Chapter 9: The Current Brother Needs to Have His Arrogance Knocked Down a Peg

What a huge haul, a massive harvest!

By the time Gao Qinghe emerged from the VIP room, she had already changed into her newly purchased cream-white silk cocktail dress. Tapping her little flat shoes, she went tap-tap-tap across the polished marble floor, leaving Xiang Bei, who was loaded down with numerous shopping bags, far behind.

To get her to finish shopping quickly and obediently leave the store, Xiang Bei had been forced to agree to all her demands. He was carrying several shopping bags emblazoned with the Hermes logo, neatly packed inside were four or five sets of exquisite lingerie, six or seven casual outfits, and three little dresses. Walking behind Gao Qinghe, his steps were slightly stiff. Though his face still maintained that playboy's nonchalance, a faint tinge of pale green was subtly visible.

Gao Qinghe glanced back at his expression and smiled with satisfaction—

Could anything be more satisfying than this??

Buying clothes was satisfying, making Xiang Bei spend money was even more satisfying, but the most satisfying thing of all was seeing Xiang Bei's look of eating dirt!

"Would you like to grab a bite to eat?" Xiang Bei finally spoke up, his voice low, carrying a trace of stubborn persistence.

He had just been forced to instruct the store staff not to tell his mother about his visit today. That feigned composure of his had put Gao Qinghe in an excellent mood. So it seemed her brilliant self had chosen right today; this store was indeed his Achilles' heel.

"No, I'm going home," Gao Qinghe flatly refused.

Her goal was achieved, why waste any more words on this idiot?

"It's just a meal, do me the honor," a crack finally appeared in Xiang Bei's tone.

Gao Qinghe's heart was singing with joy. Good, good, good, good. The angrier he got, the happier she was.

"It's not that," she deliberately put on a pitiful look, her almond-shaped eyes glistening with moisture as she gazed at him, leaning forward slightly, her eyelashes fluttering as she blinked. "I was just thinking, big brother must be quite busy, right? I've already taken up so much of your time buying clothes, I'd feel bad disturbing you further."

She could tell Xiang Bei wasn't buying this act anymore, but she just wanted to piss him off.

A moment of playing the innocent maiden brings a moment of satisfaction, playing the innocent maiden forever brings eternal satisfaction!

"It's already noon, I need to eat anyway, might as well go together," Xiang Bei insisted, his tone even taking on a note of indisputability. "I know a really good Omakase place in Building C. My treat, as an apology."

Apologize for what? What's there left to apologize for?

Just these clothes alone had cost Xiang Bei several hundred thousand, and now he wanted to treat her to an exorbitantly priced Japanese meal?

Unless Xiang Bei's brain had been kicked by a donkey, she wouldn't believe for a second he didn't have some other motive.

Well, even though she didn't know exactly what Xiang Bei's purpose was, as long as he had one, he could forget about achieving it.

Gao Qinghe sneered inwardly, but on the surface, she continued to play the fragile role:

"I'm not going, big brother. I need to go home and study. Exams are coming up soon, you know?" She blinked, clasping her hands in front of her, unintentionally pressing against the softness of her chest.

"...Alright," Xiang Bei finally conceded. He followed her towards the elevator. "Then I'll drive you back."

He shifted all the bags to one hand and reached out to press the elevator button.

"By the way, we've been talking for so long, and I still don't know what to call you."

"It's fine, big brother," Gao Qinghe turned to face him, her skirt gently swirling. "We won't be seeing each other again anyway, so why not just forget each other and go our separate ways?"

"..." Xiang Bei wore another look of stifled frustration, his brows furrowing even tighter.

Perfect. Managing him was way too easy. All she had to do was oppose him. She just had to refuse whatever he said.

Gao Qinghe laughed heartily in her mind, feeling absolutely ecstatic.

"...Are you really not the least bit curious about me?"

Curious about what?

Curious about how Lin Xi, who's blind, ended up fancying you?

Gao Qinghe almost blurted it out but held back, instead blooming into a sweet smile:

"Not curious at all. Didn't I say? Big brother is no different from the average, overly confident guys you see on the street."

Satisfying!

Xiang Bei's expression gradually turned dejected, the light in his eyes dimming.

Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Gao Qinghe was almost singing in her heart, filled with the thrill of revenge.

Copy, paste, overwrite. She wanted to etch this expression of his into her heart forever, overwriting that image of him holding Lin Xi as they went upstairs on that snowy day.

...Right, doesn't this guy already have Lin Xi? What is he trying to do?

In the car, aside from asking for Gao Qinghe's address, Xiang Bei didn't say a single word, looking utterly crestfallen.

Well, well. Is this playboy really that fragile? Weren't you shamelessly smiling and letting me scold you just a moment ago?

Could it be... he's genuinely never been rejected by a girl before?

Ah, whatever. At the very least, it'll knock his arrogance down a peg.

Gao Qinghe, on the other hand, was enjoying the peace and quiet.

This was the person that Lin Xi, who had rejected her, hadn't rejected. The person that Lin Xi, who had rejected her, couldn't refuse was now showing favor to her, and she was the one refusing him. She was refusing the person that Lin Xi, who had rejected her, didn't refuse... or something like that?

Too tangled to figure out. Anyway, how could a single word like 'satisfying' possibly cover it!

When they reached the entrance of her old residential complex, Gao Qinghe pulled the door open herself and got out. The moment her foot touched the ground outside the car, she felt the atmosphere around her was different.

The Maybach parked by the side of the shabby, run-down road seemed utterly out of place, drawing sidelong glances from the people around. A small crowd stood at a distance, pointing and whispering, gasping in awe.

Gao Qinghe reveled in such gazes.

This might actually be the first time she was being looked at with that kind of envious admiration—well, except for when she first got together with Lin Xi. Back then, people were quite envious of him too, saying something about a poor boy latching onto a rich girl, and on top of that, this rich girl was so pretty, calling it a beautiful flower stuck in a pile of cow dung.

But now, she was stepping out of a luxury car, wearing and carrying things that probably cost more than his entire family's income for two years. Wasn't this infinitely more satisfying than constantly having to think about saving face and being forced to spend money on Lin Xi?

"Um," the car window rolled down, and Xiang Bei's voice was polite and gentle. "Perhaps today was too short to let you get to know the real me. Is it really impossible to add you on WeChat?"

Gao Qinghe's gaze lingered on him for a long time.

Then, she narrowed her eyes meaningfully.

"Lin Xi must have been blind to take a liking to you."

Xiang Bei's expression shifted from confusion to shock, his handsome face instantly freezing.

"Xiang Bei, do you really think you're so lovable that everyone who sees you falls for you, that flowers bloom at your sight?" Gao Qinghe's voice trembled slightly with excitement, the explosive tail end of her words carrying the thrill of vengeance. "After interacting with you today, I genuinely think you're painfully average, flirting left and right. I have no idea where you get your confidence from."

Watching Xiang Bei's face turn from shocked to increasingly ugly, his eyes growing darker, Gao Qinghe curled the corner of her mouth and bloomed into a radiant smile, sweet yet with a sharp edge that tried but failed to conceal itself.

Carrying the clothes bought by maxing out Xiang Bei's card, stepping in the little shoes Xiang Bei bought, her heels tapping the ground with a crisp rhythm, she walked into the residential complex gate without looking back.