Seeing Gu Qinghuan suddenly lower her head, her earlobes faintly reddening, a thought surfaced in Xu Le’s mind.
Was she embarrassed?
Although a girl’s feet were considered quite private, Gu Qinghuan seemed especially easy to fluster in front of him.
Who would have thought that a materialistic beauty like her also had such an innocent side?
“I learned massage techniques for ankles before. My younger sister sprained her foot once, and I couldn’t do anything to help back then, so I specifically went to learn it afterward,” Xu Le said, breaking the silence.
“You’re really good to your sister. Unlike me, I’ve always wanted an older brother to take care of me, but unfortunately, that’s impossible.” Gu Qinghuan sighed softly.
Xu Le raised an eyebrow. Why did that sound a little manipulative?
Thinking about the medicated oil, he glanced around Gu Qinghuan’s house. The interior decoration was genuinely luxurious, and there was even a private gym.
A house in this location would cost at least 2 million to 4 million yuan.
With her personality, she had probably paid for it in full.
As for him, if he wanted a house of his own, he would have to keep farming rewards.
“Do you have any medicated oil here?”
“I don’t think so.”
Xu Le immediately headed outside. When he had escorted her upstairs earlier, he had noticed a pharmacy nearby.
By the time he stepped out of the residential building, light rain had already started falling outside.
But he did not mind. After a short walk, he bought the medicated oil and handed it to Gu Qinghuan. At the same moment, the Mission System’s voice rang out in his mind.
[Mission completed for Gu Qinghuan. Reward: 3,500 yuan. Favorability +2.]
[Gu Qinghuan’s current favorability: 40. Reached Attention Stage.]
Her favorability had advanced to the next stage!
“Thank you. I’ll apply it myself.” Gu Qinghuan curled her delicate feet slightly inward.
Earlier, when Xu Le’s fingers brushed against the sole of her foot, her whole body had nearly trembled.
“Alright, then I’m leaving.”
Xu Le nodded. Although Gu Qinghuan was beautiful, and her delicate feet looked almost like jade carvings, he was not someone with a foot fetish.
“Wait. Is it raining outside? Take this umbrella with you.”
Gu Qinghuan stopped him and brought out an exquisite pink umbrella.
Xu Le thought it made sense and accepted it. But just as he turned around, Gu Qinghuan softly called out to him again.
“Xu Le.”
“Hm?”
“It’s late. Be careful on the way back. Take my car.”
“I’ll take the subway.”
After saying that, Xu Le left immediately, silently wondering if her sudden concern for him was because her favorability had increased.
Behind him, Gu Qinghuan watched his departing figure, and a strange sense of disappointment suddenly rose in her heart.
The warmth he had left behind still lingered in the living room, making her reluctant to let it fade.
Why did he leave so quickly? Couldn’t he stay a little longer?
It was not like she was going to eat him!
Her phone screen suddenly lit up on the coffee table. She thought it was a message from Xu Le.
She quickly grabbed it, only to find it was just a news notification.
Her fingertips hovered over the chat box. She typed: Come back, it’s raining outside.
But then she deleted the words one by one and changed it to: Be careful on your way home.
“Why did Xu Le leave so quickly? Does he not like me?”
Gu Qinghuan curled up on the sofa and buried her face into the cushion where he had been sitting earlier.
Biting her lip lightly, she slowly drifted into a daze.
That should not be possible.
Her attractiveness toward men could not really be this low, right?
…
After returning home, Xu Le saw the WeChat message from his mom and finally let out a sigh of relief.
Mom: You absolutely must turn Xiao Gu into your girlfriend. If you’re short on money, tell me. I think she likes you too, otherwise she wouldn’t have video-called me!
Xu Le quickly typed back: Received. I guarantee the mission will be completed.
This way, at least for the near future, his mom would stop nagging him about finding a girlfriend.
Then, an unexpected person suddenly called him.
“Cousin? Why’s he calling me?”
Xu Le casually answered the phone. His relationship with this cousin was average at best. They had only met a few times during family gatherings.
“Hello? Cousin?”
“It’s me. Calling this late. Is something urgent?”
“It is urgent. I saw the photo Aunt posted. Your girlfriend is Gu Qinghuan, right? She’s not a good woman!”
“Oh?”
Xu Le had not expected his cousin Deng Lai to know Gu Qinghuan.
“Back when she was still a small-time blogger, she already had a bad reputation in the influencer circle. She used a lot of major influencers to climb up. Apparently, there’s even a female influencer who still hates her now.”
“Later, one of her videos exploded in popularity, and she started livestreaming. She made who knows how much money from that. As soon as she got rich, she immediately bought luxury cars and expensive houses. All those idiots who spent money sending her gifts during streams never even got to touch one of her fingers!”
“She looks like some talented beauty on the surface, but in reality, she only dreams of marrying into a wealthy family. You’ve definitely been used by her!”
Deng Lai spoke earnestly, trying hard to persuade him.
Hearing that, Xu Le was not surprised at all, because it was more or less what he had expected.
In the two short years after graduation, he had transformed from an innocent young man into someone who had seen through society completely.
At first, he had also been someone who treated others sincerely.
Later, he realized that the more sincere he was, the easier it became for people to take advantage of him until nothing remained.
On the contrary, after becoming more selfish, his life had improved instead. Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
That was simply how society worked.
So in Xu Le’s eyes, Gu Qinghuan helping him was already enough. Why bother obsessing over whether she was a good woman or a bad woman?
“I understand your warning, Cousin.”
After chatting a little longer, Xu Le hung up and went to sleep early.
He still had work tomorrow.
…
At the office workstation, Xu Le yawned and quietly waited for Su Qingcheng to call for him.
Opening his bank account, he looked at the balance. He already had more than 30,000 yuan saved now!
If he relied solely on ordinary work, who knew how long it would take to save tens of thousands?
Farming rewards really was the fastest way to make money.
Suddenly, the sound of keyboards around the office quieted slightly. The sharp clicking of high heels echoed from the end of the corridor.
“Xu Le, come to my office for a moment.”
A cold female voice rang out. When Xu Le looked up, Su Qingcheng had already stopped beside his desk.
Today, Su Qingcheng wore a silk dress. The collar formed a neat V-shape, revealing just the right amount of her pale collarbone.
Her expression was still as cold as ever, her pupils dark as ink.
When her red lips pressed into a straight line, she gave off an overwhelming sense of superiority, like a queen. Yet at the same time, there was still something annoyingly arrogant about her.
Xu Le immediately followed her into the office. Unexpectedly, she pointed at the chair across from her, signaling for him to sit down.
“How was your time yesterday?” Su Qingcheng asked calmly.
She did not ask about work. Instead, she brought up his personal life.
“It was alright, I guess,” Xu Le answered vaguely.
“Were you with your girlfriend?” Su Qingcheng glanced at him casually.
Xu Le almost lost control of his expression.
Why was she asking about this?
“She’s not my girlfriend yet.”
Xu Le neither confirmed nor denied it outright.
“So that’s why you didn’t carry me home?”
Su Qingcheng stared at him.
Xu Le immediately felt numb. So this was what she had been bothered by all along!
How was he supposed to answer that?
“I wouldn’t say I like her either. We just had dinner together, and then I took her home.”
Hearing the words “took her home,” Su Qingcheng frowned slightly.
After pausing for half a second, she pressed further.
“Who’s prettier, her or me?”