An Unexpected Turn and a Luxurious Dilemma

From her pocket, she directly pulled out two red bills, slapping them onto the table without even a glance.

“Keep shooting until you hit something.”

The stall owner’s eyes lit up, and he immediately plastered on a fawning smile, swiftly reloading her gun.

This time, Gu Wei’s entire aura shifted.

She no longer played it cool. Instead, she stood with her feet slightly apart, body leaning forward, holding the gun with both hands, her entire focus intensely concentrated. Her dedicated posture wasn’t merely for shooting balloons; it was as if she were executing some S-rank secret mission.

Xiang Qing was still secretly reveling, anticipating her next blunder.

Then—

“Bang!”

A red balloon burst in response.

“Bang!”

Another one.

“Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The next eight gunshots practically merged into a single line. The balloons arranged on the board exploded one after another, their crisp sounds echoing without cease.

Ten shots, all hits!

The entire process was dazzlingly swift, lasting no more than a few seconds from start to finish. The whole area fell silent for a moment before erupting into applause and exclamations even more fervent than before.

The stall owner’s mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg, and the cigarette in his hand dropped. Xiang Qing’s smile, too, completely froze.

‘What the hell?’

‘This isn’t right!’

‘She can still turn this around?’

‘This woman must be cheating!’

The stall owner, his hands trembling, took down the giant plush bear, taller than Xiang Qing herself, and respectfully presented it to Gu Wei.

Xiang Qing’s heart gave a lurch as she looked at the bear. Though she didn’t particularly care for it, it was, after all, something Gu Wei had won. By extension, it was practically her spoils of war, wasn’t it?

She watched Gu Wei approach her, cradling the enormous bear, and her heart, unbidden, quickened a few beats. She had already prepared her lines, waiting for Gu Wei to hand over the bear so she could disdainfully say, “Hmph, who wants that? So childish.”

However, Gu Wei didn’t even glance her way. She walked straight past her, still holding the bear.

In the crowd, a little girl with pigtails had been staring longingly at the bear, her eyes filled with pure desire.

Gu Wei walked up to the little girl and knelt down.

“Do you like it?”

The little girl paused, then nodded frantically.

Gu Wei smiled, tucking the huge bear into the little girl’s arms.

“It’s for you.”

The little girl’s parents thanked her profusely, overwhelmed with emotion. Gu Wei stood up, clapped her hands together, and only then turned to walk back to the petrified Xiang Qing.

Her hands were empty, her demeanor as nonchalant as ever. She raised an eyebrow at Xiang Qing, the meaning in her eyes unmistakable: ‘I won, but it has nothing to do with you.’

Xiang Qing: “…”

‘Damn it.’

‘Still just a prop.’

She felt a tug at her heart, a bitter, sour sensation.

‘I didn’t want it anyway!’

‘A lousy bear, it would just take up space at home!’

‘It’s good she gave it away!’

‘Saved me the trouble!’

Xiang Qing frantically brainwashed herself. But what was this unpleasant feeling? It was like watching something that should have been hers being given to someone else right before her eyes…

‘Damn it! What am I even angry about? It’s just a plush toy!’

“Let’s go, back to the hotel.”

Gu Wei, in high spirits, tossed out the remark and turned to leave. Xiang Qing silently followed behind her, both hands laden with shopping bags of all sizes, like a humble assistant.

****

The two hailed a taxi and arrived at a hotel named “North City Horizon.” Upon seeing the towering skyscraper reaching into the clouds and the opulent, gilded lobby, Xiang Qing knew that the price for a single night here would probably be enough to buy a luxurious bathroom with property rights back in her hometown.

Gu Wei smoothly checked in at the front desk, where the receptionist smiled sweeter than any flower:

“Miss Gu, your Horizon Cloud Suite is ready. It’s on the 68th floor, the top floor. Here is your room card.”

Top floor? Suite?

Xiang Qing felt her breathing become somewhat constricted.

Taking the exclusive elevator directly to the top floor, the moment the doors opened, Xiang Qing was utterly stunned by the sight before her. This wasn’t merely a hotel room; it was clearly an aerial villa!

Outside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, the entire dazzling nightscape of North City unfolded. Below lay a tapestry of twinkling lights from countless homes, while in the distance, landmark buildings stood tall, creating a breathtaking and heart-stirring panorama of prosperity.

The living room featured a modular sofa large enough to seat seven or eight people, along with a private bar and a fireplace that exuded an air of luxury.

‘Holy crap!’

Xiang Qing couldn’t help but blurt out an expletive. She dropped her shopping bags to the floor.

‘Being rich is truly wonderful!’

Like a country bumpkin just arrived in the city, she peered and prodded, then scampered over to Gu Wei’s side.

“CEO Gu, this sofa looks so soft! I’m sleeping here tonight!”

Gu Wei casually draped her jacket over the back of the sofa, then gestured with her chin towards the direction of the bedroom.

“Go take a look.”

“Oh, okay.”

Xiang Qing obediently pushed open the bedroom door. The bedroom was even more extravagant than the living room, boasting nearly 360-degree panoramic floor-to-ceiling windows—the kind where you could lie in bed and gaze at the stars. Then, her gaze fell upon the very center of the room. There, stood a bed. An incredibly massive bed. And, it was the only bed.

‘This… what is going on?’

‘What about the promised suite?’

‘Why is there only one bedroom and one bed?’

She froze in place, feeling the hairs on her back stand on end. Just then, Gu Wei walked in, step by step. She stopped behind Xiang Qing, her warm breath caressing Xiang Qing’s ear, her voice carrying a hint of lazy amusement.

“What’s wrong?”

“Is the bed… not big enough for you?”

‘Not big enough for me?’

‘This bed isn’t just big enough for me; it’s more than enough for an entire squad!’

‘The problem is, who am I sleeping with?!’

Xiang Qing’s survival instinct instantly went through the roof. With a jolt, she spun around, pointing dramatically at the party-sized modular sofa in the living room.

“Enough, enough, more than enough! CEO Gu, you sleep in the bed! I’ll just sleep on the sofa!”

Her face was full of sincerity, as if she were about to swear to the heavens. “Look at this sofa, it’s so big and soft, and the color is so classy! Sleeping on it would definitely be no worse than a bed!”

‘I’m such a clever little genius!’

Gu Wei slowly walked over.

“No.”

Those two words immediately shattered Xiang Qing’s fantasy.

Xiang Qing grew anxious: “Why not?! I promise I won’t snore or grind my teeth; I’ll just sleep quietly for one night!”

Gu Wei tilted her head, glancing at Xiang Qing, a playful curve gracing her lips.

“Why would I spend a fortune to book a top-floor suite?”

“What would I gain from that? Your saving me money?”

Xiang Qing: ‘That’s exactly what I meant!’

‘You’ve already spent the money, so every little bit saved is a bonus!’

Seeing Gu Wei’s unyielding expression, Xiang Qing knew that the sofa option was completely blocked. To escape the awkward and dangerous atmosphere, she immediately rummaged through her shopping bag for a set of pajamas.

“Um… CEO Gu, I, I’m going to take a shower first! I’m all sweaty, it’s uncomfortable!”

With that, she grabbed her clothes and tried to rush into the bathroom. A hand, swift and precise, blocked her path.

“I’ll go first.”

Gu Wei’s voice was light, yet it carried an undeniable authority. Xiang Qing instantly wilted, nodding like a pounding garlic mortar: “Right, right, right, you first, you’re the boss, please go ahead!”

Unexpectedly, Gu Wei still wasn’t done with her, gesturing towards the bathroom with her chin.

“Let’s wash together. Save time.”

“!!!”

Xiang Qing’s hair nearly stood on end!

“No, no, no, no, no! Absolutely not! It’s… oh dear! Women shouldn’t intimately touch other women!”

She was so flustered she could barely speak coherently.

Gu Wei folded her arms, watching her with a composed air.

“Last time at my place, weren’t you quite enthusiastic about scrubbing my back?”

Xiang Qing’s mind buzzed.

‘Holy crap!’

‘That happened!’

She remembered that last time, to curry favor with Gu Wei, she had indeed diligently played the role of a back-scrubber. It seemed she had dug her own grave, and now she had to fill it, even if it meant crying.

Gu Wei’s tone took on a hint of command.

“Come in. Scrub my back for me.”

Xiang Qing quickly weighed the pros and cons in her mind.

Option 1: Wash together, baring all, social suicide.

Option 2: Just scrub her back, preserving the last shred of her dignity.

Was there even a choice to be made?

She gritted her teeth, as if facing death: “Al… alright then! Just scrubbing your back, though! We agreed!”