CH 3.1

Careful, Breakup Fee Will Come Knocking At Your Door (Part 1)

Xue Lingqiao looked around the villa. There are three floors including the attic, living room, four bedrooms, a study room, and even a tea room; all in western style. If he hadn’t checked her bills in the mailbox, he would have thought that the actors of her era could make a lot of money.

After Xue Lingqiao got acquainted with his new home, he heard Tian Jingzhi's heart sped up to one hundred and twenty beats per minute.

But she was just laying quietly and motionlessly.

He filled a glass with water and put it beside her, "Don't pretend to be asleep when you have already awakened."

Tian Jingzhi remained motionless and looked to be deep asleep.

Xue Lingqiao scratched his ears silently, and said quietly, “If you want to keep sleeping forever, then I can help you with that.”

She immediately opened her eyes and sat up. She stared at him for a while before asking, “What are you?!”

“Let’s just say I ate a devil’s fruit.” (T/N: ahaha it’s a One Piece reference.)

“Then come find me when you become the pirate king!”

Xue Lingqiao didn't want to talk nonsense with her, and said “I don’t know anyone here, but you. I just need a place to live. I’m looking for someone and it won’t be long. In return, during my stay here, I will keep you safe.”

Keep me safe? A monster has already intruded into her home, was there anything else she needed to be protected from? Hilarious.

Xue Lingqiao tilted his head slightly and frowned, "You are an ill-fated person. I don't want you to be killed by a car or fall to your death in the sewer. I was resurrected by absorbing your blood. If you were to have an accident, it would be very troublesome for me."

There was an advantage to her always being unlucky. Tian Jingzhi had encountered all kinds of messy things and she was used to some strange occurrences. She picked up the water and drank it all. She calmed down quickly, and coldly scrutinized him with her beautiful eyes.

The creature in front of her was something that she couldn't explain with science, but after confirming that he had no intention of harming her, Tian Jingzhi was no longer afraid.

Elephants never bothered to kill ants.

Leopards will not chase deer when they are not hungry.

There is more to just being a hunter and the prey. In addition to eating and being eaten, they shared a mutual symbiosis.

Her noble and glamorous expression surprised Xue Lingqiao. He had thought she would faint another time after hearing he was going to stay with her for a while..

“Fine, you can stay. It’s for an emergency after all. That is no problem.” Miss Tian said in a soft and understanding tone, “I just have a few questions. We need to talk frankly and get a deeper understanding of each other’s motives. We also need to know each other’s living habits and basic background…”

“Get to the point.”

“What species are you? What do you eat and where did you come from?”

Xue Lingqiao glanced at her twice before closing his eyes. He looked tired and pitiful, “...More than four hundred years ago, I was a normal human being. Then some strange things happened and I became immortal..."

Tian Jingzhi gave him a sideways glance. Five words were clearly written on her face: Buddy, I don’t believe you!

"I've been trying to find the answer for hundreds of years. A few days ago, I stumbled upon a couple modern biology books and saw a document about telomeres and telomerase. The mystery of my longevity may be because of that." Xue Lingqiao looked at Tian Jingzhi with contempt, “Of course, aging is a complex study, and it will be difficult to explain it to you. To put it simply for you, it may be because of a genetic mutation.”

Tian Jingzhi didn't pay attention to Xue Lingqiao's sarcasm. She just felt that his voice seemed a little familiar.

–Do you believe that there are immortal people in this world?

She immediately pointed at Xue Lingqiao and screamed: “AH! The mentally ill person that rescued me from the sewer that day was you, right?!"

Xue Lingqiao looked at her coldly, and Tian Jingzhi quickly covered her mouth with her hands.

SOS! What is this bizzare thing that she had summoned!? 

Tian Jingzhi heard herself loudly gulping and subconsciously stepped back before meekly asking, "Then...what do you eat?"

Xue Lingqiao took a step closer, his dark eyes seemed to glow as he smiled deeply, “...Human… safe liquids." Seeing her dumbfounded expression, Xue Lingqiao walked past her and took something out of the fridge, “For example: milk.”

“..Re…Really?”

Xue Lingqiao was disappointed, “Do the people in this era even lack the basic trust for others?!”

Tian Jingzhi's eyes widened, staring at him viciously like a wolf. Her eyes sparkled when she realized, "You just said that it was my blood that brought you back to life, so you should call me mother? "

“You may have never donated blood, you should have seen a blood donation before, right? How much knowledge and common sense do you lack?”

“...” Tian Jingzhi was at a loss for words, but quickly regained her composure and curiously asked, “Then what strange things happened that made you like this?”

He was stunned for a moment, frowned and thought for a while, and was about to speak, when Tian Jingzhi suddenly covered her ears and walked away, “Nevermind! The less I know, the safer I am.” She walked quickly to the front of a guest room, pushed open the door, and waved to Xue Lingqiao, “You can live in this room. Don’t go into my room without my permission.”

“Okay, get me a laptop, preferably a Mac.” 

Did he know how much an Apple laptop costs? Foriegn items are super expensive! Tian Jingzhi resisted the urge to refute him, gritted his teeth, and smiled, “Okay, no problem. You've been lying in the museum for so long. It's only been over a month since you woke up, when did you learn how to use a laptop?”

“One month is enough for me to learn the survival skills and normalcy of modern day society. All of the developmental information of this century can be found in old newspapers. I may have learned more than what you’ve learned in your 28 years.”

Tian Jingzhi replied, “Ah. Yes, yes, yes. You are an immortal monster, of course I can't compare. However, didn't your mother teach you not to reveal a woman's age so casually?”

“Firstly, I am human, but with some special circumstances. And secondly, my mother has been dead for hundreds of years.”

“That’s a very scary fact. Oh yeah, you are a mummy that the research center spent a lot of money on renting for research. You obviously revived and ran away by yourself. There are still two idiots who think you’ve been stolen and are looking for you everywhere.” Thinking of Ye Chen and Li Yanzhi's distressed expressions, Tian Jingzhi couldn't help laughing.

Xue Lingqiao kindly reminded her, "Those two idiots are your sixth and seventh ex."

“What a nosy monster, you even know that! How disrespectful of you to run away without greeting them! This time, those scumbags really suffered!”

“That was because of your blood that woke me up. It’s late, but they are paying their… breakup fee… that’s the correct term, right?”

“Whose breakup fee would come knocking at a person’s door?”

“Yours”

Tian Jingzhi choked, but could not refute.

In front of Xue Lingqiao, no matter whether it was a verbal or physical altercation, it seems she will always lose.

“I'm tired, so I will go to rest. Oh and I know you are an elusive person, but don't suddenly appear by my bedside or disappear from my eyes like before. I'm afraid of being scared to death by you.”

Tian Jingzhi gloomily made her way upstairs and back into her room.