Page 5

Gu Xiaoxi looked at that face and no matter how she looked at it, she felt it was asking for a beating, especially that smile, which was just like a cunning old fox plotting to deceive a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

She certainly wouldn’t be fooled by his vulgar appearance.

“What my mother left me is more than enough for both shelter and food.

Please don’t flatter yourself,” Gu Xiaoxi glared angrily as she spoke.

“It seems you haven’t made up your mind yet.

I’ll give you some time to think it over,” Quan Shaoqing said amiably, reaching out to tousle Gu Xiaoxi’s dark hair.

Gu Xiaoxi immediately swatted his hand away, recalling a very important matter, “After all this time, you still haven’t told me your name.

May I ask what it is?”

“Quan Shaoqing!

What can I do for you?” Quan Shaoqing’s eyebrows arched gracefully, and his lips curled slightly, appearing to be in an exceptionally good mood.

“I wouldn’t presume to instruct!

I merely want to ask you, why did you freeze my bank card?” Gu Xiaoxi crossed her arms, her eyes blazing with a desire to devour him alive.

She loathed being controlled by others, and yet here was this self-invited annoyance, coming to her doorstep, wanting to take charge of her life.

“I have told you, I am already your guardian.”

“Our seven-day agreement is not yet up, you are not my guardian yet,” Gu Xiaoxi’s breath heated with anger as she leaned in, furiously grabbing Quan Shaoqing by the collar.

She had kindly saved someone only to have trouble come knocking.

Lin Mi looked at the pair, at swords’ points, and shook his head involuntarily.

In this world, only Gu Xiaoxi dared to treat Quan Shaoqing with such disregard.

This girl truly had guts!

“During our seven-day contract, you are to fend for yourself without using a single cent of the money your mother left you,” Quan Shaoqing said indolently, leaning back in his seat, allowing Gu Xiaoxi to clutch at his collar without so much as a furrowed brow.

“You…shameless!” Gu Xiaoxi ground her teeth.

“Xiao Xi, it’s not good to curse.

You should change that habit!” Quan Shaoqing’s handsome eyes immediately turned serious.

“Fuck!”

“You cursed again!”

“Your grandpa!”

“Xiao Xi, I was going to give you some living expenses, but now I think I won’t!”

“Quan Shaoqing!

You…you…you…” Gu Xiaoxi, frantic with rage, raised her fist and swung at his face.

“Bastard!”

She punched with seventy percent of her strength, whipping up a gust of wind, believing she could instantly flatten the face before her.

To her surprise, Quan Shaoqing casually lifted his hand and effortlessly caught her fist.

Gu Xiaoxi’s eyes, full of anger, were now filled with astonishment.

Her punch could have killed a bull, and yet he caught it so effortlessly?

She looked up, her gaze colliding with his pitch-black eyes.

In that instant, Gu Xiaoxi felt a chilling horror, like a tide washing over her, freezing every cell inside her.

Those deep-set eyes, so dark and shimmering, seemed to store endless power within their beautiful pupils.

When he looked at her, she felt as if a mountain was pressing down on her, completely immobilizing her.

“You…” Gu Xiaoxi’s heart raced as she plopped back into her seat, her eyes flashing with shock.

She remembered her master once saying.

There was a kind of martial arts with no techniques, where one’s gaze alone could intimidate the enemy.

It caused people to lose consciousness for a short time and made movements completely uncontrollable by thought…

“Xiao Xi, I’ll welcome you back home anytime,” Quan Shaoqing said with a smile.

His face, jade-like and with a faint, soft smile, made him entirely approachable and gentle, as if that sharp look from before had been her own misconception.

Gu Xiaoxi tilted her head and looked at him, a mischievous, unrestrained smile playing on her lips.

“Don’t think I’ll submit just like that.

You want to bind me?

No chance.

Hope you keep your promise.

I won’t spend a penny of the money my mom left me, and in seven days, when I return to Luocheng, you better not come looking for trouble!”

Still not admitting defeat?

Quan Shaoqing chuckled, said nothing more, and watched as Gu Xiaoxi got out of the car.

At a height of one meter sixty-eight, with long, black hair and a devil-may-care silhouette, she did look a bit wild.

But in front of him, she was still far from enough.

After all, she was just a little girl who lived under her mother’s wing.

*

Gu Xiaoxi stood on the street corner, laughed out loud three times, and raised the twenty new one-thousand-yuan bills above her head.

“You didn’t expect me to filch the cash from right under your nose, huh!

Quan Shaoqing, since you want to play, I’ll play with you till the end.

Dream on if you think you can become my guardian!”

In a high-end restaurant, Gu Xiaoxi ordered a table full of dishes like a nouveau riche, eating to her heart’s content and even ordering desserts and a fruit platter after the meal.

“Waiter, check please!” she called out to a server not far away, while gnawing on an apple.

“Miss, that will be 4,800 yuan!” The waiter said with a smile.

Gu Xiaoxi generously pulled out a stack of crisp new bills from her pocket and handed them to the waiter, “Here’s 5,000, no need for change.”.

The delighted waiter pocketed the money and courteously added, “Our restaurant offers a complimentary glass of our exclusive secret-recipe fruit juice to customers who spend over three thousand.

Miss, I’ll bring it over for you!”

“Sure!” Gu Xiaoxi crossed her legs and her eyes lit up with pleasure.

It’s great to have money!

Soon after, however, she saw the waiter coming back with four menacing security guards in uniform, and they surrounded Gu Xiaoxi.

“Miss, your money is counterfeit!”

“Say that again!” Gu Xiaoxi jumped to her feet, shock causing her to stab her own arm with a toothpick, the pain piercing her heart.

The waiter slammed her bills onto the table, “All this money is counterfeit.

Please, miss, do not make such jokes.”

Gu Xiaoxi flipped through the bills again and again.

Damn it!

How had she not realized they were fake?

Judging by the expressions on the waiter and the four security guards’ faces, this was definitely counterfeit money!

Gu Xiaoxi swiftly pulled out another bill from her pocket and handed it to the waiter, “Is this one fake too?”

“Fake!” The waiter’s tone was firm.

“Miss, did you not know the money you brought was counterfeit?

Then do you have any money to pay the bill?”

Gu Xiaoxi’s breath hitched, and she glared with bloodshot eyes, grinding her teeth!

“Fuck!

I’ve been conned!”

Only now did she realize that Quan Shaoqing had known all along that she would do this, and he had set a trap for her!

…!

“Miss, please settle the bill!” Seeing her response, the waiter thought she was just another dine-and-dasher and, with the four bodyguards, moved to seize Gu Xiaoxi.

Gu Xiaoxi flipped over, rising to her feet and effortlessly dodging the grasp of the four security guards.

Her money was fake; she was set on this uninsured feast.

The detestable Quan Shaoqing, how dare he trick her!