Chapter 32: The Schemed School Beauty (2)

That mocking “Auntie” nearly left Bai Qian breathless.

Fu Siwan seemed utterly oblivious to how deeply her form of address wounded a woman. Without missing a beat, she pressed on with words even more shocking: “Where’s Zhao Yinghao? Does he really think he can handle two of us in one night?”

The more Bai Qian listened, the darker her expression grew. What on earth had this girl been taught from childhood?

The young woman casually grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the table, twisted off the cap, and took a couple of sips. As she tilted her head back, the collar of her shirt revealed a stretch of snowy white swan-like neck, its curve both graceful and exquisite.

Bai Qian couldn’t help sighing inwardly once more. No wonder she was one of the Creator’s favorites—even something as simple as drinking water looked like a photoshoot.

“Auntie, you must be pushing thirty, right?” Fu Siwan screwed the cap back on and eyed the woman in front of her from head to toe with unmistakable disdain.

Her gaze lingered on the woman’s impressive décolletage, and she straightened up instinctively. Realizing she still fell a bit short, she let out a scornful huff. “At your age, Zhao Yinghao still finds you appealing? Where is he, anyway? Did he send you to pick me up so we could build some rapport—prep for a cozy threesome tonight?”

Bai Qian knew she had to cut this off before even more outrageous words spilled from the girl’s mouth.

For the moment, she set aside concerns about the girl’s warped worldview. The priority was correcting her misconception about Bai Qian’s intentions.

“Hold on—you’ve got it all wrong.”

Fu Siwan nodded obligingly, perhaps swayed by the woman’s innate air of aloof elegance, which didn’t scream “professional seductress.” She accepted the denial readily enough. “Oh? So you’re not here to steal my client. Then what, Auntie? You can’t be Zhao Yinghao’s secretary, can you?”

The offensive glint in the girl’s eyes was softened by her deceptively innocent beauty—those soft pink lips kept spewing barbs. “These days, a secretary for an old guy like him even has to handle his bedroom arrangements?”

Bai Qian couldn’t stomach hearing such crude words from those lips any longer. A mix of heartache and irritation surged through her, and she instinctively blurted out the reason for her presence, her voice firm.

“I shelled out two hundred thousand to buy you from Zhao Yinghao!”

Fu Siwan fell instantly silent, like a quail caught off guard. The shock on her face was almost comical for a moment.

Bai Qian stepped closer. Just as she reached the girl—who barely came up to her shoulder—Fu Siwan suddenly lifted her head. Her expression reverted to that mask-like detachment from earlier.

She frowned. “Where’s the two hundred thousand?”

“I gave it to your mother.”

“You gave it to her?!” Fu Siwan exploded. “You handed it all over to her! What about my share? Do you even know how deals work? Who told you to pay her everything upfront? She’s got the money now—there’s no way she’ll give me any of it!”

Fuming and resentful, the girl glared at her like a little feral dog robbed of its prey. “This mess is all because of your carelessness! Let me tell you—if you don’t get my cut back from her and hand it over, I’m not giving myself to you! The money’s in her hands anyway; go sort it out with her!”

Hearing this, Bai Qian actually breathed a sigh of relief.

She had feared the girl had been brainwashed by Li Lanzhao into believing her only path in life was selling her body for gain.

It seemed the little one simply placed a higher premium on cash.

That mindset wasn’t right either, but it was far easier to address than the alternative.

Money was the one thing she had in abundance right now.

As long as the girl behaved, Bai Qian could give her all she wanted.

Realizing the money wouldn’t reach her hands anytime soon, Fu Siwan unilaterally declared the deal off.

She slung her backpack over her shoulder to leave, but Bai Qian called her back.

“Fu Siwan, if I could buy you from him for two hundred thousand, do you really think that’s all I’ve got?”

The girl immediately dropped her bag and started rummaging through it eagerly. “Then give me another hundred thousand here. You can chase her down for the extra you spent—that’s your problem, not mine. Oh, and I don’t have a phone. Just wire it straight to my bank account. I’ll write down the card number now. Pay up first, then we’ll get to the rest.”

Her backpack held only a single language textbook. Without a second thought, Fu Siwan flipped open the brand-new book—used only to scribble her name since the start of term—and tore out a page with a sharp rip, eyes not even blinking.

She’d just fished out the lone pencil from her bag to jot down the numbers when a clean, pale hand reached over from the side.

The woman pressed down on hers, stopping her cold.

Fu Siwan whipped her head around, meeting Bai Qian’s complicated gaze. She scowled. “Having second thoughts?”

“No need to give me your card number. Later, I’ll take you to buy a phone. It’ll be more convenient for payments going forward.”

The girl snorted derisively, but obediently put the items away. “You’re a lot more generous than Zhao Yinghao. But I don’t need ‘later’—take me to buy one now.”

Bai Qian led Fu Siwan to an electronics store. The girl didn’t even glance at the display models meant for customers to try. Instead, she called over a sales assistant and asked for the top-of-the-line latest model.

While the two handled the transaction, Fu Siwan waited off to the side, bored. She wandered over to check out the laptops nearby.

By the time Bai Qian finished paying and came over, the girl was curiously sliding the mouse around. Bai Qian couldn’t help but ask, “Like it?”

The girl shot her a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “Of course I like it. What, are you going to buy it for me too?”

Bai Qian suppressed the urge to rip away this girl’s ugly mask. Instead, she gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind Fu Siwan’s ear and said mildly, “Then we’ll buy it.”

Fu Siwan recoiled in disgust, ready to slap the intruding hand away. But at those words, she froze, momentarily forgetting to pull back from the unfamiliar touch.

Bai Qian finished adjusting her hair and saw the girl staring at her with wide eyes, an expression of utter disbelief. It looked far more genuine—and far more endearing and cute—than anything before.

The woman smiled, her fox-like eyes seductive as a demon’s, brimming with an indulgence that could almost pull anyone in. “The top-of-the-line latest model?”

Fu Siwan snapped out of her daze and saw that the woman had already gone to talk to the sales assistant.

Judging by the assistant’s suddenly beaming smile, the woman wasn’t just making empty promises. After buying the phone for her, she really went ahead and added a laptop too.

Fu Siwan bit down unconsciously on the soft flesh of her lower lip. Her gaze on Bai Qian grew complicated.

This was the first time she had ever felt truly cherished.

The woman’s intentions were the same as that sleazy old man’s, but while he always leered at her with a gaze that turned her stomach, this woman had never once looked at her that way.

The woman in her line of sight gathered up the items and turned to her.

Fu Siwan noticed that the narrow eyes behind those glasses curved up slightly, as if they shed some of their usual chill when fixed on her.

Realizing she was noticing such details, the girl’s expression shifted. The air around her grew colder as she shoved away the unwelcome flicker of uncertainty. Only then did her rigid posture ease.

Bai Qian, oblivious to the change, walked back with the bags and asked warmly, “Do you have your ID? I’ll take you to get a SIM card first.”

Fu Siwan nodded. They walked in silence for a stretch before she suddenly stopped, looked up at Bai Qian, and said coolly, “You bought the phone of your own accord, so I won’t count it toward the transaction fee. If you’re thinking one laptop will buy my next time, let me tell you now: it’s not enough. I know, for people like you, virginity matters a lot. You’ll take my first time, sure—but the second, the third, every time after. If the money isn’t enough, I absolutely won’t give it to you.”

In that moment, Bai Qian hated Li Lanzhao with a burning fury. What poisonous ideas had that woman filled Fu Siwan’s head with over the years? How else could an eighteen-year-old girl speak so calmly and indifferently about pricing her own body, as if she were just haggling over the cost of pork per pound?

Her hatred for that woman mingled with aching pity for the girl before her.

Fu Siwan’s face hadn’t even twitched while discussing the monetary value of her body—like it was the most ordinary thing in the world.

Bai Qian drew a deep breath, then let it out. Her cool voice trembled faintly. “I spent two hundred thousand to buy your birthday. And I have just one request.”

Fu Siwan: “Mm. What?”

“From today on, remember this: you are priceless. No one—not even you yourself—can put a monetary value on you. Not your body, not anything else.”

Fu Siwan’s pupils contracted sharply. She blanked out for a split second, then quickly curved her lips in a perfunctory smile. “Got it.”

The whims of the rich were so amusing.

They all loved playing the savior, showering charity on some pitiful little kitten in their eyes. Once the kitten grew tame and dependent, they could toss it aside on a whim—like a toy they’d grown bored of.

And who cared about a cheap toy, anyway?

Bai Qian could see right through her attitude. She knew words alone wouldn’t be enough to change anything.

Their relationship had started off on a footing ripe for misunderstanding from the very beginning. And the person she was dealing with was this insecure little thing. She gave up on the idea of cracking open her heart with just a few words. Instead, she reached out quite naturally and clasped the girl’s wrist. “Let’s get you a membership card first, then we’ll grab some food. It’s your birthday today—what do you feel like eating?”

Fu Siwan tugged resistantly, trying to pull her hand free. But the woman who had indulged her foul moods so thoroughly ever since they met was done playing nice this time. She didn’t let go—instead, she took it further, sliding her grip down to clasp the girl’s hand tight.

“I’ve shelled out three hundred thousand on you already. Can’t I at least hold your hand?”

The woman’s tone stayed mild and even, but it set the young girl’s teeth on edge with pure fury.

Fu Siwan fumed inwardly: She knew it—this old bat was just lusting after her young body! All that gentle pretense was nothing but a con!!!