“It’s finished, beautiful. Here’s your painting.”
The person in the painting resembled her, so Li Xin generously took out a wad of bill and gave it to the artist.
“You should quickly call Xiu Shui. Let me give you her number.” As Li Xin was about to walk away, Jun Qi hurriedly spoke up.
Li Xin shrugged. “No need, I don’t have a phone.”
Jun Qi scrutinized Li Xin up and down with curiosity. For the life of him, he couldn’t understand why this girl with a weird fashion sense, who also drove an expensive convertible, did not have a cell-phone. It must be a joke.
On the other hand, Li Xin didn’t care to explain. She didn’t have anyone to call, so what was the use of a phone?
“Hey, I already dialed the number. You should talk to her in case she’s going to say I saw you but kept it from her. I’m going to get in even more trouble,” Jun Qi said, handing over his phone to Li Xin.
Li Xin took the phone and immediately heard Xiu Shui’s nagging. She was only able to identify herself, couldn’t even speak another word and was interrupted by Xiu Shui bursting into cries. Li Xin flinched and touched her ear. Goodness, this woman was truly something! She wasn’t even dead yet. There was no need to break down into powerful sobs.
She endured it. After patiently listening, Li Xin suddenly wanted to punch someone. Xiu Shui said she didn’t want Li Xin to drive. Alright then, Li Xin gave her the car keys. Xiu Shui said she wanted to sell the car. Okay then, Li Xin didn’t care either. She could always buy another car, one that she liked. As it turns out, it wasn’t what Xiu Shui wanted at all. Li Xin had misunderstood her intentions. These days, it was so hard to please people.
Additionally, Li Xin came to the conclusion that she was going to have to kiss her dream of a delicious lunch meal goodbye. XIu Shui had been so worried looking for her that she had completely forgotten to prepare lunch. Why was mankind given so many emotions? Emotions and sentiments should be restricted.
The corners of Jun Qi’s mouth twitched as Li Xin ended the call with a grimace. This girl could easily give up an expensive car without an ounce of sadness but the moment she heard there would be no food, her expression immediately changed for the worst. It was the first time he met someone like her.
“Today’s lunch will be on me, as a way of saying thank you for helping my friends.” Jun Qi faintly grinned when he noticed Li Xin still looked unhappy. It was just a simple meal. She didn’t have to be so displeased.
Li Xin raised her brows and dismissed his suggestion with a wave of her hand. “No need.” Saying so, she turned around and walked away. She didn’t consider it as helping them out but a mere coincidence.
“Thief! Catch the thief! Catch the thief!”
Li Xin had only taken a few steps when she heard a noise. She stopped and stared at the scene. A red-haired guy was running at full speed towards her. In his hand was the purse. Behind him was a man and a woman—possibly a couple as they chased after him, screaming and yelling.
At the moment, there were a lot of tourists on the streets. However, they all pretended not to know what was going on. A particular person even coldly turned his head somewhere else, like what was happening had nothing to do with him.
Li Xin observed the thief. As he was running, the thief glared at all the nearby locals and tourists. His gaze was fierce and full of murderous intent, causing everyone to scoot back in fear. He dressed like ruffian and it was obvious that he was an amateur. Li Xin was already in a bad mood to begin with. Running into this amateur thief who made professional thieves like her looked bad, Li Xin narrowed her eyes and walked towards him.
Li Xin lifted her leg. The red-haired thief tripped over her leg and fell over onto the ground. Jun Qi laughed then he also lifted his leg and kicked the thief’s back, causing him to lay flat on the ground. Li Xin stepped back and with a wicked chuckle, she stepped down on the thief’s back—hard. Not to mention, today she was wearing high heels. The thief, having been attacked by two people simultaneously, couldn’t even lift a finger off the ground.
“You’re very brazen.” Jun Qi smiled brightly at Li Xin. At a time when everyone was hiding and not wanting to lend a helping hand, she was brazen enough to catch the thief herself. People like her were definitely a rarity in society.
Li Xin glanced at Jun Qi. She pressed her heels down harder onto the thief’s back then she squatted down next to the thief who was cussing in fury. She said, “You’re a thief, not some bandit. A thief should have skills rather than going around glaring at people with murderous looks. d.a.m.n it, you’re a thief, not an a.s.sa.s.sin! Even a thief should have professional ethics, understand?”
Upon hearing Li Xin’s advice, both Jun Qi and the red-haired thief were surprised. Just then, the couple appeared before them, said their grateful thank yous, took back the purse and called for the cops.
As she watched the thief being arrested and dragged away, Li Xin was much more cheerful.
Standing beside her, Jun Qi noticed the change in her features, causing him to chuckle. “Didn’t know you were so kind-hearted.”
Li Xin looked at Jun Qi. She was kind-hearted? How come she didn’t know that? She simply thought that the red-haired guy was a huge humiliation to professional thieves like herself. Stealing required technique and skills, not brute force. Once caught, a thief should still be proud and admirable. The red-haired guy didn’t have the basic foundation of being a thief, which was why she had to help him look for it.
Li Xin waved her hand. “If you don’t have the skills then you shouldn’t go out acting like you do. Such an embarra.s.sment!” With that said, she hummed a random tune and cheerfully walked away to find a good restaurant for lunch.
Jun Qi furrowed his brows. So it wasn’t because she was kind-hearted but because the red-haired thief was embarra.s.sing to the eyes. Her reasoning was contrary to an ordinary person’s reasoning but at the same time, it further piqued his interest.
The night was beautiful. The city was lively and bustling with activity under the starry skies.
Xiu Shui sat alone at a bar as she swirled the liquid content in her hand. She watched from the sideline while Li Xin was on the dance floor, moving her body excitedly to the house music. A small smile formed on Xiu Shui’s lips. Initially she thought Li Xin was upset with her but truthfully, Li Xin hadn’t even thought about being angry. Besides an exquisite, hearty dinner was the resolution to everything.
“Hi! Xiu Shui, why aren’t you dancing? Dance a song with me.”
Xiu Shui turned towards the arrogant man beside her. Smiling, she replied, “I don’t know how to dance, but you go and enjoy yourself.”
“How can that be? We invited you so you need to partic.i.p.ate too. What’s the point of us dancing alone?” Another man piped in. They were the group of rich guys Xiu Shui had met at the university earlier in the day.
When Li Xin disappeared, Xiu Shui had become uneasy and anxious. She searched for Li Xin everywhere but could not find her. Seeing Xiu Shui in a state of panic, the guys didn’t want to lose the opportunity and offered to help her. They took her around San Francisco with the pretext of helping her find Li Xin. In reality, they simply wanted to get closer to Xiu Shui.
Unable to get rid of them, Xiu Shui was forced to accept their invitation to the bar as a way of expressing grat.i.tude.