Clutching the pink banknotes, Gu Ting silently swept her gaze toward the door, her eyes flashing with murderous intent. Sneaking over to the entrance without making a sound, she swung the door open and instantly delivered a ferocious kick outward.
Over the past 365 days, she had endured 365 vastly different lives, 365 deaths, and 365 days of being completely helpless, living a life that was neither human nor ghost… The resentment built up inside her was deeper than that of a vengeful spirit. Since someone had voluntarily delivered themselves to her doorstep, they couldn’t blame her for being too ruthless.
“Ouch!” A miserable cry echoed from outside.
Gu Ting looked closer and saw a balding, middle-aged man wearing glasses. His eyes were incredibly small, giving him the look of a total scoundrel. Ready to press her advantage, she raised her foot to deliver a few more kicks.
The bald man was so terrified his face turned stark white. Rolling and scrambling to get out of the way, he cried, “Ouch, my Tingting! It’s me, your Brother Luo! How much did you drink to hit me this hard? If you keep kicking, your brother is going to meet his maker right here today!”
Hearing that the middle-aged man’s surname was Luo and realizing he was an acquaintance, Gu Ting reluctantly pulled back her foot. However, her face remained incredibly displeased. “What were you doing crouching outside my door for no reason? Sneaky and suspicious—you deserved to be kicked! You got off easy!”
Luo Yuan gave her a startled look, but he still clutched his stomach and forced his way into the room. “Let’s go inside first. Otherwise, your brother is going to become a laughingstock!”
Gu Ting, however, crossed her arms and blocked the doorway, staring at him with a faint, mocking smile.
Catching her drift, Luo Yuan could only say with a bitter face, “I was wrong, I apologize. Is that enough?”
Gu Ting raised an eyebrow and finally stepped aside to let him in first. However, she remained cautious, leaving the door slightly ajar without locking it; after all, she didn’t actually know this man.
Luo Yuan walked inside, plopped his butt down onto a single sofa, and sighed heavily. Yet, his tiny, half-closed eyes darted around sharply, scanning everything from the bed to the two glasses of water on the table, and even throwing several glances toward the trash can. Only after finishing his inspection did he realize the suite was exceptionally quiet. Turning around, his gaze locked onto a pair of eyes that seemed to smile yet not smile.
Luo Yuan’s heart tightened, and he quickly forced a smile onto his face. “Tingting, don’t look at your Brother Luo like that. I was just worried about you. Those rich folks play dirtier and dirtier. I was afraid you’re too young and would get taken advantage of, so I secretly followed you here.”
Gu Ting remained noncommittal and asked, “What were you looking for just now?”
“Nothing, nothing. Such a nice hotel, I was just looking around casually, haha…”
Gu Ting let out a soft sneer, then said, “That Wang Mingxiao left a long time ago. You can leave now, too.”
Luo Yuan narrowed his eyes. “Then you two…?”
Gu Ting shrugged. “I refused him, so he left.”
Luo Yuan slapped his thigh, his tone incredibly exaggerated. “Why refuse? Wang Mingxiao is already the best candidate you could possibly find! He has the looks, he has the money, and he’s not that old… Don’t tell me you’d rather find some crusty old man? Let me tell you, the one who owes money is you, not me! If you can’t swallow your pride, you’re the one who will suffer later! Think about the methods of those loan sharks—how many lives do you have to throw at them? Truly, youth is wasted on the ignorant…”
As Luo Yuan spoke, his tone suddenly shifted into overdrive. “Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on Li Xingzhou?”
Gu Ting walked over to the bed, sat down, and let out a bored yawn. Choosing not to answer, she countered with a question, “Manager Luo, if I terminate my contract with the company, how much is the cancellation fee?”
Luo Yuan completely didn’t expect Gu Ting to ask this question. His mouth seemed to jam, and once he snapped out of it, he said with a look of grief and distress, “How much? Twenty million! Tingting, what on earth are you thinking? You can’t even pay off your debts, so where are you getting the money for a cancellation fee? Stop being foolish. The urgent matter at hand is to apologize to Wang Mingxiao and arrange another time…”
Facing this manager who clearly harbored ill intentions, Gu Ting lost her patience entirely and couldn’t help but mock him openly, “Are you an talent manager, or a pimp?”
The smile on Luo Yuan’s face froze.
Just when Gu Ting thought he would storm out and slam the door, Luo Yuan awkwardly adjusted his expression. In the end, he managed to force out a smile and asked very cautiously, “Tingting, did you drink too much and feel unwell?”
Gu Ting rolled her eyes at him. “I am perfectly fine. Please get out! If you don’t leave, I’m calling security!”
Even as Luo Yuan walked to the door, he was still analyzing her, trying to find some clue on her face. In the end, all he could discern was that Gu Ting seemed a bit drained and her gaze was cold—a stark contrast to her usual obedient self. Unable to think of any other reason, he could only attribute it to her young age and naive nature; having suddenly encountered such a massive crisis, her mental state was likely on the verge of collapse, making abnormal emotional outbursts perfectly natural.
Aside from that, what other reason could there be?
Thinking of this, a wave of uncharacteristic sympathy welled up inside him. On a sudden impulse, right before the door shut completely, he transferred 5,000 RMB to Gu Ting.
“Tingting, your Brother Luo is transferring you five thousand. It’s enough for this month’s rent and food. Don’t be too anxious; we’re still young, and there’s a long life ahead…”
Gu Ting shut the door before he could even finish his sentence, without offering a single word of thanks. She didn’t feel a shred of gratitude. When an ill-intentioned person suddenly acts generous, it only means they have extracted far more money from you. Why should she thank him?
Forget about Gu Ting not believing it; even Luo Yuan himself didn’t believe he was this kind and generous. Consequently, the moment he realized what he had done, he was filled with endless regret. Today was truly a nightmare—not only did he get kicked viciously without receiving any compensation, but he had turned around and transferred 5,000 to Gu Ting?
Getting sold out and still helping to count the cash—he was a massive idiot!
Ten minutes later.
“Tingting, that five thousand just now was borrowed from your Brother Luo! Remember to pay me back later, you absolutely must remember!” Luo Yuan shouted at the top of his lungs outside Gu Ting’s door to an empty hallway, completely unaware that Gu Ting was already sitting at the hotel dining table, feasting merrily and living her best life.
Particularly when she heard people nearby quietly gossiping about some wealthy guy frantically throwing money around today and how much cash each of them had picked up, Gu Ting became even more amused. No one had picked up more than she did!
After spending a night in a five-star hotel sleeping next to a pile of pink banknotes, Gu Ting was radiant with vitality the next day. After enjoying the hotel breakfast, she checked out with an air of reluctance.
For this new day, her itinerary was already set.
Thanks to the 5,000 RMB from Luo Yuan, her WeChat Pay had broken through from zero to five thousand, finally giving her the capital to hail a car online.
The ride-share driver was a young man. When Gu Ting took her seat in the back, he caught a quick glimpse and his eyes instantly lit up. Flawless fair skin, thick jet-black hair, and a perfectly proportioned figure. When Gu Ting raised her head, the impact of her beautiful, clean facial features hit him head-on, staggering the young man so much he almost lost his focus.
Gu Ting was in a good mood. Seeing that the driver’s eyes held mostly appreciation rather than sleazy intentions, she didn’t say anything.
After driving for a while, the driver finally regained his composure. Noting that Gu Ting’s destination was a certain police station, he asked, “Beautiful, going to the police station so early in the morning—nothing bad happened, right?”
Gu Ting had been gazing out the window at the bustling street scenery, but upon hearing this, she turned her head and said, “My ex-boyfriend scammed me out of a lot of money. I’m going to report it to the police.”
The driver was filled with sympathy. “Scamming a young girl like you—he’s a total piece of trash… Holy crap!”
The driver let out an exaggerated cry of shock, prompting Gu Ting to ask, “What’s wrong?”
“Didn’t you see the car ahead of us? Just now I wanted to honk at it, but I overstepped my bounds.”
Gu Ting cast a casual glance outward, then immediately closed her eyes, chanting silently in her mind: As long as I don’t recognize the car brand, luxury cars cannot hurt me.
The driver let out a long, wistful sigh, “Being poor isn’t scary. What’s scary is that the poor one is me! Out of sight, out of mind—I better just overtake it, lest I feel completely pathetic driving behind it.”
The driver stepped on the gas, weaving left and right through lanes, utilizing his excellent driving skills to complete the overtake.
“My driving skills are…” Before the words could fully leave his mouth, a muffled thud resonated from diagonally behind Gu Ting. Her forehead slammed hard against the back of the driver’s seat, inducing a wave of dizziness.
The fake Gu Ting had truly drunk a massive amount yesterday, and even after a night, there was still some lingering discomfort. Getting jolted like this made her head spin again. She sat in her seat for a long while without recovering her bearings, hearing only the sound of the driver slamming his door to get out and getting into an argument with the person behind them.
After a few moments, she felt significantly better. Seeing that the driver still hadn’t reached an agreement with the other party, she rolled up her sleeves and prepared to step out to help. However, the scene outside the car left her temporarily unable to comprehend the situation.
“Ma’am, you really gave way too much. For a minor scratch like this, filing an insurance claim wouldn’t cost much at all.”
Gu Ting looked closely and saw the driver pulling back and forth with a middle-aged lady who was dressed in a sharp, elegant manner and wore gold-rimmed glasses.
The lady with glasses kept her head down to handle messages on her phone while speaking at a rapid-fire pace, “I have several important meetings to attend and don’t have time to deal with these matters. Keep the money; it covers both the person and the car…”
The lady with glasses raised her eyes just as Gu Ting emerged from the car. The moment their eyes met, the middle-aged lady felt as though the chaotic surroundings had suddenly brightened quite a bit. When her gaze landed on Gu Ting’s noticeably reddened forehead and slightly pale face, a wave of guilt naturally welled up in her heart.
“This little sister was injured too, I am so sorry…”
Before she could finish speaking, her phone rang again. She had no choice but to say to the ride-share driver at lightning speed, “I will transfer thirty thousand directly to you. Give ten thousand to this girl. You two take this money to the hospital first for a checkup, and contact me if there are any issues. I have an urgent matter, so I must leave first.”
Without waiting for the driver or Gu Ting to speak, the lady with glasses transferred the money, then opened her car door, climbed inside, and sped away in a flash.
The onlookers watching the drama marveled and clicked their tongues, “Paying twenty thousand for a tiny scratch like that—you made an absolute killing! Selling that piece-of-junk car would only get you a few thousand, right?”
“This young girl struck gold too! Her skin isn’t even broken, and she gets ten thousand in hand! When can we ever run into this kind of crazy dumb luck?”
The driver promptly transferred 10,000 RMB to Gu Ting. For the rest of the ride to the police station, his mouth didn’t close once from grinning, repeatedly claiming he had struck dumb luck today.
Meanwhile, Gu Ting had completely recovered her spirits. Looking at the extra 10,000 RMB on her phone, although she didn’t laugh out loud, the upward curve of her lips never came down.
Her head was only bumped slightly red, and now it was perfectly fine, which was equivalent to picking up 10,000 RMB for free! From last night until just now, what kind of crazy luck had she blundered into?
If dumb luck could bring fortune, then she prayed for more and more of it to drop from the sky!
Soon arriving at the police station, Gu Ting spent quite a bit of time adjusting herself, barely managing to force down the upward tilt of her lips. After entering, she found a kind-looking female police officer.
“Officer, I want to report a crime. My ex-boyfriend swindled me out of my entire fortune. Not only that, he set up a trap with others to trick me into a five million debt, and now he has fled with the funds. I am completely cornered now. I beg you to catch him, otherwise, I truly have no way to survive!” As Gu Ting spoke, her eyes turned red, looking pitiful to the extreme.
She could care less about the fake Gu Ting’s romantic entanglements, but making her shoulder a debt was absolutely out of the question. Furthermore, it wasn’t even the fake Gu Ting herself who spent the money, but rather she was engineered and scammed out of it by her ex-boyfriend, Li Xingzhou. She refused to play the role of this scapegoat.
The fake Gu Ting was truly foolish, getting scammed into bankruptcy by Li Xingzhou while still harboring hope and refusing to report it to the police. The original version of herself, of course, would only do the correct thing: she had to report it. If she was having a hard time, Li Xingzhou better have an even worse time. Recovering whatever she could piece by piece was what mattered.
With just a few sentences, the female officer mapped out the entire scope of the incident. As a fellow woman, she utterly detested this type of scumbag who swindled women out of money. She immediately recorded the information according to procedure and said solemnly, “Rest assured, we will capture him as quickly as possible!”
“Thank you, Officer. There is one more thing. On October 1st of last year, I was involved in a car accident. I want to check if the perpetrator was caught.”
Gu Ting had thoroughly inspected her body last night, and seeing that everything was normal, she had finally set her mind at ease. Because that car accident one year ago had come too suddenly and violently, and she had passed out directly under the massive impact, knowing nothing else about what happened afterward.
Her checking into the accident today wasn’t for anything else, but simply to see if the perpetrator was caught and if any compensation had been paid out. What if she could net another sum of money?
In her current situation, every single cent was a blessing!
Hearing that Gu Ting had not only been scammed by a scumbag but had also been in a car accident, the female officer felt even more sympathetic. She immediately took Gu Ting’s ID card to run a check, and the results came back quickly.
The officer cast a skeptical look over Gu Ting. “The perpetrator was caught on the very day of the incident last year. You’re the victim and you didn’t know?”
Gu Ting poked her head with her index finger. “It was probably from the impact of the accident; I keep forgetting things.”
The officer’s sympathy deepened even more. “The person who hit you was a woman in her fifties named Meng Silian. She has a history of mental illness and forgot to take her medication on the day of the incident. Later, she was sent back to the mental hospital in her hometown.”
Gu Ting: “…” Wow, talk about misfortune opening the door for bad luck—misfortune has arrived home in full force!
Getting hit and sent flying by a psychiatric patient—who could she even go to for an explanation?
Stepping out of the police station, Gu Ting was doing the math in her head. From last night until now, she had taken in 1,125,000 RMB. The fake Gu Ting owed a debt of at least five million. Factoring everything together, there was still a deficit of 3,875,000 RMB.
It was exactly as that driver brother had put it: Being poor isn’t scary. What’s scary is that the poor one is me!
Harboring an urgent desire to strike it rich, Gu Ting couldn’t help but stop in her tracks as she passed the police notice board. She didn’t care much about the photos of the suspects posted inside, but the reward amounts listed beneath the photos—she committed every single digit to heart.
Money! It was all money!