Chapter 116

Chapter 116

As the waiter left the private room after placing the plate, everyone looked at Ji Mian with odd, almost incredulous expressions.

Although they had always known that this young master of the Ji Family was wild and carefree, they hadn’t expected him to be so...

His words sounded like something a swaggering bully would say, too bold.

Ji Mian coughed lightly, trying to brush off the awkwardness. "So, do you believe me or not?"

"Believe, believe, believe..." Zhou Ji snatched a piece of pastry and stuffed it into Ji Mian’s mouth to stop him from saying more.

He lowered his voice and said, "But Ji Fan, if you really like that person, you should try to win them over the usual way."

In this world, those who can resist money’s allure are few, and those who work in a high-end place like Meidun without being swayed by it are even rarer.

The Ji Family’s wealth is in the billions. As long as his friend doesn’t cause trouble and stops with the crude comments, it probably won’t be long before the waiter might actually go for him.

"Pursue?" Ji Mian frowned. "Why should I even bother chasing him? If he didn’t look a bit like Pei Qing, I wouldn’t even look twice at him."

"..."

Zhou Ji could see it clearly: Ji Fan was obviously planning to treat that waiter as a stand-in for Pei Qing.

But if Ji Fan wanted to pursue Pei Qing, the mere fact of seeking a substitute would be enough to rule him out as a potential partner for Pei Qing.

Zhou Ji didn’t know much about Pei Qing. Pei Qing was three years ahead of him at the same university, and they had met a few times before.

Based on his impressions from those meetings, Pei Qing was definitely not someone who could be pushed around. He was a fiercely proud individual and would never tolerate a partner who had once kept a substitute for him around. The thought alone was repulsive.

He glanced at Ji Mian, sighing with a mix of pity and frustration.

But even if his friend didn’t seek a substitute, there was no way Pei Qing would ever be interested in him. They were worlds apart in terms of outlook and status.

In that case, finding a substitute for temporary pleasure didn’t seem like a bad thing. After all, rather than pining for someone unattainable, it was better to make do with a knockoff.

Knockoff... Zhou Ji’s mind flashed back to the glimpse he had caught of those eyes earlier.

The fire and grit in those eyes were almost even more intense than Pei Qing’s in the past.

A counterfeit that was every bit as good as the real thing. If Ji Fan could really win that guy over, he’d be hitting the jackpot.

Zhou Ji’s expression was complicated, and he wanted to remind the person beside him not to provoke the other party no matter what.

He had been in company management for several years and had always been good at judging people. That guy was definitely not an ordinary person.

If Ji Fan crossed him now, the guy might take down the entire Ji Family in the future.

Zhou Ji was about to say something when Xue Zongguang across from him shook his head slightly.

No need.

They were friends with Ji Fan primarily for the Ji Family’s connections, not because of Ji Fan himself.

Their values were different, and their paths were not the same. There was no need to waste too much effort on someone like this.

Keeping things as they were was the best course of action; saying more would be pointless.

Zhou Ji received his friend’s signal and silently kept his mouth shut.

"It's getting late, Zong Guang and I should get going," he said after a while.

Ji Mian pouted, "Leaving already? Tsk, what a buzzkill."

Zhou Ji just smiled, "You think our families are as chill as yours? If we go back late, the old man will be on our case tomorrow. Besides, Zong Guang and I are just stuck in the daily grind now, not as footloose and fancy-free as you."

Among them, only Ji Fan had graduated several years ago and still hadn't taken over the family business.

Partly from lack of ambition, partly from lack of skill.

"Alright, get lost."

The two left.

Seeing that only Ji Mian remained in the private room, people kept coming up to butter him up.

Ji Mian found it pretty lame and got up.

"Master Ji, sir?"

"Bathroom."

The suck-up didn't push it.

"Is the stand-in I'm looking for that waiter from before?" Ji Mian asked the system as he walked out of the private room.

"Yes."

"Even with a stand-in..." Ji Mian still felt uneasy, "Does this even count as love?"

"Well, like I said in the last world, every scoundrel has their own twisted way of loving, and every pervert has theirs. For someone like Ji Fan, a playboy surrounded by temptations, staying celibate for the main guy for so long is pretty rare."

Ji Mian stopped dwelling on the issue and asked, "What does the stand-in have to do?"

If it meant sleeping with someone else, he’d definitely say no.

"In the original plot, Ji Fan was pretty tame at first, but over time he started getting touchy-feely and started having dirty thoughts towards the stand-in's face, which resembled Pei Qing's, thinking if he couldn’t have Pei Qing, this knockoff would do. However, he never got anywhere in the end."

Ji Mian understood.

From the waiter’s attitude earlier, he seemed pretty proud. Indeed, he didn't seem like someone the original host could easily win over.

As he pondered this, he was almost at the bathroom door when he ran into two people.

The one on the left was dressed more finely, around thirty years old, while the young man on the right was all too familiar to Ji Mian: he had just arrived in this world less than ten minutes ago and had already offended him twice.

The man on the left immediately brightened up upon seeing Ji Mian, stopping in his tracks, clearly recognizing the frequent guest, Master Ji of the Ji Family.

As for the person on the right, he was holding a tray with a glass of champagne and was about to walk past Ji Mian.

Ji Mian raised the corner of his lips and spoke lightly, "Wait."

However, the other person seemed not to hear and continued walking.

The man on the left quickly spoke up, "Yu Chuang! Master Ji is calling you!"

Yu Chuang had no choice but to stop, right in front of Ji Mian, about a meter away.

Ji Mian’s eyes shamelessly checked him out.

When sitting earlier, he hadn’t noticed, but now standing face to face with this person, he realized that the waiter was actually a good half a head taller than him.

He finally saw Yu Chuang’s face, just as stunning as his side profile.

"Your name is Yu Chuang?"

Yu Chuang didn’t answer, but the man who called him replied, "Yes, yes, he’s Yu Chuang, he just started as a waiter this month."

As he spoke, he pushed Yu Chuang from behind. The first push didn’t budge him, so he pushed harder.

Yu Chuang was pushed in front of Ji Mian, nearly colliding with him, and immediately frowned.

The champagne in the glass shook a few times, spilling some onto the tray.

He’d have to go back and replace the tray; most of the guests here were difficult.

Ji Mian lifted his eyelids and shot the man a casual glance, "Did I speak to you?"

"..." The man smiled apologetically, "My apologies, Master Ji."

"Get back to work."

"Right." The man said, walking past the two of them, coming behind Ji Mian, turning around to give Yu Chuang a look, winking and signaling him not to offend the Ji Family’s prized member.

Yu Chuang completely ignored the signal.

"..."

"Can I help you?" Only after the man left did Yu Chuang indifferently speak.

His words were directed at Ji Mian, but his eyes didn’t stay on his face, casually resting on the top of Ji Mian’s head, not looking at him directly, as if he didn’t care about the person in front of him at all.

Ji Mian raised his chin, unfortunately being half a head shorter than Yu Chuang, the gesture lacked intimidation.

He said in a teasing tone, "You’re quite my type."

"..."

"How much do you get here a night? A thousand? Two thousand? Join the Ji Family, and I’ll pay you ten times that."

Yu Chuang’s expression immediately turned cold, "If that’s all, I have work to do."

"You’re so serious, quite the expert at playing hard to get." Ji Mian said with a half-smile, "If you really had such backbone, why would you come to work in a place like this? What’s with the act... pretending to be pure and innocent?"

Hearing the description "pure and innocent," the veins at Yu Chuang’s temples almost popped.

What an idiot, if you can’t use words properly, go read a book!

Ji Mian, completely unaware of his reaction, continued to guess, "Or maybe you’re just broke?"

Yu Chuang remained silent. His thoughts exposed, the gloom in his eyes deepened.

Ji Mian took a step forward, just as Yu Chuang tried to step back, he grabbed the front of Yu Chuang’s uniform, leaving him no room to retreat.

His right hand pressed on the tray the other was holding, suddenly struck by an idea, his slender finger tapped the spilled wine on the tray, dipping his fingertip in the wine.

Then he traced a series of numbers on the tray.

Letting go of the grip on Yu Chuang’s clothes, his uniform was left wrinkled where it had been grabbed.

"Come find me when you’ve decided," Ji Mian said lightly, then walked past Yu Chuang and quickly entered the restroom.

Yu Chuang stood silently for a moment before glancing down at the tray.

The eleven-digit number was barely readable, with only "13" clearly visible. The remaining nine digits were a blur, their shapes completely unrecognizable.

By the end, the wine he’d dipped his finger in had dried up, but he still kept up the act of being composed, continuing to write with his now inkless finger.

Yu Chuang: "..."

What a weirdo.

*

Ji Mian entered the restroom, quickly turned on the faucet, and first rinsed the fingers that had touched the champagne. Then, he splashed cold water on his face, which was burning with embarrassment.

He was well aware that he had run out of "ink" halfway through.

That wine didn’t last long—just one dip could only write two digits. Writing an eleven-digit number would’ve meant dipping his finger five or six times.

But constantly dipping his finger would’ve been too embarrassing.

System: "..."

So running out of ‘ink’ isn’t embarrassing?

Anyway, ignoring that, the whole show was still pulled off pretty well.

After splashing his face, Ji Mian took a moment to collect himself, finally shaking off the earlier embarrassment.

System: "So, since you didn’t leave your number, how’s Yu Chuang supposed to reach you?"

Ji Mian thought for a moment, too embarrassed to go back and leave his number again, so he said, "Then I’ll just drop by more often."

From what Ji Mian knew of Yu Chuang, he didn’t seem like the type to bow to others or take shortcuts to make quick money. But since the story had him following Ji Fan, there had to be another reason.

Maybe he was just strapped for cash?

Ji Mian placed his hands under the hand dryer, the cold droplets of water quickly drying under the warm breeze. His mood also calmed down with the wind.

In that case, all he had to do was wait for the other guy to come to him.