Chapter 013: Charismatic Without Being Sleazy

Scene 1: Playful Banter

"Understand? You don't understand anything!" Li Xintian's cheeks burned crimson as she chased Lu Yuan around the private dining room. Her kitten heels clicked furiously against the marble floor.

Lu Yuan deliberately stumbled, allowing her to land a few half-hearted punches. "Mercy! I surrender!"

His gaze lingered on her heaving chest as she caught her breath. "A lady should maintain decorum," he teased, straightening his Tom Ford suit jacket.

Scene 2: The Marriage Question

Over steaming Mapo tofu, Li casually probed: "So...you and Liu Weiwei..."

"Ancient history." Lu Yuan shrugged, chopsticks clinking against porcelain. "What about you? Still playing the field?"

Li's jade bracelet clinked as she stirred her chrysanthemum tea. "Decent men are either ugly, poor, or both." Her self-deprecating laugh held an edge of truth.

Scene 3: The Player's Manifesto

"Marriage?" Lu Yuan leaned back, Rolex glinting in the chandelier light. "Why chain myself to one flower when entire gardens bloom?"

Li's chopsticks froze mid-air. The Eye of Insight flickered:

Li Xintian - Disposition: Intimate (Level 2)

"You think I'm a scoundrel." It wasn't a question.

"Scoundrels don't fund five-million-yuan deposits," she countered, remembering the branch manager's mistress in her Dior saddle bag.

Scene 4: The Unspoken Agreement

"To freedom!" Lu Yuan raised his chrysanthemum tea like champagne.

"To freedom," Li echoed, clinking glasses. Her Valentino rockstud heels brushed his calf under the table—a dancer's hesitation between retreat and advance.

Scene 5: The Gentleman's Code

As they exited past gawking diners, Lu Yuan's hand hovered at the small of Li's back without touching. The G500's engine purred to life.

"Where to?" he asked, the question hanging between wealth's possibilities and virtue's boundaries.