After the measurements were complete and some questions in regards to the theme of the banquet were asked, Zhao Lifei walked out of the door with a few gifts given by Wu Subing, who despite the reassurance that she would not go for his neck, pestered her to accept. Because she did not accept the dresses, he gave her three entire outfits to wear.
Zhao Lifei handed the bags to the private chauffeur who placed it in the trunk of the car. She was about to go home when she realized something. She had never cooked for Yang Feng before.
As she was about to direct the car to an authentic market, her phone went off. She grabbed it and when she saw it was Yang Feng, a part of her doubtful conscious thought he was going to make an excuse for why he could not return home early again.
She picked up the phone.
"Where are you?" He asked her, a slight noise in the background before it disappeared.
"I'm on my way to a market."
"A market? Which dish do you have in mind? I'll cook it for you when I get home."
She happily smiled upon hearing his words. It seemed he was going to start fulfilling his promises after all. "Actually, I was thinking of cooking for you instead."
Hearing her words was like hearing an angel's lullaby, it was music to his ears. He became excited at the idea of her in a little apron, cooking up a storm.
"But I have to go to a market first—"
"I'll come with you."
Zhao Lifei stiffened, the idea of a local market quickly crossed off the list. She was sure he would have a fit if she took him to a place like that. "How about this, you wait at home for me and I'll go there myself?"
Yang Feng frowned. Was she hiding something? "Why?"
"It's going to be crowded there. You won't like it—"
"It's a market, what could be so bad about it?"
At his stubbornness, she reluctantly sighed. Fine then, I hope you suffer there! "Alright, I'll send you the address."
She hung up and sent him the location which he then gave to Hu Wei. The chauffeur stared at the location in the GPS, a bit puzzled before starting the car and heading to the side of the city where most people frequented.
As the two drove there, Hu Wei was beginning to grow more and more hesitant. He thought that perhaps he placed in the wrong address because right now, they were in downtown where a lot of the regular city workers frequented. It was far away from the skyscrapers, the upper-class society, and their bubbles.
"Boss, I apologize, it seems I drove to the wrong address—" Hu Wei stopped talking when he saw another car pull up beside them, his hand reaching for the gun strapped on his waist pants.
Through the tinted window, a man stepped out, opening the car door and blocking the figure of a woman. But when Hu Wei saw it was the lady boss, he hurriedly got out of the car as well to open the door for his boss.
Yang Feng's nose wrinkled upon seeing this place bustling with people and a weird smell in the air, his eyes centered on a suspicious and dingy gated-entrance to the far left. Nonetheless, he walked to Zhao Lifei, an arm instantly snaking its way to her lower waist.
The people on the streets were in awe upon seeing two designer branded cars, the gleaming Ferrari and black Maybach too much for their eyes. Looking at them was like looking at a treasure box of gold. Not many of the affluents frequented this area, their expensive cars standing out like a sore thumb.
"Are you sure we're not at the wrong place?" Yang Feng warily asked, hurriedly walking after Zhao Lifei when she ignored his pretentious stares and questions.
"Wait, you can't enter without a face mask, there's a weird smell coming from the place. It might be harmful for you to consume it—"
"It's just the smell of the freshly caught seafood."
"You might think that, wait, did you say freshly caught seafood? From where? You don't know if it's really fresh caught or farmed. Even worse, the fish might've consumed a wide variety of chemicals—"
Zhao Lifei sharply turned around. "Stop nagging."
Yang Feng did not stop. "My love, I heard you had a fondness for things grown or caught by the locals, but trust me, we have an enormous garden path behind the house—" She walked off.
Yang Feng sulked all the way to her, grabbing her hand to which she tried to swing off, but he grasped her fingers, holding it tight, entwining it with his. He motioned for Hu Wei to send men into the gates to secure the location at which Zhao Lifei scoffed.
"Relax, I used to frequent this place a lot." She shook her head, pulling him inside of the gates where tiny stalls could be seen.
SPLASH!
One of the fishes jumped in the tiny and shallow buckets, water going everywhere. It was a normal occurrence but for Young Master Yang Feng, it was a rare sight. He eyed the dingy stalls and the things being sold. Why did this place remind him of the black market?
Zhao Lifei's eyes brightened when she saw the seafood she was looking for. It was being sold at the stall she always frequented, but instead of a granny, there was a woman in her late forties there. She figured it was probably the granny's daughter.
"Eight abalones and one pound of the squid please." She said, walking up to her, Yang Feng trudging after her, glaring at everything around him, disliking this place.
The stall owner nodded, reaching for the seafood, placing it in a bright red bag before weighing it on a scale to which Yang Feng's face became contorted. The scale was dripping wet, weird stains stuck onto it.
"My dear, if you want seafood, I can have one of the butlers order it to be flown from—" She muffled his words with her hand, a big smile on her face when the woman gave her a dirty look.
"Sorry, my boyfriend here is used to being pampered." She awkwardly said, handing the money over while shooting Yang Feng a glare. Damn it! If he didn't open his big mouth, I could've tried to sweet talk her into giving me extras!
As the bag was being handed over to Zhao Lifei, Yang Feng squeezed her hand, slightly shaking his head, silently telling her not to touch it. She blew out a big puff of air, annoyance written all over her face.
"Your husband is quite a germ freak." The woman heartily commented, a harmless smile on her face. Despite his behavior, this man was dashing enough for her to pardon him.
Yang Feng's sour mood rapidly changed upon hearing "husband." Did they look like a married couple? His heart was filled to the brim with happiness, pulling her closer. He ignored the insult, a cheeky smile on his face.
Zhao Lifei resisted the urge to roll her eyes at his quickly changing behavior. "He's—"
"I assume you guys are newly married. Here, I'll throw in some complimentary oysters. It'll be helpful if your husband consumed it.." She winked, glad they did not try to haggle for prices like most people here.
Zhao Lifei blinked. She didn't even have to sweet talk this woman to get free stuff? They could get it by pretending to be husband and wife? All of a sudden, the idea did not seem so bad to her as she wrapped her arms around his biceps, leaning in his direction, surprising Yang Feng.
"Thank you, we'll enjoy it." She happily replied, secretly nudging Yang Feng to go along, who would've done so even without her warning.
Yang Feng patted her head, a loving smile on his face. "The oysters will be quite helpful." His tone was light and conversational, but Zhao Lifei blushed at the hidden meaning, her face reddening without her control. This man would be the death of her!