Xu Ke had never dreamed that Wong Qifu would actually release news of her engagement.
Upon returning home, Xu Ke made a call. "Sister Wang, are you getting engaged?"
He still harbored a faint hope that he wasn't the one she was engaged to.
"Yes," Wong Qifu said from the other end.
"Then who is the groom?" Xu Ke swallowed.
"What does it have to do with you? Are you having regrets?"
Xu Ke immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "No, no, I was just curious."
If Wong Qifu said that, then it definitely wasn't him.
"You don't regret missing out on your big sister?" Wong Qifu suddenly asked.
Xu Ke's scalp tingled.
Expressing his true feelings would probably get him killed by Wong Qifu on the spot.
He forced himself and started babbling, "Regret? Of course I regret it. Sister Wang is so outstanding. The man who marries her must be the luckiest man in the world. Missing out on Sister Wang is the biggest regret of my life, but there's nothing I can do. Reality is cruel, sigh."
"Is that so?" Wong Qifu casually replied.
Her tone made Xu Ke feel puzzled, so he chose to change the subject.
Not talking about this was definitely the right move.
So, Xu Ke awkwardly changed the subject. "By the way, Sister Wang, what's your bank account number? I'll pay you back the ten million."
The money Wong Qifu was supposed to transfer hadn't arrived yet, and the account number could be looked up by the sender anyway. The question was complete nonsense. However, Xu Ke's only goal was to change the topic, so it didn't really matter.
"Why pay me back?" Wong Qifu asked.
"This money isn't mine to take," Xu Ke replied honestly.
Wong Qifu said teasingly, "My dowry isn't something you can return just because you feel like it, you know."
Xu Ke's mind short-circuited. "D-Dowry?"
"Yes. The luckiest man in the world," Wong Qifu mocked.
Xu Ke was speechless.
"Sister Wang, you... you're not joking, are you?"
Wong Qifu mockingly threw his own words back at him. "What? I'm giving you a chance to make up for your biggest regret, and you can't believe it?"
Xu Ke swallowed hard. "Didn't you tell me to leave?"
"I told you to leave, but when did I say I wouldn't marry you?" Wong Qifu's tone was so domineering that he couldn't find a way to object.
Xu Ke was stunned.
Isn't this just shameless?
"Besides," Wong Qifu's tone softened, as gentle as a cat's paw scratching at Xu Ke's heart, "what's wrong with a girl being a little contrary? This is my first romance, my first marriage. Can't your big sister throw a little tantrum?"
Xu Ke's heart quivered at her tone.
Anyone treated this way by the multi-billionaire Wang Family Empress would find it overwhelming.
"Uh, but..." Xu Ke began to refuse.
No matter what, he couldn't marry someone he didn't love.
Wong Qifu, having already made up her mind, cut him off. "Alright, that's it for now. I have things to do."
"We'll get engaged in three months, right on schedule."
"That soon?" Xu Ke's face fell as he tried to refuse again.
But Wong Qifu had already hung up.
DOOT. DOOT. DOOT.
Staring at his phone, Xu Ke was speechless for a long time. Am I being forced into a marriage?
Just then, his phone pinged.
DING.
A deposit notification arrived.
"...received. Balance: 10,001,305.12 yuan." Xu Ke, who had never seen so many digits in his life, gasped.
So this is you throwing a little tantrum? You just casually wire ten million yuan whenever you feel like it?
「At 10:30 p.m.」
Xu Ke sat on the narrow balcony, the evening breeze washing over his face as he sighed.
In just one day, it felt as though he had experienced years of drastic changes. He hadn't just lost his job; the life he had looked forward to was gone, and he'd been betrayed by Siao Jia. He had truly hit rock bottom. With debts pressing in and rent due mid-month, the financial pressure felt like a deadly noose slowly tightening around his neck...
But it wasn't like there were no solutions. He thought of the ten million yuan in his account. After a moment of hesitation and internal struggle, however, he gave up with a sense of resignation. He couldn't touch that money. If he did, he would lose any grounds he had to refuse Wong Qifu.
Xu Ke shook his head and put down his phone. He had to find another way out and support himself. The fitness industry had completely turned against him, so he couldn't stay. But with his resume now blank, how could he possibly earn enough to pay off his loans by switching careers on such short notice? He sighed again.
Just then, he thought of his master... the one who had taught him nothing.
He never understood why his master took him in as a disciple but forbade him from practicing the medical Cultivation Technique. What was the reason? If he had learned the Divine Doctor's skills back then, he wouldn't be so worried about his career prospects now.
During his senior year of college, while everyone else was doing internships, Xu Ke had met a Divine Doctor with breathtaking medical skills and was accepted as his disciple.
He thought he would finally learn how to bring the dead back to life and regrow flesh on bone, but unexpectedly... His master told him he wouldn't be taught any medical techniques, saying that the mortal world held its own opportunities, and then sent him down the mountain. As a result, not only did Xu Ke fail to learn any astonishing medical arts after becoming a disciple, but he also wasted a great deal of time.
Forget it, it's useless to dwell on the past.
Xu Ke sighed and glanced back at the food delivery uniform in his room.
Back when he was a trainer, he had taken a second job delivering food after work, often not getting home until after midnight, just to buy Siao Jia a Gucci bag that cost over ten thousand yuan.
Xu Ke smiled self-deprecatingly. He never expected that Siao Jia would run off with her Gucci, leaving only this delivery uniform behind.
At that thought, Xu Ke felt his pants pocket. All that remained were the keys to this studio apartment and the new house.
The key to his electric bike is still at the new house. I'll have to go over there tomorrow...