The roads were lined with fir and ginkgo trees, their lush branches and leaves blocking out the summer heat entirely.
Through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows facing the distant woods, sunlight poured directly into the living room, where several servants in uniforms moved about carefully.
Zhou Chiye had just showered, his hair still damp. Frowning at his phone, he tapped his fingers impatiently on the sofa.
He had never encountered such a troublesome situation before.
If he had known taking care of a girl would be this much trouble, he never would have agreed to it.
But seeing her face flushed from the sun, looking at him nervously as if she really wanted to be his underling...
Zhou Chiye let out a deep sigh and started searching online.
[What do you give a poor, timid bookworm as a gift?]
After browsing for a while, Zhou Chiye grew increasingly dissatisfied. Everything was too cheap.
If he actually gave her any of these things, people would mock him for life.
In the end, he simply let the butler pick something out.
Leave it to the professionals.
The setting sun had dyed the entire sky red. Under the old locust tree at the village entrance, a group of people sat around playing cards, their elongated shadows flickering in the dim lamplight.
Father Ji crouched on a wooden bench, a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his lips. Hunching his neck, he chuckled smugly at the man beside him.
"Old Wang, I'll pay you back tomorrow. My luck was just terrible today."
Lao Wang’s face turned dark instantly: "Tomorrow again? Tomorrow always turns into another tomorrow. You still haven’t paid me back from last week."
The others at the table looked at him with disgust.
Father Ji wasn’t offended. He kept apologizing, "Lao Wang, just lend me another ten bucks. You know my situation—that wretched woman ran off with my money, and even my own kid won't get close to me. I'm really struggling here."
Seeing that Lao Wang still wouldn’t hand over any money, his eyes bulged as cigarette smoke wafted over the table: "If I don’t pay you back next time, may lightning strike me dead!"
The others grew impatient: "Are we playing or not? If you don’t have money, get off the table."
Father Ji stared helplessly at Old Wang, who glumly tossed him a ten-yuan note.
The woman beside Lao Wang instantly scowled: "What, are you some millionaire, throwing money around everywhere?"
Father Ji clicked his tongue and raised his voice: "Sister-in-law, that’s not right. What’s the big deal about lending a brother a little money?"
The woman couldn’t be bothered to argue and simply got up and left.
Father Ji pointed a finger at her retreating back: "Women don’t understand anything. If something happens later, a brother will be the one to help out big time."
The sunset glow painted their faces as they cursed and played cards, Father Ji’s face brimming with excitement.
The talk at the table turned to something that had happened west of the village—someone had been hit by a car. Though the injuries weren’t serious, the victim had been compensated several hundred thousand.
Father Ji puffed on his cigarette as he listened, squinting.
"How much does that insurance cost?" he asked.
The others shot him disdainful looks: "Old Ji, don't even think about it. It costs several thousand a year."
Lao Ji let out a scoff: "Several thousand is nothing. That's just a few days’ earnings."
The man next to him rolled his eyes.
If you're that rich, why can't you even come up with ten bucks?
The village was filled with the smell of cooking smoke and food. Everyone else packed up and headed home for supper, while Father Ji kept shouting for a few more rounds, but no one paid him any attention.
Father Ji sighed and slouched along the road. Seeing a stray dog pass by, he suddenly barked at it. The dog, startled, barked back ferociously.
Father Ji glared: "Damn mutt."
He bent down to pick up a stone to throw at it, but the dog ran off in fright.
Outside, the sky had gone completely dark. Inside the house, an electric fan buzzed and creaked intermittently. Every time it made that noise, Ji Zhaoxi and Ji Huaichuan would look up at it nervously.
Only after making sure it wouldn’t fall and slice off their heads did they go back to what they were doing.
Ji Huaichuan was happily munching on snacks—he had never eaten so well in his life.
"Bro, I’m not going out with you to stage accidents anymore," Ji Zhaoxi set down her pen.
Ji Huaichuan froze mid-bite, a potato chip falling from his hand. He stared at her in disbelief: "Why? If we keep working hard, we can buy a house someday!"
That old man had bought so many apartments—they only wanted one!
Ji Zhaoxi sighed sadly: "Brother Ye said that if I stage accidents, it’ll ruin his reputation."
Ji Huaichuan looked at her blankly: "Which Brother Ye? Zhou Chiye?"
He grabbed another bag of chips after finishing the first.
Ji Zhaoxi nodded. Ji Huaichuan sighed regretfully: "Looks like this family’s burdens are going to fall on me then."
He guessed he’d have to work harder—go out and stage more accidents on weekends.
Ji Zhaoxi was seriously jotting down notes on Zhou Chiye’s personality:
[Rich, doesn’t like people who aren’t generous, doesn’t use tissues to wipe sweat, uses his shirt instead.]
Understanding Zhou Chiye would help her get him to spend more money on her.
The next day, Zhou Chiye was in class when he saw Ji Zhaoxi walking past the corridor, accompanied by that bespectacled girl and boy from before.
He frowned deeply. Had those glasses twins bullied her again?
Zhou Chiye started getting a headache. Had she just stood there like an idiot letting them poke at her again?
Seeing how timid she was, even he felt like poking her...
Meanwhile, Ji Zhaoxi was discussing a subscription renewal with her clients.
"It’s fine if you don’t want to continue. You can still come to me whenever you feel stressed—I’ll always listen," Ji Zhaoxi said sincerely.
The bespectacled girl forced a smile: "But we really don’t want to renew. We’ve already shouted enough."
The bespectacled boy nodded eagerly.
Ji Zhaoxi kept persuading them: "But life is always full of stress. Finding someone you can insult freely isn’t easy."
The bespectacled girl couldn’t hold back anymore: "But our biggest stress right now is insulting you!"
The boy chimed in: "Yeah, exactly! Having to think of new ways to insult you every day is exhausting."
The girl sighed deeply: "And while we’re in class, we’re still thinking about how to insult you. Insulting you has seriously affected our mental and physical health."
Ji Zhaoxi hung her head apologetically: "Alright then."
The bespectacled girl tried to comfort her: "Next time we’re upset, we’ll come find you again."
Ji Zhaoxi looked at her gratefully.
As the two walked away, the boy whispered, "Seriously? Are we really going to come back?"
The girl pinched him: "Shut up. She can still hear us."
"I was lying just now. No matter if I’m upset or not, I’m never coming back."
She had already found someone else—an ugly guy she had to pay more, so they could let loose without any guilt.
To be honest, even though they paid Ji Zhaoxi, when they looked at her, they always felt a little bad about insulting her.
Ji Zhaoxi watched them go with longing in her eyes.
Her client hadn't chosen someone else, had they...
