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Chapter 888: Chapter 887: Holding Hands, Growing Old Together (Grand Finale)
Shen Mingzhu’s car had just entered the gates of Jinlan Club when a young and handsome doorman immediately came forward to greet her.
After handing the car keys to one of the doormen to park the car, Shen Mingzhu entered the club with another doorman.
As they walked through, the club staff members greeted her politely, "Good day, President Shen."
Compared to her identity as Mrs. Pei, Shen Mingzhu was more renowned for her status as a well-known private entrepreneur.
As soon as she stepped out of the elevator that led directly to the top-floor private room, a mixture of high-end fragrance and a light alcohol scent hit her immediately.
"Mingzhu, you’re late."
Zhong Qing, her face flushed from drinking, was the first to spot Shen Mingzhu’s arrival. Pointing at her, she declared, "You owe us three drinks."
Yan Su took over with a smile, "Three drinks isn’t enough. You’re twenty-five minutes late. By our rules of one drink for every five minutes, you owe five drinks."
Shen Mingzhu casually hung her handbag on the coat rack and, looking at the red wine on the table, raised her hands in surrender, "Spare me, please. After five drinks, I’ll have to crawl home tonight."
"Today, you’ll start with one, and we’ll keep a tab for the rest," Zhuang Xueqi said as she poured a glass of red wine and handed it to her.
Zhong Qing and Yan Su nodded in agreement.
"Fine, you make the rules."
Seeing that Shen Mingzhu quickly accepted the penalty and drank, the three of them finally let her sit down.
The four of them met at Jinlan Club at the end of every month.
Jinlan Club, founded three years ago by Zhuang Xueqi, was a high-end private club with a membership system catering exclusively to women, employing only young, handsome men averaging 1.8 meters in height as staff, which quickly made Jinlan Club the go-to spending pit for the rich young women.
The women, in their thirties and forties, usually talked about beauty, health, wellness, and life. But today, for some reason, the conversation turned to relationships. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝖕𝖚𝖇.𝖈𝔬𝔪
Discussing each other’s first loves.
Zhong Qing said she never had a first love, only unrequited love.
Yan Su’s first love was her late husband. His death had plunged her into a long period of grief and longing until Han Zibin appeared.
This romance with a man ten years her junior not only healed her emotional wounds but also rejuvenated her, giving her hope in life.
Shen Mingzhu’s first love was a high school classmate in her past life, a boy with a good family background, tall, great grades, and basketball skills.
After the college entrance exams, she gathered her courage to confess to the boy, but was rejected.
His reason was that he didn’t like girls who were too short.
In both her past and present life, Shen Mingzhu’s height was 1.6 meters.
"When I saw him again at a reunion, he had a girl with him, and even in platform shoes, she wasn’t as tall as me. That was when I realized, it wasn’t about height; he just didn’t like me."
When Shen Mingzhu shared this story of unrequited love, she deliberately omitted the details of the era and background, so no one sensed anything was amiss. They all comforted her, criticizing the boy’s lack of discernment, wondering if he regretted his decision now.
"My first love was in kindergarten..."
"Beep-beep-beep—beep-beep-beep—"
It was Zhuang Xueqi’s turn, and she had barely started when she was interrupted by a loud and urgent car horn from downstairs.
They walked to the window and saw a flashy sky-blue Lamborghini parked horizontally outside the club entrance.
Through the open scissor doors, they could see a man furiously honking the horn inside, none other than Ning Yuan.
The club didn’t serve male guests, even if Ning Yuan was the husband of the hostess, he was not allowed inside.
Zhuang Xueqi picked up her phone, dialed, and scolded, "Ning Yuan, are you out of your mind?"
Whatever Ning Yuan said on the phone, Zhuang Xueqi hung up and then excused herself.
"I need to go. You girls enjoy yourselves. Put it on my tab."
"Don’t worry, we won’t stand on ceremony at your place."
After seeing Zhuang Xueqi off, the three switched topics and continued.
...
Stepping out of the club lobby, Zhuang Xueqi casually tossed her car keys to an appealing doorman, "Take me home."
"Right away, ma’am, please wait."
While waiting for the doorman to bring the car around, the Lamborghini continued to blare its horn every three seconds, creating incessant noise.
Zhuang Xueqi, unable to endure it anymore and wearing high heels, confronted him, "Can you stop causing a scene?"
"Finally decided to show up, huh? I thought you broke your legs. Get in."
"I have my own car."
Ning Yuan scoffed, "Planning to drive yourself after drinking, tired of living?"
Zhuang Xueqi coldly retorted, "Don’t worry about me; I have a driver."
Just then, the doorman pulled up a wine-red Maserati behind Zhuang Xueqi and got out of the car courteously to open the passenger door for her.
