DASFAM_CH 06

The car door closed.

Chen Yufei watched Bai Xu through the rearview mirror, "Young Master Bai, where would you like to go first?"

Bai Xu had originally wanted to go out alone, but on second thought, he was completely unfamiliar with the capital, and the original host's fragmented memories weren't enough to rely on.

So he ultimately agreed to Xie Qi's suggestion and let Chen Yufei, who served as both driver and bodyguard, come along.

Bai Xu had no particular destination in mind and simply said, "Use your judgment. Take me to the nearest shopping district for now."

Since he was already out, the things that needed to be bought were certainly going to be bought.

Chen Yufei was a straightforward man of few words. He started the car, "Understood."

The Shang family estate was quite far from the central district of the capital, but there was a direct elevated highway nearby, making travel convenient and quick.

Since leaving the military, Chen Yufei had worked diligently for the Shang family for nearly seven years, and he was well acquainted with the major shopping districts of the capital.

In under an hour, he pulled the car into the underground parking garage of a shopping district.

"Young Master Bai, we've arrived."

Bai Xu caught a glimpse of the sign on the wall outside, "Jinbai Shopping District?"

Drawing on his past experience, Chen Yufei said, "The Fourth Young Master used to bring Madam here quite often before. It should meet your shopping needs."

Bai Xu's attention caught on the first half of that sentence. His instinctive reaction: "Fourth Young Master? Shang Queyan?"

Chen Yufei nodded, "Yes."

Bai Xu asked offhandedly, "How is he doing?"

Chen Yufei shook his head, not daring to say much.

After the incident involving the two young masters, he had been responsible for looking after Shang Yanxiao. He had only heard that the Fourth Young Master, Shang Queyan, had been forced to undergo an amputation during emergency treatment in order to save his life.

It would be difficult for any ordinary person to come to terms with such an accident, let alone Shang Queyan, who was a racing driver.

One could only imagine that his physical and mental state would not be good.

Although Chen Yufei said nothing, Bai Xu could already guess something of it. He promptly dropped the subject, opened the car door, and said, "Let's go. You, follow along too."

Since they were already here, he didn't mind Chen Yufei continuing to accompany him.

...

The Jinbai Shopping District was indeed the largest commercial district in the area.

Taking the elevator up from the underground parking garage at Gate B1 led directly to the shopping floors, five full levels of various light luxury and high-end brand boutiques.

The two entered the elevator one after the other.

Chen Yufei's service instincts were impeccable; he proactively pressed the button for the second floor on Bai Xu's behalf.

Taking advantage of the brief ride upward, Bai Xu brushed aside his somewhat unruly fringe and studied his reflection in the glass of the elevator—

This current appearance of his really did cut a rather pitiful, pathetic figure.

The elevator doors opened to a panorama of luxury boutiques, their varied and distinctive signage instantly conveying an atmosphere of opulence and extravagance.

Although the novel's world was fictional, its shopping brands mirrored those of reality.

Bai Xu had his own sense of aesthetic when it came to clothing. His gaze swept broadly across the clothing brands on offer, and he quickly settled on one store and walked in.

A sales associate in uniform hurried over to greet him, "Hello, wel–"

The next second, the enthusiastic tone dropped abruptly, "–come."

He looked over Bai Xu's visibly worn clothing and replied perfunctorily, "Is there something in particular you're looking for?"

Bai Xu glanced at his name tag, turns out he was the assistant manager, and answered calmly, "I'll browse on my own. I'll call you if I need anything."

The assistant manager suppressed his disdain and ushered them into the store, "Of course, gentlemen. Make yourselves at home."

With that, he turned and walked back to the main counter.

A trainee sales associate spotted the customers who had just come in and was about to go pour some tea, when the assistant manager called her back in a low voice, "Where do you think you're going?"

"To, to pour tea for the customers?"

"Don't bother."

The assistant manager had his back to Bai Xu and the others, and kept his voice down, "Look at that cheap, shabby appearance— clearly not the spending type. Why waste time on them?"

It was the slow season lately. He had been hoping so hard for customers to walk in, and it turned out to be this sort, the kind who only looked with their eyes and never opened their wallets. It felt like the entire store's image had been dragged down.

Chen Yufei stared at the assistant manager's back, sensing that whatever he was muttering couldn't be anything good. He simply turned to Bai Xu and asked, "Young Master Bai, should we try a different store?"

"No need."

Bai Xu browsed through the clothing at a leisurely pace, his tone even, "This brand has a nice style. We're here to buy clothes, why should we care about other people's attitudes?"

People in the service industry with no sense of discernment, that's all they'd ever amount to. They simply weren't operating on the same level; there was no point in taking it personally.

Bai Xu glanced toward the rest area in the corner and gestured to Chen Yufei with his eyes, "Go sit for a bit. I'll take my time looking."

Chen Yufei nodded, "Alright."

The sound of heels clicking on the floor approached.

The trainee associate had brought over flower tea after all, her manner warm and friendly, "Hello, sir. These are all our newly arrived spring pieces. Feel free to take a look and see if anything catches your eye."

"Thank you."

Bai Xu took the tea she handed him and casually picked out five or six items, "These, I won't bother trying them on."

He then asked, "Have this year's limited runway pieces come in yet? I remember your brand also carries those niche designer collaboration pieces."

"......"

The sales associate hadn't expected Bai Xu to know their brand so thoroughly. She paused for half a second, "Yes, we do. Would you like to take a look?"

Bai Xu gestured, "Sure, let's see them."

Having read the real depth behind Bai Xu's calm exterior, the associate brightened up, "Of course, just a moment!"

Before she could finish, the assistant manager's booming voice rang out from the entrance again, "Young Master Chen, long time no see! Welcome!"

Bai Xu and the associate both looked over at the same moment—

Three young customers had walked in at the entrance. The one at the front wore sunglasses and was dressed in a conspicuously flashy manner, "Mm."

"Bring out all your new limited pieces. Let me and my boys have a proper look."

The young man addressed as 'Young Master Chen' twirled a finger in the air, "Move it. I've booked the place out for the afternoon."

The assistant manager was overjoyed, "No problem at all!"

Chen Shaoxuan was the young scion of Jinbai Real Estate— this shopping district was one of their family's chain ventures. He had always been free-spending, and even his occasional visits were enough to bring in a good chunk of their sales figures.

The assistant manager welcomed them into the store with exceptional enthusiasm and called out, "Xiao Zhao, get all the limited pieces brought to the private suite! And also—"

He glanced over at Bai Xu and Chen Yufei, who had been in the store for a while without a word from him, his manner growing even less courteous, "Please show those two customers out. Young Master Chen has booked the place."

"......"

The associate received the instruction and hesitated, "Manager, this- this gentleman just said he wanted to see the limited pieces."

Sales figures in the store were tracked individually.

Naturally, she was reluctant to give up Bai Xu as a potential high-value customer.

Before she had even finished speaking, and before the manager could respond, the remark caught the attention of Chen Shaoxuan, who was standing nearby.

Chen Shaoxuan stared for several seconds, then flicked his sunglasses down with a snap of his fingertip, as though he had spotted something curious, "Well, well. Isn't this an old classmate? Now there's a rare sight."

"......"

Bai Xu met those eyes full of wicked amusement, and a flood of painful memories that weren't his own surged up in his mind. His heart went cold—

Years ago, in order to keep up appearances, the Bai family had enrolled the original host in one of the capital's most prestigious private high schools.

The school had no shortage of young masters and misses among his peers, and among them was Chen Shaoxuan— arrogant and overbearing by virtue of his family's standing, always looking for someone to torment for his own amusement.

Tearing apart the original host's textbooks and assignments, then rallying others to ostracize him. Holding a lighter to the original host's hair, then drenching him thoroughly with filthy water. Deliberately knocking over his lunch, then locking him alone in the pitch-black sports equipment room for an entire night.

One incident after another— the less the original host dared to resist, the further they pushed it. The bullying led by Chen Shaoxuan had become the nightmare that defined the original host's three years of high school.

"......"

Now that the words 'old classmate' had reached his ears, they felt particularly grating. Having confirmed the true nature of the person before him, Bai Xu picked up his phone and quickly sent a message.

Chen Shaoxuan swaggered over to stand in front of him, looking him over with undisguised unfriendliness, "What? Don't recognize me anymore? Haven't seen you in years, don't tell me you're still living under the Bai family's roof, scraping by on whatever scraps they throw you?"

"Do I have any reason to recognize you? To bother communicating with you?"

Bai Xu put away his phone and returned the same unhurried once-over to Chen Shaoxuan, "If anything, it's you."

There was none of the fear or timidity from his high school days in his eyes. Instead, there was a faint, easy provocation.

Chen Shaoxuan narrowed his eyes in displeasure, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Bai Xu smiled, "Nothing much. Just think you're nothing special."

"I'm nothing special?"

Chen Shaoxuan laughed despite his irritation, using the sunglasses in his hand to gesture up and down at Bai Xu, "Seems like the management of our shopping district is pretty lacking. I'll be having a word with the staff when I get back."

He looked down with contempt, "Since when do they let just any stray cat or dog, any country bumpkin, wander in? Manager, does he look to you like someone who can actually afford to buy clothes?"

One of his friends chimed in from the side, "Exactly. Looks more like he's here to mooch off the freebies."

"I said it. I've booked the place out."

Chen Shaoxuan issued the order to the assistant manager, his nose in the air, "I have no interest in wearing the same brand as that sort of lowlife."

The malice in the second half of that sentence came in full force. The trainee associate inwardly frowned, but not daring to offend the assistant manager's high-value client, she could only look toward Bai Xu in an attempt to smooth things over.

"Why don't I ring up these few pieces for you first, sir, and when you have time again you can come back and—"

The assistant manager cut her off directly, "Alright, would this gentleman please leave. Our store isn't able to accommodate you at this time."

As far as he was concerned, Chen Shaoxuan was the real paying customer with actual money to spend.

As for Bai Xu, this unfamiliar face— he hadn't thought anything of him from the very start. Best to take the opportunity and get him out while they could.

Bai Xu looked at the near-identical expressions of contempt on the faces across from him and laughed thoughtfully, "Oh, so lowlifes of a certain kind ought to wear clothes of a certain kind? You're right about that. The spirit of this brand suits you, suits all of you, quite well."

Chen Shaoxuan's expression darkened, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Hm?"

Bai Xu feigned surprise, and even let a trace of pity creep into his gaze, "You still haven't worked that out? Seems like your studies weren't up to much either."

"......"

Chen Shaoxuan and the others heard the jab, and their expressions darkened further.

"What I mean is–" the smile at the corner of Bai Xu's lips vanished in an instant. His features, ordinarily soft, turned suddenly cold, leaving them no room to get a word in:

"You're all trash!"

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