Spendthrift Girl

The CC1000 train sped through the red pine forest, and as the trees blocked the light, the sunlight streaming through the windows flickered between bright and dim.

The three students seated in the carriage were playing Landlord with a deck of cards.

Li Lin, who had drawn the role of "landlord," threw down a pair of kings with a miserable expression. Xia Mi then used a bomb to beat his straight and ended the game.

The other "farmer" was probably too nervous because it was her first mission, and she played absentmindedly.

She was a gentle, sweet young girl named Aki Shigede. Though she was only a second-year student, she had passed the Executive Department's intern assessment thanks to Ghost Illumination, her rare Word Spirit.

On top of that, Japanese was her native language, so Norma had selected her for this A-Rank mission.

Caesar was outside "passing cigarettes" with an Executive Department agent, trying to use a four-digit cigar to build camaraderie and perhaps get him to reveal a little about the mission's target.

Ever since a Chinese student had moved into his dorm room, Caesar had learned quite a bit of Chinese social etiquette from Li Lin.

At first, Caesar had thought all those mysterious social tactics were made up. For example, Li Lin had once mentioned that traditional Chinese social etiquette included "if you offend one person, you have to kill their entire family." But after looking through historical records and discovering the punishment of "exterminating nine clans," he had immediately developed a deep respect for it.

As a game of Landlord ended, Aki Shigede looked at the young man and woman across from her, who were exchanging flirtatious glances. On the eve of heading into a battlefield with real guns and live ammunition, she always wanted to find some ordinary topic to talk about.

With that thought, she could no longer suppress her curiosity.

"Um... Li Lin, Xia Mi, are you really not dating?"

Xia Mi, who had been tugging at Li Lin's tie, stopped moving and assured Aki Shigede earnestly, "Of course we're not dating."

"But you two look like an old married couple."

"Hey! What kind of description is that? If your Chinese isn't good enough, don't just throw words around!"

Xia Mi noisily objected to Aki Shigede's remark.

Li Lin had no interest in joining the girls' gossip, so he simply got up and left the carriage, intending to ask whether Caesar, who had been gone for quite some time, had managed to uncover any important information.

With Li Lin gone, the conversation between the two girls in the carriage grew increasingly bold.

Xia Mi had always been the type who was easy to get along with, someone who seemed capable of becoming friends with anyone... at least on the surface. So despite having met less than two hours ago, she and Aki Shigede had already become quite familiar.

Aki Shigede voluntarily confessed that she and Ye Sheng were dating, saying she could offer Xia Mi some advice.

Xia Mi covered her ears and pretended not to hear, but under Aki Shigede's relentless coaxing and curiosity, she still shyly gave a brief account of the date.

In the end, she repeatedly stressed, "Li Lin and I have only known each other for ten years. We're especially, especially good friends, so don't get any weird ideas!"

Aki Shigede had nearly begun to doubt herself after hearing Xia Mi's utterly unromantic description, thinking they might have the sort of relationship called kindred spirits in Chinese stories.

That was until Xia Mi took out the expensive-looking sheepskin gift box Li Lin had hurriedly shoved into her hands before boarding, intending to invite her newly acquainted senior to "unbox" it together.

"Hmm?"

The moment they opened the gift box, both Xia Mi and Aki Shigede froze.

Inside was none other than Royal Dignity No. 1, the famous luxury perfume known as the "Queen of Perfumes," with only five bottles publicly sold worldwide each year.

Aki Shigede looked at the noble crystal bottle, its gold collar and diamond decorations, then abruptly raised her head to look at Xia Mi across from her.

"An engagement gift?"

"Of course not!!"

Xia Mi closed the gift box with an awkward expression.

The more Aki Shigede looked at Xia Mi, the cuter she found her. She thought Xia Mi was a beautiful, catlike girl full of mischievous charm, and she found herself even less able to resist teasing her.

"If it isn't an engagement gift, can I buy it for twice the market price?"

Xia Mi refused without even thinking.

"I won't sell it to you."

"Hehe, I knew it."

Seeing Aki Shigede's wicked grin that plainly said, "I get it," Xia Mi immediately fell silent, feeling like she wanted to cry but had no tears.

No matter what she said, her body honestly clutched the gift box tightly to her chest.

Meanwhile, Li Lin had walked through the entire train before finding Caesar in the second-to-last carriage.

As he pushed open the door, the delicate-featured young man seated across from Caesar, who wore only a faint, indifferent smile, immediately stood up and politely extended a hand to Li Lin.

"Hello, Mr. Li Lin. I am Paci Gattuso, currently serving as young master Caesar's temporary secretary. It is a pleasure to meet the young master's friend."

Though his words deliberately carried a rising intonation, it was clear that the young secretary restrained his emotions extremely well, like a humanoid robot.

"Uh, given the situation... am I interrupting something?"

Li Lin was not good at dealing with people whose faces practically said, "I'm a tool of the financial conglomerate." He would rather go back and listen to the girls gossip.

Caesar waved dismissively, indicating that Li Lin did not need to avoid the conversation, then turned to Paci and instructed, "Let's discuss something related to Li Lin."

"How could I possibly have anything to do with the Gattuso family?"

"Hm? You don't know? Paci has been running around off campus for the past few days because of you."

"?"

Amid Li Lin's confused expression, Paci respectfully pulled out a chair for him, poured him a cup of black tea, and served a plate of exquisite cakes.

After completing the duties expected of an attendant, he stepped back into the aisle and began his explanation.

"On the night Mr. Li Lin won Day of Freedom, I received an assignment from the young master in my capacity as a senior secretary of the Gattuso family: to complete the repairs and renovation of Norton Hall within one week."

"Wait, when did I ever say Norton Hall needed repairs? And since when was it being renovated?"

"Hm? You really don't know? The club's bank card..." Caesar saw Li Lin's confusion and tried to help him sort out the situation.

"Xia Mi took the bank card in the name of the Martial Arts Club president." Li Lin interrupted Caesar at lightning speed.

"I see. Then the commission to renovate Norton Hall was issued by Miss Xia Mi," Paci said from the side. "It seems your beloved truly cares about you. Through young master Caesar, she paid roughly eight hundred thousand US dollars in compensation. Over the remaining five days, the Gattuso family will arrange for Mixed-Blood employees to arrive at Cassel College and complete Miss Xia Mi's requirements as quickly as possible through round-the-clock shifts."

"H-How... how much?" Li Lin's voice stuttered.

"Because the construction period is extremely tight, all employees have been urgently transferred from various posts, and a series of materials must be flown in by batches. The original cost should have been around three million, but young master Caesar gave his word. After repeated negotiations, we settled on a friendship price of eight hundred and eighty thousand US dollars..."

Paci spoke with clear diction, using standard Mandarin worthy of a news anchor.

A powerful wave of dizziness flooded Li Lin's mind along with Paci's words. He had no desire to correct Paci's mistaken choice of words, such as "beloved."

More precisely, he had not even heard the rest of Paci's explanation. Before his eyes replayed, like a revolving lantern, Xia Mi's evasive expression when he had tried to check the balance.

That spendthrift woman. Whoever married her in the future would be set for life.

Li Lin slumped weakly into the chair and covered his face in anguish, unwilling to face the cruel reality.