Xinghe planted herself on a rickety wooden chair, her eyes mild and expression natural.
It was as if she wasn"t in a house that was practically collapsing upon itself, but a house just like any other.
Xiao Mo saw the composure in her eyes and was calmed by it.
He asked the question that was bugging him, "Who are you and why did you help me?"
He wasn"t naïve enough to believe help didn"t come with its own condition.
Furthermore, 20000 RMB was not a small number, it wasn"t an amount a person could shrug off unless said person was incredibly rich.
Even so, rich people didn"t do charity for free.
They weren"t related in any way so there was little chance she was helping him for no reason.
Xinghe didn"t care to conceal her intentions, saying, "My name is Xia Xinghe. I helped you because I need your cooperation."
"My cooperation?" Xiao Mo was understandably surprised, "With what?"
He laughed self-deprecatingly, adding, "Are you sure you"ve got the right person? I don"t think I"m worth all this trouble."
He wasn"t lying. a.s.set-wise, Xiao Mo was worth zero pennies.
Xinghe fixed him a steadfast gaze, saying, "Have a little faith in yourself. You are the person I"m looking for. I"m offering you this cooperation because you are the only person that has the skillset that I need."
Xiao Mo was confused. "I"m not sure I understand what you mean. Why don"t you lay it out in open? I a.s.sure you I"ll help if it"s within my capacity," he commented.
"I like a man who is straightforward," Xinghe praised with a smile.
Xiao Mo replied with slightly upturned lips, "My life is at a dead-end. I no longer have the energy to play games so I"d rather you get to the point. Don"t worry, I"m desperate enough to jump at any reasonable offers."
"But first things first, I will not do anything that violates basic human moral code," Xiao Mo stressed, that was the line he wouldn"t cross.
Xinghe raised a brow, saying, "Life already has you by its tenterhooks, what"s the point of hanging on to your sense of morality?"
Xiao Mo frowned, could the cooperation she speaks of really be something immoral?
Then again, maybe it was his desperation that she was banking on.
After all, a desperate man is a dangerous man.
However, something told Xiao Mo this extraordinary woman before him wouldn"t be involved in unscrupulous activities.
Then again, he had no actual proof other than his intuition…
"If that"s the case, I"m going to have to ask you to leave. You"re right, life has me hanging by a thread but I"d rather hang myself with it than do anything that violates human decency," Xiao Mo said with determination. It didn"t sound like he could be moved.
Xinghe ignored him and took a visual tour of her surroundings.
Her eyes eventually landed on a wooden bed that was pushed up to the blackened wall.
The bed was falling apart from conspicuous scorch signs but had been reinforced using stray wooden planks. Xinghe"s attention was fixated on the woman who had shrunk herself into the wall"s corner.
The woman with messy hair hugged her own knees quietly, staring at the world with a pair of vacant eyes.
Xinghe had been in the room for quite some time now but the woman showed no visible response to her presence. No matter what they discussed, she laid there like a puppet that had lost its puppeteer.
Her eyes still on the woman, Xinghe asked, "What if I offer you a life of luxury for your sister on the condition that you help me kill someone. How does that sound?"
Xiao Mo stared at her with eyes that bulged with surprise…