"Suit yourself." Lei Yu could do nothing but shake her head in helpless exasperation at his reasoning. For a man raised in the countryside, he certainly possessed the most peculiar, unyielding quirks of character.
Fang Yu was entirely oblivious to the thoughts swirling through her mind. In that moment, his heart soared with unbridled excitement. Back home, he had only ever been able to buy new clothes during the Lunar New Year. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that mere days after arriving in the city, Uncle Yan would bestow upon him such a generous gift. It seemed working as a bodyguard for the wealthy was not such a terrible fate after all.
Giddy with delight, he scampered over to the front desk to settle the bill, then hurried back to Lei Yu with a broad grin. "I'm all finished. Can we head out now?" The clothes in his hands had set him back a full eight thousand yuan, and his heart ached as if it had been sliced open at the thought of the sum. Yet he had no choice but to feign casual indifference in front of Lei Yu, a charade that left him with an almost overwhelming urge to scratch at the walls in frustrated agony.
"Wait just a moment. I need to pick up a garment for myself too." Lei Yu smiled, pointed toward the women's section not far away, and strode off in that direction.
It was mere minutes before she returned, an elegant, delicate shopping bag clutched in her hand.
"Let's be on our way." Lei Yu gave a soft smile, then turned and walked out of the mall.
"Heh, we're heading to see Yan Ting next. But you'd best steel yourself for what you're about to encounter." From the driver's seat, Lei Yu looked over at Fang Yu beside her, a mysterious glint in her eye.
"Steel myself for what?" Fang Yu stared at the beautiful Lei Yu like a wide-eyed, curious child. Could it be that this young Miss Yan Ting was hideously ugly?
"You'll find out soon enough. Consider this a fair warning." A faint, amused smile tugged at the corner of Lei Yu's mouth, and she fell silent.
The car sped down the wide, tree-lined boulevard, and in no time at all, it pulled up in front of a stunning, immaculately kept apartment villa.
"We're here." Lei Yu smiled softly. Through the windshield, the unique, European-style villa stood before them, elegant and refined.
This was the residence of Yan Ting, the sole young mistress of the Yan Group.
They climbed out of the car, and Fang Yu followed Lei Yu slowly toward the front gate. Parked right before the entrance was a car he recognized at once: the very same vehicle Uncle Li had driven earlier that day.
They had only just stepped toward the apartment's front door when a deafening crash rang out, followed by a high-pitched shriek.
"What's going on?" Fang Yu's expression shifted at once, a flicker of alarm crossing his face. Could there already be trouble on his very first day on the job?
"It's nothing. Perfectly normal." Lei Yu shook her head with an amused smile, looking over at Fang Yu with a wry, knowing tone. "This is what I warned you about earlier. Heh, you'll get used to it soon enough."
As she spoke, Lei Yu reached for the door handle, ready to push it open—only for a young woman's voice to ring out from inside the house at that very moment.
"I've told you a hundred times, I don't need a bodyguard! I can protect myself perfectly well on my own!" The young woman's voice was sharp and shrill, yet not unpleasing to the ear. Even so, it made Fang Yu's brows furrow slightly.
Great, so I've been hired to bodyguard a spoiled, unhinged little heiress?
"My dear young miss, this is the master's order. There's nothing I can do about it." Uncle Li's weary, long-suffering voice drifted out from inside the house.
"Daddy again? Why does he feel the need to control every single part of my life, but I can't stick my nose into any of his? Ugh! This makes me so furious!" The young woman yelled at the top of her lungs, and to Fang Yu, it sounded exactly like the ranting, scolding village women he'd seen back home, hurling insults in the middle of the street.
Creak!
Right in the middle of Yan Ting and Uncle Li's heated argument, the front door was suddenly wrenched open.