The town was not that big, and Gu Xiqiao took s.h.i.+ Tou to circle around the place a few times. She bought a lot of things—a crutch for Aunt Liu, cigarettes for the village chief, a radio for the grandpa next door, a game console for s.h.i.+ Tou... everything that you could think of, she had bought it.
It was quite late in the day for this trip, so Gu Xiqiao took s.h.i.+ Tou to eat the beef noodles that he had always wanted to eat.
Just when they finished eating, a beautiful woman was making her way down the streets. She was wearing a western-style dress and her hair was dyed maroon red with wavy curls gently falling on her back. There was light but exquisite makeup on her face, and she was holding a parasol in her hands, her entire person looking very fas.h.i.+onable. All the heads were turning to look at her as she walked on the street.
"Gu Xiqiao?" The woman said, slowing her steps as she came to a stop, "Why are you here?"
She deliberately dragged her words when she spoke, and her voice was piercing. Gu Xiqiao couldn"t help but rub her aching ears, and had to squint her eyes due to the glaring sunlight to look at the woman. The face was extremely familiar, however she couldn"t seem to recall who it was.
"h.e.l.lo, Sister Jia Wei," s.h.i.+ Tou greeted, and Gu Xiqiao immediately recalled who it was—the mayor"s daughter.
There was only one middle school in this town, so the both of them had studied in the same school. Gu Xiqiao wasn"t sure when she had wronged her, but Jia Wei had always not gotten along with her. However, those were back in their younger days.
"It"s been a while," Gu Xiqiao smiled as she greeted her.
Her smile was bright and dazzling under the scorching sun, and even though Jia Wei was a woman, she was momentarily captivated by her beauty. However, it only lasted for a second before her face darkened, and she snorted coldly. "Didn"t you go to the city to climb higher? What, have you crawled back here after getting bullied?"
"Thank you for your concern, I"m doing fine."
It was like throwing a fist at cotton—she was completely unfazed. Didn"t she hear the mocking tone in her words? "Gu Xiqiao, is there something wrong with your brain?!"
Gu Xiqiao"s smile didn"t falter, indicating that she was indifferent to her provoking words. Jia Wei seemed to lose interest in her then, stomping off in a huff after throwing her a last sneer.
s.h.i.+ Tou watched her leave, his eyes focused on her stiletto heels that were at least ten centimeters high. After a while, he turned to Gu Xiqiao with a serious expression. "I just realized, Sister Jia Wei is really short."
Jia Wei, who had yet to be out of earshot, stopped and turned around at that, leveling a glare at s.h.i.+ Tou.
***
"Alright, let"s head back now." There was only one road that led to Baixing Village, and Gu Xiqiao led s.h.i.+ Tou toward the intersection. The black Porsche that had been parked there was definitely standing out, children and other villagers would come around to look at it from time to time, as such luxury cars were rarely seen in town.
Bao Xinyi had an unhappy expression on her face. "Su Wen, it"s frigging hot here, can"t we just leave first!"
"Wait a while longer," Su Wen said calmly as he played with his phone, "If you can"t stand the heat, you can always ride the bus back first."
Bao Xinyi had the urge to strangle Su Wen when he said that. Although they weren"t childhood friends, they were still considered to be close friends. When did he start talking that way to her? It seemed like Su Wen had become a different person, and she even suspected that he had been possessed by a ghost.
"Xinyi, be patient. Su Wen said to wait a while, then we"ll just wait," Jia Wei said, giving Bao Xinyi a small smile.
"You really can talk," Bao Xinyi said, sneering at Jia Wei.
Jia Wei"s smile dropped and she stayed silent, her expression stiffening at the response that Bao Xinyi had given her. She wasn"t a pleasant person by nature, and she was only in the spotlight from her elementary school days to her high school days in this town because she was the mayor"s daughter. When she had managed to barely make it into a first-cla.s.s school in the Imperial Capital, she was simply just a shabby person compared to all the people around her who were all extremely wealthy!
She knew that her appearance was decent, and her grades were good, so why couldn"t she compare to those rich and powerful girls from wealthy families?
She had been in the Imperial Capital for almost a year, and had seen the prosperity of the city with her own eyes, which changed her perception of the world. She knew that this poor town was not where she wanted to settle down.
Bao Xinyi was her cla.s.smate, and she was also the best person that she knew among all her cla.s.smates. So even if she spoke harshly, she would endure it.
She already had a new goal in mind, Su Wen was Bao Xinyi"s friend. All of Bao Xinyi"s friends were naturally of high positions in society. Also, she had heard that he was in A University, which was one of the best educational inst.i.tutes in the country. When she found that there was such a person near her, she began to plan in her mind.
Although there wasn"t much progress yet, at least Su Wen remembered and used her name. It was a good start.
Bao Xinyi looked at Jia Wei who had a contemplative look in her eyes, and she snorted, her own eyes full of ridicule when she looked at the girl. She really thought that a wild chicken would be able to take flight into the air and turn into a phoenix, what wishful thinking she had!
Su Wen was not bothered about whatever the two girls were up to or doing, his gaze was focused on the road instead. When a familiar figure started walking toward them, his eyes lit up. He strode forward in a few big steps, closing the distance between them and took the things from her hands. "You"re here!"
Gu Xiqiao nodded her head slightly as a greeting. "Sorry, I bought quite a few things and made you wait long."
"No worries, it wasn"t that long." Su Wen said, shaking his head, "Come on, it"s hot outside."
He glanced up to observe the sun"s position, it was about two o"clock in the afternoon, when the sun rays were the strongest and most damaging at this time. He could feel the heat on his face, and the sweat on his back. And yet, Gu Xiqiao didn"t have a single drop of sweat on her, despite walking under the heat with not even an umbrella in hand. Her clothes still looked fresh and without a wrinkle, her face still held the usual soft white glow, the sunlight only serving to highlight her delicate figure, making it even harder to tear your eyes away from her beauty.
Jia Wei had also caught sight of Gu Xiqiao, and she was surprised to see the usually cold and indifferent Su Wen pick up her bags like a loyal dog. She felt the questions swimming around in her mind, when did Gu Xiqiao meet them? Bao Xinyi saw Jia Wei"s flabbergasted face, and she laughed mockingly. She turned to Su Wen. "Su Wen, your car only has four seats, right?"
The Porsche looks amazing, but the interior was not as useful as the exterior looked. In order to maintain its beauty, it could only fit four people inside. When they were heading into town, it was just enough to fit Gu Xiqiao and s.h.i.+ Tou at the backseat. But now there was an extra person, Jia Wei, and there was a small problem.
Of course, Jia Wei was the one that was in an awkward situation. Her other cla.s.smates had all come down by bus, but she had decided to gamble on her schemes. She knew that Su Wen"s car was at the intersection, and so she had rushed to the location. In order to get closer to her objective, she had put in a lot of effort, but she didn"t expect for Gu Xiqiao to appear, and even look like she was close to Su Wen!
This simply made Jia Wei red with anger and green with envy!
She stifled the frown that threatened to make its way onto her face, forcing a smile onto her face with a lot of effort. "Su Wen, I"ll have my dad pick me up later."
Su Wen glanced at her, and gave her a light smile. "I"m really sorry."
"It"s alright, it"s to be expected." Jia Wei"s heart skipped a beat, at least she had gotten his attention for a while. But then she thought about his treatment toward Gu Xiqiao, and her heart returned to its calm state.
Gu Xiqiao was silent throughout the exchange, looking at the poorly disguised contempt in Bao Xinyi"s eyes, she resisted the urge to sigh.
"System, how"s the progress on modifying the car?"
[It"s almost done, I"ve already installed the self-driving system, and the most detailed map in the world. Would you like to try it?]
"Yeah, let"s try it," Gu Xiqiao said, glancing at Jia Wei, who was reluctant to leave, and Bao Xinyi, who almost wore the disgust on her face.
[Okay, there"s an empty s.p.a.ce just a bit in front, I"ll place the car over there.]
Self-driving cars had yet to be produced in China. Although there were already prototypes in America, the cost was high and the function was not too useful.
Unless their local big shots with cash to spare were bored, no one would spend such a large amount of money on something that was almost useless.
On the burning hot road, a pink sports car could be seen driving toward them. Its design was sleek, distinct, aggressive and very much eye-catching as a whole. If Su Wen"s car was considered to be a low-key luxury, this car practically screamed rich and wealthy!
"It"s the Lamborghini"s latest concept EG sports car!" Su Wen exclaimed loudly when he caught sight of it, dropping whatever that he was doing.
Bao Xinyi was also in the same state. "Look at the logo under the wheel, it"s a customized model, there"s only one in the entire world!"
Jia Wei, who couldn"t understand anything the both of them were saying, could only look at the sports car with awe and speculation in her eyes.
The car slowed to a stop beside them, and only did they realized that there was no one in the driver"s seat!
Su Wen suddenly said, "It"s a self-driving car."
Gu Xiqiao dug into her pocket, waiting for a while before a bunch of keys appeared in her hands. Pulling out the keys, she smiled at Su Wen. "My ride"s here, but please help me take the things back."
Having said that, she pressed the switch on the keys, and the double-scissors door raised up. She shoved s.h.i.+ Tou, who was staring dumbfounded in, and got in herself before closing the doors. For a moment, only the rumbling of the engine could be heard, but the car soon shot off out of sight.
The three of them remaining were rooted to the spot, still in a daze after a long while.
"Jia Wei, do you know her?" Bao Xinyi asked suddenly.
Jia Wei was still in shock, and she nodded her head dumbly when she managed to process the question.
"Is she really from the village?"
"Yes." Jia Wei blinked rapidly, trying to collect herself. "She was picked up by a family in Baixing Village. She"s been here for more than ten years, but she suddenly left a few months ago after her adoptive mother pa.s.sed away. I heard that she had just returned from the city."
"Picked up? She"s an orphan?" Bao Xinyi scoffed. "An orphan that drives a luxury car?"
"Bao Xinyi, enough!" Su Wen snapped, frowning. He thought back to the sea of fire in the forest, when this person had waved her hand and made it disappear. With that kind of power, driving a luxury car was nothing, right?"
"Hmph!" Bao Xinyi snorted, thinking back to the time that she felt breathless, as though something was crus.h.i.+ng her when Gu Xiqiao had looked at her, she stayed silent, not saying another word.
Only Jia Wei"s eyes were clearly flickering with various emotions, looking at the sports car that had disappeared from their sight, the corners of her lips lifted up slightly.
***
Gu Xiqiao didn"t drive the car into the village, but parked it in a simple shed just some ways outside it. s.h.i.+ Tou got down from the car, and started touching the car, the awe clear on his face.
"Alright, that"s enough. Go on home," Gu Xiqiao said, flicking his forehead.
"Just a little longer," s.h.i.+ Tou said, continuing to caress the vehicle, before following Gu Xiqiao as he asked for the nth time, "Sister Gu, is this really your car?"
"Yes," Gu Xiqiao answered patiently, "If you want, I"ll give you an exact same model when you reach adulthood."
"No way," s.h.i.+ Tou said, shaking his head, "The color is too girly."
Gu Xiqiao, who had been rejected: "..."
***
At the same time, in the office of N City"s base, a man stood trembling in front of the boss" chair. The person sitting in the chair was turned around, and although only his white cuffs were visible, the pressure in the office was extremely heavy.
The man that was trembling wiped the sweat off his brows, and repeated the motion again and again, even his thighs were trembling now. Was there a problem with the proposal that he had submitted?
It couldn"t be that the boss of Nine Heavens had lied to him, right?!
Just when the man thought that the doc.u.ments with the proposal in Young Master Jiang"s hand would come flying at his head, a cold, velvety voice spoke, "You"re quite good, I"ll leave this matter to you."
As he said that, the chair turned around slowly to reveal a seemingly perfectly sculptured face, eyebrows with an elegant arch, and a pair of mesmerizing coal-black eyes which held a hint of frost in it, which made it hard for people to meet his eyes.
Only after getting the affirmative answer did the man manage to wipe clear the cold sweat that had slid down his face, and then he moved to accept the papers before leaving the room in careful steps.
Jiang Shuxuan remained in the same position in the chair, leaning back on it. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and after a long while of staring at nothing, he let out a sigh.
The door opened again, and Yin Shaoyuan stuck his head inside. "Brother Jiang, I heard... Mu Zong came over with the proposal?"
"Hm." Jiang Shuxuan grunted, lighting a cigarette. Blowing the smoke out, it slightly obscured his face. "I had someone try it, it"s an extremely good firewall."
Jiang Shuxuan rarely gave out positive remarks, but Yin Shaoyuan was not surprised as he had seen the miracle that Nine Heavens was. "But of course, you didn"t see how excited my employees were when she sent a few software over to my company!"
"And then there"s the online game, you wouldn"t know since you don"t play games. It"s really all the hype right now, and any youngster who isn"t playing meant they weren"t keeping up with the times!"
Yin Shaoyuan got more excited as he talked, until he saw Jiang Shuxuan shooting a look, and he slowly came down back to earth. "Well, Qiao Qiao sent me a message yesterday night…"
Just as he said that, the pair of eyes behind the smoke sharpened on him. Pursing his lips, he said suddenly, "Get out."
Knowing that he had said the wrong thing, Yin Shaoyuan immediately raised his hand to mime zipping his lips.
Jiang Shuxuan"s fingers unconsciously reached up to touch the jade piece that hung on his neck, his eyes slightly glazed over. One week, it was definitely not a long amount of time, but to him, it had felt like forever. Having poured all his attention on a single person for the last two months, now he had a lot of free time after the person had disappeared, and that made him feel like he had lost his focus in life. There was nothing to do that interested him.
This was definitely a problem, Jiang Shuxuan thought as he grasped the piece of jade in his hands. He was relieved when he felt the familiar pulse of energy inside it.
If this went on, he wouldn"t be able to last for long.