Chen Feng felt somewhat displeased, finding his good intentions mistaken for unnecessary fuss.
Originally, he wanted to offer Qin Xiaorou a ride home if she was alone, or at least hail a cab for her.
After all, a girl of about fifteen or sixteen being out alone so late at night was truly a cause for concern. However, Qin Xiaorou had turned on him and ran off just like that.
Chen Feng sighed and turned to walk towards where he parked his car.
He had only walked a short distance when he heard a shout from behind, "Mister, mister, wait up."
Chen Feng turned around in surprise and saw Qin Xiaorou running towards him, somewhat out of breath.
"What do you mean by just walking away?"
As Qin Xiaorou caught up, she glared at Chen Feng while catching her breath, which left him bewildered.
"Here!"
Qin Xiaorou took a bottle of drink out of a plastic bag with five dolls and shoved it into Chen Feng's hand.
It was then that Chen Feng caught on and asked, "Did you go to buy a drink just now?"
"What else?" Qin Xiaorou glared at Chen Feng. "You didn't think I ran off, did you?"
"Uh, that, haha, of course not." Chen Feng felt a bit awkward; obviously, he had misunderstood and wronged her. Indeed, even though this young girl lacked manners, her nature wasn't bad after all.
"Then why did you leave without saying anything?" Qin Xiaorou pressed on in an unrelenting manner.
Chen Feng, as an adult man, wouldn't be stumped by a little girl's questioning and naturally replied, "My car is parked over there; I thought I'd drive up and wait for you by the roadside."
"Oh, you drove here, huh? It isn't an electric scooter, is it?"
Qin Xiaorou mocked disdainfully.
Just a wild girl with no manners. Before yesterday, he didn't even have an electric scooter to speak of, let alone a car.
Fortunately, he actually had a car now; otherwise, that would have been embarrassing.
"It's a car, with four wheels," Chen Feng emphasized.
"A car obviously has four wheels; could it be with two?" Qin Xiaorou intentionally quibbled.
"Enough. Do you want me to give you a ride home? If you are not comfortable, I'll call you a cab."
This wild girl was indeed giving him a headache; Chen Feng didn't want to engage in a war of words with her.
Qin Xiaorou straightforwardly refused, "It's only ten o'clock; it's still early. I don't want to go back now."
Chen Feng frowned and said, "It's so late; don't your family worry about you being out alone?"
Qin Xiaorou answered coldly, "I don't have any family."
Chen Feng was taken aback, surveyed her up and down, and shook his head, "You're kidding right? The outfit on you is at least a thousand bucks, and your branded shoes must also be about a thousand, no? Are you an orphan?"
Qin Xiaorou continued to argue, "Who said I was an orphan?"
Chen Feng, annoyed, said, "Didn't you just say you have no family?"
"Having no family means an orphan?" Qin Xiaorou asked.
"Isn't it?" Chen Feng glared.
Qin Xiaorou said seriously, "What I meant by having no family is that there's nobody home tonight, get it?"
This self-justifying skill was unparalleled.
Chen Feng couldn't help but touch his forehead resignedly and said, "Fine, whatever you say."
With that, he turned and walked away. He had no intention of putting up with this kid's temper any longer.
"Hey, wait for me."
Qin Xiaorou, carrying the large plastic bag, hurried to follow.
Chen Feng thought about ignoring her, but considering that she was a girl and that it wasn't safe for her to be out so late, he looked at the drink in his hand, sighed, and could only stop.
"Uncle, don't leave in such a hurry. Have a drink first; we've been playing in the arcade for so long, we haven't even had water. Aren't you thirsty?"
Qin Xiaorou said while also taking out a bottle of beverage, opened it, and started to gulp it down.
Seeing this, Chen Feng didn't hold back either, as he was indeed thirsty. He opened his drink and took a big gulp, consuming half the bottle in one go, then belched, feeling very content.
"This drink isn't bad," Chen Feng casually remarked, looking at the bottle: Yuan Chang Functional Beverage, something he had never tried before.
"Pretty good, right? I love these kinds of beverages, plus there's a chance to win prizes. Last time I won 200 yuan."
As Qin Xiaorou spoke, she flipped the bottle cap over to look but said with some disappointment, "I didn't win anything, let me see yours."
Chen Feng handed the bottle cap over to her without giving it much thought. Qin Xiaorou turned the cap over and instantly widened her eyes, then shouted excitedly, "I won, the grand prize—a Whale brand TV!"
Such luck!
Chen Feng felt numb, as he didn't even want to win anything himself; it was through someone else's hand that he hit the jackpot. This situation really left Chen Feng with no way to avoid it.
"Uncle, you've won a TV, worth several thousand yuan. Aren't you excited?"
Seeing Chen Feng's calm expression, Qin Xiaorou asked with some confusion.
"I already have a TV at home, so I'll give it to you," Chen Feng said nonchalantly.
Qin Xiaorou was stunned for a moment, then spoke in a lowered, shy voice, "Uncle, why are you so nice to me? I mean, giving me all those game coins was one thing, but a grand prize too? You... you don't have a crush on me, do you? I'm still young."
Damn it!
Chen Feng couldn't help but extend his hand and vigorously rub her head again, leaving her hair a mess like a chicken's nest.
Qin Xiaorou screamed once more, saying angrily, "I warn you, if you keep this up, I'll get mad, okay? Do you understand that what you're doing is like ruining someone's appearance—it's a crime."
Seeing that the wild girl was really getting mad, Chen Feng waved his hand and said, "Okay, okay, my bad. But that nonsense you were just saying—aren't you underage? I have a... wife, you know. Don't talk nonsense, alright? The reason I gave you the Game Coins before is that I didn't really feel like playing video games anymore. And now, giving you the TV is because I don't need it. Plus, didn't you buy this drink for me? Can I even accept it?"
"You can. I gave you the drink; it's yours. We also have a TV at home, and since I'm underage, I can't collect the prize by myself anyway. It's better if you go."
"Alright, alright." Chen Feng didn't want to argue any further, pocketed the bottle cap, and finished the rest of the drink in a few big gulps.
"Let's go, I'll take you home."
"Do we have to go home so early? Aren't we going to play a bit longer?"
Chen Feng said irritably, "It's almost eleven o'clock, what do you mean 'early'? Don't you have school tomorrow?"
"Seriously. That's just how you adults are, always nagging about this and that."
Chen Feng stopped talking, led the way, and soon arrived at his Buick.
"New car, huh? But it's a lower-end model, looks kind of cheap."
This girl sure had a foul mouth.
Chen Feng walked over to the driver's side and said to her, "Do you want me to take you home or not? If not, I'm leaving."
"Of course I do!"
Qin Xiaorou quickly opened the passenger side door and got in.
Chen Feng also got into the driver's seat, started the car, and asked, "Where's your home?"
"Do you know Jinxiu Road? Just take me there."
"Jinxiu Road is long, at least five or six kilometers. Don't you have a specific address?"
"Fine, Zhuangyuan Academy."
On hearing this, Chen Feng was surprised and looked at her with disbelief, "I wouldn't have guessed, your family's quite rich."
Qin Xiaorou pouted and said, "What good is having money?"
Chen Feng could only chuckle in response.
Zhuangyuan Academy was quite famous as one of the top high-end residential areas in Xiu Zhou City, with prices over eighty thousand per square meter.
Just by the name of the compound, one could tell its focus on education, with nurseries, elementary schools, middle schools, and even universities around—all amongst the top-ranking in the province.