Jiang Fei had never really been a big fan of class reunions. The main reason was pretty much because of idiots like Li Hao.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to keep in touch with his old classmates and friends. It’s just that in the current social climate, the main purpose of organizing a class reunion is no longer about reminiscing about the past. Instead, it has mostly turned into an occasion for those who consider themselves successful to show off in every possible way.
So, the people who actively want to organize and attend class reunions are mostly successful individuals who are doing quite well and have thriving careers. As for those who aren’t doing so great, or don’t have any notable achievements to show off, they basically have zero desire to go to any class reunion.
In Meizhou City, Li Hao clearly had quite a bit of influence and connections. For example, at this jewelry store, he was probably some kind of VIP member or something.
After he spoke up, the sales clerk was a bit stunned, unsure whether she should go get the most expensive diamond ring. But then a middle-aged woman wearing a lobby manager’s badge noticed the commotion over here, immediately walked over, and instructed, “Quickly, do as Mr. Li says. Bring out that three-carat, top-quality ‘Hearts and Arrows’ diamond ring that our store received a while ago…”
Hearing the manager say this, the clerk didn’t dare to be slow. She quickly opened the counter, took out a box, and brought it over to the manager.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the manager very tactfully opened the box right in front of Li Hao. Inside, a dazzling, large diamond ring was revealed. The manager, being quite sharp, glanced over at Bai Ruoxi before introducing it: “This diamond ring is one we brought back from our head office in Magic City about a month ago. It’s also the most expensive ring our branch has sold in the six years since it opened. This three-carat, top-grade ‘Hearts and Arrows’ diamond ring is worth three hundred and eighty thousand…”
“Whoa…”
Seeing the brilliant sparkle of this large ring, many onlookers were already quite surprised, thinking to themselves that this ring definitely wouldn’t be cheap. But when they heard the actual price, that’s when everyone was truly shocked.
Three hundred and eighty thousand for a single ring. For most people, that’s an astronomical price. Especially in a prefecture-level city like Meizhou, this ring was almost worth as much as a small apartment!
An ordinary person would never dare to buy such a luxury item.
Even Li Hao, who was planning to buy this ring, had his eyes visibly flicker and his mouth twitch when he heard the price.
Clearly, he hadn’t expected this jewelry store to have such an expensive ring. In his estimate, even the most expensive diamond ring in this store would probably be around one hundred or two hundred thousand at most.
Who knew they’d actually bring out the most expensive one in the store’s history, costing three hundred and eighty thousand!
This act of showing off was getting a bit out of hand…
Sure, he was a successful person now, but he wasn’t so wealthy that he could casually throw away three hundred and eighty thousand just to chase after a woman. After all, even though he claimed to spend money like it was dirt, he couldn’t actually spend money like it was dirt.
“Damn it. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have opened my big mouth so wide. I could’ve just casually picked a ring for around one hundred thousand,” Li Hao cursed to himself.
But now that his words were already out there, and they had brought out the ring, he couldn’t exactly say he didn’t want it anymore, could he? If he did, probably half of Meizhou City would hear about his embarrassing situation today, and he wouldn’t be able to hold his head up anymore.
A person lives for their reputation, like a tree lives for its bark. Someone like him cares the most about saving face, and there was no way he would lose face like that.
Besides, if he backed down now, he would completely lose any chance of winning over Bai Ruoxi.
He looked up at Bai Ruoxi’s stunningly beautiful face, her incomparable grace, the figure he hadn’t forgotten or seen less clearly in the over ten years since high school, and Li Hao gritted his teeth again.
As long as he could move Bai Ruoxi, even though three hundred and eighty thousand was way more than he had mentally prepared for, it wasn’t impossible to bear. After all, this woman was the most beautiful, the most exceptional he had seen in all these years.
“Ruoxi, do you like this three hundred and eighty thousand ring? If you like it, I’ll give it to you,” Li Hao said, suppressing his feeling of heartache as much as possible, putting on an air of a wealthy, devoted man.
Whoa!
The onlookers, including many of the female sales clerks in the jewelry store, couldn’t help but exclaim. This kind of line was incredibly powerful when it came to women.
It just goes to show, these days, only the truly rich and powerful can afford to be romantic. How could an ordinary poor person ever afford this kind of romance?
They couldn’t even do it if they sold everything they had!
But Bai Ruoxi looked at Li Hao as if he were an idiot. Not only was she not the least bit moved, she actually looked at him with great disgust and said sharply, with the commanding air she had back when she was the class monitor, “Are you sick? What right do you have to give me a ring? Asking if I like it? Do I even know you that well?”
Smack!
Even though it wasn’t a physical slap, these words stung even more than a real one.
No one expected things to turn out this way. Faced with a diamond ring worth a small fortune, Bai Ruoxi refused so cleanly and directly. And not only did she refuse, she also couldn’t help but mock him.
This—
That was just too cool!
Li Hao, the onlookers, the store employees, the manager—none of them could recover for a moment.
But Bai Ruoxi couldn’t be bothered to waste her time with these people. After she finished speaking, she was ready to pull Jiang Fei and leave the store. However, Jiang Fei stopped her. He walked over, took the diamond ring from the lobby manager, looked at it, then turned to Li Hao and asked with a cheerful smile, “In your opinion, is this ring really that expensive? And you think you’re quite something for being able to give a ring like this?”
Li Hao, who was already furious and humiliated by Bai Ruoxi’s blunt rejection, finally snapped back to reality. Just as he was full of anger with no place to vent it, Jiang Fei actually came to him voluntarily. Li Hao decided there was no need to hold back anymore.
“Not expensive? Not impressive? Can you afford to give one? You can’t even afford to give the smallest, most ordinary diamond ring, you loser!” Li Hao cursed, his face turning somewhat fierce.
“You’re the real loser here!” Jiang Fei looked at him with pity and shook his head.
He turned to the lobby manager and continued, “To be honest, the diamond ring in your store is really quite small. Although the craftsmanship is good—Hearts and Arrows—it’s not a special diamond like a pink diamond or anything. I really can’t get excited about a ring like this! Giving a diamond ring like this to my wife would honestly feel kind of cheap…”
Pfft…
Someone in the crowd couldn’t help but laugh, muttering that this guy really knew how to put on a show.
A three hundred and eighty thousand diamond ring, and he dares to brag about not being impressed with it? Come on, at least buy a one-carat ring first!
Even the lobby manager couldn’t help but smile.
Just as Li Hao was about to throw out a few more sarcastic remarks, Jiang Fei spoke again, “I don’t like this kind of ring, and I also know that getting angry and competing with an idiot by buying such a useless thing to take home would make me look like an idiot too. But… just consider me an idiot for once. Anyway, it’s only three or four hundred thousand. The price isn’t too high. Even if I buy it and never wear it, just think of it as buying a little toy to play with.”
After saying that, Jiang Fei didn’t hesitate. He pulled out a bank card and told the manager to swipe it.
This time, everyone was stunned again.
Those words—truly impressive!
He doesn’t even like it, but he’s buying it anyway. Spending three hundred and eighty thousand on a ring he won’t wear, just to play around with—this was showing off on a whole new level.
At this moment, some onlookers still thought Jiang Fei was just bluffing and would never actually buy the ring, ready to continue watching him make a fool of himself.
But the lobby manager quickly came to her senses. Looking at Jiang Fei, who had taken out his bank card and didn’t seem to be joking, her attitude immediately changed. The smile she was about to give disappeared. With unprecedented seriousness, she nodded respectfully, took the bank card to the card machine, printed out the slip, and had Jiang Fei sign it.
When all the procedures were done and the diamond ring was truly handed over to Jiang Fei, only then did everyone burst into exclamations of surprise.
This guy really spent three hundred and eighty thousand to buy a ‘substandard’ ring that he didn’t even plan on wearing!
Now that’s a real man!
As for Li Hao, his face was still stinging from Bai Ruoxi’s verbal slap. He had planned to vent his frustration by fiercely attacking Jiang Fei to regain some face, calling him a loser.
But unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, Jiang Fei had slapped his face back with an even more thorough and ruthless style. It left Li Hao humiliated beyond belief, his face ashen, watching Jiang Fei and Bai Ruoxi walk away without even being able to say a word…
