The phone rang. Xu Le picked up his phone, but there was no caller ID. It must be Lu Siyun. Lu Siyun took out her Huawei phone, which was covered by a pink case. She looked at the caller ID and seemed a little nervous. She glanced at Xu Le guiltily before pressing the answer button.
"Hello, is this Xiaoyun?" The woman's voice on the phone was melodious and pleasant, like a lark singing.
"It's me, Auntie. Is there something you need?" Lu Siyun glanced at Xu Le furtively, making Xu Le wonder why she was so nervous.
"Are you still with that big boy? I'm not trying to be mean, but if you like him, go after him. If that doesn't work, just drug him..." Before she could finish, Lu Siyun, her face flushed, hung up on her. Xu Le looked at her somewhat bewildered, but still felt too embarrassed, so she simply said "Goodbye" and ran out the door.
Xu Le was somewhat speechless. It was no wonder Lu Siyun was nervous; having an aunt who sold her niece would be a headache for anyone. He instructed the shadow warrior to secretly protect her on the way, and then continued to wait for the shadow warrior to cook. As for Lu Siyun, this relationship was already difficult to sever, and it was already somewhat disturbing Xu Le's mind. However, in his opinion, it was still too early. Romantic feelings would become an obstacle, so he could only take it one step at a time.
Meanwhile, Lu Siyun, who had been running for an unknown amount of time, finally stopped to catch her breath, scratching her hair in a distressed manner, completely abandoning any semblance of a goddess image.
Jiang Cheng slowly exhaled a puff of smoke. He sat on the roadside with a few companions with dyed blond and purple hair, feeling somewhat bored. A while ago, he had been arrested and detained for seven days for molesting a young girl on a bus. His father had bailed him out and, after paying some money to smooth things over, the matter was resolved. However, his father had also docked his allowance for a month, preventing him from going to those clubs to see the prostitutes. He had nowhere to vent his anger. Thinking of this, Jiang Cheng threw away his cigarette, stomped on it twice, and said with a sinister expression, "Next time I'm going to teach that bitch a lesson. All she did was touch me a couple of times, and she dared to call the police on me."
"I'm worried that you'll end up in jail for a few more days if you don't deal with the situation properly. Besides, do you even dare to go? Aren't you afraid your dad will break your legs?"
"Haha, boss, don't be scared by what Banana said!"
The thugs around him, not wanting to miss out on trouble, kept egging him on. Jiang Cheng felt he had lost face, but that was the truth, and he couldn't refute it. He could only sulk in his heart.
Suddenly, Jiang Cheng saw a beautiful woman in a blue dress and black stockings walk into the alley. He was tempted, though he had some reservations. But burning with desire, he couldn't care less about that. He immediately told the people around him about his idea. They had also seen her; such a beautiful woman was a rare sight. Since Jiang Cheng had brought it up, they decided to go for it. After all, Jiang Cheng's father had a lot of power here, so even if something went wrong, he could suppress it. In that case, they would follow him and enjoy the company of a woman they could only look up to normally.
Still sulking, Lu Siyun didn't notice that several people had followed her into the alley, and she continued to complain about her aunt disrupting her plans.
Jiang Cheng quickened his pace, preparing to rush forward and cover Lu Siyun's mouth to prevent her from screaming and attracting attention. Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder from behind, startling him. Turning around, he was about to scold them for disrupting his plans. However, he only saw three headless corpses standing behind him, their bloodied heads scattered on the ground, their eyes wide open, as if they had seen something terrifying.
A tremendous fear gripped Jiang Cheng's throat like an invisible hand, rendering him speechless. A dripping sound filled the air, followed by the stench of urine; he had actually wet himself in fear. Knowing the situation was extremely dangerous, Jiang Cheng turned and ran towards Lu Siyun, his mouth agape, trying to call out to her.
"save....."
A pale hand covered his mouth tightly, and a sharp knife sliced across his throat, blood gurgling out.
"Why follow into the alley..." With that last thought, Jiang Cheng was plunged into complete darkness.
Lu Siyun turned her head, somewhat puzzled. She thought she heard someone shouting for help, but when she looked back, the alley remained calm and unchanged, except for the strange dripping sound. Assuming it was just her imagination, Lu Siyun shook her head and continued walking.
Behind a large trash can, four headless corpses lay silently piled together, their original heads beside them. Blood flowed slowly, dripping onto the ground with a crisp sound, like a carelessly left-unturned faucet. After Lu Siyun turned her head, several shadow warriors reappeared and dragged the corpses away.
(I guess I'm just not cut out for romance novels. I should just finish this and head to another world.)
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Chapter 23: Buying a Car (This chapter feels a bit strange; you can skip it if you prefer)
Xu Le sat at the dining table, poking at the Dongpo pork in front of him with his chopsticks. The fat and lean meat were perfectly balanced, and the outer skin was smooth and delicate, like jelly. He picked up a piece and put it in his mouth. Before he even chewed, the savory meat juices danced in his mouth—crisp, smooth, yet not greasy—simply divine. Xu Le couldn't stop eating, and with great satisfaction, he praised the shadowy warrior still wearing an apron. The shadowy warrior, his masked face revealing no joy, simply bowed slightly, accepting his master's praise.
As Xu Le was eating, a shadowy warrior appeared behind him. Seeing that Xu Le was still eating, the warrior didn't immediately disturb him, but quietly waited to the side. Perhaps in his heart, nothing was more important than his master's affairs. After some time, Xu Le picked up a bowl of goji berry and chicken soup and began to drink it, wondering as he sipped: Were these shadowy warriors royal chefs before becoming shadow warriors? Their cooking skills were absolutely unparalleled, and it seemed they were following a recipe, using various Chinese herbs to make it nourishing. Having such subordinates must be like living the life of a god.
The shadowy warrior beside him saw Xu Le wiping his mouth with a tissue and stepped forward to report what had just happened. Xu Le paused, then felt a surge of relief. If he hadn't been careful and sent the shadowy warrior to protect her, that silly girl would have been truly finished. Suddenly remembering something, he said in a deep voice, "Next time something like this happens, report to me earlier. Dispose of the body properly, don't expose it. As for Lu Siyun, send two shadowy warriors to protect her." Xu Le had a headache; it's hardest to repay a beautiful woman's kindness. He didn't want to leave himself with too many ties too soon, so sending two shadowy warriors to protect her was already the limit.
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The next day, Xu Le took a taxi to a nearby 4S store. Getting around was a bit inconvenient, and constantly using talismans felt strange. Besides, driving a luxury car had been a dream of his for a while. Anyway, the shadowy soldiers had somehow acquired the gold and diamonds, which had been laundered through the black market and ended up in his account. He glanced at the money; it was about five or six million, a considerable sum. However, Xu Le's mindset had changed. Money was just a tool for a strong person like him—it was meant to be used. So, he decided to buy a car to make himself happy and fulfill his past dream of driving a luxury car and picking up girls.
Upon entering the 4S store, Xu Le's first impression was quite positive, thanks to the luxurious decor and attractive sales staff. What disappointed Xu Le was the absence of a typical urban novel scenario where a salesperson looks down on the protagonist, acts aggressively, gets yelled at, and then begs for forgiveness. Unfortunately, reality is different. Few salespeople are naive; even if they secretly despise you, they'll still greet you with a smile, as such an incident would negatively impact the store's image. The difference lies in the treatment received – those with money receive different treatment.
Xu Le casually found a sofa to sit on and picked up a magazine to read absentmindedly.
At that moment, a young woman in a black business suit walked over with a smile on her face and asked, "Sir, what kind of car do you need to buy?"
Xu Le looked up at her. She had a good figure and above-average looks. Her smile was friendly and didn't seem forced. At least his first impression of her was good. His gaze swept over her name tag and he learned the name of the woman in front of him—Ran Shuxuan, a very delicate name. Xu Le's first impression of her was good.
"Do you have any recommendations?" To be honest, Xu Le didn't know much about cars. He only knew about big brands like Porsche and Maserati. After all, he could barely make ends meet before, so it would have been too presumptuous of him to pay attention to cars.
Ran Shuxuan carefully observed the customer in front of her. He wasn't dressed in high-end clothes. Although he was quite handsome, he didn't seem like a rich person. A hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes. With good professional ethics, she had to smile at every customer, so she took Xu Le to see several cars with relatively high cost performance. However, Xu Le, who was following behind her, had a strange expression on his face.
He noticed that the saleswoman was mostly showing him cars priced under 200,000 yuan, seemingly implying he didn't have the money. Thinking about this, Xu Le touched his face, wondering if he really looked that much like a poor person. However, he wasn't angry. Ran Shuxuan had mistakenly assumed he was short of money and just wanted to look at cars or buy a cheap one, so she brought him here. After all, an ordinary-looking person wouldn't expect to afford a nice car.
She is indeed a very kind girl. However, Xu Le noticed a few girls pointing and whispering about Ran Shuxuan not far away. They seemed to be mocking her for wasting her time at a low-spending counterfeit goods store and showing him around for so long. They thought she was incredibly foolish, since competition is inevitable wherever there are people.
Seeing Ran Shuxuan still ahead, preparing to take him to see other cars, Xu Le didn't want to waste any more time and said directly, "Can you take me to see luxury cars? Money is not a problem."
Ran Shuxuan, who was about to head to the next exhibition area, was startled by Xu Le's words. She opened her mouth wide in surprise, but seeing that Xu Le's expression did not seem to be fake, she led Xu Le to the luxury car exhibition area.
The upscale exhibition area was quite different from the outside. Not only were there models posing seductively beside the cars, but several small round tables were also set up with seasonal fruits for guests to enjoy. Ran Shuxuan led the way, glancing back at Xu Le with some concern. She saw him leisurely looking around, his gaze frequently sweeping over the exposed, fair skin of the models. Ran Shuxuan couldn't help but feel annoyed; she hadn't expected that the person she'd brought was just there to show off and admire the women.
Xu Le glanced around, his gaze finally settling on a Porsche. He asked, "What are the specs of this car? How much does it cost?"
Ran Shuxuan was still angry. When she heard Xu Le's question, she thought he was about to start showing off, so her tone turned cold: "This car is a Porsche Panamera. It's a large car and hasn't been on the market for long. The engine is a 3.0T 330-horsepower V6 with an 8-speed dual-clutch transmission. The standard model's dimensions are 5049*1937*1423 mm. If you want more space, you can choose the higher-spec model. It's a 5-door, four-seater hatchback with a top speed of 264 km/h. According to the official data, it accelerates from 0-100 km/h in just 5.7 seconds. It comes with a three-year warranty and is very suitable for both everyday use and travel."
Despite some personal emotions, Ran Shuxuan still reported the data one by one, and then looked at Xu Le with some indifference. She already knew that Xu Le's next sentence would definitely be something like, "Then forget it, let's try another car."
"This one will do. Can we pick it up now?" Xu Le was too lazy to choose anymore. This was the only car he liked in the whole place, so he was ready to just pick it up and leave. As for his driver's license, he had already taken the test with other employees during the company training.
"Alright then, let's change... what, pick up the car." Ran Shuxuan's eyes widened, she simply couldn't believe that the man in front of her had actually bought it directly. This was not the script she had expected.
"Can we pick up the car now?" Xu Le reminded him again.
"Okay, okay, I'll go find the manager to sign the contract right away." Ran Shuxuan immediately ran away. After a while, a middle-aged man followed her back to the venue, shook her hand, and said, "My name is Zhou Cheng. May I ask your surname?" "Xu." "Do you want to pick up the car now? Our store has a discount right now. If you pay in full, the price will be reduced by 10%."
"Xu, then let's go for the full amount. And could you also help me get the license plate sorted out?" Xu Le said somewhat boredly and indifferently.
"Okay, sir, please wait a moment. Will you be paying by credit card or with both eyes?" The middle-aged man's smile grew even brighter.
Xu Le took out a bank card, and Ran Shuxuan immediately took out a POS machine, pressed a few buttons, and handed it to Xu Le. Watching Xu Le pay so readily, Ran Shuxuan felt her face burning.
The full price was 2.9 million, but Manager Zhou gave him a discount and rounded it down to 2.6 million. Although Xu Le had plenty of money, he didn't mind the discount.
After paying and signing the contract, Ran Shuxuan looked at the client who had brought her nearly 30,000 yuan in commission with a complicated expression, but she had no intention of continuing the conversation and quietly walked away. Xu Le sat on the sofa, feeling bored. Several burning gazes were fixed on him from behind. He didn't need to look to know that they were the salespeople, and he could vaguely hear their conversation.
"This guy is handsome and rich, I really want to get his contact information."