Preparing

Yanmei sighs for the tenth time this day as she can't seem to find something that will wash away her boredom.

Today is Friday, and tomorrow will be the party. She couldn't wait any longer to go out and have fun with her friends.

Yanmei fixes her posture as she raises the bow and releases the arrow, hitting the ten-point mark.

As she continues to do so, a clap interrupts her, making her look at the door, where she sees a man with a smile.

She glares at him before continuing with what she's doing.

"Leave me alone, Peizhi."

"Woah, easy right there."

Peizhi chuckled and went in Yanmei's direction.

Bai Peizhi is Yanmei's annoying suitor. He is the son of Shihong's business partner.

Shihong and Peizhi's father want the two to get married because they want their friendship and business to blossom into something much more.

But Yanmei didn't like that idea.

She doesn't even like Peizhi one bit because he's annoying, arrogant, and boastful.

She wishes that if ever Shihong would like her to marry someone, he should at least choose someone who would be loyal and scared of being killed.

Peizhi isn't that one.

He knew his power, and he can easily escape death if that ever happens.

And because Yanmei's father wouldn't clearly kill Peizhi if he ever cheated on or hurt her.

Still, Peizhi wants to prove to Yanmei that he is deserving, so he's courting the girl.

"You're making my day a lot worse."

"Come on, tiger. You and I knew who could make your day better."

Peizhi said with a smile on his face.

Yanmei scrunched her nose at what he said, displaying a disgusted expression.

"I'm sure that's not the right words."

"It is, my love. Would you like to go out with me?"

Peizhi asks.

Yanmei grabbed another arrow and pointed it at the target.

"I've been very busy with businesses that my father asked me to do, and I didn't have the time to spend with you."

"And now that I have my free time, I'd like to ask you to go-"

"No."

"What? But baby-"

"I told you not to call me that; that's cringy."

Yanmei glares at Peizhi.

The guy sighs before nodding his head.

Yanmei puts down the bow and walks out of the room, with Peizhi following close behind her.

"Yanmei."

"Uncle!"

Peizhi went to Shihong's place and hugged the older one.

Shihong smiles and reciprocates the hug, looking at Yanmei in confusion.

"Peizhi, I didn't hear you coming."

"Oh, uncle, I went straight to Yanmei's place."

Peizhi pulled away from the hug and went to Yanmei's side, putting his arms around the girl's waist.

"We'll actually go out to eat."

"What? I told you I don't want to go."

"Babe, you said yes earlier."

Another trait that Yanmei doesn't like about Peizhi is that he's manipulative and likes to gaslight others.

It's something she knew could lead to a toxic relationship if ever they get married.

It can also be one of the reasons why Peizhi can raise his hands at her if she won't do what he says.

"I don't think my daughter--"

"Uncle, do you not trust me?"

Yanmei's face shows disgust when she sees Peizhi pouting, acting like he's cute.

"Dad, I still have to prepare myself."

"Where are you going?"

Shihong asks.

"As I told you, uncle, we'll go out."

Peizhi said with enthusiasm as his eyes sparkled brightly.

Yanmei shakes her head before walking away from their place.

"You didn't answer my question."

"I'll meet up with Guang."

-

"What is he doing here?"

Guang leaned a bit towards Yanmei as she eyed Peizhi, who is busy looking at the watches.

The three of them are in the mall when Yanmei forgets to buy something.

Guang was surprised when she saw Peizhi because she knew Yanmei wouldn't tug the guy with her as she despises him so much.

And when you say it's something new, it is something new.

Guang and Peizhi never really liked each other.

Peizhi doesn't like the idea of Yanmei and Guang being so close to each other because Guang is someone not to be trusted.

Peizhi has seen the worst of Guang, and he dislikes that Guang likes girls.

Yes, Guang is a proud member of that community.

Guang dislikes Peizhi for a lot of reasons.

Firstly, he's homophobic.

Second, he's arrogant and thinks highly of himself.

Third, a very manipulative person.

Fourth, he thinks he and Yanmei are in a relationship.

And so on.

She could write a book by telling everything she hates about the guy.

She can tell, he's a walking red flag.

"He forces himself."

"You could disagree, you know?"

"He would fire anyone who drives or gives me the key to go here."

"What? He's not even the boss."

"He can gaslight my father."

"Sucks to be you."

Guang said, snickering at the thought of Yanmei and Peizhi getting married.

"If I were you, I would tell my father that I'm a lesbian."

"Then if he asks why I suddenly turned like that when I don't even show any sign."

"Say you saw someone and it caught your attention."

Guang said, looking at Peizhi, who was still busy negotiating the watch he wanted to buy.

"You know what, let's go and leave him alone."

"Dad will get angry at me."

"Don't be such a baby, and let's go."

Guang grabs Yanmei's arms and drags the girl away from the store.

"You know, we can breathe more freely away from that asshole."

"I know."

"I'm hungry; I didn't eat much earlier."

Guang said and walked towards the nearest restaurant.

"I hope we can eat peacefully."

"I also wish that."

Yanmei sat down in front of Guang and looked at the menu that was on top of the table.

"What happened to that Lei?"

"My bodyguard sent him to the hospital."

"That sucks."

"Yeah, I guess."

Yanmei didn't know what happened to Lei, but the man who dragged him out said that he beat him up and sent him to the hospital.

She's curious about how beat up Lei is.

"What do you mean, 'you guess'? It's something that isn't merciful."

"Oh, well."

Yanmei shrugs her shoulders.

-

Roulan sighs for the nth time this day as Yu and Lanfen are busy looking for an outfit that will match the latter.

"Can we just look at my closet? You both know I don't have enough money to pay for this."

Roulan said, pointing at the polo that the two are holding.

The two shake their heads before diving back to the cloth rack.

"Roulan, it'll be Yu's spending, so don't worry."

Lanfen said with a smile.

The said girl looked at her before smacking her arms.

"Didn't you say we'll pay for this both?"

"I never agreed."

Lanfen sticks her tongue out.

Yu glared at her and was about to smack her again when Roulan caught her wrist.

"You know, if you two will only fight about who will pay for this, then I suggest we go home instead."

"What? No! It'll look good on you."

With that being said, Yu paid for all the expenses and clothes that they got from the store.

The girl is the generous one in the group. She would sometimes take Lanfen and Roulan out to hang out with them.

Maybe because she's a lot more blessed, having grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth.

Lanfen is from a middle-class family, but she's pretty generous.

Though, as long as she can afford the thing that you wanted.

Yu wouldn't complain about buying Roulan a few things to make her stay in the town a lot more comfortable.

They both knew her situation, and they'd tried to help her since then.

"Ugh! Why would the two of you pick this much!? I wouldn't be able to pay it back."

Roulan said, looking at the paper bags in her hand.

"Quit talking; we already told you not to pay us, right?"

"Yeah, besides, you deserve it."

Lanfen pinches Roulan's cheek.

The girl hissed and closed her eyes as the pain started to get a little out of hand.

"Ouch! It hurts!"

Roulan hissed.

"Quit it, Lanfen."

Lanfen pouts and stops pinching.

"Let's go, I'm hungry."

Yu said, and the three started to venture into the mall.

Roulan was amazed and looked around the big mall.

This is her first time going to such a humongous place.

She couldn't even point out if this was even a mall or a hotel.

As she continued to look around, she didn't realize that someone was in front of her.

The two collided and the other person got knocked down on the floor.