Upon catching a glimpse of the disgust etched between Chu Yan's brows, Zheng Yan immediately shot her boyfriend in the driver's seat a look before saying with a smile, "Little Yan, I'm not trying to criticize you, but Director Zhang is quite accomplished, right? He's so young and has already become the Deputy Director of our city's Health Bureau. You could say his future is bright and boundless. Most importantly, he's single and completely head over heels for you. If you can't even take a fancy to such a distinguished social elite, aren't your standards a bit too high?"

She started off smiling, but as she spoke, she recalled her own fierce but fruitless pursuit of Director Zhang. A surge of resentment filled her heart, and a trace of malice and envy flickered in her eyes as she looked at Chu Yan.

You have to understand, her current boyfriend, Ge Qiuning, seemed decent enough. He had the charm of a successful man, but in reality, he was just so-so—nowhere near as impressive as the young and promising Director Zhang.

"Whatever he's like, it has nothing to do with me. In any event, I just don't like him. Sister Yan, please stay out of this," Chu Yan retorted, puffing her cheeks out in frustration. She genuinely detested that presumptuous and hypocritical guy from the bottom of her heart.

"Yes, yes, yes. Today's mishap was my fault; I shouldn't have let it slip that it was your birthday," Ge Qiuning said. "But Little Yan, Director Zhang knows about it now. He even hurried back from out of town and asked us to pick him up at the Health Bureau. Wouldn't it look bad if we didn't go?"

His family owned a restaurant, so he naturally didn't dare to offend the Deputy Director of the city's Health Bureau. That was precisely why he was trying so hard to set up Chu Yan and Director Zhang. In plain terms, he was just trying to curry favor to help his family's restaurant thrive and make more money.

"Yeah, Little Yan, he's the Deputy Director of the Health Bureau's Office, after all. You know Qiuning's family runs a restaurant; they really can't afford to offend him... Just consider it a favor to me this one time, and bear with it, Little Yan," Zheng Yan chimed in with a pleading expression, seeing her opening.

"Well, alright. Just this once, and never again," Chu Yan couldn't bring herself to blame her best friend and relented with a resigned nod.

"Then should we go pick up Director Zhang now?" Director Ge suggested, glancing at his girlfriend meaningfully after she had successfully persuaded Chu Yan.

Zheng Yan picked up his cue. "Oh, right, let's go now. Oh, wait, hold on. It looks like the car is already full," she said, blinking, then suddenly lowered her voice.

"Ah, look at this crummy car; it always fails at the most crucial moment," Director Ge immediately picked up the thread, shaking his head as if he were conflicted. "You know, Mercedes are great, but the back seat in their sedans is too small. It only fits two people. Now that we have Little Yan and her friend, there's no room for Director Zhang."

Chen Fei narrowed his eyes, watching the pair play off each other. A cold sneer formed at the corner of his mouth. Of course, he saw they didn't welcome him. Their words were clearly loaded.

"So..." Chu Yan began, her mind simple enough that she didn't catch on. She failed to see how their coordinated act was leading her into a verbal trap.

She naively considered their predicament. Ge Qiuning's family runs a restaurant, so it wouldn't be good to offend the Deputy Director of the Health Bureau. That would put them in a difficult position. Besides, it was her birthday, and they had been kind enough to set aside a private room at their restaurant for her party...

Director Ge and Zheng Yan were secretly observing Chu Yan's expression. When they saw a flicker of hesitation on her face, they exchanged a quick glance. He slowly began to speak, "How about this? Though it might be a bit inconsiderate toward Little Chen."

"Inconsiderate toward him?" Chu Yan was taken aback, while the cold smile on Chen Fei's face remained.

"Yes. I mean, let's have Little Chen head over by himself first," Director Ge said with a nod. "After all, my family's restaurant isn't far, and it's not rush hour yet. A taxi would only cost about ten yuan." He had finally revealed his true colors: he wanted to kick Chen Fei out of the car to make room for Director Zhang.

"That won't do! I'm the one who invited him today, how could I just abandon him? Why don't you two go pick up Zhang Fuquan? I don't want to see him anyway. Chen Fei and I will just take a taxi," Chu Yan declared, shaking her head emphatically. She was ready to get out of the car right then and there.

"Wait, how can that be okay?" Director Ge grew flustered and shot his girlfriend a desperate look for help. The whole reason Director Zhang wanted them to pick him up was for Chu Yan. If the main attraction wasn't there, what was the point in them going?

"Yeah, Little Yan, how can that be okay? Today is your birthday; you can't be hailing a taxi!" As expected, it was the woman who thought faster. Zheng Yan's eyes darted about as she quickly retorted.

"What's the big deal..."

Just as Chu Yan was about to casually say it didn't matter to her, she remembered who was sitting beside her. The self-proclaimed master swindler himself squinted, smiled, and actually agreed, nodding, "That's right. You shouldn't be taking a taxi on your birthday."

"Little Yan, see? Even Little Chen agrees—" Director Ge's face lit up, and he was about to press his advantage when Chen Fei cut him off. "Don't take a taxi. Take my car instead. As it happens, I drove it here today."

"Your car?" Zheng Yan was stunned, her expression shifting to one of scorn.

In her eyes, Chen Fei was just an ordinary guy wearing clothes from a street stall that couldn't have cost more than a few hundred yuan. What kind of decent car could he possibly afford? Anything over one hundred thousand yuan would be a stretch. She wouldn't even look twice at such a piece of junk. After all, her boyfriend's new Mercedes-Benz E-Class was a luxury car worth four to five hundred thousand yuan—as much as an apartment—and was on a completely different level.

With this thought, she said with a frown of dissatisfaction, "Little Chen, I know you probably have some designs on our Little Yan and want to show off. But there's a time and a place for everything. You want Little Yan to ride in your car? What is it, a Sagitar? A Roewe? A Focus? Do you have any idea how much this Mercedes we're in right now is worth? Let me tell you, my boyfriend spent over four hundred thousand on it. Are you suggesting our birthday girl should ditch a high-end sedan like this for your ordinary car?"

"What are you talking about, Sister Yan? It's just a car, what's all the fuss? Hey," she added, turning to Chen Fei, "Sister Yan didn't mean anything by that. Please don't take it to heart." Chu Yan couldn't believe her best friend would say such things and looked at Chen Fei apologetically.

"Little Yan, your Sister Yan isn't wrong. That's just how society is these days," Director Ge chimed in with the preachiness of a successful man, his gaze toward Chen Fei clearly impatient. "An ordinary car that costs a hundred thousand or so is no better than a construction worker's van. It has no class, no status. It's your birthday, after all. We can't be so casual about things."

Clearly, he thought that since things had come this far, Chen Fei should stop being so stubborn and wasting their time. He should just gracefully back down instead of coveting a beauty he had no right to possess. That wasn't pursuing one's own happiness; it was just being ignorant and overestimating his own abilities!

"Heh." Chen Fei met their disdainful glances with a noncommittal smile. Finally, he spoke in a leisurely tone. "You're right, driving a car worth only a hundred thousand or so is a real hassle. Hmm, what brand was my car again? Look at this memory of mine... Oh, right! I think my car is a Mercedes, too. I just bought it a couple of days ago. Drives great, hahaha."

"Your car is a Mercedes too?" Zheng Yan looked at Chen Fei with total skepticism and a mocking expression.

She was convinced Chen Fei was just boasting. How could a guy dressed in clothes from a street stall worth a few hundred yuan afford a Mercedes? Even if it were true, he must have emptied his entire savings and taken out all sorts of loans to buy the cheapest C-Class or a Smart car. It wasn't worth anything.

"Yes, my car is also a Mercedes. Why don't you give us a lift to the underground parking lot first, Director Ge? I parked my car there when I arrived," Chen Fei said with an innocent smile.

"The underground parking lot? Fine. Little Yan, Qiuning, let's head down," Zheng Yan said. A nameless anger flared within her as she looked at Chen Fei's punchable smile. In any case, she didn't believe a word he said. She was determined to expose his lie in front of Little Yan, make her disillusioned with him, and send him packing with his tail between his legs.

Director Ge's expression was strange. After a quick glance at the perfectly composed Chen Fei, his mind raced. "You... alright then," he finally conceded, stepping on the accelerator and heading toward the complex's underground parking lot.

In the back seat, Chu Yan glanced at the pair in the front, then stole a peek at the calm and collected Chen Fei beside her. Finally, she couldn't resist leaning over and whispering in his ear, "Hey, you big jerk, can you really pull this off? Don't end up losing face. Didn't you say you just lost your job? Where would you get the money for such a nice car?"

TAP!

Chen Fei gently tapped her on the head. "When has this Grandmaster ever miscalculated? Relax. You'll see when we get there," he said with a mysterious smile.

The residential community where Chu Yan lived was considered high-end, so its underground parking lot was quite large, divided into four sections: A, B, C, and D. As Ge Qiuning drove his Mercedes-Benz E-Class into one of the sections, Zheng Yan couldn't help but ask sharply, "Chen Fei, you said your car was a Mercedes, too. So, is it that one?"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.