An Ran took the document blankly. When she saw the bold characters at the top, her body visibly trembled. Moments later, her eyes filled with tears.
Termination of Adoption Agreement. This man made the best choice for her when she was in a dilemma. How could she not be moved?
"Instructor Mu, how can I ever repay you?" she said, as tears the size of beans trailed down her cheeks.
Mu Xingfeng expected her to be moved by the agreement, but he didn’t expect her to be moved to this extent. After all, he was most afraid of this girl’s tears.
Despite the fear, this wasn’t the time for him to be soft-hearted.
The cunning Instructor Mu had already thought of how she could repay him. Since the little girl asked, he decided not to be polite.
"Since you want to repay me, you can pay back the money later." Mu Xingfeng said, trying to sound casual.
It was then that An Ran realized the termination of the adoption relationship came with a condition, and that condition was to pay the An Family... twenty million.
For the first time, she discovered just how valuable she was.
Twenty million... she probably couldn’t earn that much in her entire life.
Struggling to lift her head, which had previously been filled with gratitude, An Ran now looked incredibly aggrieved. "Instructor Mu, how could I possibly be worth twenty million? Couldn’t you have haggled a bit when my adoptive mother proposed this condition? Twenty million... I doubt I could ever earn that much in my life."
Hearing her words, the corners of Mu Xingfeng’s mouth twitched slightly. Haggling? What did she think this was? Could they really be bought and sold? Besides, he intentionally agreed to Sun Xuehui’s twenty million demand. What fun was there in making it easy for her to repay?
"That’s true," Mu Xingfeng furrowed his brow slightly, as if considering a significant decision. After a moment, he said, "In that case, why don’t you become mine, and then you won’t have to repay the debt."
An Ran’s head snapped up at his words, but she quickly shook her head like a rattle drum. "No, Instructor Mu, I can’t."
Instructor Mu had a fiancée. Although she wanted to repay Mu Xingfeng, she could not agree to be his mistress.
But Mu Xingfeng misunderstood it as something else, and his face darkened. "Why not? If you can’t earn twenty million in your lifetime, why can’t you stay by my side for a lifetime?"
He felt that the little girl didn’t repel him, in fact, at times she seemed to rely on him—trust born from her very soul. He didn’t understand why she wouldn’t face her own feelings for him.
"I’m sorry, Instructor Mu. I have my principles. Please forgive me for not being able to accept your terms. I will work hard to make money. Please don’t worry."
She would spend her entire life working for Mu Xingfeng’s money, doing anything for him, but she couldn’t sell her principles for money and become a despised mistress.
Mu Xingfeng looked at An Ran. She said she had her principles. And what were her principles? Not to be his, Mu Xingfeng’s, girlfriend? He remembered this was the second time she said this to him, and both times she rejected him without a second thought.
This stubborn girl, did she really repel him that much?
This realization darkened Mu Xingfeng’s face further. He wanted to wait for her, to let her willingly stay by his side, to recognize her own feelings. But now he was losing patience.
"This is the only condition. I am in trouble now. Since you are unwilling, you can pretend to be my girlfriend for now." Since persuasion didn’t work, he would use force, but even then, he would never harm her.