Villain? No, I'll catch up with the protagonist after passing the civil service exam.

"Inspect the goods? Oh, Mr. Lu, you must be joking."

Amy's makeup was practically falling off her face with laughter, and her heavily lined eyes gleamed with an almost overflowing greed. She clung tightly to Lu Jingyan's arm as if it were a mountain of gold.

"The girls from our Swan Society are all top-notch, whether it's their education, their conversation, or... their figures, you're guaranteed to be satisfied."

As she spoke, she winked at a few girls who were touching up their makeup not far away.

Lu Jingyan casually withdrew his arm, picked up a glass of champagne from the waiter's tray, but didn't drink it, just swirled it in his hand.

"What's the point of just watching? I prefer to see the real thing."

He pushed up his sunglasses, his tone languid, exuding an aura of a "scumbag" from the inside out, "I heard you guys have classes here? Take me to see, I want to see how this socialite is made."

Amy paused for a moment, then gave a sly, knowing smile.

"Young Master Lu has quite unique tastes; does he like the 'raising-up' genre?"

She waved the feather fan in her hand. "Alright, since Young Master Lu is in the mood, I'll take you to the 'Stage Training Room' backstage. It just so happens that those girls are having a crash course in etiquette."

The so-called "body shaping room" is actually just a large private room partitioned off from the back of the banquet hall.

Before even entering the door, Lu Jingyan heard a sharp reprimand, which sounded jarring even through the door.

"Stop! Everyone stop!"

Pushing open the door, an even stronger scent of cosmetics wafted out.

There were more than twenty girls dressed in high-quality replica dresses, lined up and posing in front of a full-length mirror covering the wall. Meanwhile, a posture instructor in a black bodysuit was pointing a pointer at one of the girls and yelling at her.

"Are you an idiot? How many times have I taught you! That's a fake fall! It's an 'accidental' ankle sprain! I'm not telling you to actually fall flat on your face!"

"Eyes! Eyes must look innocent! Like a startled fawn, not like a dead fish that hasn't woken up yet!"

Lu Jingyan stood at the door, looking at this absurd scene through his sunglasses, his lips twitching almost imperceptibly.

Good guy.

Is this the legendary "socialite etiquette class"?

The girl who was scolded was so upset that she burst into tears. Just as she was about to reach out to wipe them away, the posture teacher lashed her hand with a whip.

"Don't wipe it off! You'll have to touch it up if your makeup gets ruined! Is foundation free?"

The teacher turned around, picked up a Hermes handbag with a large Hermes logo, and held it up high like a trophy.

"Listen up, everyone! This bag is an authentic one that our company rented at great expense! It's only been rented for one day! When we take photos later, each person will only have three minutes!"

"If you don't want to show your face, hold the bag against your chest to create a 'low-key luxury' vibe. If you want to show your face, put the bag on your lap, and remember, make sure the logo is visible!"

"And you, you, and you too!"

The teacher pointed to the other girls, "Have your group-buy stockings arrived yet? Hurry up and put them on! Remember not to tear them after the previous person wears them, because the next person will have to wear them! These are designer brands; who can afford to pay for a snag?"

Lu Jingyan felt a wave of nausea wash over him as he listened to these words.

Although he had long known that this industry was dirty, he was still shocked to see the counterfeiting scene, which resembled an assembly line.

This is hardly the kind of training for socialites.

This is clearly mass-producing tools for fraud.

Amy didn't notice anything unusual about her "sugar daddy" and instead came over smugly to take credit.

"Young Master Lu, you see, we've spared no expense to ensure quality. Every movement, every glance from these girls, even the captions for their social media posts, have been meticulously crafted by our professional team."

"Polishing?"

Lu Jingyan sneered, his fingers lightly stroking the button on his cuff—where a miniature camera was hidden.

"It's really quite professional."

He pointed to the girl practicing "faking a fall," saying, "If she were to stage an accident, she could probably earn over ten thousand a month."

"Oh my, Mr. Lu, you're so funny." Sister Amy giggled and slapped his shoulder. "That's called 'creating a chance encounter,' giving men a chance to be heroes and save the damsel in distress."

Lu Jingyan ignored her and strode into the room.

He walked around in front of the girls like a picky buyer.

The "crime radar" was frantically alarming in his mind, and above the heads of each girl in front of him, lines of shocking data were displayed in red.

[Target A: Fabricated overseas study experience; in reality, the individual dropped out of vocational school. Suspected of forging academic certificates.]

[Target B: Has three overdue online loans and is currently seeking victims through a "pig butchering scam."]

[Target C: Unpaid cosmetic surgery fees; plotting to extort money from the client through sexual seduction.]

Everyone is a villain.

In this room, apart from himself, there was no one clean.

"You mean Sister Amy?"

Lu Jingyan stopped and turned around to look at the heavily made-up woman, his tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible coldness, "Your business is quite large."

"That's right!"

Amy thought he was praising her, and her chin practically floated to the sky. "I'm not bragging, but in the entire Jinghai, there's no rich kid that I, Amy, can't handle. Once you step through my door, even a sparrow can turn into a phoenix."

"Teach them to lie, teach them to pretend, teach them how to drain men's wallets."

Lu Jingyan took off his sunglasses, his cold eyes staring directly at Sister Amy. He lowered his voice and said, "This isn't called turning into a phoenix; this is called teaching criminal methods."

Amy paused for a moment, a hint of wariness flashing in her eyes.

"Young Master Lu, what you're saying... This is training, a mutually agreeable transaction..."

"Buying or selling?"

Lu Jingyan chuckled lightly, put his sunglasses back on, concealing the sharpness in his eyes.

"Alright, let me see if this deal of yours can actually be done."

He turned and walked out of the dance studio, returning to the noisy banquet hall.

As Amy watched his retreating figure, a strange chill ran down her spine. But quickly, greed overcame her instincts. Looking at the Rolls-Royce Phantom parked outside her window, the wariness in her eyes instantly transformed into fervor.

Who cares what he thinks?

As long as you have money, you're the boss.

"Slap! Slap!"

Amy clapped her hands and shouted loudly, her voice becoming somewhat shrill with excitement.

"Girls! Cheer up!"

The doors to the dance studio swung open, and the girls who had just been awkwardly changing stockings and practicing fake falls instantly transformed, their faces now adorned with elegant and poised smiles as they filed out.

They huddled behind Amy like a flock of hungry swans waiting to be fed.

Amy pointed at Lu Jingyan, who was standing alone in the center of the banquet hall, holding a wine glass. Her gaze was like that of a hunter pointing at a plump antelope.

"See that handsome guy in the burgundy suit?"

She lowered her voice, her tone full of inflammatory rhetoric.

"That's the second young master of the Lu family! Worth hundreds of billions! He drives a Rolls-Royce and wears a Richard Miller! He's a true top-tier eligible bachelor!"

"Whoever can win him over tonight will graduate!"

"No need for group buying, no need for loan repayments, you'll soar to new heights like a phoenix! Got it?!"

"I understand!"

A green light instantly ignited in the girls' eyes.

That wasn't the glow of love.

That was the most primal and naked greed when seeing a mobile ATM.

"superior!"

With Amy's command.

Thirty-six "artificial socialites," with an air of unwavering determination, surged towards the man standing under the lights like a tidal wave—

He pounced on it.