Ling Yan suddenly felt that men were all incorrigible—they always preferred the toughest challenges.
She never expected that the carefully prepared evidence she had gathered wouldn’t deter Lin Muyang but instead fuel his desire to conquer her even more.
What frustrated her the most was that the guy hadn’t even bothered to ask for her name the entire time.
When Ling Yan returned to the classroom, Fang Haoran quickly approached her. "Ling Yan, we’re just waiting for you for the dinner gathering tonight. Are you coming?"
He had deliberately saved the last spot for her.
Seeing Fang Haoran’s eager expression, Ling Yan felt inexplicably comforted and agreed.
Fang Haoran visibly brightened—this was a huge step forward.
After afternoon classes, the group of ten—five guys and five girls—marched in high spirits toward the restaurant.
Meanwhile, Liu Yutong and Li Xiaohui headed straight to the nearly finished Wanlong Supermarket branch near the university district, as Yao Qianshan had already arrived in Bright Pearl City and was currently at the supermarket.
They wanted to hear her suggestions, especially since she had worked in supermarkets in XC for many years. Her input was valuable for Wanlong Supermarket, and Liu Yutong’s personal visit also signaled their respect for her.
......
On the other side.
After finishing her classes, Yu Xin didn’t even return to her dorm. She handed her books to a roommate to take back and hurried straight to the restaurant.
She had already spent the entire lunch break working at the restaurant, only rushing back just before afternoon classes.
She kept Liu Yutong’s words firmly in mind—start from the bottom and work her way up—so she took the restaurant’s opening preparations very seriously.
During the pre-opening period, Yu Xin often visited markets and wholesale hubs to inquire about prices, familiarize herself with the market trends, and practice her bargaining skills—thickening her skin in the process.
Her main focus, however, was on aquatic products, since the restaurant, Yuyue Fang, specialized in seafood dishes.
Bright Pearl City had an extensive network of rivers, and whether in the university district’s markets or the meat processing plants, there were plenty of wholesale seafood vendors.
With crab season in full swing, many seafood stalls had set up roadside displays of hairy crabs.
Though Yuyue Fang’s signature dish was small fish pancakes, seasonal hairy crabs could also be a lucrative addition. The local lakes were famous for their crab farms, and the crabs had a solid reputation.
On her way to the restaurant, Yu Xin passed several seafood stalls, all showcasing freshly arrived hairy crabs—green shells, white bellies, claws waving aggressively in red buckets.
Out of habit, she stopped to check prices and haggle, though she never actually bought anything.
Time truly changes people, and Yu Xin was living proof.
Once an extremely introverted girl, she now bargained with vendors—even those with rough, streetwise demeanors—without flinching.
This transformation had gone somewhat unnoticed by Liu Yutong.
Since starting college, they saw less of each other due to different campuses, packed schedules, and Yu Xin’s frequent market runs.
Still, Liu Yutong knew what Yu Xin was up to and never interfered.
Yu Xin wasn’t the type who needed hand-holding—once she set her mind to something, she pursued it relentlessly.
The bike ride to the restaurant usually took just over ten minutes, but Yu Xin stretched it to nearly half an hour as she surveyed crab prices around the university district.
Just as she was about to leave, she spotted a new batch of hairy crabs at a stall with a sign reading "Direct from the Lakes."
These crabs were noticeably plumper and superior to any she’d seen earlier.
Without hesitation, she approached to ask about wholesale prices. If reasonable, she’d suggest stocking them at the restaurant.
Bending slightly to inspect the crabs, she called out,
"Boss, how much for these crabs? What’s the wholesale price per pound?"
The stall owner, a young man with dyed blond hair and a cigarette dangling from his lips, was too busy ogling the slight gap in Yu Xin’s collar to respond.
Her T-shirt, though modest, revealed a hint of skin as she leaned forward.
When the boss didn’t answer, Yu Xin was about to repeat herself—until she caught his lecherous stare.
Unfazed, the guy didn’t even pretend to look away. Instead, he smirked and whistled suggestively.
Yu Xin straightened up and turned to leave. Though furious, she stayed rational—she had work to do, and this creep wasn’t worth the trouble.
But the vendor wasn’t done.
"Hey, beautiful, why leave so soon? Don’t you want the crabs? I’ll give you a discount," he taunted, his tone dripping with sleaze.
Yu Xin paused, then turned back with a sweet smile.
"Sure, how much per pound? Give me two pounds."
The blond boss lit up, thrilled she wasn’t storming off.
"Coming right up!" he said, swiftly picking out a few crabs and binding them with thick ropes.
Without even weighing them, Yu Xin knew the ropes alone accounted for at least a third of the claimed weight.
She hefted the bag—definitely shortchanged.
Her hands had become precise scales after months of market visits.
Before the restaurant opened, she’d trained herself to judge weights by feel, cross-checking with her portable scale.
Vendors who tried to cheat her got their goods thrown back at them—literally.
Soon, market stalls near campus adjusted their scales the moment they saw her.
Confident in her assessment, Yu Xin asked coolly,
"Boss, is your scale accurate? No funny business with the ropes, right?"
The guy thumped his chest.
"Of course it’s fair! If I’m cheating you, I’ll pay ten times back!"
Yu Xin’s smile sharpened.
"How honest of you. Then how many of these new crabs do you have? I’ll take them all."
The blond boss had been hoping to ask for her number, assuming her easygoing demeanor meant she was open to his advances.
But her request stunned him.
"All of them? You’re not messing with me, are you?"
"Boss, how could you say that? A delicate woman like me wouldn’t dare to mess with you."
"To be honest, I work in procurement at a restaurant, and seeing how genuine you are—plus how fresh your crabs look—I thought I’d place a wholesale order. Oh, and boss, let’s exchange numbers first for future contact."
As she spoke, Yu Xin deliberately flashed him a coy glance, dropping a subtle hint.
The young man with dyed hair felt his blood surge, his heart burning as if set aflame.
What kind of incredible luck was this? Fortune and romance were both knocking at his door today.
He hastily pulled out his phone to save her number, eagerly saying, "Don’t worry, sweetheart, big bro here will definitely give you a discount. Of course, the invoice will still show the market price—how’s that sound?"
"Whatever you say." Yu Xin’s smile grew even sweeter.
Now, not only was his heart on fire, but his head was too. After saving her number, he urgently directed his staff to weigh the goods.
What he didn’t notice, however, was that every word he’d just spoken had been secretly recorded by Yu Xin on her phone.
..............
