C15 Covered in Smoke

The young boy thought a million dollars was no big deal and cheerfully transferred the money to Gu Yuan before running off in the opposite direction, eager to get home. Gu Yuan glanced up at the sky and suddenly felt a bit hungry; it was time to head home for dinner. With that in mind, Gu Yuan quickly packed up the tablecloth from the ground and stuffed it into her bag.

Seeing that Gu Yuan was really about to leave, Lin Fan quickly stood up, blocking her path. With a furrowed brow and a stern voice, he said, "I thought you were a good person, but you're just like the other scammers. That kid is so young, and you tricked him out of a million dollars. You can't leave; you're coming with me to the police station to turn yourself in!"

Hearing his righteous words, Gu Yuan almost wanted to applaud him. Wasn't this a bit too much of a hindsight hero act? Gu Yuan chuckled and said, "It was a legitimate transaction; how can you call it a scam? Mr. Lin, have you ever heard the saying 'words have consequences'? Accuse me like this, and I might just sue you for defamation."

Lin Fan was taken aback, "How do you know my last name is Lin?"

Gu Yuan raised an eyebrow, "I also know you're Lin Fan, from City B, with no parents, just a younger brother."

Lin Fan pointed at Gu Yuan, his body trembling slightly, "You, you, you... Are you some kind of creep?"

Lin Fan still didn’t believe she could tell fortunes, but everything she said was spot on, without a single mistake. He couldn’t help but swallow nervously and tentatively asked, “Can you tell if I have a girlfriend?”

Gu Yuan spread her hands and leaned closer to Lin Fan, raising an eyebrow at him.

Lin Fan instinctively clutched his wallet and awkwardly said, “I don’t have a hundred thousand dollars.”

Gu Yuan rolled her eyes. “Looking at you, I can tell you don’t have a hundred thousand. I’ll give you a deal for twenty bucks.”

Lin Fan frowned, hesitating for a moment.

“If I’m wrong, you don’t have to pay.” Seeing his stingy demeanor, Gu Yuan added another line, resigned.

Lin Fan glanced at her, then slowly took out twenty dollars, holding it tightly in his hand. “Alright, go ahead. If you’re right, I’ll pay you.”

“You probably won’t ever have a girlfriend in this lifetime,” Gu Yuan said with a look of mock pity.

Lin Fan immediately got worked up. “That’s nonsense! I do have a girlfriend!”

“Really?” Gu Yuan smiled slightly, questioning him.

Her gaze made Lin Fan falter, his voice dropping a notch. “Even if it’s an online relationship, it still counts as a girlfriend!”

“How do you know she’s a girl?” Gu Yuan’s words were particularly intriguing.

Lin Fan immediately sensed something was off. After hesitating for a couple of seconds, he chose to trust his online girlfriend. "No way, she showed me her pictures."

Gu Yuan heard this and couldn't decide if Lin Fan was just naive or plain foolish. "Well, I've said my piece. Whether it's true or not, you'll have to find out for yourself. I'm taking these twenty dollars. If I'm wrong, you can report it to the police." With that, Gu Yuan snatched the twenty-dollar bill from Lin Fan's hand, slung his bag over his shoulder, and left.

Lin Fan's emotions were all over the place. He suddenly felt uneasy about facing his online girlfriend but couldn't resist the urge to verify if what Gu Yuan said was true. Nervously swallowing, his fingers trembled as he typed out a question that lingered in the message box. Closing his eyes like he was about to face a firing squad, he hit "send."

Almost instantly, the reply came back with a simple "Yeah."

Lin Fan felt like he couldn't breathe, and he cried harder than he did when he lost his parents.