Sweetheart, It's Time To Pay Your Debt - Chapter 7

Bo Liye was startled by Qin Mingyan’s sudden change of face, her gaze was blank and clear, devoid of any impurity.

It seemed as if her shoulder truly hurt from the dislocation and she simply wanted Qin Mingyan to take a look, beyond that, there were no ulterior motives.

The cold wind poured in from the window, carrying the chill of icebergs from the ocean currents. Bo Liye leaned closer toward Qin Mingyan, her hand still holding her clothes open as if she were afraid of being blamed.

She spoke slowly: “But… you were the one who asked me to show you the location of the dislocation. Did I make you unhappy again?”

Qin Mingyan tried to find a trace of disguise on Bo Liye’s face, just as she had done countless times while reviewing surveillance footage. But whether in the recordings or standing before her, Bo Liye maintained this submissive appearance, a far cry from the arrogant socialite in her memories.

She recalled the information her assistant had uncovered.

“The Bo family declared bankruptcy five years ago in November due to a complete rupture of the capital chain. The legal representative, Ms. Bo Jinyan, suddenly left Hong Kong in May of that year, later reports claimed the ship encountered pirates and there were no survivors.”

“Mr. Bo Cheng, due to his marital relationship with Ms. Bo Jinyan and his position within the Bo family, assumed nearly half of the debt.”

“After the college entrance examination, Miss Bo attended the Shanghai Theatre Academy. She was signed by Huachen Entertainment in her freshman year and gained brief, explosive fame starring in her first drama. We speculate that the majority of the debt repayment funds Miss Bo provided over these years came from her company.”

“Additionally, we found no news regarding a marriage alliance between Miss Bo and Qin Zuxu. Perhaps because the Bo family fell from grace, the engagement simply fizzled out.”

So, was it the massive upheaval in her family that caused Bo Liye’s personality to change so drastically?

Looking at Bo Liye, Qin Mingyan suddenly had a strange sensation. It felt as if everyone else was moving forward, while Bo Liye had been forced into reverse, bit by bit, returning to where she once stood.

However, this Bo Liye was even weaker than she had been in the past, as if her spirit had been ground down over the years. Only that ruthlessness etched into her bones, the kind that led her to jump off the Xihe, allowed Qin Mingyan to re-confirm that this was indeed the woman she once knew.

The woman who would use any means necessary to achieve her goals.

Qin Mingyan’s tone turned cold again. “Put away those tricks. If you want people to admire you, I can arrange for you to enter the auction cage again.”

“I didn’t mean to…”

“Furthermore,” Qin Mingyan interrupted, watching Bo Liye slowly pull her clothes back together without a hint of emotion in her own eyes, “If you’re sick, find a doctor. Selling me your misery is useless; it will only lead to self-inflicted suffering.”

Bo Liye froze, her fingers stiffening as she buttoned her pajamas. Her gaze sank lower and lower until she looked away from Qin Mingyan’s face entirely. Like someone whose spirit had been suddenly drained, she nodded mechanically twice, signaling she understood.

Qin Mingyan called a doctor to reset Bo Liye’s bone. The female doctor was meticulous and experienced enough to judge a patient’s pain level accurately. During the procedure, she reminded Bo Liye several times that she could cry out if it hurt.

Instead, Bo Liye gritted her teeth, staring silently at Qin Mingyan’s back, as if nothing else in the world could hold her attention. Whenever Qin Mingyan turned around, Bo Liye would avert her eyes a second earlier, looking helplessly at the doctor and whispering, “Please, be gentle. Thank you.”

Unable to listen any longer, Qin Mingyan left Bo Liye in the doctor’s care. “Give her a full physical examination later.”

Because the dislocation was technically a failure of the staff, the doctor didn’t dare be negligent and repeatedly promised a thorough check-up.

The Grand Auction

That evening, Qin Mingyan was invited to the final auction on the first floor of the Xihe. The items in this final session far exceeded the previous ones in value, the lowest starting bid exceeded a million, while the most expensive started at one hundred million.

It was a rare set of purple diamonds from an old European financial family. When displayed on the stage, they were enough to make all other jewelry fade into insignificance.

One of Qin Mingyan’s reasons for coming to the Xihe was to establish her authority before her formal return to the country. These “second generation” heirs were easier to handle than their fathers; if she could intimidate them, she would have already won half the battle.

Bidding on Bo Liye had been an accident, but bidding on this most prestigious set of jewelry was her original goal. This time, she didn’t use a proxy, she attended in person.

And when she went downstairs, she brought Bo Liye with her.

“Is it really appropriate for me to go?” Bo Liye asked reservedly, clutching the dress Qin Mingyan had thrown at her. “Won’t it reflect poorly on you if people know I was bought by you?”

Qin Mingyan glanced at her. “Why didn’t you think about the ‘reflection’ when you jumped into the sea?”

Bo Liye blinked slowly and remained silent.

Qin Mingyan sneered and checked her watch. “Three minutes.”

Bo Liye rushed back just before time ran out, asking considerately, “Don’t I need makeup?”

Qin Mingyan stepped forward and pinched Bo Liye’s cheek. With just a light squeeze, a faint pink mark appeared. Bo Liye was sensitive to pain, her eyes immediately reddened, and a shattered glint of tears appeared like a weeping mermaid of the deep sea.

“Why do you think I’m bringing you along now?” Qin Mingyan’s hand moved down, her cool fingertips grazing Bo Liye’s neck and stopping at the collar of the dress.

With a light flick, two buttons popped open, revealing slender collarbones. The sea breeze poured in, causing Bo Liye’s weak body to cough instantly.

Qin Mingyan withdrew her hand without hesitation, looking her up and down as if admiring a fine piece of apparatus. “Isn’t this better than makeup?”

Bo Liye coughed twice more. Qin Mingyan gave a long “Shhh,” her tone carrying a veiled threat: “Then it won’t look good anymore.”

Bo Liye shut her mouth immediately, stifling several muffled coughs before she fully recovered. Satisfied, Qin Mingyan led her out.

Compared to her previous days of forced fragility, today’s Bo Liye was clearly more popular. As she followed Qin Mingyan to the guest seats in the auction hall, she drew countless gazes, some curious, others covetous.

But because of Qin Mingyan’s status, no one dared to approach for a chat, and even the whispers were kept very low.

Qin Mingyan generously placed the auction manual into Bo Liye’s hands. Bo Liye looked slightly dazed. She wasn’t unaware of Qin Mingyan’s intent. Qiao Ran had handed her a manual like this before but the gesture felt strange coming from Qin Mingyan.

Sure enough, Qin Mingyan’s next words were: “Look through it carefully. Don’t embarrass me.”

Bo Liye suddenly understood. Qin Mingyan wanted to use her hand to bid on items. To intimidate others, Qin Mingyan couldn’t just bid on the most expensive item, she had to compete for others to demonstrate her financial power. If Qin Mingyan herself took an interest in these things, it might seem like she had shallow taste, but if Bo Liye wanted them, it was perfectly justified.

Bo Liye deliberately turned to the page with a pink luxury watch and lingered for a few seconds. Then, in a breath just loud enough for Qin Mingyan to hear, she let out a soft sigh and turned the page.

A second later, Qin Mingyan’s voice followed: “Keep your mouth shut.”

Bo Liye said very softly, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring bad luck before the auction, I just… find it hard to choose.”

Qin Mingyan: “Price is not an issue.”

“It’s not that,” Bo Liye said. “I feel it’s difficult to choose something that looks like it fits my tastes to the outsiders, but is also worth your collection after we buy it.”

“Don’t be so troublesome,” Qin Mingyan said impatiently.

Bo Liye leaned in closer. “But look at this pink watch. The starting price is three million, so the final price will be several million, right? Won’t it look out of place in your collection cabinet?”

Her voice was slow, and as she spoke, there was a very faint scent of Chinese medicine, which was quickly covered by the light woody lotus fragrance on her body, the exact same scent Qin Mingyan wore.

Despite sensing Bo Liye’s roundabout intentions, Qin Mingyan remained silent for two seconds before her tone softened. “Then you can keep it yourself.”

Immediately, the corners of Bo Liye’s mouth twitched upward. She tried hard to maintain her composure, acting sweet and indifferent. “Oh, that would be so embarrassing.”

Qin Mingyan took in the change, turned her head, and sipped her tea. “If you don’t want it, fine.”

Bo Liye instantly replied, “Then I’ll take it.”

With Qin Mingyan’s permission, Bo Liye became much more active in browsing the manual. She specifically chose items where the markup wasn’t too high and the practicality was low. Things that weren’t easy to wear in daily life could be resold once she left the ship, providing another influx of cash.

The auction lasted until 11:00 PM. With Qin Mingyan present, few guests left early. The purple diamond set was, unsurprisingly, won by Qin Mingyan for 320 million.

Following the procedure, they went to the inspection room. Qin Mingyan went to greet Qiao Jinyuan and sent Bo Liye to receive the items on her behalf.

Bo Liye went obediently. Before leaving, she dutifully asked Qin Mingyan if she could button her collar. The nighttime temperature had dropped, and her throat, having suffered from the fall into the sea, would cough uncontrollably if caught by the chill.

Qin Mingyan was stunned for a moment. Though she knew Bo Liye was saying this to cater to her, she was nonetheless pleased.

“Button it,” she agreed. Bo Liye smiled quietly.

The Confrontation

Once she was finally out of Qin Mingyan’s sight, Bo Liye let out a subtle sigh of relief. The staff enthusiastically showed her each of the items Qin Mingyan had won. Everything was in order. Bo Liye wasn’t interested in the other items, but she did try on the pink watch.

She had first seen this watch two years ago on a foreign model at a fashion show. At the time, Gu Lin had stood beside her and joked, “When will you ever be able to afford a watch like that?”

Bo Liye had smiled then and said, “There’s no need.”

Because she had so much debt, such beautiful ornaments were destined to be alien to her, even though she had once owned many. But as she wore it now, she realized she still loved sparkling jewelry, soft high-fashion dresses, and the social status that money provided.

Her preferences hadn’t changed, she still loved what she loved in her youth.

Bo Liye shook off the melancholy, unfastened the strap, and placed it back in the box. “Please pack it up again, thank you.”

The staff member closed the box but suddenly called out to her, “Bo Liye, do you still recognize me?”

Bo Liye: “You are…?”

The man said, “Since you don’t know, then there’s no need to know my name.”

Bo Liye’s voice was flat. “Oh.”

The man clearly hadn’t expected this reaction. He shoved the watch box to a bribed staff member nearby and signaled them to wait by the door. Another trouble had arrived.

The man pulled out a segment of surveillance footage on his phone and handed it to Bo Liye. “Take a look.”

Bo Liye didn’t reach for it.

The footage was chaotic, it was from a few days ago when she was being taken to the auction. Her panicked face looked out of place until the man paused the video.

The man said, “Before the auction, those gold handcuffs weren’t forced on you by us. You had them on you all along and ‘accidentally’ let them fall out so we would put them on you, increasing the stakes for Qin Mingyan to buy you. You anticipated we would come to your room after Qiao Ran got drunk. You used us!”

“Used you?” Bo Liye looked up at the man, her tone indifferent. “What evidence do you have that the handcuffs were on me from the start?”

The man froze. He looked at Bo Liye’s cold eyes and raised his voice. “Bo Liye, are you trying to play dumb? Your target from the start was Qin Mingyan, wasn’t it? What do you think Qin Mingyan will do if she finds out you deliberately calculated your way to her?”

Bo Liye suddenly laughed. She was still recovering from the sea, and her face was a sickly pale, making her laughter seem bloodless and exceptionally cold.

“Zhang Hang, you and Zhao Yang truly are friends. One thinks giving me a sedative will please Qin Mingyan, and the other thinks this surveillance clip will do the same.”

She had clearly recognized the man long ago. Bo Liye looked into Zhang Hang’s eyes, and her smile faded bit by bit. Her pale face no longer looked weak, it looked icy and heartless.

“Do you think Qin Mingyan is as stupid as you two? Stupid enough to not guess this? She knows I am approaching her, yet she accepted me anyway.”

Zhang Hang was completely stunned. He couldn’t believe that a “vase” who seemed so easily bullied had so easily outmaneuvered them to win Qin Mingyan’s favor.

“Are you really Qin Mingyan’s ex?”

“So much talk.” A flash of impatience crossed Bo Liye’s brow. She rubbed her ear, her hair shifting to reveal a brilliant purple glint under the light. “Why does everyone think I’m only here for money?”

CRASH!

One of the earrings from the 320 million dollar set, which Bo Liye had somehow slipped onto her ear, fell to the ground. The decorative diamonds shattered instantly, and the central purple diamond chipped against the floor.

The sound was exceptionally crisp and pleasant.

Following that, Zhang Hang saw Bo Liye collapse to the floor, her face filled with an expression of fragility and despair.

It all happened in three seconds. By the time Zhang Hang reacted, the staff member at the door had already shouted:

“President Qin.”

At that exact moment, a suppressed sob echoed beside him.