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“What time is it?” Shen Xi asked, a little puzzled. She picked up her phone and checked the time. When she noted that it was already10:30 in the morning, she was stunned.

“How is it already 10:30? Oh no! I’ve missed the morning classes!” Shen Xi grabbed her hair and exclaimed in disbelief.

Guan Lei folded his arms, watching Shen Xi fret with a smile. “Don’t worry. I applied for leave for you, so it won’t count as you playing truant. Hurry up and get changed. You’ll have plenty of time for a nap after breakfast. Hah. I never took you for one to have trouble sleeping.”

Shen Xi glared at Guan Lei, who sported a cheeky grin. “You have some nerve laughing at me! I did it all to help you. If it weren’t for you…”

Shen Xi kept the rest to herself. She had wanted to upbraid Guan Lei for trapping her hand in his furnace-like hold but decided against it, venting the rest of her displeasure within the quiet confines of her heart.

She could not bear to voice out her grievances, for it sounded too shameful – even to her. In any case, it was not something she would publicly advertise.

Shen Xi looked like she had wanted to say more but stopped herself. This piqued Guan Lei’s interest. He leaned forward, bringing himself to Shen Xi’s eye level. Staring into those crystalline depths, he murmured, “If it weren’t for me, who else could have brought you so low?”

Guan Lei was inches from her, his face seemingly magnified to an impossible degree. Shen Xi traced his sculpted brows that fed into a pair of sharp eyes whose depths drank in all the surrounding light. Mirth glimmered in those twin orbs, dancing like a pair of fireflies on a warm summer’s night. They flickered mischievously, almost daring her to finish what she had been about to say.

So engrossed was she that Shen Xi did not realise the pounding in her ears was the rising crescendo drummed by her heart until it tipped over the edge and forced her back into reality.

Panicked, she pushed Guan Lei away. “Why are you leaning in so close? Stop it; it’s scaring me.”

Guan Lei’s brow twitched, and he spoke, sounding thoroughly unconvinced. “You think I’m scary? Please. You should be more honest with yourself. With these looks, I’m a one-in-a-million catch!”

“You narcissist!” Shen Xi rolled her eyes. If she seemed a little more rushed when she darted for the bathroom’s safety, it was wholly a figment of her overactive mind, or so she convinced herself.

“Toothbrushes are to the side. You may help yourself to any one of them. I didn’t know what colour you’d like, so I brought one of every colour I could find,” Guan Lei said whilst leaning against the bathroom door’s frame.

Even through the frosted glass partition, Shen Xi could feel the smug smile laced in Guan Lei’s tone.

Turning to the mirror, she finally understood what it meant to gnash one’s teeth.

Guan Lei was doing it on purpose! He was teasing her as if she were a child. Truly despicable!

To think she and gone out of her way to help him, only to be treated as such. Where was her good karma for acting according to her conscience?

Outside, Guan Lei shed his cool demeanour and clutched his chest, laughing to his heart’s content.

That moment when he and Shen Xi had locked eyes was beyond thrilling. The mere memory of staring into those limpid pools of innocence sent his heart racing and fanned his urge to kiss her.

Thankfully, he had managed to control himself. Otherwise, he would have lost face before Shen Xi.

After some time, Shen Xi finished washing up and joined him at the table for breakfast.

It was quiet. Shen Xi felt the atmosphere was a little awkward, so she settled on a topic she was most comfortable with. “I’ll split the cost of our meals with you. How much should I transfer to your account?”

Guan Lei was taken aback. Why would she want to know the cost of their meals? “There’s no need for you to foot anything. It’s my treat,” he insisted, unhappy that Shen Xi wanted to split the food bill for the next few days of their stay together.

“How can I let you pay for everything?” She asked. “Breakfast can’t have been cheap. It makes me wonder how much trash your parents need to collect to recoup the cost of this meal.”

“Your family is also in a difficult situation money-wise, and you still need to spend more on your treatment. Where would be my dignity if I allowed you to pay for everything?” Shen Xi said with the utmost sincerity.

Guan Lei had not thought as far as Shen Xi. He suddenly felt the need to brush up on his image, or he would not be able to treat Shen Xi whenever he liked.

Maybe it was time for him to spin a new narrative. Maybe he could say his parents had struck it rich winning the lottery or found some precious treasure while trash digging…

Would it be wrong if he claimed that a distant relative had died and left the entirety of their inheritance to him and his family?

Hmm… Any of those reasons ought to suffice and explain his sudden claim to wealth.