"Hmph! You don't get a choice. You have to agree. You gave me nothing but a ghostly talisman script for my birthday, and I'm being generous by not holding it against you. You have to make it up to me by being my shield tonight. It's settled!" Miss Chu declared, huffing with an air of unchallengeable authority.

"Fine, fine, fine! A shield it is. I guess that's the price for being so debonair and handsome…" Chen Fei helplessly nodded in agreement.

"Cut it out. You, debonair and handsome? So shameless!" Miss Chu retorted with an adorable look of disdain.

"This handsome guy can't be bothered with an ordinary person like you. Now, give me the directions. Where are we going?" Chen Fei said.

After that, Miss Chu started giving Chen Fei directions, and the car gradually drove out of the city.

「 ... 」

In the outskirts, northwest of the High Tech Startup Zone, lay a recreational tourist area known as Cloud Valley Mountain and Cloud Valley Lake. It was a place of rolling green forests and fields, fresh air, birdsong, and fragrant flowers, dotted with several high-end restaurant manors. The destination for Chen Fei and Chu Yan was one of these, an upscale restaurant called Ge Clan Mansion.

Just a few years ago, this place wasn't popular at all. Besides the green mountains and clear water, there was hardly any visitor traffic, making it one of Northern Mountain City's more underdeveloped suburban areas.

However, the owner of Ge Clan Mansion, along with the proprietors of a few other hotels and restaurants, were quite visionary. They saw the potential in the scenic environment and the dirt-cheap land prices, so they invested heavily in the area ahead of time, building holiday resorts and leisure restaurants.

It wasn't long before they reaped bountiful rewards.

With the national real estate market booming, the Northern Mountain City government designated the Cloud Valley Mountain and Cloud Valley Lake area as a key tourism development zone. The land prices, which had been dirt-cheap, suddenly skyrocketed. Eventually, just selling the land could yield profits of two or three times the initial investment—a true windfall!

By this point, many of the early investors had already sold their land and cashed out. The owner of Ge Clan Mansion, however, did not. Instead, he used the land to build a comprehensive holiday and leisure hotel, which was now doing quite well.

And this Ge Clan Mansion happened to be owned by the family of Miss Chu's colleague's boyfriend, Director Ge Qiuning. If it were sold now, it would be worth at least twenty to thirty million yuan! Quite an impressive sum.

"I've heard this place is a great spot for a vacation, with its lush mountains and pleasant environment. Now that I'm here, it really is quite nice!" Chen Fei and Chu Yan arrived early at Ge Clan Mansion by Cloud Valley Lake. He took a deep breath of fresh air as soon as he got out of the car and exclaimed in admiration.

"This place was a complete unknown a few years ago. If the government hadn't designated it as a key tourism development area, who would ever come out here?" Miss Chu pursed her lips at his words. The place was nice, but it was far too remote. They had just driven for nearly an hour. That was fine for a vacation, but it was too much of a hassle just for a meal.

"Then why did you pick a place like this for dinner?" Chen Fei was clearly just as puzzled.

"It was Sister Yan's boyfriend," Chu Yan explained. "He heard my birthday was coming up and kindly offered to book a private room at their family's mansion for the party, with a fifty-percent discount on everything."

She continued, "Even though it's a bit far, their hotel is quite good. I heard the head chef's ancestors were famous Grandmasters of cooking during the Qing Dynasty, and their techniques are a family secret passed down through generations. So it's not cheap to eat here. I'd guess a single meal costs at least a few thousand yuan."

"A few thousand for one meal? That does sound pretty high-class," Chen Fei nodded, recalling the Red River Restaurant back in the city.

"Little Yan, Little Yan!"

Just then, several clear, bright voices called out from nearby. Turning, they saw a group of handsome, stylish men and beautiful women walking over excitedly. One of them, a woman with a plump face, shouted theatrically, "Well, well, if it isn't our birthday girl! You're dressed so beautifully today. The rest of us feel plain just standing next to you!"

The woman with the plump face wore a small cardigan over a pure white lace sweater, paired with a form-fitting leather pencil skirt. Her long legs were wrapped in silk stockings, making her a fresh and beautiful sight. The roundness of her face was just baby fat.

"And who is this handsome man? Little Yan, aren't you going to introduce us? Could it be…" A few of the other young women chimed in, wiggling their eyebrows suggestively.

Clearly, they were immensely curious as to why Miss Chu would show up with a man.

"Ugh, you crazy girls!"

Hearing their teasing, Miss Chu cried out with adorable frustration, then pouted and made the introductions. "This is Chen Fei. He's here to be my shield today. And you, big jerk, these are my colleagues and good friends. You don't need to know their names—that'll save you the trouble of getting any ideas!"

Chen Fei was caught between laughter and tears. What does she mean, save me from getting any ideas? As the debonair and handsome Young Master Chen, am I really lacking for options? Seriously, she's looking down on a great-looking guy like me!

"Chu Kuan'e, that's not right of you. How could you not tell Chen Fei our names?" the girl with the chubby, baby-fat cheeks protested righteously. She then sidled up to Chen Fei and said with a grin, "Handsome, your name is Chen Fei, right? What a coincidence, my family name is also Chen. We're practically family! My name is Chen Niu, but since you're Little Yan's friend, just call me Niuniu."

"Niuniu?"

Chen Fei rubbed his nose, finding the name rather interesting.

"Round-Faced Chen, what did you just say? You… if you dare call me that… that name again… I'll fight you! And I mean it!" Miss Chu suddenly flared up, looking like she was about to pounce on Niuniu.

It turned out that 'Chu Kuan'e'—meaning 'wide forehead'—was her nickname, as her forehead was a bit wider than average. Although it didn't detract from her beauty, she had always considered it a personal flaw.

"Ah, help! Crazy Chu is going to kill someone! Handsome Chen Fei, aren't you supposed to be her boyfriend today? Quick, save me, save me!" Niuniu immediately started shouting exaggeratedly, using Chen Fei as a shield to dodge Miss Chu's furious claws.

"Boyfriend? What boyfriend?"

Just as Niuniu's words faded, a deep voice sounded from behind the group.

Two men and a woman were getting out of a Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan that had just pulled up. Two of them were Zheng Yan and Ge Qiuning. The third, the owner of the deep voice, was someone else.

"Looks like Sister Yan, Director Ge, and Director Zhang are here." At the sight of them, both Chu Yan and Chen Niu instinctively stopped their squabbling. A clear look of disgust flashed across the former's face, while the latter simply smiled.

It wasn't just them. The rest of Chu Yan's friends, who had been chatting and laughing loudly just a moment ago, all fell silent. It was as if an uninvited guest had just crashed the party, and the atmosphere grew slightly awkward.

"I just heard someone mention a boyfriend. I wonder who could be so fortunate as to win Miss Chu's favor?" the deep voice spoke again, this time laced with a teasing tone as a man who looked to be in his thirties walked over with a smile.

This man was about 1.7 meters tall and rather well-dressed, but he still looked slightly chubby. The stylish shirt he wore seemed bloated on him. His face held a faint arrogance and a sense of superiority, as if he looked down on everyone else.

"Hehe, Director Zhang, the boyfriend we were talking about isn't mine, it's Little Yan's. Let me introduce you," Niuniu giggled as the man approached, glancing first at her best friend before continuing. "This is Little Yan's boyfriend, Chen Fei. And this is Zhang Fuquan, the Deputy Director of the Municipal Health Bureau's office!"

"What? Miss Chu's boyfriend?" The chubby Director Zhang Fuquan's expression changed instantly, and a venomous glint flashed through his small eyes.

Who here didn't know that he, Zhang Fuquan, had been pursuing Chu Yan for a long time without making any progress? She never gave him the slightest chance. And now, some punk who crawled out of nowhere had beaten him to the punch, snatching away the top-tier flight attendant he had already claimed in his heart. How could he not be furious? How could he not be enraged?

Damn it! How dare he try to steal my woman! He's got a death wish! His expression was incredibly ugly. Jealousy twisted his face, which was his only redeeming feature, yet he managed to keep a smile plastered on it.

This guy truly deserved his position as the young Deputy Director of the Municipal Health Bureau's office; he had some cunning. He immediately acted as if he hadn't heard the previous statement. A smile appeared on his face as he pulled a beautiful gift bag from his Prada leather bag. Changing the subject, he handed it to Chu Yan and said, "Little Yan, I only just found out it was your birthday and rushed right over, so I didn't have time to prepare a proper gift. This is some Ralph Lauren perfume. I hope you like it."

He was quite calculating, thinking that with everyone watching, she would be mindful of the others and accept his gift, even if she despised him. Unfortunately, he had completely misjudged his target.

Chu Yan herself had almost forgotten when that fat pig had first taken a fancy to her. Ever since then, her memories had been a complete nightmare. It was just too tragic! How could such a shameless, despicable, and disgusting man possibly like her? Fine, I admit I was wrong, is that not enough? Whatever it is you like about me, can't I just change it right away?

Miss Chu was absolutely certain she loathed the man. So, the moment she heard him mention a gift, she rejected him without a second thought. "I don't want it. Take it back!"

Hearing her words, Director Zhang felt as if a bucket of ice-cold water had been dumped over his head, soaking him to the bone. "Miss Chu, what do you mean by this…?" he asked, his expression turning ugly.

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