Ji Zhaoxi sat quietly on the ground. The driver was leaning down, saying something to someone inside the car.
One moment he frowned at her, the next he seemed to have a sudden realization.
Ji Zhaoxi hesitated, wondering if she should sneak away now.
Just as she got up, the old man in the bushes kept gesturing at her frantically, growing impatient.
Ji Zhaoxi stared at him blankly—she had no idea what he meant.
The old man was so frustrated his face turned red. Seeing that the young woman was about to run off without getting any money, he was furious.
He suddenly stood up and bellowed with full force, "Get down!"
As soon as he shouted, he ducked back into the bushes.
The atmosphere fell silent.
The driver glanced at the bushes, then stared silently at Ji Zhaoxi.
Seems like this girl had come prepared after all.
He straightened his back, clasped his hands behind him, walked up to Ji Zhaoxi, and looked down at her. "QR code for payment."
"Oh, right." Ji Zhaoxi hurriedly pulled out her phone.
The old man frowned deeply, watching the scene. Why a phone scan?
In his experience, scanning a QR code didn’t bring in much money—getting a bank card number was the real way to cash in!
Ji Zhaoxi saw five zeros on the screen and looked at the driver in disbelief.
"Twenty thousand?!"
The driver snorted. "Little girl, this is a reward for not being greedy. If you’d tried to demand a fortune, you’d be in the hospital by now."
Ji Zhaoxi’s mind was racing—would she have to return such a large sum?
Seeing her bow her head, the driver felt smug.
The money came from the young master, but the glory was his. What a deal!
"Um..." Ji Zhaoxi murmured.
"Hm?" The driver was in a good mood.
"How about I refund you the 19,800? It’s a bit too much, really." Ji Zhaoxi said earnestly.
The driver’s eyes widened. "What do you mean? Insulting our young master?!"
"Our young master never gives such a low amount as two hundred!"
Ji Zhaoxi was silent for a moment, then said sincerely, "Thank your young master for me."
The driver finally broke into a smile. "I’ll pass that along."
But then his tone shifted, and he glared. "But you—don’t try this scam here again!"
With that, he didn’t wait for her reply. He got back into the car, the engine started, and the vehicle pulled around her, flicking a bit of dirt her way.
The car sped off.
As soon as the driver left, the old man leaped out of the bushes, but he moved too fast and his vision went black.
He steadied himself against a tree, waited a moment, then dragged his numb legs toward Ji Zhaoxi.
"Girl, how much did he give you?" the old man limped over, hobbling.
Ji Zhaoxi answered honestly, "Twenty thousand."
Hearing that number, the old man’s mouth twitched. "Girl, do you know what kind of car that was? You could’ve asked for two million and it wouldn’t have been too much!"
Seeing Ji Zhaoxi look down in shame, he sighed. "It’s fine, it’s fine. This is your first time—you’ll get the hang of it."
Ji Zhaoxi was about to thank him. "Sir, without your encouragement..."
But before she could finish, the old man’s eyes lit up. He dashed to the road, threw himself down, closed his eyes, and lay still.
The atmosphere went dead quiet.
A nearby car door burst open, and a woman in high heels jumped out, brandishing a stick. "You old fool, this is the fourth time you’ve tried to pull this scam on me! Don’t think I won’t beat you to death!"
The old man was so startled that he scrambled to his feet and ran off, his body moving with a nimbleness that completely contradicted his earlier limping.
Ji Zhaoxi watched him closely, thinking that she would have to practice sprinting too!
Ji Zhaoxi used her illicit earnings to go buy a pot at the supermarket.
She purchased a 199-yuan pot—the same one she and Ji Huaichuan had looked at for so long last time that the nearby staff member almost thought Ji Huaichuan was planning to steal it.
That staff member had even secretly pulled Ji Zhaoxi aside and asked if she knew the man in front, warning her to stay away from him in case her money got stolen.
Ji Huaichuan, meanwhile, had thought the employee was pulling Ji Zhaoxi aside to discuss a discount, and he waited at the front with a hopeful expression.
After leaving the supermarket, Ji Zhaoxi cruelly revealed the truth to Ji Huaichuan. He was utterly crushed and didn’t speak for an entire hour.
That showed just how hard the blow was, because aside from sleeping, he never went an hour without talking.
Back at their place, Ji Zhaoxi opened the door.
“Brother, I’m back with the rice cooker,” she called inside.
Ji Huaichuan stared at her incredulously. “Sis, are you telling me you went out and bought a pot just because you were afraid I’d make fun of you?”
Ji Zhaoxi shook her head. “No, this was extorted—ill-gotten gains.”
Ji Huaichuan fell silent.
Ji Zhaoxi felt a bit smug and showed him the payment receipt on her phone. “Pretty impressive, huh?”
Her brother was hopeless at everything.
Ji Huaichuan silently lowered his head to look at the screen.
Ji Zhaoxi kindly held the phone closer so he could see clearly.
Ji Huaichuan let out a desperate laugh and collapsed onto the sofa.
“Miss Ji Zhaoxi, please, you have to tell me exactly where you lay down, which direction you were facing, and what expression you wore. This is very important to me.”
Ji Zhaoxi was happy to teach him the trick.
She sat down on the floor and explained seriously, “You can’t lie down too fast, or you might scrape your skin.”
“Also, like you told me before, lean against the roadside, because that makes it easier to run.”
Ji Zhaoxi had discovered something new. “You need to use a sincere look in your eyes when you look at the other person.”
Ji Huaichuan listened gravely.
Ji Zhaoxi looked at him with tearful eyes. “Use your eyes to tell them, ‘I need money’—that look is the most important part!”
Ji Huaichuan suddenly understood—you also had to pair it with watery, pleading eyes.
He looked at her, eyes brimming with tears. “Like this?”
Ji Zhaoxi nodded firmly.
Ji Huaichuan cracked his neck, his face brimming with confidence. He stood up and sighed. “Sis, just wait for your brother’s triumphant return.”
“Go get ’em, brother!”
Ji Huaichuan set off, armed with his tear-filled look.
The sky had already darkened, so he made sure to pick a well-lit stretch of road—just in case someone actually ran him over.
He even chose a new route, waiting for a kindred spirit to come along.
At that moment, a low-key luxury car drove by.
The driver was overjoyed, because payday was just around the corner.
Sure, the young master had a rotten temper, but his parents paid generously!
Just then, he spotted a man by the roadside slowly lying down in their path. The man’s eyes were bright, radiating an unmistakable, feral intensity!
The driver fell silent.
The person in the back seat fell silent too.
“Young master, how about we skip hitting this one? He might be an escaped patient,” the driver said politely.
The person in the back seat responded in a low voice.
The driver switched lanes and drove off unhurriedly.
Lying on the road, tears streaming down his face, Ji Huaichuan thought:
What makes them so special?!
At home, Ji Zhaoxi was just about to get some water when she saw Ji Huaichuan push open the door, looking utterly dejected.
Ji Zhaoxi let out a soft laugh and went back inside.
All that was left was Ji Huaichuan, leaning against the window, staring gloomily at the moon.
