Chapter Four: Life as a Dream Amidst the Misty Waves
Qin Rao drove her newly purchased, exorbitantly priced luxury car in Nanhang City to pick up Yun Yao. She made quite a splash along the way, attracting a lot of attention from passersby, which made her very proud.
Unfortunately, her flirtatious glances were wasted on a blind man; the person she most wanted to flaunt was currently dejected and lost in thought.
"What's wrong? Is there something wrong with your father?" Back at Yun Yao's house, Qin Rao twirled her car keys and sat comfortably on the sofa.
Yun Yao glanced at her, frowned, and nodded. "It's impossible to recover the stolen money from my father. He... he was also swindled out of his own money."
In his panic, he asked another question that even he found laughable: "Do you think I could raise this money if I used a bank as collateral... or borrowed from other platforms?"
Qin Rao laughed. "Your father's case is known to everyone now, it's caused quite a stir. I really don't know which bank or lending institution would be willing to fill this huge hole."
"Alright, don't worry, I have something for you."
She got up and walked closer to the boy, took his hand, and slowly placed the luxury car keys she was holding between her fingers into his palm.
"Yun'er, this is my eighteenth birthday gift to you. Happy coming of age."
Her red lips curved into a smile that hinted at unspoken desire, and she held the boy's hand tightly without letting go.
Instead, he looked up and gazed at the handsome young man's features, and said with a smile, "A beautiful woman deserves a fine carriage."
Yun Yao felt her burning gaze and hurriedly pulled her hand away.
He turned his head slightly away, not looking at Qin Rao, and said softly, "Thank you for your kindness, but I can't accept it. You've already helped me a lot."
"Besides, my father's current situation... all I want to do right now is borrow money to reduce his sentence. I'm afraid he won't be able to hold on."
Yun Yao recalled his father's deranged state during his prison visit. His father, who had always been so proud and concerned about his reputation, had become like that, which made the young man both heartbroken and extremely worried.
"Tsk," Qin Rao said, casually tossing aside the car keys the boy had returned, while suddenly grabbing his shoulder and pulling him closer to her.
Her red lips brushed close to the boy's ear as she said bitterly, "Have you forgotten who I am? I can tell you, in the entire city of Nanhang, no one but me can afford to pay the money your father owes!"
"So? Are you going to ask me now?" Qin Rao looked at the boy's sudden panic with amusement, and ignored his struggles as she leaned closer to him, so close that their breaths seemed to intertwine.
"Yun'er, you're so smart, you must know what I mean."
The boy's heart was pounding faster and faster, and Qin Rao's aggressive gaze almost set him ablaze.
His face flushed red, and he shoved her away, saying, "Please have some self-respect!"
"Oh? So you want me to leave?" Qin Rao raised an eyebrow. "And then what? You're just going to watch your father never step out of the prison gates again, locked up until he dies? Or maybe he won't even live to see that day, and he might just commit suicide in despair in prison. Is that what you want, Yun Yao? Think it through."
Seeing the boy's suddenly reddened, stubborn yet beautiful eyes, Qin Rao smiled. A beauty shedding tears—it was truly breathtaking…
She suppressed the excitement and tingling sensation rising within her, and like a general about to conquer the last coveted city, slowly and deliberately revealed her purpose.
“Yun Yao, I am a businessman. I have made a lot of money because I never do business that loses money.”
Qin Rao calmly patted the boy's flower-like cheek, "But to be honest, with such a large sum of money and the favors I've done to save your father, it's not unreasonable for me to ask for anything, is it?"
Yun Yao closed her eyes briefly, her lips trembling, "Then what do you want?"
At this moment, Qin Rao gently moved closer to the boy and lightly kissed his lips, as if kissing a morning dew.
Her words, however, were as sharp as a knife, utterly unvarnished: "I want you to be my lover, until I get tired of you."
...
Yun Yao opened his eyes, his eyes filled with confusion and fear, but also with the relief of having resolved years of vague guesses and doubts.
His gaze fell on the family photo on the wall behind Qin Rao. In the photo, her maternal grandparents, her parents, and little him looked close and happy.
“No, I can’t do that,” the boy said slowly but firmly.
Yun Yao thought of his mother, and of his maternal grandparents’ pride and joy when he won the gold medal in the National Youth Dance Competition for the first time.
How could he do something that would shame them?
Yun Yao mustered his courage and made a decision that was quite difficult for a teenager: "Qin Rao, I do need to borrow money from you, but I will definitely pay you back, no matter how many years it takes or how much interest you want. We can go through a contract or notarization, anything is fine, we can go through legal procedures."
He was prepared to live frugally for the next ten years or so, burdened with huge debts, and work hard every day to pay them off.
He was willing to endure any hardship to save his father.
Qin Rao was a little shocked for the first time. She found the boy's naivety and persistence amusing, but she couldn't help but admire how well the Yun family had raised their child. This beautiful young man wasn't just all show and no substance; he also possessed a genuine heart of greater value. This made her look at him in a new light.
However, in this materialistic world, true feelings are as fleeting as smoke and waves, both laughable and tragic.
Qin Rao gave a mocking smile, raised an eyebrow at the boy, and said with a hint of anger at being disobeyed, "Baby, aren't you being a little too naive?"
She straightened up, her emerald earrings gleaming dazzlingly under the light. "I'm not making any bargained investments, much less doing charity."
The woman spoke in a cold, authoritative tone, saying slowly, "Yun Yao, if you want to borrow money from me, you have to follow my rules. There is no other way."
Seeing the bewilderment and despair in the boy's eyes, she surprisingly felt a genuine pity for him.
Qin Rao was surprised that she still had such emotions, but she also understood that the struggling boy could not immediately give her a satisfactory answer.
But it doesn't matter. As a businesswoman and a seasoned hunter, she has plenty of patience. Even a spider needs to endure loneliness to weave a net that can catch all the fish.
She said slowly to the boy, "Yun Yao, I'll give you one more day to think it over, but this is the last chance I'm giving you. Of course, you can let it go. After all, your father brought this upon himself, and you don't need to be so heartless. You can live a happier life if you don't care about other people's lives."
Before leaving, Qin Rao patted the boy's shoulder and chuckled softly, "It's not bad that you can continue to be your clean, promising, and high-achieving son of heaven, even if your father dies in prison, right?"
The boy trembled all over. He turned around and stared intently at the woman, wanting to shout something but his throat felt blocked. He could only watch helplessly as the woman drifted away.
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