Rebirth at the Start: This Fate is Too Explosive!

Chapter 148, Room 12, you come out?

Looking into her stubborn eyes, Ye Fan understood.

He knows her too well.

Even knowing that her meal card balance was low and that she might only have plain rice with the cheapest vegetables every day, she would never accept any form of "charity," especially one that carried a sense of pity.

Ye Fan didn't know how to evaluate this almost stubborn pride.

Is it aloofness? Or pedantry?

Or is it an oversensitivity honed by life?

But he knew that reasoning with such a stubborn mule was useless; he could only fight fire with fire.

Without saying a word, Ye Fan reached out and took the two banknotes that were warm from being held by the ancestral spirit.

Just when Xian Zuling thought he was going to take it back, he suddenly raised his arm and, without even looking, threw the two hundred yuan directly into a slightly larger flowerpot in the green belt next to him!

"..." Xian Zuling was completely stunned, his eyes wide open.

Having said that, she didn't want to bring it up again and said softly, "Alright, forget about the money. I'll take you somewhere..."

Before he could finish speaking, Xian Zuling became anxious and didn't listen to what he was saying at all.

My mind was completely occupied by the two hundred dollars that had been "wasted".

She crouched down, frantically rummaging through the soil and withered leaves in the flowerpot, muttering involuntarily in a tearful voice, "Ye Fan, you bad person! You big bad guy! You just know how to bully me... wasting money... you're so mean..."

Ye Fan's lips curled up slightly. This method was indeed effective in dealing with the act of offering ancestral spirits.

Her pride prevented her from accepting charity, but her inherent frugality and extreme appreciation for material things made her unable to tolerate watching money being wasted like this.

He had a firm grasp on this contradictory mentality.

Ye Fan walked over and saw that she had put the money in her pocket as soon as she found it, and dared not give it to Ye Fan again.

Seeing her stand up, Ye Fan pointed to a budget hotel not far away and said, "Next, we'll go there."

"what?"

Xian Zuling looked in the direction he was pointing, and her little face instantly turned as red as a boiled shrimp. She shook her head faster than a rattle drum: "No, no, no! Absolutely not! We can't go to a place like that!"

Her voice even changed tone.

Ye Fan deliberately put on a stern face, his eyes scrutinizing: "Why can't we go? Isn't that place just for people to rest and sleep? Why can't we go?"

He paused, leaned closer, lowered his voice, and said with a hint of mockery, "Or... are you having some inappropriate thoughts in your head?"

"No, absolutely not..." Xian Zuling denied it vehemently, shaking her head even more violently, but her blood-red ears and cheeks had already betrayed her inner panic and embarrassment.

Her mask was rubbed off when she cried, and now, apart from the large black mole that she deliberately put on and that looked particularly conspicuous, the outline of her delicate features is visible on her face.

Looking at the large black mole, Ye Fan really wanted to tear it off.

He ultimately managed to suppress the urge.

Xian Zuling felt a chill run down her spine under his gaze, instinctively taking a half-step back, her hands nervously twisting together: "You...you shouldn't stare at me like that...I...I'm scared!"

Ye Fan found her startled, deer-like appearance somewhat amusing. "Alright, I know you didn't mean it." He paused, "But neither did I. Do you know why?"

Xian Zuling shook her head; she had no idea why.

Ye Fan shrugged and said in a matter-of-fact, even slightly disdainful tone, "Because you look so ugly right now. It's impossible to bring myself to do it."

"Ah!" The ancestral spirit was completely taken aback by this answer and was momentarily stunned.

"Otherwise what?"

Ye Fan shrugged, his tone even more direct: "I like beautiful women, like Su Luming, who are radiant and captivating. I have absolutely no interest in 'ugly women'—he emphasized those two words deliberately—understand?"

Seeing the sudden dimming in Xian Zuling's eyes, he changed his tone, becoming slightly more serious: "So, you understand now? I just felt sorry for you, a girl alone, wandering the streets in the middle of the night. You are, after all, my classmate, and you were crying so pitifully just now. I was simply worried that you might be targeted by some malicious thugs on the street and dragged into some dark alley or grove..."

He paused deliberately, leaving a dangerous open-ended question: "Understand?"

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over the head of the ancestral spirit, instantly sobering her up and filling her with lingering fear.

She looked around at the empty, dark streets, and images from social news flashed through her mind, causing her to shiver involuntarily.

She bit her lower lip, finally giving in, her voice barely audible: "Okay... fine... then I... I'll go with you."

Ye Fan said no more, turned around and walked straight towards the hotel. Xian Zuling silently followed behind, step by step.

Walking on the dimly lit street, Ye Fan's thoughts drifted away.

Having experienced everything in his previous life, he had long since seen through the nature of relationships between men and women.

There are essentially two paths: either love at first sight, a spark that ignites instantly; or love that grows over time, a slow and steady relationship.

There is no other way.

Although he had a good relationship with the ancestral spirit in his past life, it was only a friendship. He helped her with some difficult problems and they eventually became good friends, but he couldn't make her fall in love with him.

Those motivational quotes online that say things like "help her when she's going through the toughest time, and you'll become the light in her life, and she'll definitely fall in love with you" are pure nonsense—at least between him and the ancestral spirit, this rule doesn't apply.

He pushed open the hotel's glass door with practiced ease. The bright lights at the front desk made Xian Zuling instinctively lower his head even further, almost shrinking into his collar. He didn't dare to look up the whole time, and his fingers were trembling slightly with nervousness.

Ye Fan took out his ID card and handed it to the receptionist: "Please get a standard room, thank you."

It's not that he's pretending to be a virtuous gentleman who's "worse than a beast," but rather that he deeply understands the principle that "haste makes waste." Having a clear goal is important, but so is having a strategy and a good pace.

After getting the room key, Ye Fan led the ancestral spirit, who was acting like a thief and wishing he could disappear, towards the room.

Upon reaching the door, Xian Zuling seemed rooted to the spot, staring at the tightly closed door, her feet firmly planted, unable to bring herself to step inside.

She swallowed nervously, her voice trembling, "Ye... Ye Fan... why... why did you only book one room? Couldn't you have booked two?"

She finally asked the question she had been holding back all the way.

Ye Fan paused as he swiped his card to open the door, turned to look at her, and calmly asked, "It's 128 yuan a room, are you paying?"

Xian Zuling was stunned. One hundred and twenty yuan? That's so expensive.

She shook her head violently.

For her, this was an outrageous price! Just for a few hours of sleep? She would never agree to that.