"What do you want? Money? Power?" Beiming Shaoxi's fingers tapped against the table before he asked condescendingly, "...Or perhaps love?"
"I have no need for the first two, and as for the latter…" Ji Anan guffawed. "I don't believe in it."
After experiencing a change in family dynamics and becoming disenchanted with romance, she had felt herself become increasingly down-to-earth.
Starry-eyed young girls naively interpreted "goodnight" as "I love you," yet she knew that men said "goodnight" so frequently because they wanted to get into a girl's pants!" Ji Anan stare was fixed on him. "Especially with men like you, Young Master Beiming. You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth and have everything at your fingertips. How could someone like you ever be capable of falling in love?"
Her words were brutally blunt.
At the same time, her black-rimmed glasses couldn't hide the allure of her seductive eyes…
Beiming Shaoxi was extremely displeased. Did she really think that he was an immoral man who was willing to sleep with just any woman?
"Marriages between people of different statuses in which one person holds all of the possessions are loveless, so you should think more about your lineage. Aren't you afraid of my genes ruining your bloodline? Back in the day, my father refused to listen and insisted on marrying my mother... and that's how they had me."
Beiming Shaoxi's handsome scrunched-up face twitched slightly…
Ji Anan thought she had struck a nerve. "I look just like my mom, but my dad was rather good-looking... Oh right, my dad was one of those handsome men, just like you."
Beiming Shaoxi had an indifferent expression on his face as he listened to her rambling.
"You don't believe me? I have a photo on my phone of my mother when she was young. You certainly wouldn't wish for the Beiming family's future heir to resemble me, now would you? You have no idea how powerful my family's genes are. In fact, I look like my maternal grandmother as well…"
He had no words.
"You still don't believe me? I have a photo of my maternal grandmother when she was young as well, but it's at home. I'll show it to you if I get the chance someday. Back in the day, my maternal grandfather was extremely stubborn as well, and he just had to marry my grandmother no matter how much others tried to dissuade him," Ji Anan explained uncomfortably. "I don't want to pass on my family's ugly genes anymore. Young Master Beiming, you deserve better."
Beiming Shaoxi leaned back against his chair and gave her a long hard look as he tried to wrap his head around what was going through her mind.
He had originally thought that she was simply stalling so she could lay out her stipulations and name a higher price, yet he had never expected her to go into self-deprecating mode...
He knew that she was trying to discourage him from marrying her, yet the more she resisted, the more his desire to marry her intensified.
Ji Anan found her mother's "old photo" in her phone and passed it over for Beiming Shaoxi to see.
In reality, it was actually a heavily photoshopped image of herself.
Beiming Shaoxi stared at the photo, then looked up at Ji Anan.
"Isn't there a resemblance? All the adults that saw me when I was little said so…" Ji Anan was a highly-skilled makeup artist, and with the help of a little eyeshadow and concealer, she could easily make her image on the phone seem similar yet slightly different from how she appeared in real life.
Beiming Shaoxi almost believed her until his finger accidentally brushed against the phone's touch screen.
The picture zoomed out to reveal the date the picture was taken, XXXX year, XX month, XX day, XX hour, and XX minute…
The picture was taken at night four days ago, right after she left the Beiming manor.
Beiming Shaoxi's eyes gleamed with mischief, and he suppressed a smile.
Unaware that he had seen through her trick, Ji Anan still continued, "You're still young, so don't throw away your future... You need to open your eyes and see people for who they really are. Take me for instance; not only am I ugly, but I'm also a sadist. Young age makes people susceptible to impulsive decisions, but you'll definitely regret your reckless decision in the future."
It was like she had been possessed by an old lady. She picked up a piece of meat to eat as she went on and on with her words of advice.
Beiming Shaoxi's mouth curled up in a devilish leer.
"You don't need to wait to say goodbye to me. You can leave anytime. I'll leave by myself when I finish eating," Ji Anan ended.