Big Data Cultivation

Chapter 179: Different Kinds of Splendor (Three Updates for Monthly Tickets)

Sitting in the car, Feng Jun glanced sideways at Li Xiaobin beside him, “Where should I drop you off?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Zhang Wei, sitting in the front passenger seat, spoke with a teasing smile, “Who knows if someone is following us, and if they find out Xiao Bing’s place, what then? If you ask me, just take her to your place.”

“That’s right,” Wang Haifeng, seated on Feng Jun’s other side, nodded incessantly, smiling in a very sleazy manner, “President Feng, I say this must be fate… to meet an old friend in a foreign land.”

Deliberately or not, this guy pronounced “old friend” more like “guzzie”—what a sleazebag.

Feng Jun couldn’t be bothered with these two with their crude sense of humor, “Squad leader, what do you think?”

Li Xiaobin was silent for a while before finally speaking, slowly uttering four words, “Two thousand for overnight.”

Upon hearing this, the three men fell silent. Even the designated driver, upon hearing this, glanced curiously at them through the rearview mirror.

“Forget it,” after a long while, Feng Jun spoke, “After the traffic light ahead… both of us will get off.”

Wang Haifeng gave Li Xiaobin a sideways look, “Lao Feng, is it worth it? Your squad leader… seems a bit ungrateful.”

Feng Jun laughed, “What’s wrong, taking her to book a room, finally fulfilling a dream… isn’t that okay?”

“Now, she’s not worthy of you,” Zhang Wei couldn’t hold back and blurted out bluntly, “Forget it, where do you plan to go? I’ll drop you two off… Penglai maybe?”

Something had gone wrong at Penglai Grand Hotel during the last visit; Feng Jun was under surveillance and nearly got robbed—a terrible memory. But afterwards, he managed to get a VIP card with a value of twenty thousand at a discount of seventy percent.

This wasn’t purely out of a desire for a bargain, nor did it have much to do with Penglai’s enthusiastic attitude. The key was that he believed he had made a name for himself there, and people would serve him more cautiously knowing he was staying at the hotel.

So Zhang Wei asked him if they should go there to book a room.

“No need,” Feng Jun answered very decisively, “We’ll choose another place ourselves.”

“Really not going?” Zhang Wei looked back at them, and seeing Feng Jun had no intention to speak further, instructed the designated driver, “Find a place to stop up ahead.”

Feng Jun got out of the car with Li Xiaobin, both of them silent.

After hailing a taxi, Feng Jun simply said, “To Peach Blossom Valley.”

Neither of them spoke, and the atmosphere in the car was a bit eerie. The driver, noticing this, also quietly drove on.

After driving for a while, Feng Jun asked, “Driver, is there a car following us?”

“Ah, I really wouldn’t know that,” the driver answered honestly, “it’s late and the headlights are blinding, I can’t see clearly. Should I take a detour to check for you?”

“No need, just go to Peach Blossom Valley,” Feng Jun replied indifferently, then turned to glance at Li Xiaobin, “There’s a gatehouse there.”

Li Xiaobin let out a deep sigh, “It seems I’ve caused you trouble.”

Feng Jun laughed it off, “I’ve never been without troubles, what’s one more?”

After saying that, he fell silent again. However, after a short while, Li Xiaobin asked in a low voice, “Are you… a bit disappointed?”

“This… a bit,” Feng Jun hesitated, but still told the truth, “It feels like something has shattered.”

“Heh,” Li Xiaobin chuckled coldly, “The two things men love most to do are corrupting good women and persuading prostitutes to turn over a new leaf. Looks like you, Fatty, can’t escape the cliche either.”

“Is that so?” Feng Jun wasn’t bothered by her sarcasm and took out a cigarette to light, smoking on his own, “What I talked about was just a feeling towards the junior high days, a piece of memory…”

“Since we’ve entered society, of course we know, sentimentality is just bullshit, but then again, bullshit is good for the body, at least it helps with circulation… What’s wrong with keeping a bit of it, if possible?”

Li Xiaobin was silent for a while, then exploded, “You have money now, so of course you can afford sentimentality, buying a two million Phaeton on a whim… Do you know what kind of life I’ve been living these years?”

“I’m still young, I have a mother who needs my care, I also want to dress up nicely like other girls, to fully enjoy life in my prime… Am I not pretty enough? Is there something wrong with my desires?”

Feng Jun just silently smoked his cigarette, offering no reply.

“Who wouldn’t want to earn money in an honest way?” Li Xiaobin’s voice softened, yet her emotions grew more intense, “I tried as well, but working hard for half a month wasn’t even enough to buy a decent lipstick… Can you understand my despair?”

It’s just vanity! Feng Jun touched his chin and chose not to criticize.

But Li Xiaobin seemed to see right through him, “I know, you think I’m vain, but this is the prime of my life, I want to live with no regrets. Is that wrong? Answer me, don’t play dumb!”

Feng Jun looked at her helplessly, “I didn’t intend to blame you for your choice, just a bit surprised.”

“No, you did blame me!” Li Xiaobin countered sharply, “You said something was shattered!”

“What do you want me to say then?” Feng Jun got annoyed, his eyes glaring, “Say that you did the right thing, that you did well? I can’t make such compliments, and I’m not afraid to tell you that what you see now is me having a bit of money… Have you ever seen the times when I struggled hard?”

Feng Jun didn’t believe that everything he had now came from a stroke of luck.

He was thankful for the stroke of luck, that was true, but he himself had also made considerable efforts—alone under the scorching sun, wandering the Gobi desert for more than two months, unable to even take a bath,

with no one to talk to, and having to guard against all sorts of accidents that might happen. Those two months were truly torturous, not to mention the various difficulties, the key was the indescribable loneliness and solitude.

Of course, with a stroke of luck in hand, he would have reached his goal sooner or later even if he hadn’t pushed himself so hard, but now he had reached it earlier, hadn’t he?

Li Xiaobin calmed down a bit after being yelled at by Feng Jun. With a sullen response, she said, “I know, you look down on me.”

Feng Jun wasn’t about to indulge her, they were classmates, after all, there’s nothing they couldn’t discuss, “If I respected you for what you’ve done, then I would be insane!”

Let’s reiterate, he didn’t consider himself a good person, his life occasionally decayed, but he believed it was about mutual need, human nature, and he had always kept a respectful distance from those professionals.

“What have I done that makes you disrespect me?” Li Xiaobin challenged again, “I earn my living with my talents, I earn the money I deserve, and I don’t want what isn’t mine. Is that wrong?”

The corner of Feng Jun’s mouth twitched, but he was too lazy to argue with her, thinking to himself, if you’re not at all at fault, would that man Wu be so furious he went looking for trouble with you?

Li Xiaobin read his look, snorted coldly, “You think I conned Mr. Wu, right? But have you ever considered from my perspective whether I could refuse his gifts, whether I dared to refuse?”

This reason seemed to explain her predicament from another angle—she was just a helpless woman of the nightlife.

But who was Feng Jun? His logical abilities were far stronger than most people’s.

In the end, Li Xiaobin ended up in this situation because of greed. With her ability to entice people to spend money, was it really so hard to hint that they shouldn’t waste it? To know, that Mr. Wu clearly wasn’t lacking for women.

The truth was, you had already enticed him to spend over ten thousand yuan. In Zhengyang, that was enough to hire a wild model and still have some left to fly. If you didn’t want to engage with him, you should’ve thought about how to flee. Instead, you didn’t know any better and bumped right into it.

Treating others like fools means you’re the real fool.

However, Feng Jun was too lazy to say these things, too. They were classmates, after all, it was better to leave some face.

Besides, would it be useful for him to say all this? Could he really be expected to “urge the lady to reform”?

Just then, the driver stopped the car; they had arrived at the gate to Peach Blossom Valley, where taxis weren’t allowed to enter.

Feng Jun stuck his head out and waved to the security guard. He had entered and exited this place several times already, and the guards knew him as a new resident.

Quickly, the taxi arrived at the villa, and the two of them got out.

As soon as she entered the room, Li Xiaobin was dazzled by the grandeur of the villa, “Fatty… did you buy this, or is it rented?”

“Half bought, half rented,” Feng Jun replied casually, then led her to the bar on the first floor, “What would you like to drink? Everything is here, snacks over there… After drinking, go rest in that room, don’t wander around.”

Looking at the array of items, Li Xiaobin was stunned. After a while, she exclaimed, “Fatty, you’ve really made it… Will the lady of the house be back tonight?”

Feng Jun looked at her deeply and slowly shook his head, “There’s no lady of the house here. Just rest assured and rest.”

“No lady of the house?” Li Xiaobin was taken aback for a second, then gave him a sideways glance, “Are you trying to save even the money for a hotel room?”

“What hotel room? Stop it,” Feng Jun opened a can of beer nonchalantly, and while drinking, said dismissively, “I just didn’t want to deal with those two talkative guys; it was just something I said offhand.”

Li Xiaobin stared at him blankly for a long while before sighing softly, “So, you really do look down on me.”

“Are you okay?” Feng Jun glared at her, shaking his head with a mix of laughter and disbelief, “We’re classmates. You asked for help, so I lent a hand. Don’t overthink it, okay?”

“You despise me,” Li Xiaobin sighed, walked over to him, and wrapped her arm around his waist.

Her body was sprayed with some perfume, emitting a delicate and enticing scent, one whiff and you knew it wasn’t ordinary stuff.

This is the “fashionable and exciting youth” you talked about, huh? Feng Jun’s olfactory cells were slightly intoxicated by the fragrance.

(End of the third update, calling for February’s minimum guaranteed monthly tickets.)