Chapter 193
For both Liu Woxing and Lai Bingxuan, it was their first time eating crayfish at a roadside food stall.
Here, the tables and chairs were simply set up along the street. If you wanted something, you just shouted it to the boss, and once it was cooked, he’d bring it right over.
The customers were drinking and chatting merrily, while smoke and fire rose from the boss’s big wok.
After a few glasses of alcohol, Liu Woxing gazed in a daze at the scene before her.
It was hard to imagine that this was something she was experiencing herself.
At least, for the old her, this had been completely out of reach.
“Ha! Feels good!”
Having downed another glass, Lai Bingxuan’s face was flushed crimson, clearly tipsy.
“Xie Mi, you’re actually a pretty interesting person.”
“The people I met in the past—when I paid them to do something, they’d always pull this face of suffering humiliation, as if my money was an insult.”
“But when I told them they could refuse, that I had plenty of others I could go to, they still chose to take the money.”
“I just don’t get it. They clearly wanted the money, so why bother acting like they treated money like dirt? What’s the point?”
“Is loving money such a shameful thing? Who doesn’t love money?”
“So, Xie Mi, you’re the first person I’ve met who took my money and actually showed gratitude.”
“You’re not like the others.”
Drunkenly speaking her truths, Lai Bingxuan patted Xie Mi’s shoulder hard, several times in a row, before finally blurting out words she’d been holding back:
“Thank you.”
Xie Mi stared at her in horror.
Was this… the God of Wealth herself?
In just over half a month, not only had she earned 200,000, but the other party was even thanking her?
If this were a livestream, the bullet comments would definitely be: [Ha! She’s thanking you now.]
Inwardly sighing with pity, Xie Mi said to her:
“Those monsters you met before were the minority.”
“Believe me, most people would react the same way I did.”
Come on, who wouldn’t worship the God of Wealth if they ran into her?
Lai Bingxuan, still hazy, turned to look at Liu Woxing.
“And you, Liu Woxing. Honestly, I always thought you were a boring person. No presence on the show, a total coward.”
Liu Woxing gave an awkward tug at her lips.
“Miss Lai… you’re very blunt.”
Subtext: You really don’t spare anyone’s face.
“Don’t mind it!” Lai Bingxuan waved a hand carelessly.
“That day filming in the mountains, when I heard that host say those things to you, I was about to explode with anger. And yet you didn’t react at all. At the time, I thought, ah, this person is hopeless.”
“Until that day when you rejected Qiu Chengye, that’s when my opinion of you changed a little. I suddenly realized, hey, you do have a mind of your own.”
“And then today, my impression of you completely changed.”
“Didn’t expect you to go so wild. Totally different from the you I knew before.”
“Seeing you today, a thought popped into my head—”
“Hey? This lifeless puppet on strings actually started moving by itself.”
“Hahahahahaha…”
By the end, Lai Bingxuan was totally drunk, swaying with her glass, probably not even knowing what she was saying anymore.
But Liu Woxing fell into silence, her expression dazed.
So…
In the eyes of others, she was nothing more than a lifeless puppet.
A fitting description indeed.
She lifted her glass to her lips, but before she could drink, Xie Mi reached out and pressed it down.
“The dream is over. Time to return to reality.”
Looking up, she met Xie Mi’s rarely serious eyes.
Lai Bingxuan was already slumped unconscious on the table. At that moment, only she and Xie Mi were facing each other across the drinks.
The atmosphere grew strangely heavy.
“Actually, bringing you out today wasn’t about persuading you, or pushing you to make some decision.”
“I just thought—if someone went their whole life without ever tasting freedom, even once, that would be far too miserable.”
“So I came to find you.”
“I wanted you to experience that kind of time, even if it was only for one day.”
“From here on, the decision is yours. Whatever path you choose, I’ll respect it.”
Xie Mi said all this calmly, looking straight at Liu Woxing.
She never intended to forcefully change anyone’s fate.
In the end, the one who had to choose was the person themselves.
Faced with her words, Liu Woxing was silent for a long while.
Then she smiled faintly.
“Teacher Xie, thank you.”
Xie Mi also smiled, but didn’t continue the topic.
Liu Woxing already had her choice in mind.
Whatever that choice was—it no longer had anything to do with her.
Their day of escape was over. Next came reality.
Liu Woxing took a taxi back to the Liu household.
Staring at the oppressive building before her, like a prison, she knew exactly what awaited her inside. And still, she walked in.
Just like countless times before, after briefly sneaking happiness outside, she was returning again to this suffocating home.
The atmosphere inside was icy cold.
Lu Ping sat at the tea table, face blank as she sipped her tea. Her eldest brother sat indifferently on the sofa, watching his tablet.
Liu Xingzhou popped grapes into his mouth, eyeing her with a mocking half-smile.
The butler, however, greeted her warmly:
“Third Miss, welcome home.”
Only then did the others seem to acknowledge her presence. Lu Ping raised her eyes, glanced over coldly, and gave a derisive snort.
“You still know how to come back?”
Her brother Liu Fuan didn’t even look up. His tone was flat and lifeless:
“Go apologize to Mom.”
“…”
Under Liu Xingzhou’s gleeful gaze, Liu Woxing slowly walked over to Lu Ping.
Lu Ping set down the teapot as if by instinct, and in a commanding tone said,
“Pour the tea.”
The cup was scalding hot. The instant her finger touched it, it reddened from the burn.
Yet as though numb, she poured the tea steadily and set the filled cup before Lu Ping.
Under her mother’s faintly satisfied gaze, she spoke her apology.
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?” Lu Ping drawled, glancing at her.
“For disobeying your orders.”
“And?”
“And I will continue to disobey your orders.”
Lu Ping’s hand froze on the teacup, her sharp eyes snapping toward Liu Woxing.
Even Liu Fuan, who hadn’t lifted his gaze until now, finally looked over, his dark eyes filled with displeasure.
“What nonsense are you spouting?”
“I think she’s actually lost her mind.” Liu Xingzhou sneered.
But Liu Woxing ignored all of them. She kept her calm yet resolute eyes fixed on Lu Ping.
“I won’t go on blind dates. I will continue participating in the program.”
“If you’re angry, you can strip me of my director position, freeze my bank cards, cut off all my resources, drive me out of the family.”
“I expect you’ll do exactly that.”
“In that case… I’ll leave first.”
