Chapter 8

At the entrance of the Xianrou Dapai档, Xia Ruofei said with a helpless look on his face:

"Classmate Ling Qinxue, I still have things to do, so there's no need for you to trouble yourself to see me off..."

Ling Qinxue smiled and asked:

"What do you need to do?"

"Of course, I need to go to the bank to check my account!" Xia Ruofei said, "It's the first time I've earned such a large sum of money! How can I be at ease without checking it?"

Xia Ruofei deliberately put on a worldly look, but to his surprise, Ling Qinxue showed no disgust at all. Instead, her eyes lit up as she said:

"I happen to be going to the bank too! We're on the same route! Let's go in my car!"

Xia Ruofei could only nod with a bitter smile.

He wasn't a block of wood; he could naturally see Ling Qinxue's feelings. However, he had no memory of this beautiful girl, and he also had a terminal illness, so he didn't want to get entangled in any emotional affairs.

But with Ling Qinxue being so proactive, Xia Ruofei found it hard to reject her outright.

Soon, Ling Qinxue drove up in a bright orange latest-model Porsche 911, smiled at Xia Ruofei, and said:

"Get in the car!"

...

The Porsche 911 sped through the streets of Sanshan City like a bolt of orange lightning, drawing a lot of attention.

In the car, Ling Qinxue kept trying to talk to Xia Ruofei, who could only respond intermittently, making the atmosphere quite awkward.

Actually, Xia Ruofei's mind wasn't on Ling Qinxue at all. His brain was working non-stop, thinking about his next steps.

Xia Ruofei had already formed a basic plan: to cultivate and sell succulents.

Succulents have always been popular in Japan and South Korea, but perhaps due to their cute and charming appearance or the deliberate promotion by merchants, they have inexplicably become popular in China in recent years.

Many rare succulent varieties have seen their prices soar. With the Lingtu Space at his disposal, Xia Ruofei could easily cultivate rare succulents, and the "prospects" were certainly bright.

Xia Ruofei initially decided to sell succulent seedlings.

This was mainly for safety reasons. Although he could easily cultivate mature plants with the Lingtu Space, it is well known that succulents have a long growth cycle. Selling a large number of mature, rare succulents would inevitably attract attention and cause unnecessary trouble.

In comparison, selling seedlings was much safer. There were many online sellers of succulent seedlings, though the quality varied.

As for the sales model, Xia Ruofei planned to rely mainly on online channels.

With the rapid development of e-commerce, people's shopping habits have changed. Moreover, most succulents prefer shade and dry conditions, so long-distance transportation was not a problem.

With the quality of his products guaranteed, Xia Ruofei was confident he could create a well-known e-commerce brand, and even monopolize the high-end succulent market.

Of course, the most critical point was that this would allow him to conceal the fact that he could cultivate many rare succulent seedlings without a greenhouse or a large space.

If he were to conduct transactions in person, it would be much harder to hide, but with online sales, these issues could be avoided.

"Looks like I need to figure out how to open an online store..." Xia Ruofei thought to himself.

At this moment, Ling Qinxue, who was driving, suddenly asked:

"Actually, you didn't recognize me at all, did you?"

While thinking about his own matters and trying to respond to Ling Qinxue, Xia Ruofei was naturally a bit absent-minded.

So, almost unconsciously, he nodded and said:

"Yes!"

Only after the words left his mouth did Xia Ruofei realize what he had said. He turned to look at Ling Qinxue awkwardly and asked:

"Uh... You... How did you know?"

Ling Qinxue smiled and said:

"I'm not stupid, how could I not see through it!"

After saying that, Ling Qinxue smiled again, held the steering wheel with one hand, and extended the other hand to Xia Ruofei, saying:

"Let's get to know each other again! My name is Ling Qinxue, I graduated from Sanshan City No. 2 High School, and I am now the financial manager of Lingji Catering Chain!"

Sanshan City No. 2 High School was the alma mater of both Ling Qinxue and Xia Ruofei. It was during their time at No. 2 High School that Ling Qinxue's heart had blossomed with love, and Xia Ruofei's image had been etched in her memory.

Xia Ruofei extended his hand to shake Ling Qinxue's soft hand and smiled, saying:

"I've never heard anyone introduce themselves by mentioning their high school before..."

Ling Qinxue playfully stuck out her tongue and said with a smile:

"Isn't it to stir up your memories of the past?"

This small joke made Xia Ruofei less awkward. He stopped daydreaming and started chatting with Ling Qinxue.

Although Xia Ruofei had no romantic intentions, beautiful women were still a pleasure to look at. Because of his simple mindset, he didn't feel pressured by the wealth and status gap between them, and he remained calm throughout.

Unbeknownst to him, this earned him points in Ling Qinxue's eyes.

Soon, the car arrived at a branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank. Xia Ruofei opened the car door, got out, and turned back to say:

"Classmate Qinxue, thank you for the ride! Goodbye!"

After saying that, Xia Ruofei was about to head into the bank. Ling Qinxue quickly called out to him:

"Ruofei, we haven't seen each other for so long, let's find a place to catch up later?"

"I really have something to do today, let's do it another time!" Xia Ruofei said.

It was hard to resist a beautiful woman's kindness! Xia Ruofei almost ran into the bank.

Ling Qinxue watched Xia Ruofei flee and couldn't help but laugh. She then wrinkled her nose and said:

"This time, it's fate that brought us together again. Don't even think about running away from me again!"

After saying that, Ling Qinxue lightly pressed the gas pedal and drove the Porsche 911 away from the bank.

After driving a few dozen meters, Ling Qinxue gently slapped her forehead and muttered to herself:

"Oh no! I forgot to ask for his phone number... Humph! Liang Qichao must have it, I'll get it from him..."

Thinking of Xia Ruofei's awkward expression when she exposed his lie, Ling Qinxue couldn't help but laugh again, her delicate face glowing even more.

Xia Ruofei, standing behind the bank's glass window, watched Ling Qinxue's car drive away and let out a long sigh of relief. He then quickly walked out of the bank—checking his account was just a poor excuse; he had already received a text message when the money arrived.

...

An hour later, Xia Ruofei reappeared at the Xianrou Dapai档.

As soon as he entered Liang Qichao's office, Xia Ruofei instinctively looked around. Liang Qichao couldn't help but laugh and said:

"Don't worry! The little princess of Lingji has long gone, and Liu Minghao and the others left shortly after you did."

Xia Ruofei finally relaxed and smiled a bit sheepishly.

Liang Qichao hesitated for a moment and then said:

"However... Mr. Xia, Ling Qinxue called and asked for your contact information... I gave her the number without your permission, I'm really sorry! Her request... I found it hard to refuse..."

Xia Ruofei smiled and waved his hand, saying:

"It's fine, if she wants to find my phone number, she'll find it even if you don't give it to her."

"As long as you're not upset..." Liang Qichao breathed a sigh of relief.

Then he asked hopefully:

"By the way, Mr. Xia, what brings you back here? Could it be... you have another rare succulent like the Ice Lantern to sell?"

...