There was no way that she could run. Never mind that she had so little money on her or that she did not have her passport, she knew the casino town was dangerous just from the scene she saw earlier. Dejected, she hid in a corner of the room. She felt like crying but no tears came.
"Mom…" she cried out with much difficulty. Suddenly, she found herself truly despising people of the Xia family.
She did not know when her tears began to flow. She sobbed and whimpered quietly until her voice turned smaller and smaller. She had fallen asleep with her body curled up.
She woke up to the sound of someone knocking on her door. Bai Youran sent someone to deliver a dress. She gave it no more than a glance before throwing it on the floor. Later on, Bai Youran came over and saw that she was not wearing the dress.
"What do you mean by this?" He flew into a rage. "Put on that dress!"
The dress was so deeply cut in the front that she would nearly expose her breasts if she were to wear it. She would die before doing so.
A Miao pursed her lips. "It's unsuitable. It's too large on me."
"What a nuisance." Bai Youran stared at her, causing her to shudder. She found his gaze to be incredibly sinister.
Bai Youran thought for a while before he waved his hand. "Fine. Let's just go. When we get to the casino, I forbid you from speaking. Just watch."
A Miao did not reply. She then followed him to the casino.
"Mr. Bai, do you still have any chip left?" An hour later, Bai Youran had lost all the money he placed on the table. A dark-skinned and overweight man sat opposite him. What terrified A Miao were the two men standing behind the man. They were the ones she saw in the corridor this afternoon.
"I can't be bothered to exchange for chips. I'll put down a cheque." Bai Youran fished out a cheque book, tore off a cheque, and threw it on the table.
The overweight man inhaled from his cigar and indicated the dealer to start the game.
Sometime later, Bai Youran lost again. He downed his glass of alcohol and said unhappily, "One more time! I refuse to believe you'll win again!"
"Do you still have money left?" The overweight man narrowed his eyes. "If you don't have any, we'll end this here today."
Bai Youran became panicked. "I can borrow it!"
"Hahaha! I can lend you money as long as you can afford it." The overweight man stared at him. "What say you? Will you borrow from me?"
"Stop joking around." Bai Youran's expression was unsightly. "Who doesn't know that your interests are terrifyingly high, Brother Fei? Won't I be seeking death if I borrow from you?" He paused for a moment and then glanced at A Miao who stood next to him.
A Miao's heart jolted. She had a bad feeling about this.
"I'll bet on a person." Bai Youran stared at her with a self-satisfied look before turning around to speak to Brother Fei. "This is my fiancee. I'll bet on her."
Brother Fei looked at the pale-faced A Miao and shook his head. "Damn it, did you think I'm a trash can? Keep such an ugly woman for your own use!"
"Ah! Don't say that." Bai Youran gave A Miao's cheek a hard pinch. "She might be ugly but she's still a virgin. I've never tasted her."
A Miao slapped his hand away and lowered her voice to say, "Bai Youran, how dare you?"
"Shut up. I'm telling you to obediently let that man play with you. I'll be ending our engagement once we return. When all is said and done, I'll compensate you with money." Bai Youran threatened her in a quiet voice. "If you don't listen, I'll leave you here."
The overweight man and his subordinates discussed among themselves in low voices and surprisingly agreed to Bai Youran's suggestion. Shortly after, someone from the casino brought them a contract and the two of them signed on it. Thus, under A Miao's panicked gaze, Bai Youran lost her on the table.
"Brother Fei, you mustn't bully my fiancee. I'll need to claim her back tomorrow after I obtain money from home." Bai Youran looked like he was caught in a difficult position. His eyes, however, betrayed his joy.
The dark-skinned and overweight man could tell that he was doing this on purpose. He ordered his subordinates to drag A Miao over to him and reached out to pull at her clothes.
"No!" A Miao turned around, wanting to run but someone stopped her. With a ripping sound, half of her back was exposed.
Brother Fei's eyes gleamed. "Haha! I didn't expect your skin to be this soft despite your face!" He caressed her skin with his hand. "How tender. Not bad!"
A Miao began to tremble all over as she tightly hugged her arms to prevent her shirt from falling down. She turned around to plead with Bai Youran.
"Please, please take me with you. I promise I won't marry you. If you take me, I'll leave the Xia family when we return."
Bai Youran ignored her. If her words had any sway, things would not have ended up like this.
"Brother Fei, take good care of my fiancee." With that, he stared coolly at A Miao and turned around to leave.
Hair-raising screams came from behind him as A Miao desperately struggled against her captors. In a moment of carelessness, the one holding her accidentally let her out of his clutches.
Bai Youran stood at the door, which happened to open at that moment. A Miao charged straight at him with all the force that she could muster and sent him flying. Then, an immense force came from behind him and he collapsed on top of the landscaping fountain outside.
He twitched momentarily. His eyes then rolled to the back of his head and he fell unconscious.
"I'm relieved to see you like this."
A voice drifted to A Miao's ears just as she was about to run. Stunned, she slowly turned her head in disbelief. The devilish face, the raised eyebrow, the mocking smile—who else would it be if not Shen Xinglan?
"You… You…" A Miao was at a loss.
The dark-skinned and overweight man chased her to the door. "You damned woman, let's see if you'll still dare to run!" He was about to slap A Miao when his hand was stopped mid-air.
"Where did you come from? You dare offend our Brother Fei?"
Shen I pushed him aside. "Everything can be discussed with words. Why hit a woman?"
The moment A Miao saw them, she immediately took cover behind Shen Xinglan. She ignored even the man's mocking gaze and even flashed him a fawning smile.
"Clever…" Shen Xinglan turned around and made his way toward the VIP lounge, with A Miao following close behind him.
What a joke. Who would care about being clever at this point?
"Where did you come from?" Brother Fei stared at Shen Xinglan but said no unpleasant word. He had been treading the underground for a long time. He had the foresight to tell that this man in front of him was certainly no ordinary person.
Shen Xinglan sat down opposite him. Shen II placed a briefcase full of money on the table.
"Brother Fei, is it? I'll make a bet with you." Shen Xinglan glanced at A Miao who stood behind him. "I want this woman."
"Hahaha!" Brother Fei burst out laughing before pulling a straight face. "You're going to steal her from me?"
Shen Xinglan replied, "Whatever money you bet earlier, I'll double it. If you win, all the money on the table is yours. If you lose, I'll just take this woman away."
"What about the money?" Brother Fei narrowed his eyes.
"It's yours." Shen Xinglan knew he would agree. He looked at the dealer.
The dark-skinned and overweight man smoked his cigar and said amusedly, "What's wrong with today? To think that a woman of this caliber would be worth so much money. I truly admire your taste in women!"
"That's my business. Start dealing."
After A Miao followed Shen Xinglan out of the VIP lounge, she nearly collapsed on the floor.
"Thank you." This time, her gratitude was sincere. If not for Shen Xinglan, she would likely die here tonight.
The man spared her a fleeting glance. Having just found a little relief, A Miao's heart jumped again.
She kept feeling that Shen Xinglan looked at her as if he wanted to do something to her.
"Miss A Miao, we've already delivered your luggage and passport to your room." Shen I noticed the dumbfounded look on her face and explained, "It's the room that our boss booked."
"Thank you." A Miao had zero problems with that. Bai Youran, that beast, had been sent to the hospital. Who knew if he would come back to deal with her after waking up? Because of her agitation, she did not Shen I deliberately emphasized the word 'passport'.
Inside the room, she realized that it was much more spacious than her previous room.
Shen Xinglan picked up an unidentified object from the table and shook it in front of her. "You have two options now."
"My passport!" A Miao's eyes were fixed on the object in his hand.
"Burn it." Shen Xinglan threw it at Shen II's body.
Shen II took out a lighter and lit the passport on fire.
A Miao wanted to throw herself at him but Shen I held her back.
"Have you gone mad? How can I go back now that you've burned my passport?" she cried. "Stop burning! Stop burning!"
Shen Xinglan said coolly, "Weren't you hoping to leave all along? Isn't this outcome what you want?"
Her face was etched full of fear. Was this man planning to leave her here?
"If you don't bring me back, who will steal for you?!" That was her only chip in the game. She looked apprehensively at Shen Xinglan.
He nodded. "You have a second option." He glanced at Shen II, who was throwing the half-burned passport into the trash can. Shen II walked to a nearby room and came out with a towel.
"Sit down."
Shen I pushed A Miao to the sofa and used force to keep her there.
"Miss A Miao, you better not move later," Shen II said. He placed the towel over her shoulders and took out a hair clipper.
"What the hell is going on?"
A Miao jumped in shock. She retreated backward while asking, "What are you guys trying to do?"
"Shaving your head." Shen Xinglan smiled faintly at her. "You're someone I won with a bet. More precisely, I used money to purchase you. Of course, it's fine if you're unwilling to shave your head. I'll get Shen I to return you to Brother Fei."
How would she choose between going bald and being disgraced? A Miao sat down on the sofa without even thinking about it.
"Go ahead and shave it off."
"Hehe." Wasn't it just going bald? What was so hard about it? For several years, she kept a man's hairstyle for safety reasons. She could just put on a cap later!
The only sound inside the quiet room was the buzzing of the hair clipper. A Miao sneaked a look at Shen Xinglan and saw that obvious smugness in his eyes despite his expressionless face. It stunned her.
This man was most certainly taking revenge on her! He was taking revenge for when she stuffed panties into his pocket at the hospital.
Half an hour later, Shen Xinglan left the room. A Miao rushed into the washroom and found her bald head looked like a bulb.
"Wait a moment!" She ran out of the washroom and stopped Shen I, who was the last to leave.
Shen I was surprised. "Miss A Miao, you can stay here without worrying. Our boss still has something to do here. Once he's done, he'll take you home." He thought A Miao was worried about being left behind.
"That's not it." A Miao looked at him solemnly. "Can you lend me some money?"
Shen I paused for a long moment. "How much do you need?"
On the next day, Shen Xinglan ordered Shen II to fetch A Miao for breakfast. Shen II's expression looked a little off when he returned.
"If she's not coming, then let her starve. If she starves to death, I…" Shen Xinglan's voice faded when he saw A Miao.
She stood in front of him with a huge grin on her face. She waved at him. "Hi!"