I was exposed for adding my female boss to my group of female friends.

Three million is indeed much less than seven million, rationally speaking.

But it wasn't much better!

Lu Qianzi leaned close to Chen Ya's ear and whispered, "Hey, you've tried everything, how are you going to get out of here?"

“Buy one,” Chen Ya said.

Lu Qianzi stomped on his old shoes, gritting her teeth:

"Aren't you overestimating my family's financial strength? Saying I'd buy you clothes and equipment means I'd be buying them within the bounds of normal spending!"

"I didn't ask you to buy it, I bought it myself." Chen Ya was a little surprised.

Lu Qianzi rolled her eyes, thinking to herself, "This guy is really addicted to acting, he's completely immersed in the role."

Oh well, let it be.

As long as you stay far enough away, you won't be the one who loses face.

She leaned close to Chen Ya's ear and said, "I'll pretend to go to the bathroom first. After you're done, say you want to go to the Rolex across the street to compare, then go to the elevator. We'll meet on the first floor."

Chen Ya thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay. But first tell me, which of those two pieces looks better?"

"The starry sky."

"you sure?"

"determine."

Chen Ya put his hand on her shoulder and said:

"Look me in the eye. Do I really look better wearing this watch than not wearing it?"

Lu Qianzi's heart skipped a beat, and she nodded blankly, "Mmm, mmm..."

Chen Ya handed her wrist to the shop assistant and said, "Choose the one she likes. Swipe your card."

The shop assistant solemnly accepted the bank card he handed over.

Lu Qianzi looked at Chen Ya with disbelief.

No, you're not my brother, you're my uncle!

How could you actually hand over the card!

How can we leave now?

At that moment, she really began to wonder if Chen Ya really had three million to buy the watch.

The white-haired old man who had been sitting opposite Chen Ya suddenly spoke up:

“Young man, I know quite a few players in Beijing who have the ability to spend three million to buy this watch, but I’ve never seen you before.”

Chen Ya crossed one leg and said:

"I've just arrived in the capital."

“Oh,” the old man nodded, “I just heard that man say this is your first watch?”

"Yes."

The old man looked him over with great interest:

“You’re a rare player. Very few people would start by buying a watch of this level. Either you want to show it off to others, or 300 million is really a small amount of money for you.”

Chen Ya laughed and said, "You're quite accurate. There's a bit of both sides, isn't there?"

The old man picked up his teacup, blew on it twice, and said:

"I just heard that kid say it's Old Master Lu's birthday. So, you two are from the Lu family?"

Lu Qianzi felt a tightness in her chest.

The old man in front of her was speaking with great depth; she could tell he must be someone of extraordinary origin.

She politely replied, "My family is a branch of the Lu family."

“Oh, I remember now,” the old man said slowly, “The Lu family has a branch of the family. Their daughter married a man from the countryside, and the old man also arranged a marriage with the Liu family. Am I right?”

Lu Qianzi became even more nervous and nodded, saying, "Yes, may I ask who you are?"

The old man waved his hand and said, "Go back and ask the old master who the person who owes three catties of peach blossoms and a pot of wine is. You'll find out if you ask him."

Lu Qianzi was about to faint. You might have some misunderstanding about my family…

I'm not qualified to see the old man so casually!

The old man said to Chen Ya, "What do you think a watch, or more specifically, a luxury watch, means to you?"

Chen Ya crossed his legs and laughed, "Good question."

He thought for a moment and said, "If you had asked me this question yesterday, I would have answered you that luxury watches have only two uses: telling time and decoration."

"And today?" The old man squinted, smiling as he looked him over.

“Today I will tell you that it has only one function, which is decoration,” Chen Ya said, “because it is too troublesome to use it to tell the time, and it is not as intuitive as a digital watch.”

The old man slapped his thigh and laughed.

Lu Shaohai, with a mocking smile on his face, sat down beside him and said:

"You're wrong about that. You don't understand it because you've never worn a watch before, and you're not used to seeing it."

Chen Ya said, "The design of the dial and hands is a compromise made by mechanical watches due to technological limitations. No matter how used to it is, it can never be more intuitive than an electronic watch."

Lu Shaohai chuckled: "Then why don't you go buy a digital watch?"

“I already said it was for decoration,” Chen Ya said. “To be more specific, it’s a decorative element.”

"Explain in detail, what is illustrative decoration?" the old man asked with great interest.

"Did you see the Adidas logo on my clothes?" Chen Ya asked.

Lu Shaohai said first: "I saw it, the Falcon series. In order to fight scalpers, the production capacity was increased to the maximum. You can buy it for 3000 yuan at the counter. Everyone in the Beijing tennis court had one. Later, no one wore it anymore."

Chen Ya laughed: "He gave us a great demonstration of consumer thinking from the perspective of consumerism. Look, this is just a piece of clothing. We can tell from the place of origin that it was produced in a factory in Haining. It is no different from other clothes. But this mark distinguishes it from other clothes."

"So?" the old man asked with great interest.

Chen Ya said, "When a person is willing to be represented by the symbolic system constructed by consumerism, he puts on armor made of money. The function of this armor transcends the functionality of the items themselves."

Chen Ya changed his posture and said, "You see, a luxury watch is ultimately just a watch. Its functionality is not even as good as a mobile phone. But after I wear it, the money I spend becomes something that transcends its original function. It extends into a voice, charm, and even power."

The old man pondered for a moment and said, "You are very clear-headed."

“The reason I’m sober is because I loathe it,” Chen Ya said. “The more someone uses what they have to define themselves, the more empty and boring their core becomes.”

"Money can only fill an empty wallet, not an empty soul. While you are wrapped in the armor of luxury goods, your personality as 'yourself' is also covered by the golden light of money."

The old man asked, "Then why did you spend over 700 million to buy a watch?"

“Because she said it looked good.” Chen Ya leaned back on the sofa.

Lu Qianzi's face visibly turned red.

Lu Shaohai leaned back on the sofa and finished using his phone, speaking to Chen Ya with little interest.

After he finished speaking, without even looking up, he said in a contemptuous voice, "All that talking was just to show off?"

"If you think you've been tricked, then you have."

Chen Ya is drinking juice.

"Hehe, I can afford a Patek Philippe watch too, okay? When I was playing with watches, you were still playing in the mud in the village." Lu Shaohai nestled on the sofa playing with his phone.

His girlfriend nudged him from the side: "Don't say such harsh things. He just gave his card to someone else, ready to buy something."

"what?"

Lu Shaohai was busy with the group chat and hadn't noticed what was happening here, so he didn't know that Chen Ya had already chosen a watch. He was now sitting up a little too straight:

"You've already chosen it? It's only been a few minutes? No way, bro, you didn't really buy an entry-level model that costs tens or hundreds of thousands, did you? No, cousin Qianzi, is your family really that generous to give a guy who just came back from the countryside this kind of watch? Your brother is the one with the green Submariner, isn't he?"

Lu Qianzi coughed several times, too embarrassed to know how to respond, and finally said:

"Yes, he bought it himself."

"Him?" Lu Shaohai's eyes widened. "We were just talking about him. Your brother Chen Hai said that he didn't graduate from junior high school and his monthly salary is only five or six thousand."

Lu Qianzi bit her lip and whispered, "No, no..."

Lu Shaohai's girlfriend nudged his arm: "Stop talking, she doesn't look like someone who didn't finish junior high..."

“No,” Lu Shaohai said, sitting up. “Don’t be fooled by him. He just came here to check in, try out a watch, and post it on his WeChat Moments. He’s not really here to buy a watch…”

Chen Ya stared at him and said slowly, "You really think I can't afford the watches here?"

Lu Shaohai stared back at him: "What do you think?"

“Alright,” Chen Ya said, “I just picked out one model left, the 5104P, which costs 720 million. If I buy mine, you can buy this one too and give it to Grandpa Lu as a birthday present, okay?”

A watch worth over seven million—who would be crazy enough to buy it and give it as a gift?

But Lu Shaohai laughed instead.

"Fine, then don't just leave after making those tough talk. You sit here and say that watch you picked out earlier. I don't know how much it costs, but no matter how much it costs, as long as you pay in full, I'll buy this one that's worth over seven million."

"Okay." Chen Ya glanced at Gu Yutong. "Your girlfriend and your cousin are both here, so don't back out later."

Lu Shaohai sneered: "What if you can't buy it? Kneel down and call me grandpa?"

Chen Ya laughed: "So you want to call me grandpa? Fine, if you can't afford this seven million yuan piece later, you can kneel down and call me grandpa."

Gu Yutong repeatedly tugged at Lu Shaohai, trying to stop him, but ultimately failed.

She didn't understand why Lu Shaohai was so impulsive today. In fact, Lu Shaohai had other plans in mind.

On the occasion of Old Master Lu's birthday, everyone in the Lu family was busy consolidating their position, and Lu Ruixiang's family had the same idea.

Recently, Chen Hai's OEM factory was selected by Beichen, and with the upcoming marriage alliance with the Liu family, their branch is thriving. This is something Lu Shaohai's family doesn't want to see.

His small group consisted mostly of scions of prominent families. Spreading the word about today's events would at least cause them some trouble, even if the marriage between the Lu and Liu families wouldn't be affected.

So Gu Yutong tried to persuade him for a long time, but he ignored her.

Today, we can't let Chen Ya pull off this act and get away unscathed!

Lu Qianzi's mind was completely blank at this moment, and she had no idea what they were talking about.

It wasn't until Chen Ya had finished making the bet that she belatedly realized what had happened.

She pulled Chen Ya aside and whispered, "Lu Shaohai isn't a very distant relative. We might have to meet again later. Even if you run away now, you still can't escape it later!"

Chen Ya asked in surprise, "I didn't intend to run away?"

“Then tell me honestly,” Lu Qianzi asked seriously, “were you only making a few thousand a month before? Or were you pretending to be weak to take advantage of others?”

Just then, the clerk who had taken Chen Ya's bank card earlier came over.

"Sir," the clerk said somewhat awkwardly, "your card doesn't have enough balance."

"Ha ha ha ha……"

Lu Shaohai slapped his thigh and laughed on the spot, saying to Gu Yutong, "I told you he was faking it, didn't I? I have to say, his acting is really damn good, he almost fooled me."

Lu Qianzi covered her face.

She really didn't know what to do.

Today is the first day I brought Chen Ya out, and he's already caused such a huge mess.

How is she going to explain this to her own mother?

Chen Ya frowned, took his card, and said, "Not enough money? How could that be?"

This is the card he uses for his daily life; he always keeps ten million in it, so it shouldn't be too much for him.

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly remembered that he had given this card to Liulizi to use for a period of time in order to coax her into becoming a leader at Haiya.

"That girl, how exactly does she spend her money...?"

Chen Ya rolled his eyes inwardly.

Lu Shaohai laughed wildly from the side: "Alright, since you and your cousin Qianzi have such a good relationship, I won't make things difficult for you. Just kneel down and call me grandpa, no need to kowtow!"

Lu Qianzi turned her back, too angry to talk to him.

If he really kneels down here, his whole family might be looked down upon.