Chapter 71: Overbearing Jade Doll

    Jin Jiuchi’s eyes immediately lit up when he heard that. Skill card! He could finally have his own skill card!

    "I want to know! Nian’er, let me come with you!!" He hurriedly stuck close to the jade doll, which resulted in him being pushed away again. But then, Jin Jiuchi bounced back like a boomerang and something told Shen Nianzu that the man would not give up no matter what. Thus, he could only grit his teeth and tolerated this man who liked to breach into his personal space.

    As Jin Jiuchi stepped out through the door, he suddenly recalled something, "Ah, that’s right. We will need money to buy the phone, right? But my money..." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a few small bills that could only buy four cheap meals at most. He offered his meager wealth to the jade doll pitifully, "Nian’er, this is all I have. But if I spend it to buy a phone, how can I eat?"

    "Seriously," Shen Nianzu palmed his forehead in exasperation. "How did you survive all these years?"

    "Haha," Jin Jiuchi let out a dry and awkward laugh. Previously, he only had to wait for someone to deliver food into his room, which was only a couple days per week. And it was not until he got out of the asylum that he needed to worry about food. But he said nothing about the time he spent in the asylum though. Who knew what the jade doll would think of him if he found out that Jin Jiuchi had hailed from that kind of filthy place?

    "I... often had people offer me food?" He scratched his cheek sheepishly. "People here are so kind. They saw that I’m hungry, and they gave me food for free. That’s why I didn’t need to spend money sometimes."

    ’More like they saw your good looks,’ Shen Nianzu thought. He could almost imagine it, Jin Jiuchi staring at the meatbun stall on the side of the road like a puppy wagging tail and waiting for the owner to throw him a sausage. And the auntie, upon seeing how pitiful he was, got her heart moved and offered him a bun, "Come here, young man. This is for you."

    Jin Jiuchi’s silver eyes would brighten like the entire constellation of milky way, and judging from how dramatic he was, he might even grab the auntie’s hand and tell her passionately, "Auntie, you are the best person I have ever met!!"

    En, it sounded just like what Jin Jiuchi would do. No wonder people lined up to give him food. It’s not like Shen Nianzu could blame them though. If he was the owner of a restaurant and Jin Jiuchi walked in one day, he would definitely give him a fifty percent discount so that the man would come again next time...

    "Nian’er?" Jin Jiuchi waved his hand in front of the jade doll’s face, breaking the line of his thoughts. "As expected, the money is not enough, right?"

    Shen Nianzu hurriedly shook the wayward thoughts out of his mind. He pulled a pair of black sunglasses from his back pocket and smoothly put it on. He stated coolly, "Don’t worry about the money. I am rich."

    "Ugh—!" Jin Jiuchi shielded his eyes from the brilliance coming from that one overbearing sentence, feeling so dazzled that he could go blind.

    Was this the formidable power of money that could make the world go round?

    By now, Shen Nianzu did not even bat an eyelid anymore at Jin Jiuchi’s weird and random antics. He took the lead to go down the stairs and crooked his finger at Jin Jiuchi, "Let’s go."

    Along the way, every single person they bumped into would snuck them a few glances – or to be exact, at Shen Nianzu because he was just so eye-catching with his long silver hair and elegant silk blouse that did not suit the cramped neighborhood.

    Jin Jiuchi couldn’t help but smile when he noticed this. It seemed like whenever he went, the jade doll would always stand out like a single stalk of white flower amidst the swamp of mud.

    "Nian’er, why are you wearing sunglasses?" He asked curiously as he trailed behind Shen Nianzu without knowing where they were actually heading. "Can you even see?"

    "I am already the center of attention without showing my eyes," Shen Nianzu let out a light scoff. "Most people will assume that I am wearing wigs when they see my hair, but I can’t claim that I am wearing contacts when it comes to my eyes as the color is too rare and peculiar. Rather than being hassled by endless questions, it’s better for me to cover it up."

    Jin Jiuchi let out an intrigued hum, but before he could follow up with another question, Shen Nianzu pressed the car key in his hand and the gleaming black sports car in front of them let out a resounding beep. He opened the door to the shotgun seat and tilted his head toward Jin Jiuchi, "Get in."

    Jin Jiuchi had been clutching his chest ever since the jade doll flaunted his wealth, and seeing this suave gesture, he finally could not help but blurt out, "Nian’er, how can you be so cool? I am swooning so hard here—"

    Without a word, Shen Nianzu shoved Jin Jiuchi into the car and slammed the door shut. He took a few deep breaths to calm his heart before sliding into the driver seat. Taking off his glasses, he placed it on top of the dashboard, adjusted the rearview mirror and turned on the engine. All the while, the weight of Jin Jiuchi’s gaze on him was akin to needles pricking into his skin, making him feel self-conscious.

    "What?" He asked curtly.

    "Nian’er, what to do? My heart is beating so fast..."

    Shen Nianzu gritted his teeth and forced himself not to overthink Jin Jiuchi’s words. This man could really say anything without a filter!

    "Deal with it yourself." With a cold harrumph, he started the car and drove away from the neighborhood.

    It was not until they got to the main road that Shen Nianzu realized how silent the man beside him was. He snuck a discreet glance and saw that Jin Jiuchi almost had his face plastered to the window as he watched the passing scenery with an expression of... wonder? That’s right, it was as if he had seen something that fascinated him so.

    Shen Nianzu looked around in doubt and found nothing but the usual bustling sight of the city at night. What was this silly husky looking at? He couldn’t be hungry after eating those ten bowls of hellish red ramen, right?

    Minutes passed and Shen Nianzu finally could not bear the silence anymore.

    "So," he asked with his expression flat and eyes straight on the road. "You don’t have a phone, and you have just moved here less than a week ago. Where were you before this?" He couldn’t have been an immigrant, could he? Even if that was the case, there should be some documents about him in the database, but the weird thing was they found nothing about him at all!

    That’s right, just like his assistant had said, it was as if this person did not exist to begin with...

    Jin Jiuchi finally deigned to tear his gaze away from the magnificence of the city in front of him, which was a rare and luxurious sight he had only seen in newspapers. He gulped nervously at the jade doll’s question. Here it was. He knew that he would not be able to hide it for long, but he did not expect that he would have to come clean on the very first day they met...

    "Nian’er," Jin Jiuchi said carefully, "Promise me you won’t throw me down from the car?"

    "What?" Shen Nianzu was a little amused. "Do you think I’m the kind of person who would do that? At this rate, I won’t even be surprised anymore if you say that you have just come out of prison."

    Jin Jiuchi pondered for a while and murmured in a quiet voice, but due to the enclosed space, Shen Nianzu could hear it nonetheless, "Prison sounds a little better than asylum..."

    Asylum? The first thought that crossed Shen Nianzu’s mind was, ’Ah, no wonder...’ but then as soon as the full realization dawned on him, he immediately slammed the wheel to the left and pulled over on the side of the road with the sharp screech of tires, issuing angry horns from the cars behind him.

    "What?" He gaped at Jin Jiuchi with disbelief etched on his features. "Where did you say you come from?!"