Chapter 5: I Have a Girlfriend

The pedestrian street in Xincheng District.

   Yin Hanruo walked indifferently in front, but her eyes were clearly proud. She had won, again!

    Liu Yanbo held a cigarette in his mouth and looked helplessly at the graceful figure walking in front of him. The man looked feeble. He had lost, again!

    Yin Hanruo was holding Liu Yanbo like a prisoner. When he refused to accompany her, Yin Hanruo resolutely played her trump card: I will go to your company and complain about you.

   Liu Yanbo had no room to resist, defeated in an instant.

   So they walked into a shopping mall called 'Pearl mall'.

    While entering the mall, Yin Hanruo was as cheerful and active as a bird out of her cage. She looked east and west, picking up goods from time to time and asking Liu Yanbo for opinions. Sometimes he looked and sometimes didn't, saying anything with a smile. Of course, at those moments, Yin Hanruo just looked at him with dissatisfaction.

    People in the mall would come and go, but there were always some people who'd frequently glance at Yin Hanruo and Liu Yanbo, of course, more often at Yin Hanruo.

    However, when the two walked together, they were indeed a little eye-catching. The man's appearance was flat, at first glance, anyone could recognize that he wasn't worth more than a hundred yuan*. 

*100 yuan = About 14 to 15 US dollars 

    But the woman was as beautiful as a fairy, and she had an expensive air. Pa.s.serbys would wonder: Who is she? Later realizing that it was Yin Hanruo, an outstanding entrepreneur who often appeared on television and the newspaper. Therefore, no matter from which point of view, these two people were definitely an odd match. But they were walking together, and it seemed that their relations.h.i.+p wasn't ordinary, which undoubtedly roused the curiosity of the ma.s.ses. Some people even took out their phones to take a picture.

    Facing all the surprised eyes around her, Yin Hanruo did not react, such a situation was expected. She was long accustomed to being under the eyes of many. But Liu Yanbo wasn't. He frowned and scanned the crowd around him, consciously or unintentionally avoiding the camera lens.

    Yin Hanruo frowned when she saw Liu Yanbo's actions, “Why, are you a wanted criminal? Or are you ashamed of walking with me?”

    Liu Yanbo continued to look around and whispered: “That's not the case, I have a girlfriend. If my acquaintances saw, I would have to explain myself!"

    Yin Hanruo didn't know why. Suddenly, she was angry, glaring at Liu Yanbo: “If you have a girlfriend, then why did you come with me?” Yin Hanruo's voice was a little loud. Although it was noisy in the mall, the people closer to her still heard. It undoubtedly shocked the surrounding crowds, but the most shocked was Liu Yanbo.

    Yin Hanruo angrily walked towards the exit of the shopping mall, leaving a group of very surprised people.

    Looking at Yin Hanruo's departure, Liu Yanbo, who was always calm, was now full of thoughts: “Hey, I know you women are unreasonable, but you can't be this unreasonable, right? You obviously forced me to come!”

    “What are you still doing there? Hurry up and catch up,” Yin Hanruo, who was about to exit the mall, suddenly called back.

    The crowd watched, thinking of many things. The men arrogantly looked at Liu Yanbo, saying, “This world's too unfair. Why is our G.o.ddess talking to a pig?"

    Many women were also looking at Liu Yanbo, but their thoughts were much simpler, just one word: Jerk!

    Liu Yanbo, seeing the crowd's stares, quickly walked towards Yin Hanruo and left.

    After leaving Pearl Mall, Liu Yanbo followed behind Yin Hanruo for more than an hour until his temper finally showed.

    “Ms. Yin, haven't we strolled enough?” Liu Yanbo quickly walked two steps, catching up with Yin Hanruo who was ahead.

    Regarding Liu Yanbo's irritated voice, Yin Hanruo didn't care.

"Little time pa.s.sed and you're already impatient?”

    “Nonsense!”

    Liu Yanbo stopped, frowning, and said, “You've bought so many things, yet I didn't see anything actually useful.”

    Yin Hanruo also stopped, unconvinced:” How do you know if they're useless? They're very useful! Besides, when women go shopping, they want to spend money and have fun. Why do you care about what I bought?”

    Yin Hanruo stepped forward before turning back and saying: “Let's go! I'm not done yet.” 

“If you want to go shopping, go by yourself. I'm not going.” 

    With that, Liu Yanbo went to a bench by the side of the road, put his things on it, and sat down.

    “You…”

    “If you want to complain, go ahead, do whatever you want, but I won't serve you anymore.”

    Yin Hanruo angrily stomped her foot and walked over. 

    Looking at Yin Hanruo, who walked up to him and was about to say something, Liu Yanbo closed his eyes and ignored her. Yin Hanruo was taken off guard and stood still.

    It was strange. There was a man and a woman on the street. The man sat with his eyes closed, and the woman stood, staring. Neither of the two spoke. A heavy silence settled over them.

    After a few minutes of frustration, Yin Hanruo finally said: “Hey! If you don't get up, I'll call your company and complain about you.” Liu Yanbo still had his eyes closed. He turned his head to the other side and ignored her.

 “You …”

    Yin Hanruo pointed at Liu Yanbo and was about to get angry. Then she seemed to think of something. She held back what she previously wanted to say and instead said, softly, “Just get up and stay with me one last time, okay?”

    Liu Yanbo hesitated: She played a trump card. Have you changed your policy?

    “Really?” Liu Yanbo asked, opening his eyes.

    Yin Hanruo hurriedly nodded and said, “Really.”

Liu Yanbo lifted his things from the bench, got up and said, “Okay! I'll trust you this once.”

    “That's right!”  Yin Hanruo took Liu Yanbo to a men's clothing store.

    “Welcome to the Amani Menswear store.”

    “Could you please help him find a suit?” Yin Hanruo pointed to Liu Yanbo and asked the employee.

    “Okay, mister, please come with me to take your measurements.” The lady smiled sweetly, but Liu Yanbo didn't take notice. He said, “Excuse me, one moment, please.”

    “Okay.”

    He waited until the employee walked away, then looked back at Yin Hanruo. He asked, “What's the meaning of this?”

    Yin Hanruo also looked at Liu Yanbo, and replied, “I'm buying you clothes.”

    Liu Yanbo laughed, then, bitterly smiling, he coldly said, “Ms. Yin, we're not that close, are we?”

    This was the first time Yin Hanruo saw Liu Yanbo's cold side. The man was laughing, but his smile no longer carried the usual gentleness and closeness. Like an ice lotus that only blooms every thousand years. Although it was beautiful, it was cold and out of reach.

    Yin Hanruo stepped back a little but didn't go too far or stop watching Liu Yanbo. She whispered, “I didn't tell you, but tonight you'll have to drive me to a charity event. You can't just go wearing your regular clothes.”

    “I can just wait for you in the car.”Liu Yanbo's voice became colder.

    Yin Hanruo bowed her head, like a child who did something wrong, and replied with no confidence: “I really didn't mean anything else.”

    After several minutes, Liu Yanbo just sighs, his tone softened a bit and said: “Miss Yin, I should have said I had a girlfriend sooner, sorry if you misunderstood.”

    As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Xianbo went straight outside.