CHAPTER 193: CHAPTER 193: INDUSTRY CHAIN

"Brother Jing, the view from your new apartment is amazing; every time I come here, it feels different."

After the heater was turned on inside the room, Zhang Xinxin had already taken off her fur coat, revealing her figure accentuated by a knit sweater.

Saying this, she sneakily walked over to the bedroom doors and peeked inside, looking playful and quirky.

Li Jing noticed and raised an eyebrow: "What, are you catching someone in the act?"

"No, no."

Zhang Xinxin was caught, her expression changed slightly, then she quickly returned to the living room and grinned awkwardly at Li Jing: "I just wanted to see which bedroom An Tong is staying in."

"An Tong?"

Li Jing suddenly understood, it seemed she thought An Tong was living in the new apartment, so while he picked up an orange from the table and peeled it, he explained: "She mostly stays in the rental apartment, not here, so she doesn’t have a room here."

"She’s still staying at the rental apartment?"

Zhang Xinxin’s eyes widened slightly in disbelief, then her expression shifted, she looked at Li Jing’s profile and asked softly: "Brother Jing, did you... kick her out?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?"

Li Jing was speechless and put a peeled orange segment into his mouth: "She moved back there on her own; she didn’t want to interfere with my personal life."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xinxin blinked in surprise: "She actually thinks like that?"

"Is there a problem with thinking like that?"

Seeing Li Jing questioning her back, Zhang Xinxin’s expression was oddly complex, looking guilty.

Li Jing sensed something was off with her, raised an eyebrow, and guessed her thoughts: "Are you thinking of living here?"

"Oh, I, I’m not..."

Zhang Xinxin’s cheeks reddened, her eyes darting about, she hurriedly explained: "I, I just have my rental contract expiring... there’s no place to stay for now, so I thought of staying here... for a few days."

As she said the last few words, Zhang Xinxin glanced at Li Jing’s changing expression, her voice getting quieter.

"Contract expiring?"

Li Jing was puzzled: "I remember you said your apartment is signed for a year, doesn’t it expire in the first half of next year? Didn’t you let me stay at your place last time?"

"Oh, I..." Zhang Xinxin was momentarily speechless, unable to figure out how to cover up her lie.

Li Jing had already guessed her thoughts: "You wouldn’t have thought that An Tong was living here, so you planned to move in, canceled your rental early, and planned to stay here, right?"

"Oh no, no, I’m just staying for a few days!"

Zhang Xinxin’s face turned crimson, she immediately said: "I’ll find a new place after New Year’s."

Saying this, she put on a pitiful look, moving closer to Li Jing: "Brother Jing, I was wrong, please let me stay for a few days, it’s hard to find a new place during the end of the year, I promise, I’ll move out right after the New Year..."

Seeing that she indeed had this idea, Li Jing helplessly shook his head, realizing Zhang Xinxin and An Tong’s personalities were completely different.

An Tong was more of a giver, while Zhang Xinxin tended to be more of a taker.

But fortunately, Zhang Xinxin knew her limits, her character was acceptable, which is why Li Jing acknowledged her.

Although Zhang Xinxin wasn’t up to par with An Tong in this regard, she was still much better than other materialistic women.

"Okay, don’t look so pitiful."

Li Jing estimated that she had indeed canceled her rental, agreed: "You can stay here for now, but I have conditions: make sure the place stays clean, and don’t bring anyone else here."

"Got it! Xinxin obeys!"

Seeing Li Jing agree, Zhang Xinxin was extremely delighted, she immediately pretended to act as if receiving a military order, and then joyfully said: "I’ve packed up everything from the rental apartment, I’ll bring everything over tomorrow, I promise I won’t mess up the place."

Saying this, she playfully fed Li Jing an orange, laughing: "I just knew Brother Jing was the best, wouldn’t let me be lonely and miserable on the street for the New Year."

Li Jing caught the extra message in her words, took over the orange from her hand and asked in confusion: "You’re not going home for New Year?"

"Not going, my dad’s working as a security guard at a suburb factory, he applied to work the New Year shift for triple pay. Anyway, my grandparents are gone, and there’s not much to go back to at home, so we’ve agreed not to return this year. On New Year’s Eve, I’ll take him to the city for a holiday dinner."

Hearing this, Li Jing nodded in understanding.

Zhang Xinxin comes from a single-parent family, unlike An Tong.

Now that her father has to work during the holiday, she doesn’t really need to go home.

Compared to An Tong, Zhang Xinxin clearly doesn’t care much about these traditional customs.

"Brother Jing, I heard An Tong bought a car?"

At this point, Zhang Xinxin peeled another apple and snuggled next to Li Jing, asking curiously, "What kind of car did she buy?"

"Your information is quite up-to-date."

Li Jing glanced at her and didn’t hide it: "A Mercedes, she paid three hundred thousand, and I helped her with a hundred thousand."

"You helped her pay?" Zhang Xinxin was surprised upon hearing this, her eyes full of envy and jealousy.

"What? Do you want me to help you buy a car too?" Li Jing asked deliberately.

"Of course not."

Though envious, Zhang Xinxin knew that asking him for money at this time would only cause annoyance.

Then she quickly put on a proud expression: "Actually, I also bought a new car."

This time Li Jing was surprised; he didn’t expect her not to ask for money but to buy a car herself: "What car did you buy?"

"Oh, compared to yours, Brother Jing, it’s nothing, just a BMW Mini, a bit over two hundred thousand. I thought it looked nice, so I bought it as a holiday gift to myself."

As she said this, Zhang Xinxin enthusiastically invited, "Brother Jing, would you like to take a ride in my car? No other man has ridden in it yet.

If you don’t want other boys to ride in my car, I can also make sure no other man gets in, only letting you ride."

Li Jing was genuinely curious about the new car she bought but then asked confusedly: "I noticed you usually don’t have the habit of saving money, so where did you get the money to buy this car?"

Actually, compared to An Tong, Li Jing didn’t give Zhang Xinxin much money, just more luxury goods; the cash given couldn’t even buy this car, and Zhang Xinxin barely had any savings in her account.

Upon hearing this question, Zhang Xinxin’s face noticeably changed, and under Li Jing’s watch, she explained awkwardly: "I sold a few bags you gave me before, and then took out a loan to buy this car."

"You sold the bags I gave you?" Li Jing slightly frowned.

"Not all of them, just three that increased in price significantly—the market was great, so I took the opportunity to sell them, almost doubling from the purchase price, so I made a profit."

Zhang Xinxin hurriedly explained and then continued honestly: "Besides, you know I’m bad with money, barely have any savings, so I could only sell the bags to buy that car..."

Li Jing didn’t know what to say to her, then glanced at the small bag she brought earlier, asking: "This bag was also bought by me, you mentioned before it had the most potential to increase in price, why didn’t you sell this one?"

Seeing him pointing at the small bag she carried earlier, Zhang Xinxin admitted somewhat embarrassedly: "Brother Jing, actually, this is the bag I sold..."

"You sold this bag?"

"Yes... this is the imitation I repurchased afterward..."

Fearing Li Jing would be angry, but seeing no immediate sign of reproach, Zhang Xinxin hastily continued to explain: "But rest assured, this imitation is very realistic, and since everyone knows I bought a real one, they wouldn’t suspect that I’ve replaced it with a fake one; no one will notice."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing was a bit speechless and couldn’t help frowning as he looked at her: "Do you often do such things?"

"Absolutely not! Brother Jing, I swear this is the first time I did such a thing, and... it was actually someone else who taught me."

Zhang Xinxin, worried about Li Jing’s anger, quickly raised her little hand to make a vow gesture: "If I’m lying to you, may I be disfigured!"

Seeing her swearing fiercely, Li Jing’s expression shifted slightly, believing her a bit more, then asked with a frown: "Where did you learn all this?"

Not daring to provoke Li Jing’s displeasure, Zhang Xinxin honestly confessed all that she knew: "I joined lots of fake socialite groups, these things I learned from them."

Seriously, she continued: "However, I’m not like them, I genuinely only love Brother Jing, but they simultaneously reach out to several benefactors; one woman is even more impressive, maintaining relationships with over ten benefactors at once, each sending her gifts and treating her like a lover.

Those benefactors have no idea; they think they’re the ones using her, but in reality, she’s the one using them."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing wondered: "Aren’t those benefactors smart enough to figure it out?"

"These women mastered various ways to handle men long ago and even share them in the group... Ah, that part I never looked at, I’m just there in the groups but never actually interacted with them."

Quickly explaining herself, Zhang Xinxin continued: "Besides, most of those benefactors have families, so they can’t spend every day with their lovers, giving these women enough time to shuttle between different benefactors.

What’s most impressive is that they proactively request luxury gifts from those benefactors, then secretly collaborate with store clerks; benefactors buy at full price, and the next day they return it to the store clerk for cash, forming an entire industry chain inside..."