43.protection

Xiao Wan was instantly infuriated. She pointed at her own nose and said, "Me? I hit on you? What a joke! As a gold digger, do I need to sneak around to seduce men? I'm direct and bold about it! Stop flattering yourself!"

As she said this, she untied the rope from around her legs, gave him a glare, and walked away to the side.

Catherine walked over with some concern and asked, "Xiao Wan, is everything okay between you and Lance?"

"It's fine," Xiao Wan grumbled. She had just started to feel a little good about Lance because of this game, but this guy's words had completely shattered that tiny bit of goodwill. Hmph, these arrogant rich second-generation types are all the same! They look down on others!

Meanwhile, Lance quietly stared at Xiao Wan for a while before calmly shifting his gaze away, his thoughts unknown.

Luckily, the next games were team-based, so Xiao Wan no longer had to deal with that annoying guy alone. After the recording ended, Xiao Wan said goodbye to the other girls, got in her car, and left.

At that time, her grandmother's house hadn't been repossessed yet, and Xiao Wan was still living there. Life had never been easy for her grandmother in the U.S. She had spent nearly her entire life's savings to buy a second-hand apartment in a messy, rundown area of the city.

The apartment wasn't large, only two bedrooms and one living room. The hallway was rarely cleaned and was dirty, with strange stains all over the walls. The elevator often broke down, and the residents were all sorts of people, but no matter who they were, they treated Xiao Wan well.

Xiao Wan guessed it was because her grandmother often cooked meals for the neighbors and would sometimes clean the hallway, which earned her their goodwill.

As Xiao Wan got out of the car, two white men who were standing nearby smoking nodded at her. Xiao Wan nodded back at them and then entered the apartment building, pressing the elevator button. Soon, the old elevator rumbled as it came down. Xiao Wan stepped in and pressed the floor button, but suddenly, a hand blocked the door from closing, and someone slipped in.

Xiao Wan gasped in surprise and looked up to see that it was Lance!

Damn, how did he end up here? Her shock quickly turned to anger, and she snapped, "Are you stalking me?"

Lance glanced around the elevator and said, "Didn't you stalk me last time? I'm just… 'paying you back.' Did I say that Chinese idiom correctly?"

He said the idiom in perfect Chinese, which surprised Xiao Wan, but she shot him a cold glare and said, "Get out! I admit I followed you last time, but I didn't stalk you all the way home!"

Lance raised an eyebrow in surprise. "This is your home? You live in… a place like this?"

"I can live wherever I want! What business is it of yours?" Xiao Wan snapped, pressing a lower floor button as she said, "Get out!"

"Why?" Lance said calmly, "This isn't your house, you know. I was just walking around and ended up here. What's the problem?"

Xiao Wan knew arguing with him was a waste of breath, so she just crossed her arms and leaned against the side, saying nothing. A while later, the elevator reached her floor, and Xiao Wan stepped out. Lance followed her immediately, and she knew she couldn't shake him off, so she stopped trying and walked to her door. She pulled out her keys, unlocked the door, and was about to close it when Lance's hand stopped the door.

"What do you want!" Xiao Wan said angrily.

Lance looked around inside the room. Although it was clean, the furniture was clearly old and the apartment was simple. He said, "Nothing, I just find it hard to believe you live in this kind of place."

Xiao Wan huffed and didn't rush to close the door. She lifted her chin and said, "What, do you think I'm a gold digger, so I should be living in a luxurious mansion paid for by my sugar daddy?"

Lance replied, "Considering the circumstances, any normal person would think that."

"Think whatever you want!" With that, Xiao Wan pushed him hard and slammed the door in his face.

She went to her bedroom to change clothes and was about to remove her makeup when she suddenly heard a commotion outside. It sounded like people were arguing.

Could it be Lance? Xiao Wan didn't want to get involved, but the noise kept getting louder. Since Lance was a rich second generation, if something happened right outside her door, she wouldn't be able to explain herself, so she reluctantly walked over and opened the door.

In the hallway, Lance was facing off with the two white men who had been smoking downstairs. When they saw Xiao Wan, they immediately said, "Kitty, are you okay? We saw this guy sneakily follow you in downstairs, so we came up to check. Sure enough, we saw him squatting outside your door, like he was trying to put something inside."

Another one said, "Do you want us to get rid of him for you?"

Xiao Wan coldly stared at Lance for a moment before saying, "It's fine, no need. I know this guy. We just had an argument, so I locked him outside."

The two white men nodded and said, "Alright. If you need help, just call us. We're downstairs."

"Thank you," Xiao Wan said gratefully. She still remembered last year when her grandmother fainted, and the elevator happened to be broken. These two men, who were often helped by her grandmother, helped carry her grandmother downstairs.

The two white men nodded and left, while Lance stared in the direction they had gone for a long time, looking thoughtful.

Xiao Wan could tell from his expression what he was thinking and, in frustration, said, "Stop staring. You probably want me to say it for you, right? Yeah, all the men in this building are my friends, so they help me. I'm a gold digger and do anything for money. Is that what you want to hear?"

Lance frowned at her and said, "That's not what I was thinking."

"But that's exactly what your expression says! I know you look down on me, so why did you come here? To watch me make a fool of myself?" Xiao Wan said, holding back her discomfort.

Lance pulled out two tickets from his pocket and said, "No, I just wanted to invite you to hang out."

Xiao Wan looked at the tickets. They were for the new amusement park that had recently opened in City N. It was said to be very fun, and tickets sold out quickly, with online bookings for the nearest tickets being two months away.

Xiao Wan liked amusement parks, but she definitely didn't want to go with this man, so she said, "I'm not going. If there's nothing else, please leave. Your clothes are expensive, and it's not safe here."

She closed the door and went back to what she was doing. She thought after clearly telling Lance this, he would get the hint and leave. But when she felt hungry later and went to open the door to go out for food, she was startled to find Lance leaning against the wall nearby, playing on his phone.

"…What do you want?" Xiao Wan was so angry that she felt like hitting him. "You look down on me so much, then why are you sticking around?"

Lance paused for a moment before saying, "Are you going to have dinner? Let's go together."

"I don't want to go with you. Are you crazy?" Xiao Wan glared at him and walked out, but Lance immediately followed her like a shadow.

Eventually, Xiao Wan went into a nearby Burger King, ordered a meal, and sat down. Lance, of course, sat down across from her with his own tray.

Xiao Wan rolled her eyes and decided to ignore him, focusing on eating her burger. But she soon couldn't ignore the man's actions. She watched as he carefully took out a Hermes silk scarf from his pocket, spread it over his lap, opened his burger's packaging, and took out a knife and fork with a serious expression, preparing to cut his burger.

Xiao Wan slammed the table and angrily said, "Don't you dare eat your burger like that! Grab it with your hands like a normal person!"

The man paused for a moment before reluctantly putting down the knife and fork. He frowned and awkwardly picked up the burger, taking a difficult bite.

Xiao Wan continued, "Bite bigger! At this rate, you're going to eat until tomorrow morning!"

Lance had no choice but to open his mouth wider and take a big bite, and the burger made a mess all over his face. He looked dazed, staring at the burger in his hands, unsure what to do next.

Seeing his handsome face puffed up like a hamster, Xiao Wan couldn't help but burst out laughing. "Haha, you idiot!"

Seeing her laugh, Lance's brows relaxed a bit. He swallowed the bite of burger, wiped his mouth, and said, "Sorry."

"Eh?" Xiao Wan continued eating her burger. "What are you apologizing for?"

"Sorry for the way I treated you before," Lance said, lowering his head. "I have a flaw—"

"Is it arrogance?" Xiao Wan finished his sentence. "I noticed that a long time ago. Hmph, let me tell you, if you didn't have money, with your attitude, you'd have been beaten to death by now."

Lance said seriously, "I know. I'll be more careful in the future. Are you not mad at me anymore?"

"I don't get mad at irrelevant people," Xiao Wan said, sipping her juice.

Lance smiled and asked again, "So… would you like to go to the amusement park with me tomorrow?"

"We'll see," Xiao Wan hummed. She quickly finished her burger, but still seemed a little hungry. She wanted to order more, but held back.

Lance noticed her discomfort, immediately got up, and bought a deluxe meal for her, placing it in front of her. "I'll treat you. Eat."

Xiao Wan had a hard time resisting food, so she quickly unwrapped one of the burgers and started eating. Seeing her eat happily, Lance couldn't help but ask, "I want to ask you something, but please don't misunderstand me. I don't mean to look down on you. I'm just curious, if you're not lacking money, why do you live in such an old building? You're even reluctant to eat one more burger?"

"Who said I have money?" Xiao Wan gave him a glance. "I took a million from my last boyfriend. I was going to give it to Catherine and the others, but they didn't want it, so I donated it."

"Donated it? To whom?" Lance asked, frowning.

"To a cancer research organization," Xiao Wan replied.

For a girl with her background, donating so much money wasn't a decision made on a whim. Lance quickly guessed the reason and cautiously asked, "Is it… someone in your family passed away from cancer?"

Xiao Wan paused, then said, "What's it to you? Stop asking so many questions."

It seemed he had guessed correctly. Lance felt some pity and regret in his heart. He shouldn't have treated her so badly before.

Xiao Wan quickly finished her deluxe meal, patted her stomach in satisfaction, and said happily, "Alright, since you treated me to dinner today, I'll reluctantly go to the amusement park with you tomorrow."

Lance quickly nodded. "Okay, I'll pick you up tomorrow morning?"

"Whatever," Xiao Wan said as she walked outside. Lance also stood up and said, "The security here isn't great. I'll walk you home."

Xiao Wan looked outside and sighed. "Fine, fine, I'll walk you. Where did you park?"

Lance asked in confusion, "Why do you want to walk me?"

Xiaowan pointed to a few punks who had been loitering outside the store for a while and said, "Do you think they're hanging around here for no reason? They might not recognize the other stuff on you, but they'll definitely recognize that Rolex on your wrist. If I weren't sitting next to you, they would have already come in and robbed you, foolish rich boy."

As she spoke, she grabbed Lance's hand and walked out of the fast food restaurant. The punks tried to approach, but Xiaowan immediately shook her finger at them and said, "Don't even think about it, this man is mine."

The punks, recalling how Xiaowan's grandmother had taken care of them when she was alive, muttered a few complaints and dejectedly turned and walked away.

"Let's go," Xiaowan quickened her pace and whispered, "The population in this area is very mobile, and I can't guarantee I know everyone around here."

Lance couldn't help but feel like he was starring in a Western cowboy movie, but with the roles reversed. He had become the helpless boy needing protection, while Xiaowan had transformed into the confident cowgirl riding her horse with a hat on.

Eventually, Xiaowan sent him off to the car and reminded, "Don't drive the McLaren tomorrow, and don't wear such flashy clothes, okay?"

Lance nodded and called out, "Xiaowan."

He spoke in Chinese this time, and Xiaowan was surprised. "I noticed earlier, your Chinese is pretty good."

"I learned it from a teacher for a few years," Lance said with a gentle smile, speaking in Chinese. "I'm really happy to have met you. There's a saying in Chinese, 'Fate brings people together from a thousand miles apart.' You came here to study, and you and I meeting—don't you think it's just like that saying?"

"I wouldn't say we were destined to meet," Xiaowan rolled her eyes. "Hurry up and leave!"

"Alright, see you tomorrow," Lance smiled at her, started the car, and drove off.

Xiaowan watched him leave for a while, then chuckled to herself and skipped back home.

The next day, Lance indeed showed up in simpler clothes to pick her up, and his car was switched to a Volkswagen. Once they arrived at the amusement park, Xiaowan acted like a little kid, excitedly cheering at every new attraction she saw.

"Wow! Rollercoaster! This is great, let's go ride it!"

"Okay."

"Pirate ship, pirate ship! Let's get in line!"

"Coming."

"Ahh, a carousel, so romantic! I have to ride it!"

"Sure."

She dragged Lance to ten different rides without feeling tired, fascinated by everything. Lance couldn't help but ask, "Don't you usually come to places like this?"

"No."

"You've never been to an amusement park in your country?" Lance asked, "Is it because… your family didn't have the money?"

Xiaowan shook her head. "My family is rich, but they never spend a penny on me."

She suddenly looked up at the blue sky and murmured, "I remember on my eighth birthday, I asked my mom to take me to an amusement park, and her response was to lock me in a dog cage and let me starve all day. So after that, I never dared ask again."

When she spoke, her expression was calm, but Lance could still sense her sadness from the dimness in her eyes and her clenched fists.

A sour wave of emotions surged within Lance, making it hard for him to speak: "I'm sorry, I didn't realize…"

"It's fine," Xiaowan shook her head, trying to shake off the painful memory. She turned back to him and said, "Let's keep playing! I see an adventure forest ahead, it looks fun!"

However, just as she took a step, the man behind her suddenly hugged her tightly. Lance held her so tightly she could barely breathe. "Hey! Let go! You're going to crush my chest!"

"I'm sorry, really," Lance said in Chinese. "For the way I treated you before, and for everything you've gone through, I'm sorry."

"That's weird, those things weren't your fault. Why are you apologizing? Let go—"

Before Xiaowan could finish, the man behind her squeezed her chin and gently kissed her lips.

This time, she didn't push him away like last time. After a moment of shock, she slowly closed her eyes.

Only after a long while did Lance finally release her. Xiaowan's cheeks were slightly red as she said, "Is it because I'm a gold digger that you dared to kiss me so casually without asking my opinion? If it were those rich girls, I wouldn't believe you'd be so reckless."

Lance shook his head, gently holding her shoulders to make her turn and face him. "I wouldn't kiss them, but it has nothing to do with whether they're rich girls or not."

"Then what does it have to do with?" Xiaowan raised her chin and asked.

"It has to do with whether I like that woman," Lance said, and once again, he leaned down to kiss her.

As she recalled these memories, Xiaowan couldn't help but rub her eyes, take a deep drag of her cigarette, and said to Catherine beside her, "I'm sorry, I really can't tell you why we broke up."

Catherine nodded understandingly. "I get it. I shouldn't have asked. I just thought… you two seemed so perfect together when you were together. You seemed so happy, and I just couldn't understand what could have torn you apart."

Xiaowan sniffed and said, "It's all my fault. Lance was just unlucky, falling for someone like me."

Catherine was about to say something, but Xiaowan interrupted, "I have to go. It's getting late, and I promised my boyfriend I'd come home early."

"Alright, be safe on your way back."

Catherine watched Xiaowan get into the taxi before returning to the restaurant. Neither of them knew that across the street, in a black Cadillac, someone had been watching them.

To be specific, the person was watching Xiaowan.

As Xiaowan's taxi pulled away, the driver of the Cadillac turned to the woman in the back seat. "Mrs. Ma, should we follow her?"

The middle-aged, golden-haired woman, who was dressed luxuriously and had an aloof expression, pondered for a moment before replying, "No need. I know where she lives."

"Then where should we go?" the driver asked. "Should I take you home?"

Mrs. Ma's face showed a brief flicker of loneliness. Her husband was often away on business, and her son was upset with her and refused to come home. What was the point of returning to the empty mansion alone?

But her proud nature quickly concealed her sadness, and she replied, "Take me to the studio. Lance should still be there."

"Understood."

Xiaowan returned home in a low mood, but when she entered the hall, she saw the TV on, but no one was sitting on the sofa. She called out, "Xiao Guai?"

A tall figure appeared behind her, hugging her tightly. Chen Xin kissed her neck while asking, "Didn't you say you'd bring me some dinner? Where is it? If not, I'll just eat you."

But Xiaowan didn't respond as warmly as she had in the evening. Chen Xin quickly noticed something was wrong and turned her to face him, holding her chin. "What's wrong? Didn't you go to the gathering? Why do you look so sad? Was the food not good?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xiaowan let out a sob and buried herself in his arms.

"I'm sorry, but I'm really sad right now. Can I just hug you?" Xiaowan choked out.

Chen Xin gently stroked her back. "Of course, my embrace will always be yours. But baby, can you tell me why you're so upset?"

Xiaowan shook her head. "I can't say. You'll think I'm a bitch."

"I will never think that of you." Chen Xin kissed her forehead. "You can trust me with all your sadness and grievances, I'll protect you."

Xiaowan stayed silent in his arms for a long time before wiping her tears, pulling him onto the sofa, and turning on the TV to find a movie.

It was this year's Oscar-winning Best Picture, Never Love Again, which had been a massive box office and critical success. It had won nine awards, including Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Screenplay. Chen Xin had originally wanted to take Xiaowan to see it, but she had refused, saying she didn't like romantic films.

But now, Chen Xin seemed to finally understand something.

Xiaowan took a deep breath, turned to Chen Xin, and said, "This is also one of my ex-boyfriends."