Chapter 95
Chapter 95
Qiao Xueman gritted her teeth. In the end, she turned to Ning Xi and said, unconvinced, “I’m sorry.”
Seeing how reluctant she looked, Ning Xi rested a hand on Xia Sheng’s shoulder and, emboldened by her backup, said, “Why does that apology sound so unwilling? Are you still thinking about getting back at me later? Be sincere. Say it again.”
It was Ning Xi’s first time experiencing the thrill of having someone back her up, and her ego was practically soaring. Her nose was almost pointed at the sky.
Xia Sheng smiled helplessly but didn’t say anything.
When Qiao Xueman saw that Xia Sheng had no intention of stopping Ning Xi, her hands clenched tightly at her sides. In the end, she lowered her head and apologized to Ning Xi again.
Her attitude was much better this time, so Ning Xi didn’t keep pressing her.
Qiao Xueman looked at Xia Sheng. “I’ve already apologized to her. Can you help me now?”
Xia Sheng nodded. “I can help you. My fee is one million. And the several hundred thousand Sun Yang spent on you before-you’ll have to pay all of that back to him too.”
The moment Qiao Xueman heard that, her eyes widened. “Are you messing with me? If you don’t want to help me, just say so! You open your mouth and demand a fee of one million-isn’t that extortion?!
“Together with all the money Sun Yang spent on me, that comes to over 1.6 million. I’m just a student. Where am I supposed to get that much money?”
“If you don’t have the money now, you can pay it back slowly later. I’ll calculate the interest at the mortgage rate,” Xia Sheng said. “Over a million in exchange for your life. You won’t be losing out. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to pay.”
Qiao Xueman was furious and unwilling.
All this time, she’d only gotten a little over six hundred thousand’s worth of things from Sun Yang, and now she had to pay back more than a million? Wasn’t that basically asking for her life?
She hadn’t even graduated yet, and she was about to be saddled with a 1.6-million-yuan loan.
Other people took out loans, paid the principal and interest, and at least got a house out of it. Xia Sheng was trying to get 1.6 million from her for nothing, plus four percent interest!
But if she refused, she might really lose her life today.
After hesitating again and again, Qiao Xueman finally agreed, resentful and unwilling. “Fine. 1.6 million it is. As long as you help me get the Gu worm out of my body, I’ll find a way to get you the money.”
For now, she would agree first. In any case, she didn’t have that much money to give Xia Sheng. At worst, she could just default on the debt.
She refused to believe Xia Sheng could eat her alive if she didn’t pay.
Seeing that Qiao Xueman had agreed, Xia Sheng took a contract she had prepared in advance out of her bag. “Sign this IOU and press your fingerprint on it. After that, I’ll help you remove the Gu worm.”
Qiao Xueman glanced at the IOU and frowned slightly.
The IOU was written on a sheet of yellow paper, and there seemed to be some special Talisman markings carved on it.
Qiao Xueman couldn’t understand them, but she still borrowed a pen, signed her name, and pressed her fingerprint on it.
As far as she was concerned, it made no difference whether there was an IOU or not.
As long as she didn’t pay, the IOU was nothing more than a decoration.
After signing and pressing her fingerprint, Qiao Xueman had just wiped the cinnabar off her hand with a tissue when the IOU she had signed and fingerprinted suddenly burst into flames on its own.
At the sight, Qiao Xueman asked in shock and suspicion, “What kind of sorcery did you use?”
“Just a spell to keep you from refusing to repay the money.” Xia Sheng wrapped the ashes of the IOU in a handkerchief, planning to throw them in the trash later. “Come sit over there. I’ll help you remove the Gu worm.”
When Qiao Xueman heard that this thing was meant to stop her from not paying, she asked uneasily, “If I don’t have the money to pay you back, that IOU I signed won’t just kill me, will it?”
“Don’t worry. I don’t kill people.”
Qiao Xueman let out a small sigh of relief.
As long as she didn’t die, it was fine.
Since Xia Sheng couldn’t hurt her, there was no need for her to pay back the money.
With that thought in mind, Qiao Xueman followed Xia Sheng to a bench by the roadside not far away and sat down.
Xia Sheng had long expected Qiao Xueman to come looking for her, so she had prepared the herbs needed to draw out the Gu worm in advance.
The process was much the same as when she had drawn out the Ghost Insect last time. Xia Sheng made a small cut on Qiao Xueman’s hand and placed the herbs wrapped together with Talismans near the wound. As if guided by something, the Gu worm burrowed out of Qiao Xueman’s body, then spontaneously burst into flames in midair.
The Gu worm that had nearly killed her was taken care of by Xia Sheng just like that. Qiao Xueman still felt like it wasn’t quite real.
And for something that took only a few minutes, Xia Sheng actually wanted to charge her over one million yuan?!
Wasn’t this blatant extortion?
Only a total sucker would pay that kind of money!
If she refused to pay, Qiao Xueman refused to believe that, in a society governed by law, Xia Sheng would really dare beat her to death.
After dealing with the Gu worm, Xia Sheng said, “You have Mother Gu blood on you. Other Gu worms will attack you if they smell it. If you don’t want to lose your life, you’d better stop raising Gu worms from now on.”
Thinking of the bone-deep agony of that Gu worm drilling around inside her body today, Qiao Xueman nodded again and again.
After giving that warning, Xia Sheng was ready to leave.
Before they went, Ning Xi turned to look at Qiao Xueman and said, “Remember to pay her back. Don’t try to weasel out of it.”
Qiao Xueman gave a few perfunctory replies, then hurried away.
From Qiao Xueman’s attitude alone, Ning Xi could tell she had no intention of paying. She couldn’t help saying to Xia Sheng, “Sheng’er, Qiao Xueman obviously doesn’t want to give you the money. Isn’t your money going to go down the drain?”
“It’s fine. Even if she doesn’t want to pay, the contract she formed with me just now will transfer the money to me.”
…
After leaving Xia Sheng’s line of sight, Qiao Xueman cursed Xia Sheng and Ning Xi up and down.
It was all those two meddling bitches’ fault. If Xia Sheng hadn’t killed the Child Gu inside Sun Yang, Qiao Xueman wouldn’t have tried to kill the Mother Gu, which then lost control and retaliated against her.
Xia Sheng had nearly gotten her killed, and now she wanted her money? She was dreaming!
As for that 1.6 million, Xia Sheng could go collect it in her dreams!
Just as she was thinking that, Qiao Xueman received a call from her mother.
“Manman, have you already spent all your allowance for this month? Your dad and I just got paid today. I’ll transfer two thousand yuan to you.”
When she heard her mother was only going to transfer two thousand yuan, Qiao Xueman felt a little dissatisfied.
Her father and mother were both ordinary middle school teachers. Together, they earned less than ten thousand yuan a month, and they only gave her two thousand yuan for living expenses each month.
Qiao Xueman liked buying luxury goods. Back in high school, she often saved up to buy expensive cosmetics, clothes, and jewelry.
But compared to the things she wanted to buy, the little bit of money her parents gave her was a drop in the bucket. Even if she saved for a whole year, it still wouldn’t be enough to buy a single bag.
The reason she had set her sights on Sun Yang was partly because she genuinely liked him, and partly because she was interested in his family background.
During the time she had stayed by Sun Yang’s side, she had more or less gotten a taste of what it was like to live as a rich person.
If Xia Sheng hadn’t interfered, maybe she really could have married into a wealthy family one day.
But now, she could only rely on this two thousand yuan to get by.
Thinking that she would only have two thousand yuan to spend for the entire next month, Qiao Xueman felt a surge of resentment and couldn’t help saying, “Mom, can’t you give me a little more money?
“What am I supposed to do with two thousand yuan a month? It’s not even enough for me to eat in the cafeteria.
“My classmates all get eight or nine thousand, almost ten thousand yuan a month for living expenses. I only get this little. It’s not even enough when I want to treat people and take them somewhere nice to eat!”