"If you keep scowling at me, I might just use my little fists on you!"

Chen Pingchuan's eyes widened in disbelief, staring at the seemingly adorable girl before him. He couldn't understand why such cruel words would come from such a rosy, inviting mouth. And her, with her delicate appearance, threatening to use her little fists on him?

Just as Chen Pingchuan was about to scoff, a small, pink fist was already hurtling toward his forehead. In an instant, his world spun, and he fainted.

In the final moment before he lost consciousness, a single thought flashed through his mind.

Crap! I was too careless.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but the warm morning sun spilling onto his face gently roused him. This was the most peaceful and unburdened sleep Chen Pingchuan had had since he first awoke. It was as if all his worries had been cast aside, and he had entered a profound, ethereal state of emptiness, marred only by a faint throbbing in his head.

Chen Pingchuan slowly opened his eyes. Still groggy, the figure before him startled him so badly his heart nearly stopped. He instinctively tried to move away, only to find he was completely immobilized, tightly bound to a bed.

He tested the restraints with a bit of force and sensed the ropes weren't as strong as he'd imagined. A little more effort and he could break free. So, he stopped straining and instead turned to question the girl before him.

"Who are you?"

"Why have you tied me up here?"

As he spoke, Chen Pingchuan prepared himself. At the first sign of trouble, he'd first use a bit of sleight of hand on her, then break free from his bindings and see if his battered body was capable of subduing her.

The girl observed him with a peculiar look, then her vermilion lips parted. "Hee hee, my name's Wei Xi."

"It wasn't me who wanted to tie you up. I found you last night, on the verge of death, while I was taking out the trash. If I hadn't saved you, you probably would have died there without anyone ever knowing."

"Besides, if I hadn't given you a bath, you'd be reeking by now!"

"I know you wanderers are a bit afraid of people, but I'm not a good person... uh... no, that's not right, I'm not a bad person."

Looking at Chen Pingchuan's handsome face, Wei Xi felt her heart pounding like a frantic fawn, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP. Realizing her words were getting jumbled, she quickly tried to summarize.

"Anyway, I saved you! I gave you a place to stay and food. All you need to know is that you now owe me 500... no, 1,000 Federation Coins."

Chen Pingchuan, who had been ready to spring into action, felt the world tilt for a second. His eyes were wide with shock.

"What did you just say?"

Wei Xi feigned confusion, a little embarrassed by his question.

He won't think I'm extorting him, will he? Giving him shelter is 250, clothes are 100, and my personal service has to be worth another 100. That's 500 total. But I also took the whole night off for this, losing 200 Federation Coins in wages. Five hundred plus two hundred is seven hundred… round that up, and it's a thousand. My math should be fine, right? If he presses me, how should I answer? He doesn't know what my wages are anyway, hee hee. I'll just bluff my way through it.

These thoughts flashed through Wei Xi's mind, but she continued speaking without a pause.

"What did you want to ask?"

"I just said that you now owe me one thousand Federation Coins."

"Don't think that's too much. Here, let me break it down for you."

"First, I got you new clothes. Clothes cost money, right? We'll call that 200. Second, I provided you with a place to stay so you could have a nice, long sleep and recover your strength. You know something like that is priceless, so let's say 500… no, 400.

"I also took a day off for you, so my wages have to be factored in, right? Let's call that 400 as well.

"And besides, I, this young lady, personally served you, washed the filth off you, and changed you into new clothes. Isn't a service like that worth 500 Federation Coins?

"Adding it all up, I'm only charging you a thousand Federation Coins. That's already..."

Watching Wei Xi chatter on relentlessly, Chen Pingchuan was utterly exasperated. He raised his voice, cutting her off.

"Stop! Is that what I was asking about?"

"You're yelling at me? You dare yell at me? Do you know that my own sister has never dared to yell at me my entire life? And after I saved you..."

Wei Xi's eyes widened in disbelief, as if being yelled at was the most heinous crime imaginable. She began to relentlessly accuse him of ingratitude.

At that moment, it dawned on Chen Pingchuan.

She probably doesn't mean me any harm. She's just a little greedy. Yep. A little money-grubber.

An idea instantly formed in his mind.

"I'll give you 2,000!"

"What?"

Wei Xi's tirade came to an abrupt halt. Her small, cherry-like mouth hung open.

"What did you say?"

"I said I'll give you 2,000. If that's not enough, I'll give you 5,000. There's no need to haggle over such a small amount. Besides, that wasn't what I wanted to ask you about."

Hearing this, Wei Xi burst out laughing.

"Hahaha, last night I stripped you bare and searched you top to bottom, inside and out. You didn't have a single coin on you, and you're still talking big."

"Alright, alright, I won't ask for five thousand. One thousand it is. If you really can't pay, you can just work off the debt."

"Oh! Right. You said your question wasn't about the money. What did you want to ask?"

Wei Xi's delicate face wore a look of pure, adorable confusion.

Chen Pingchuan gazed at Wei Xi's pure, beautiful face, with its slightly naive and airheaded expression, and felt as if all the strength had been drained from his body.

What can I even say? Am I supposed to bring up that mortifying topic again? She might not think it's a big deal, but there's no way I could bring myself to say it. Besides, I already know the answer. She changed my clothes and gave me a bath. Without my permission, my entire body had been seen by this infuriating girl. But I'm a man. I can't possibly tell a woman that she needs to take responsibility for me, can I?

His face flushed red, then went pale. Dejectedly, he mumbled, "It's nothing. I just wanted to say thank you."

"So, my savior, could you please untie me?"

"Oh, right, right! I forgot."

"It's only because last night you were about to..."

Wei Xi trailed off, a hint of embarrassment on her own face. It seemed she'd hit him a little too hard last night and knocked him out cold.

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