Chapter 11

My legs were still a little weak and wobbly, and thinking about all the things Zhou Si had done to me in the past 24 hours, there was just no way I could believe a word of that nonsense.

Who was Zhou Si, anyway? A businessman who could call black white and say the dead are still alive. And now this 30-year-old grown-ass man had the nerve to say it was his first time? He couldn’t even lie with a straight face—was his skin thicker than a city wall or what?

I knew I couldn’t out-argue him, so I didn’t even bother trying.

He wanted me to take responsibility?

Fine.

I pulled out my phone, opened WeChat, tapped on his profile pic, and transferred him ten thousand yuan.

That ten grand was literally all the money I had. Honestly, it kind of hurt to send it. I live paycheck to paycheck—my salary barely covers my own expenses, and I’m still mooching off my parents when it comes down to it.

Once the transfer was done, I tilted my chin at Zhou Si. “Check your phone.”

He clearly didn’t expect me to actually send him money. He picked up his phone and looked.

And once he did, his expression turned unreadable.

I cleared my throat. “Is that enough?”

Zhou Si let out a small huff. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s fair.”

“Well I think it’s not.”

“Then how much is fair?”

I thought he’d act all high and mighty and say something like “you can’t put a price on a man’s first time.” But nope—he didn’t even blink before saying, “One hundred times that amount.”

And with that, he shamelessly clicked Accept right in front of me.

My eyes went wide. “Why don’t you go rob a bank?!”

Zhou Si flopped back onto the couch, legs spread lazily, and replied like he didn’t have a care in the world, “You’re an adult. You should take responsibility for your actions. Isn’t that what you said yourself?”

I snapped back, “I’m an adult, not an idiot.”

He said, “Good. Then I’ll give you a discount.”

A discount?! Are you kidding me?

This was peak capitalist behavior if I’ve ever seen it.

“How much of a discount?” I asked.

Without missing a beat, he said, “Seeing as I watched you grow up and I’m basically like your half-brother, I’ll knock it down to 10%.”

So basically, after giving him 10K, I still owed him 90K.

Now, 90K isn’t an impossible amount—I could sell two of my luxury bags and cover it. But those bags are my babies. No way I could part with them. I could ask my parents for money—I’ve never been shy about asking—but no way would I let them find out about what went down between Zhou Si and me.

Given my sad little salary, even after deducting basic living costs, I’d need at least a year to repay that 90K. How was I supposed to survive while paying him back?

So I decided to go full shameless. “So you just say it was your first time and I’m supposed to believe you? Why should I?”

Zhou Si looked completely unbothered. “It’s fine if you don’t. I’ll just talk to Uncle and Auntie about it.”

The moment he mentioned my parents, I nearly exploded. “Zhou Si! Don’t you dare tell my mom and dad!”

He nodded. “Alright.”

And just like that, I somehow ended up agreeing to pay him off. He even graciously agreed to let me pay in monthly installments.

I felt like I’d just sold myself and was helping him count the money.

I was now officially broke and screwed in every possible way.

Brand new day.

I stared at my empty wallet and silently cursed Zhou Si in my head. Honestly, when I caught Chen Zhicheng cheating, I wasn’t even this mad. But now I was just irrationally furious at Zhou Si. I couldn’t help feeling like he’d tricked me—scammed me out of my money and played me like a fiddle. By the time I realized it, it was too late to turn back.

As if things couldn’t get worse, I also had a crap day at work. The marketing proposal I’d poured weeks into got dismissed with a single sentence from my manager.

Fine. Whatever. Work sucked. But what made things unbearable was Zhou Wan.

I’d already blocked her, but she somehow still found ways to get to me. She insisted it was all a misunderstanding and demanded to meet. She even threatened to harass me every day until I agreed.

I didn’t have the energy to deal with her nonsense, so I reluctantly agreed to meet during my lunch break.

We met just next door to my office building.

Zhou Wan looked way too perky when she saw me. She greeted me like nothing was wrong. “Xie Lizhi, you really have a temper, huh!”

I stayed cold. “You’ve got the same thick skin as your brother.”

Zhou Wan huffed, acting all cutesy. “How can you be like this! Blaming people without knowing the truth.”

“Oh? I wronged you?”

“Yes! You totally misunderstood! Okay, fine, I did flirt with Chen Zhicheng and I did hold his hand, but it’s not what you think!”

I tried to be patient. “Okay, then tell me what it was.”

She stammered, “I, I, I…”

“Oh my god, can you stop stuttering?”

“I’m not stuttering!” she insisted. “I just… I just didn’t want you to be with Chen Zhicheng! That’s why I deliberately tempted him. But I swear, I don’t like him!”

I narrowed my eyes. “So… you don’t like Chen Zhicheng, and you don’t want me to be with him either…”

Thinking back to how she’d always tried to keep me and him apart, something clicked. “Wait… do you like me?”

Zhou Wan nearly spit water in my face.

“Please,” she said, totally exasperated. “Don’t flatter yourself! Why would I ever like you?!”

I gave her the same unimpressed look she gave me.

“Okay, listen,” she said, “I couldn’t stand Chen Zhicheng from the start. I didn’t like the way he looked at me when we hung out. It was weird. So I decided to play along, test him. If he really tried anything, then I’d have proof for you to dump him. And if he didn’t fall for it, maybe he was worth keeping.”

I just couldn’t wrap my head around it. “Zhou Wan, I don’t care what you thought about him—he was my boyfriend. Don’t you think you’re overstepping a bit?”

“You think I wanted to get involved? If it weren’t for my brother—” She cut herself off suddenly.

But I heard her loud and clear. “What does your brother have to do with this?”

She took a deep breath, sipped some water, and looked me straight in the eye. “Xie Li, you know my brother has never had a girlfriend, right? Do you know why?”

I felt a little uneasy under her serious stare. Truth be told, she looked just like Zhou Si when he got serious.

So I mumbled, “How would I know?”

“Because of you.”

“What do you mean, me?”

She said, “Because when you two were kids, my brother promised you he’d marry you one day. He said he was going to keep that promise. He refuses to marry anyone else.”

I choked on my water and sprayed it all over her face.

We both froze.

But Zhou Wan only paused for a second before screaming, “AHHH! Xie Li, did you do that on purpose?! I’m all gross now! Your spit is disgusting!”

I awkwardly handed her some tissues and wiped her face. “Oh, calm down. Your brother doesn’t mind my spit, so why should you?”

She looked at me like I was the grossest thing alive. “That’s different! You and my brother are both obsessed love freaks. I’m not!”

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