Chapter Twelve: Endless Temptation

  It's still an hour before the agreed time to meet Gong Hai De after work, and the time is neither long nor short. If they go home first and then meet up, they will definitely be late. The two of them can only wander around on the street because it's their first time having a one-on-one date with someone of the opposite sex, feeling especially shy and awkward, not knowing what to say, always stuttering, and their words are hesitant and bashful, making passersby think they are young lovers who have just fallen in love.

  "Do you want something to drink?" After walking for half a day, Qu Wen finally said something constructive.

  "Uh-huh."

  Su Ya Xin's answer was as simple as ever, wearing a fitted professional woman's outfit, giving people a sense of uniform temptation. The slightly open collar revealed the white and upright chest inside, the slender waist, the delicate and long legs, combined with the expression of shyness and helplessness on her face, full of infinite charm, it was simply challenging the self-control of the men around her.

  To be honest, Qu Wen has always had a good impression of this simple, kind and gentle girl, especially since she became the first person he asked out on a date, his affection for her grew even stronger.

  "What flavor do you like?" Qu Wen asked again as they arrived at the beverage stall.

  "Let's have a cup of silk stocking milk tea." Su Yaxin replied softly.

  "Stocking milk tea..." Qu Wen said, unconsciously glancing at Su Yaxin's legs, which happened to be wearing a pair of coffee-colored stockings, tightly wrapping around her plump legs, making them look extremely elastic and tempting, impossible to look away.

  Although she lowered her head slightly, Su Yaxin found that Qu Wen was secretly looking at her legs while standing opposite to her. She felt both shy and anxious! What should she do? Should she scold him loudly, remind him in a low voice, or continue letting him stare? Her heart was like a little rabbit that couldn't find its way home, jumping around restlessly, not knowing what to do.

  "I'll just have a regular milk tea." After being confused for a while, Su Yaxin came back to her senses and her intuition told her that this situation couldn't be delayed any longer, or it would become even more awkward.

  "Ah, oh, a cup of green tea, a pair of silk stockings... no, no, a cup of milk tea with silk stockings..."

  The pervert's behavior was caught by the parties involved, Qu Wen's face turned bright red with shame, and he looked away, clearing his throat twice before buying two drinks from the beverage vendor.

  Jinlv Zhou Hotel, people who come here are either rich or noble. If it weren't for someone else treating him, Qu Wen would never come to a place like this. A meal costs several thousand yuan and is still ordinary. It feels like the people who come here aren't here to eat, but because they have too much money and nowhere to spend it. Of course, this is Qu Wen's current mindset. When his status reaches a certain height, he will begin to understand that different people have different social circles and consumption needs, which can be used to show off one's abilities or satisfy psychological vanity.

  He walked slowly all the way, and Qu Wen no longer made any excessive moves or actions. After finishing his drink, he arrived at the hotel entrance just in time for 6:30. He took out his phone and dialed Gong Haide's number, then followed the service staff to a private room called "Golden Jade Full Hall".

  "Not bad, you've really brought a beauty here. Unlike before when you'd get shy whenever you saw a beauty." Gong Haide immediately came over to welcome them into the private room, leaning in close to Qu Wen's shoulder and teasing him in a low voice.

  "Cut the crap, or I'm out of here!" Until now, Qu Wen had not walked out of the awkward shadow, and Gong Haide, unaware of the situation, bumped into the muzzle, naturally would not get a good face.

  "Hey, since you're here, let's eat first and talk later." Gong Haide chuckled and invited Qu Wen and Su Yaxin to take a seat, then introduced them to the other guests in the private room: "These two are my business partners, the other two shareholders of Wangzi Nightclub, Chen Qiang, Chen Ge, and Qi Zhennan, Nan Ge. If it weren't for them, I'd have been dead on the streets long ago. This is the good brother I was telling you about, Qu Wen, the new appraiser at Yuefeng Pawnshop. And this beautiful young lady is his girlfriend, Su Yaxin."

  Qu Wen knew that Gong Haide was always outspoken, but he never thought that he would take the liberty of defining Su Yaxin as his girlfriend. At this moment, embarrassment could not describe his emotions, and he could only stare at Gong Haide with a deadly gaze. And Su Yaxin, who had heard this, originally had a pink and delicate face, which turned red to the point where it seemed like blood was about to drip out. Her pure and lovely appearance made every man present hold their breath.

  Chen Qiang and Qi Zhen Nan are both around 40 years old, judging from their attire and demeanor, they should be the actual investors of Wangzi Nightclub, while Gong Haide is just a nominal shareholder, serving as a protective umbrella to prevent other underworld forces from causing trouble in their territory.

  Actually, triads don't have to cause trouble like in the movies with all the yelling and fighting, or resorting to violence. Usually, they just need to send a few dozen brothers to sit inside and outside nightclubs or bars, not ordering anything, just occupying seats to scare away customers. Tell me, when ordinary people go to entertainment venues and see a group of intimidating thugs surrounding the entrance from afar, who would still dare to enter?

  Without customers, the ones who suffer losses in the long run are the bar and nightclub owners. Either you have a strong backing or you pay protection fees obediently; otherwise, don't even think about opening an entertainment venue. Anyone in this line of work knows the unwritten rules.

  There were three beauties in the private room, one of whom was familiar to both Qu Wen and Su Yaxin. She was the receptionist at the pawnshop, and had become Gong Haide's girlfriend soon after he had pawned something at the company not long ago. The other two beauties looked even younger than Su Yaxin, probably around twenty years old. Without thinking much, they should be Chen Qiang and Qi Zhennan's mistresses, sitting obediently beside them like little birds.

  Upon hearing this, Qu Wen gave a shout-out to Chen Qiang and his companions.

  "Come on, come on! Since he's Adde's brother, he's our brother too. Let's have a drink first!" Chen Qiang and the others were all businessmen who had risen from humble beginnings to become wealthy, so they knew that some things were off-limits, especially when it came to brothers' women. And at their level, there would naturally be no shortage of beautiful women around them. They all shifted their gaze away from Su Yaxin and raised their glasses in a toast to Qu Wen.

  "Thanks, Brother Chen." Qu Wen raised his wine cup and drank it all in one gulp.

  Gong Haide immediately helped him fill up, and flattered him on the side: "This time, it's the two big brothers who took the initiative to invite guests. Usually, only others invite them, think about how much face you have."

  "Hey, don't say that. This time I invited Ah Wen over to thank you in person for helping us authenticate that Jin Tingbiao painting. Not only did we avoid unnecessary losses, but we also made a pretty penny." Those few paintings were originally used by someone else as collateral to Chen Qiang, and it just so happened that Gong Haide found out that Qu Wen was working at Yuefeng Pawnshop, wanting to give his brother some benefits, but unexpectedly ended up helping them make a big profit. Chen Qiang is also a generous person, directly giving Gong Haide one million from the extra three million, if not for him, he wouldn't even have two million.

  "Speaking of which, Qi Zhen-nan cursed: "That Jin Rui-feng's fake appraiser can't even tell what's real or fake, almost causing Old Chen to lose tens of millions for nothing. With this kind of ability, don't think about us doing business with him again. From now on, as long as Ah Wen is here, we won't have to worry about being cheated."

  A burst of flattery came, and Qu Wen was overwhelmed, hastily waving his hand: "The two big brothers must have made a mistake, I'm still an apprentice in the pawnshop, what ability do I have to identify the authenticity of ancient paintings? All these are the credit of Master Guquan of the pawnshop."

  Chen Qiang smiled: "Whose credit is it, anyway? Let me tell you, in Long City and even the entire Southwest region, when it comes to seniority and vision, Gu Lao is the number one in the antique industry. The two apprentices he taught are both new stars in the industry. Unfortunately, Gu Lao has a strong personality and doesn't like people who fawn on him, so no matter how much money we offer, he won't help us appraise antiques. I heard that Gu Lao wants to take you as his apprentice, so my brother and I thought of asking you to put in a good word for us. If we encounter some good pieces in the future, could you please go and appraise them for us?"

  Qu Wen was shocked and Chen Qiang's news was very well-informed, Gu Quan had only mentioned it to himself in private, occasionally coming to the company to point out a few things, but it had also reached his ears.

  Chen Qiang finished speaking, and Qi Zhennan took out a bag of money and placed it on the table. By visual inspection, there were approximately 200,000 to 300,000 yuan.

  This amount of money is just a small number in the eyes of many rich people, but for Qu Wen, a newly graduated college student, it's a staggering pile placed right in front of him. Even though he already has 500,000 yuan in savings, he can't help being drawn to the stacks of cash in front of him.