Chapter 17: Chapter 016 Cunning Man and Woman
Tian Guang harbored ulterior motives for Lu Qing, which is why he suggested she change jobs. He believed that his offer of "any salary you want" would definitely tempt Lu Qing.
However, no sooner had he finished speaking than Lu Qing immediately refused, "I'm sorry, Mr. Tian, but I'm quite satisfied with my current job and haven't considered changing. Thank you for your kindness."
Not only was Tian Guang stunned by her response, but Li Shuya was also taken aback, "Qingqing, you shouldn't be so stubborn. Let me ask you, how much do you earn a year from your current job?"
Lu Qing replied, "It varies. In a bad year, a bit over a hundred thousand, and in a good year, two or three hundred thousand. It depends on performance."
"Tsk tsk, even at most two or three hundred thousand, huh? Miss Lu, if you come to work at a company owned by a friend of mine, I guarantee you an annual income of no less than 500,000. How about that?"
Tian Guang boasted proudly, convinced he had never met a woman who didn't love money.
Lu Qing glanced at Qin Tian and said, "Mr. Tian, let's not discuss this matter anymore. Like I said, I'm not going to change jobs."
Both Tian Guang and Li Shuya noticed Lu Qing looking at Qin Tian and thought that perhaps Lu Qing's refusal was because she and Qin Tian worked at the same company, which made commuting convenient. Yet, here he was, just an unsophisticated man.
The more Tian Guang thought about it, the more irritated he got, silently planning to find an opportunity to embarrass Qin Tian and change Lu Qing's opinion of him. A beauty with a buffoon? Impossible! He was determined to win Lu Qing over!
"Alright, alright, let's not talk about work then. Qingqing, what do you think of this necklace? Hehe, my husband gave it to me. It's an exclusive design by an Italian designer, globally limited edition. Just between us, this necklace cost over 800,000. Hehe, that's like four or five years of your salary, right?"
Changing the subject, Li Shuya took off a gold necklace she was wearing and flaunted it in front of Lu Qing, wearing a proud expression on her face.
"Oh... it's very nice."
Lu Qing felt quite embarrassed. It's one thing for the necklace to be expensive, but why did she have to say it was worth four or five years of her salary? Wasn't that mocking her?
Despite feeling aggrieved, Lu Qing couldn't retaliate since she was indeed just an ordinary office worker and couldn't compare to Li Shuya. Of course, she also disdained comparing herself with Li Shuya, but the situation made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.
This woman, who sold her body, messed around in college, failed courses every semester, even had abortions for three different men; whereas she, having been a class representative, a member of the student council, and various clubs, had always been at the top of her class, receiving national scholarships every year. So why, in the end, did she have to suffer Li Shuya's taunts?
Lu Qing couldn't understand it and had no way of dealing with it. Feeling awful, she just wanted the dinner to end as soon as possible.
She turned to look at Qin Tian, who was sitting next to her, and was dumbfounded.
Qin Tian was simply engrossed in his meal, eating with relish as though he hadn't heard their conversation, his eyes focused only on the feast before him...
"Aren't you human? Your master is being bullied, and all you care about is stuffing your face. Sigh!"
A look of grievance appeared in Lu Qing's eyes. She shook her head, feeling even more displeased.
All this was observed by Tian Guang sitting opposite, and a cold smirk formed on his lips. Qin Tian, such a country bumpkin, only cared about eating. Hmph, an inexperienced fellow like that, what ability could he possibly have to deserve a beauty like Lu Qing?
"Brother Qin Tian, you're not busy after dinner, right? Why don't you come over to my place? I live not far from here. Hehe, I've got a nice little western-style building nearby, it wasn't that expensive, around 90,000 or 100,000 per square meter."
After thinking to himself for a moment, Tian Guang suddenly said this to Qin Tian, a conspiratorial look in his eye.
"Oh, no problem, sure, I'm free." Qin Tian, focused on his meal, agreed without a second thought.
Lu Qing frowned. Couldn't Qin Tian see through Tian Guang's blatant show-off and attempt to belittle him at all? Did she really have no feelings about it?
Lu Qing wanted to refuse, to say she had other commitments that evening, but with Tian Guang and Li Shuya insisting, and Qin Tian agreeing, she had no choice but to go along.
After enduring the difficult meal, a triumphant Tian Guang drove Qin Tian and her to his place in his Audi.
It was a villa, about 200 square meters, a rather modest detached row-house villa, but still, it was a small villa, indeed priced at around 70 or 80 thousand per square meter.
At Tian Guang's home, he brought out some fruit and snacks. Qin Tian, abiding by the principle of not passing up free food, ate his fill.
Meanwhile, Lu Qing felt incredibly awkward, especially seeing Qin Tian only caring about eating, which made her even more uncomfortable. She thought to herself, are you a pig, to eat so much?
After sitting in Tian Guang's house for nearly an hour, Lu Qing couldn't stand it anymore and stood up to leave.
Tian Guang saw the unspoken reproach and dissatisfaction Lu Qing had for Qin Tian and, with his goal achieved, he was very pleased and did not insist on them staying.
At that time, Li Shuya said, "Honey, Qingqing hasn't bought a car yet, how about we drive them home? Hehe, I've never been to Qingqing's place before, so we could also stop by for a visit."
"Oh, sure, we're not doing anything else anyway."
Tian Guang readily agreed, chuckling, fully aware of his wife's intentions. Living in such a villa would undoubtedly make Lu Qing and Qin Tian feel uncomfortable. Now, visiting their place, likely a rental, would make for a stark contrast. A little mockery could certainly make Lu Qing feel bad, which might just lead her to break up with Qin Tian in frustration.
The couple's thoughts aligned perfectly in their malice.
Lu Qing suddenly felt embarrassed, her face reddening slightly.
She was indeed renting a place to live, a one-bedroom apartment, with a monthly rent of over three thousand, as ordinary as could be. She was well aware of what Li Shuya and the other had in mind, which was exactly why she definitely didn't want to take them to her home. That would be like asking for discomfort.
"No need, no need, thank you for your kindness. Qin Tian and I will just take a taxi back, it's fine," Lu Qing awkwardly refused.
"Brother Qin Tian, you both came to see my house, hehe, you won't reject us visiting your place, right? Don't worry, I've never been the kind to discriminate against anyone, hehe, just to visit," said Tian Guang with a chuckle to Qin Tian.
Qin Tian, seeming to have finally eaten his fill, looked up at Tian Guang and said, "Sure."
"Ah..."
Seeing Qin Tian agree so naively, Lu Qing sighed inwardly. Just how simple could this Qin Tian be?
"Then let's go to my place," said Qin Tian as he stood up and stretched.
Lu Qing quickly approached him and whispered, "Are you sure you want to take them to your place?"
Without a doubt, Lu Qing was extremely worried. After all, Qin Tian had only started working today and judging by his appearance, his family definitely wasn't wealthy... she didn't dare to imagine what his living situation might be like.
"Hehe..." Qin Tian turned around, smiling at Lu Qing, "No problem."
Lu Qing was left speechless.
"Alright, let's go check it out now, hehe. I'm actually quite curious about Brother Qin Tian's place. Is it rented or bought? It's probably difficult to buy a place in Zhonghai City, hehe."
Tian Guang was laughing joyfully as he went out to drive the car, and the group of four headed towards Qin Tian's residence.
During the car ride, Lu Qing wrestled with her thoughts several times, and ultimately agreed to let Tian Guang and the other visit her place. She thought, at least her home was passably decent. If they went to Qin Tian's place, she feared they would end up ridiculed to the point of losing all dignity, no?
However, Qin Tian still insisted on going to his residence. Plus, Tian Guang naturally wanted to see Qin Tian make a fool of himself, so in the end, they unanimously decided to go to the place where Qin Tian lived.
Tian Guang and Li Shuya were jubilant internally, both thinking about the mocking words they would use once they saw Qin Tian's slum-like residence.
Nevertheless, after nearly an hour of driving, Tian Guang started to suspect something was amiss.
This road led to the wealthy district of Zhonghai City, with no side streets.
"Brother Qin Tian, are you sure this is the way? Ahead is the famous district of luxury villas in Zhonghai City," Tian Guang "kindly" reminded Qin Tian.
"It should be this road, let's go," said Qin Tian.
Tian Guang was curious, but then thought, could it be that Qin Tian was too embarrassed to take them to where he lived, deliberately bringing them to this wealthy area to show off? Well then, hehe, it would be easy to expose him in a bit.
"Here we are, this is the place. Just park over there," Qin Tian pointed to the Green Bamboo Forest Villa across the street.
The Audi car pulled up in front of the grand entrance of the Green Bamboo Forest Villa. Slowly, Qin Tian got out of the car. Inside the car, Tian Guang, Li Shuya, and even Lu Qing didn't disembark, all three of them gaping with astonished expressions.
"Brother Qin Tian, stop joking, this villa... It must have at least a thousand square meters, it can't possibly be your house," Tian Guang still didn't get out of the car.
Li Shuya said, "This villa, it must cost at least 200 thousand per square meter..."
With that calculation, Li Shuya gasped internally—the villa's value would be at least 200 million!
Compared to Tian Guang's modest villa that cost a few million, this was simply incomparable!
The surprise in Lu Qing's beautiful eyes was quite apparent. She couldn't believe this was Qin Tian's residence. After hesitating, she said, "I think, maybe we should just go to my place instead."
Hearing this, Tian Guang actually laughed.
Lu Qing's lack of confidence only confirmed his suspicion—this villa couldn't possibly belong to Qin Tian, definitely not!
With this in mind, Tian Guang and Li Shuya exchanged glances, almost as if reading each other's minds, they nearly said in unison, "We've come all this way, right to the doorstep, let's still sit at Qin Tian's place."
After saying that, the two of them got out of the car together. Lu Qing could only follow and get out awkwardly.
Tian Guang crossed his arms over his chest, mocking Qin Tian:
"Qin Tian, since you say this luxurious villa is your house, then, hehe, aren't you going to open the door? I've never been inside such a luxury villa, hehe. Oh right, do you have the key? Don't tell me you've lost it, huh."