Chapter 9: Why Are You Still Here?

“… 10,000,000.”

Not a cent more, not a cent less.

Charles lowered his head, staring at the amount that had just arrived in his account.

Then, he looked up.

The “I’m just waiting to watch this play out” smile was completely gone from his face.

Only one expression remained — bewilderment.

And a stinging sense of humiliation.

Because he really did receive that 10,000,000 RMB.

Moreover, he had taken it upon himself to accept it on behalf of his family.

“How is this possible?! How could you possibly produce 10,000,000 RMB?!”

Even he couldn’t produce 10,000,000 RMB right now.

It wasn’t that he didn’t have it, but he had already spent it all.

He had never been able to save anything.

“Pfft — hahaha!”

By the window, this was likely the most relaxed Chu Xue had laughed since she arrived.

Hearing her laughter made Charles’s face turn even uglier.

“You! You — you, how is this possible?! Where did this money come from?! It’s definitely not yours!!”

10,000,000 RMB was not a small sum.

How could this tiny, seemingly malnourished commoner in front of him produce it?!

It was completely beyond his imagination.

He even started making wild accusations.

I took in his ridiculous appearance — I could guess exactly what he was thinking.

It was just like when I was the Gemstone Princess, looking at those guys with ill intentions.

“True, this money isn’t mine.”

My unexpected answer plunged the office into silence once again.

I looked at Chu Xue, Su Nian, and that Charles guy; their expressions were all quite colorful.

Now that things had reached this point, having produced 10,000,000 RMB all at once, I didn’t plan to keep up the charade of being a ‘normal person.’

I might as well be blunt.

I would proactively reveal a part of my disguise.

Charles acted as if he had caught a lifeline, hurriedly trying to reclaim some dignity.

“You, look! I told you — “

“It’s Alice’s money,” I interrupted him.

“Al… ice?”

His voice was full of confusion, seemingly having no idea why that name was being brought up now.

“Yes.”

I reminded him.

“The Gemstone Princess, Alice.”

Finally, I added self-deprecatingly, “I’m her Little White Face.”

The office was silent for three seconds.

Then —

“Huh?”

Charles’s jaw nearly hit the floor.

He looked at me, then at Chu Xue, then at Su Nian, and finally his gaze fell back on me as if he were looking at a patient who had just escaped from a mental asylum.

“You? Little White Face? Alice?”

He pointed at my face, his finger trembling.

“You?! This build?! This face?! — What did you say you are to Alice?!”

“Her Little White Face.”

I didn’t want to repeat myself a third time.

“Is your hearing bad?”

Charles’s expression completely lost control.

An “are you kidding me” anger mixed with the “but the money really arrived” confusion and the “was I played” humiliation — all of it played out on his face in turns.

“Impossible! Absolutely impossible! An idol of Alice’s level — how could she keep someone like you!”

“What kind of person?”

I asked.

He opened his mouth but couldn’t answer.

I answered for him.

“Someone without money? Or someone who looks like they have no background?”

Charles’s face turned various shades of blue and white.

By the window, Chu Xue’s laughter hadn’t stopped.

Su Nian stood to the side, looking as if someone had pressed the pause button on her.

Her mouth was open, but no sound came out.

Her eyes were wide, darting back and forth between me and the name “Alice.”

“Um… President…”

She finally made a sound, but after those two words, she got stuck.

I looked at her.

“What do you want to say?”

“You… and Alice…”

“Yes.”

“Really?”

“The money is real.”

Su Nian’s expression became even more chaotic.

Even though I was telling the truth — this really was 10,000,000 RMB earned by Alice — no one believed me.

She looked down at her hands and then back up at me, as if she were getting to know the person in front of her all over again.

Charles was still struggling.

“Im… impossible… stop trying to bluff! Alice! She’s a Supernova! Even I know that! How could she…”

“How could she?”

I interrupted him.

“Are you trying to say that a Supernova like her couldn’t possibly know someone like me?”

He didn’t speak, but his expression said it all.

I smiled.

“Then tell me — where did this 10,000,000 come from?”

Charles shut up.

Yes, the money was real.

Cold, hard cash had been deposited into his account.

He could choose not to believe my words, but he couldn’t ignore the money.

The office was silent for a few more seconds.

Chu Xue stood up from the window.

“Mr. Charles,” her voice was light, but every word was clear,

“you’ve received the money, and you’ve seen the person. Is there anything else you want to say? Or are you actually a man who doesn’t keep his promises?”

As soon as she said that, an unstoppable chill surged through Charles’s body, as if he had actually encountered a blizzard.

The look of infatuation he had earlier was now replaced by nothing but wariness.

“… Nothing else,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Then please leave,” Chu Xue said.

“The air becomes foul when you stand here.”

Charles’s face was livid.

He wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.

He turned around and walked out.

His two lackeys froze for a moment before hurriedly following him.

The moment the door closed, I heard a heavy tch from the hallway.

Then, it seemed he hadn’t gone far yet, as I heard intermittent sounds of a phone call.

“Uh… things… don’t talk too much… stall them for now… I know… don’t rush me! Later…”

Just as I had guessed, someone like him wasn’t the main person in charge; he was just a pawn.

But the money had been sent, Chu Xue had seen it, and there was a record of it.

As for how he would report back later, that was none of my business.

***

Charles was finally gone.

I looked at the number on my account, which had indeed decreased by 10,000,000.

Balance: 9,875,824 RMB

My heart ached.

‘Uuugh… o(╥﹏╥)o…’

Because this was money earned by Alice, which meant it was money I earned myself.

‘It’s gone… 10,000,000 ┭┮﹏┭┮… just like that.’

‘Money… my money… that was enough to let me slack off for so long… uuu…’

I wailed in my heart.

Then, I looked at Su Nian, whose eyes were still filled with lingering shock.

My emotions were complex.

On one hand, I knew this girl was indeed worth this price.

On the other hand, I really did feel the sting of losing that money.

I had considered that she might bring trouble, but I hadn’t expected it to come so quickly and be this big —

“Su Nian, come here.”

I suddenly called Su Nian over.

“Um… wh-what is it?”

Perhaps noticing that my tone was different from usual, she seemed very restrained and awkward.

‘You didn’t tell me that day that you had such big trouble following you.’

That was the clear meaning my gaze was conveying.

Su Nian finally noticed.

“Ehehe~”

Her face slowly began to redden, but she looked mostly happy.

However, as soon as I thought about how her happy appearance was traded for my exhaustion and the constant risk of exposure during my idol career —

I simply couldn’t get over it.

I gave her a sharp kick.

Smack!

“Ow! President — ” she cried out in pain, her face flushing even redder.

“What? Does the ‘10,000,000 RMB Ms. Su Nian’ have a problem with that?”

“No… no problem.”

Su Nian’s voice grew smaller and smaller until it was almost inaudible.

But my heart was currently full of anger, and I had no intention of paying her any mind.

Although I knew rationally that this was the right thing to do, emotionally, I still couldn’t accept it for the time being.

I needed a moment to recover —

“President Lin.”

At that moment, Chu Xue’s voice lazily drifted over.

“You said just now… that you’re Alice’s Little White Face?”

I didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, I stared blankly at the snow-white figure.

“You’re still here?”

Those were the words that came out of my mouth.

Chu Xue’s expression faltered for a second, but she quickly recovered.

Then, she repeated the question.

“President Lin, you said just now… that you’re Alice’s Little White Face?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you think anyone believes that?”

I didn’t answer.

She continued, “It’s not the ‘impossible’ kind of disbelief. It’s that — there isn’t a single part of you that looks like a Little White Face.”

I looked at her.

“Then what do I look like?”

Chu Xue thought about it.

“Like… someone who has their own story to tell.”

I didn’t respond.

Su Nian whispered from the side, “So… President, do you really know Alice?”

I looked at the two of them.

One was a newbie who had just been stunned by 10,000,000 RMB.

The other was a hunter chasing down clues about “Alice.”

Both wanted the answer to the same question.

I leaned back in my chair.

“I know her.”

Su Nian’s eyes lit up.

“But as for anything else, I have no obligation to tell you.”

That was as far as I would go.

Chu Xue looked at me.

That gaze of hers — it was something she herself hadn’t quite figured out yet.

“President Lin,” she began, “you know, you…”

She paused.

“Never mind.”

Then she stood up and smoothed out her skirt.

“I should go.”

Su Nian was startled.

“Eh? Already…?”

“Yes,” Chu Xue interrupted her.

“I only came to take a look anyway.”

She walked to the door and placed her hand on the handle.

She didn’t look back.

“President Lin.”

“Yes?”

“Originally, I was going to take care of him, but after thinking about it, I’ll leave him to you, President Lin.”

I looked at her back.

Her long, snow-white hair hung over her shoulders, and I couldn’t see her expression.

She was silent for two seconds.

“In Large Families, it’s common for a few female heirs to be chosen as idols — to be used as social butterflies. That man is most likely just the beginning.”

“I know.”

Then she gave a soft laugh.

“That’s good then.”

It wasn’t a mocking laugh, nor was it cold like before.

It was something much lighter — like falling snow.

Click.

The door closed softly.

‘Finally… it’s over for now.’

Once the last uninvited guest had left, I slumped into my chair, my heartbeat still thumping in my ears.

Actually — the reason I had revealed some of my relationship with Alice was mostly because of that white-haired girl.

Although she wasn’t as dangerous as I had initially thought, I still couldn’t tell what she wanted.

Most of the time, the unknown is more dangerous than an immediate threat.

That was why I told a lie that was a mix of truth and falsehood.

But really… I’m so tired.

In the corner, Su Nian still had that silly grin on her face.

I was this exhausted, yet she was there smiling like an idiot without a care in the world.

“Um… President.”

“Yes?”

“I suddenly think you look quite handsome.”

Yeah, as I thought — I need to kick her two more times.

“Su Nian.”

“Huh?”

“Come here.”

“Oh…”