013 So I don't believe it!

The two men hiding behind the hillside exchanged a glance, their eyes full of resentment. They hadn't expected Gu Xiaoxi to escape danger so easily.

"What do we do now, Brother Yong?" the man with the thief-like eyes asked anxiously, "If we don't complete the task, we're as good as dead."

"We'll go back and grab Song Jingyi. She'll definitely return there after getting the money," the man known as Brother Yong said, clenching his fists with murderous intent.

"How do you know she'll go back..."

Mu Yong gave a sinister smile. He had been following Gu Xiaoxi all along, starting from her reluctance to race against Xia Xingze, her encounters with Song Jingyi, and all of her behavior—it was easy for anyone to guess what she was planning...

Who would've thought she'd be so eager to help?

Gu Xiaoxi left without much interaction with anyone else.

Yeh Bai instructed his driver to follow her, trailing her all the way to the military district compound in City A. Not wanting to enter, he intercepted Gu Xiaoxi in the underground parking garage, "Miss Gu, may we have a talk?"

Gu Xiaoxi lifted her face, her eyebrows furrowed, her eyes cold and distant, "Please speak if you have something to say!" she said in a very polite tone.

Yeh Bai's face darkened. No one had ever spoken to him with such an unfriendly tone.

His thin lips trembled for a moment, too angry to utter a word. She could change faces faster than flipping through a book, "I... want to tell you that someone is trying to harm you. It was impossible for there to be any obstruction in that waterway. If they knew you well enough, they would've designed the trap not for Xia Xingze but for you."

Gu Xiaoxi crossed her arms and playfully raised her eyebrows, "If that's all you wanted to say, you may leave now."

She already knew all this.

"..." Yeh Bai was stunned. Did she have to be so unapproachable?

"If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving." Gu Xiaoxi's slender fingers toyed with the car keys, disappearing as swiftly as a gust of wind.

Yeh Bai watched her retreating figure, frustration gnawing at him.

He had intended to offer kindness, and she had casually rejected it?

Yeh Bai's driver was equally shocked, not knowing what to say.

His young master Yeh Bai, with dual doctorate degrees, a military doctor with an outstanding medical record, from a prestigious family, and a senior colonel highly sought after by the women of City A—one of the notable figures in town—had just been rejected by a little girl.

And for the second time?

Gu Xiaoxi kicked open the door to Shaoqing's hospital room and was surprised to find it empty. The prepared meal sat on a table to one side, four dishes and a soup still steaming hot.

Just as she was hungry, she walked over, picked up the chopsticks, and began eating.

As Quan Shaoqing walked in, he saw Gu Xiaoxi eating. The girl had her head lowered, her dark hair falling over her chest, and her skin was so fair that not a single pore was visible. Eating with grace yet lacking concern.

"Bring another set of bowls and chopsticks!" Shaoqing instructed Lin Mi, who was standing behind him. Lin Mi immediately turned and left.

Gu Xiaoxi merely glanced up at him briefly and continued eating.

Quan Shaoqing sat down opposite her, his voice gentle, "Have you thought it through? Have you come back?"

"No, I have no intention of leaving with you," Gu Xiaoxi replied firmly, looking up with a steadfast gaze.

Quan Shaoqing thought her eyes were very dark, and quite rare, as impenetrable as a pitch-black night, making it difficult to understand her thoughts. She was the only girl that he found somewhat enigmatic.

"Give me a reason!" Shaoqing demanded.

Gu Xiaoxi paused, placing her chopsticks down, and after a moment, her lips curled into a smile that, while radiant, was full of mockery and desolation.

She quietly uttered a few words, "I don't trust men!"

Because she had been abandoned, she had lost her trust!