Chapter 34

Part two: The Allure of Business. Chapter 34: Entrust your life to me

The Special Investigation Team had decided not to prosecute Xu Si. Since Ding Xiangshan and the others had admitted everything Xu Si had disclosed, she did not even need to testify in court. Zhang Ke had only heard his father mention it yesterday.

Zhang Ke circled Xu Si and let out a long breath. "What a relief. I was afraid you'd lose weight, Xu Si, and your breasts and bottom would get smaller. I was worried sick..."

"Pah! Nothing decent ever comes out of your mouth..." Xu Si scolded him in embarrassed annoyance, then could not help laughing. That sudden shift in her charm left the passing high school students flushed and their hearts racing.

She had come to see Zhang Ke with so much weighing on her mind, but his very first remark had sidetracked her, leaving her indescribably at ease. Strange as it was, in all her life, only this boy before her had ever made her feel safe.

"Let's go to where I'm staying. Standing here puts me under a lot of pressure..."

The passersby kept looking back. Their dazzled gazes turned to puzzlement and envy when they shifted to Zhang Ke's face.

Zhang Ke had no time to acknowledge Du Fei, who was waving excitedly across the street. He took Xu Si's hand and headed into Fortune Garden.

"Why are you staying here instead of in the dorms?" At the foot of the apartment building's stairs, Xu Si pulled her hand free and asked curiously. Then she saw Zhang Ke rub his fingers together and lift them to his nose to sniff, looking as though he was still savoring something. Her pretty face reddened, and she reached out to pinch his waist. "You little brat, what are you thinking about?"

Zhang Ke laughed and dodged. "I squashed a cockroach just after leaving school. My hand still smells like rotten onions. Here, smell..." When Xu Si hurriedly raised a hand to shield her face, he took the opportunity to take her hand again and lead her upstairs.

Zhang Ke had been living alone in the apartment for ten days, and Du Fei often came over to hang out. With nobody cleaning, it was rather untidy, and a layer of dust had gathered on the floor.

"Why is your place so dirty?" Xu Si pulled her hand free, picked up two empty cans from the floor, and tossed them into the wastebasket, only to find that it was already overflowing. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. Being led upstairs by the hand had inexplicably sent her heart fluttering, and she needed something to distract herself from that flustered feeling. She began tidying Zhang Ke's room.

Xu Si pinned up her long hair with a clip. Her bare arms rose high, revealing her lovely armpits; her breasts lifted, and her bottom tilted slightly back, showing the soft, shapely curves of her whole body. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Zhang Ke admired her exquisite beauty, unable to imagine how much care heaven must have taken to create such a stunning woman. His heart stirred, and something masculine welled up inside him.

Seeing Zhang Ke staring at her without restraint, Xu Si turned away. How could she have known that his favorite things to look at were a woman's round bottom and long, straight legs? Only a young woman in her prime had a bottom that firm and legs that pressed so tightly together at the upper thighs. That was actually where one should look to judge a woman's age. For the vast majority of women, once they passed thirty, their bottoms immediately began to sag, and even their walk grew loose and slack.

Zhang Ke was utterly bewitched by Xu Si and only came back to his senses after she had finished tidying the room. He marveled inwardly, An enchantress, an enchantress. Tang Jing really can't compare with her as she is now.

"Have you looked enough?" Xu Si bit her lip and lowered her eyes to stare at Zhang Ke. "You little brat, why are you such a lecher?"

"How am I a lecher?" Zhang Ke patted the edge of the bed beside him. Xu Si pursed her lips and pulled over a chair instead. When she bent down, she did not even cover her neckline. Zhang Ke slapped his forehead and cried that he could not take it. "My mom's coming over tomorrow to clean for me. Now that you've made everything so spotless, how am I supposed to explain it? I can't tell her some gorgeous woman cleaned my room, can I? She'd make me move straight back home. I'll have to say I couldn't keep my hands idle and did some hard work myself. If she believes me, she won't come clean for me anymore. What happens to this place then? Who's going to clean it?"

"So I'm the one who did something wrong?" Xu Si's eyes widened.

"Yes." Zhang Ke nodded. "Either put the place back the way it was, or come clean it for me once a week."

Seeing the sly gleam in his eyes, Xu Si held back a smile. "Then why didn't you say anything when I started cleaning?"

"Because I wanted you to come clean for me every week." Zhang Ke chuckled.

"In your dreams." Xu Si shot him a sidelong look.

"Xu Si." Zhang Ke leaned forward and looked into her eyes.

"Hmm?" Hearing his voice suddenly turn gentle and seeing him lean closer, Xu Si felt her heart soften and answered.

"Feeling a little better now?"

A pang rose in Xu Si's heart, and she nearly cried.

"Xu Si, don't let so much weigh on your mind. I told you I wouldn't let you get hurt again..."

"Where did you get so much money?" Only then did Xu Si remember why she had come to see him.

"My old man isn't a corrupt official. Even if he were, he wouldn't give me that much money. The money came from a legitimate source. I borrowed it for the emergency, and it still has to be paid back."

"Then tell me who lent it to you. I'll find a way to pay it back."

"Don't be stubborn. They lent me that money because they trusted me. If it's to be repaid, we'll find a way together." Zhang Ke looked into her resolute eyes. "Xu Si?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you trust me?"

"Why are you asking that?" His gaze flustered her, and she added, "You're just a little brat. What's there to trust?"

"Xu Si, you're so beautiful. I think every man who sees you would genuinely like you..."

"How could they genuinely like me?"

"Don't be prejudiced against men. There's a saying about love between men and women: love begins without knowing where, then grows ever deeper. Being infatuated with someone's body isn't some heinous crime. If they're so captivated by you that they can't escape it, then their feelings are real too. You're too beautiful, and that makes you too dangerous for men. No man would feel confident he could protect you. You can only protect yourself..."

"How do you know all this disreputable stuff?" His words astonished Xu Si. She could not imagine the boy before her saying something that cut so directly into the human heart.

"Because I'm a man too." Zhang Ke teased, "Right now, you're a rose with blood on its thorns. Nobody else dares touch you or provoke you, so it's the perfect chance for me to claim you for myself."

"What are you saying?" Xu Si grew inexplicably shy. "I didn't come here today to listen to your nonsense."

"I'm not talking nonsense. When I gave your parents the money, I said I hoped you'd tutor me in my high school studies." Zhang Ke spoke in complete earnest. "Xu Si, trust me. Entrust the next three years of your life to me."

Xu Si stared blankly at him. "I can tutor you, but didn't you say you ranked third in the West District on the high school entrance exam? Do you still need tutoring?"

Her gaze fell on Philip Kotler's original English edition of Marketing Management on the desk. As thick as the Oxford Dictionary, it lay open halfway through, with handwritten notes in English tucked between its pages. She wondered who was reading it.

"Entrust the next three years of your life to me," Zhang Ke repeated insistently. "You can call it being my private tutor if you like."

"Why?" Seeing how serious he was, Xu Si said, "You're really hard to figure out."

"Will you promise me?"

"The Special Investigation Team told me they accepted your testimony, and because my family returned the money in time, they decided to drop the charges against me. But we'd only met once before, at Xiangshan, hadn't we? How could you have persuaded them to drop the charges?"

"How else could I make you feel safe entrusting the next three years of your life to me?"

Seeing him dodge the question, Xu Si said in annoyance, "You never say anything serious..."

"No, I'm being very serious," Zhang Ke said. "I'm telling you something in earnest, but you think I'm joking. Why? Because in your eyes, I'm still just a boy who's only just started high school, someone not yet worthy of trust. That's how it is. Whenever I want to do something that doesn't fit my age, the other person is bound to think, 'This little brat must be joking.'"

"What are you trying to say?" Xu Si asked in puzzlement.

"I'm saying there are things I want to do, but they don't look like things a kid my age would do..." Seeing Xu Si draw back a little, Zhang Ke slapped his forehead. "What are you thinking? For example, if I go to a department store to buy a pen, I can buy it without any trouble. But if I go there to buy a color TV, the staff will definitely ask, 'Young man, do your parents know you're here buying a color TV?' If I want to buy a house, the sales staff will definitely say, 'Sorry, young man, we don't serve minors here.' You understand what I mean. With certain things, because of my age, people will question me if I handle them myself. So I need a representative, and that representative is you."

"You want to buy a house?" Xu Si paused. "Couldn't you just have your parents buy it?"

"Your file said you were pretty well educated." Zhang Ke slapped his forehead. "Do you really not understand?"

"I'm a little surprised." Xu Si smiled. "I can't figure out what you want to do. But you've helped me so much. Whatever you want me to help you with, as long as it isn't something bad, how could I refuse?"

Zhang Ke smiled, in no hurry to make Xu Si understand everything at once.