Chapter 328: Sweet for a Few Years, Bitter for a Lifetime

Shen Qingning picked the restaurant, an all-you-can-eat seafood buffet that cost 500 yuan per person. Su Ran didn’t really care what they ate, but Shen Qingning was grateful to him for lending her the money to save her grandmother, so she insisted the meal couldn’t be a cheap one. A 1000-yuan meal was still a hefty price for a regular college student, but she was doing what was within her means.

After getting some seafood and taking their seats, Su Ran raised his glass. “Thanks for the treat, Boss Shen.”

“What boss? I’m just a poor student. I was worried you’d think this place is too low-class.”

“Not at all. This place is great. I’ve been here before; the seafood is excellent.”

“Well, I’m relieved to hear you’ve been here before…” Shen Qingning raised her glass. “Thank you, Class President, for always looking after me. This is for you.”

Cheers.

They chatted as they ate.

“Qingning, have you found a job yet?”

“Not yet. There aren’t many part-time jobs available right now. SIGH… I was hoping to come back early and get a job lined up so I could work while attending classes when school starts next week. Now, who knows how long it will take.”

“A friend of mine has a shop that’s hiring. Why don’t you go check it out after we eat?”

“No, no, it’s fine. I’ll find one myself. I don’t want to trouble you, Class President. You’ve already helped me more than enough. I don’t want to bother you again.”

“I just want you to earn some money so you can pay me back. So, just listen to me and go make some quick cash.”

“Quick cash? What kind of shop is it? What kind of ‘quick cash’?”

Shen Qingning grew nervous.

Su Ran smiled. “A clothing store.”

Shen Qingning: “…”

‘That scared the life out of me.’

“Just eat. You’ll see when we get there.”

After the meal, he took her to a shopping mall on his electric scooter. They arrived at the store owned by Qi Shan’s wife. It was a shop catering to anime culture, selling a wide and exhaustive variety of cosplay outfits.

Qi Shan’s wife wasn’t there. After Su Ran gave his name, the female manager, who was wearing a Lolita dress, exclaimed, “Oh, it’s Mr. Su! Right, right, right… the boss called earlier. He said Mr. Su would be bringing a friend for an interview. It’s this young lady, correct?”

“Yes, this is her. You two can talk. I’m just going to look around.” Su Ran started wandering through the shop. Gazing at the Lolita dresses, cat-maid outfits, and JK school uniforms, the manly heart of Su Ran took a direct hit.

A short while later, Shen Qingning came over. Su Ran asked, “What’s the monthly salary?”

“5,000 plus commission. If I take the job, I’d be on the night shift, from 6 PM to 10 PM, since I have classes during the day.”

“That’s not bad at all.”

“But… their hiring requirement is that I have to try on a few of those outfits to ‘see the effect.'” Shen Qingning pointed at the costumes on the rack. “What kind of clothing store makes you wear their clothes to get hired? I’m not into anime culture. I don’t like wearing that kind of stuff.”

“How outrageous!”

“Yeah, it’s a bit much. Maybe we should just go.”

“Wait… It might be outrageous, but I think it’s worth a try.”

“???”

“AHEM, what I mean is, there’s no shame in earning money. Right?”

Shen Qingning hesitated. She glanced around the shop, thought about the 5,000 plus commission—which was actually very good—and after a two-second pause, she nodded. “Okay, I’ll give it a try.”

“Alright. Go pick out an outfit.”

Shen Qingning turned to face the cat-maid outfit, hesitated, then shuffled to the side and picked up the Lolita dress. She thought she heard the Class President sigh, and she whipped her head around to look at him. He was just smiling cheerfully. ‘It must have been my imagination. There’s no way the Class President is some otaku who likes cat-maid outfits.’

Shen Qingning took the Lolita dress to the fitting room. Su Ran waited for a moment before she pulled back the curtain and stepped out. Shen Qingning was already slender with a delicate, pitiable look, and wearing the Lolita dress made her look incredibly cute, especially with her fair, tender calves showing beneath the skirt.

‘Legs you could play with for a year.’

“Not bad at all…” Su Ran gave her a thumbs-up, then turned to the store manager. “Manager, does my classmate meet the standard?”

“Let’s have her try this one on.” The manager handed the cat-maid outfit to Shen Qingning. “Go change. If this one looks good too, she passes.”

“Can I not…”

“No!”

“Sigh… okay.”

Shen Qingning took the outfit and went back into the fitting room. Su Ran was very displeased with this employee selection process. He questioned the manager, who simply said it was the boss’s rule. So, Su Ran called Qi Shan directly. After hearing him out, Qi Shan replied in a sleazy tone, “Young Master Su, why are you so worked up? I arranged this especially for you! Didn’t you say you’ve gotten into anime culture recently? I’m just giving you a little something to feast your eyes on. Isn’t it great?”

Su Ran didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This Qi Shan really was a ‘Chief Eunuch’.

The system was finding all sorts of ways for Su Ran to enjoy life.

Qi Shan was finding all sorts of ways to probe Su Ran’s “kinks.”

“Class President~”

Just then, Shen Qingning’s voice came from behind him. Su Ran turned to look and saw her wearing the lace-trimmed cat-maid outfit. It was the smallest size and stretched taut against her body. The lacy skirt only came down to mid-thigh, and she stood there awkwardly on her long, over-the-knee-stocking-clad legs. “Class President…”

Su Ran walked over, sizing up Shen Qingning in her cat-maid outfit.

“Class President… will this do?”

“You look pretty cute in this.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. This should be good enough. Right, Manager?”

“Yes. She passes.”

“Thank you, Manager!”

Shen Qingning was so thrilled that she bowed deeply in gratitude. But because the outfit was too small, the taut back zipper, which hadn’t been zipped up properly in the first place, gave way with a RRRIP as she straightened up. The cat-maid outfit instantly fell apart before Su Ran’s eyes.

A slender vine bearing a heavy melon—even if not sweet, it’s still ripe.

Shen Qingning panicked. In that instant, Su Ran reacted quickly, pulling her into an embrace and pressing her chest against his to shield her from the view of others.