Finally, someone who appreciates true talent.

Yu Jiali was far from the naive, wealthy, and—well, plump—girl that Bai Haonan had imagined. According to the so-called team leader, who was eager to champion Bai Haonan as the prince consort, although Yu Jiali had only graduated from university two years ago, she was already serving as the general manager of her family’s investment management company. Her father mainly handled the social face of things, while her younger brother made the key decisions on how to invest and manage their current assets. The elder Yu had entirely entrusted the daughter with the company’s operations. Crucially, Yu Jiali had not wasted those two years; the profits were quite satisfactory, earning her the respect of everyone in the company. Yet, perhaps because she had grown up in a privileged environment, Yu Jiali was always cautious during her university days, afraid that others would discover her family’s wealth and accuse her of greed. More than that, she was kind-hearted and unwilling to lose friends over such matters.

Bai Haonan could guess the rest without needing it spelled out. The female university students he’d encountered were often accompanied by a best friend or two on first meetings—usually a bit overweight and less striking in appearance, walking beside their stunning classmates like background props. Many beautiful girls preferred to have such “plain” friends as a foil to enhance their own beauty. Even Qiu Xiang needed a group of less attractive companions to set her off. So this plump, wealthy girl had probably been overlooked all along.

If Yu Jiali’s former male classmates knew they had missed out on a rich girl, would they not be tearing their hair out and regretting it to the point of spitting blood? Bai Haonan just took it as a joke.

Girls like her were fine for a change of pace, a fling or two, but not for the long term. After three days, he would be bored stiff. Most importantly, this girl looked stubborn, and with such a powerful family background, if he couldn’t keep his urges in check, it would be a lost cause—like a cat stealing glutinous rice cakes, impossible to shake off. It was utterly incompatible with Bai Haonan’s free-spirited, come-and-go-as-you-please lifestyle.

Absolutely impossible!

Though he never explicitly rejected this distant subordinate of Yu Jiali, Bai Haonan didn’t engage the topic further. After a hearty meal and some drinks, he and the team left. He even gathered six players who were about to impersonate others in the afternoon match and gave them a few pointers on a small seven- or eight-person field, demonstrating some simple drills and sharing tips. He had plenty of experience playing at the medical university but hadn’t played many formal small-sided games in professional teams; at most, they were just for fun. These six were the ones Bai Haonan found easiest to command and who showed some talent. After a few jokes, they sat on the steps by the field, waiting for their sponsor, too lazy to prepare for the afternoon game.

Around two o’clock, the match on the other side likely began. People started to arrive gradually, and a black van pulled up silently beside the young men in yellow jerseys. The electric sliding door hissed open, revealing the true luxury of the seemingly ordinary vehicle. Bai Haonan, showing off his knowledge to the young players, remarked, “A Nissan van, the luxury model. One costs seven or eight hundred thousand yuan…”

He then saw the Teddy bear that Ada had been handling bounce down from the van, followed by Yu Jiali herself, who stepped out with a businesslike smile and approached directly. “I didn’t see you playing over there, so I asked around and found out you were here again.”

Had she been an ordinary girl, even a pretty one, the young players would have crowded around, teasing and watching the interaction. But with a luxury van worth over seven hundred thousand yuan, the tales of her billionaire family background heard at the banquet, and the black-suited man sitting attentively in the front passenger seat—so stark a class difference—they immediately stood up respectfully. “Brother Jianguo, we’ll wait over there. Call us when you arrive!”

Bai Haonan could have chosen to follow them but preferred to clarify matters straightforwardly. After all, if he could convince Chen Sufen and Isa, this would be no harder. He grinned with his dazzling white teeth: “Yeah, I’m just a filler act. You know what I mean?”

At that moment, the situation wasn’t entirely Ada’s fault. The Teddy bear trotted over, sniffing around the leg-injured dog with quick little steps, especially between the broken limbs, which made Bai Haonan laugh.

Yu Jiali glanced in the direction of his sunglasses, a faint blush coloring her composed expression. “Is that a saying from the Sichuan and Chongqing regions? Like a middleman?”

Bai Haonan looked at her—black lace-trimmed half-sleeve blouse paired with a white skirt above the knee, slimmer than the black dress she’d worn earlier. Her waist was rounded and shoulders broad, though her chest was not particularly large. The high heels added a certain gracefulness; if anything, “curvaceous” suited better than “slim.” He patted the concrete step beside him. “Come, sit for a moment.”

The two men who had gotten out from the front seats of the luxury van moved discreetly to the side, signaling they weren’t spying but possibly standing guard.

Thus, only the two of them remained in the corner beside the stadium.

Yu Jiali pressed her lips together, a gesture that made her apple-like cheeks seem even plumper, but she sat down decisively without any flirtatious moves. Noticing her skirt might ride up, she quickly closed her legs and straightened them, keeping a very straight posture.

Bai Haonan turned his head slightly—not his whole body—removed his sunglasses, and leaned in to sniff a few times. Although Yu Jiali had sat down about twenty or thirty centimeters away, his somewhat lecherous gesture startled her. She stiffened but held her ground.

“I’m not that female Teddy bear,” Bai Haonan said. “You’re a girl who doesn’t fool around. You smell sweet—can’t describe it exactly, but I can tell. You should stay far away from men like me who like one-night stands and casual hookups. If I ruined you, it wouldn’t be worth it. You’d end up heartbroken and crying. Why bother?”

Yu Jiali was taken aback by Bai Haonan’s crude frankness. She widened her eyes and stared hard, then looked at the distance between them to make sure sitting on the same concrete step wouldn’t cause any unintended consequences. “You… you…” she stammered.

Bai Haonan didn’t fixate on her. Instead, he turned back to the distant soccer field as if addressing someone else. “It’s got nothing to do with your father or the company. I saw you this morning and knew we weren’t from the same world. But you obviously like looking at handsome men, so I’m just being straightforward. I’m not trying to insult you. You should find someone with decent character…” He suddenly burst into laughter and then stopped talking.

Yu Jiali didn’t hear the rest but seemed to think Bai Haonan wasn’t dangerous. “What’s so funny?”

He spoke whatever came to mind. “I suddenly thought about those supposedly decent people—at least those who appear decent—who have money. Sitting in a luxury car on a sunny afternoon, getting a little frisky—would they just drive off to a nightclub or a spa for some ‘therapy’ to relieve the heat? From what I know, those so-called respectable managers and bosses aren’t much different. For them, visiting prostitutes or hooking up is probably easier than for regular wage earners. Oh right, they have little secretaries.”

The young woman in black-and-white looked at the tall man’s profile and said, unexpectedly, “You… are quite philosophical!”

The former professional player blinked and turned to her. “What? I didn’t even finish middle school; don’t scare me with college stuff.”

Yu Jiali hurriedly looked away at her twisted legs. “My father didn’t finish elementary school, but he’s the man I respect most. Some truths don’t have to be learned in school. School is just a place to teach us how to summarize and discern truths.”

Bai Haonan sneered. “Uh, I don’t get it, don’t get it.”

Yu Jiali tried another way: “I mean… maybe vulgarity can be a kind of elegance.”

Bai Haonan laughed heartily. “I elegant? Girl, I’ve chased girls for twenty years, and you’re the first to call me elegant. Usually, they say I’m rough.”

Yu Jiali was a bit weary of dealing with his bold style, shrugging her shoulders. “There’s the flashy vulgarity that wants the world to revolve around it—but some people don’t purposely pursue elegance or care about others’ worldly opinions. They live naturally and freely, following their own nature… Uh, maybe you’re a bit indulgent, but truly acting naturally. That kind of vulgarity is elegance. I heard it from a professor in my classical studies course.”

Bai Haonan could only admire this. “You bookworms always have the leisure to put such flowery words on trash like me. Impressive!”

Finally, Yu Jiali dared to look him in the eye, bravely and steadily, as if no amount of wealth could erase the small hollows in her heart. “Is it because you think I’m a bit fat?”

In the early November sunlight of western Guangxi, Yu Jiali’s words to Bai Haonan were something close to a confession.