Volume 4 Chapter 17
by Golden DragonVolume 4 + Chapter 17: The Other Choice
“You said I wasn’t allowed to look, so I’m going to look anyway!” With that, Bai Yuxuan strode briskly up to Qianxue, circling him again and again. Harnessing her formidable memory, she captured every detail of Qianxue’s current appearance, encoding it frame by frame into high-definition images stored securely in her mind.
Why didn’t she just use her phone to take pictures? Because that would come later, for no matter how many megapixels a camera boasted, it could never rival the vividness of her own eyes. Moreover, applying any beauty filter would be nothing short of desecrating Qianxue’s otherworldly beauty. So Bai Yuxuan resolved to savor this visual feast to the fullest before finally snapping photos as keepsakes.
Click!, At that moment, having steeled herself to take one last, lingering look, Bai Yuxuan at last pulled out her phone and captured the image.
“You actually took a picture!” Instantly, Qianxue bristled like a startled cat, charging at Bai Yuxuan with every intention of a showdown. Yet before he could even lay a hand on her, a dozen shop attendants had already seized hold of him.
“It seems your boyfriend is absolutely delighted with your outfit. So let’s strike while the iron is hot and move on to the next try-on,” they announced, and promptly dragged Qianxue back to the fitting room. Just before he was pushed inside again, along with a fresh set of clothes, Qianxue hurled threats at Bai Yuxuan, vowing that one day he would make Bai Yuxuan wear all sorts of humiliating outfits in return.
Hearing this, Bai Yuxuan merely gave a graceful smile. She wouldn’t mind dressing up either, after all, as lovers, they couldn’t let satisfaction flow only one way. Her hesitation came from a lack of confidence in herself. For over a decade, she had always presented as male, and she simply worried that she wouldn’t look good enough in feminine attire in Qianxue’s eyes.
But those were hurdles for later. For now, the priority was to live in the moment. And so Bai Yuxuan spent the entire evening watching Qianxue’s wardrobe changes, until night fell. After they had dinner together at a nearby restaurant, Qianxue rose from his seat.
“What, heading back already?” Bai Yuxuan stopped him and asked.
“Yes. Even though I’ve left Xijiang, Wang Shiman has arranged training for me here.”
“I see. Go on, then.” This time Bai Yuxuan did not hold him back. Only after watching Qianxue disappear into the distance did she dial Wang Qian’s number once more.
“Tell me what you wanted to say earlier. What exactly did Wang Shiman bring Qianxue to the capital for?”
“Oh? You want to know? Then send me all the photos you took of Qianxue in her various dresses, or else forget it!” Hearing Bai Yuxuan reach out to her, Wang Qian naturally seized the chance to extract a favor.
“Qianxue won’t let me take pictures, so I have none,” Bai Yuxuan replied in an icy tone that brooked no argument.
But Wang Qian was not intimidated in the least.
“Who do you think you’re fooling? With your personality, even if Qianxue resisted with all his might, you’d still find a way to make him comply. Enough nonsense, hand over the photos!”
“At most one.”
“All of them!”
“Fine, I’ll compromise, two.”
“Oh really? Then I’ll just hang up now.”
At Wang Qian’s threat, Bai Yuxuan let out a cold chuckle.
“Do you think I offered you two photos because I’m actually afraid of your threats? You seriously underestimate me, Bai Yuxuan. Do you really think I don’t know how desperately you want to help Qianxue? Even if I gave you nothing, you’d find some excuse to tip me off eventually. Besides, as long as I know Qianxue is keeping secrets from me, I can simply ask him directly. All I’d have to do is bluff a little, tell him that Wang Qian has told me everything, and that naive boy, with his pure heart, would pour out the whole truth to me. And what’s more…”
“Through some social connections, I’ve found out that you are Wang Shiman’s niece, and both your parents work under your aunt. Incidentally, I’ve recorded our previous conversation and this one too. If you don’t tell me right away, I’ll send that evidence of your outright betrayal to her.”
“How could you do this to me! I was trying to help you, and this is how you repay me?”
“Blame yourself. Anything else would have been negotiable, but Qianxue is the exception. I was already gracious enough to offer you his photos. Yet you remained unsatisfied, pushing for more. Don’t think I don’t know what you really feel about Qianxue. If you only saw him as a friend, you wouldn’t go to such lengths for him, would you? So agreeing to share his photos with a rival like you is already more magnanimous than I need to be.”
“You!” At that moment, Wang Qian finally realized that Bai Yuxuan was, after all, the heir officially appointed by the Bai family. Dealing with a mere girl like her was child’s play, and she had actually dared to haggle with her.
“Fine, two it is, then.” Wang Qian sighed in resignation.
“That was the price a moment ago. Now there’s only one.”
“What! You just promised me two!”
“Keep arguing and you get none!”
“One, then, one is fine.” In the end, Wang Qian, practically pleading, managed to extract a single photo of Qianxue from Bai Yuxuan, and it was the most ordinary one Bai Yuxuan had picked out from the entire collection.
Yet even so, it still drew a giddy, “Hehehe~” of delighted laughter from Wang Qian on the other end of the line.
And Wang Qian did not forget her primary mission. After staring at Qianxue’s photo for a while, she told Bai Yuxuan all about how Wang Shiman had tricked Qianxue into signing a ten-year contract. Upon learning the full truth, Bai Yuxuan felt as though she was about to explode with rage.
By the time Qianxue finished his training, it was past midnight. True to form, he had not walked far before he spotted Bai Yuxuan waiting for him not far ahead, just as he used to do back in Xijiang. Yet when Qianxue drew closer, he saw that Bai Yuxuan was glaring at him with fierce intensity.
“Did… something happen?” Qianxue asked timidly.
“You have the nerve to ask me if something happened?” Bai Yuxuan grabbed Qianxue and pulled him close. “Tell me, why didn’t you just turn down the contract Wang Shiman offered you? And what makes me even angrier is that you were willing to consider such an outrageous agreement from her, yet you never once came to me for help. Ouyang Qianxue, do I even mean anything to you anymore? I hold you dearer than anyone else, and when you face trouble, you won’t say a single word to me!”
“That’s because I deceived you, I feel guilty, and how could I possibly ask you for help with that weight on my conscience? Besides, I have my own principles and dignity. I can’t just accept your unilateral support for nothing.” Faced with Bai Yuxuan’s fury, Qianxue was filled with his own grievances.
“Hmph.” After hearing Qianxue’s explanation, Bai Yuxuan let out only a sneer.
“Spare me your talk of guilt. Do you think that one lie after another makes me feel any better? And you dare to speak of dignity? Do you think signing a contract that amounts to selling yourself is dignified? Do you think your mother would be happy if she knew you saved her this way? If she ever learned that her life was bought with her son’s most precious ten years, I suspect she’d rather die than accept it.”
Hearing these words, Qianxue’s face turned ashen. Seeing him so dejected, Bai Yuxuan’s heart softened. She let out a long sigh and spoke to Qianxue in a gentle tone.
“Leave Wang Shiman. I’ll give you another choice.”
[Translator’s Note: Please join the Gravity Tales’ Discord Server, if you want to hang out.]
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