Volume One, Chapter 108: Pampering Him

"Are you Sang Wan?"

A low, sultry little voice, paired with the red gown hugging every curve of her body, made her look both bewitching and dangerously alluring.

She brought to mind the gypsy girls in old films.

The beauty in red glanced at Sang Wan.

Then at Lou Ye.

Her expression was puzzled, as if she knew two different Sang Wans.

Sang Wan stepped out of the fitting room into the showroom, her face fully bathed in light.

Mu Fangfei stared at her for a long while before finally matching that face to the one in her memory.

Then, taking her in from head to toe, she said with a faint smile, "As it turns out, losing weight is the best cosmetic surgery there is."

"We... know each other?"

Only then did Sang Wan understand why she had asked.

The beauty in red had seen her before, back when she was still fat and sallow and plain.

Lou Ye had been watching Sang Wan ever since she appeared. Coming back to himself, he walked to her side and nodded toward her. "Mu Fangfei, a rising designer from Milan."

Sang Wan praised her sincerely. "Miss Mu, this gown is beautifully designed! The fabric is excellent too!"

"At least you have taste."

Mu Fangfei snorted, met the glance Lou Ye threw her way, and glared back before turning and heading downstairs. "If you're done trying things on, hurry up and leave. I'm closing shop!"

"..."

Sang Wan turned to Lou Ye. "Did you offend her?"

Lou Ye's expression remained unreadable. "Not worth it."

He plainly had no intention of saying more.

Sang Wan asked no further and turned back to the mirror.

The mirror in the showroom was larger than the one in the fitting room, making the overall effect even better.

If she had looked like the wicked stepmother of Snow White just now, then at this moment she looked like a queen.

Sang Wan could no longer remember when she had last worn a formal gown. After so many years, seeing such a radiant version of herself again felt strangely unfamiliar.

Lou Ye leaned against the railing and watched her quietly in the mirror.

Sang Wan asked, "Does it look good?"

"Of course."

Lou Ye stepped forward, slipped an arm around her waist, and held her close. "A perfect match."

How shameless.

How could he praise himself like that?

Sang Wan's face grew hot, and she turned to leave.

Lou Ye held her firmly in his arms. "Sister, now it's your turn to praise me."

"Handsome, dashing, elegant, rich... Young Master Lou is the diamond bachelor at the very top of the capital's pyramid..."

Every day when she opened her computer or phone, his interview was on the business channel, his scandals on the entertainment channel.

Even on the sports channel, which had nothing to do with him, there were competitions sponsored by the Lou Group, followed by comment sections overflowing with praise for their generous patron.

He was everywhere, and everywhere he was showered with acclaim.

"...and you still need me to praise you?"

Sang Wan asked in return.

Lou Ye looked entirely unconcerned. "Do I know them? Did I ask them to praise me?"

Sang Wan: ...

"Let's go with this one. I like it."

Since she was accompanying him to a social engagement, she represented his face and dignity, so of course he had to be satisfied.

Sang Wan looked at him expectantly.

Lou Ye still seemed dissatisfied. He swept his gaze around and nodded toward a lake-blue satin gown. "That one..."

"It's a bit... eye-catching, isn't it?"

"Try it."

The lake-blue gown fit just as perfectly.

Under the dazzling lights, it was as though she had draped a handful of lake water over herself.

Sang Wan stared at her reflection without blinking.

Lou Ye was very satisfied as well. "Try the champagne one too, and the smoke-gray one..."

Sang Wan froze, only then seeming to realize something. "All the gowns on this floor won't happen to be in my size, will they?"

"If not, then what?"

Lou Ye asked back.

Sang Wan stood there, mouth slightly open.

Her gaze fell on the mannequins, with their colorful gowns in every style imaginable.

For custom pieces like these, it was already considered fast if a designer could produce one finished garment in ten days or half a month.

Even if Lou Ye had returned from South City and had Mu Fangfei begin working from then, how long had it really been?

No wonder Mu Fangfei was seething.

If it were her, she probably wouldn't have had a pleasant expression either.

Lou Ye showed no interest in taking credit. He moved aside a hanging rack in daylight and handed Sang Wan the few gowns he had selected. "Go try them on."

"I don't want to try anymore..."

Sang Wan shook her head. "The banquet isn't until Saturday. There are still several days left tomorrow, the day after, and the day after that. We can take our time."

Lou Ye did not budge.

Every gown here had been chosen by him from Mu Fangfei's sketches and made to Sang Wan's measurements.

He wanted to see her wear each and every one.

Sang Wan put on a pitiful look. "Aren't you hungry? Let's go eat, okay?"

Lou Ye hesitated.

Sang Wan seized the opening, wrapped her arms around his waist, and begged softly, "I really don't want to try anymore. After dinner, when we get home, I'll try them for you alone, okay?"

"Ah Ye..."

Her coaxing voice was sweet and soft, each word curling delicately at the end.

Lou Ye froze.

Sang Wan froze too.

She had never imagined that one day she, who had never even acted spoiled with her own mother as a child, would be doing so to Lou Ye, who was younger than she was.

Mortification flooded her.

She turned to run, but Lou Ye caught her around the waist and drew her back into his arms. "Say that again."

Too embarrassed to look up at him, Sang Wan only knew that she must be like a shrimp cooked through just then.

Red.

But Lou Ye did not let her go. Holding her against him, his voice was intoxicating. "Sister..."

"Lou Ye, stop messing around!"

Sang Wan finally lifted her eyes, her gaze filled with a plea for mercy.

Lou Ye curved his lips and slowly loosened his hold.

It did not matter.

There would be plenty of time.

Once there had been a first time, there would surely be a second.

He could wait.

"All right..."

No longer pressing her, Lou Ye turned toward the first floor and called out, "Mu Fangfei?"

A rapid series of footsteps sounded.

Mu Fangfei came back.

Lou Ye pointed from a distance at several pieces. "That one, that one, and that one... wrap them up."

Each gown had been pressed and hung neatly in place.

Even delivery was done by specialists, who would carry them straight into a wardrobe and hang them there.

Wrap them up?

How was she supposed to wrap them?

Arms folded, Mu Fangfei stood at the foot of the stairs from afar. "Either give me an address, and I'll have someone send them over, or have someone come pick them up. I can't wrap a single thing!!!"

He gave her the address of Wanxin Apartment, Unit 2001.

Lou Ye looked back and told Sang Wan to change clothes.

The fitting room door closed.

Mu Fangfei looked at Lou Ye coldly, still not offering the slightest pleasant expression. "Lou Ye, you know better than anyone how much Sister Qing cares about you. If you get someone to slap her in the face, none of us would dare say a word. But if you go after Sang Wan, isn't that..."

The rest of her words died in her throat when she was frightened by Lou Ye's suddenly darkened expression.

Lou Ye lifted his eyes coldly. "Who told you that my being with Sang Wan was to slap her in the face? She thinks far too highly of herself!!!"

Mu Fangfei's expression changed slightly.

Lou Ye lost all interest.

"No need to send them over."

He tossed the two champagne and smoke-gray gowns he had been holding onto the sofa with a flick of his hand, then shot Mu Fangfei a cold glance. "I chose your place purely out of respect for your brother's face and to do you a favor. It's all the same wherever I spend money."

"Since you've put it that way, wouldn't it be even more convenient for me to order from a luxury brand?"

"Weren't you dying to see someone get slapped in the face? Fine, then watch!!!"

Lou Ye straightened up, and the gloomy look he had worn when facing Mu Fangfei vanished instantly the moment he heard the fitting room door open.

"Lou Ye, between the black and the lake-blue one, which do you like?"

Sang Wan asked him.

Lou Ye walked up to her, casually took the two gowns from her hands, and tossed them onto the coffee table as though discarding trash. "Choose again. Neither suits you."

???

Sensing keenly that something had happened in the showroom while she was changing, Sang Wan looked up again and met Mu Fangfei's deathly pale face, as if she had suffered the greatest humiliation imaginable.