Page 3

In Gu Xiaoxi’s eyes, life was simple: three meals a day plus sleep.

Seven days were nothing but the blink of an eye.

After she left the Military Region Hospital, the outside world was a main road bustling with pedestrians and vehicles moving ceaselessly.

Although she didn’t bring any luggage from Luocheng to City A, she did bring her bank card.

As long as you have money, everything is OK!

“Can I get a single room please?” Gu Xiaoxi stood at the hotel reception, casually handing over her bank card.

The receptionist gave her a once-over, took the bank card, and with a polite smile said, “Miss, I need your ID card as well to process your check-in.”

ID card?

Gu Xiaoxi tensed up; she had left in such a hurry this morning that she forgot to bring it.

She frowned, a sharp light flashing in her eyes.

She couldn’t help but think of Quan Shaoqing’s punchable face—did he really think he could stump her like this?

He was seriously underestimating her.

“Sister, could you lend me your ID card so I can register for a room?” Gu Xiaoxi squinted her eyes, her pretty cheeks beaming with a charming smile.

“I’m sorry, we can’t just lend out ID cards for room registrations,” the female receptionist, dazzled by Gu Xiaoxi’s smile, hesitated but still calmly refused.

Gu Xiaoxi pursed her lips and flashed a sly smile, “I’ll give you a ten thousand yuan tip!”

Sure enough, the receptionist hesitated for a moment and then nodded in agreement.

After helping Gu Xiaoxi successfully process the hotel check-in information, the receptionist handed her the card machine, “Miss, please swipe your card to make the payment!”

Gu Xiaoxi entered her PIN and handed the device back to the receptionist, then turned to look at the outside as the sky gradually darkened.

She wouldn’t be defeated by that meddlesome man.

“Miss, I’m sorry, but your bank card has been frozen,” the receptionist apologized.

“Frozen!

Really?

Can you swipe it again?” Gu Xiaoxi had a bad feeling and patiently tried several more times, gritting her teeth.

“It’s truly frozen!” The receptionist looked as if she was about to cry, realizing that the ten thousand yuan tip wasn’t going to happen.

“^^@^” Gu Xiaoxi clenched the bank card in her hands, wanting to curse someone out, only to realize she didn’t even know his name—and she was scammed just like that.

Her bank card was frozen, and she was certain it was his doing!

The scheming Quan Shaoqing!

She wasn’t done with him!

“Damn it!”

Gu Xiaoxi tried various payment apps on her phone, only to discover there wasn’t a single cent left.

Now, she was really at the end of her rope!

…Quan Shaoqing, if you dare show up in front of me now, see if I don’t beat you to death…

The only frenzied thought in Gu Xiaoxi’s mind was this.

*

The city’s night was ablaze with neon lights and red wine.

Gu Xiaoxi walked along the desolate street, bored, kicking a plastic bottle around.

No money!

What a rough life!

She never carried cash, so much so that now she couldn’t even afford a meal.

Accustomed to having everything handed to her, Gu Xiaoxi felt for the first time that life had abandoned her.

A child without a mother is like a blade of grass.

“I’m so hungry!” Suddenly, Gu Xiaoxi kicked the empty plastic bottle forcefully; it flew and landed neatly into a nearby trash can.

She sat on the edge of a flower bed by the street, feeling depressed.

At that moment, a Husky barked at her twice.

Previously, its noble owner threw it a fragrant chicken leg.

While gnawing on the chicken leg, the Husky barked chaotically, as if boasting to Gu Xiaoxi that it had something delicious to eat and she didn’t.

Gu Xiaoxi’s face darkened.

Quan Shaoqing bullied her, and now even this dog dared to bully her too?

Oh my dear mother!

If you are aware beneath the ground, let a bolt of lightning strike Quan Shaoqing dead!

Gu Xiaoxi stood up coldly, hands in her pockets, exuding an evil aura all over as she walked up to the Husky and kicked its chicken leg away.

The Husky watched the chicken leg draw a beautiful parabola, landing steadily into the trash can.

Its mane bristled in an instant.

“Woof woof woof!”

By the time the Husky reacted and went to find the perpetrator, Gu Xiaoxi had long since disappeared.

*

“You little brat, pay up!

If you can’t pay, we’ll have to carve out your organs and sell them,” the man’s crude voice rang clearly through the luxurious city park.

Gu Xiaoxi was lying on a big tree, ready to spend the night there.

Hearing the voice, she frowned and looked in the direction it came from.

Not far away, under a dim streetlight, four burly middle-aged men surrounded a girl about her age, looking fierce and malevolent.

“Please, let me go!

I only borrowed one hundred thousand yuan from you, and I’ve already mortgaged my house to you.

My mom is still lying in the hospital bed, I really have no money!

Once I sell the house, I will give you all the money!” The girl suddenly knelt down on the ground, begging pitifully.

“The house can only count as interest, and it’s now ours.

You little brat, you’re penniless now, except for your body, which is still worth some money.”

“How about this…you make us happy, and we’ll extend you another two days to go beg your relatives for money?”

“Right, I agree!

If you say yes, we’ll give you two more days.”

The girl trembled all over with fear; even with an extension of two days, she couldn’t pay off their high-interest debt.

Moreover, she would rather die than sell her body.

Gu Xiaoxi’s dark eyes gradually narrowed, and she plucked two green leaves from the tree branch.

“My house is worth at least one million yuan, and I only borrowed ten thousand yuan from you.

Please, let me go!

I beg you,” she clung to the last sliver of hope, wishing for their mercy, not knowing that her pleas only fed the men’s evil desires.

“You little brat, begging us is useless.

Tie her up and drag her away.”

A tall man viciously covered the girl’s mouth and dragged her towards the dark forest, right under the big tree where Gu Xiaoxi was sitting.

Gu Xiaoxi crossed her legs and casually sat up, looking down from above, “Hey!

You are disturbing my sleep.”

Her cold and indifferent tone was especially sinister in the darkness!

The men below all looked up at the treetop at the same time.

They saw a beautiful girl lazily sitting on the tree branch under the hazy moonlight, with her black hair falling to her waist, and her dark eyes showing a hint of arrogance and evil.

“Little Baby, how can you sleep here alone!

Come down, uncle will take you to a hotel,” a man with dyed flaxen hair whistled, speaking in a frivolous tone, his eyes lewdly fixed on Gu Xiaoxi.

“Scram!”

Gu Xiaoxi played with four leaves in her hand, coldly spitting out a word.

Though her voice was soft, it was filled with overbearing authority.

The four men could not help but feel a chill in their hearts, a coldness that crept up from the soles of their feet and spread to every limb.

Had they just been intimidated by a mere young girl?

The four exchanged glances, instantly coming to their senses, and cursed Gu Xiaoxi, “You little brat, refusing a toast only to drink a forfeit…”

But before they could finish their words, they suddenly felt a pain in their foreheads.

The green leaves, sharp as blades, had pierced their brows, and blood dripped down drop by drop.

Mu Xiaofei’s eyes widened in shock, her pupils suddenly shrinking.

She looked at Gu Xiaoxi, whose hand had not yet retracted from shooting the leaves, both shocked and relieved.

Did this mean she could ask for her help?

“Please, save me!

They are loan sharks,” Mu Xiaofei begged urgently.

Gu Xiaoxi squinted, uninterested in meddling, yet she couldn’t stand scumbags.

She stared coldly at the four men who were howling in pain and said coolly, “You have ten seconds to disappear from my sight, otherwise this time, you might not be so lucky to just have your brows pierced by leaves.”

The four men exchanged terrified looks, no longer daring to demand debts from Mu Xiaofei, and fled in panic.

Anyone who could use leaves as weapons was an extraordinary expert, and they weren’t foolish enough to confront her head-on.