Chapter 310 - 195: My Name is Jin Heon
"Brother Li Wei," Gao Ping jumped up excitedly, the flesh on his face jiggling. "You really came?"
"Not happy to see me?" Li Wei said jokingly. "Should I leave then?"
"No, no, no! You’re doing me a huge honor," Gao Ping said excitedly. "And... who is this?"
All eyes turned to the handsome white man climbing out of the Bugatti’s ultra-low chassis.
"Hello, everyone," Sebastian said elegantly. "I’m Li Wei’s slave. I’m here to accompany my master to the event."
The scene instantly fell silent.
Then, a few of the female international students broke into hushed giggles.
"He’s joking," Li Wei shrugged. "This is Sebastian, a senior at Yale University. If any of you need private banking services at JPMorgan Chase, he’s your guy."
The guys exchanged glances, and their estimation of Li Wei instantly rose to a new level.
’If the guy driving a Bugatti is joking about being Li Wei’s slave, then Li Wei’s status must be even higher than we imagined.’
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
It was as if a college student had suddenly joined a group of first-graders at play. They had originally planned to borrow Li Wei’s prestige to show off and flash their own wealth to impress the girls.
But now, Li Wei was so far above their level that they grew stiff and didn’t know how to act.
"Alright, alright," Sebastian said, glancing at his watch and shivering. "Let’s get going. My car’s chassis is too low; I don’t want to get stuck eating your exhaust fumes."
As for arranging female companions, there was no longer any need for the others to do so.
The social principle of gravitating towards the powerful was on full display.
In the end, the three prettiest girls piled into Li Wei’s Cullinan. Meanwhile, the two guys in McLarens and the one in a G550, uncharacteristically, drove off with their cars empty.
The mountain run that followed was reduced to a complete sideshow.
At noon, the convoy reached the lookout point on Bear Mountain’s summit. When it was time for photos, the Cullinan and the Bugatti were naturally pushed to the center spot, with everyone trying to squeeze in next to Li Wei and Sebastian.
By evening, the group had returned to Manhattan. After a Korean barbecue dinner in Korea Town, opinions were split on where to go next.
What should have been a boisterous, top-tier Korean beef barbecue dinner was instead an incredibly stifling and tasteless affair.
It wasn’t because the four-hundred-USD-per-person meat was of poor quality. Rather, the immense pressure from the class divide turned the meal into a one-sided performance review. Gao Ping and the other guys were on pins and needles, not daring to crack a single joke, terrified that a stray comment would expose their insecurity in front of Li Wei and Sebastian.
Li Wei, however, was only there to complete his mission. This group lacked the resources he was looking for and the mental fortitude to be interesting, so he had no intention of getting to know them.
As for Sebastian, between his hangover from yesterday and the Bugatti’s stiff suspension, his hands were trembling so much he could barely hold his knife and fork.
"I can’t do it, guys," Sebastian said, chugging a large glass of ice water and wiping his mouth. "I’m skipping the club with you all tonight. The deafening EDM at a place like Mission will be the death of me. I need to get back to my big, comfy bed."
Li Wei seized the opportunity to pick up his jacket. "I’m heading back too. It’s been a long day. You guys have fun."
Hearing this, Gao Ping and the other guys made a great show of trying to convince him to stay, spouting pleasantries with regretful looks on their faces. "Stay a bit longer, Brother Li Wei!" "We’ve already got a table booked for tonight!" But Li Wei keenly caught the subtle shift in their chests as they breathed a collective, silent sigh of relief.
As long as these two titans who so thoroughly outclassed them were gone, they could go back to being the big-shot rich kids who ran the show at the club, back to being the center of attention.
The guys were relieved, but the girls were starting to panic.
The very attractive girls who had spent the day in Li Wei’s and Sebastian’s cars knew full well that after tonight, they might never get another chance to brush up against a social circle of this caliber.
Casting aside all pretense of coyness, they whipped out their phones, practically pressing their bodies against him as they sweetly asked for his WeChat and Instagram.
"Brother Li Wei, you should take me out for afternoon tea sometime."
"Brother Li Wei, can I come see you compete live?"
Li Wei had little fondness for these girls, who had managed to drain two entire power banks taking selfies in his car that morning. He just smiled and told them to go through Gao Ping if they wanted to contact him, then turned and headed downstairs.
[Mission Complete: Vanity Fair (Fearless)] [Reward: +0.1 Free Attribute Points have been issued.]
Hearing the system’s notification chime in his mind, Li Wei stepped out of the barbecue restaurant.
The neon lights of West 32nd Street in Manhattan flickered in the early winter chill. The street was filled with young Asians, fresh from dinner and ready for a second round of drinks. In the exclusive valet parking area, the deep black Cullinan Black Badge and the Bugatti Veyron sat like two behemoths at the most conspicuous spot on the curb, a small velvet rope cordoning them off.
Sebastian waved goodbye to Li Wei, slipped into his Bugatti, and roared away down Seventh Avenue.
Li Wei started toward his Cullinan, but he stopped after just two steps.
A woman was pacing outside the velvet rope.
She looked like she had been waiting for a while. When Li Wei spotted her, she was rubbing her bare arms and pacing back and forth, trying to stay warm.
Under the streetlights, Li Wei could see her highly distinctive, wavy pink hair, which was casually tied back with a green headband.
She wore a lime-green off-the-shoulder crop top, tied with a silk ribbon in a knot at her chest, generously revealing her flat, slender midriff. Below, she had on a pair of pure white, high-waisted, wide-leg shorts.
She looked exquisite and stunningly beautiful, easily rivaling—or even surpassing—any South Korean celebrity Li Wei had ever seen.
The woman’s eyes lit up when she saw Li Wei approaching, but a hint of panic flashed across her face as well.
She quickly smoothed her hair and clothes, and as Li Wei reached his car, she put on what she clearly believed was a perfect, sweet smile:
"Hello, Mr. Li Wei," she said in accented Chinese. "My name is Jin Heon."
"I’d like to apply for a job."
Li Wei looked her up and down.
"If you’re applying for a waitress position, that’s on the second floor," he said. "I’m just a customer."