After the breakup, I was taken in by a group of trendy young women.

Bai Jie closed the door to the VIP room herself.

The moment the heavy, soundproof wooden door closed, all the background music and noise from the exhibition hall outside were cut off.

This VIP room is not large, half the size of the previous reception room, but the decoration is more exquisite—all four walls are covered with dark gray sound-absorbing soft padding, and there is only one warm yellow spotlight overhead, with the light concentrated on the large leather sofa.

The sofa is a deep burgundy color, made of full-grain Italian imported top-grain cowhide, and is from the same series as the corner sofa that Lin Ye had glanced at in the brochure earlier.

Bai Jie placed the picture book on the coffee table. Instead of sitting next to Lin Ye as before, she walked around to the opposite side of him and bent down to adjust the decorative vintage table lamp on the coffee table.

The degree of her bend was just right—just enough to make the collar of her white shirt droop slightly under gravity, just enough to make the ruby ​​pendant of her collarbone necklace slide out from the collar, and just enough for the person opposite her to see the tiny gaps between the shirt buttons.

Then she straightened up, walked to Lin Ye's side, and instead of sitting down, leaned against the armrest of the sofa.

The suit jacket was unbuttoned at some point, and the hem of the white shirt was tucked into the pencil skirt, which was very narrow at the waist.

"Mr. Lin, is it quiet enough here?"

Her voice was lower and softer than it had been in the meeting room, with a slight upward inflection at the end, as if she were asking about a secret that only the two of them could share.

Lin Ye leaned back on the sofa, crossed his legs, and watched Bai Jie slide down from the sofa armrest and sit next to him.

The way she sat down was deliberate; it caused the hem of her pencil skirt to slip up a bit, revealing a small patch of skin covered in black stockings above her knees.

"Three hundred thousand is indeed not a small amount, but good things are never cheap."

She turned to face him, one leg gracefully crossed over the other.

Her toes were slightly upturned, and her black pointed high heels swayed gently on her toes, revealing a section of her arch encased in black stockings between the heel and the ball of her foot.

The stockings gleamed faintly under the spotlight, covering every inch perfectly and smoothly from the ankle to the calf and then to the knee.

Her toes curled slightly inside her stockings, a movement so light and quick it seemed both unconscious and deliberate.

She started rubbing against him with her feet.

It was a subtle, almost imperceptible touch, like an accidental encounter or a deliberate, tentative brush.

The tip of her high heel lightly brushed against the surface of Lin Ye's canvas shoes, then her toes—covered in black stockings—touched his shinbone lightly before quickly retracting.

After she finished doing this, she didn't look at him. She just picked up her cup of coffee, which had already gone cold, and took a small sip, leaving a faint reddish-brown mark on the rim of the cup with her lips.

Lin Ye looked down at his calves.

There was a very faint dust mark on the surface of the canvas shoe—it was from the tip of her high heels.

He took the cigarette out of his mouth and placed it on the coffee table, then looked up at Bai Jie.

She was still drinking her coffee, her posture elegant and composed, as if the action of rubbing her foot against him under the table had never happened.

Bai Jie put down the coffee cup, and the bottom of the cup tapped on the saucer with a soft sound.

Her alluring eyes narrowed slightly, and when she narrowed them, they were longer and more curved than usual, with her eyelashes casting extremely fine shadows under the spotlight.

The restless foot stretched out again, but this time it didn't just rub against him and then retract; instead, it pressed the entire toe against the side of his shinbone.

The stockings felt delicate and smooth to the touch, carrying the slight warmth of her body, seeping through two thin layers of fabric—the stockings on her feet and the cotton casual shorts on his legs.

Her toes gently circled his shinbone, slowly moving along the muscle lines of the front edge of the tibia. When they brushed against his calf, the pressure was just right—not ticklish, but enough to make him clearly feel the sensation of his leg encased in stockings.

"Mr. Lin, I sincerely want to close this deal with you."

Her voice was low and soft, with the last syllable drawn out even longer than before, as if she were being coquettish, or perhaps hinting at something.

Do you think I'm that kind of person?

Lin Ye picked up the untouched espresso on the coffee table, took a sip, and frowned very slightly—the coffee beans were over-roasted, too bitter, not even a tenth as good as Shen Qing's hand-drip Yirgacheffe.

Bai Jie stopped walking.

"Mr. Lin, I truly believe you have excellent taste. When you were looking at the catalog just now, you immediately picked out our most expensive limited edition. This shows that you have discerning eyes and are not the kind of person who would be fooled by cheap goods."

As she spoke, she kicked off her other high heel as well, the heel hitting the carpet with a dull thud. Now both her feet were free.

Lin Ye leaned back on the sofa, crossed his legs, and wiggled his canvas shoes a couple of times.

He glanced down at the black-stockinged foot on his calf that was still restlessly circling, then looked up at Bai Jie.

Her smile was still flawless, her peach blossom eyes still looked up at him from under her eyelashes, and the mauve lipstick was still as exquisite as if it had just been cut from a magazine cover.

How much is your monthly salary?

Lin Ye placed the coffee cup on the coffee table, the bottom of the cup making a crisp sound as it hit the marble surface.

Bai Jie was stunned for a moment.

Her foot stopped in mid-air, her toes still maintaining the arc she had drawn in the circle, but the sudden problem had clearly disrupted her rhythm.

But her moment of surprise lasted less than a second. She covered up her shock with a soft laugh, and her foot pressed against Lin Ye's calf again, rubbing up his shinbone even more boldly than before.

"Mr. Lin, you're joking. My salary isn't important; what matters is getting you the best price. If you decide to buy today, in addition to the personal discount I'll give you, I can also throw in a genuine leather care set."

Lin Ye looked down at her feet.

The foot, encased in black stockings, was pressed against the inside of his calf, its toes slowly moving upwards along his shinbone.

The stockings felt smooth to the touch, and her legs looked exceptionally long and slender under them, with a matte finish under the warm yellow spotlight.

Her ankles were so slender that he could easily wrap his arm around them with room to spare.

At this moment, her foot was restlessly rubbing against his calf, from his shinbone to his calf, and then back from his calf to his shinbone, as if drawing some pattern that only she knew.

"Bai Jie".

He spoke.

Bai Jie stopped walking.

Her almond-shaped eyes narrowed, and the curve of her lips deepened slightly.

In her view, calling someone by name meant breaking the ice, and breaking the ice meant that the deal was already half done.

"Hmm?" Her voice was so sweet it could melt your tongue.

Lin Ye reached out and grasped her ankle.

Her ankles were thinner than he had imagined; he could clearly feel the outline of her ankle bones through the thin black stockings.

His thumb and forefinger were positioned directly above her ankle, his five fingers forming a perfect circle around it. The stockings felt smooth and slightly cool in his palm, while underneath them radiated the warmth of her body heat.

Bai Jie took a light breath. She had done this action so many times, but this was the first time a customer had directly touched her.

"Mr. Lin—"

Her voice trailed off, and a thin layer of moisture appeared in her peach blossom eyes.

"Are you afraid they'll worry?"

"You just want me to place an order quickly, right?"

Bai Jie's eyelashes trembled slightly.

Before she could even formulate a rebuttal, Lin Ye had already loosened his grip on her ankle and gently pried her foot off his calf.

"You just want my gold," he said.

Bai Jie's peach blossom eyes widened.

Lin Ye took the foot that she had been rubbing against for a while off his crossed legs, put his canvas shoes on the carpet, leaned forward, and reached for the cigarette that had been sitting on the coffee table for a while, putting it back in his mouth.

"You're despicable."

Bai Jie sat on the armrest of the sofa, her legs, encased in black stockings, remained crossed, but her toes were no longer wobbling.

Her lips parted slightly, her mauve lipstick gleaming under the light, and she moved her throat slightly.

She remained silent for a while, then slowly sat up straight on the sofa armrest, put her legs down, and put her feet back into her high heels, the heels sinking into the carpet with two shallow indentations.

She reached up and straightened the collar of her white shirt, tucking the slipped collarbone chain back in, then adjusted the hem of her pencil skirt with calm and composed movements, before looking up at Lin Ye.

The thin layer of moisture in her peach blossom eyes hadn't completely faded, but the corners of her mouth curved up again, more naturally and genuinely than before.

"Mr. Lin really knows how to compliment people."

Her voice was so sweet it could be drawn out like silk.