8: Playing the long game with sharks

After leaving Ye Xi's room, Li Xuening quickly returned to Lis Group with her bodyguards.

"Sister, you're back. How did it go?"

Li Xingyu greeted her with a smile, but seeing Li Xuening's cold face, he felt a premonition that something was seriously wrong.

"Brother, tell me, what exactly happened with this matter?"

"Are you hiding something? I don't think she's entirely at fault, is she?"

Li Xuening rested her hand on her cheek, a subtle, sly smile playing on her lips, as she watched Li Xingyu.

"Sister, what are you talking about? I don't quite understand."

Li Xingyu touched his nose, feeling a bit more guilty.

"Don't understand? I'll make you understand right now."

Before he could finish speaking, Li Xuening opened her phone and tossed it onto the office desk.

Although he didn't know what it was, Li Xingyu still picked up the phone and glanced at it. He was right; it was indeed the last thing he wanted to see.

"Brother, I didn't expect you, a big man, to be so weak. To be knocked down by a young girl with one punch and unable to get up—you almost completely shamed our Li family."

"Also, didn't you say she made the first move? How come I saw on the surveillance that you made the first move?"

Thinking of this, Ye Xi's beautiful face once again appeared in Li Xuening's mind. She even felt a little fortunate that her brother hadn't succeeded; otherwise, if that face had been beaten into a pig's head, she would have been heartbroken.

"Sister, you're my own sister. Even if I did something a little wrong, you shouldn't be taking the side of an outsider, should you?"

Li Xingyu scratched his head, feeling extremely embarrassed. His own sister said he had kidney deficiency—she wouldn't be thinking something inappropriate, would she?

Sigh, I'm a very proper man, okay? Don't overthink it, and definitely don't tattle to Mom and Dad.

"You still have the nerve to say that?"

Li Xuening's delicate brows furrowed. This huge blunder was truly humiliating; she wished she could strangle her brother right now.

Seeing his sister's attitude getting worse, as if she'd been given a love potion, Li Xingyu thought it best to leave early.

"Sister, my buddies are calling me out to play, so I'm heading off first."

After saying that, Li Xingyu darted out of the office.

Late at night.

Li Xuening lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

Every time she closed her eyes, that graceful figure involuntarily appeared in her mind.

A fairy in a misty bath, a jade-like back that inspires pity. Water droplets slide down skin like snow, slender shoulders and a delicate waist, a myriad of charms.

She shook her head, dispelling the impure thoughts in her mind, and muttered to herself, "Could I really be into women?"

She picked up her phone and checked it again. Still no friend request from Ye Xi. She instinctively ruffled her hair, feeling even more irritated.

After seeing the surveillance footage, Li Xuening felt even more indebted to Ye Xi.

She had initiated the attack and gotten beaten back; how could it possibly be the other party's fault?

Fortunately, the other party was magnanimous and didn't hold a grudge, otherwise she would have been consumed by guilt for a long time.

Just thinking about how the other party, despite being wronged, still maintained a gentle and generous demeanor, made Li Xuening feel uncomfortable all over.

Compared to Ye Xi, her own overbearing rush looked like she was bullying a weak woman.

This damn guilt was truly unbearable!

"Fine, if she won't add me, I'll swallow my pride and add her myself. I'll find a chance to compensate her later."

Meanwhile, it was past nine in the evening.

The young girl's long, beautiful legs were crossed on the sofa as she stretched lazily.

She raised her slender hands and massaged her head. Just thinking about earning a year's worth of college living expenses in two months of summer vacation made her scalp tingle.

"I'm so worried. Money isn't everything, but without money, you can't do anything."

"Why am I not a second-generation rich kid? Heaven is truly unfair."

"Now, besides having a crappy system, I have nothing. I'm such a waste."

The young girl looked dejected, slumping completely onto the sofa.

Xiao Ai: "Hey, hey, hey, you're making me look useless."

Ye Xi's mouth twitched. She said, dissatisfied, "You are useless, and I'm not allowed to say it? Why can't you just give me a billion?"

After speaking, Ye Xi opened her phone again and scrolled through job search apps.

After a while, all she saw were manual labor and sales jobs. What should she do if she didn't want to do any of them?

"Never mind, never mind, I won't think about it anymore. Let's see how the fish in the fish pond are doing first."

As her alternate account was opened, Ye Xi found that many people were sending her messages, and there were even quite a few simps who persistently sent good morning and good night messages every day.

Even with their eagerness, Ye Xi couldn't be bothered with them. Simps who couldn't drop money were useless in her eyes.

Of course, Ye Xi's Moments were even more interesting, with some wealthy individuals subtly showing off their money.

For example, one friend's post showed several luxury cars and famous watches, with a line of text below.

"Just closed another big deal worth twenty million. How I wish there was an understanding young lady to share this joy with me."

Ye Xi looked at the forty or fifty-year-old man in the picture, hugging a young girl, and couldn't help but roll her eyes. Understanding, or understanding how to undress?

Grandpa, you're so old, and you're still thinking about an old ox eating tender grass. Can your body handle it?

Sigh, she couldn't help but sigh, it's really good to be rich. If she could also keep pretty female college students when she was forty or fifty, that would be great.

In her eyes, there was a hint of jealousy and envy towards these wealthy old men.

She even felt a little broken inside. Damn it, all the young, pretty girls are being kept by you wealthy old men. This makes us ordinary men seem so useless.

Eighteen to twenty years old is when a girl is in her prime. It's also when an ordinary man is at his poorest. This huge contrast is truly infuriating.

"Host, I need to remind you again, you are no longer a man."

"As long as you're willing to swallow your pride and lie down to make money..."

"Shut your mouth!"

Xiao Ai's words were cut off by Ye Xi before she could finish. This dog-like thing actually wanted her to...

How could that be possible? She would rather bash her head in than do something like that.

"Dog system, I'm telling you, I'm not in the mood for any damn romantic love stories right now! I just want to make money! What's the use of just envying others? We need to take action ourselves! We need to become richer than them! We need to step on everyone!"

Ye Xi, stimulated by something, slammed the coffee table, making a banging sound.

Xiao Ai: "Is that something you should say? You're so ambitious?"

Ye Xi didn't want to bother with the dog system anymore. In her opinion, this system was like those simps—it couldn't drop any money, and talking to it was a waste of time.

Xiao Ai sensed her thoughts and almost broke down.

"Hey, hey, hey, get it straight, I'm not your simp."

Just then, a notification sound came from her phone. Ye Xi picked it up and saw that it was Li Xuening's request to add her as a friend.

She was about to click accept, but then she felt it wasn't the best time, so she put the phone back on the table.

At this moment, Ye Xi suddenly thought of something and pulled out a lace handkerchief from her clothes.

This handkerchief had naturally fallen out of Li Xuening's possession when the two of them had tumbled together. At the time, Ye Xi felt the texture was exceptionally good and thought it could be used for something, so she had hidden it.

"Dog system, quickly help me check what Li Xuening uses this handkerchief for, and if it's worth anything?"

Although Xiao Ai was very displeased with Ye Xi's recent behavior, she was still her host, and it didn't want to argue with Ye Xi anymore.

"My great host, this handkerchief is used by Li Xuening to wipe her tears. It was handmade by Li's mother and has special meaning to Li Xuening."

"She probably doesn't know she lost it yet, otherwise she would definitely be asking you about it."

Hearing this, Ye Xi's fingertips lightly touched the handkerchief, and upon contact, it was an incomparable texture.

Wherever her gaze fell, the lace on the handkerchief's edge was like the most exquisite snowflake in winter. Every curl, every hollowing out, was crafted with countless hours of effort.

Without much thought, the maker of the handkerchief must have put a lot of effort into achieving such an effect.

Seeing a mischievous smile on Ye Xi's lips, Xiao Ai asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why did you hide this then? This item only has sentimental value, it's not worth any money."

"If you return it to her, maybe you could gain some good favor?"

A sly glint flashed in Ye Xi's eyes, and she let out a cold laugh, giving off the feeling of a gray wolf eyeing a white rabbit, or a hunter watching his prey.

"I'm playing the long game to catch a shark. This handkerchief is the bait."

"If we just return it to her, what do we get besides a 'good Samaritan' card?"

"Although doing this might be risky, it could be a good opportunity for us to turn things around."

Xiao Ai sensed Ye Xi's plan in her mind and couldn't help but exclaim, "Your plan is too brilliant! I feel like you're even more of a green tea than I am. I'll have to ask for your advice more often from now on."

Ye Xi chuckled and said, "It's just one path to survival, that's all."

She knew very well that human interaction was essentially a game. Whoever held the initiative in an interaction held all the advantages.

As long as she could subtly control Li Xuening's emotions, making her happy when she wanted her to be happy, and sad when she wanted her to be sad, then Li Xuening might willingly become her ATM.

Ye Xi glanced at the time. Half an hour had passed since Li Xuening's request.

She thought about it; in that half-hour, Li Xuening must have imagined many things. For example, why didn't she agree? Had she not forgiven her?

Ye Xi had naturally experienced this feeling before. If she had to describe it precisely, it would be like sending "I love you" to your crush, and if the other person doesn't say anything, doesn't reject, and doesn't agree...