QTIMP -Chapter 96 Character Persona – Money Loving (Part 6)

After calming down, however, Pei Jingzhou couldn’t help but let his expression turn gloomy again. He must have been bewitched by this woman just now. Thinking of that, he stopped caring about the woman’s feelings and directly lit a cigarette.

After taking a couple of puffs and exhaling the smoke, he heard the woman beside him coughing. Subconsciously, he was about to stub the cigarette out in an ashtray.

Only then did he realize that there wasn’t any ashtray in the room. Since when had that changed? Because he knew she disliked it, he had never smoked in the bedroom.

Thinking of this, he took two more harsh puffs. Amid the continuous coughing beside him, he angrily pressed the cigarette out on the bedside cabinet.

He lay on his side, staring at the woman who was sleeping soundly, utterly exhausted.

In the middle of the night, Si Qiu, parched with thirst and choked by the lingering smoke, woke up groggily. Opening her hazy eyes, she saw Pei Jingzhou staring at her with a dark expression.

One of his hands was even hovering near her neck.

She mumbled softly, “Husband…”

Pei Jingzhou’s hand stiffened for a moment. Then he grabbed the blanket at her chest and pulled it up a little higher. “Why did you wake up?”

Hearing his question, Si Qiu seemed to come back to her senses and replied, “I’m thirsty.”

Pei Jingzhou took the bottled water beside him, twisted it open, and handed it to her. He helped Si Qiu sit up and watched her drink several big gulps before taking the bottle back and placing it on the bedside cabinet.

Then he supported her head again, letting her lie back down to continue sleeping.

Pei Jingzhou quietly watched her sleeping face for quite a while before finally turning off the light and lying down as well.

The sudden darkness made everything pitch-black before his eyes, so Pei Jingzhou didn’t see the slight curl of Si Qiu’s lips. Instead, when that soft and fragrant body nestled into his arms as usual, he instinctively wrapped his arms around her.

Feeling his movement, Si Qiu’s expression improved a little.

She even comforted herself inwardly: If he’s gloomy, then so be it. After all, which domineering CEO doesn’t have a few quirks?

Meanwhile, what Pei Jingzhou was thinking was: Forget it. Since she’s still behaving for now, I’ll just keep her around to relieve boredom. If she dares to act improperly in the future, I’ll make sure she experiences just how ruthless I can be.

At the same time, he forced himself to recall the events from the dream in his mind, hatred surging within him as he mentally subjected someone to all kinds of brutal punishments.

He couldn’t understand his own feelings right now.

Unable to pick it up, yet unable to let it go—his heart twisted painfully.

The next morning, Si Qiu carefully dressed herself up before going to the shop to wait for her two close friends.

Sure enough, when the time came, five or six youthful and pretty girls pushed the door open and walked in.

“Baibai, is this the treasure shop you were talking about? The décor is pretty novel and high-end, but I wonder what the clothes are like.”

One girl, who was slightly on the chubbier side, picked up a piece of clothing and looked it over. The style was something she had never seen before, but she wasn’t convinced it would look that good when worn.

Si Qiu walked over. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, and she wore a tight T-shirt with light-colored cropped jeans.

The simple outfit made her look very approachable and completely non-threatening. Paired with her gentle smile, it made people want to get closer to her.

“Miss, if you like it, you can try it on.”

Then she leaned closer and whispered in the girl’s ear, “The edges of this piece are designed with an irregular cut. If it opens slightly, it can help hide a small belly.”

Half-persuaded, the girl entered the fitting room.

Gu Shimiao walked over to Si Qiu and whispered beside her, “Don’t worry. The people I brought aren’t the kind who nitpick over every little thing or are hard to get along with.”

Si Qiu gently held her hand. “How could I not trust you? You should go see if there are any clothes you like too. If you find something you like, I’ll give you a discount later.”

There was no need to say she would give them for free. Given their current relationship and the other party’s family background, they wouldn’t accept it anyway.

Their shop didn’t only sell clothes. There were also shoes, bags, hats, earrings, hairpins, and other accessories.

Some of these were carefully selected by her, while others were designed by herself. The prices varied depending on the materials—some high, some low—but each piece had its own clever design, which many people liked.

The girls browsed around like treasure hunters, gradually picking out the items they liked. Si Qiu first helped Luo Baibai and Gu Shimiao apply for membership cards.

Noticing the curious looks from the others, she explained carefully, “This VIP card allows you to enjoy priority purchasing rights in my store under the same conditions. At the same time, there will be different discount policies—5% off, 10% off, 15% off, or even 20% off. Also, on the birthday you register, as well as during major holidays and festivals, our shop will prepare a small gift for you. Most importantly, we offer a custom-made service. The customization service is only available to VIP members. All custom clothing will be personally designed by our designer, using the finest and most suitable fabrics, to create a one-of-a-kind outfit that matches your taste and showcases your unique beauty.”

As she said this, she immediately took out a booklet. “You can take a look. These are some of the clothes our designer made previously. They all received great feedback from customers.”

She handed the thick booklet to the girls, who gathered together and flipped through it page by page.

“Wow, this dress is really beautiful! It’s perfect for attending a party.”

“No, no, this skirt looks the best. And it says here that the sparkling decorations on it are real crystals.”

“What about this one? It looks perfect for strolling around the streets—it has such a dreamy, fairy-like feeling.”

The quick-witted ones immediately leaned over the counter. “Boss Si Qiu, I want to apply for a VIP card. What do I need?”

Hearing the question, the smile on Si Qiu’s face became even more sincere. “You’ll need to make an advance recharge or accumulate points from previous purchases. Points are accumulated at one point per yuan. Different tiers of cards require different amounts of points.”

“How much does the highest-level one cost?”

“3,000 points.”

When they heard Si Qiu’s answer, several gasps sounded.

Si Qiu quickly added, “But the cheapest VIP card only requires 500 points. Once the points are recharged, you can simply swipe the card the next time you shop. And since you were brought here by Baibai and Shimiao, no matter what level of membership card you apply for this time, I’ll upgrade it by one level for you. That means if you apply for the 500-point Silver membership card, I’ll automatically upgrade it to a Gold membership card.”

Although the girls all came from fairly well-off families, it was only 1988 now. Taking out a thousand yuan at once still felt quite expensive to them.

At this moment, Luo Baibai held up her own VIP card and said, “Actually, a 500-yuan VIP card isn’t that much. The clothes you bought today already add up to one or two hundred yuan. The difference is only a little over a hundred for some of you, or maybe two hundred at most. If you apply for the card now, these clothes will still get a 5% discount. Doesn’t that basically mean you’re saving money?”

When the girls heard that, it did make sense. They couldn’t afford the high-tier 3,000-yuan card for the moment, but getting a 500-yuan one was still manageable.