Ning Xi stood on the steps, looking up at Bo Wang hanging from the tree branch, and asked crisply, "What's in it for me if I save you?"
"Ah…" Bo Wang said angrily, "I have money. Save me, and I can give you money."
Ning Xi snorted arrogantly, "I have money too!"
Her master had said: A gentleman loves wealth, but acquires it through proper means!
Bo Wang was so angry he nearly fainted.
After a moment, it dawned on him—could Ning Xi be a wild spirit in disguise?
She must want him!
"Even if I hang to death, starve to death, or die of thirst, I would never offer myself to you!"
Ning Xi widened her almond-shaped eyes, her brows curving as she said, "Oh, right! That's how it goes in the operas—a life-saving grace must be repaid with one's own hand in marriage!"
Ning Xi descended the steps, stood under the ginkgo tree, and looked up at Bo Wang's flushed, handsome face.
At the same time, Bo Wang, hanging from the tree branch, also got a clear view of Ning Xi's face.
Her small face was probably only as big as his palm.
Her brows curved like willow leaves, and her eyes seemed to hold a myriad of stars.
Golden sunlight filtered through the ginkgo leaves, shining on Ning Xi's white dress and leaving a shimmering halo of light.
In that instant, Bo Wang's heart began pounding uncontrollably!
The rapid heartbeat made Bo Wang quickly cover his chest.
He thought despairingly—could he have developed heart disease?
"Anything but offering myself," Bo Wang added hastily, "I have a fiancée, so let's just talk about money."
His grandfather had told him.
He had a fiancée.
So he wasn't allowed to mess around with relationships.
Ning Xi looked up at Bo Wang and said, "Then if I save you, how much money are you planning to give me?"
"Ten million!"
Ning Xi gave Bo Wang a disdainful look and said, "You're only worth ten million?!"
Bo Wang flushed and said, "No, save me, and I'll give you 100 million."
"100 million it is, then. Ah, who told me I'm a beautiful, kind-hearted little fairy?"
Ning Xi tapped her toes lightly and, using clever momentum, leaped onto the ginkgo tree as lightly as a swallow, untangling the knotted rope.
Bo Wang knew Ning Xi couldn't see him at that moment, so he grumbled inwardly: Beautiful and kind-hearted? Have you no shame? Clearly a robber!
Ning Xi had grown up in the Taoist temple.
She had climbed this ginkgo tree countless times.
In less than ten minutes, Bo Wang was safely on the ground.
When Bo Wang's feet touched the bluestone pavement, he still felt as if he were treading on clouds.
Ning Xi stretched her hand out in front of Bo Wang and asked coldly, "Pay up—100 million?!"
Bo Wang now looked at Ning Xi as if she were an idiot, saying arrogantly, "Are you stupid? Who carries 100 million in cash around these days?"
"Transfer is fine too! WeChat? Alipay? Cloud QuickPass?"
Bo Wang casually patted the pockets of his cargo pants—they were empty.
His phone was missing; he didn't know when he had dropped it.
Seeing Bo Wang like this, Ning Xi's pretty face showed a hint of anger as she asked, "Are you trying to renege on your debt?"
"Who said I'm reneging? I just lost my phone."
Bo Wang instantly bristled.
How could he, the esteemed Young Master Bo of the capital, possibly renege on a debt?
The words "renege on a debt" didn't even exist in his dictionary!
"Write. An. IOU!"
Bo Wang was hearing the word "IOU" for the first time. "IOU?" What's that?
"No way, no way, is there really someone who doesn't know what an IOU is? Even three-year-olds know that. Are you illiterate or something?"
Illiterate?
Bo Wang's dark eyes darkened with fury as he thundered, "I graduated from a prestigious university."
After a pause, he added, "It's just an IOU, isn't it? Bring me paper and a pen. I'll write it!"
Later, Bo Wang angrily questioned, "Ning Xi, you're my fiancée. How could you still charge me a hundred million?"
Ning Xi: "What's the difference between an unacknowledged fiancé and a stranger?"