C8 Chapter 8

Lingxiao narrowed her bright eyes. “Sorry, I’m a girl. I can’t be a gigolo.”

If she wasn’t mistaken, this lily-pure, good-looking boy was probably…

the top earner at the Black Horse club?

Lanyu froze for a beat, his smile turning stiff. “You’ve got it wrong.”

Then he turned on his heel and walked off, ignoring Lingxiao completely.

Lingxiao found it a little baffling.

Did I guess wrong?

Kid, you could’ve just said so to my face.

After Lingxiao left with Wang Xiaoye, Lanyu stayed tucked away in the dark corner of the private room.

With no one around, a flash of vicious intent burst into his eyes.

Damn it. She’d actually gone out of her way to humiliate him…

He’d had a bit of a soft spot for her at first. Turns out she was just like those stuck-up women.

Lingxiao finally got Wang Xiaoye home safe and sound. When his father, Wang Cheng, saw his precious son finally willing to come back, he couldn’t hide his relief and happiness.

“Are you hungry? Dad can make you a bowl of noodles.”

Wang Xiaoye let out an ungraceful drunken belch. “No. I wanna sleep.”

Then he flopped onto the living-room couch on his back, eyes closed, slipping into sleep almost instantly—already snoring.

Seeing that, Lingxiao looked around. The original owner of this body and her parents each had a small bedroom, but Wang Xiaoye didn’t.

No chance at school, no decent clothes or shoes, and definitely no steady monthly allowance.

People say kids from poor families grow up fast, but clearly Wang Xiaoye had no interest in growing up.

He just wanted to be a male escort.

Lingxiao couldn’t be bothered to meddle. She went straight back to her bedroom.

“Lingxiao! When are you going back to school? Want Dad to drive you?”

There was no response from inside the room.

Wang Cheng had been about to knock, but after thinking of something, he stopped, his hand dropping awkwardly.

Her mother, Jiang Lan, still hadn’t come home, not until early the next morning.

The factory security guard suddenly came running over in a panic, pounding hard on the door.

Wang Cheng swung the gate open. One look at the middle-aged guard’s conflicted, hesitant expression, and a bad feeling hit him immediately.

“Old Wang! Your wife was cleaning up in the back kitchen around four this morning. I don’t know what happened—she slipped, hit her head on a table, and there was a lot of blood. She’s at the hospital right now!”

Wang Cheng’s vision went dark. He nearly collapsed from the shock.

He hurriedly grabbed his things, snatched up his wallet, and got ready to head to the hospital.

Ling Xiao heard the commotion outside. She hadn’t planned to get involved, but Xiao Qiang warned her.

“Hey, sis—side quest. You have to save the original host’s mom.”

“Xiao Qiang, are you trying to play God and rewrite fate?”

“Yeah, sis! See? I’m a good guy!”

The system silently thought, Don’t let her realize I’m pulling a little trick here!

Ling Xiao took a deep breath, changed as fast as she could, then followed her father, Wang Cheng, out the door.

Wang Cheng was so worried about his wife that he didn’t talk to his daughter on the way, and he didn’t notice anything off about her.

At the hospital, the doctor told them Jiang Lan was in the ER being resuscitated, and family could only wait outside.

This honest, plainspoken man was so frantic he almost burst into tears right there in public—thankfully, Ling Xiao stopped him.

“Dad, I’ll go pay. You talk to the security guard and find out how the factory plans to handle this.”

Seeing how calm his daughter was, Wang Cheng felt a little steadier.

By law, Jiang Lan’s injury should count as a workplace accident, and they could demand compensation from the factory.

“Ling Xiao! I’ll pay,” Wang Cheng insisted. “You sit here and wait.” He couldn’t stand the idea of using his daughter’s money.

Ling Xiao shot him a cool, flat look.

Wang Cheng immediately felt the pressure spike, like something heavy had pinned him down, and the air between them tightened.

Then Lingxiao strolled to the hospital billing counter with a graceful, catlike stride, all by herself.

Right then, the CEO stepped out of a nearby elevator with his assistant and a few hospital administrators.