When Xie Antong walked in, Know-it-All was crouched on the ground, rummaging through a cabinet like he was desperately searching for something.
The moment he saw her, his whole body stiffened, and he scrambled to shove everything back in like he was some kind of thief.
“Ahem ahem!”
He gave an awkward cough and quickly stood up.
“You're here? Uh... what's up?”
“What do you think?” Lu Ce shot him a sideways glance, completely unceremonious, yanked a chair open and sat right down.
Like it was his own place, he casually started flipping through things on the table and said offhandedly,
“Where’s the tea? You being stingy now?”
His eyes swept across the floor and landed on a pile of shattered teacup pieces. He continued,
“Wow, you really are something. Were you born a tight-*ss?”
Know-it-All: …...
He stood there, mind spinning, but couldn't come up with a decent response. All he could do was sigh, resign himself, and walk over.
They’d only met twice, but for some reason, he already found this woman kind of scary.
She was just... too aggressive.
“What, didn’t you say you don’t drink tea?”
Know-it-All didn’t know what to say, so he just tried to make small talk.
“When did I say that? You deaf or something?”
Know-it-All: ……
What the hell? Did you lose your memory or got split personalities?
And “deaf ears”?? He felt like he could live ten thousand years and never come up with something like that to say.
But regardless of whether this woman had a split personality or not, he was at least certain of one thing now — she seriously had no manners.
Tch...
This was gonna be a pain. Now what?
“Fine, I get it, you’re a stingy piece of work. I don’t need yours.”
“Just give me my stuff back.”
As she spoke, Lu Ce extended her hand, cutting right to the chase.
“Hand it over. Where’s my headset?”
Know-it-All: I have no clue, okay!?
F**k!
Talk about bad timing — if he didn’t know better, he’d think the Warden was working with this woman.
Barely ten minutes had passed.
Even with an hour, he might’ve had time to cover his tracks. But now...
“Ahem, um… well, about that. What do you even want the headset for?”
“What’s it to you? I’m selling it to buy rubber bands so I can shoot out your windows?” Lu Ce’s sharp tongue was firing on all cylinders.
“Hurry up, quit wasting my time. I’m getting sick of that old face of yours. If you weren’t so damn hard on the eyes, I might even enjoy chatting a little longer.”
At this point, Lu Ce was basically just cursing him out. Under normal circumstances, Know-it-All would’ve had every right to blow up over the personal insults.
But right now… he was kinda in the wrong, so it was hard to argue.
He glared at Xie Antong, face darkening as he took deep breaths, trying to swallow down the verbal abuse and respond as calmly as possible:
“Okay look, last time, didn’t we also set a delivery time? So maybe—”
“Cut the crap. When did we ever say that? I told you straight up I'd come get it next time. Now hurry up and hand it over!” Lu Ce didn’t even let him finish.
“Why are you in such a rush? It’s only been a few minutes. What’s the point? I’m just curious.”
“Too early? I think there’s something wrong with your brain. Give it back now so I can have peace of mind,” Lu Ce cut him off again, leaving no room to breathe.
Know-it-All: Who’s got the messed-up brain here, huh?
His eyes darted as an idea popped into his head. He smirked and said,
“We agreed, didn’t we? You give the money, I give the goods.”
“I’ve got your stuff, of course. But where’s my payment?”
Lu Ce thought, of course — that damn Xie Antong must’ve ditched the payment part and pushed it on me.
Classic her...
Know-it-All suddenly got confident, his whole vibe relaxed.
“We never actually discussed specifics, right? You should know, what I ask for is what my reward is. It’s not about what you want to give me.”
“I never said I wanted money — money’s useless in this prison.”
“Are you prepared... for any kind of payment?”
As he said that, Know-it-All pulled out another teacup, filled it up, and started sipping tea.
Hmph! Think I can’t handle you?
Compensation is easy — as long as he made it hard enough, she’d never cough it up.
Heh, you’ve been acting all high and mighty — your turn’s up. Sooner or later, you’ll be begging me… and even then, I won’t help!
The headset’s already with the Warden anyway.
Know-it-All was already grinning at the thought. He took a sip of tea and looked smugly at the woman across from him.
Their eyes locked.
Lu Ce decided she was done playing games and went straight for it:
“You lost my headset, didn’t you?”
“Pfft!!”
Know-it-All literally spit out a mouthful of tea and started coughing violently. He never expected her to come at him like that.
“Ahem ahem ahem, what… what are you talking about! Hahaha.”
“Why would you say something like that? Don’t talk nonsense. Of course I wouldn’t—”
“I can read minds.” Lu Ce said it with a straight face.
Know-it-All: ?
Is this a joke? Who the hell says they can read minds?
If you could, why the f**k would you waste time bickering with me all this while?
“I knew from the moment I walked in that you lost my headset.” Lu Ce lied without blinking, expression cold.
“But… how do you prove you can read minds?” Know-it-All was stunned.
“You asking that means you lost it, doesn’t it?” Lu Ce shot him a glance.
Know-it-All: “…You bluffing me?”
“Nope. I really can read minds. If you don’t believe me, ask Chiyo Eine.” said Lu Ce.
“Who the hell is Chiyo Eine?!”
“She’s some Japanese chick.”
“Who the hell asked you that?!” Know-it-All was losing it.
He felt like he’d lost a few years of his life just in this short time.
Taking another deep breath, his brain was a mess. Just as he was about to keep arguing, Lu Ce suddenly said:
“Let me guess. My headset… the Warden took it, right?”
Know-it-All: ?
“You… can really—?…”
He asked suspiciously, even shifting his chair back a bit.
Mental privacy was the last frontier. No one could stand the thought of their thoughts being exposed.
“I know.” Lu Ce nodded. “And honestly, I already expected it. I gave it to you to avoid getting caught by the Warden.”
“I didn’t think…” Lu Ce frowned like she was truly reading his mind. “You’d hand it over just like that. What a dishonest little b*stard…”