"Do you speak English?" Murong Shan suddenly asked in a soft voice on the way.

"No, I don't," Chen Fei answered, feeling a bit guilty. Although English was a compulsory subject for university graduates these days, probably very few students at a third-tier teachers college like theirs actually took it seriously. Naturally, he was one of them and was completely clueless.

"You don't? That could be a problem. What should we tell them your identity is? If you don't speak a foreign language, you can't pretend to be an elite who studied abroad," Murong Shan murmured, tilting her head.

Seeing Murong Shan's troubled expression, Chen Fei couldn't help but say, "Shanshan, what if I'm a doctor?"

After all, I'm the deputy chief physician at the largest top-tier hospital in the city, and I'm still so young. I might be a little short on cash, but a position like that should be impressive enough. Plenty of people would be envious of it.

"A doctor is great, of course. In fact, it's my favorite profession because they can heal and save people. But you're not a doctor, so why mention it?" Murong Shan looked at Chen Fei in confusion.

Hearing her disbelieving tone, Chen Fei said with a hint of dejection, "Shanshan, I can definitely play the part of a doctor."

"Really? Do you know anything about medicine? What if they realize something's wrong and you get exposed?" Murong Shan asked, sounding worried.

"You have to trust me," Chen Fei said with a smile. "I studied medicine for quite a while back in the day. Bluffing my way through a conversation with non-experts will be no problem. You can rest assured on that."

"Alright then. If they ask about your profession later, just say you're a doctor," Murong Shan said in a low voice.

Following that, she drove to a renowned, high-priced luxury community in the Jinliang District of Northern Mountain City. There, she changed into a fashionable white shrug and a light yellow midi skirt with a hemline that fell just above her knees. The outfit gave her an exceptionally elegant air, making her look almost like a fairy. She deliberately applied a light purple lipstick and wore a pair of delicate crystal earrings, appearing dignified and graceful with a hint of refreshing charm.

"Let's go. I'll drive," she said. Once she was ready, Murong Shan headed toward a villa district outside the city center, where her old classmate's birthday party was being held.

On the way, Murong Shan suddenly became emotional again and couldn't help but share some stories about this old classmate and her own past at school.

It turned out that during her university days, Murong Shan had a very good friend named Li Yumin, a beautiful girl who was also a rich heiress. As dormmates, they had been inseparable, and everyone thought they were the closest of friends. In the end, however, Li Yumin backstabbed her by secretly stealing her boyfriend. Li Yumin had only gotten close to Murong Shan out of an extreme, mind-twisting envy of her beauty; she had meticulously planned to get close to her just to take away everything she had.

Even this time, there was a scheme afoot. After graduating, Murong Shan had single-handedly founded her fashion brand, staking everything on launching a new line of products for high-end consumers. But then, a famous foreign luxury fashion brand suddenly appeared in Jiangnan Province seeking a partnership, a development that Li Yumin had orchestrated entirely behind the scenes.

Clearly, these events had hit Murong Shan hard, which was why she was so overwhelmed that she vented about it all to Chen Fei.

Chen Fei's brow had been furrowed the entire time he listened. Internally, he felt nothing but contempt for such a shameless woman. "Shanshan, don't worry," he said. "Tonight, I'll help you save face."

"Thank you, Chen Fei," Murong Shan whispered. Hearing his words, she inexplicably felt a sense of ease wash over her.

...

「Nightfall. Sea River District, Northern Mountain City.」

This was the district in Northern Mountain City closest to the mother river, the Sea River. It boasted beautiful scenery and a lovely environment, which had attracted numerous luxury villa estates to spring up, making the land there extremely valuable. The area along the riverbank was especially packed with high-end restaurants, bars, and clubs for the wealthy. It even had yacht docks, making it the most bustling place in Northern Mountain City at night.

In the Sea River District was a very famous high-class club named Luxury Club. The membership fee alone was said to be one hundred thousand RMB, to say nothing of the extravagant costs inside, which were enough to leave anyone speechless. It was known as the most influential social hub for the successful and wealthy elite of Northern Mountain City and its surrounding areas.

Murong Shan's classmate was holding her birthday party on the third floor of the Luxury Club. It was said that the club had five floors. The first two had no restrictions, but to spend time on the third floor, one had to be at least a Silver member. To host a birthday party there, one would have to book the entire third floor, which would likely require the influence of a Gold member. The cost would be at least a seven-figure sum, an amount most ordinary people could never accumulate in their lifetime.

The entrance of the Luxury Club was crowded with luxury cars. Models from Jaguar, Mercedes, Maserati, Porsche, and Ferrari—all shockingly expensive and rarely seen on the street—seemed commonplace here. Perhaps only cars worth over a million RMB had any chance of attracting a bit of attention. It was no wonder that even with the scale of her fashion company, Murong Shan had still bought a Maserati Quattroporte worth over a million RMB to keep up appearances. It's the same for anyone in business; you can't escape this reality.

"Come on, let's get out," Murong Shan said as she exited the car. Then, blushing, she unexpectedly linked her arm with Chen Fei's.

Chen Fei was startled and couldn't help but blush as well.

"We're pretending to be a couple now. They won't suspect anything if we do this," Murong Shan explained, though she wasn't sure why she felt the need to. Her voice was soft and sweet, like glutinous rice.

"Uh, okay…" Chen Fei mumbled, his response almost automatic.

Just then, the elevator arrived at the third floor. Its doors slid open with a soft chime, revealing the sounds of music. The entire third floor of the Luxury Club was breathtakingly extravagant. The hall was opulent, adorned with carvings of gold and jade. Its marble floors were polished so smoothly they could serve as mirrors. A magnificent crystal chandelier hung in the center of the hall, casting a brilliant light over the room as soft music played.

"Look, isn't that Murong Shan? Our school's campus belle back in the day."

"She's gotten even more beautiful. She's more attractive now than she was in school."

Chen Fei and Murong Shan's arrival immediately drew the attention of everyone present. It wasn't just the well-dressed men, stunned by Murong Shan's beauty, but also the fashionable women in evening gowns whose eyes lit up at the sight of Chen Fei's tall figure. After the afternoon's rigorous 'polishing,' Chen Fei looked strikingly handsome, much to the pleasant surprise of many of the women.

"Shanshan, you finally made it! The others were just saying how much they missed you. It's a good thing you came, or everyone would have been so disappointed." A coquettish voice rang out as a beautiful woman approached. She wore a dark blue, low-cut evening dress, alligator-print peep-toe heels, and sparkling crystal earrings that were obviously expensive. Clutching a black-and-white handbag with a Gucci logo, she came forward to enthusiastically embrace Murong Shan.

Needless to say, this was Li Yumin, the woman Murong Shan once considered her best friend, who had ultimately betrayed her by stealing her boyfriend in college.

Back then, she had succeeded in stealing Murong Shan's boyfriend, but the passing years hadn't brought her the happiness she'd imagined. In truth, Murong Shan's talented and handsome first love had only betrayed Murong Shan to be with her for her money. They broke up not long after.

Obviously, this act of blatant gold-digging did little to showcase her own charm, let alone prove she was superior to Murong Shan. So, even after all this time, she remained fixated on tearing Murong Shan down. She had even paid a heavy price to orchestrate the visit of the Saint Laurent Group from Italy to Jiangnan Province to investigate potential collaborations, all because she knew Murong Shan was about to launch a new product. She wanted to crush Murong Shan's fashion company and drive it into bankruptcy.

It was clear this woman's heart was truly malicious. Her jealousy over Murong Shan being more beautiful and popular back in school had astonishingly twisted her entire mentality.

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