Outside the gymnasium, inside a cramped, abandoned equipment room, Shang Shi’an was half-kneeling on the floor. He looked up with a shattered expression, eyes rimmed red, struggling to suppress something churning inside him.
“Chu-chu… what did I do wrong? Why did you block me?”
Shang Shi’an knew which angle made him look best. In the past, Qiao Chu loved seeing him like this.
Back in the cold Qiao household—ignored by her father, mocked by her stepmother, disciplined by Butler Wu—he had been the only place where she could feel a sense of control.
But now, Qiao Chu merely sat on a padded mat, lifted her leg, and mischievously stepped on his chest. Her indifferent expression was no different from someone training a dog.
“Tsk. So ugly.”
Her toe nudged the cigarette burn scar on his face, each word another knife to the heart.
“I can’t believe I only just realized this. Not only is your background miles worse than Shang Shixu’s, your looks and physique don’t even come close. You’re a defective product through and through.”
The red in Shang Shi’an’s eyes thickened, on the verge of snapping. His body trembled under the weight of humiliation and rage.
“But I love you more than he ever could!” he insisted. “He’s just a chauvinistic heir. I belong to you completely—my young miss.”
The moment he said young miss, Qiao Chu was reminded of a strangely familiar scene from last night—Wu Zhe kneeling just like this, calling her the same thing.
Objectively speaking, Shang Shi’an was decent-looking—above average, at least—but there was something sleazy about him. His aura simply couldn’t support his face.
Compared side by side, Wu Zhe felt like a top-tier, mature man. For the first time ever, Qiao Chu actually wanted to go home early.
“How much is your ‘love’ worth?” she sneered. “Shang Shi’an, let me be blunt. Your rotten life isn’t even worth ¥9.99 with free shipping.”
Being born a bastard wasn’t his fault. But coveting her fortune and scamming his way forward? That was both rotten and cheap.
He could scheme against her all he wanted—but scheming against her money was unforgivable.
Shang Shi’an crawled two steps closer on his knees. “I’ll be your dog. Please don’t abandon me, okay? You’re all I have, Chu-chu.”
He tried to play the emotional card. “We were so happy together before. Is it because I’m inferior to my brother and embarrassed you?”
Qiao Chu frowned. “You know that and you still bring it up? Bad luck.”
“Then what about our promise?” he pressed desperately. “You said you’d break off the engagement and marry me into the Qiao family—did none of that count?”
“You deserved it.”
Seeing there was no chance left, Shang Shi’an turned to slander.
“I get it now. You think Bai Lang is some good guy? Let me tell you—he already killed his own mother. Next it’ll be his wife and kids. You dare stay with someone like that?”
Qiao Chu blinked. “…What? Does it affect my financial luck?”
Bang!
The equipment room door was kicked open from the outside.
Bai Lang’s eyes were bloodshot. He grabbed Shang Shi’an by the collar and smashed a brutal punch straight into his nose.
“I’ll kill you for spreading that crap! You’re right—I am a jinx, and I specialize in ruining trash like you!”
Qiao Chu scooted aside to avoid friendly fire.
“Uh—just to be clear, I didn’t say anything bad about you. It was all his filthy mouth. You can hit him extra hard on my behalf!”
Bai Lang had been holding back because Qiao Chu was present—after all, Shang Shi’an was her former flame. The moment she said she didn’t care, he completely let loose.
Shang Shi’an might’ve been a bastard, but he was still a Shang. Bai Lang didn’t go too far—once the man was bruised and swollen beyond recognition, he stopped.
Security guards rushed over after hearing the noise. Qiao Chu squeezed out two tears and hid timidly behind Bai Lang.
“Sir… he was the one who tried to touch me. If Bai Lang hadn’t stepped in, I don’t know what would’ve happened…”
Offend the powerful Qiao and Bai families—or protect an insignificant bastard? No thinking required.
The guards followed procedure and checked the cameras. Sure enough, Shang Shi’an had half-dragged Qiao Chu into the equipment room. They exaggerated the incident and reported it straight to the academic office.
Shang Shi’an was punished accordingly. After such a scandal, he didn’t dare go home for days to face his imposing father.
But that was later.
At the moment, Qiao Chu and Bai Lang were walking along the tree-lined path on campus. The cicadas’ buzzing softened the lingering awkwardness.
“Miss… don’t listen to his nonsense,” Bai Lang said hastily. “A master already calculated my fate—I’m destined to prosper my wife. If my mom hadn’t abandoned me back then, she wouldn’t have—”
His feelings toward his mother had always been complicated.
His parents’ marriage was purely transactional. Having him was just a way to appease both families.
The nanny said his mother never even held him. She left for her maiden home the day she was discharged from the hospital.
When he was five, she went on a business trip to France, met a romantic artist, and chose to abandon everything to cross the ocean with him.
On the way abroad, her plane crashed. No survivors.
People cursed Bai Lang as a mother-killing ingrate—because back then, he had said to her:
“If you leave, don’t ever come back into my life.”
That sentence became the so-called curse.
Bai Lang had never believed it was his fault.
But now… he was afraid.
Afraid Qiao Chu would look at him differently. Fear him. Avoid him.
The way she had chased away that clingy pest for him earlier—it had been so attractive. He wanted to be friends with her.
Qiao Chu pondered for a moment. “There’s something I don’t know whether I should say…”
“Say it,” he replied quickly. “Anything.”
She launched straight into it. “Your mom had it coming! Gave birth but didn’t raise you. Unlike my mom—now she was incredible, let me tell you—”
Blah blah blah…
Bai Lang blinked with puppy eyes. “Qiao Chu… your mom really loved you.”
She sighed. “Too bad my dad’s a piece of trash. He and his mistress killed my mom. And now that homewrecker’s kid is strutting around my house like they own it.”
Bai Lang was stunned. “How do you know? Shouldn’t we report it to the police?”
Qiao Chu replied casually, “I guessed. That mistress just looks evil.”
Bai Lang: “……”
But somehow, after that detour, his mood really did improve.
She was right—if he’d only ever been a tool for his mother to secure family interests, why bother being filial to a mother who was one in name only?
And honestly, that sentence of his could hardly count as a curse.
“Qiao Chu—did you put the jade Guanyin in your bag?”
She rummaged around. “Yeah, here.”
The poor jade statue had barely landed in the boy’s palm before tracing a graceful arc through the air—
Plop.
Straight into the clear artificial lake.
Qiao Chu: “Wait—!”
Too late. It was already gone.
She nearly lost her mind. Even flawed jade was still worth a fortune! He just… threw it away?!
Could they negotiate next time? Like, maybe throw it into her arms instead?
Bai Lang was lost in thought and didn’t notice her heartbroken expression.
“I heard earlier… you were planning to marry Shang Shi’an?”
In elite circles, a man marrying into the woman’s family wasn’t unusual. Given their status gap, that would’ve been an honor for him.
Qiao Chu smiled brightly. “You said were. I don’t have that plan anymore.”
“Then… what do you plan to do now?”
“Oh?” she teased. “Asking so carefully—Bai Lang, are you trying to marry into my family instead?”