Chapter 9: Show-off Failure

Su Baili smiled and said, “Just take them, don’t hesitate. If you don’t use these, I won’t be able to finish them all with my face alone. How would I buy new products later? Besides, my brother said it’s fine for me to be generous to you since you’ve been so kind to me. If I can’t even give these away, what would he think of me?”

Hearing this, the last bit of hesitation in the two of them finally disappeared.

Since Su Baili’s family had said so, it seemed they really didn’t care about these things.

Indeed, in the eyes of people at the top, money must be the least valuable thing.

So, with that in mind, they happily accepted the gifts, thinking they’d just take extra good care of Su Baili from now on, treating her like the precious queen she was and offering her all sorts of services. They believed the big shot would want that too.

Having thought it through, the two of them grinned and said, “Thank you, Li Li, and thank you to your big shot family too!”

Su Baili nodded in satisfaction. “Now that’s more like it!”

Then, she mischievously glanced at Feng Gaoyuan. “Gaoyuan, I’m not playing favorites, okay? I’m giving you these cosmetics. You don’t need them, and my boyfriend just got a batch of new research materials. I had him set some aside for us. We can all use them together.”

Feng Gaoyuan had no interest in cosmetics, but when it came to research materials, her eyes gleamed with excitement.

“Is it the one we talked about last time?”

Su Baili nodded. “Yes.”

“Wow, you really got it? When will it arrive? I won’t be polite!” Feng Gaoyuan was no longer calm and composed like before.

“Probably in the next couple of days.”

“Great, thank you, big shot! Thank you, Li Li!” Feng Gaoyuan exaggerated with a smile, “If you need anything, just let me know. I’ll jump into boiling water and walk through fire for you!”

The materials Su Baili mentioned were what they needed for a recent drug experiment. They were extremely expensive, and even their professor wouldn’t easily approve the funding to buy them. Everyone thought they had no chance of getting them, but unexpectedly, there was a glimmer of hope.

Feng Gaoyuan wasn’t shy about it. In her mind, she was secretly enjoying the fact that she had just helped drive away an invisible rival!

What’s wrong with getting some perks? If the big shot knew, she’d probably be praised for doing a good job.

She’d definitely support the big shot and Li Li’s sweet relationship in the future and be the cleaner on their journey.

Hmm, yes, that’s right. In the future, anyone in school who tries to chase after Li Li, forget about whether the big shot agrees or not—first, they’d have to get through her!

Before long, Saturday arrived.

Su Baili’s assistant arrived as promised.

When she saw Su Baili obediently getting into the car, she sighed in relief.

She had been prepared to drag her if she refused.

Fortunately, she was being cooperative now, and the bodyguards she brought along hadn’t been needed.

It seemed she had been thinking it over in the last couple of days. The Lin family was not a family that a regular student like her could afford to offend.

It was better to be wise than stubborn.

What the assistant didn’t know was that, while it appeared to be just her and the bodyguards around, there were actually more than ten people hiding nearby.

If she dared to have the bodyguards take action, the consequences would be something they’d regret for the rest of their lives.

Su Baili’s cooperation had, in a way, saved them from disaster.

The car drove quickly, and before long, they arrived at the City Garden in B city. The property was developed by Qi Shenzhi’s company. Because of its great location, he had considered leaving a unit for Su Baili to play around with. However, after Su Baili had visited once…

Su Baili was visibly disturbed by the house’s aesthetic—everything about it screamed “low-class luxury.” No matter what anyone said, she simply couldn’t stand it.

But it didn’t matter to her; Su Baili owned countless properties, far better ones than this. Of course, she wouldn’t be interested in this one.

Qi Shenzhi didn’t insist either.

He had never met anyone as humble as he was when giving gifts.

However, oddly enough, this extremely gaudy house—decorated in a way that screamed “look at me, I’m rich”—had become one of the favorites of many business owners in B city.

Could it be because it was developed by the Qi Group?

Maybe they were trying to suck up to Qi Shenzhi, selling their pride just to please him?

The car entered the quiet residential area and stopped in front of an even more eye-sore villa. The sight of it was too much for Su Baili’s nerves.

Her assistant saw Su Baili frozen in place and sneered inwardly: “Rural girl, you’ve never seen anything like this, have you?”

With a tone dripping with condescension, the assistant spoke again, “Never seen anything like this before, right? Well, take the chance to open your eyes. People like you won’t get a chance to come here again. Alright, stop standing there, get out of the car.”

Su Baili remained silent. Thanks, but no thanks—she’d been to this kind of building before and had no intention of coming back again. The ugliness hurt her eyes.

The assistant didn’t stop. “Do you know how much one of these houses costs? You’d never be able to afford it even if you sold yourself.”

Unable to hold her curiosity, Su Baili shot a puzzled glance at the assistant. Wasn’t she just an assistant? Why the air of superiority?

The assistant wasn’t the owner of this house… right? So where was this attitude coming from?

What a difficult woman to understand.

After successfully bringing Su Baili in, the assistant had accomplished her mission. She eagerly pushed open the door, only to be met by two people.

It was a couple, helping each other stand. Su Baili could clearly see the man had difficulty walking, limping and relying on the woman’s help to steady himself. But he was clearly trying his best to maintain his dignity.

Perhaps due to the hardships of life, the couple seemed like they had stumbled into a luxurious palace, like ugly ducklings who had wandered into a swan’s world.

Despite wearing decent clothes, they still had an air of timidity that couldn’t be shaken off, and the disability only made it worse. Even though they had changed into proper clothes, the man still gave off an aura of awkwardness and constraint.

When the couple looked at Su Baili, their eyes were filled with awe and excitement. Tears slowly welled up in their eyes.

Their bodies also trembled from the emotion. “Child, child…” they tried to speak but were choked up, unable to finish their sentence.

At that moment, two other people stood up from the couch.

They were dressed in fancy attire, the kind you would expect someone attending a gala to wear. Su Baili immediately knew these were the Lin family’s Mr. Lin and his wife.

Mrs. Lin was the first to speak, offering a somewhat forced smile. “You must be Su Baili. Come, come sit with us.”

Her smile was pleasant enough, but there was something hollow about it, like it didn’t quite reach her eyes.

Mr. Lin added, “Yes, yes, Old Wang, you’re not in the best condition, don’t stand. I know you’re excited to find your daughter, but take care of your health too.”

Such a blunt remark could be considered rude, especially to someone with a disability. People with a bit of tact wouldn’t bring up such painful topics. Mr. Lin, however, seemed completely indifferent, even poking at the man’s disability.

Su Baili couldn’t hide the slight frown on her face.

Was this how the Lin family treated their guests?

The man, hearing this, froze for a moment and then lowered his head in embarrassment. His wife comforted him, patting his hand before gently guiding him back to the sofa.

Of course, she didn’t forget to greet Su Baili, “Li… Li Li, can I call you Auntie? Please, come sit.”