Chapter 148: Poisonous Oath

Ye Qian leaned in close, staring right into Long Fei’s face, and chuckled deviously. "Tell me, if I bite you on the face and leave a mark, do you think people will turn their heads to look at you twice as much when we go outside later? Don't even think about using that trick from earlier on me. If you dare bully me again, I’ll bite your tongue right off."

"Hey, don't do anything rash. Let's talk this out." Realizing the danger, Long Fei felt genuinely grateful that Ye Qian hadn't actually bitten his tongue off earlier; otherwise, he would have either met his maker or, at the very least, been reduced to a mute.

"Promise me one thing, and I won't do anything rash." Ye Qian truly acted like a female bandit.

Putting on a pitiful expression, Long Fei pleaded, "Big Sis, just name it. But do you mind not standing so close? I'm feeling completely vulnerable here."

Deliberately pressing her slightly burgeoning chest forward, Ye Qian retorted, "I'm pushing you right now, so what? Let’s get this straight first—do you promise or not?"

"You haven't even told me what it is yet, how can I promise? Why don't you tell me first?" Long Fei didn't dare agree blindly.

"No way, promise me first." Ye Qian took another step forward.

Seeing that the elevator was about to reach the ground floor, and wanting to avoid making a spectacle of himself in front of the lobby crowd—which would utterly ruin his lifelong reputation—Long Fei quickly caved. "Fine, fine, fine, I promise, just tell me."

"Hehe, that's more like it. Find a way to get me another batch of that traditional Chinese medicine you prescribed last time, and figure out a way to brew it for me somewhere. I can't stop taking it. Didn't you say this medicine works? I think it's actually starting to work, hehe." Ye Qian's eyes shone with eagerness.

Long Fei let out a miserable groan. "Ancestral grandmother, please spare me. We're on a business trip right now, alright? Missing a few days won't make your assets shrink, and it's no big deal if they grow a little later."

However, Long Fei's protests were entirely futile. Under Ye Qian's relentless nagging and coercion, he ultimately had to call Tie Niu and hand over this arduous task to the eternally loyal subordinate. Long Fei felt relatively at ease leaving it to Tie Niu, and true to form, Tie Niu acted promptly. The two of them had waited less than five minutes outside the restaurant before Tie Niu rushed over in a flurry.

Borrowing a pen from the front desk, Long Fei wrote out a prescription for Tie Niu and instructed him to gather the ingredients accordingly. As for whether these herbs could actually be acquired, Long Fei had absolute confidence in Tie Niu. As long as the items existed within Yanjing City, Tie Niu would procure them even if he had to resort to outright robbery. As for the brewing method, even if Tie Niu didn't quite understand it, Gouzi would. They had also undergone training under the old man; although they lacked Long Fei's innate talent in traditional Chinese medicine, ordinary medicinal brewing should pose no problem at all.

By the time this ordeal was settled, it was already two o'clock in the afternoon, and Long Fei's stomach had staged countless protests.

Dragging Ye Qian over to Wangfujing to grab some casual snacks to fill their bellies, Long Fei was once again cornered by Ye Qian to go shopping along Wangfujing Street.

One had to admit that the people of China were growing increasingly clever by the day. Knowing that everyone wandering around here consisted of domestic and foreign tourists, and that those wealthy enough to travel rarely lacked cash, the commodities here were truly exorbitant. Ye Qian had never possessed much concept of money anyway, having never lacked it, so she bought whatever caught her eye. Meanwhile, Long Fei, the unfortunate sucker, was left footing the bill and carrying the goods. What frustrated Long Fei even more was that most of the shops here did not accept card payments, forcing him to make multiple trips to the ATM midway to withdraw cash. There was simply no helping it; no matter how much physical currency he brought along, it was no match for Ye Qian's spending habits.

After browsing for a solid two or three hours, with Ye Qian scouring Wangfujing inside and out twice over and purchasing items in nearly every single shop, Long Fei finally had to force her—reluctant as she was to start a third round—to return to the hotel with him. It was blistering hot outside; why on earth would anyone wander the streets for this long? Was she really that stuffed from lunch?

The front desk receptionists at the hotel couldn't help but chuckle inwardly upon seeing Long Fei and Ye Qian laden with countless shopping bags and hugging massive packages to their chests. Still, the staff possessed decent professionalism, proactively coming over to help carry some of the load and escorting the pair directly to their room doors before departing. Long Fei showered them with profuse thanks, nearly dropping to his knees to kowtow in gratitude.

Having tramped around the streets for over two hours, they were thoroughly drenched in sweat. It wasn't until they had just finished showering that they realized they had forgotten to buy clothes. Having no prior experience venturing out, Ye Qian naturally hadn't brought a change of clothes, and Long Fei was accustomed to buying ready-to-wear items wherever he went, so he hadn't packed any either.

With no other choice, they headed back out for another shopping spree. While Long Fei wore a gloomy expression, Ye Qian's enthusiasm remained completely unabated. She latched onto Long Fei again, dragging him through every single street outside Wangfujing until they had each bought a few sets of fresh clothes. Just as they were about to head back, Ye Qian suddenly stopped outside a lingerie shop.

"Hey, Long Fei, hold these bags for me." Ye Qian snatched the bags right out of Long Fei's hands.

Long Fei froze. Unwarranted displays of courtesy usually meant a scheme was afoot.

"Hey, what kind of trouble are you stirring up now?" Guarding against her, Long Fei tried to snatch the bags back, but he couldn't outmaneuver Ye Qian. The bags had already changed owners, leaving him to ask helplessly.

Breaking into a giggle, Ye Qian leaned in and whispered, "Long Fei, do me a favor."

"What favor?" Long Fei shrank back.

Nodding toward the lingerie shop, a blush actually crept onto Ye Qian's face. "Go help me buy a few sets of undergarments."

*Good grief!* Long Fei looked over and saw that the lingerie shop was booming with business. Inside, numerous young women were bustling about picking things out, including a few foreign girls. Long Fei immediately shook his head. *Good lord, if a grown man like me walks in there, people will either assume I've stumbled into the wrong place or that I'm a psychologically warped pervert. Even if I am a scoundrel, there's no need to broadcast it everywhere. Low profile, yes, keep a low profile.*

"Why don't you go? I'm not going." Long Fei flatly refused. He could help with other things, but he wouldn't muddy himself in this affair. Remembering he had already bought lingerie for Ye Qian once before, Long Fei had no desire to thicken his skin and do it a second time.

Ye Qian rolled her eyes at Long Fei. "I'm doing this for your own good."

Long Fei asked skeptically, "How is this for my good? Look, Ye Qian, you can be as willful as you like, and we might have history, but you shouldn't constantly try to make a fool out of me. Look at those foreigners inside, hehe. You can't possibly expect me to lose face in front of international friends! Anyone who doesn't know better will think I have a psychological disorder."

"Nonsense! Who dares laugh at you? If they ask, just say you're buying them as a gift for your girlfriend. Besides, you can freely choose whatever styles you like, hehe. Go on now. You're my boyfriend; I didn't blame you for not buying me lingerie before, so now I'm giving you the chance. Go buy three sets," Ye Qian teased mischievously.

Depressed, Long Fei retorted, "What kind of logic is that? Oh, so just because I'm your boyfriend, I'm supposed to make a fool of myself? Besides, when it comes to shouldering duties, you remember me, but what about the privileges I'm supposed to enjoy? Why aren't you letting me enjoy those?"

*Exactly! Since I'm your boyfriend, why don't you let me take you straight to bed?* Long Fei felt deeply aggrieved.

"What else do you want? You've looked, you've touched, and you even used your mouth! I let you take advantage of me in the elevator today, what more could you possibly want? Hmph, don't push your luck." Ye Qian's face flushed red. Long Fei was simply too shameless—a classic case of reaping the benefits while still acting hard done by.

"That counts as enjoying a privilege? I feel like my privileges are far too limited." Long Fei licked his lips, actually harboring some mischievous thoughts. *No way, today's an opportunity; I need to extract some benefits. I wonder how much that little monster has actually grown after this period of treatment? Should I check it out when we get back and give her a massage by the way to help her grow even faster?*

Noticing the distinctly lewd intent gleaming in Long Fei's eyes, Ye Qian snapped, "Are you going or not? Today you're going whether you want to or not, or else I'll shout right here in the street that you're harassing me. Do you believe me? I mean what I say."

Ye Qian was no pushover either, closing in on Long Fei.

Hearing this, Long Fei's heart skipped a beat. He knew Ye Qian far too well. Don't let her current reluctance to enter the lingerie shop fool you—it wasn't out of modesty, but fear of losing face. What's so shameful about having a small chest anyway?

Putting on an indifferent expression, Long Fei chuckled slyly, "I don't believe you'd actually dare shout. Besides, aren't you afraid of losing face? If your grandfather finds out, you'll probably be in for a rough time back home."

"I'm not afraid of him at all! He never treated me like a granddaughter in the first place, so why should I care? Never mind him—even if my dad were standing right here, I'd still dare shout. Do you believe me?" Ye Qian smiled contemptuously. Seeing that Long Fei didn't reply and merely curled his lip, she grew anxious and urged, "I'll count to three. If you don't agree, I'm going to yell. One, two—"

"Stop! I'll agree, but I have a condition." Long Fei raised his hands in surrender, though at the last moment he still tried hard to defend his privileges. Since he couldn't dodge it, he had to face it head-on, but he figured he'd better secure some perks in the process—otherwise, wouldn't a grown man like him have lost face for nothing?

Ye Qian stopped pushing him. She now knew that applying both soft and hard tactics was the superior strategy for dealing with men. Ever since she was a little girl, Ye Wentian had taught her how to manage a company, which meant managing people, which in turn required a balance of firmness and flexibility. Being yielding without being firm is insufficient to deter people, while being firm without being yielding easily alienates them. She understood this logic.

"Fine. Tell me, what's your condition? If it's not too outrageous, I might consider it," Ye Qian compromised.

Long Fei grinned wickedly. "If I tell you, you mustn't get mad. If you don't agree, the deal is off, and we'll pretend I never said anything. I'll carry the bags, and you can go buy them yourself. Deal?"

Seeing Ye Qian nod, Long Fei leaned in and muttered a few quick words into her ear before hastily jumping back into a defensive stance.

Ye Qian's face turned beet red, though a flash of cunning crossed her eyes. Looking troubled, she said, "You're so perverted! Can't you change the condition? Pick a different one."

"Nope, otherwise I'm not going. A true man keeps his word." Sensing he had the upper hand, Long Fei immediately stood his ground.

"Fine, then hurry up and go buy them." Ye Qian appeared to agree very reluctantly.

Still feeling uneasy, Long Fei demanded, "Swear an oath, or I won't believe you. You stood me up last time, and I know a woman's mouth is the least trustworthy thing in the world." In truth, Long Fei had wanted to say that a woman's lower mouth was far more honest than her upper one, but he didn't dare utter it.

With extreme reluctance, Ye Qian swore the oath. Yet, Long Fei still felt something was amiss: when taking an oath, why on earth was she shuffling her feet back and forth on the ground? But he didn't think too much of it, failing to spot her flaw, and had no choice but to temporarily trust her oath. Besides, he couldn't refuse to go; Ye Qian had plenty of ways to deal with him, which would undoubtedly result in him losing even more face.

True to his expectations, the moment Long Fei stepped into the lingerie shop, a dozen women—along with the female shop owner—all locked their gazes on him. Their eyes gleamed with strange expressions, akin to people from the Women's Kingdom laying eyes on the Tang Monk, giving Long Fei a creeping sensation of goosebumps. Still, his skin was thick enough; since he was already here, he might as well throw caution to the wind. With a deadpan expression, he told the owner, "Boss lady, I'd like to buy a few sets of undergarments."

Many female customers covered their mouths to snicker. The foreign tourists were relatively well-behaved; accustomed to men entering lingerie stores abroad, they simply shrugged, smiled at Long Fei, and went back to browsing. Long Fei glanced over and thought, *Damn, these foreigners are truly open-minded.* Those flirtatious lingerie items had clearly piqued their interest. As for the group of Chinese women, they were picking through relatively conservative styles, though their faces were currently flushed, clearly unaccustomed to Long Fei's presence.

Recovering her wits, the shop owner—who had plenty of experience running a business and wasn't entirely unfamiliar with male customers, though most previously came accompanied by women—figured that as long as they were buying, she'd sell to anyone, even a hermaphrodite, since money was money. She quickly smiled and said, "Alright, welcome! Which style do you prefer, and what size?"

Long Fei was just about to grab a few random items and leave when he was caught off guard by the question. "What size? Oh, I don't know. Let me go ask and I'll be right back."

Darting over to Ye Qian like a puff of smoke, Long Fei complained miserably, "Hey Miss, why didn't you tell me the size when you sent me to buy lingerie? Now you're making me run back a second time. You didn't see the way those girls looked at me inside—like they were staring at a big pervert. I'm going crazy here."

Ye Qian chuckled. "You *are* a big pervert, what are you afraid of? Well? What size?"

Long Fei asked bewilderedly, "Don't tell me you don't know your own size. I'll die of frustration if that's true."

"No, I... I... I've always bought the smallest size. Just get a 32." Ye Qian's face flushed crimson. She felt a bit humiliated knowing that she always bought the smallest size, yet even the smallest size still felt a bit too big, which made the situation both unexpected and embarrassing.

Long Fei turned to head back, but after taking only a few steps, he was called back by Ye Qian.

"What is it now?" Long Fei asked impatiently.

"Buy a 32D cup," Ye Qian lowered her head and whispered, her face burning.

*This girl actually knows how to be embarrassed?*

Long Fei froze, then suddenly burst into a wicked grin. Staring at Ye Qian's newly budding chest, he asked, "A D-cup? Are you sure you can fill that?"

"Isn't it undergoing treatment? I'll be able to fill it soon enough! None of your business, seriously. Hurry up and go," Ye Qian snapped irritably.

"Tsk, growth doesn't happen overnight. Do you think you're buying stocks or lottery tickets, where it hits the upper limit overnight or wins the jackpot to become a millionaire instantly?" Long Fei scoffed inwardly, though he didn't voice it out loud, and hurriedly ran back inside.

Under the guidance of the shop owner, Long Fei smoothly purchased three sets of undergarments. Each style was a thin type that Long Fei favored, chosen in red, black, and white. He figured red was passionate, black was mysteriously sexy, and white was innocent. Of course, right as he was leaving, Long Fei impulsively grabbed a piece of seductive lingerie—the kind made of ultra-thin, minimal fabric.

However, when it came time to pay, Long Fei felt rather baffled. The item with the absolute least amount of fabric carried a price tag that could only be described as astronomical. The lingerie in this shop was already frighteningly expensive, but this particular piece cost more than the other three combined. Long Fei couldn't wrap his head around why something with less fabric cost significantly more. Ultimately, though, he figured it out: it was just like hiring an escort; the price for half-undressed and completely undressed differed entirely. The less you wore, the more expensive it was. If you didn't strip at all, it probably wouldn't cost a dime.

Under the strange gazes of the female shoppers, Long Fei bolted out of the lingerie store like a fugitive. Spotting that Ye Qian wasn't standing nearby, having slipped far away as if desperately afraid others might think they were together, Long Fei felt a surge of pure irritation. *You make me lose face all by myself while you distance yourself completely—what kind of attitude is that? Damn it, that's completely lacking in loyalty! This lingerie isn't even for me to wear; it's your face on the line, so why are you running off?*

Beaming with joy, Ye Qian swapped items with Long Fei. Glancing around to make sure no one was passing by, she lowered her head to fiddle with them for a moment, her face instantly turning bright red. Staring at Long Fei, she said indignantly, "Long Fei, you're so shameless! Who told you to buy me this style? Can anyone actually wear this? What kind of woman do you take me for?"

Knowing which style Ye Qian was referring to, Long Fei chuckled slyly. "Weren't you the one who told me to pick whatever I liked? I liked it, so I bought it. Whether you wear it or not is up to you. If you really won't wear it, give it back when we get back and I'll keep it for myself, or I can give it to another woman. Take it or leave it."

Hearing this, Ye Qian glared fiercely at Long Fei and didn't press the matter further. How could she possibly let Long Fei take it back? Regardless, this was personally bought for her by Long Fei. She had already decided that if she ever had the chance and Long Fei really did find other women down the road, she would use this lingerie to provoke them—and she wouldn't allow Long Fei to buy anything like it for anyone else. As for that flirtatious piece, the thought of wearing it alone for fun wasn't bad either. Her previous words were merely meant to project an image of innocence, though the truth was that after overhearing Long Fei and Yang Danying's intimate business last time, she suspected she harbored a somewhat wanton streak deep down inside.

Upon returning to the hotel, Ye Qian headed straight for her room. Long Fei quickly followed, but just like before, Ye Qian blocked him outside.

"What are you doing? I'm going to take a shower and change clothes. You go back and take a shower too," Ye Qian smiled.

Long Fei froze. *Damn it, is this woman reneging on her promise again?*

"Hey, Ye Qian, you swore a solemn oath this time. You can't go back on your word; I'm coming in to collect my debt." Long Fei tried to squeeze past, only to be pushed back out by Ye Qian once more.

Staring at Long Fei with an amused expression, Ye Qian asked, "So I swore a solemn oath, so what?"

"Aren't you afraid the curse will come true?" Long Fei was utterly depressed. How could this woman be so shameless? If even solemn oaths held no weight, he truly wouldn't be able to trust her ever again.

"Of course I'm afraid! That's why the moment I was swearing the oath, I used my foot to trace the character 'No' on the ground. Didn't you see? Besides, you've read *Heroes of Sui and Tang*, right? When the King of Mischief Cheng咬金 swore oaths, he did the exact same thing, hehe. He's the demon king, and I'm the demon girl—of course I have to learn from our ancestors. Bye-bye!" With a triumphant finish, Ye Qian slammed the door shut with a loud *bang*.

Only then did Long Fei understand. No wonder Ye Qian had been scuffing her feet back and forth on the floor while swearing—she had been writing the character "No"! No wonder it had looked so bizarre at the time.

*Damn it, this woman is truly untrustworthy and utterly cunning. Heavens above, I, Long Fei, swear that I will never fall for this woman's tricks again. So devious. Hmph!*