[Ding! Wu Hongwen has successfully been saved! 10 points rewarded!]
When she heard the system notification, Gu Xiqiao started to slow down. This Master status was quite useful, and she felt like she could break a tree with a single swing of her fist. "Can you keep this status for me? I can probably earn a quick buck by performing on the streets, or something."
[Permanent statuses are sold in the Level 3 system shop.]
"How many points would I need?" Gu Xiqiao was quite curious. If she could even buy such a cheat-like status, wouldn"t the system be too overpowered?
The voice of the system spirit seemed to become serious all of a sudden. [2000 points, but I don"t suggest that you buy it. Beauty Qiao, you can train yourself in the virtual s.p.a.ce to achieve Master status. It isn"t a good way to take shortcuts like this.]
[Ding! The system has detected that Wu Hongwen"s affection towards you is thirty-five points, do you want to add him to your friend list?]
"Nope." Gu Xiqiao refused quickly without any hesitation. "It"s alright, I was just curious. I don"t want power that I didn"t obtain through my effort, so I"ll look for a martial arts scroll later."
If she had learned a bunch of abilities back in her past life, she wouldn"t have been so pa.s.sive and let tragedy befall her.
"Thank you, what"s your name?" Wu Hongwen saw that Gu Xiqiao was about to leave and came back to his senses, reaching over to stop her from leaving.
Gu Xiqiao who was in Master mode was more agile and had better reflexes, so she dodged him easily.
"It"s not for your sake, anyway."
We Hongwen didn"t quite believe in her and scratched at the back of his head with a slight blush on his face. He was still panting from running earlier, and his pale skin was covered with a fine sheen of sweat while his short-sleeved uniform was drenched. His eyes seemed to contain the stars themselves—dark in color yet shone brightly.
She saved him while everyone else ran away at the first chance they had, and no matter the reason, she was the one that defended him when no one else did. This was something that he wouldn"t soon forget. "You"re a good person."
"Then you"re really thinking too much." Gu Xiqiao thought, not even wanting to talk with him anymore as she continued to look around.
Weren"t there any taxis around this time?
Wu Hongwen suddenly stopped in his steps as a flash of recognition ran through his mind upon seeing the slender silhouette in front of him, his handsome face blus.h.i.+ng brightly. "I remember, you"re Gu Xiqiao aren"t you? You even…"
Before he met Gu Xiqiao, his only reaction to these three words was unquestionably…
Disgust!
But at this point, Wu Hongwen didn"t know how to react.
He had a deep impression of the love letter that the prettiest girl in cla.s.s sent her a while ago. The letter that had been written on a piece of pink paper and folded meticulously into a heart was s.n.a.t.c.hed away by one of his cla.s.smates, and the contents were read out loud for everyone to hear. He became the laughing stock of the cla.s.s for an entire week, and that caused him to be filled with disgust when he heard the words "Gu Xiqiao".
For a girl"s love letter to be read out loud and to become the b.u.t.t of an entire school"s jokes, how much would that affect a girl in her teenage years? He didn"t know, but if it were him, he wouldn"t be able to take it.
Thinking of this, Wu Hongwen was stunned.
How much pressure did she have to go through?
He stood there, suddenly feeling timid as he looked at the receding silhouette in front of it. He didn"t know how to describe the regret in his heart, but it felt like someone was ripping it out of his chest.
That silhouette was frail and feeble, and her face was small and pale like porcelain. When she ran, her cheeks colored pale red, and her eyes were so clear that he could even see his reflection in them.
Wu Hongwen felt quite regretful to be part of the pressure that was applied to this young girl.
If he had known sooner…To think that would be too irresponsible of him.
A love letter? Gu Xiqiao had no recollection of such a thing, so she didn"t dwell on it any further.
If she didn"t remember any of it, then it meant that it wasn"t all that important in the first place.
She stepped on a piece of stone on the pavement, and it was clear from her gaze that she was lost in her thoughts. Meanwhile, many taxis pa.s.sed by, but none that stopped for her.
Because this was the schooling area, so there were a lot of parents that had come to fetch their children, and most of them walked by expressionlessly, indifferent to everything that was happening around them.
Gu Xiqiao looked in front of her, and there was an old couple that was holding each other as they walked on the pavement. Their hair was snow-white, and they hobbled as they walked, but no matter how cold the pa.s.sersby were, they would smile at them politely and move out of their way.
This scene made her look dazedly, until a car horn blared out next to her, attracting her attention.
The Bugatti had seemed to be parked there for quite a while, the ostentatious car attracting the attention of the people that pa.s.sed by. Seeing that Gu Xiqiao had completely ignored him, Jiang Shuxuan could only press on the horn and roll down the window. "Come on."
Jiang Shuxuan didn"t ask for her address this time and drove towards Gu Manor. When they came across a red traffic light, he turned over to look at the girl who was sitting there with her head lowered like a docile deer, but he knew that she was probably s.p.a.cing out again. "Were you waiting for someone?"
His tone was cold, and his thin lips were pursed slightly. His eyebrows were like a pair of unsheathed swords, and his gaze was dark and mysterious as if it held the secrets of the world.
Cool and somewhat stiff, yet outstanding from the average Joe, most people wouldn"t dare to go near him.
It would probably be hard to be friends with him because he could be described as a black hole that attracted attention from the ones beside him.
"No, I was waiting for a taxi." Gu Xiqiao came back to her senses and pinched the edge of her clothes slightly. Jiang Shuxuan seemed quite idle, to always be able to come to help her in time like this.
"Where are your family members, do they not fetch you home after school?" Jiang Shuxuan remembered the data that was still in his email inbox and frowned slightly.
The Gu family was a was considered a n.o.ble family and part of upper society, and if they brought this girl back to their house in the first place they should have treated her well. They put up a dignified and generous front in N City, but treated Gu Xiqiao like this? She was a girl after all, what did they think to let her wander outside like this?
If he hadn"t pa.s.sed by coincidentally, how long would she have had to wait?
It had already been a month since she had been brought back to the Gu family, was this their so-called magnanimity?
Jiang Shuxuan"s image of the Gu family was lowered to an extremely low point.
"That"s nothing, and don"t I have you to fetch me?" Gu Xiqiao smiled brightly as if she were completely alright with her current situation.
Jiang Shuxuan squinted slightly as a haze flashed through his dark eyes. He had always been like this regularly, and Gu Xiqiao couldn"t see any difference in his demeanor.
He held down his anger and continued driving, making his voice a little more gentle, but hints of anger still leaking out from the cracks. "I didn"t give you that mobile phone as an accessory."
Why didn"t she call him?
Jiang Shuxuan used a free hand to ma.s.sage his temples that had already started to hurt. He knew that she was carefully not trying to become a burden to anyone, but he couldn"t say that it was alright to bother him, because he didn"t have the grounds to do so. Who was he to her?
The car arrived at the destination, and Gu Xiqiao waved cheerily before getting off the car.
Jiang Shuxuan didn"t drive away immediately and only sat there to wait patiently, rolling down his car window and taking out a packet of cigarettes. He had never been a chronic smoker, and he had only touched cigarettes a few times in a single year, but for some reason, the amount he smoked ever since he met her could be compared with how much he would normally smoke in a year.
His phone had rung many times while he was sitting there in wait but were all ignored by him.
The gate was still shut after a few minutes of her standing in front of it, and Jiang Shuxuan"s hands were placed on the steering wheel, his elegant features hidden by the wisps of smoke. His fingers twitched slightly and his gaze became darker, and a white glow appeared on his fingertips before disappearing.
At the same time, the tightly shut metal gates opened up slowly.
After seeing Gu Xiqiao enter the gates, he finally drove away.