Miss Wheelchair - Chapter 14

Gu Ci’s appearance was entirely unexpected.

Yet, upon closer thought, there was a certain inevitability to it—if after all this agonizing effort Gu Ci never showed up, why would the system have set up this task in the first place?

Grasping that slender, lean hand, Tan Xin pushed herself up. Balancing on one foot, she patted the dust off her clothes and hopped back into her wheelchair.

Thinking she was about to make a run for it, the scammer old man scrambled upright in a flash. “Hey! You’re not allowed to run! You haven’t paid me yet!”

Now that Tan Xin had someone backing her up, she instantly found her spine. “You’re a total scam artist! Who says I’m giving you any money?”

She vigorously spun her wheels twice, rolling right up to Gu Ci. “President Gu, he’s just a scammer trying to extort us. Let’s go.”

Seeing things take a turn for the worse, the old man quickly scrambled over and threw himself onto the ground right in front of their wheelchairs. “Don’t you dare run! What do you mean, ‘scammer’? Let me tell you, young lady, you shouldn’t throw around wild accusations at your age! You’re the one who knocked me down just now. Asking you for medical expenses is only natural and right!”

A surge of anger and anxiety rushed into Tan Xin’s chest. Unfortunately, this extortion attempt wasn’t in her pre-prepared scripts, so she couldn’t recite a rebuttal backward the way she did during interviews. “You, you’re just a rogue!”

Ding!

Purple +10.

Purple = Contempt.

Good, good, good. You’ve triggered Gu Ci’s emotional value. You’re dead meat now, you old geezer!

Having founded two companies, Gu Ci had encountered her fair share of similar incidents. Strictly speaking, this old scammer was the lowest-tier rogue she had run into since starting her business.

“You want money, is that it?” Gu Ci spoke coldly. Her voice was like a single snowflake drifting into a bustling market, instantly quieting the murmuring crowd around them as everyone turned to look at her.

She lowered her gaze, the look beneath her eyelashes radiating the sheer disgust one might reserve for garbage. “Since you believe she pushed you, I will call the police for you. Once they arrive, they will retrieve the surveillance footage from this intersection, as well as the subway exit over there—which can also capture this spot. If she did push you, I will cover every cent of your medical fees, diagnostic fees, and recuperation costs. But if she didn’t, I will formally sue you for extortion. When that happens, not only will you spend a week in a detention center, but you will also face a lawsuit for damages. Well? Do you want to try your luck?”

She delivered her words unhurriedly, neither arrogant nor humble, like a lawyer stating facts in a courtroom—every sentence backed by solid legal footing.

Listening from the side, Tan Xin straightened her back a little more, wearing an utterly priceless “I have a wife holding it down for me” expression.

The old man didn’t buy it at first, pointing a finger at Gu Ci and shouting, “Don’t try to scare me with that crap! I wasn’t born yesterday! I’m telling you, if you don’t pay up today, I’m not leaving!”

In response, Gu Ci pulled out her phone. “Hello, 110? I’d like to report an incident. I’m currently near the north gate subway station of the Pharmacy University, and I’ve encountered an elderly man attempting extortion. Correct, she didn’t touch him; he fell on his own. There are two surveillance cameras nearby that can capture the scene. Five minutes away? Understood.”

The old man grew increasingly uneasy as he listened. He shot an apprehensive look at Gu Ci, faintly sensing the aura of an absolute demon from the figure in the wheelchair. Looking at her clothes and the high-end configuration of her wheelchair, it was in a completely different league compared to the other girl’s basic iron frame. She might very well be an executive at a listed company.

People like this were not to be messed with.

Thus, after barking out a few more curses to save face, he bolted.

Filled with profound gratitude, Tan Xin grabbed Gu Ci’s wheelchair. “President Gu, thank goodness you were here! Otherwise, I would have been doomed!”

Gu Ci calmly looked down, her eyes falling on the hand touching her wheelchair.

Tan Xin withdrew it like lightning, offering an apologetic smile. “Uh, sorry about that. I got a bit excited.”

Gu Ci hated it when people touched her wheelchair.

Feeling anxious, Tan Xin stole a glance at the top of Gu Ci’s head. Perfect, no red appeared. She’s not angry.

The onlookers had mostly dispersed, leaving their two wheelchairs facing the road, looking out at the endless stream of traffic.

The sun had completely set, and the sky had deepened into a melancholy, twilight blue. A bright crescent moon hung in mid-air, flanked by a prominent star to the north. The streetlights illuminated the entire winding path, and the headlights of the passing cars moved so fast they left residual blurs, carving thin lines of fiber-optic light onto the concrete road.

One of the streetlights happened to be directly overhead, casting its glow downward like an open-mouthed glass chalice. The warm, amber light bathed Gu Ci completely, giving her an almost divine aura.

Gu Ci lit a slim cigarette, holding it between her index and middle fingers. The cigarette was slender, and the spark at its tip glowed like a tiny, beautiful firefly.

She said, “In the future, if you encounter something like this, look for surveillance cameras first, then record a video. Do not engage in verbal arguments or physical altercations, to prevent them from staging a secondary accident. As long as you have evidence, you don’t need to fear the other party’s unreasonable pestering.”

Tan Xin looked at her without saying a word. Her eyes were glued to the hand holding the cigarette—the prominent bone of her wrist was delicate and rounded, like a pearl fresh from an oyster, reflecting the hues of the sea under the moonlight.

She hadn’t processed a single word Gu Ci said, offering only a dazed, “Mm.”

Too beautiful. Everything about Gu Ci was simply too beautiful.

Gu Ci turned her head. Her hair was slightly messy, and she swept it behind her ear with one hand. Her fingers were long and cleanly articulated, like polished white jade, yet they retained the faint, healthy flush of living skin.

Untouched by the mundane world, yet a striking masterpiece in her own right.

“Want a puff?” Gu Ci asked.

Staring at those slender, porcelain-white fingers, Tan Xin answered honestly, “Mm.”

Only after nodding did a wave of shame hit her—what on earth was she saying? Gu Ci’s fingers were stunning, but she shouldn’t be so blatantly obvious about it.

Even though she really did want to take a drag.

Moments later, a cigarette was proffered in front of her.

Tan Xin felt a massive wave of relief. Ah, a puff of the cigarette.

Slowly, she took the cigarette and placed it between her lips. For some reason, because Gu Ci had been holding it, the paper carried a hint of her unique, subtle fragrance. With that thought, she pressed her lips tightly around the filter, giving it a firm squeeze.

Click!

A lighter sparked. Tan Xin turned her head and saw a small, flickering flame, with Gu Ci’s face illuminated behind the dancing light. If a mother in candlelight was a grand sight, a lover in firelight was breathtakingly beautiful.

“Come here.” Holding the lit lighter between their wheelchairs, Gu Ci issued a brief command.
As if receiving a precious treasure, Tan Xin leaned forward, guiding the tip of her cigarette to meet the tiny flame.

In that fleeting second, she experienced an unprecedented sense of satisfaction. It was like a prisoner locked away in a dungeon for years finally catching sight of a princess; the princess tilted the goblet in her hand, granting her a single drop of nectar. The prisoner could only lift her chain-bound neck, open her mouth wide, and swallow that single drop of bliss.

The eyes staring at those porcelain-white fingers were practically burning with desire.

Tan Xin had to admit—it wasn’t the cigarette she wanted to partake in.

A public bus roared past, leaving behind a sharp, piercing honk that vibrated through their eardrums like a train whistle.

Amidst the roaring rush of air, she heard Gu Ci ask, “Are you alright?”

Panicking, Tan Xin jerked her head away, breaking eye contact. “I’m fine.”

She took a sharp drag of the cigarette. Unable to inhale it properly into her lungs, she could only let the smoke linger briefly in her mouth before exhaling it all.

The next second, the wheelchair beside her drew closer. A pair of cool fingers cupped her chin, forcing her to look up.

Tan Xin could hear her own heart hammering violently against her ribs.

Too close. They were really too close.

She felt an uncontrollable urge to kiss Gu Ci, to take those slender fingers into her mouth and lick them one by one against the tip of her tongue. And then, she would bite down with a touch of malice, just enough to make Gu Ci gasp in pain, before letting go of her hand to claim those thin, soft lips.

“You have a nosebleed.”

With that single sentence, Tan Xin was violently hurled down from the clouds, plunging into a ninety-degree crash.