Page 30

The orange-red sun slowly sank below the horizon, its lingering glow softening Bai Yuesheng's features and making him look even more delicate. His expression grew all the more pitiful. With that utterly harmless, helpless look, he had pushed the Gu family—the true victims—to the brink of moral condemnation.

—Now, it was Gu Jiuque's turn to make a move.

Either accept his IOU and wait for him to repay the money bit by bit. The Gu family could rest assured about that. Even if only to preserve his image, Bai Yuesheng would not default on the debt. He would definitely work while studying and strive to start a business, making everyone see his sincerity.

Or disregard public opinion and send him to prison. Bai Yuesheng did not know how many years sixteen million would get him, whether probation was possible, or whether he could be released on bail. If things truly came to that and he had no choice but to go to prison, he would not sit back and wait for his fate. At the very least, the Gu family that sent him there would not have an easy time either.

A faint, concealed smile silently leaked from Bai Yuesheng's eyes. He tilted up his face and looked at Gu Jiuque with an obedient, innocent expression, like a harmless young beast cornered with nowhere to run. Even his words were humble to the extreme. "Gu Jiuque, please, don't send me to prison."

Gu Jiuque looked at Bai Yuesheng expressionlessly. He had long known that Bai Yuesheng's methods were clever. He was skilled at exploiting other people's sympathy and empathy, and even more skilled at steering public opinion and manipulating hearts, making events develop in the direction he wanted.

Gu Jiuque had learned that lesson many times in his previous life. But in this life, he no longer wanted to be led around by the nose by Bai Yuesheng.

"So," Gu Jiuque said slowly, meeting Bai Yuesheng's seemingly meek but faintly provocative gaze, "after I risked my life to save you from the fire, not only do your parents refuse to compensate for the losses you caused, but you yourself want to morally coerce me as well. Are you trying to force my family to give up using legal means to protect our lawful rights and interests?"

The moment Gu Jiuque spoke, the previously noisy antique market fell silent.

A flicker of surprise flashed through Bai Yuesheng's eyes. He stared blankly at Gu Jiuque, as though he had not expected someone as refined as Gu Jiuque to say such cutting words.

A moment later, Bai Yuesheng smiled and widened his eyes with innocent bewilderment. "Of course not! How could you think that?"

"Do you think that just because I'm poor, lowly, and incapable, I don't know how to be grateful? Just because I don't want to go to prison and can't immediately come up with sixteen million, even my humble plea has become despicable moral coercion?"

"If that's truly what you think, then send me to prison. I'd rather be personally sent to jail by the person I love than see him think so badly of me!"

Chapter 16

As he spoke more emotionally, Bai Yuesheng even began to weep. He lifted his reddened eyes, trying hard not to let the tears fall. His bedraggled yet strong appearance was truly pitiful.

At least, the onlookers could not help feeling sorry for him, and there was even a trace of resentment in the way they looked at Gu Jiuque. They felt that although this young man was learned and came from an exceptional family, he was rather cold and unfeeling in his actions—his family clearly was not short of money, so why would he not make an allowance in the face of the boy's desperate pleas?

And that boy was even pursuing him! He could be so harsh toward someone who liked him. As expected, young masters from good families had no idea how hard life was for ordinary people!

There were also some clear-headed onlookers who vaguely felt that something about Bai Yuesheng's words was off, yet could not put their finger on what it was.

Shen Heng looked at Gu Jiuque, then at Bai Yuesheng, who was deliberately putting on an act of deep affection, innocence, weakness, and strength. With great interest, he pressed on, "So, you would rather threaten the person who saved you from a fire with moral coercion—your lifesaver, who supposedly was also the person you liked enough to confess to, only to be rejected—than persuade your parents to compensate his family for their financial losses, even though those losses were caused by you?"

Bai Yuesheng's expression changed slightly, but Shen Heng did not wait for him to defend himself. He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "A mere sixteen million, and it's already exposed what's in your heart. Kid, it's not that he thinks badly of you. You really haven't been heading in a good direction yourself!"

The moment Shen Heng said that, the onlookers suddenly came to their senses!

That was right! This boy had his confession rejected, but instead of finding somewhere private to grieve in silence, he had secretly broken into someone else's home to drink and make trouble. He had even set fire to the house, causing more than sixteen million in losses. Intentional or not, the house had already burned down. Gu Jiuque had suffered such enormous losses for no reason, yet he had still risked his life to save him from the flames. Bai Yuesheng kept saying that he liked Gu Jiuque and was grateful for Gu Jiuque's life-saving grace, yet he could not even do something as natural as compensate for the damages. Instead, he had come before a crowd and exploited the onlookers' sympathy for the weak to morally coerce the man who had saved his life!

After Shen Heng laid it all out like that, everyone's thoughts immediately became clear!

"I knew something felt off! Now I finally get it! Isn't this just taking advantage of decent people? So just because they're wealthy and well-mannered, they have to accept their bad luck whenever they run into a scoundrel?"

"No wonder the great scholar refused his confession. He probably saw through what kind of person he really was!"

"You don't know this, but the house he burned wasn't an ordinary house. It was a precious ancient building passed down from the Ming dynasty!"

"My god, what a sin!"

"That's terrifying! After having his confession rejected, he secretly ran to someone's home to drink, cause trouble, and set their house on fire. After being rescued, instead of thinking about compensating for the financial losses, the first thing he did upon receiving the compensation bill was run into public and throw a tantrum, rolling around and morally coercing people! What decent person would dare accept a confession from someone like that?"

"Put yourself in his shoes. If I rejected someone I didn't like, and he ran to my home that very night to set it on fire, I'd be scared to death, okay? His emotions are way too unstable!"

"I don't think it's emotional instability. He's just bad! For all we know, it was deliberate revenge!"

"Thankfully, no one in the Gu family was hurt. Otherwise, it wouldn't just have been an economic loss!"