Chapter 377 - 244: Incredibly Satisfying, Mind-Blowing
Just then, a waiter led Gao Ping and Emily over.
"The guest at this table said he knows you..." The waiter didn’t even get to finish his sentence.
Gao Ping looked confused at first, but then he glanced up and saw Li Wei in a baseball cap in the booth, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
He excitedly grabbed Emily’s hand and exclaimed in a hushed, astonished voice, "Holy shit! Brother Li Wei! It really is you!"
He pulled Emily to a seat, and the moment he sat down, Gao Ping eagerly pointed out the window. "Bro, that Koenigsegg parked outside... don’t tell me that’s yours?"
Li Wei took a sip of water and nodded nonchalantly. "Yeah."
"Holy shit! Fucking awesome! So fucking awesome!" Gao Ping slapped his thigh in excitement. "My hands were shaking when I was taking pictures of it outside! This car is a goddamn chariot, Bro! You probably can’t find more than a few of these in all of New York. Your clout is just unbeatable!"
After a torrent of frantic praise, Gao Ping’s eyes finally landed on Jin Heon, who was sitting right next to Li Wei.
When he got a clear look at Jin Heon’s delicate and flawless face, Gao Ping couldn’t help but suck in a sharp breath.
He’d thought Li Wei’s girlfriend on the day he bought the car was already a peerless beauty, but he never imagined that in just a few short months, Li Wei would have already moved on to someone just as stunning.
Gao Ping’s heart bubbled with jealousy, but he knew better than to run his mouth. Filled with immense envy, he simply took the initiative to greet her. "Sis— ahem, hello, hello. I’m Gao Ping, a friend of Brother Li Wei."
Jin Heon didn’t speak Chinese. Even the greeting she had used with Li Wei the other day was something she had learned on the spot.
Hearing Gao Ping, she looked at Li Wei, confused.
"Jin Heon," Li Wei said, keeping the introduction brief. "She’s Korean-American and doesn’t speak Chinese."
"Korean-American? No wonder!" Gao Ping’s eyes lit up, his envy growing. He switched to English, "With an aura like that, I thought you were a member of some K-pop girl group from South Korea!"
"You flatter me," Jin Heon smiled. "I am Mr. Li Wei’s publicist. I’m his employee."
Hearing her title, Gao Ping nearly ground his molars to dust. ’He’d thought she was Li Wei’s girlfriend, but she’s just an employee?! Even his publicist looks like the center of a top-tier girl group. What kind of blessed life is Brother Li Wei living!’
But there was no point in being envious. After all, the man was tall, handsome, rich, and a huge star. And though Gao Ping was a rich heir himself, he knew his place. He took the menu and began studying it with Emily.
The food arrived quickly.
As they ate, Gao Ping’s attention kept drifting to the Koenigsegg outside the window.
"Bro, how much did that car set you back? It’s a limited edition. You can’t get one of those just by having money, right?" Gao Ping asked curiously while slicing the charcuterie.
"I don’t know," Li Wei said, his tone flat as he cut a piece of potato gnocchi and put it in his mouth. "It was a gift."
After popping it in his mouth, he frowned.
’Potato dumplings. What the hell do these old Italians know about dumplings?’
Gao Ping’s hand, holding his fork, froze mid-air.
’A gift. A Koenigsegg that starts at three million USD... as a gift.’
Gao Ping felt he was growing numb with envy. He sighed, deciding to stop torturing himself with such otherworldly matters.
"By the way, Bro, the upkeep on that thing must cost a fortune, right?" he asked, starting to vent. "My Urus costs about 1,000 USD a month just for parking. I have to use Premium gasoline, plus there’s commercial insurance... If a homeless guy pisses on it or it gets a scratch, touching up the paint costs several grand. At this point, I don’t know if I’m driving the car or if the car is driving me."
"It’s been fine," Li Wei said, rubbing the [Ring of All Things Smooth] on his finger. "I haven’t had any scrapes or accidents so far."
"That’s true," Gao Ping said, glancing back at the Koenigsegg again. "Damn, the more I look at it, the more badass it seems."
The speaker was being casual, but the listener took his words to heart.
Jin Heon was suddenly struck by a question—’Just how much would the upkeep for a 911 be?’
’Parking is 1,000 USD?’
’The most expensive gasoline? Commercial insurance?’
’A paint touch-up costs several thousand USD?’
’According to Gao Ping, the fixed expenses in Manhattan—parking, premium gasoline, and commercial insurance—would add up to over 2,000 USD every month! That was nearly half of her 5,000 USD base salary!’
Even though she had received a large bonus and a huge commission, for a college student who had grown up terrified of poverty and was used to pinching every penny, this expense felt worse than killing Brad.
The chef’s recommended risotto, once fragrant and rich, now tasted like wax in Jin Heon’s mouth.
She swallowed hard and turned her head, wanting to tell Li Wei that she couldn’t drive that car after all.
However, when her gaze landed on Li Wei, the words caught in her throat.
’How could she say something like that?’
’ "Boss, I can’t afford this car because it costs two thousand USD a month?" ’
Jin Heon rehearsed the sentence in her mind and was instantly so mortified she felt like her toes were about to dig through the leather sofa. ’So embarrassing. So petty.’
’Li Wei would surely wonder why, after receiving a 150,000 USD after-tax bonus, she was asking him to reimburse her for a mere 2,000 dollars.’
All she could do was quietly keep her mouth shut, swallowing her anxiety down along with the risotto. Her mind was a tangled mess.
Just as Jin Heon’s frustration was about to make her tear her hair out, Emily, who was sitting opposite them, had not been idle.
As a pretty, blonde, blue-eyed white woman accustomed to effortlessly navigating circles of men, Emily had been secretly observing Li Wei the entire time.