You Sit in the Front

After chatting for over an hour, the two gradually fell asleep.

The night passed without another word.

At nine o'clock the next morning, Su Yang opened his eyes and turned his head, only to see Tao Shu's entire body hidden under the covers.

"You're awake?"

"Mhm," Tao Shu replied softly.

"Phew, it's nine. I have things to do later, so I need to get up."

Saying that, Su Yang rolled over, got dressed, and walked into the bathroom.

As soon as he walked in, he saw Tao Shu's clothes hanging on the rack by the door. They were still wet.

Su Yang didn't bother looking closer. He quickly washed up and took a shower. When he walked out of the bathroom and returned to the bed, he saw Tao Shu poking her head out and staring at him.

"Your clothes are still wet."

"I know."

Su Yang rolled his eyes in thought and said, "How about this: you wait for me in the room, and I'll go buy you a new outfit."

Tao Shu nodded. "Okay."

"Alright, wait here. What do you want to eat?"

"Anything is fine."

"Alright then." Saying that, Su Yang turned and left the room.

After going downstairs, he first found a local Lincheng specialty beef noodle shop and heartily ate a bowl himself.

Then, he went to a nearby mall that had just opened to buy clothes. There was a Louis Vuitton store on the first floor. Su Yang went in and picked out two sets of clothes for Tao Shu, and conveniently bought her a bag as well.

At ten-ten, Su Yang went back to the noodle shop, grabbed a bowl of beef noodles to go for Tao Shu, and returned to the hotel room.

After handing the clothes to Tao Shu, he turned and walked to the window to look at the view.

Seeing that the casually bought clothes were actually LV—two whole outfits plus a bag worth over thirty thousand—Tao Shu finally believed that Su Yang was definitely a rich man.

She stared at Su Yang's back for a couple of seconds, quickly put on the clothes, and spoke up. "I'm done."

Su Yang turned around and smiled. "Do they fit?"

"Not bad."

"That's good. Hurry up and eat your noodles."

At this moment, Tao Shu seemed like a completely different person compared to yesterday. She wasn't making a fuss, and she didn't talk much either.

She obediently got out of bed, washed up, and ate her noodles.

As she was eating, Su Yang sat on the sofa and asked, "I have some things to take care of later. What are your plans?"

"I... I'm going home."

"Alright then. I was going to say that if you weren't busy, you could come with me."

"No... no need. I didn't go home all night, so I have to head back soon."

"Okay, finish your food first."

While Tao Shu was eating, Su Yang's WeChat chimed.

He opened it and saw a message from Li Muhan.

"Brother Su Yang, are you still at the hotel?"

"I am, just woke up. You guys wait for me at home. I'll come pick you up in a bit. Today I'll take you out to have a good time and celebrate Xiaowan's new life."

"Okay! We'll wait for you then."

"Mhm, you guys get some breakfast first."

"Okay."

Putting away his phone, Su Yang looked at Tao Shu and said, "Last night..."

"What about last night?" Tao Shu immediately looked up, putting on an expression of complete ignorance.

"About last night..."

Before Su Yang could finish, Tao Shu shook her head frantically. "I don't know what you're talking about. All I know is that I went to bed and fell asleep last night. I don't know anything else."

"Oh right, you have things to do later, right?" Tao Shu asked, quickly changing the subject.

Su Yang nodded. "Yeah."

"Then will you go back to Haicheng after you're done?"

"Probably. I'll likely leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow... alright then."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Tao Shu continued eating her noodles and stopped talking.

Over ten minutes later, she finished her food, grabbed her bag and the things Su Yang bought for her, and stood up. "I'm leaving first. I still have to go pick up my car."

Looking at Tao Shu's back, Su Yang didn't know what to say for a moment.

Tao Shu walked to the door, suddenly stopped, and turned around. "When you... when you leave, give me... Ugh, never mind. When you leave, don't tell me. Just leave quietly on your own."

After saying that, she opened the door and quickly ran out.

Su Yang stared at the room door, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and silently took a few drags.

He felt an indescribable emotion in his heart at that moment. He didn't know how to describe it, but it was a bit uncomfortable.

However, these kinds of things between a man and a woman were hard to explain.

After all, under the circumstances at the time, it was entirely consensual. Who could really make sense of it?

Su Yang took a few more puffs before tossing the remaining half of the cigarette into the ashtray.

He stopped dwelling on it, picked up his phone, opened a car rental app, and casually rented a Mercedes-Benz E300.

Considering he would probably be taking Li Muhan and Chen Xiaowan out for the whole day, renting a car would be more convenient.

Shortly after placing the order, someone called. Su Yang told the person to drive the car to the hotel parking lot.

Ten minutes later, the phone rang again. He grabbed his bag, left the room, and went down to the first-floor lobby.

After checking out, he took the elevator down to the hotel's basement parking lot.

As soon as he got down, he saw a new grey Mercedes E300 parked in the space right by the elevator.

A young man in a suit was standing next to the car.

Su Yang walked up, confirmed the details with the man, and then did a brief inspection of the car's exterior.

Once everything was settled, he got into the car, set the navigation to Yunhai Avenue, and drove off.

While waiting at a red light on the way, he took out his phone and sent a message to Li Muhan.

"Muhan, I'll be there in ten minutes. You guys head out in five minutes and wait for me by the side of the road."

Li Muhan replied instantly, "Okay."

Just as he sent the message, the light turned green, and Su Yang stepped on the gas.

Soon, he drove to the roadside of the slum area from last night.

As soon as he reached the intersection, he saw Li Muhan holding Chen Xiaowan's hand as they walked out of the alley.

Today, Li Muhan was wearing a plain grey T-shirt with English letters printed on it. However, probably because it had been worn too many times, the colors on the letters were a bit faded. She wore a pair of simple skinny jeans and white sneakers. Overall, she looked neat and graceful.

Seeing them, Su Yang immediately rolled down the window and called out, "Muhan! Xiaowan!"

Hearing his voice, the two looked up and saw Su Yang waving at them from inside a luxury car.

They instantly broke into smiles and quickly ran toward him.

"Brother Su Yang!"

"Brother Su!"

Su Yang nodded with a smile. "Get in first."

"Okay!"

The two opened the rear doors and were just about to get in when Chen Xiaowan suddenly spoke up. "Sis, you should sit in the front."

"Huh?" Li Muhan paused and asked, "Why?"

"Oh, just listen to me. Go sit in the front."

Su Yang naturally understood what Xiaowan meant. He smiled and said, "Muhan, come sit in the front."

"Oh, okay." Li Muhan was a little clueless and didn't quite understand, but she still followed along, quickly walking around to the passenger side, opening the door, and getting in.

It wasn't until she was seated that she realized why Chen Xiaowan had made her sit in the passenger seat.

This little rascal!

Su Yang then smiled and asked, "Have you guys eaten?"

"We have."

"Alright, is there anywhere you want to go?"

Xiaowan rolled her big eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "I'll listen to Brother Su. We'll go wherever you say."

"Haha, aren't you obedient?"

"I am."

Actually, Su Yang had just noticed that their clothes were a bit old and worn. Since it wasn't time for lunch yet, he had an idea.

He thought about it and said, "How about we go shopping?"

"Sure. I haven't been shopping in a long time either. It's a good chance to take Xiaowan around and buy her a few clothes," Li Muhan said with a smile.

Hearing that she would be getting new clothes soon, Xiaowan smiled happily. "Yay! I get to wear new clothes!"

Su Yang smiled quietly. "Alright, let's go hit the shops. Off we go!"

He opened the navigation app, set the destination to a large shopping mall downtown, and drove off.

In the car, Li Muhan asked the question that had been on her mind. "Brother Su Yang, is this your car?"

"No, I flew here. This is a rental."

"Oh, I see."

Hearing the word flew, Xiaowan leaned forward from the back seat, gripping the backrest. "Brother Su, you've been on an airplane?"

"Yep. Have you ever been on an airplane, Xiaowan?"

Xiaowan shook her head. "No."

"So when you guys went to Licheng before, you took the high-speed train?"

Li Muhan chimed in, "Yes. I originally wanted to take Xiaowan on a plane, but the tickets were a bit too expensive at the time, so I bought high-speed train tickets instead."

Su Yang nodded. "That's alright, there will be plenty of opportunities to fly in the future."

The three of them were chatting when the System's voice suddenly popped into Su Yang's mind.

[Ding! Side Quest issued.]

Hearing the voice, Su Yang paused, temporarily dropping out of the conversation.

[Detected that the Host is about to take his friends shopping. A quest is now issued: Spend at least two million on the two girls at Qianxiang Mall within two hours. Note: There are consumption restrictions. You may only purchase luxury brands, but you cannot buy bags or jewelry.]

[Quest Success Reward: 30 million. Quest Failure Penalty: Deduction of 50 million.]

Hearing this, Su Yang immediately frowned.

What the f*ck?! System, what kind of garbage quest is this?

It is not that I am reluctant to spend money on them, but there is no way they would just accept so much money all at once!

[The Host must resolve this on his own. It would not be a quest if it lacked difficulty.]

Damn, I actually cannot argue with that. You have a point.

But how am I supposed to spend two million? And I cannot buy bags? Or jewelry?

Then what else can I buy? Two million worth of clothes? F*ck, considering who I am dealing with, I cannot just do that. It would make me look like some tacky nouveau riche.

[Please figure out a solution yourself, Host.]

......