from Shang Sheng. She put it on speakerphone, "Hello!"
"Mrs. Shang, you are twenty minutes and eighteen seconds late."
"Oh, wait five more minutes. I'm putting on lipstick. After all, it's my first time dining out with Mr. Shang, so I need to put on some makeup, right?"
Shang Sheng: "..."
She usually didn't bother to put on makeup before seeing him. Every time she knew she was going to see him, she not only didn't wear makeup but dressed strangely, as if she wanted to scare him to death.
Qin Yige was acting a bit unusually.
He hung up the phone and instructed another secretary, "Find out who Mrs. Shang met this afternoon."
"Yes, Mr. Shang."
Before Qin Yige got into the car, the secretary called Shang Sheng back, "Mr. Shang, Mrs. Shang met Ms. Chu and spent two and a half hours at a jewelry store. Afterwards, Mrs. Shang went straight home."
Chu Muwan?
"Okay, I understand."
The driver opened the car door for the fashionably late Qin Yige. She was wearing a simple silk long dress in a "xizi" color, paired with black lace-up sandals. She looked... quite cool.
Before she even got into the car, Shang Sheng could smell a strong perfume.
"How many bottles of perfume did you use?"
Qin Yige sat down and winked at him, "Two and a half. Don't you like it?"
"As long as you're happy."
"Of course, I'm happy!" So happy it hurts.
Could she tell him that she hadn't used any perfume at all? She was so flustered by being too late when she was putting on makeup that she felt embarrassed. As she rushed to leave, she accidentally knocked over three bottles of perfume.
Two full bottles and one half-full bottle, all broken.
The whole house smelled so fragrant that it could be smelled from miles away, and of course, she smelled of it too.
"Achoo!" As soon as the car started, Qin Yige couldn't help but sneeze.
She quickly rolled down the window to get some fresh air.
However, as soon as the window opened, a gust of hot air hit her, forcing her to close the window again.
Shang Sheng thought for a moment and asked, "Did you break the perfume bottles?"
"..." How could he be so accurate?
"Yes, to make it to your appointment, I sacrificed three bottles of perfume. Aren't you touched?"
"No."
Qin Yige: "..."
She gave him a big eye roll and turned her face away, ignoring him.
Within two minutes, she raised her hand again and held it directly in front of him, "Does the ring I bought with the money you gave me look good?"
Shang Sheng raised his eyelids. A slender, fair hand appeared in his vision. A ring was on her index finger, with a large, oval-shaped red tourmaline gem set in it, refracting light in the dim car.
To his surprise, he nodded and even praised, "Very beautiful."
Just as Qin Yige was about to smile, she heard him add, "I'm talking about the ring."
"..." The girl's face immediately fell.
She withdrew her hand and snorted, "I knew you wouldn't say anything good."
Shang Sheng retorted, "Can you?"
Qin Yige turned her head and glared at him, "Shang Sheng, I'm your wife now, you have to indulge me!"
She had just learned this sentence from Chu Muwan and didn't know if it would work...
Shang Sheng pondered for a moment and nodded, "This is a good reason."
Qin Yige's eyes widened. Did it work so well?
The restaurant was on the top floor of the most iconic building in the city center. The elevator stopped at the 101st floor. Before they stepped out of the elevator, Shang Sheng extended his arm towards her.
Qin Yige understood immediately, "Why? Do we need to show off our affection?"
"Yes."
"Shang Sheng, don't deceive yourself."
"Let me correct you, I'm deceiving outsiders. You and I both know we're not truly in love, but outsiders don't."
Qin Yige: "..."
What he said seemed to make sense.
The girl extended her arm and linked it with his, and they walked out of the elevator together.
A waiter was already waiting at the entrance of the restaurant. Seeing them appear, they greeted them in unison, "Mr. Shang, Mrs. Shang."
Shang Sheng nodded, and Qin Yige maintained her smile.
The restaurant manager stepped forward and handed the bouquet he was holding to Qin Yige, "Mrs. Shang, these are fresh flowers Mr. Shang ordered for you. Please accept them."
Qin Yige took the bouquet of roses in surprise. They were the most popular "ice blue" roses on the market, about 66 of them. She almost couldn't hold them.
With so many people around, she held back the question she wanted to ask and simply thanked the restaurant manager gracefully.
Escorted by the staff into the restaurant, Qin Yige secretly sniffed the bouquet on the way. It smelled wonderful!
A hint of sweetness quietly welled up in her heart, and the corners of her lips turned up high. However, in the next moment, she quickly hid her smile, fearing that Shang Sheng would discover how much she liked the flowers he gave her.
It was at this moment that Qin Yige realized that there were no other customers in the entire restaurant; only she and Shang Sheng were present.
She asked curiously, "I remember this place is very popular. It's peak dining time now, why is there no one here?"
The sky garden outside the restaurant offered the best view of Hong Kong's bustling financial center and was a popular spot for many.
"It's right that there's no one!" Shang Sheng seemed to find it perfectly normal.
The restaurant manager led them to a table. As the manager was about to pull out a chair, Shang Sheng reached out before him and gave the manager a look.