Bella took a sip of water, pulled out her phone, put on her earphones, and started scrolling through videos, ignoring him completely.
The more she engaged with him, the more energized he became.
Seeing that he had teased her until she shrank back into her "turtle shell," Ye Jinzhi stretched out his long arm and pulled the earphone from her left ear.
The music came to an abrupt halt.
Bella turned her head. Before she could even glare at him, she felt a warm touch gently brush against her earlobe, followed by his pleasant, deep voice ringing in her ear:
"We haven't even set the rules for our neighborly relationship yet, and you're already choosing to escape?"
He propped his chin on one hand, his eyes brimming with a smile.
"You!"
Bella reached out to snatch the earphone back, but he dodged her effortlessly.
Ye Jinzhi casually played with the earphone between his fingertips, tilting his head to look at her. "Hmm?"
Bella angrily put her hands on her hips, trying her best to put on a businesslike posture:
"Mutual help between neighbors is a virtue, but as for any extra, nonsensical requests, I'm afraid I won't entertain them."
"Extra?"
Ye Jinzhi repeated the word, the curve at the corner of his lips becoming even more pronounced.
He leaned forward slightly, closing the distance between them once again.
Looking at her eyes full of vigilance, his tone carried a hint of coaxing:
"Then... what if I accidentally trip the circuit breaker in my kitchen, only to find out that property maintenance will take over half an hour to arrive?"
"Or, what if I get takeout from a restaurant with a notoriously long line, realize I bought too much, and just so happen to want to invite my neighbor... for dinner."
He deliberately dragged out the end of his sentence, his fingertips gently twirling the earphone. "Miss Bella wouldn't shut the door on these reasonable requests, would she?"
Bella glared at him, trying to convey her dissatisfaction with her eyes, but before she could speak up to retort, the car came to a steady stop.
The driver's voice sounded from the front seat: "Young Master, we have arrived."
Ye Jinzhi neatly placed the earphone back in her ear, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her temple, and said gently:
"Alright, since you're not saying anything, I'll take that as silent agreement."
"Who agreed? I don't agree!"
Bella froze for a second, then snapped back to reality, quickly following him out of the car and shouting after him.
Ye Jinzhi pushed the suitcase without breaking his stride. He just turned his head slightly, giving her a half-smile, and tossed out: "Got it."
Bella looked at his back in disbelief. This guy usually had a bunch of twisted logic to shut her down. How could he agree so readily today?
The two of them got into the elevator.
All the way up, Bella kept pondering in her heart: What kind of bad idea was he brewing?
Before she could figure it out, the elevator doors opened with a ding, and she was already standing at her front door.
"Go on in, see if you're still missing anything."
Bella changed her shoes and entered the house. So many things had actually been added to the place?
She was a bit dazzled and couldn't remember the specific items, only feeling that the whole house was now packed completely full.
She walked around the house a few times and stopped in her tracks, feeling somewhat helpless.
"Nothing." Bella turned to look at Ye Jinzhi. "There's already enough stuff. If I need anything later, I'll buy it myself."
As soon as her voice fell, a card suddenly appeared in front of her eyes.
Bella: "???"
She looked up, meeting Ye Jinzhi's smiling eyes; his gaze was innocent and open.
"Take it," Ye Jinzhi said softly.
"Take what?" Bella's brain couldn't process it for a moment.
"My primary bank card."
"Why would I take your bank card?"
Bella was completely baffled by his sudden move and instinctively pushed his hand away. "Are you crazy?"
"You saved my life, shouldn't you accept this reward?"
Ye Jinzhi righteously pushed the card forward again. "Besides, in your eyes, I'm a patient with a self-care disability."
Bella: "What???"
When did she ever say that?!
This man's ability to make false countercharges was truly growing by the day.
Bella stared at his face full of innocence, so angry she was speechless:
"I... when did I ever say that?"
Ye Jinzhi looked at her, the smile overflowing from his eyes, and slowly added:
"After all, in your eyes, a young master is the kind of useless person who needs someone to take care of everything, right? Like, he can't even wash the dishes."
Bella: ...
He shoved the card into Bella's hand and smoothly grasped her fingers before she could pull them back, his palm warm.
"Since you see me that way, then this money is just right to leave with you as a caregiving fee.
In the future, no matter what I want to buy, or where I want to eat, I'll have to trouble you... After all, I really don't know anything."
After saying that, he even tilted his head and winked at her.
Bella looked at the bank card in her palm, then looked at his shameless "I'm weak, therefore I'm right" appearance, and was almost driven to laughter by her anger.
How was this a self-care disability? This was clearly him throwing away his pride just to tie her to his side.
And it was... a primary card.
Bella stared at the card, her palm burning.
She had only heard of men generously giving out supplementary cards, which was to easily control expenses. After all, the authority and risk level involved in a primary card were on a completely different scale.
But this guy dared to just casually toss out his primary card.
"Are you crazy?" Bella quickly shoved the card back into his chest. "Do you know what a primary card means? What if I take it and squander all the money in your account?"
As if he had heard a joke, Ye Jinzhi let out a low chuckle.
He didn't take the card back. Instead, he bent down, lowering his frame to stay at eye level with her. His usually aloof eyes were now locked tightly onto her, filled with stubbornness:
"If that's what you want, let alone the money in the account, you can squander me along with it."
Bella's brain short-circuited from his overly blunt words. The card in her hand felt like a branding iron, so hot that she instinctively wanted to pull her hand back.
But Ye Jinzhi didn't give her the slightest chance to escape. Maintaining his posture, he met her panicked gaze with an open look:
"Don't worry about the risks. I've already completed the legal procedures for account authorization.
I've entered your identity into the private bank's whitelist system, and set all the risk control verification nodes to your personal phone, rather than mine.
Legally speaking, you now possess the highest operational agency rights for this primary account."
Saying this, Ye Jinzhi tightened his grip on her small hand.
"Take it. After all, whenever I want to spend money in the future, it'll depend on whether you're willing to press confirm on the transaction verification code. For the rest of my life, I won't be able to escape... your approval."
Bella felt this man was truly insane. She naturally knew what he meant, and the person in front of her continued:
"From now on, all my balances are the confidence for you to do whatever you please.
The card is in your hand, and the person is in your hands too, Bella. As for how you want to squander me in the future, we have plenty of time to figure it out slowly."
Bella stared at him for a few seconds, then broke into a huge smile. She took the initiative to grab his hand, briskly led him to the doorway, and opened the door.
Ye Jinzhi thought she had finally come around. He obediently followed her to the entryway, just about to seize the opportunity to say a few more words, when the unexpected happened.
Moving with lightning speed, Bella slipped behind him. In that split second when Ye Jinzhi was completely off his guard, she planted a heavy shove squarely on his back!
"Off you go."
