"Okay! They all left! Can you explain your problem?" He asked with a sigh, settling himself down on the floor, with his leg crossed and back straight.
His cold yet warm temperament made her let her guard down and relax.
Seeing how he agreed to listen to her meant there was room for kindness, in the heart of the person who bought her.
"How much did you pay for me?" That was the first question in her mind, and she blurted it out without holding her back.
"I did not pay anything; it was just that they owed me over 2978978774 billion dollars. They were bankrupt and couldn't pay me, and offered to settle their debts by sending you as a slave.
It wasn't a big amount for me, I could have settled it as bad debts, as long as they promised to pay me even in small installments, I would have accepted it, no matter how petty the amount was.
But they insisted! I am a man with no family, I would be foolish to reject such a good offer." he explained it so lightly as if he was talking about some carrots and potatoes.
"So, you mean my family insisted you take me and settle the debt once and for all?" she tried to confirm, but her heart still could not accept it.
"Thank God! You didn't drop your brain in the sea!" he chuckled.
"Miss Shu, if you want, I can terminate this deal, you can go back, it would be between your family and me," he added, his face turning straight so swiftly, that it scared her.
"They wanted to get rid of me and the debts altogether, killing two birds with a stone, as shameless as they are, I am afraid, my niece would be here in this place tomorrow," she shook her head, as the face of her naive niece crossed her mind.
"Then, what do you want me to do? To take it as a bad debt? Face this unbearable loss? I can do that! If you... you miss Shu asks me to do," his husky tone emphasized the 'you'. It creeped her out and she shuddered.
"No need! Once I go back to the city, I will give you the entire amount, I don't want to owe you in any way," she spoke, pulling out a pink handkerchief and placing it on the ground.
"What are you doing?" He asked flabbergasted, no response, he chose to observe her silently, it was dark but the light of the cruise gave her enough visibility to do what she wanted.
Straightening it gently with her palms, she took out a bobby pin and pinched her index finger, the blood dropping nonstop, she wailed in a low voice and bent forward to write something.
Qu Ting Wei was astonished to see her act in the strangest manner he had ever seen a girl, he wondered what he was lacking.
He was a billionaire tycoon, not very old, just in his early thirties, he was gifted with handsomeness that made weak-hearted girls faint when he passed by them.
"I have no messy relationships, no family, and this was my first time getting a slave, that too against my will, you know I am rich, this amount is worth more than your entire asset is literally nothing for me, you can ask me to clear the debts with nothing.
I can forget this debt! You don't have to suffer for this, you shouldn't take loans and sell your assets for this. It has nothing to do with you.
Miss Shu, don't you think you should give me a chance?" he mentioned, feeling he was degraded by her resistance.
"Master Qu, don't get me wrong, but I don't understand what you mean by 'giving you a chance', it is your kindness to let go of me, but the burden of the debt would lower my pride down.
I already have any left, but please let me save the little dignity I have.
Do you think I don't know? Nothing comes for free! You may clear this debt belonging to my family, but I know you will cover it from somewhere else, that is what I do myself, so I understand." she replied, writing the last sentences.
She raised her blood-covered handkerchief in the air and showed him the content written with her index finger.
"It's an IOU! You went to this just to write this?" He was in complete shock, even though he had a rough idea of what she was doing.
"Yup! Show this to my lawyer named Kang Ruo Xi, she will help you get the payment. If ever again, my family owes you any sort of debt, you can contact her for the same," she explained.
Her eyes glittered like the twinkling stars, her smile brightening like the facade of the moonlight, it was the joy of freedom.
"What? Are you kidding me? Do you have enough money to pay me off? the entire amount at once?" He was shaken, his eyes widened as he took the handkerchief in his hand.
"Yes, if only my family had discussed it with me, not tricking me here, I would have never bothered you with this drama," she replied, leaning to the glass of railing, with her arms folded.
"Wait a minute!" He raised his palm in the air, trying to process his thoughts.
Kang Ruo Xi? Isn't she the famous corporate lawyer hired by the Shen group? She is head of the legal department and best friend of the Chairwoman, how can she spare time for you?
I tried to approach her several times, but she always trampled on my pride and rejected me," he asked, thinking it must be a joke.
"Why don't you give me the money personally? I can take you back with the helicopter," he asked, thinking that she was tricking him.
"Nah! I don't want to have anything to do with you, once I place my foot on the land, I would rush back home to my niece, I have a lot to talk about, I don't have time to spare either," she replied with a sense of indifference in her tone.
"If you face any problem, pass the message through my father. Though I would call her in advance to get the transaction done smoothly," she added.
"Now that I think of it, never for once, did you let your pride down, you were helpless, you were afraid, filled with grudges, you were disgusted, it must be because of your hidden legendary card," he finally figured it out.
He folded the handkerchief and kept it inside his pocket. He raised his eyes again to look at her delicate frail build. Her matchless beauty mesmerized him, hypnotized him, and sent signals to his brain-'I want to rule her heart'.
"Master Qu, I dare not lie, as you seem to be a gentleman to me, I can imagine that you were reluctant to accept me as a payment.
Don't worry! I will return every penny they owe you," she assured him.
"Well, you did write it with your blood, I shouldn't have judged you wrongly, forgive me! I don't want to force you to tell me your source of income and how you know Kang Ruo Xi, but have a question I insist that you answer," he asked feeling a little insecure.
"Sure, go ahead!" she agreed, sighing in relief, because she was partially free.
"Why do you resist me? We can be a good match! Let's forget this pointless drama and start over! I can get engaged and marry you in a proper way to make you my wife, you can be the queen of my business empire.
Girls die to get close to me, even making friends with me is enough for them to show off, I am proposing to you sincerely.
Can you not give me a chance?" he elaborated, revealing his true feelings.
"Oh? Master Qu? This is our first meeting! How can you be so sure of making me your wife?" she asked, her tone carrying a pinch of annoyance as she furrowed her brows.
"Well, your father often mentioned you in our conversation, and I saw you with your niece at a restaurant several times.
I have been admiring you for a long time," his heart raced against his chest as he confessed for the first time in his life.
"No wonder he went bankrupt! What a loser!
Talking about me instead of discussing business.
I wonder what he said about me?" she asked curiously, trying to divert his attention.
He smiled cunningly knowing what she was trying to do, but decided to play along.
"Well, A lot of things, like...ummm.....let me recall!" He tried to act like that so that she would unknowingly question him if he didn't remember that much how come he admired her?
She was equally sharp-minded, though nervousness pinched her stomach, she remained quiet, waiting for him to speak.
"Oh yeah! I got it...
He told me your hands have magic, you cook finger-licking cuisines, and you often try to make ancient dishes from all around the world.
But you don't cook very often, just for your niece sometimes.
Once, he told me you like receiving packages so much that the boxes piled up two meters high from the ground when the orders were delivered.
The orders were so many and so frequent that your niece even made an unboxing channel. To be honest I am one of the subscribers as well.
Then a while back, he told me, that you are quite mysterious, he doesn't even get to meet you when he should be the one you should be eager to meet," he listed everything, scratching his head and fidgeting, he was restless.
"He literally narrated an entire book, I guess there is more, anyway, he thinks he is a man worthy to wait for, that old geezer overestimated himself.
Let me tell you a secret! In exchange for your trust!
I purposely did that!
I wanted him to taste his own medicine!
Shuan'er was five when her mother died, I was the same age as her now, seventeen, young and naive, she often reminds me of myself.
I raised her, becoming her mother, her father, her sibling, her aunt, and also her best friend. I tried my best to give her everything I never had, and everything she wanted.
Keeping her away from the childhood trauma I experienced.
However, she would often come and cry after school, and they bullied her for not having a mother.
You would never imagine what I went through, at first, I was devastated.
But then I saw your quote in a magazine.
/Those who degrade you for something, do what it takes to make them envious for not having that 'something' /
It inspired me, I doted on my niece even more, threw huge parties for her achievements, invited her friends for picnics, taking them to foreign countries every vacation.
In the end, one of her friends told her that she was envious of her and wished to have an aunt like me.
It was the most satisfying, more satisfying than this moment of freedom," she talked about her niece with so much love, lost in reminiscing those times that she didn't notice Master Qu staring straight into her eyes.
"I did not know you were so loving," he commented, his eyes unmoved, his deep magnetic voice attracted her attention.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" She looked away instantly after her eyes met his, her cheeks turned red.
"You still didn't reply to me, why can't you accept me?" He brought her back to the subject she was trying so hard to avoid.
She looked down, smacking her head, her brows furrowed. She did not know how to get out of this awkward situation.