Chapter 9  

Before she could recall anything, Li Yan had already removed his hand from her thigh. He said in a husky voice, “Your threat doesn’t work on me. What I’ll do about the information I have depends on my mood. I’m in a pretty good mood tonight, so I’ll let you off the hook for now.”

Qiao Mu immediately breathed a sigh of relief when she heard that. If he brought this up after tonight, he would not sound as convincing.

Li Yan turned and left. He stopped at the doorway of the balcony. His voice was cold with a hint of playfulness as he said slowly, “And, I remember saying that I’m not interested in girls with underage bodies.”

‘Underage bodies…’

Qiao Mu widened her eyes abruptly. She was about to ask Li Yan about it, but the latter had walked away without turning back.

A vague memory flashed past her mind, and Qiao Mu stood rooted to the spot in disbelief. The man she encountered on the cruise ship was Li Yan!

Not only did she toy with him when she was drunk, but she had also slept on his bed!

….. That night, Qiao Mu had a very realistic dream.

She dreamed about the day she first joined the Qiao family. There was a fifteen-year-old teenage boy there, and she was five that year.

Everyone told Qiao Mu that that teenage boy was her uncle. But Qiao Mu did not listen to them and kept calling him “big brother”.

One day, when he was eight, Li Yan migrated overseas with his family, and she no longer got to see her big brother who lived next door.

Qiao Mu did not sleep well that night, and she looked tired when she got to campus. Amused, Chi Xia asked, “Mu Mu, why do you look so worn out? Could it be that things didn’t go well at your stepmother’s birthday party?”

Qiao Mu slapped the table forcefully and glared at Chi Xia. “You’re the one to talk! You didn’t watch your words yesterday, and someone overheard our conversation.”

“Oh, no! What happened after that?”

Qiao Mu sighed and rested her head on the table. “All is well for now, but I don’t know what’s going to happen next. Whatever it is, someone has something on me now.”

Qiao Mu paused for a moment and languidly gave Chi Xia a sidelong glance. “I wanted to treat the person who knitted the scarf to a meal if things went well at the birthday dinner. But now that you’ve ruined things, you should be the one paying for the meal instead.” Chi Xia was rendered speechless. She was kind enough to deliver the birthday gift to Qiao Mu. Not only did she have to pay for the cab, but she ended up having to treat Yao Shu to a meal too.

What a friend!

…..

Qiao Mu was a first year university student, and she shared her dorm with two other people. Chi Xia was one of her roommates, and her other roommate was Yao Shu, the one who knitted the scarf.

As they sat in the cafeteria, Yao Shu showed the two young women the second scarf she knitted. It looked a lot better than the first one, and she had obviously put a lot of effort into it. “What do you guys think? This one looks a lot more exquisite, right? Do you think that he will like it?”

Qiao Mu said in exasperation, “We don’t even know which guy you’re referring to. Why would we know if he’ll like it?”

“I know right! Young Shu, who on earth is this guy you like?” Chi Xia asked out of curiosity.

Yao Shu flashed a mysterious smile. “It’s not time for me to tell you guys about it. I’m planning to confess to him, and I’ll tell you guys who it is if things go well.”

Qiao Mu did not ask anymore questions. Yao Shu was an introvert, and the fact that she decided to confess showed that she was very into this guy.

This was when Qiao Mu’s cell phone rang. Her expression changed when she saw the caller display. She rose and left the table. “Give me a moment. I need to pick up this call.”

The corridor was empty. Qiao Mu answered the call, and a female voice rang out from the other side of the line. “Mu Mu, I’m kind of short on cash right now. Can you send me some money?”

Qiao Mu’s expression became cold. She said in a low voice, “I have no money.”

“Stop pretending to be poor in front of me. I’m only asking you for help because I have no other way. I owe someone 300,000 RMB because I borrowed money to gamble, and they’re going to kill me if I can’t pay. Are you really so cruel that you don’t mind seeing me die?”