Page 78 of He Is My Bride
“Yes, tell us about yourself, sweetheart.” It was Wang Hao. He leaned against the couch right behind Li Ying, looming above him. Li Ying didn’t want to turn to look, didn’t want to see his face at all, really, but he got shivers and felt like he wanted to cover his cleavage which, although petite, was very exposed in the skimpy leather dress. He wassurethe sleazebag was looking. Meanwhile, his female companion sat next to Li Ying, smiling at him, but her eyes were cold.
“I’m a medical student.” Li Ying responded.
“I see, which university are you going to? Are you close to graduating?” Huang Xiang followed up.
Li Ying wouldn’t have wanted to expose too many details in case someone got nosy and started digging up information about him, but he didn’t skip a beat answering:
“New York University, I’m finishing my third year.”
Avoiding such simple questions would have been more suspicious, and lies would have been too easily exposed.
“Oh, so you will be a doctor?” asked the woman seated next to Li Ying. Her coquettish way of speaking was grating to the ear.
Li Ying smiled at her, thinking she might have been a nice girl stuck on a bad date. He should be nice to her.
“Yep! By the way, I don’t think I got your name?”
But she looked at Li Ying arrogantly. “Hmh. Tang Xiuxiu. What kind of doctor? I heard cosmetic surgery is a big business area in America?”
It took Li Ying a moment to parse her meaning. Surely she’d meant to say ‘industry?’ ‘Specialty,’ maybe? Was she trying to be confusing on purpose to make Li Ying look silly? From his side eye Li Ying could see some others glance at each other in confusion, so it wasn’t just him. Maybe Miss Xiuxiu wasn’t very educated and lacked vocabulary? Li Ying smiled at her and nodded as if there had been no confusion, wanting to save the poor girl face even if he was starting to feel she wasn’t being very friendly.
“Yes, it is, and plastic surgery is also a very interestingfield,more so reconstructive surgery. It’s amazing what modern medicine can do to fix even severe disfigurements!”Don’t start nerding out about full face replacements, definitely don’t pull out the photos, don’t gross people out! Not everyone thinks it’s cool.Kai had almost fainted once when Li Ying had shown him a medical photo of a severe chemical burn out of nowhere, but then again, Kai could be such a wimp.
“So,” Xiuxiu eyed Li Ying up and down, pausing at his modest chest, “I see Li Ying has not much interest in cosmetic surgery.”
Li Ying thought that might have been an attempt at an insult, but what else could he do but laugh—so he did, barely remembering to cover his mouth to at least do so daintily.
“Of course I do! Have you watched ‘Botched?’ It’s a great show!”
Li Ying had meant nothing by it, but Xiuxiu seemed outright insulted. No, she wasbeside herselfin rage. Huang Xiang slid his hand up to hide his mouth.
Two girls stepped forth from the group, likewise wearing brand logos and having had their faces and tits done.
“Come, Xiuxiu, let’s go,” said the other of the two girls.
Xiuxiu left with them. They sent angry looks at Li Ying over their shoulders as they went.
Huang Xiang leaned towards Li Ying and whispered in English, “Savage.”
“Eh?” Li Ying looked at him, batting his lashes in genuine confusion.…Oh.Li Ying realized: had he just accidentally implied this girl’s work had been ‘botched?’
Huang Xiang wiped the smile from his lips but not his eyes. He turned to the rest of the group, looking almost concerned, “Does anyone know who they were, exactly?”
No one claimed to know the girls. Many looked at Wang Hao, but he decidedly said nothing, even if he’d arrived with one of them. Li Ying suppressed the urge to toss his hair—bitch please—and sat pretty.
Huang Xiang leaned back to Li Ying and whispered in the cover of his palm:
“Not everyone here is what they seem: some girls rent out the Gucci and pay their way in here in hopes of bagging a wealthy man while having no actual connections.”
Li Ying glanced sideways at him, grinning cunningly. “It’s all theater, isn’t it? I don’t care if someone rented their costume, but if one cannot cover up a skanky personality, can they expect to win any hearts?” he spoke in a hushed voice.
“Surely not hearts like Wu Hanjun’s?” The young man gave Li Ying a coy smile.
“Surely not,” Li Ying said, “but I’msugar, spice,and everything nice,and I’m not here to fight. I don’t need to; ask Hanjun whatIwas wearing when I bagged him.” Li Ying winked.
Huang Xiang giggled against his hand. “Be careful,” he whispered, still smiling.
Li Ying returned the smile. The message he got from Huang Xiang was: ‘You’re interesting. I’m watching you.’
