Yan Xiu said hesitantly, “I recently took a fancy to a watch, but I’m still a bit short on cash…”
Gu Ting immediately covered her ears. “Alright, alright, I despise the rich. I can’t take this kind of psychological stimulation.”
To think she had mentally constructed a tragic saga of a wealthy second-generation heir suffering in a wealthy family, yet his greatest hardship was being slightly short on cash for a multi-million luxury watch… Human tragedies truly are not shared! The difference between people is greater than the difference between humans and beasts of burden!
Yan Xiu didn’t speak again through the phone, but his face consistently carried a faint smile as gentle as a spring breeze. Gu Ting actually admired him a bit; he could still laugh after being kidnapped and almost getting his kidney harvested?
“Mine is a minor matter. But as for you, you were plotted against by your own family, and in the end, you still have to cover it up for them and swallow your anger. Heh, if it were me, I couldn’t stomach this injustice.” Gu Ting felt it wasn’t worth it for Yan Xiu.
Yan Xiu’s smile faded slightly, and a trace of sharpness surfaced in his eyes. However, he didn’t say much, only concluding, “Contact me after you sign it. Get some good rest.” With that, he hung up the phone.
Gu Ting was very excited, and her mind inevitably began to wander. Could it be that her meeting Yan Xiu wasn’t entirely an accident, but also the effect of the Wealth God buff? Otherwise, how could she explain that she and Yan Xiu had only known each other for a single day, yet he had brought her a fortune of ten million yuan?
This truly was a case of money falling from the sky and a mother wanting to remarry—there was simply no dodging it. What could she do? She could only compromise under the circumstances and tearfully accept the money!
Gu Ting simply swept up the glass shards and immediately called the person saved on her phone as “Landlord” to propose breaking the lease. The landlord was highly reluctant at first. However, when Gu Ting informed him of her experience—being targeted by two separate gangs back-to-back, the suspects breaking through the window to kidnap her, and the police having just escorted her back—the landlord had nothing left to say. He begrudgingly refunded two months’ rent, leaving 1,300 yuan after a 100-yuan deduction for repairs.
Facing the 1,300 yuan, Gu Ting didn’t feel the excitement of picking up free money. She suspected she was a bit spoiled by the Wealth God buff.
Then, Gu Ting contacted a moving company. While waiting, she pulled out Lawyer Liu’s business card and called him first.
“Lawyer Liu, regarding that non-disclosure agreement from this morning, I am willing to sign it. However, there are still some details that need further discussion.”
The other party replied very quickly, “Certainly. If it’s convenient for Miss Gu, let’s meet at three o’clock this afternoon. You choose a place.”
Gu Ting wasn’t very familiar with this city, so she chose a café outside the residential community where Lin Mengmeng lived to meet up.
With all matters taken care of, Gu Ting finally, with great disdain, clicked open the voice message Lin Yi had sent her in the middle of the night. “Tingting, since you’ve entered this industry, there’s no need to be so conservative. Isn’t it good to enjoy life while you can? Having one more friend is always better than having one more enemy. Don’t narrow your own path.”
Gu Ting blocked Lin Yi decisively. Although offending the company’s top star wasn’t wise, as long as it made her happy, nothing else mattered!
On the way to move, Gu Ting could finally browse the internet peacefully and check the local news. Within two minutes, she was so furious she almost threw her phone.
“Waking Up to Find Herself in a Thieves’ Den: A Beautiful Woman Suffers…”
Gu Ting clicked in furiously to take a look: A beautiful streamer was kidnapped while fast asleep. After enduring a night of freezing cold, she finally delivered three dying kidnappers into the hands of the police. The mysteries within leave people utterly baffled…
Gu Ting thought: Baffled your father’s head!
“A Beautiful Streamer Actually Has an Unspeakable Addiction…”
Clicking in to look: A beautiful streamer from XX platform was exposed by a passerby. She has been addicted to scratch-off lottery tickets for ten years, exhausting her entire family fortune! Heaven does not disappoint those who try, and she finally scratched a first prize!
Gu Ting thought: I curse you to be poor your whole life! You’re welcome!
“Shocking: This Beautiful Woman is Too Hot…”
Gu Ting hesitated before clicking in to take a look: A beautiful woman surnamed Gu accidentally fell into the hands of thieves. Who would have thought she was actually a descendant of the dragon? With a set of Dragon Fists, she beat the kidnappers until they were looking for their teeth on the floor, sending them straight to the hospital for emergency resuscitation! The beauty was in a joyous mood and bought two consecutive scratch-offs, happily winning a grand prize of 600,000 yuan. An admirer knelt on the spot to propose, simply because this beauty is too hot…
Gu Ting thought: What the actual fuck…
Today’s media was far too adept at finding gimmicks. Gu Ting felt her vision turn black repeatedly as she watched. She simply switched to browsing local short videos. The fifth video she scrolled to was the scene of her scratching the first prize at the lottery station. The video had over 10,000 likes and more than 1,000 comments. She flipped through the comments, and the content was within her tolerance range. If they weren’t praising her good luck, they were praising her beauty. Some people even spoke up for her, saying this beauty had just escaped the clutches of evil and that she deserved credit for the capture of the kidnappers. Perhaps due to high mental stress, she bought scratch-offs at the entrance of the police station and unexpectedly won; it was just a case of a beautiful person receiving good returns…
Gu Ting’s first thought: The netizens are still heartwarming, unlike those unscrupulous media outlets that grab eyeballs and have absolutely no lower limit for traffic.
Her second thought: From beginning to end, the character “Yan” hasn’t appeared even once!
In just half an hour, Gu Ting came to understand that she now possessed a tiny bit of notoriety on the internet. Could this be considered a blessing in disguise?
At two o’clock in the afternoon, Gu Ting finally moved into Lin Mengmeng’s place. She made the bed, unpacked her clothes and shoes, and arranged her daily necessities. Once everything was mostly organized, she casually ate a portion of egg fried noodles outside the residential community. At three o’clock, she met Lawyer Liu at the agreed café.
Lawyer Liu pulled out the documents and got straight to the point. “Miss Gu, regarding this agreement, is there anything else you are dissatisfied with?”
Gu Ting said sincerely, “Apart from the amount, I am very satisfied with everything else.”
There was not the slightest change on Lawyer Liu’s face. “How much do you want?”
Gu Ting held up two fingers. “Twenty million.”
For the first time, Lawyer Liu’s expression changed, his eyes filled with scrutiny. “Miss Gu, I am somewhat curious. You said this morning that you wanted to contact Young President Yan directly. Why did you change your mind again?”
Gu Ting’s gaze looked as if she were staring at an idiot. “Naturally, it’s because Yan Xiu is unwilling to give this twenty million. Otherwise, what would this have to do with you?”
Lawyer Liu was choked, and only after a long pause did he say, “From five million to twenty million, isn’t Miss Gu opening her mouth a bit too wide? I wonder if you are aware that Qianyan, the company that just signed an advertising deal with you, also belongs to the Yan Group?”
Gu Ting wore an expression as if looking at an idiot. “May I ask: a 500,000 endorsement fee versus twenty million, which one is higher?”
Lawyer Liu was speechless for quite a while. Only after reorganizing his thoughts did he say, “Ten million. That is already a massive fortune to you.”
Gu Ting complained in her heart: Ten million for me alone would certainly be fine. The problem is that you are facing two “villains” right now. Can it be the same?
On her lips, she was rather aggressive. “Your Yan Group has a grand family and a massive business. Why are you so hesitant over a mere twenty million? Last night, Yan Xiu was willing to offer twenty million to save a stranger like me. Do you know how heavy that sentiment is? So now, I am completely signing this agreement against my conscience. Conscience is priceless, and I am only charging you twenty million. Is that excessive?”
Lawyer Liu: “!!!” Never have I seen such a brazenly shameless person.
However, looking at it from another perspective, the more shameless Gu Ting was and the more her eyes lit up at the sight of money, the more reassured they felt. If Gu Ting were smart, she would absolutely never give up twenty million for an irrelevant person.
In this second clash between Lawyer Liu and Gu Ting, he suffered a crushing defeat in the arena of shamelessness. In the end, he could only redraft the agreement, changing the non-disclosure amount to twenty million.
After the signing concluded, the twenty million quickly hit her account.
Receiving the money, Gu Ting suppressed her surging emotions and saw him off with a smile. “Lawyer Liu, see you next time.”
Lawyer Liu smiled superficially. Only a ghost wants to see you next time!
After Lawyer Liu left, Gu Ting looked at the countless zeros on her phone and spun around in place. This was a whopping twenty million yuan! This damn money goblin, despite its utterly ordinary appearance, inexplicably caused people to become infatuated and unable to extricate themselves!
The moment the money hit her account, Gu Ting thought about a lot of things. She wanted to buy two apartments, living in one and leaving the other empty; buy two cars, driving one on odd days and the other on even days; buy plenty of beautiful clothes and shoes without wearing the same outfit twice in a week; buy dozens of pounds of gold jewelry first to fill up her entire jewelry box; have a cup of milk tea in the morning, one at noon, one in the afternoon, and another with her midnight snack, and she wouldn’t even order anything under twenty yuan…
The more Gu Ting thought, the more exaggerated and absurd it became. She even thought about donating money to the state to develop interstellar missiles, the kind that could be launched to the moon with a single blast… Gu Ting finally realized she was getting a bit too carried away. This was only twenty million, not twenty billion.
At this stage, being able to take good care of herself, paying taxes according to the law, and not causing trouble for her country was her greatest contribution to the nation.
Gu Ting finally calmed down and sent an “OK” gesture to Yan Xiu, immediately followed by another message: Send your account number.
Yan Xiu must have been busy, as he did not reply immediately.
Seeing that it was still early and today’s first revenue had hit her account, Gu Ting figured it was time to collect the second. Based on internet guides, she brought along her ID card and bank card, put on a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a mask, and fully armed, headed straight for the city’s Welfare Lottery Center.
Arriving at the service counter, Gu Ting pulled out the two scratch-offs to claim the prize. After confirming their authenticity, the staff member handed her a few forms to fill out, saying, “Scratching two first prizes at one go is truly a first for me. Beauty, usually when people win a prize, they donate some money, and the tax they pay is a bit less. Do you want to donate?”
Revealing only her two eyes, Gu Ting asked stealthily, “Who is this money being donated to?”
The staff member replied, “Donated to children in impoverished mountainous areas to help improve their lives and complete their education.”
Gu Ting’s gaze shifted slightly. After a brief thought, she finally said, “Donate one hundred thousand.”
The staff member looked up, confirming repeatedly, “Are you certain you want to donate one hundred thousand?”
Gu Ting did not hesitate in the slightest. “Yes.”
Only those who shared the same plight could empathize the most with the cruelty and injustice of fate. In her childhood, she had stood in the rain; now that she was grown, she would exert a meager amount of strength to hold up a broken umbrella for other children.
Seeing her firm attitude, the staff member had her fill out the donation slip while murmuring softly, “I originally wanted to ask for a cup of milk tea to absorb some joyful aura, but sigh, now I’m too embarrassed.”
Gu Ting took the remittance slip and waved her hand grandly. “Sister, next time I come to claim a prize, I promise to bring you several more cups of milk tea! Order whatever you like!”
The staff member looked completely speechless. Was winning a major prize like picking up Chinese cabbage? Could one just take a stroll in the fields and pick one up? If you were that capable, why weren’t you on the Forbes Billionaires List?
Gu Ting donated 100,000, and after a 20% tax was levied on the remaining 500,000, what she finally received was a remittance slip with a face value of 400,000 yuan.
Seeing that the time had already reached half past five in the afternoon, Gu Ting prepared to go to the bank to cash the remittance slip when she had time later. As she approached the entrance of the residential community, her phone rang. The caller ID showed Luo Yuan, and she answered it casually.
“Gu Ting, you’ve been very off lately,” Luo Yuan’s voice was cold.
“I treat you better than my own biological sister. When you need money, I try every possible means to find a way for you, and when you get into trouble, I help clear up the aftermath… I pour my heart out to you and never shirk when things happen. I’ve done everything to this extent, and this is your current attitude toward me? If you don’t feel like answering my calls, you don’t answer, and you treat my messages with indifference. Is this how you do things? Have you ever considered things for me at all?”
“You weren’t like this before. You were very obedient, very earnest and responsible with your work. You wouldn’t leave messages read but unanswered, you wouldn’t vanish without reason, you wouldn’t break appointments, and you certainly wouldn’t lie! I am simply too disappointed in you!”
Luo Yuan was delivering his accusation with full emotion when he suddenly heard a rushing “whoosh whoosh” sound. He couldn’t resist asking, “What is that sound?”