Yao Ge silently lowered his head.
Small. Pitiful. Helpless.
What else could he do?
The teacher really did know.
Fan Qing: ……
In a way, you’re genuinely impressive, kid.
Thinking that, Fan Qing looked back at the old man. His expression didn’t show the slightest hint of guilt.
What was there to be afraid of? It was just fetish wear. As long as he wasn’t embarrassed, then the awkwardness belonged to someone else.
Fan Qing calmly picked up a slice of beef.
“Since you already know, Old Sir, then you must have seen his work too, right? Isn’t the design actually pretty good?”
This time, it was Yao Ge who was completely dumbfounded.
Manager Fan—aren’t you embarrassed at all?
He studied Fan Qing seriously, then realized—
Manager Fan really wasn’t embarrassed.
A true warrior!
Was this what they called being insanely smooth in social situations?
That was amazing.
Being questioned like that, the old man couldn’t help but look Fan Qing over a few more times.
After a while, he let out a chuckle.
“You really are something, kid. If Yao Ge had even thirty percent of your—”
He shot Yao Ge a glare. Yao Ge silently shrank his neck back.
“—then I wouldn’t need to come along and act in this little play with him.”
“Then I’ll say it for you.”
Fan Qing thoughtfully supplied the missing line.
The old man couldn’t help glaring at him again.
Couldn’t you let me say it myself?
Fan Qing shrugged and lowered his head to eat his noodles.
It wasn’t anything else—people need food to live. He’d accompanied Yao Ge on this whole trip and hadn’t eaten a proper meal yet.
He was really just… eating like that?
The old man felt a bit vexed. He also couldn’t help glaring at Yao Ge with a mix of frustration and disappointment.
Look at him!
Learn something!
Just as he was thinking that, he saw Fan Qing finish the first plate of beef and start attacking the second.
Old man: ???
“Hey, kid, that’s not very honorable. Isn’t that beef supposed to be one portion per person?”
As he spoke, he hurriedly reached out with his chopsticks.
Fan Qing chuckled.
“Which rule says that?”
“You little—!”
The old man’s chopsticks flew, and he even took the time to pick a few slices for Yao Ge as well.
And just like that, the meal ended in lively chaos.
Afterward, the old man chatted with Fan Qing some more about the collaboration between him and Yao Ge.
Fan Qing didn’t think it was anything that couldn’t be discussed, but—
He looked at Yao Ge thoughtfully.
“Speaking of which, Yao Ge is actually pretty talented in other areas of design too, right?”
The old man’s gaze flickered.
“Oh? How so?”
Still pretending, was he?
Fan Qing raised an eyebrow, not bothering to call him out on it.
He gestured vaguely at Yao Ge’s clothes.
“These pieces were all designed by Yao Ge for himself. I noticed it when I was choosing—whether it’s the sizing, the vibe, or the style, they all match the image he’s positioning for himself perfectly.”
So really—how had Yao Ge managed to look so sloppy back when he first knew him?
He clearly had talent and knew how to dress himself.
Tsk.
As Fan Qing was thinking this, he saw the old man glaring at Yao Ge with that same mix of anger and disappointment again.
?
What was that about?
The old man glared and glared before finally saying angrily,
“Otherwise, why do you think he’s my favorite student? It’s just that this brat insists on designing those kinds of clothes. The pieces you mentioned—those were designs I forced him to do back when he was still in school.”
Did he not know Yao Ge had talent?
The problem was that this brat needed to apply it to something respectable!
The more the old man thought about it, the angrier he got—until Fan Qing pulled him aside.
?
What are you up to, kid?
The old man signaled with his eyes.
Fan Qing smiled faintly, meaningfully.
Obviously—to figure out a way to put Yao Ge to work for him.
The two of them chatted off to the side for a while. The look in the old man’s eyes when he glanced at Fan Qing grew increasingly strange.
After a moment, he couldn’t help looking over at Yao Ge.
…You little brat. Let’s see how you escape this time.
After some thought, he quietly nodded at Fan Qing.
Fan Qing immediately broke into a victorious smile.
The old man couldn’t help throwing some cold water on it.
“I’ll say this first—don’t get cocky too early. Wait until you actually close the deal.”
That all?
Fan Qing looked at him, his smile completely unrestrained.
“Just wait and see.”
The old man smacked his lips and let him do as he pleased.
Fan Qing soon sat down across from Yao Ge.
It’s coming!
Yao Ge’s heart suddenly started pounding, his nerves stretched tight!
He didn’t know what Manager Fan and his teacher had just talked about, but it definitely felt like it had something to do with him!
“How did it feel, attending the class reunion today?”
The moment Fan Qing asked, Yao Ge inexplicably let out a breath.
That’s all?
That was fine.
Yao Ge said, “It was okay, I guess. I didn’t feel much. I mainly came to see the teacher.”
So that’s it—you’re relaxing already?
Still too young.
That was what Fan Qing thought as the smile on his face faded.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “That class monitor of yours was clearly targeting you. You really didn’t feel anything at all?”
Yao Ge froze for a moment and answered a bit sluggishly.
“…Th-thank you, Agent Fan, for helping me out?”
Is that what he was supposed to say?
Fan Qing: ?
Why are you not following the script, kid?
If you go off-track like this, how am I supposed to set up my lines?
But—small problem.
Fan Qing thought for a moment and simply switched tactics.
“Fair enough. You should thank me.”
Now it was Yao Ge’s turn to be stunned.
“Huh?”
Well, okay, but Agent Fan—are you really going to be this straightforward?
Fan Qing crossed his legs and tapped his fingers lightly on the tabletop.
“But,” he said, “there’s something I need to tell you.”
Yao Ge: “? What is it?”
Why does Agent Fan suddenly look kind of serious?
Fan Qing smiled faintly.
“Everything I said before about you being able to attend those banquets however you like—that was a lie.”
Yao Ge froze.
“Huh?”
Without giving him time to react, Fan Qing continued.
“So if that classmate of yours comes looking for trouble again and brings it up, you’ll need to think for yourself about how to deal with it.”
Yao Ge was completely dumbfounded.
“Huh?”
Fan Qing landed a second blow.
“And if your other classmates ask about it, you won’t have an easy time explaining either. After all, you were bragging in front of everyone.”
But—you were the one who bragged, Agent Fan!
Yao Ge’s face was full of shock mixed with confusion.
Fan Qing calmly delivered the final stab.
“But if there’s really no other way, you can just tell the truth. I don’t care. It’s just custom-designed fetish clothing anyway—nothing shameful about it. Don’t you think?”
Even Yao Ge, slow as he was, finally understood what Fan Qing was getting at.
His face turned pale. After a long pause, he stammered softly,
“Th-then… what should I do?”
See? Hooked already.
Fan Qing smiled slightly and shot a smug look past Yao Ge toward the old man.
The old man rolled his eyes at him.
He’d thought it would be something impressive.
Turns out it was basically coercion mixed with sweet-talking and a bit of pressure—this kid really had some nerve.
But after thinking it over, the old man hardened his heart.
Maybe someone really did need to be this ruthless.
Fan Qing dragged Yao Ge off to the side.
He talked nonstop.
Yao Ge’s eyes went blank.
He spoke eloquently and confidently.
Yao Ge’s gaze slowly began to lose focus.
Then Fan Qing delivered the finishing move.
Yao Ge’s eyes suddenly sharpened with resolve.
After a moment, he nodded quietly.
“Th-then… let’s do it the way you said, Agent Fan. I-I’ll try my best!”
Done.
Fan Qing picked up his glass of water and drained it in one go, then leisurely walked over to the old man and pulled out his phone.
“As agreed, may I have your contact information?”
The old man snorted a couple of times, but still scanned the code and added Fan Qing as a contact.
Yao Ge stood nearby, utterly bewildered.
What just happened?
With the old man’s contact successfully secured, Fan Qing was in a pretty good mood.
In truth, he and the old man hadn’t done anything complicated—they’d simply made a bet.
It was obvious that the old man felt both fondness and frustration toward Yao Ge.
Yao Ge wasn’t lacking talent in fashion design. He just had no interest or motivation—but that didn’t mean he was incapable.
On the contrary, Yao Ge’s performance today, which had stunned everyone, proved his real ability.
What Fan Qing did was very simple—he got Yao Ge to agree to design formal wear.
He had already signed Yao Ge. Fetish clothing wasn’t going anywhere, but if Yao Ge could also show his talent in formalwear, Fan Qing certainly wouldn’t complain about making more money.
More importantly, he’d bet with the old man that if he could persuade Yao Ge to get back on the right path, the old man would continue privately guiding Yao Ge.
That guidance would also come with benefits for Fan Qing.
Killing two birds with one stone.
Fan Qing curved his lips into a smile.
Completely forcing Yao Ge to abandon fetish clothing design was impossible, but using a bit of verbal maneuvering to stir up his competitive spirit and get him to take on some formalwear as a side gig—that was doable.
This trip had been worth it.
Fan Qing sat quietly on the return flight, pulled his eye mask down, blocking out the admiring gazes around him.
Time to go back and be lovey-dovey with Brother Nie.
Meanwhile, the class reunion ended much earlier than scheduled.
Zhang Fu eventually returned to the venue.
He looked mostly the same as before, still smooth and socially adept on the surface.
But no one there was stupid—who couldn’t tell that Zhang Fu’s expression was stiff?
In the end, the reunion wrapped up in an unexpectedly bland way, ending just like that.
When people began leaving, many didn’t even bother saying goodbye to Zhang Fu.
Clearly, however much admiration they’d once had for him had now turned into equal amounts of disdain.
Zhang Fu noticed it too, and his expression grew even uglier.
He made up an excuse and headed straight for the restroom.
Inside one of the stalls, he lit a cigarette.
Soon, he heard two sets of footsteps outside.
Then two voices—both not unfamiliar—rang out.
“Did you see Zhang Fu’s face?”
“I did. It was sour as hell. No idea who he thinks he’s glaring at.”
“Who else could it be? Yao Ge’s gone, so he’s taking it out on the rest of us. Look at how much contempt he shows for Yao Ge—yet isn’t he just jealous? Jealous that Yao Ge did well in school, that teachers favored him, that girls all liked him. Especially the class beauty—everyone knows she used to like Yao Ge. Who knows how Zhang Fu managed to win her over. He really had some tricks up his sleeve.”
“Isn’t that so? But that’s the only thing he’s good at—running his mouth. Talking about the most high-end banquets and all that crap, and in the end, isn’t he still relying on a woman? Acting like it was all his own hard work—what a joke.”
“Exactly! And he even tried to go after Yao Ge—seriously, I’m dying. Look at where Yao Ge is now. Didn’t you hear what that agent said? Yao Ge has tons of opportunities to attend banquets at that level! Tsk tsk, worthy of the top student. People like him are a thousand times better than Zhang Fu!”
“Totally!”
That’s not true!
Zhang Fu crushed the cigarette butt in his palm, yet he didn’t feel the pain at all.
That’s not how it is!
It’s not like that at all!
He had checked long ago—Yao Ge didn’t even have a job.
There had to be something wrong. There had to be.
He didn’t believe it. He absolutely refused to believe it!