The Price of a Crumb

Xiang Qing felt her face flush with heat.

‘Eat it? She wanted her to eat it?’

Was she truly expected to consume that fried egg, sullied by her own saliva and fragments of fried dough stick?

As her gaze fell upon the sunny-side-up egg on Gu Wei’s plate, her stomach churned violently.

While she might have been willing to compromise her principles for money, this was utterly repulsive!

‘How was this any different from eating something she had just regurgitated?’

However, even as Xiang Qing wrestled with this internal moral dilemma, calculating the exorbitant mental compensation she would demand for ingesting such a thing, the expression on Gu Wei’s beautiful face slowly began to shift.

Gu Wei’s gaze no longer rested on Xiang Qing; instead, it drifted to Shen Lanzhi, who sat beside her.

Xiang Qing, too, followed her line of sight.

To her astonishment, Shen Lanzhi was delicately picking up the fried dough stick crumb, which had just exited Xiang Qing’s mouth, with her chopsticks, and eating it in tiny, deliberate bites, savoring every morsel.

She even offered Xiang Qing a smile as gentle as flowing water.

“Don’t be nervous, Xiao Qing. It would be a waste to leave it on the table. It actually tastes quite good.”

‘No, Sister, the point isn’t about waste! The point is you ate something I just spat out!’

‘What kind of move is this?’

‘Is this some form of resource recycling?’

Yet, what truly shattered Xiang Qing’s worldview was still to come.

Across the table, Gu Wei watched Shen Lanzhi’s nonchalant, almost relishing demeanor, and her beautiful eyebrows furrowed into a tight knot.

Her expression was akin to someone whose cherished toy had been snatched away and played with by another.

A potent wave of displeasure, coupled with an intense competitive spirit, emanated from her.

Xiang Qing watched, wide-eyed, as the disgust and revulsion on Gu Wei’s face were swiftly supplanted by a fervent, almost insane, determination that screamed, ‘This lady absolutely cannot lose!’

She finally understood.

The revelation struck her with full force!

Shen Lanzhi’s audacious move wasn’t born from frugality, nor from some peculiar eccentricity!

This was a blatant provocation! A clear declaration of dominance over Gu Wei!

‘Look, I can even stomach something Xiang Qing spat out. Can you?’

‘This wasn’t mere feminine rivalry; this was a goddamn biochemical warfare-level conflict!’

“Hmph.”

A cold laugh escaped Gu Wei’s lips, as she finally deigned to speak.

Instead of issuing another command to Xiang Qing, she merely raised her chin in a subtle gesture.

“Sit.”

Her voice was as cold as ice.

As if granted a great amnesty, Xiang Qing quickly sank back into her chair, doing her utmost to minimize her presence.

What followed was a scene that would undoubtedly be etched into the annals of history.

Gu Wei then picked up the “enhanced” plate from in front of her.

She gripped the silver fork with elegant precision, yet her movements betrayed a desperate, all-or-nothing resolve.

She speared the tainted fried egg with her fork.

Then, under the astonished gazes of both Xiang Qing and Shen Lanzhi, she closed her eyes, steeled her heart, and directly shoved it into her mouth.

A deathly silence descended upon the entire dining room.

Xiang Qing was utterly petrified.

She watched Gu Wei’s face, subtly contorted with revulsion yet stubbornly chewing, and her mind echoed with a single, stunned expletive.

She ate it.

She ate it too!

‘These two women, vying for my attention, had actually resorted to a contest of eating my regurgitated food?!’

‘What kind of insane competitive drive was this?’

‘What merits did she, Xiang Qing, possess to warrant two beautiful, wealthy women fighting over a mouthful of her saliva?’

She felt less like a person and more like some rare species, whose very excretions people would scramble to collect.

“The taste… isn’t half bad.”

Gu Wei swallowed the mouthful with visible difficulty, then forced a defiant smile at Shen Lanzhi.

“It’s just that the ‘ingredients’ were a bit sparse, not quite flavorful enough.”

A faint crack finally appeared in the gentle smile adorning Shen Lanzhi’s face.

She likely hadn’t anticipated that Gu Wei’s obsession would reach such an absurd extreme.

Xiang Qing silently lowered her head, stirring the clean white porridge in her bowl, feeling as though she might suffocate.

‘Help me.’

‘Neither of these two women beside her was remotely normal.’

The breakfast concluded amidst an unsettling atmosphere.

Xiang Qing swiftly rose, eager to clear the dishes.

“CEO Gu, Sister Lanzhi, allow me to tidy up. Please, both of you rest!”

All she craved now was some semblance of normal work, a way to reaffirm her identity as a perfectly ordinary nanny.

No sooner had she picked up two plates than Gu Wei slapped two tickets onto the table with a decisive ‘snap.’

“Forget tidying. Change your clothes and come out with me.”

Xiang Qing froze, then lowered her gaze.

They were amusement park tickets.

“An amusement park?” Xiang Qing’s eyes widened in disbelief. “CEO Gu, why would we go there? This is my work time.”

“This is also part of your job,” Gu Wei stated, rising to her feet and looking down at Xiang Qing with an air of superiority. “Entertaining me is also your responsibility.”

Xiang Qing blinked in confusion.

‘Such good fortune? Being a playmate counted as work?’

‘Even if her employer was utterly insane, this job was infinitely more appealing than scrubbing toilets!’

“What about mine?”

Shen Lanzhi’s gentle voice interjected. She moved to Xiang Qing’s side, leaning against her with a delicate air, her face turned towards Gu Wei with an expectant gaze.

Gu Wei merely spared her a glance, a sneer twisting her lips, her face etched with blatant mockery.

“You wish to go? Buy your own ticket then.”

“But…” Shen Lanzhi’s face paled. “With just you and Xiao Qing going, I feel uneasy.”

“What’s there to feel uneasy about? Am I going to devour her?”

Gu Wei scoffed, her gaze sweeping over Shen Lanzhi’s delicate form, before she deliberately raised her voice. “Oh, I forgot, Miss Shen is quite the invalid, unable to go a day without her traditional Chinese medicine. A crowded place like an amusement park? Your frail body would likely collapse on the spot and you’d try to frame me, wouldn’t you?”

The words struck an all too accurate chord.

Shen Lanzhi’s face instantly went stark white, her lips trembling, rendering her speechless for a long moment.

She truly had to prepare her medicine; it was her primary justification for remaining, and she simply couldn’t get away.

Having sufficiently savored Shen Lanzhi’s discomfited expression, Gu Wei then snatched a shopping bag from the nearby sofa and tossed it directly into Xiang Qing’s arms.

“Go, put this on. You have ten minutes.”

With that, she sprawled regally onto the sofa, pulled out her phone, and began scrolling, adopting the pose of a queen awaiting her subject.

Seeing this, Shen Lanzhi knew her hopes of accompanying them were dashed.

She could only grasp Xiang Qing’s hand, lowering her voice to offer a worried, earnest warning.

“Xiao Qing, you absolutely must be careful. Gu Wei is a madwoman, and she certainly doesn’t have good intentions! If she tries anything untoward, you must scream for help, understand?”

Listening to this earnest, heartfelt warning, Xiang Qing felt not a ripple of emotion, and even a slight urge to laugh.

‘Sister, isn’t it a little late for this warning?’

‘Just under the dining table, my leg was nearly rubbed smooth from her ceaseless caresses!’

Nevertheless, seeing the genuine concern etched across Shen Lanzhi’s beautiful face, Xiang Qing obligingly nodded.

“Don’t worry, Sister Lanzhi! I know exactly what I’m doing! I promise to keep a full three meters away from her!”

Having successfully placated Shen Lanzhi, Xiang Qing carried the shopping bag into her room.

Upon opening it, she found herself stunned.

Inside the bag lay a brand-new outfit.

It was a beige pleated mini-skirt, paired with a sky-blue puff-sleeved crop top, complemented by white ankle socks and a pair of adorable Mary Jane shoes.

The ensemble was a potent blend of innocence and allure, a quintessential ‘man-killer’… no, a ‘woman-killer’ outfit!

Xiang Qing held up the mini-skirt, measuring it against herself.

‘It’s far too short!’

‘If she wore this out, a mere gust of wind would have her reenacting Marilyn Monroe’s iconic skirt-holding pose on the spot!’

‘Is this really what a nanny should wear? This looks like an outfit for a date!’

Xiang Qing ranted silently in her mind.

Despite her reservations, she quickly changed into the new outfit Gu Wei had provided.

She couldn’t help it; she’d glimpsed the price tag earlier, and the sheer number of zeros had made her heart pound.

It would be a shame not to wear it!

Several minutes later, Xiang Qing hesitantly emerged from her room.

The two women in the living room simultaneously looked up.

Shen Lanzhi’s gaze held a mix of awe and deeper concern.

Gu Wei’s gaze, however, was one of blatant possessiveness and admiration.

Xiang Qing felt utterly uncomfortable under her scrutiny.

The outfit perfectly accentuated her slender waist and straight, long legs, which she’d gained after her transformation, and coupled with her already flawless face, it exuded a captivating blend of purity and seduction.

“Hmm, not bad.”

Gu Wei put down her phone, stood up, and strode towards her with long steps.

She stopped in front of Xiang Qing, reaching out to naturally adjust her collar, her fingertips brushing Xiang Qing’s collarbone with intentional nonchalance.

The cool touch instantly tensed Xiang Qing’s body.

“You finally look presentable,” Gu Wei murmured into her ear, her voice low enough for only the two of them to hear. “Dressed like this, you’re finally worthy of playing with me.”

Her words were both provocative and utterly arrogant.