Chapter 51: Ten Thousand Yuan, Eight Hours

In the oppressive silence of the living room, neither Cao Kun nor Wang Shanshan spoke another word.

The only sound breaking the quiet was the quiet crackle of Cao Kun smoking.

Meanwhile, as Wang Shanshan looked at him now, a profound sense of despair began to take hold of her.

Originally, she had been entirely confident in her ability to wrap this simp around her finger, making him obediently foot the bill for her four years of college tuition and living expenses.

Yet, Bai Jing’s betrayal had completely shattered her plans.

Now that Cao Kun knew she had simply been treating him as an utter fool, he would certainly refuse to pay a single cent for her university education.

What was she supposed to do next?

Where on earth was she going to get the money?

She knew full well that the tuition for Haicheng University alone cost over twenty thousand yuan a year. Adding living expenses, dormitory fees, and other miscellaneous daily costs, she would need at least fifty or sixty thousand yuan annually to get by.

Such a massive sum was not something she could easily borrow, even if she tried.

Besides, even if she somehow managed to scrape together the funds for her freshman year, what about the second, third, and fourth years?

How would she handle the remaining three years?

Finally, after a rapid calculation in her mind, Wang Shanshan cast her gaze back toward Cao Kun.

There was no other choice!

Aside from Cao Kun, she simply could not find anyone else willing to step in and help her at this moment.

She had no choice but to swallow her pride and try!

Having made up her mind, Wang Shanshan put on a pathetic expression, and tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Cao Kun, I'm sorry. The truth is... I'm really not the person you think I am."

"I know someone must have filled your head with lies. No matter what I say now, you won't believe me. But please, trust me, I never truly viewed you as a fool."

"We are all human, not unfeeling stones. You've been so good to me for three years; how could I possibly just treat you like an idiot? The truth is, I've always had feelings for you in my heart, except..."

Before Wang Shanshan could finish, Cao Kun suddenly raised a hand to cut her off. "Enough, Wang Shanshan. Don't waste your breath on these meaningless words. I am never going to believe you again."

Wang Shanshan stared blankly at Cao Kun, covered her face, and burst into tears with a wail.

This time, her cries were genuinely sorrowful, because she was truly weeping for herself.

If she couldn't get money out of Cao Kun, she had zero hope of getting it anywhere else.

Without money, attending university would be entirely out of the question.

And without the prestige of a university degree to gild her future, how could she ever hope to marry into high society?

Her entire destiny was about to be rewritten right here and now!

Allowing Wang Shanshan to weep to the side, Cao Kun didn't speak until he had finished his cigarette and stubbed the butt out in the ashtray.

"Alright, stop crying. You're making it sound as if I've done something terrible to you. Considering that I genuinely loved you once, I am willing to help you one last time."

At these words, Wang Shanshan instantly stopped crying and lifted her head to look at him.

Meeting her tear-stained eyes, Cao Kun said word by word, "Do you currently not have the money for college?"

Wang Shanshan nodded eagerly, bobbing her head up and down.

Yes, yes, yes!

Her single biggest crisis right now was having no money for university!

"I can help you with that," Cao Kun said bluntly. "However, it won't be free like before. You will need to pay a corresponding price. After all, I am no longer going to play the fool."

Hearing this, Wang Shanshan's brow furrowed involuntarily.

She had known that once Cao Kun realized she had been using him, he would never help her out of the goodness of his heart again.

Yet, what kind of price was he expecting her to pay?

Surely not exorbitant interest rates?

Composing herself, Wang Shanshan sat up straight and asked, "What price do you want me to pay?"

"Be my girlfriend for a day, for ten thousand yuan," Cao Kun said.

Wang Shanshan stared blankly at Cao Kun for a moment, then slowly nodded.

She was not a child; she understood precisely what kind of girlfriend Cao Kun meant.

She didn't want to agree.

In her master plan, her purity had to remain intact so she could offer it to her future high-society husband.

After all, men were deeply possessive creatures; no one wanted a wife whose body had already been touched by another man.

Therefore, staying chaste was just as essential a condition for marrying into the upper class as getting a college degree—perhaps even more important.

However, after a brief moment of hesitation, she ultimately agreed.

Her virginity could theoretically be restored later through medical procedures, but if she missed out on attending university now, she would genuinely lose her golden opportunity to elevate her status.

Of course, before giving her final consent, there were a few details she needed to clarify.

For instance: how was a "day" defined in Cao Kun's terms?

Since their relationship had already reached this point, Wang Shanshan no longer cared about pride. Wiping her eyes, she spoke with the demeanor of someone negotiating a business deal.

"Ten thousand yuan to be your girlfriend for a day, right? I have a question: how do you calculate this 'day'?"

"It's calculated by the hour," Cao Kun replied. "A day has twenty-four hours. If I only need you to act as my girlfriend for one hour, you still owe me twenty-three more hours of girlfriend time, until all twenty-four hours are used up. Only then will that single 'day' of being my girlfriend be considered complete."

Upon hearing this explanation, Wang Shanshan's eyes widened in disbelief!

You could calculate it like that?

If that was how it worked, she was getting far too cheap a deal!

Because she knew without a doubt that Cao Kun would only cash in those girlfriend hours whenever the mood struck him.

Even at an hour per session, it would take at least twenty-four encounters just to use up a single day's worth of time.

And a whole day's worth of time was only worth ten thousand yuan.

Ten thousand yuan divided by twenty-four sessions meant it broke down to a mere four hundred and sixteen yuan per session!

At that rate, her price was lower than ordinary-looking salon girls with mediocre education!

She, Wang Shanshan, was at least a prospective university student and had reigned as the campus belle of Xia County First High School for three years; how could she possibly sell herself so cheaply?

At that thought, Wang Shanshan rejected the idea without hesitation. "No way! If you count it by twenty-four hours, that's just too... I don't agree to that. Let's calculate it strictly by the hour instead: ten thousand yuan for five hours. I'll be your girlfriend for five hours for ten thousand yuan."

Ten thousand yuan for five hours came out to two thousand yuan per hour—a rate Wang Shanshan could barely stomach.

"Ten hours!" Cao Kun countered. "Five hours is far too little."

"Then six hours," Wang Shanshan bargained. "Ten hours is way too much."

"Six hours won't do..."

Finally, after a round of fierce haggling, Wang Shanshan and Cao Kun settled on eight hours.

Ten thousand yuan in exchange for being Cao Kun's girlfriend for eight hours.

It was a price both of them could reluctantly accept.