Chapter 3

I opened the notes on my phone and found a whole schedule.

"Monday: yoga, vegetarian lunch, book club."

"Tuesday: therapy, flower-arranging class, meditation."

"Wednesday: charity auction, craft workshop..."

I closed the note. I'd seen enough.

Boring.

So boring it pissed me off.

What was the point of living like that for six months?

I put my phone away and decided to browse the mall.

Clothes. Makeup. Might as well get my nails done, too.

Qin Wu had just transferred five hundred thousand, after all. Enough to last me a few days.

The comments: 【...A few days???】

【What did I just hear?? Five hundred thousand only lasts her a few days???】

【Rich-woman problems I will never understand.jpg】

【The agent took six months to spend a few million. The original can burn through half a million in days. What kind of spending power is that?】

【So that's where Qin Wu's money goes.】

I entered the mall and headed straight for my usual stores.

A sales assistant blinked at my new hair, then came over smiling.

"Miss Jiang, it's been a while."

"Yeah." I looked around. "Where are the new arrivals?"

"This way, please."

I picked out a dozen or so outfits.

Black, dark blue, purple, deep red.

Off-the-shoulder, backless, high slits, crop tops.

Not a single piece in white.

The comments streamed past.

【She's so fast at choosing clothes.】

【Because she knows what she wants. The agent used to try things on for hours, then buy a pile of stuff that all looked the same.】

【Original: no white, no long sleeves, no high necks, nothing below the knee. The more rebellious, the better. Agent: white, beige, long-sleeved dresses. The sweeter, the better.】

【HAHAHA if those two lived together they'd kill each other.】

After the clothes, I moved on to cosmetics.

New foundation, an eyeshadow palette, lipstick, highlighter, contour.

I added false lashes and press-on nails while I was at it.

Then I went for a manicure.

I chose the longest almond nails available, in dark-green cat-eye polish, with rhinestones.

The comments:

【That's so over the top.】

【But somehow it really suits her.】

【The agent spent six months building that sweet, innocent image, and the original destroyed it in a day HAHAHA.】

【How's Qin Wu going to react to the hair and nails? I can't wait.】

【Wait for what? This is what she was like before the agent arrived. He's used to it. If you ask me, the sweet innocent act was what he couldn't get used to.】

By the time I left the mall, laden with bags, it was dark.

Streetlights glowed over the bustling crowds.

I stood by the curb to call a car and realized I was hungry.

The agent had spent six months eating vegetarian meals, salads and health food. Just seeing "organic," "gluten-free" and "low-calorie" in her notes gave me a stomachache.

What even was that stuff?

Was it fit for human consumption?

Who needed to check all that just to eat?

I wanted hot pot.

Spicy hot pot.

Extra spicy.

I searched for nearby restaurants on my phone. The most popular one was only two streets away.

The problem was, I was carrying more than a dozen bags. And hot pot alone was a little pathetic.

Forget it.

I'd go home, put my things away and change, then head out.

I was about to call a car when my phone vibrated.

A message from Qin Wu.

Qin Wu: 【Have you eaten?】

I glanced at it and didn't reply.

He sent another.

Qin Wu: 【No hot pot. Your stomach can't handle it.】

I paused.

How did he know I wanted hot pot?

I looked around, but he was nowhere in sight.

The comments started flooding in.

【Has he put a tracker on her???】

【Maybe he guessed. Whenever she's in a bad mood, she goes for hot pot. Extra spicy, too.】

【He even knows THAT???】

I still didn't reply.

I had absolutely no desire to deal with him.

I put my phone away and got into the car.

6

It was almost nine when I reached home.

I stood outside my door with bags everywhere, fumbling for my keys, when something struck me as wrong.

The door wasn't locked.

I'd definitely locked it before I left.

The comments noticed, too.

【A burglar???】

Frowning, I put my bags down.

Then thought better of it and picked one up again.

Whoever was in there was getting hit!

The living-room lights were on.

Someone was sitting on the sofa.

Long legs crossed, phone in hand, entirely at ease. As though he owned the place.

At the sound of the door, he looked up.

Dark-gray shirt, sleeves rolled to his forearms.

Strong features, a lazy coolness about his eyes.

But when those eyes turned to me, there was nothing remotely cool in them.

Qin Wu.

The first thing he looked at was my hair.

Then his expression shifted, almost imperceptibly.

As though he could finally breathe.

Or as though he'd just confirmed something.

The comments were much less subtle.

【The way he's looking at her hair... is he smiling??】

【Who wouldn't laugh at a head that green?】

Me: ?

What had green hair ever done to them?

I LIKED green hair!

Still, if it was Qin Wu, I didn't need to throw anything.

He looked away, his voice casual.

"You're back."

I stood in the doorway, staring at him without expression.

"How did you get in?"

"I have a key."

"Who gave you a key?"

"Mom."

He made it sound perfectly natural.

"She told me to keep an eye on you. Make sure you don't get yourself killed."

【"Make sure she doesn't get herself killed" HAHAHA. Official troublemaker certification from her own mother?】

I dumped my bags, changed into slippers and walked into the living room.

And gave him an order on the way.

"Go get the rest of the bags outside."

Qin Wu didn't move.

Leaning back on the sofa, he looked from my hair to my nails, then from my nails to the shopping bags.

"How much did you spend?"

"What's it to you?"

"I sent you five hundred thousand."

"You volunteered." I sat in the armchair opposite. "I didn't beg."

The comments started again.

【Such conviction HAHAHA.】

【Qin Wu: I sent you five hundred thousand. Sister: You volunteered. HAHAHA brilliant.】

【He really doesn't look angry, though. He almost looks happy???】

He wasn't angry.

There was even a faint curve to his lips.

"Have you eaten?" he asked.

"No."

"Hot pot?"

"Yeah."

"Where?"

"I told you I haven't eaten!" I shot him a look. "What's with all the questions?"

He didn't answer. He tapped at his phone, then stood and picked up his car keys from the coffee table.

"Let's go."

"Where?"

"Didn't you want hot pot?"

I frowned.

"I can go myself. I don't need you."

Qin Wu looked at me.

"Sure?"

"Of course I'm su—"

I swallowed the rest.

Two people could order more dishes without wasting food.

Fine. He could come.

I looked down at myself.

Long black dress. No makeup.

Trying clothes on at the mall had only confirmed it: the agent's taste and mine were fundamentally incompatible.

This dress was too long.

The neckline was too high.

The whole thing was too dull.

I'd meant to change when I got home anyway.

"Wait a minute."

I stood and carried my shopping into the bedroom.

"How long?"

"None of your business."

I went in and shut the door.