When Zhao Lifei and Yang Feng strolled to the entrance, there was already a carpet laid out for them, staff lining up on either side to formally greet them. They neatly bowed at their presence, earning the attention of the other socialites whose eyes widened. Many were confused by who was so important for carpets to be laid out. Five minutes ago, store clerks ushered the customers out of the store while many ran down to greet the VIP guests.

“Welcome, Sir, Madam.” Their bow deepened when Zhao Lifei and Yang Feng walked past them. Zhao Lifei was courteous enough to smile and nod her head in acknowledgment whereas Yang Feng walked past them like they were air. Only when she nudged him a bit did he slowly nod his head before whisking her into a store.

His smallest action was worthy of a thousand words. The employees were shocked to see his behavior and only snapped back to reality a minute later. After recollecting from the bafflement, they dispersed back into the stores.

Zhao Lifei skimmed through the clothes, her fingers running along with the material lazily. Yang Feng was seated on the chair, watching her. She grabbed a revealing black dress in hopes of irking him. Her plan was simple. She was going to purchase a lot of expensive items, so much so, that he would hopefully be irked by her actions and stop pestering her to spend his card.

“What do you think?” She hoped she was pressing his buttons by picking this revealing dress that she would most likely never wear in public unless it was in the house to tease him.

Yang Feng raised a brow. “We’ll take it.”

Zhao Lifei’s eyes widened. “Wait, what?”

He stood up with his hands tucked into his pockets, his lips quirked into a devious smirk. “Every hanger she touches, we’ll buy it.”

The store clerk tried their hardest to mask the look of pure shock. None of them wasted any time to step forward and begin taking the clothing off the racks.

“You’ll regret that.” Zhao Lifei frowned, disappointed that he was giving in so quickly.

Yang Feng stepped forward and offered his elbow to her, “Will I now?” He wasn’t going to tell her that every item she even spared a glance for longer than a second was being bought without her knowledge. She would only know the damage she had caused when she gets home.

“Come now, we’ve yet to look at the jewelry and shoes.” He began to guide her towards the shoes first so that she could change into something else.

Zhao Lifei kept her troubles to herself, deciding she was going to continue provoking him. Fine then, let’s see what his limit is!

– – – – –

“Y-Yang Feng, I’ll be good, okay?” Zhao Lifei pitifully said beside him.

Five stores later, she was defeated after he had countlessly bought everything her fingers touched. She realized if she had so much looked at an item with curiosity, he would buy it. Even the high-heels and revealing clothes that she thought would anger him. He had bought them all. She felt so guilty that she wanted to cry on the spot.

“So, please… can this be the last store?” She pleaded, hugging his arms and staring up at him with an exasperated expression.

Yang Feng paused and looked down at the puppy hanging on his arms. Her lips were jutted out and her eyes widened to reveal the stars she robbed from the sky. Such an adoring sight… which normal man could say no to that? Unfortunately for her, he wasn’t a normal man.

“My dear, I thought you had a plan in mind? Why are you so quick in abandoning it?” He teased her, exiting the store and steering her in the direction of another jewelry store, this time, larger than the one they frequented.

Her heart skyrocketed. She had changed into a different set of clothing after liking it so much. She tried a different approach, “F-fengfeng, I’m hungry again. Let’s go eat dinner and head home. Please?” She dug her low and thick-heels into the ground, coming to a screeching halt. Because her arms were still wrapped around him like a koala, he was able to easily pull her with him.

“Even better, perhaps I should buy a restaurant in this mall so that you can eat.”

Her heart dropped to her stomach. “No!” Zhao Lifei yelped, gasping when he began to change their course towards the private elevators.

“Lifei?” A frazzled voice spoke from behind them.

Zhao Lifei paused her coercing and turned around to see the surprising sight of her mother and younger sister. She was surprised to see how haggard and exhausted her mother appeared. From months of neglect to her hair, the black roots of Wang Nuoli’s dyed hair were prominent.

It was a strange sight to witness. Wang Nuoli always invested in herself, once a week, in unbelievably expensive hair treatments to make it look healthy, shiny, and youthful. What happened? The dress that she was wearing was also from the last season — something practically unheard of for a socialite like Wang Nuoli.

Zhao Linhua was different. She still looked dolled up and decked in the latest season clothing, standing out like a bright, blooming tulip beside her mother who had the appearance of a dying, withered rose.

“Mother.” Zhao Lifei blinked, straightening up and changing her posture. She noticed Zhao Linhua’s eyes lingered on Yang Feng with longing.

“Jie-Jie, where were you for the past month? Do you even know what happened to dad—” Zhao Linhua stepped forward, but was instantly blocked by a barrier of men.

“Let’s go. You’ll ruin your appetite by looking at them.” Yang Feng muttered as he placed a guiding hand behind Zhao Lifei when she remained rooted to the ground.

“Step aside.” Zhao Lifei commanded Yang Feng’s people, brushing his hand away and stepping closer to Wang Nuoli and Zhao Linhua.

“My love, you don’t have to do this—”

“What do you mean by that?” Zhao Lifei questioned Zhao Linhua. She ignored the heavy pressure of Yang Feng’s arm. “Stop that.” She hissed at him, her eyes blazing. His men exchanged looks before parting the way for their Lady Boss.

That did not make Yang Feng happy. His calm expression became eerily dark, a shadow hovering over his eyes.

Noticing the murderous air, Zhao Lifei quietly said, “Don’t get angry. It was an order from me. Aren’t we on equal footing?”

Yang Feng pressed his lips together and slowly nodded his head. “We are,” he grunted, stuffing his hand into his pocket, while his eyes looked like they were burning a hole into the ground. She sighed and decided to deal with his temper later.

Zhao Linhua coldly looked at the couple with contempt and envy hidden in her eyes. ‘These men, those shopping bags, the special treatment, all of these, should’ve belonged to me!’ Her eyes swarmed with concealed malice. But because they were in public, she kept her angelic behavior up. In a tiny, wavering voice, she said, “You mean you don’t know where he went?” Her face crumbled a bit as she stared at the ground with disappointment.

“What are you talking about?” Zhao Lifei frowned. “And stop behaving like a white lotus. It’s weird.”

“A white lotus?! How can you disrespect your sister like that?” Wang Nuoli fired back, her temper instantly rising again, and her unmanicured fingers dug into her skin. “First, you ignore my phone calls like the brat that you are, and now you’re insulting your younger sister?” She scowled, “It’s not my problem your poor piano skills were being outshined, but it’s a problem when you still hold your sister accountable for it.”

“M-mother please…” Zhao Linhua weakly pleaded, grabbing her mother’s arm. They were garnering attention and she was silently gloating in it. “Father has disappeared for a while now.” She sniffled, “Why didn’t you pick up your phone calls? Are you ignoring us now? Why did you abandon us…? Is it because you finally found a big thigh to hug [1], so now we don’t matter to you?”

“Big thigh? Where?” Zhao Lifei glanced around then paused, “Oh, right. It’s me.” She rolled her eyes. “If you’re going to insult me, find a better way of doing so.” She grabbed her phone and showed Zhao Linhua the phone list. “None of you called me. I have never abandoned anyone, especially not my family.”

“Are we really your family? How dare you. This is why I should’ve aborted you when I had the chance,” Wang Nuoli hissed.

Zhao Lifei’s eyes raked over Zhao Linhua and Wang Nuoli. “Family doesn’t abandon and disown each other without a second glance.” Her cold, detached eyes connected with Wang Nuoli. The iciness of it was enough to lessen Wang Nuoli’s anger.

Wang Nuoli thought to herself, ‘S-since when did this child look so…inhumane?’ She clenched her teeth, “Don’t behave like a hypocrite, you unfilial and despicable vixen!”

Yang Feng’s eyes turned deadly. He had forced himself to remain calm when Wang Nuoili had called his wife a brat when she was far from that. “What did you just say?” His voice was enough to silence the loud murmur of gossip that broke out in the crowd.

The mall turned deathly quiet. Everyone held their breath.